Post by Joe MacBain on Nov 11, 2006 12:48:58 GMT -5
On Gor, slavery is an ancient, historically developed institution. It is complex, with its hundreds of aspects and facets, legal, social and aesthetic. Slavery has its basis in the biological differences of men and women. Male dominance is pervasive among mammals and universal among primates. Goreans accept slavery as a natural part of life and few question its basic validity. "Female slavery is the institutionalized expression, in a civilization congenial to nature, of the fundamental biological relationship between the sexes. In the institution of female slavery we find this basic relationship recognized, accepted, clarified, fixed and celebrated." (Savages of Gor, p.193-4)
Gorean mythology even provides a story justifying the creation of slavery. Long ago, there once was a war between the men and women of Gor. In the end, the women were defeated. But, the Priest-Kings did not want all of the women killed so they made them beautiful. This was to entice the men to want to keep them instead of slaying them. But as a price for their beauty, the Priest-Kings also decreed that women would forever be slaves to men.
Sometime in the past, there were a series of wars loosely called the Slave Wars. They occurred among various cities in the middle latitudes, off and on, for over a period of about a generation. Though the wars involved large-scale slaving, there were other causes too, like the levying of tribute and the control of trade routes. Much of the Merchant law concerning slavery evolved out of these wars. The wars also developed some of the standardization of the slave as a commodity.
The Gorean novels portray a skewed image of the amount of slaves on Gor. As slaves are often important characters in the novels, the books at first glance might cause you to believe that most women were slaves on Gor. In actuality, only about 2 to 3% of all women on Gor are slaves. Free women vastly outnumber kajirae on Gor. These ratios do vary though from city to city. For example, in Ar there are about 20% slaves. In Tharna, after the revolution against the Tatrix, almost all of women in that city were slaves. (Online, the number of slaves is over 50%.) Of all the slaves on Gor, 90% of them are female. So, male slaves are a very rare item, only about .2 to .3% of the men on Gor. There are many terms used for female slaves such as chain sisters, slut, collar meat, tastas, tasty pudding, morsels, and candies. Kajira is one of the most common terms for a female slave. Sa-Fora, which means Chain Daughter or Daughter of the Chain, is another common expression. For the most part, these terms are considered complimentary.
Slaves are broken down into two major categories, white and red silk. Simply, white silk girls are virgins and red silk girls are not. The color of the silk bears no reference to their level of training. A White Silk girl could be a fully trained Pleasure Slave while a Red Silk girl could be a new recruit from Earth who did not even speak Gorean yet. No other color silk means anything on Gor. Yellow silks, black silks and the such are online creations and are not based on information from the books.
White silk girls may also be known by the term "glana" but that is usually only used by slavers. A kajira would not refer to herself as "glana." Red silks may also be known by the term "falarina" and its usage is similar to glana. Slave may also be referred to as "opened" or not. If you have not yet been opened, you are a virgin. Virgins are almost never available in the slave markets. Most Gorean men prefer opened women. Virgins present special problems, especially psychological ones. Within these two categories of red and white silk, there are many different types of slaves.
Slave types include bath girls, camp slaves, coin girls, debtor slaves, exotics, house slaves, inn slaves, lure girls, passions slaves, pleasure slaves, state slaves, tavern girls, tower slaves, work slaves and many more. 80% of these slaves must sexually please their masters as part of their duties. The condition of slavery requires no overt sign of bondage. Such items are useful mostly for marking property, the identity of owner and such. An uncollared, unbranded slave is still but a slave
Bath girls are the kajirae who serve at the public and private baths. They commonly wear a chain and plate collar, the plate giving their name and cost. They aid men in the taking of their baths and are also available for sexual services. They wear towels with nothing beneath them. Their hair may be cut short to protect it from the water. Others wrap a long, broad strap of glazed leather about their heads like a turban. Most are great swimmers and it is said they are more at ease in the water than a Cosian song fish.
Camp slaves are owned by authorized Merchants, who hold contracts for certain seasons or campaigns. The girls are kept within the military camp and travel with it. The girls are rented out to the soldiers at fees that are stipulated in the contracts. The fees are fixed and almost nominal.
A coin girl is usually regarded as the lowest form of street slave. She is sent into the streets at dusk with a chain on her neck. A bell is attached to her chain to call attention to her. She also carries a small, locked coin box. A man pays her price and places the coin into the box and may have his way with her. Satisfaction is guaranteed or you receive your money back from the master as the girl cannot get to the coins in her box. Though the sexual skills of coin girls are commonly low, a few are actually quite skillful. Sometimes, privately owned girls are sent out as coin girls as a form of punishment.
A display slave is a kajira whose primary purpose is for the display of her beauty to reflect the wealth and status of her master. She will often be chained in coffle with other display slaves behind the transport of her master. The master will often be seen in public with these girls to show everyone his property.
Feast slaves are girls, usually rented in groups, to individuals or organizations for feasts, parties and other functions.
Flute girls are able to play the single or double flute. They are rented out for parties and other functions. They will also commonly serve the pleasure of the guests.
A Kettle-and-mat girl is a slave whose function is divided between household tasks and sexual servitude. It is considered a low form of slave.
A lure girl is a slave who serves as bait for captains who need crewmen and masters of work gangs. The slave pretends to desire a man and distracts him while her owner and his men capture the unfortunate victim.
A Message girl is used to send secret messages. The girl's head is first shaved and then a message is tattooed on her head. The girl is commonly illiterate. Her hair is allowed to grow back. She will then be sent to the person who is to receive the message. She is also usually given to the recipient to keep as well. Later, her head will be shaved again and the message read. A Physician will then use needles to remove the message.
A pot girl may be one of the lowest forms of slave. Her main function is cooking, cleaning and other menial tasks. The term is sometimes used as an insult as well.
A secret slave is a woman who is a slave but who most believe is free. Her true status is concealed by her master. This deception is difficult to maintain for a long time as the girl becomes more like a slave over time. It is also dangerous as Goreans do not like to be duped and they might take it out on the slave. In Magicians of Gor, Talena was made the secret slave of Tarl Cabot. Talena was Ubara of Ar at that point and Tarl permitted her to remain as such until he came to claim her one day.
State slaves are owned by the city and they may tend the central kitchens, care for children, clean apartments, launder clothes, etc. Some are used at state banquets to serve and entertain the guests. It is generally regarded as a slavery of great deprivation though they may sometimes be made available to male slaves and guards. Because of this, state slaves often bring good prices when sold into the private sector.
Work slaves include a variety of slaves such as pot girls, kettle-and-mat girls; laundresses, stable sluts, cleaning slaves, mill slaves, and more. Such slavery serves almost a penal function in some cases. These are generally considered the lowest of slaves.
Some slaves even have professional competencies like in law, medicine or scribe. They may have once belonged to that Caste. They thus possess skills in those areas though they are no longer considered members of the Caste. Many people frown upon slaves using such skills, especially where those skills may place the slave in a position of power or trust.
Earth women are considered natural slaves as they have no Home Stone. They have a reputation of being the lowest and hottest of slaves. They are generally considered barbarians because they know nothing of Gor and must be trained even to speak Gorean. There are extremely few Earth girls who are ever freed on Gor. Both agents of the Priest-Kings and the Kurii make stops on Earth to obtain women to become slaves. Raids by the Kurii have brought a lot of Earth women to Gor in recent years.
By law, slaves are animals and their owner can do anything he or she wishes with them. Slaves are considered to be goods, property. They do not even own a name and cannot own any property. They may use goods but cannot possess them. In most cities, even the offspring of a slave is a slave and belongs to the mother's owner. There are numerous laws preventing slaves from doing many things. For example, it can be a capital offense for a slave to touch a weapon, strike a free person or even to wear robes of concealment. See Education Scroll #2, Laws and Legal Principles, for more laws concerning slavery.
Slave breeding is carefully controlled and free men seldom have children with their slaves. In most breedings, a slave girl and kajirus are taken to a breeding cell or stall. They are both hooded to preclude any attachments and the slaves may not even speak. The coupling is observed by the master and any others in an official capacity. Only a small fraction of the breeding is carefully done by slave houses with a specific intent in mind. Some specially bred girls have a pedigreed lineage that extends back for twenty-five to thirty generations. The most commonly bred slaves are passion slaves and exotics. Passions slaves are women who have been bred for their beauty and sensuality. They typically only receive training as a Pleasure Slave. Exotics are kajirae specially bred for some unique quality, sometimes even bizarre ones. One such type is a girl who is bred to have poisonous saliva. Even some male slaves are bred Exotics.
Slave wine is a Gorean contraceptive, given to all slaves to protect them against conceiving. It is intentionally made to be bitter for slaves. The active ingredient in slave wine is sip root. Sip root, in its raw form, may be chewed as a contraceptive. The raw form's effects last for three to four months. The Red Savages in the Barrens use sip root in its raw form. One drink of slave wine lasts indefinitely, until a releaser is given. This was not always the case. In the beginning of the Gor series, slave wine only lasted a month or so. But, medical technology advanced during the series and its effects are now indefinite. But, out of tradition and to remind a girl she is a slave, it is usually given once or twice a year to her. The antidote is called breeding or second wine. It is a smooth and sweet drink. Its active ingredient is a derivative of the teslik plant. On Earth, slave wine would conquer the birth control market.
Almost every city and town has its own Street of Brands, either a street or a district which handles slave sales and items connected with slavery. The peak season for buying slaves is the spring and early summer. The greatest period for sales is the five days of the Fifth Passage Hand, also called in many cities the Love Feast. Slaves may be auctioned or sold in private sales. Slavers are legally a subcaste of the Merchant Caste though they tend to consider themselves a separate caste. Their caste colors are blue and yellow. Yet, not all slavers belong to the Caste. People of almost any caste can engage in the business of slavery. The primary difference is that these people generally do not derive the major portion of their income from the business of slavery.
At slave auctions, girls are sold on blocks where buyers may inspect them, touch them, have them move and position themselves. Girls are always sold naked though they might begin an auction clothed. During the auction, the clothes would be removed. This is done to entice the crowd and build excitement. It is said that only a fool buys a kajira clothed. By tradition, the blocks are wooden and rounded. Sawdust is usually sprinkled on their tops. In many slave houses, there are usually multiple blocks, one central block and a number of side blocks. The side blocks are commonly about three feet high and five feet in diameter. But, it is a matter of prestige to be sold from the central block. Girls are seldom auctioned from the side blocks. Usually, fixed prices are set, marked on their bodies with a grease pencil. It is a disparaging term to be called a "side-block girl" similar to being called a "pot girl."
Colored tags may be wired to the collars of girls at the auctions. White tags signify that a girl is being "held" for a prospective buyer. A red tag signifies the girl has been "sold." A black tag signifies a girl is "ill." A yellow tag signifies that a girl is not to be sold without prior consultation with the slaver. Some colored tags may also be correlated to classes or grades of slaves. A brown tag may be on a low slave such as a female work slave, pot girl, and kettle and mat girl. A gold tag may be on a trained pleasure slave or dancer. There is no uniform color coding though and different houses have their own conventions. It is not common for slaves to be tagged in a regular market except for sold and holding tags. Tagging is most common in auctions. A sales disk, bearing the girl's lot number, is common so men can inspect the girls before the auction begins and decide who to bid for. Sold girls can also be marked by placing them in a white hood marked "sold" or by writing "sold" in grease pencil on their left breast. It is standard in marking girls to use grease pencil on that breast.
Block measurements are a girl's measurements when she is sold by a slaver. Some slavers take very complete measurements including a girl's height, weight, structure of ear lobes, width and length of fingers and toes, width of heels, distance between nostrils, etc. Most of these measurements are taken by a "slave tape" that is marked in horts. Weights are taken on a grain or tarsk scale that is marked in stones. Finger and toe prints may also be taken.
Block melodies are songs commonly used in slave markets in the display of their girls. Some songs were devised specifically for that purpose and others are just utilized for it. They are usually sexually stimulating. The slaves may dance to this music while on the block. The "Hope of Tina" is a popular block melody of Cos. It is supposedly the expression of the yearning of a young girl that she may be so beautiful, feminine and marvelous, as to prove acceptable as a slave. As a joke, young men may whistle or hum such melodies near free women who are generally unaware of their true nature. Free women may be drawn to them too, not understanding the reason.
Prices for slave girls varies according to the type of kajira, location of the market, time of year, and many other factors. Some generalizations can be made though please remember that these are not absolutes. The cheapest slaves are usually female work slaves purchased for public kitchens, laundries or mills. They are commonly sold in multi-item lots. The next level are the male work slaves. Then come the girls who can be used as a pleasure slave. The next level includes the male silk slaves. The highest level are special female pleasure slaves, dancers or bred passion slaves.
Many kajirae are sold for copper tarsks. A lovely girl may often go for a silver tarsk. A silver tarsk is a very high price for a semitrained girl. An excellent paga slave would generally go for one to three silvers. Fifteen silver tarsks would be the cost for a good dancer or a lesser girl in an Ubar's pleasure gardens. The major auction house in Ar, the Curulean, is one of the most prestigious of slave markets. A girl there is seldom sold for less than two gold tarns. Beautiful women of High Caste might sell for thirty to fifty gold tarns. The top price for a slave might be gotten for an Ubara or the daughter of an Ubar. She might bring 10000 gold tarns in a private sale.
The vast majority of slaves are branded, marking them nearly permanently as slaves. Slavers will only rarely sell a girl who has not yet been branded. In some cities, it is illegal to offer an unbranded girl for public slave. Branding is commonly done by a trained Iron Master as most owners rarely brand their own girls. Branding requires a sure hand and experience to properly do it. By recommendation of Merchant Law, there are three standard marking places: left outer thigh, right outer thigh, and lower left abdomen. The most common site is high on the left outer thigh, high enough to be covered by even a brief tunic. A slave may be branded anywhere on her body but it is not as common.
Many Goreans prefer a girl to be hand branded. Some slavers use mechanical branding devices but such brands are too uniform. It takes some time to bring an iron to the necessary branding temperature. The iron must also be cleaned and reheated before branding another girl. The cleaning is important for the precision and clarity of the brand. A branding rack is often used to hold a girl's thigh in place to prevent her from moving when the hot iron is applied. This helps prevent a blurred brand. A girl is commonly shown the iron before the branding so that she may fully understand its power, its heat and its meaning. A girl is usually branded for about three Ihn, about four Earth seconds. The girl is permitted to scream during the branding.
The most common brand is the "Kef", the first letter of the word "Kajira" in cursive script. It is also known as the "staff and fronds" because it resembles a staff with two, upturned frondlike curls, joined where they touch the staff on its right. It is usually one and a half to two inches high. The Kef is more floral than the common cursive Kef. The two curls are meant to symbolize femininity and beauty. The upturned curves on the fronds indicate total openness and vulnerability. The staff symbolizes that the femininity is subject to discipline. Male slaves are branded with a large block "Kef", not the cursive letter. There are many other types of brands such as the Dina and the Palm brand. Some cities have their own special brand as well. Some merchants make up their own new brands. There are collectors who collect girls with exotic brands.
A small and beautiful brand enhances a girl's beauty. It also has definite psychological benefits to instilling the idea of slavery on a girl. It is easy to consider that you are property when you have been permanently marked like livestock. A girl will basically only be branded once in her lifetime. A brand simply signifies that you are a slave. It does not commonly serve to identify your owner. Thus, there is little reason for an owner to want to rebrand a girl. Certain penalty brands may be added to punish a girl but their intent is not show a girl's slavery or identify her owner.
A slave with a brand can still be freed. But, the mark is permanent and there was no method ever mentioned in the books that would remove or alter it. If such a freed girl wishes to remain free, she better ensure that her papers of manumission are kept handy. Luckily, most brand spots can be well hidden so others cannot notice a woman's brand. But, if a man does see that a free woman has a brand, he might try to enslave her unless she can prove she was freed.
The most common garment for slaves is a brief slave tunic, sleeveless and with a deep plunging neckline. It may be made of a great variety of materials from satins and silks to clinging rep-cloth. Rep cloth is very popular because it is inexpensive, thin and clings well to a body. Leather is generally not permitted to slaves as the softer and more feminine fabrics are preferred by Gorean men. The tunic has no nether closure as a kajira is expected to be ready for her master at any time. Many of these tunics also have a disrobing knot so that a light tug will cause the entire garment to fall to a girl's feet.
There are a number of other garments also worn by slaves. The common camisk is a narrow, poncho-like garment. It is little more than a long, narrow, rectangle of cloth with an opening for the head. It is worn belted, falls to just above the knee and does not cover the brand. The Turian camisk is like an inverted "T" in which the bar of the "T" is beveled on each side. It is fastened with a single cord. The cord binds the garment at three points, behind the neck, back, and in front of the waist. The garment is fastened at the neck, and then passes before her passing between her legs. The sides fold about the hips. It covers the brand, but leaves the back bare. In Turia, it is simply called the camisk and the common camisk is called the "northern camisk." Ta-teeras are slave rags, usually a brief bit of rep cloth, torn here and there, or even just rags sewn together. Kajirae may also use slave girdles, belts, to tie around their clothes to accent their figures.
In addition, slaves almost always go barefoot and rarely are permitted sandals. Slaves rarely walk the city streets naked except as discipline. Free women object to them being naked publicly and most men abide by this. The area of a girl's abdomen around the navel is called the "slave belly" because only slave girls expose their navels. In a family house, the slaves are modestly garbed because of the children. A slave may be a nurse, governess and playmate to a child. Slaves may also dress modestly so as to not offend free women. If a young man is giving a proper and refined dinner, his slave will be modestly attired.
The primary functions of slave clothes is not to clothe the slave but to display her and to show her that she is a slave. Thus, most slave clothing is made of sensuous fabrics and is cut very revealingly. Some slave clothes may also be practical depending on the function or location of the slave girl. A girl who works in the mills would wear a more practical outfit than a paga slave. A slave in Torvaldsland would obviously be dressed warmly. A new slave may have to earn the privilege of getting to wear clothes. An owner controls fully if a girl is allowed clothes and what clothes she may wear.
Almost all slaves must wear a ko-lar, the Gorean word for a collar. The most common collar is a light, steel-like band, snugly fitting, that locks in the back. But Gorean collars can vary from simple iron bands to enameled bands to ornate, bejeweled collars. Obviously only the wealthy would ever place jewels on a slave's collar. Such jewels make a girl a tempting target for thieves so it is likely the girl would not be free to wander the city without her owner. Instead, most men would place costume jewelry onto a collar if they wished to enhance its look.
All collars have two things in common: they cannot be removed by the girl and they mark her as a slave. The collar is secured with a six pin lock, one pin for each of the letters in the word "kajira." The most common sizes for collars are the ten to twelve hort ones. On Earth, this would be about 12.5 to 15 inches. Some masters also cover collars with collar stockings or sleeves. They are simply pieces of fabric that cover a collar. They are used as an accessory to enhance a girl's beauty and come in a variety of materials. The Turian ko-lar is another common collar on Gor. It is a round ring, which lies loosely on a slave so that if a man holds the ring, the girl can turn in it. It is harder to engrave though than a normal collar.
A collar identifies a kajira's master and city. This information would be engraved onto the collar itself. The collar also serves as a visible token of a girl's bondage. In some cities, such visible tokens are required by law. But, a slave without a collar is still but a slave. There is a kind of implicit claim of ownership involved in the collaring of a kajira so it is seldom done save by her master. Some say that the collar releases the beauty in a woman though it is likely just the effects of her slavery and not the collar itself. The collar transforms a woman psychologically and sexually. She understands that she has no choice but to be a total female. It is also said that a collar has an "intensification effect" on a kajira that deepens and intensifies a woman's sexuality. She can then be driven to "…almost excruciatingly ecstatic orgasmic heights,.." (Guardsman of Gor, p.210)
Gorean mythology even provides a story justifying the creation of slavery. Long ago, there once was a war between the men and women of Gor. In the end, the women were defeated. But, the Priest-Kings did not want all of the women killed so they made them beautiful. This was to entice the men to want to keep them instead of slaying them. But as a price for their beauty, the Priest-Kings also decreed that women would forever be slaves to men.
Sometime in the past, there were a series of wars loosely called the Slave Wars. They occurred among various cities in the middle latitudes, off and on, for over a period of about a generation. Though the wars involved large-scale slaving, there were other causes too, like the levying of tribute and the control of trade routes. Much of the Merchant law concerning slavery evolved out of these wars. The wars also developed some of the standardization of the slave as a commodity.
The Gorean novels portray a skewed image of the amount of slaves on Gor. As slaves are often important characters in the novels, the books at first glance might cause you to believe that most women were slaves on Gor. In actuality, only about 2 to 3% of all women on Gor are slaves. Free women vastly outnumber kajirae on Gor. These ratios do vary though from city to city. For example, in Ar there are about 20% slaves. In Tharna, after the revolution against the Tatrix, almost all of women in that city were slaves. (Online, the number of slaves is over 50%.) Of all the slaves on Gor, 90% of them are female. So, male slaves are a very rare item, only about .2 to .3% of the men on Gor. There are many terms used for female slaves such as chain sisters, slut, collar meat, tastas, tasty pudding, morsels, and candies. Kajira is one of the most common terms for a female slave. Sa-Fora, which means Chain Daughter or Daughter of the Chain, is another common expression. For the most part, these terms are considered complimentary.
Slaves are broken down into two major categories, white and red silk. Simply, white silk girls are virgins and red silk girls are not. The color of the silk bears no reference to their level of training. A White Silk girl could be a fully trained Pleasure Slave while a Red Silk girl could be a new recruit from Earth who did not even speak Gorean yet. No other color silk means anything on Gor. Yellow silks, black silks and the such are online creations and are not based on information from the books.
White silk girls may also be known by the term "glana" but that is usually only used by slavers. A kajira would not refer to herself as "glana." Red silks may also be known by the term "falarina" and its usage is similar to glana. Slave may also be referred to as "opened" or not. If you have not yet been opened, you are a virgin. Virgins are almost never available in the slave markets. Most Gorean men prefer opened women. Virgins present special problems, especially psychological ones. Within these two categories of red and white silk, there are many different types of slaves.
Slave types include bath girls, camp slaves, coin girls, debtor slaves, exotics, house slaves, inn slaves, lure girls, passions slaves, pleasure slaves, state slaves, tavern girls, tower slaves, work slaves and many more. 80% of these slaves must sexually please their masters as part of their duties. The condition of slavery requires no overt sign of bondage. Such items are useful mostly for marking property, the identity of owner and such. An uncollared, unbranded slave is still but a slave
Bath girls are the kajirae who serve at the public and private baths. They commonly wear a chain and plate collar, the plate giving their name and cost. They aid men in the taking of their baths and are also available for sexual services. They wear towels with nothing beneath them. Their hair may be cut short to protect it from the water. Others wrap a long, broad strap of glazed leather about their heads like a turban. Most are great swimmers and it is said they are more at ease in the water than a Cosian song fish.
Camp slaves are owned by authorized Merchants, who hold contracts for certain seasons or campaigns. The girls are kept within the military camp and travel with it. The girls are rented out to the soldiers at fees that are stipulated in the contracts. The fees are fixed and almost nominal.
A coin girl is usually regarded as the lowest form of street slave. She is sent into the streets at dusk with a chain on her neck. A bell is attached to her chain to call attention to her. She also carries a small, locked coin box. A man pays her price and places the coin into the box and may have his way with her. Satisfaction is guaranteed or you receive your money back from the master as the girl cannot get to the coins in her box. Though the sexual skills of coin girls are commonly low, a few are actually quite skillful. Sometimes, privately owned girls are sent out as coin girls as a form of punishment.
A display slave is a kajira whose primary purpose is for the display of her beauty to reflect the wealth and status of her master. She will often be chained in coffle with other display slaves behind the transport of her master. The master will often be seen in public with these girls to show everyone his property.
Feast slaves are girls, usually rented in groups, to individuals or organizations for feasts, parties and other functions.
Flute girls are able to play the single or double flute. They are rented out for parties and other functions. They will also commonly serve the pleasure of the guests.
A Kettle-and-mat girl is a slave whose function is divided between household tasks and sexual servitude. It is considered a low form of slave.
A lure girl is a slave who serves as bait for captains who need crewmen and masters of work gangs. The slave pretends to desire a man and distracts him while her owner and his men capture the unfortunate victim.
A Message girl is used to send secret messages. The girl's head is first shaved and then a message is tattooed on her head. The girl is commonly illiterate. Her hair is allowed to grow back. She will then be sent to the person who is to receive the message. She is also usually given to the recipient to keep as well. Later, her head will be shaved again and the message read. A Physician will then use needles to remove the message.
A pot girl may be one of the lowest forms of slave. Her main function is cooking, cleaning and other menial tasks. The term is sometimes used as an insult as well.
A secret slave is a woman who is a slave but who most believe is free. Her true status is concealed by her master. This deception is difficult to maintain for a long time as the girl becomes more like a slave over time. It is also dangerous as Goreans do not like to be duped and they might take it out on the slave. In Magicians of Gor, Talena was made the secret slave of Tarl Cabot. Talena was Ubara of Ar at that point and Tarl permitted her to remain as such until he came to claim her one day.
State slaves are owned by the city and they may tend the central kitchens, care for children, clean apartments, launder clothes, etc. Some are used at state banquets to serve and entertain the guests. It is generally regarded as a slavery of great deprivation though they may sometimes be made available to male slaves and guards. Because of this, state slaves often bring good prices when sold into the private sector.
Work slaves include a variety of slaves such as pot girls, kettle-and-mat girls; laundresses, stable sluts, cleaning slaves, mill slaves, and more. Such slavery serves almost a penal function in some cases. These are generally considered the lowest of slaves.
Some slaves even have professional competencies like in law, medicine or scribe. They may have once belonged to that Caste. They thus possess skills in those areas though they are no longer considered members of the Caste. Many people frown upon slaves using such skills, especially where those skills may place the slave in a position of power or trust.
Earth women are considered natural slaves as they have no Home Stone. They have a reputation of being the lowest and hottest of slaves. They are generally considered barbarians because they know nothing of Gor and must be trained even to speak Gorean. There are extremely few Earth girls who are ever freed on Gor. Both agents of the Priest-Kings and the Kurii make stops on Earth to obtain women to become slaves. Raids by the Kurii have brought a lot of Earth women to Gor in recent years.
By law, slaves are animals and their owner can do anything he or she wishes with them. Slaves are considered to be goods, property. They do not even own a name and cannot own any property. They may use goods but cannot possess them. In most cities, even the offspring of a slave is a slave and belongs to the mother's owner. There are numerous laws preventing slaves from doing many things. For example, it can be a capital offense for a slave to touch a weapon, strike a free person or even to wear robes of concealment. See Education Scroll #2, Laws and Legal Principles, for more laws concerning slavery.
Slave breeding is carefully controlled and free men seldom have children with their slaves. In most breedings, a slave girl and kajirus are taken to a breeding cell or stall. They are both hooded to preclude any attachments and the slaves may not even speak. The coupling is observed by the master and any others in an official capacity. Only a small fraction of the breeding is carefully done by slave houses with a specific intent in mind. Some specially bred girls have a pedigreed lineage that extends back for twenty-five to thirty generations. The most commonly bred slaves are passion slaves and exotics. Passions slaves are women who have been bred for their beauty and sensuality. They typically only receive training as a Pleasure Slave. Exotics are kajirae specially bred for some unique quality, sometimes even bizarre ones. One such type is a girl who is bred to have poisonous saliva. Even some male slaves are bred Exotics.
Slave wine is a Gorean contraceptive, given to all slaves to protect them against conceiving. It is intentionally made to be bitter for slaves. The active ingredient in slave wine is sip root. Sip root, in its raw form, may be chewed as a contraceptive. The raw form's effects last for three to four months. The Red Savages in the Barrens use sip root in its raw form. One drink of slave wine lasts indefinitely, until a releaser is given. This was not always the case. In the beginning of the Gor series, slave wine only lasted a month or so. But, medical technology advanced during the series and its effects are now indefinite. But, out of tradition and to remind a girl she is a slave, it is usually given once or twice a year to her. The antidote is called breeding or second wine. It is a smooth and sweet drink. Its active ingredient is a derivative of the teslik plant. On Earth, slave wine would conquer the birth control market.
Almost every city and town has its own Street of Brands, either a street or a district which handles slave sales and items connected with slavery. The peak season for buying slaves is the spring and early summer. The greatest period for sales is the five days of the Fifth Passage Hand, also called in many cities the Love Feast. Slaves may be auctioned or sold in private sales. Slavers are legally a subcaste of the Merchant Caste though they tend to consider themselves a separate caste. Their caste colors are blue and yellow. Yet, not all slavers belong to the Caste. People of almost any caste can engage in the business of slavery. The primary difference is that these people generally do not derive the major portion of their income from the business of slavery.
At slave auctions, girls are sold on blocks where buyers may inspect them, touch them, have them move and position themselves. Girls are always sold naked though they might begin an auction clothed. During the auction, the clothes would be removed. This is done to entice the crowd and build excitement. It is said that only a fool buys a kajira clothed. By tradition, the blocks are wooden and rounded. Sawdust is usually sprinkled on their tops. In many slave houses, there are usually multiple blocks, one central block and a number of side blocks. The side blocks are commonly about three feet high and five feet in diameter. But, it is a matter of prestige to be sold from the central block. Girls are seldom auctioned from the side blocks. Usually, fixed prices are set, marked on their bodies with a grease pencil. It is a disparaging term to be called a "side-block girl" similar to being called a "pot girl."
Colored tags may be wired to the collars of girls at the auctions. White tags signify that a girl is being "held" for a prospective buyer. A red tag signifies the girl has been "sold." A black tag signifies a girl is "ill." A yellow tag signifies that a girl is not to be sold without prior consultation with the slaver. Some colored tags may also be correlated to classes or grades of slaves. A brown tag may be on a low slave such as a female work slave, pot girl, and kettle and mat girl. A gold tag may be on a trained pleasure slave or dancer. There is no uniform color coding though and different houses have their own conventions. It is not common for slaves to be tagged in a regular market except for sold and holding tags. Tagging is most common in auctions. A sales disk, bearing the girl's lot number, is common so men can inspect the girls before the auction begins and decide who to bid for. Sold girls can also be marked by placing them in a white hood marked "sold" or by writing "sold" in grease pencil on their left breast. It is standard in marking girls to use grease pencil on that breast.
Block measurements are a girl's measurements when she is sold by a slaver. Some slavers take very complete measurements including a girl's height, weight, structure of ear lobes, width and length of fingers and toes, width of heels, distance between nostrils, etc. Most of these measurements are taken by a "slave tape" that is marked in horts. Weights are taken on a grain or tarsk scale that is marked in stones. Finger and toe prints may also be taken.
Block melodies are songs commonly used in slave markets in the display of their girls. Some songs were devised specifically for that purpose and others are just utilized for it. They are usually sexually stimulating. The slaves may dance to this music while on the block. The "Hope of Tina" is a popular block melody of Cos. It is supposedly the expression of the yearning of a young girl that she may be so beautiful, feminine and marvelous, as to prove acceptable as a slave. As a joke, young men may whistle or hum such melodies near free women who are generally unaware of their true nature. Free women may be drawn to them too, not understanding the reason.
Prices for slave girls varies according to the type of kajira, location of the market, time of year, and many other factors. Some generalizations can be made though please remember that these are not absolutes. The cheapest slaves are usually female work slaves purchased for public kitchens, laundries or mills. They are commonly sold in multi-item lots. The next level are the male work slaves. Then come the girls who can be used as a pleasure slave. The next level includes the male silk slaves. The highest level are special female pleasure slaves, dancers or bred passion slaves.
Many kajirae are sold for copper tarsks. A lovely girl may often go for a silver tarsk. A silver tarsk is a very high price for a semitrained girl. An excellent paga slave would generally go for one to three silvers. Fifteen silver tarsks would be the cost for a good dancer or a lesser girl in an Ubar's pleasure gardens. The major auction house in Ar, the Curulean, is one of the most prestigious of slave markets. A girl there is seldom sold for less than two gold tarns. Beautiful women of High Caste might sell for thirty to fifty gold tarns. The top price for a slave might be gotten for an Ubara or the daughter of an Ubar. She might bring 10000 gold tarns in a private sale.
The vast majority of slaves are branded, marking them nearly permanently as slaves. Slavers will only rarely sell a girl who has not yet been branded. In some cities, it is illegal to offer an unbranded girl for public slave. Branding is commonly done by a trained Iron Master as most owners rarely brand their own girls. Branding requires a sure hand and experience to properly do it. By recommendation of Merchant Law, there are three standard marking places: left outer thigh, right outer thigh, and lower left abdomen. The most common site is high on the left outer thigh, high enough to be covered by even a brief tunic. A slave may be branded anywhere on her body but it is not as common.
Many Goreans prefer a girl to be hand branded. Some slavers use mechanical branding devices but such brands are too uniform. It takes some time to bring an iron to the necessary branding temperature. The iron must also be cleaned and reheated before branding another girl. The cleaning is important for the precision and clarity of the brand. A branding rack is often used to hold a girl's thigh in place to prevent her from moving when the hot iron is applied. This helps prevent a blurred brand. A girl is commonly shown the iron before the branding so that she may fully understand its power, its heat and its meaning. A girl is usually branded for about three Ihn, about four Earth seconds. The girl is permitted to scream during the branding.
The most common brand is the "Kef", the first letter of the word "Kajira" in cursive script. It is also known as the "staff and fronds" because it resembles a staff with two, upturned frondlike curls, joined where they touch the staff on its right. It is usually one and a half to two inches high. The Kef is more floral than the common cursive Kef. The two curls are meant to symbolize femininity and beauty. The upturned curves on the fronds indicate total openness and vulnerability. The staff symbolizes that the femininity is subject to discipline. Male slaves are branded with a large block "Kef", not the cursive letter. There are many other types of brands such as the Dina and the Palm brand. Some cities have their own special brand as well. Some merchants make up their own new brands. There are collectors who collect girls with exotic brands.
A small and beautiful brand enhances a girl's beauty. It also has definite psychological benefits to instilling the idea of slavery on a girl. It is easy to consider that you are property when you have been permanently marked like livestock. A girl will basically only be branded once in her lifetime. A brand simply signifies that you are a slave. It does not commonly serve to identify your owner. Thus, there is little reason for an owner to want to rebrand a girl. Certain penalty brands may be added to punish a girl but their intent is not show a girl's slavery or identify her owner.
A slave with a brand can still be freed. But, the mark is permanent and there was no method ever mentioned in the books that would remove or alter it. If such a freed girl wishes to remain free, she better ensure that her papers of manumission are kept handy. Luckily, most brand spots can be well hidden so others cannot notice a woman's brand. But, if a man does see that a free woman has a brand, he might try to enslave her unless she can prove she was freed.
The most common garment for slaves is a brief slave tunic, sleeveless and with a deep plunging neckline. It may be made of a great variety of materials from satins and silks to clinging rep-cloth. Rep cloth is very popular because it is inexpensive, thin and clings well to a body. Leather is generally not permitted to slaves as the softer and more feminine fabrics are preferred by Gorean men. The tunic has no nether closure as a kajira is expected to be ready for her master at any time. Many of these tunics also have a disrobing knot so that a light tug will cause the entire garment to fall to a girl's feet.
There are a number of other garments also worn by slaves. The common camisk is a narrow, poncho-like garment. It is little more than a long, narrow, rectangle of cloth with an opening for the head. It is worn belted, falls to just above the knee and does not cover the brand. The Turian camisk is like an inverted "T" in which the bar of the "T" is beveled on each side. It is fastened with a single cord. The cord binds the garment at three points, behind the neck, back, and in front of the waist. The garment is fastened at the neck, and then passes before her passing between her legs. The sides fold about the hips. It covers the brand, but leaves the back bare. In Turia, it is simply called the camisk and the common camisk is called the "northern camisk." Ta-teeras are slave rags, usually a brief bit of rep cloth, torn here and there, or even just rags sewn together. Kajirae may also use slave girdles, belts, to tie around their clothes to accent their figures.
In addition, slaves almost always go barefoot and rarely are permitted sandals. Slaves rarely walk the city streets naked except as discipline. Free women object to them being naked publicly and most men abide by this. The area of a girl's abdomen around the navel is called the "slave belly" because only slave girls expose their navels. In a family house, the slaves are modestly garbed because of the children. A slave may be a nurse, governess and playmate to a child. Slaves may also dress modestly so as to not offend free women. If a young man is giving a proper and refined dinner, his slave will be modestly attired.
The primary functions of slave clothes is not to clothe the slave but to display her and to show her that she is a slave. Thus, most slave clothing is made of sensuous fabrics and is cut very revealingly. Some slave clothes may also be practical depending on the function or location of the slave girl. A girl who works in the mills would wear a more practical outfit than a paga slave. A slave in Torvaldsland would obviously be dressed warmly. A new slave may have to earn the privilege of getting to wear clothes. An owner controls fully if a girl is allowed clothes and what clothes she may wear.
Almost all slaves must wear a ko-lar, the Gorean word for a collar. The most common collar is a light, steel-like band, snugly fitting, that locks in the back. But Gorean collars can vary from simple iron bands to enameled bands to ornate, bejeweled collars. Obviously only the wealthy would ever place jewels on a slave's collar. Such jewels make a girl a tempting target for thieves so it is likely the girl would not be free to wander the city without her owner. Instead, most men would place costume jewelry onto a collar if they wished to enhance its look.
All collars have two things in common: they cannot be removed by the girl and they mark her as a slave. The collar is secured with a six pin lock, one pin for each of the letters in the word "kajira." The most common sizes for collars are the ten to twelve hort ones. On Earth, this would be about 12.5 to 15 inches. Some masters also cover collars with collar stockings or sleeves. They are simply pieces of fabric that cover a collar. They are used as an accessory to enhance a girl's beauty and come in a variety of materials. The Turian ko-lar is another common collar on Gor. It is a round ring, which lies loosely on a slave so that if a man holds the ring, the girl can turn in it. It is harder to engrave though than a normal collar.
A collar identifies a kajira's master and city. This information would be engraved onto the collar itself. The collar also serves as a visible token of a girl's bondage. In some cities, such visible tokens are required by law. But, a slave without a collar is still but a slave. There is a kind of implicit claim of ownership involved in the collaring of a kajira so it is seldom done save by her master. Some say that the collar releases the beauty in a woman though it is likely just the effects of her slavery and not the collar itself. The collar transforms a woman psychologically and sexually. She understands that she has no choice but to be a total female. It is also said that a collar has an "intensification effect" on a kajira that deepens and intensifies a woman's sexuality. She can then be driven to "…almost excruciatingly ecstatic orgasmic heights,.." (Guardsman of Gor, p.210)