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Laws of Kailiauk
The laws of Kailiauk do not differ greatly in any respect from the laws of any other Gorean city. The major difference is that being a frontier town, free women are granted some lee-way in their mode of garb. It is much more common here, on ranches, to see women dressed appropriately for the work they must do, rather than being bound in endless layers of silk and brocaded robes.
Kailiauk is ruled by an Administrator elected by the city's Council of High Castes (CHC). The organization of this council is: Administrator and the first chairs of each of the high castes in the city, plus the first chair of the merchant's caste. "How is leadership determined in these cities?" I asked. "Rulers," he said, "are chosen from any High Caste." "High Caste?" I asked. "Yes, of course," was his answer. "In fact, in the First Knowledge, there is a story told to the young in the public nurseries, that if a man from Lower Caste should come to rule in a city, the city would come to ruin." (Tarnsman of Gor, 42) It perhaps need only be added that now being a Warrior, and thus of High Caste, he was now eligible for a seat on the High Council of the city, and even for the throne itself, whether it be that of Administrator or Ubar. (Assassins of Gor, 211 ) It should be noted that it was not law in EVERY city that the CHC was composed only of high caste representatives, and in any case, the importance of the merchant caste in Gorean city governments is well attested enough to justify their inclusion into a high council to represent their influence behind the scenes. In many cities, only members of the high castes may belong to the city's high council. (Slave Girl of Gor, 114) Whereas it is only the men of high caste who elect members to the Council of the City, the gold of merchants and the will of the general populace is seldom disregarded in their choices. (Assassins of Gor, 16) In Kailiauk, as in most other Gorean cities, the CHC is legally empowered to appoint an Ubar to guide the cities affairs during an emergency: "The High Castes in a given city," said my father, "elect an administrator and council for stated terms. In times of crisis, a war chief, or Ubar, i snamed, who rules without check and by decree until, in his judgment, the crisis is passed." "In his judgment?" I asked skeptically. "Normally, the office is surrendered after the passing of the crisis," said my father. "It is part of the Warrior Code." (Tarnsman of Gor, 42) Some cities are governed by a Ubar, who is in effect a military sovereign, sometimes a tyrant, whose word is law. The Ubar's power is limited institutionally only by his capacity to inspire and control those whose steel keeps him upon the throne. Sword loyalty is a bond of fidelity sworn to the Ubar. Gorean warriors seldom break this bond. It is not sworn lightly. It is sworn only to those thought fit to be Ubar. (Slave Girl of Gor, 114).
It is illegal to take out of Kailiauk a map of the city due to the dangers that it will fall into enemy hands and be used to guide invading forces through the Home Stone's streets It
is illegal in many cities, incidentally, to take maps of the city out of
the city. More than one fellow, too, has put himself in the quarries or on
the bench of a galley for having been caught with such a map in his
possession. (Magicians of Gor, 388) It is a capital offense for a locksmith, normally a member of the Metal Workers, to make an unauthorized copy of a key, either to keep for himself or for another. (Assassin of Gor, 52) It is illegal to practice your livelihood or alter your status without the consent of the Council of High Castes. A
man who refused to practice his livelihood or strove to alter status
without the consent of the Council of High Castes was, by definition, an
outlaw and subject to impalement. (Tarnsman of Gor, 46) Some female slaves, incidentally, have a pedigreed lineage going back through several generations of slave matings, and their masters hold the papers to prove this. It is a felony in Gorean law to forge or falsify such papers. (Savages of Gor, 69) Vart, once Publius Quintus of Ar, banished from that city, and nearly impaled, for falsifying slave data. He had advertised a girl as a trained pleasure slave who, as it turned out, did not even know the eleven kisses. (Explorers of Gor, 36) It is illegal to sell a slave that does not belong to you. "For
a man," said Peggy, "such an offense is punishable by exile. For
a woman, remanded to a praetor, the penalty is that she commonly that she
herself will then wear the collar." (Rogue of Gor, 146) "Menicius!" he cried. It was he who slew the Warrior of Thentis. Not I!" "It was you who gave the order," I said. "...."Well," said I, "will it be my steel or the impaling spear of Ar's Justice?" (Assassin of Gor, 382-83) The penalty for attempted kidnapping or collaring of a free woman of the city is mutilation and impalement. Few seem to object to the institution of capture, not even the women who might seem to be its victims. On the contrary, incredibly enough, their vanity is terribly outraged if they are not regarded as worth the risks, usually mutilation and impalement. (Outlaw of Gor, 51) It is against the law to face strip a free woman in Kailiauk. Face-stripping a free woman, against her will, can be a serious crime on Gor. (Kajira of Gor, 183)
Free women are not legally required to wear veils: The veil, it might be noted, is not legally imperative for a free woman; it is rather a matter of modesty and custom. Some low-class, uncompanioned, free girls do not wear veils. Similarly certain bold free women neglect the veil. Neglect of the veil is not a crime in Gorean cities, though in some it is deemed a brazen and scandalous omission. (Slave Girl of Gor, 106) For any questioning this law, it should be noted that Kailiauk is hardly one of the "High" cities of Gor, such as Ar or Koroba: She was veiled, as is common for Gorean women in the high cities, particularly those of station. In some cities the veil is prescribed by law for free women, as well as by custom and etiquette....(Vagabonds of Gor, 106) Free women in Kailiauk are not required by city law to wear robes of concealment: She
wore a full, beige skirt, the hem of which fell to within some six inches
of the ground, and slim, high, black-leather boots; a beige blouse, and a
beige jacket, belted, which fell to her thighs; too, she wore a loose
hood, attached to the jacket by hooks, of matching beige material, and an
opaque veil, also of beige material. Such garments, far less formal than
the common attire of the Gorean free woman, are sometimes worn by rich
women in the supervision and inspection of certain sorts of holdings, such
as orchards, fields, ranches and vineyards. They constitute, for such
women, so to speak, a habit for work. Other acceptable modes of dress are hunting garb: She was lovely and attractive in her hunting costume, brief tunic and long hose, brown, a scarlet cape and cap, the cap with a feather. She carried a short, yellow bow, of Ka-la-na wood, which could clear the saddle of the tharlarion, its missile being easily released to either side. Her black boots, slick and shining, were spurred. A quiver of arrows, yellow, were at the left of her saddle. (Beasts of Gor, 111) “I went hunting,” she said, “but it was I who was caught and put in a cage.” “How were you taken?” I asked. “Please,” she said. “Speak,” I said, “or will it be necessary to draw you forth from the cage and whip you?” “I was the Lady Mina,” she said, “of the villas of Noviminae, near Lydius. I set out in my hunting leather with crossbow, upon a pacing tharlarion, after tabuk.” Other than dress, however, there are certain behaviors that in Kailiauk, as in most cities of Gor, constitute conduct indicating suitability for the collar: "Conduct indicating suitability for the collar," of course, can be interpreted in various ways, and more broadly and narrowly. It is almost always understood, of course, fortunately for women, and as I suppose the phrase itself makes clear, in the special legal sense of the phrase, as having to do with overt behavior rather than psychological predispositions and such...But even taken in the appropriate, legal behavioral sense the phrase is, as may well be imagined, subject to diverse interpretations...For example...a judge would be expected to decide whether or not the behaviors of the sort performed, constituted behavior for which the collar might be suitably imposed. (Renegades of Gor, 372) The following behaviors indicate suitability for the collar: For example, they may not appear naked in the streets, as may slaves. Indeed, a free woman who appears in public in violation of these standards of decorum, for example, with her arms or legs too much bared, may be made a slave. (Renegades of Gor, 367-68) The principle he had alluded to pertains to conduct in a free woman which is taken as sufficient to warrant her reduction to slavery. The most common application of this principle occurs in areas such as fraud or theft. Other applications may occur, for example, in cases of indigence and vagrancy. (Renegades Of Gor, 372) The principle he had alluded to pertains to conduct in a free woman which is taken as sufficient to warrant her reduction to slavery...Indulgence in sensual dance is another case. Sensuous dance is almost always performed by slaves on Gor. A free woman who performs such dancing publicly is almost begging for the collar. In some cities the sentence of bondage is mandatory for such a woman. (Renegades Of Gor, 372) I had left some slave beads in recompense, of course, pretty beads of cheap wood, such as are cast about in festivals, sometimes even being seized up secretly by free women who put them on before their mirrors, in secret, as though they might be slaves. In many cities, incidentally, a woman who is discovered doing such a thing may be remanded to magistrates for impressment into bondage. (Vagabonds of Gor., 69) A free woman is, however, due great respect due to her status, and she shall not be collared for speaking her mind. That is both her right, and her due: Women on this world, most of them, enjoy a status and freedom of which you, from earth, cannot even conceive. Their raiment is splendid, their station is lofty, their mien is noble, their prestige is boundless. (Savages of Gor, 129) "Free women, in being free, command attention when they speak. It is their due." (Explorers of Gor , 354) The demeaning of men, whereas it is permitted to, and not unknown among, free women, is not permitted to female slaves. Such, on their part, can be a capital offense. (Magicians of Gor, 227) There is no law in Kailiauk banning free women from paga dens. That injunction is up to the owner of the particular establishment. "In most paga taverns," he said, "free women are not permitted. In some they are." (Kajira of Gor, 122) However, the penalty for women entering a paga den that has express rules forbidding their presence, can be harsh: For example, sometimes free women attempt, sometimes even disguising themselves, to spy on the doings of masters and slaves. For example, they might attempt, disguised as lads, to gain entrance to paga taverns. And often such entrance in granted them but later, to their horror, they may find themselves thrown naked to the dancing sand and forced to perform under whips. Similarly if they attempt to enter such establishments as pretended slaves they may find themselves leaving them by the back entrance, soon to become true slaves. In many cities, such actions, attempting to spy on masters and slaves, disguising oneself as a slave, garbing oneself as a slave, even in the supposed secrecy of one's own compartments, lingering about slave shelves and markets, even exhibiting an interest in, or fascination with, bondage, can result in reduction to bondage. The theory is apparently that such actions and interests are those of a slave, and that the female who exhibits them should, accordingly, be imbonded. (Magicians of Gor, 50)
Slaves have the legal status of animals, and as such, have no rights: The Gorean slave, in the eyes of Gorean law, is an animal, with no legal title to a name. (Hunters of Gor, 16) In the eyes of Gorean law you are an animal. You have no name in your own right. You may be collared and leashed. You may be bought and sold, whipped, treated as the master pleases, disposed of as he sees fit. You have no rights whatsoever. Legally you have no more status than a tarsk or vulo. Legally, literally, you are an animal.' (Explorers of Gor, 316) Any slave in Kailiauk may be punished by any free person: The discipline of a slave may be attended to by any free person, otherwise she might do much what she wished, provided only her Master did not learn of it. The legal principle is clear, and has been upheld in several courts, in several cities, including Ar. (Magicians of Gor, 122) However, it is not legal to kill the slave of another, for slaves fall under the category of property rights: "She
is a slave," I said. "Anything could be done with
her." "By her master," he (Marcus) said.
"Not just anyone." "True," I said. One did
not have the right, for example, to kill or maim the slave of
another, any more than any other domestic animal which might
belong to someone else. In the sense the slave is accorded
some protection from free persons who do not own her in virtue of
certain general considerations of property law. The
power of the master over the slave, on the other hand, is absolute.
He can do whatever he wishes with her. She belongs to him,
completely. (Magician of
Gor, 330)
Because of financial considerations, Kailiauk will enforce Merchant Law where it applies. The
Gorean cities will, within their own walls, enforce the Merchant Law when
pertinent, even against their own citizens. If they did not, of course,
the fairs would be closed to the citizens of that city. pg. 11, Priest
Kings of Gor. `Some fellows do not brand their slaves,' I said. `That is stupid!' she said. `It is also contrary to the laws of most cities,' I said, `and to merchant law, as well.' pg 188 ,Vagabonds of Gor `Some fellows do not brand their slaves,' I said. `That is stupid!' she said. `It is also contrary to the laws of most cities,' I said, `and to merchant law, as well.' pg 188 ,Vagabonds of Gor And, "Girls such as I must expect to be marked," she said. "It is in accord with the recommendations of merchant law." pg. 46, Kajira of Gor. And, The thighs and the lower left abdomen are the brand sites recommended by Merchant Law. Masters, of course, may brand a girl wherever they please. She is theirs. Sometimes a brand is placed on the left side of the neck, on the left calf, the interior of the left heel, and on the inside of the left forearm. The customary brand site, incidentally, is high on the left thigh. That is the site almost invariably utilized in marking Gorean kajirae. pg. 349, Fighting Slave of Gor "Girls such as I must expect to be marked," she said. "It is in accord with the recommendations of merchant law." pg. 46, Kajira of Gor.
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The Government of Kailiauk
