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| Assassins "Justice must be done," said the man. Kuurus said nothing, but only looked at the man. Often, though not always, they spoke of justive. it pleases them to speak of justice, he said to himself. And of right. It eases them gives then piece. There is no such thing as justice, said Kuurus, to himself. There is only gold and steel. Assassin page 4 KUURUS, OF THE CASTE OF ASSASSINS, entered the great gate of Ar. Guardsmen did not detain him, for he wore on his forehead the mark of the blackdagger. Assassins page 6 Yet none would stand in the way of Kuurus for he wore on his forehead, small and fine, the sign of the black dagger. Wehn he of the caste of Assassins has been paid gold and has received his charge he affixes on his forehead that sign, that he may enter whatever city he pleases, that none may interfere with his work. There are few men who have done great wrong or who have powerful, rich enimies who do not tremble upon learning that one has been brought to their city who wears the dagger. Assassins page 6 and 7 Goreans do not generally favor begging, and some regard it as an insult that there should be such, as when a man cannot work or a women is alone, usally such is arranged through the caste organization, but sometimes through the clan, which is not specifically caste oriented but depends on ties of blood through the fifth degree. If one, of course, finds oneself in effect without caste or clan, as was perhaps the case with the small fool named hup, and one cannot work one's life is likely to be miserable and not of great length. Moreover, Goreans are extremely sensitive about names, and who may speak them. Indeed , some , paarticularly those of low caste, even have use names, conceealing their true names, lest they be discovered by enemies and used to conjure spells against them. Similarly, slaves, on the whole, do not adress free men by their names. Assassins page 11 and 12 "Then you have money," said Kuurus, and stood up behind the table, slinging the sheath of the short sword about his shoulder. Hup wildly thrust a small, stubby, knobby hand into his pouch and hurled a coin, a copper tarn disk, to Kuurus, who caught it and placed it in one of the pockets of his belt. "Do not interfere," snarled the man who held the hook knofe. "There are four of us," said anouther, putting his hand on his sword. "I have taken money," said Kuurus. The men in the tavern, and the girls, began to move away from the tables. "We are Warriors," said anouther. Then a coin of gold struck te table before the Assassin, ringing on the wood. All eyes turned to face a pounchy man, in a rode of blue and yellow silk. "I am Portus," he said. "Do not interfere, Assassin." Kuurus picked up the coin and fingered it, and then he looked at, Portus. "I have already taken money," he siad. Portus gasped. Assassins page 13 "May I ask, Killer," asked Portus, "if you come to make the first killing---or the second?" the second," said Kuurus. "Ah!" said Portus. "I hunt," said Kuurus. "Of course," said Portus. "I come to avenge," said Kuurus. Portus smiled. "That is what I meant," he said, "that is good those in black tunic are once again amongst us, that justice can be done, order restored, right upheld." Kuurus looked at him, the eyes not smiling . "There is only gold and steel," said he. Assassin page 17 and 18 Outlaw He threw down the ax, which rang on the stones of the road to Ko-ro-ba. Zosk sank down and sat cross-legged in the road, his gigantic frame shaken with sobs, his massive head buried in his hands, his thick, guttural voic moaning with distress. At a time a man may not be spoken to, for according to the Gorean way of thinking pity humiliates both he who pities and he who is pitied. According to the Gorean way, one may love but one may not pity. outlaw page 30 Once I shouted in pain. Two fangs had struck into mycalf. An ost, I thought! But the fangs held fast, and I heard a popping, sucking sound of the bladerlike seedpods of a leech plant, as they expanded and contracted like small ugly lungs. I reached down and jerked the plant from the soil at the side of the road. It writhed in my hand like a snake, its pods gasping. I jerked the two fanglike thorns from my leg. The leech plant strikes like a cobra, and fastens two hollow thorns into its victim. The chemical responses of the bladerlike pods produce a mechanicl pumping action, and blood is sucked into the plant to nurish it. Outlaw page 33 Normally such plants are cleared from the side of the roads and from inhabited areas. They are primarily dangerous to children and small animals, but a grown man who might lose his footing among them would not be likely to survive. Outlaw page 34 There was reputedly one exception to this generally prevalent attitude of hostilty towards the stranger, the city of Tharna, which , according to rumer, was willing to engage in what on Gor might be accounted the adventure of hospitality. There were many things supposedly strange about Tharna, among them that she was reportedly ruled by a queen, or Tatrix, and reasonably enough in the circumstances, that the position of women in the city, in contrast with common Gorean custom, was one of privilege and opportunity. I rejoiced that in at least one city on Gor the free women were not ecpected to wear the Robs of Concealment, confine their activities largly to their own quarters, and speak only to their blood relatives and, eventually, the Free Companion. Outlaw page 49 On the shoulder of their gray tunics only a small band of color indicated caste. Normally the caste colors of Gor would be abundant evidence, enlivening the streets and bridges of the city, a glorious spectacle in Gor's bright, clear air. Outlaw page 65 Perhaps I was most startled on the silent streets of Tharna by the free women. They walked in this city unattended,with imperious step, the men of Tharna moveing to let them pass----in such a way that they never touched. Each of these women wore resplendent Robs of Concealment, rich in color and workmanship, standing out among the drab garments of the men, but instead of the veil common with such robses the fetures of each were hidden behind a mask of silver. The masks were of identical design, each formed in sembalance of beautiful, but cold face. Outlae page 67 Then in my astonishment, the men of Tharna who were yoked in the arena, kneeling, rejected by their city, condemned, chanted a strange paean. Andreas and I, not being of Tharna, were alone silent, and I would guess he was as suprised as I. Though we are abject beast.. Fit only to live for your comfort.Fit only to die for your pleasure. Yet we glorify the Mask of Tharna. Hail to the Mask of Tharna. Hail to the Tatrix of our City. Outlaw page 111 "In ancient days, in Tharna,"said Lara, "things were defferent than they are today." And then, in the slaver's tent, Lara, who had been tatrix of Tharna, told mw something of strange history of her city. In the begianning Tharna had been much as other ciries of Gor, on which women were to little regarded and injoyed to few rights. In those days it had been a portion of Rites of Submission, as practiced in Tharna, to strip and bind the captive with yellow cords and place her on a scarlet ruh, the yellow of the cord being symbolic of talenders, a flower often associated with feminine love and beauty, the scarlet of the rug being symbolic of blood, and perhaps of passion. outlaw page 204 and 205 He who had captured the girl would place his sword to her breast and utter the ritual phrases of enslavement. They were the last words she would hear as a free women. weep, Free Madian. Remember your pride and weep. Remember your laughter and weep. Remember you were mu enemy and weep. Now you are helpless captiv. Remember you stood against me. Now lie at my feet. I have bound you with yellow cords. I have placed you on the scarlet rug. Thus by laws of Tharna do I cliam you. Remember you were free. Know now you are my slave. Weep, Slave Girl. Outlaw page 205 At this point the captor would untie the girl's ankles and compleate the rite. When she rose from the rug to follow him, she was, in his eyes and hers, a slave. Outlaw page 205 Priest Kings The fair incidentally are governed by Merchant Law and supported by booth rents and taxes levied on the items exchangned. Priest-Kings page 11 The contests I mentioned which take place at the fair are as would be expected, peaceable, or I should say, at least do not involve contest of arms. Indeed it is cosidered a crime against the Priest-Kings to bloody one's weapons at the fairs. The Priest-Kings, I might note, seem to tolerant of bloodshed in other localities. Priest-Kings page 11 This pilgrimage to the Sardar, enjoyed by the Priest-Kings according to Cast of Initiates, undoubtebly plays its role in the distribution of beauty among hostle cities of Gor. Whereas the males who accompany a caravan are often killed in its defense or driven off, this fate, furtunate or not, is seldom that of the caravan's women. It will be their sad lot to be stripped and fitted with a collars and chains of slave girls and forced to follow the wagons on foot to the fair, or if the caravan's tharlarionss have been killed or driven off,they will carry its goods on their backs. Thus one practical effect of edict of the Priest-Kings is that each Gorean girl most, at least once in her life, leave her walls and take the very serious risk of becomming a slave girl, perhaps the prize of a pirate or outlaw. Priest-Kings page 12 and 13 In its way it was very beautiful, golden and tall, looming over me, framed in that massive portal. It was not more than a yard wide but its head nearly touched the top of the portal and so I would judge that, standing as it did, it must have been nearly eightenn feet high. It had six legs and a great head like globe of gold with eyes like vast luminous disk. It's two forelegs, poised and alert, were lifted delicately in front of its body. Its jaws opened and closed once. They moved laterally. From its head there extended two fragile, jointed appendages, long and covred woth short quivering strands of golden hair. These two appendages, like eyes, swept the room once and then seemed to focus on me. They curved toward me like delicate golden pincers and each of the countless golden strands on those appendages straightened and pointed toward me like a quivering golden needle. I could not conjecture the nature of the creture's experience but I knew that I stood within the center of its sensory field. About its neck there hung a small circuler device, a translator of some sort, similar to but more compact than those I had hitherto seen. I sensed a new set of odors, secreted by what stood before me. Almost simultaneously a mechanicle reproduced voicebegain to emanate from the translator. I knew what it would say. "Lo Sardar," it said."I am a Priest-King." Priest-Kings page 75 and 76 The Priest-Kings have little or no scent of their own which is detectable by himan nostrils through one gathers there is a nest oder by which they may identify one anouther, and that the vairiation in the nest oder permit identifications of indivuals. Pries-Kings page 77 The slightly arcid oder I had noticed tends to be a common property of all such singnals, much is a common property to the sound od a human voice, weather it be that of an Englishman, a Bushman, a Chinese or Gorean, which sets it apart from say, the growling of animals, the hiss of snakes, the cry of birds.Priest-Kings page 77 The Priest-Kings have eyes, which are compound and many-faceted, but they do not much rely on these organs. They are, for them, something like our ears and nose, used as secondary sensors to be relied upon when the most pertinent information in enviroment is not relayed by vision, or, in the case of the Priest-Kings, bt scent. Accordingly the two golden-haired, jointed appendages protruding from their globlike heads, above the rounded, dosklike eyes, are their promary sensory organs. I gather that these appendages are sensitive not only to oders but, due to a modification of some of the golden hairs, may also transform sound vibrations into something meaningful in their experaince. Priest-Kings page 78 The Golden Beetle was not nearly as tall as a Priest-King, but it was probaly considerably heaver. It was about the size of a rhinoceros and the first thing I noticed after the glowing etes were two multiply hooked, tubular, hollow, pincerlike extensions that met at the tips perhaps a yard beyound its body. They seemed clearly some aberrant mutation of it jaws. Its antennae, unlike those of Priest-Kings, were very short. They curved and were tipped with a fliff of golden hair. They curved and were tipped with a long, golden strands, almost a mane, which extended from the creature's head over it domed, golden back and fell almost to the floor behind it. The back itself seemed divided into two thick casings which might once, ages before, have been horny wings, but now the tissues had, at the points of touching togeather, fused in such a way as to form waht was for all practical purposes a thick, immobile golden shell. The creature's head was even now withdrawn beneath the shell but its eyes were clearly visible and of course the extensions of its jaws. I knew the thing before me could slay a Priest-Kings. Priest-Kings page 24 |