Post by Joe MacBain on Nov 11, 2006 12:50:14 GMT -5
Slave steel is a generic term for the metal implements and equipment worn by slaves, such as collars, chains, manacles, siriks, etc. Slave manacles, also called slave bracelets, are fixed-ring sized for wrists and ankles. There are four numbers in the series: one is small, two and three are normal, and four is large. But, most are adjustable for any of the four sizes. The manacles for wrists and ankles though are sized differently. A size two wrist ring has an interior circumference of five horts and a size two ankle ring of seven horts. Many men prefer the sizes of wrists and ankles to match. There is an implicit claim of ownership involved in putting a girl in slave steel so it is seldom done except by a girl's master. Female slaves do not escape from Gorean iron.
When slaves are bound, they are tied by men who know what they are doing. Thus, struggling is futile. It is common practice to place one bond before removing another. One standard binding position is for the girl to be on her belly, crossing her wrists and ankles behind her. Bonds are never placed over clothing. Different ties have different purposes. Ties include such types as control ties, discipline ties, and pleasure ties. It is common in times of crisis and danger to secure slaves.
A coffle is a method of chaining a line of slaves together for travel. It is common to link the slaves by either the left ankle, left wrist, or throat. Chaining the left wrist or throat are useful for traveling. Chaining the left ankle or throat frees the girls to carry burdens. The link to the main chain may be either solid or loose. If it is solid, the girls will be spaced evenly. If it is loose, the girls will be able to move up and down the chain. A coffle may also be called a "slaver's necklace" and the kajirae referred to as "jewels" or "beads." There is a large variety of coffle or chaining arrangements. The common chain, also called the March or Trekking chain, arranges the girls from tallest to shortest. In a Display or Selling chain, the arrangement of the girl's can be determined by a variety of considerations, aesthetic or psychological. You can rank the girl's by beauty, or alternate them by hair color or size.
Much of the chaining on Gor is primarily aesthetic and symbolic. Chains are used far less for bondage than many would think. There are many reasons for chaining. Security against theft and the prevention of escape is but two reasons. It may also be done for educational reasons, to remind a girl she is a slave. It may be done to humiliate, especially in certain positions, or as punishment. If a girl is placed into close chains, her wrists and ankles are chained closely together. Over time, it builds up a considerable amount of pain. After about five Ahn, a girl is ready to serve most willingly. Chains can also enhance a girl's beauty. The matter is partly aesthetic, partly emotional and partly intellectual. The greatest beauty of the chain lies in the realm of the intellect and emotions, in its meaning, and how it makes a girl feel. Brands and collars offer little impediment to a girl's actions, unlike a chain. Thus, chains show her slavery in a clear, unmistakable manner. Just the sight of chains can make many women, even free women, sexually uneasy.
A sirik is a common type of slave steel. It consists of a collar and three light chains attached. The collar may be of any type. The chain is ten to twelve inches longer than is needed to reach from her collar to her ankles. To the chain, at the natural fall of the wrists, are attached slave bracelets. At the end of the chain, is a set of linked ankle rings. The sirik is graceful and designed to enhance a girl's beauty. The sirik can also serve as a leash. The chain widths are adjustable to adjust the latitude of movement. It is even possible in some siriks for a girl to dance. On a work sirik the wrists are granted about a yard more of chain so she can work without impediment.
An iron belt is a Gorean chastity belt. It consists of two major pieces. One is a rounded, fitted, curved, barlike waistband that is flat at the ends. One end of this band, the right side, standing behind the woman and looking forward, has a heavy, semicircular ring, or staple, welded onto it. The other end, looking forward, has a slot in it which fits over the staple. The other major portion of the belt consists of a curved band of flat, shaped iron. One end of this flat band is curved and closed about the barlike waistband in the front. This produces a hinge. The flat, U-shaped strap of iron swings on this hinge. On the other end of this flat band is a slot. It fits over the same staple as the other slot. The belt is then put on the girl and locked with a padlock. There are many varieties of this belt. The above is a plain one. It may be used on white silks, to protect their status, or as discipline. Some jealous masters may also put their red silks in such a belt to prevent the use of others.
Ear piercing is an act of claiming, akin to collaring. It is seen as tantamount to a sentence of irrevocable bondage. Ear piercing was a custom of Turia and spread north after Turia was conquered by the Wagon Peoples. It was originally done only to the lowest and most sensuous slaves but as time went on, it has become common for all pleasure slaves to have it done. Many Gorean men find ear piercing extremely provocative. Ear piercing is done by leather workers using long needles. Pierced ear girls get high prices at auctions and sales. Earrings also play a part in the arousal of a kajira. The brushing of the side of her neck by an earring stimulates a sensitive area. The tiny sounds of an earring can also stimulate her. The whole of the idea makes a girl more responsive. The septum of the nose may also be pierced and a nose ring worn. Nose rings are most common for free women and slaves of the Wagon Peoples. It is considered more respectable than an ear piercing. Many domestic animals on Gor have nose rings.
There is a large industry in cosmetics for slaves. Most of the cosmetics that are worn by free women are not considered appropriate or sensual enough for slaves to use. Slave perfumes are usually heavier and more sensual scents than free women ones. There are hundreds of varieties of slave perfumes. There are even colognes and perfumes for male slaves. There are one hundred and eleven basic shades of slave lipstick including flavored lipsticks. Toenails and fingernails are rarely painted on slaves. Most men prefer the natural look. Some slaves may have painted nails at night though. In Turia and Ar, it is not uncommon for a slave to be depilated.
Auburn is a popular hair color for slaves and brings a high price. But, the dyeing of a girl's hair is frowned upon. Goreans prefer natural colors, even if they are not auburn. Goreans also tend to like long hair on women. A girl with short hair is often scorned and ridiculed. Slave hair is often worn long and loose, or confined in some simple way as with a ribbon or wooden fillet. Long hair can be used to secure a girl or gag her. Some masters like ponytails which is called the "leash" or "hair leash" as it can be used to grab and control a slave. Upswept hairdos are reserved for free women or high slaves as it is a mark of status. The loosening of one's hair is considered to be a sensuous act. If you ask "who loosens her hair?" you are asking to know who owns her. A "slave flame" is a haircut where the hair comes swirling down the back. Many masters cut their girls' hair. Shaving a slave's head may be a punishment or a protection against lice in a confined area, especially aboard ships. The hair is also valuable and can be sold for profit.
Every woman, slave and free, is taught by puberty how to render submission. Her life might one day depend on it. If a free women is ever captured, she must be prepared for that eventuality. Free women learn how to prepare exotic dishes, the arts of walking and standing, the care of a man's equipment, the love dances of a city, and much more. Once a girl is made a slave though, her training becomes much more intense. Slave training covers many diverse areas from the sexual arts, to cosmetics and perfumes, to the ways to entering a room. All slaves learn the ways to please men, physically, emotionally and intellectually. Proper training commonly takes several months to complete, at about five hours each day. A girl though will always receive additional training by her master, according to his own interests and tastes.
The training of a Pleasure Slave is long and arduous. During the first week of training, a girl does nothing but kneel before a mirror in the position of a Pleasure Slave for several Ahn a day. In the second week, she kneels the same but repeats out loud, "La Kajira." In the third and fourth weeks, she learns the laws of natural order, relation of the sexes, and that women are natural slaves. The girls are allowed to argue and debate during this time. They also learn in the fourth week to respond by rote to certain questions, some of them being quite complex. In the fifth week, she kneels again, repeating the questions and answers she learned. In the sixth week, she kneels and repeats aloud "I love being a slave girl." The next weeks include a period of exercises. When not being trained, barbarians learn Gorean. After the period of exercise training, they learn how to stand, to walk, to kneel, to recline, to eat, and to drink. They also learn the domestic chores of sewing, laundry, and cooking. Their training also includes dances, songs, variety of kisses and caresses and sexual techniques. This is a very comprehensive training program.
Most slaves learn how to respond to various questions. Some common questions and answers are given here.
"What are you? I am a slave girl.
What is a slave girl? A girl who is owned.
Why do you wear a brand? To show that I am owned.
Why do you wear a collar? That men may know who owns me.
What does a slave girl want more than anything? To please men.
What are you? I am a slave girl.
What do you want more than anything? To please men."
It can be easily seen that slave training is deeply psychological. It attempts to instill in a woman that she is only a slave whose duty is to please men. This indoctrination is the framework for all further training. Without it, a kajira would not be happy or dutiful. Slaves must learn more than the actions of a slave. They must learn how to be a slave in their minds and hearts. To the Goreans, a girl is simply releasing her true inner nature. It is less an education that a simple acceptance of a girl's place within nature.
Goreans prefer a wide variety of kajirae. They find beauty in many different forms though some generalizations can be made. Many men prefer rounded bellies on slaves as they feel that firm, flat bellies are too much like young men. They also prefer normal-sized, lovely breasted, sweetly thighed girls with broad hips. The typical model on Earth would not fare well on Gor. They would be too tall and too thin. Goreans also realize that many women, after a year or two as a slave, increase considerably in beauty. Thus, an ordinary looking woman can transform into a vision.
Goreans commonly like spirited girls who fight the collar but eventually submit. They relish the challenge of breaking such women. Goreans also value intelligent and imaginative slaves. Most Goreans enjoying talking to their slaves so they want a responsive partner. The common ideal slave is highly intelligent, beautiful, imaginative, strong willed, and proud. But, the most fundamental property prized in women is their need for love and their capacity for love.
A slave does not even own their name. Their master names them and can change that name at will. Changing a kajira's name or taking it away are common modes of discipline. A free woman's name, when enslaved, becomes a slave name even if not changed. Often, a new slave is not immediately named. If one is unsure if she will work out or be kept, it is thought not worth the while to waste a name on her. Other times, a master simply waits a few days until an appropriate name arises. Most masters won't name a girl they pan on immediately destroying so a name gives a kajira some sense of security. "A" is a common ending for many feminine names on Gor. A humbling or punishing name, like Ugly Girl or Wart, is as much a real name as a beautiful name. All Earth girl names are considered slave names, though the pronunciation is commonly changed to more closely reflect Gorean sounds.
Slaves must address all free people as Master or Mistress. They address only their own Master as "my Master or Mistress." Slaves are seldom permitted, at least publicly, to address any master by his name, only his title. The privilege of using a free man's name is reserved for free woman. Many masters though prefer to hear their name said by a slave, in private, out of the presence of free women. Kajirae may tell others the name of their master for explanation purposes only. For example, they may use his name to tell others the identity of her master.
It is not uncommon for slaves to refer to themselves in the third person. But, it is not a necessity to do so unless they have been specifically told to do so by their Master. "Speak as a slave" is generally the command for a kajira to speak in the third person. The novels contain a multitude of examples where slaves commonly speak in the first person. It all depends on each kajira's master and her training. It is not wrong for a slave to use the first person unless she is under specific orders to speak in third person.
Any free man may discipline an insolent or errant slave, even one who is in the least bit displeasing. If she is killed or injured, he need only pay compensation to her master and only if the master can be located within a specific time and requests such compensation. Discipline of a slave may be attended to by any free person, otherwise she might do much what she wished, provided only that her master did not learn of it. Gorean masters, though often strict, are seldom cruel. Sadism and wanton cruelty are almost unknown. Any cruelty done is usually purposeful, as in teaching a woman that she is a slave. Sometimes they are punished without the master explaining the reasons. It is then for the kajira to guess and wonder the reasons. She may even be punished for no reason at all. A girl is seldom punished for trying to be pleasing, at least at first. A public master is more likely to punish a girl than a private master. Part of this has to do with how a master is perceived in public, by others, in how his slave acts. In private, a girl has more leeway to avoid discipline by being pleasing.
When slaves are bound, they are tied by men who know what they are doing. Thus, struggling is futile. It is common practice to place one bond before removing another. One standard binding position is for the girl to be on her belly, crossing her wrists and ankles behind her. Bonds are never placed over clothing. Different ties have different purposes. Ties include such types as control ties, discipline ties, and pleasure ties. It is common in times of crisis and danger to secure slaves.
A coffle is a method of chaining a line of slaves together for travel. It is common to link the slaves by either the left ankle, left wrist, or throat. Chaining the left wrist or throat are useful for traveling. Chaining the left ankle or throat frees the girls to carry burdens. The link to the main chain may be either solid or loose. If it is solid, the girls will be spaced evenly. If it is loose, the girls will be able to move up and down the chain. A coffle may also be called a "slaver's necklace" and the kajirae referred to as "jewels" or "beads." There is a large variety of coffle or chaining arrangements. The common chain, also called the March or Trekking chain, arranges the girls from tallest to shortest. In a Display or Selling chain, the arrangement of the girl's can be determined by a variety of considerations, aesthetic or psychological. You can rank the girl's by beauty, or alternate them by hair color or size.
Much of the chaining on Gor is primarily aesthetic and symbolic. Chains are used far less for bondage than many would think. There are many reasons for chaining. Security against theft and the prevention of escape is but two reasons. It may also be done for educational reasons, to remind a girl she is a slave. It may be done to humiliate, especially in certain positions, or as punishment. If a girl is placed into close chains, her wrists and ankles are chained closely together. Over time, it builds up a considerable amount of pain. After about five Ahn, a girl is ready to serve most willingly. Chains can also enhance a girl's beauty. The matter is partly aesthetic, partly emotional and partly intellectual. The greatest beauty of the chain lies in the realm of the intellect and emotions, in its meaning, and how it makes a girl feel. Brands and collars offer little impediment to a girl's actions, unlike a chain. Thus, chains show her slavery in a clear, unmistakable manner. Just the sight of chains can make many women, even free women, sexually uneasy.
A sirik is a common type of slave steel. It consists of a collar and three light chains attached. The collar may be of any type. The chain is ten to twelve inches longer than is needed to reach from her collar to her ankles. To the chain, at the natural fall of the wrists, are attached slave bracelets. At the end of the chain, is a set of linked ankle rings. The sirik is graceful and designed to enhance a girl's beauty. The sirik can also serve as a leash. The chain widths are adjustable to adjust the latitude of movement. It is even possible in some siriks for a girl to dance. On a work sirik the wrists are granted about a yard more of chain so she can work without impediment.
An iron belt is a Gorean chastity belt. It consists of two major pieces. One is a rounded, fitted, curved, barlike waistband that is flat at the ends. One end of this band, the right side, standing behind the woman and looking forward, has a heavy, semicircular ring, or staple, welded onto it. The other end, looking forward, has a slot in it which fits over the staple. The other major portion of the belt consists of a curved band of flat, shaped iron. One end of this flat band is curved and closed about the barlike waistband in the front. This produces a hinge. The flat, U-shaped strap of iron swings on this hinge. On the other end of this flat band is a slot. It fits over the same staple as the other slot. The belt is then put on the girl and locked with a padlock. There are many varieties of this belt. The above is a plain one. It may be used on white silks, to protect their status, or as discipline. Some jealous masters may also put their red silks in such a belt to prevent the use of others.
Ear piercing is an act of claiming, akin to collaring. It is seen as tantamount to a sentence of irrevocable bondage. Ear piercing was a custom of Turia and spread north after Turia was conquered by the Wagon Peoples. It was originally done only to the lowest and most sensuous slaves but as time went on, it has become common for all pleasure slaves to have it done. Many Gorean men find ear piercing extremely provocative. Ear piercing is done by leather workers using long needles. Pierced ear girls get high prices at auctions and sales. Earrings also play a part in the arousal of a kajira. The brushing of the side of her neck by an earring stimulates a sensitive area. The tiny sounds of an earring can also stimulate her. The whole of the idea makes a girl more responsive. The septum of the nose may also be pierced and a nose ring worn. Nose rings are most common for free women and slaves of the Wagon Peoples. It is considered more respectable than an ear piercing. Many domestic animals on Gor have nose rings.
There is a large industry in cosmetics for slaves. Most of the cosmetics that are worn by free women are not considered appropriate or sensual enough for slaves to use. Slave perfumes are usually heavier and more sensual scents than free women ones. There are hundreds of varieties of slave perfumes. There are even colognes and perfumes for male slaves. There are one hundred and eleven basic shades of slave lipstick including flavored lipsticks. Toenails and fingernails are rarely painted on slaves. Most men prefer the natural look. Some slaves may have painted nails at night though. In Turia and Ar, it is not uncommon for a slave to be depilated.
Auburn is a popular hair color for slaves and brings a high price. But, the dyeing of a girl's hair is frowned upon. Goreans prefer natural colors, even if they are not auburn. Goreans also tend to like long hair on women. A girl with short hair is often scorned and ridiculed. Slave hair is often worn long and loose, or confined in some simple way as with a ribbon or wooden fillet. Long hair can be used to secure a girl or gag her. Some masters like ponytails which is called the "leash" or "hair leash" as it can be used to grab and control a slave. Upswept hairdos are reserved for free women or high slaves as it is a mark of status. The loosening of one's hair is considered to be a sensuous act. If you ask "who loosens her hair?" you are asking to know who owns her. A "slave flame" is a haircut where the hair comes swirling down the back. Many masters cut their girls' hair. Shaving a slave's head may be a punishment or a protection against lice in a confined area, especially aboard ships. The hair is also valuable and can be sold for profit.
Every woman, slave and free, is taught by puberty how to render submission. Her life might one day depend on it. If a free women is ever captured, she must be prepared for that eventuality. Free women learn how to prepare exotic dishes, the arts of walking and standing, the care of a man's equipment, the love dances of a city, and much more. Once a girl is made a slave though, her training becomes much more intense. Slave training covers many diverse areas from the sexual arts, to cosmetics and perfumes, to the ways to entering a room. All slaves learn the ways to please men, physically, emotionally and intellectually. Proper training commonly takes several months to complete, at about five hours each day. A girl though will always receive additional training by her master, according to his own interests and tastes.
The training of a Pleasure Slave is long and arduous. During the first week of training, a girl does nothing but kneel before a mirror in the position of a Pleasure Slave for several Ahn a day. In the second week, she kneels the same but repeats out loud, "La Kajira." In the third and fourth weeks, she learns the laws of natural order, relation of the sexes, and that women are natural slaves. The girls are allowed to argue and debate during this time. They also learn in the fourth week to respond by rote to certain questions, some of them being quite complex. In the fifth week, she kneels again, repeating the questions and answers she learned. In the sixth week, she kneels and repeats aloud "I love being a slave girl." The next weeks include a period of exercises. When not being trained, barbarians learn Gorean. After the period of exercise training, they learn how to stand, to walk, to kneel, to recline, to eat, and to drink. They also learn the domestic chores of sewing, laundry, and cooking. Their training also includes dances, songs, variety of kisses and caresses and sexual techniques. This is a very comprehensive training program.
Most slaves learn how to respond to various questions. Some common questions and answers are given here.
"What are you? I am a slave girl.
What is a slave girl? A girl who is owned.
Why do you wear a brand? To show that I am owned.
Why do you wear a collar? That men may know who owns me.
What does a slave girl want more than anything? To please men.
What are you? I am a slave girl.
What do you want more than anything? To please men."
It can be easily seen that slave training is deeply psychological. It attempts to instill in a woman that she is only a slave whose duty is to please men. This indoctrination is the framework for all further training. Without it, a kajira would not be happy or dutiful. Slaves must learn more than the actions of a slave. They must learn how to be a slave in their minds and hearts. To the Goreans, a girl is simply releasing her true inner nature. It is less an education that a simple acceptance of a girl's place within nature.
Goreans prefer a wide variety of kajirae. They find beauty in many different forms though some generalizations can be made. Many men prefer rounded bellies on slaves as they feel that firm, flat bellies are too much like young men. They also prefer normal-sized, lovely breasted, sweetly thighed girls with broad hips. The typical model on Earth would not fare well on Gor. They would be too tall and too thin. Goreans also realize that many women, after a year or two as a slave, increase considerably in beauty. Thus, an ordinary looking woman can transform into a vision.
Goreans commonly like spirited girls who fight the collar but eventually submit. They relish the challenge of breaking such women. Goreans also value intelligent and imaginative slaves. Most Goreans enjoying talking to their slaves so they want a responsive partner. The common ideal slave is highly intelligent, beautiful, imaginative, strong willed, and proud. But, the most fundamental property prized in women is their need for love and their capacity for love.
A slave does not even own their name. Their master names them and can change that name at will. Changing a kajira's name or taking it away are common modes of discipline. A free woman's name, when enslaved, becomes a slave name even if not changed. Often, a new slave is not immediately named. If one is unsure if she will work out or be kept, it is thought not worth the while to waste a name on her. Other times, a master simply waits a few days until an appropriate name arises. Most masters won't name a girl they pan on immediately destroying so a name gives a kajira some sense of security. "A" is a common ending for many feminine names on Gor. A humbling or punishing name, like Ugly Girl or Wart, is as much a real name as a beautiful name. All Earth girl names are considered slave names, though the pronunciation is commonly changed to more closely reflect Gorean sounds.
Slaves must address all free people as Master or Mistress. They address only their own Master as "my Master or Mistress." Slaves are seldom permitted, at least publicly, to address any master by his name, only his title. The privilege of using a free man's name is reserved for free woman. Many masters though prefer to hear their name said by a slave, in private, out of the presence of free women. Kajirae may tell others the name of their master for explanation purposes only. For example, they may use his name to tell others the identity of her master.
It is not uncommon for slaves to refer to themselves in the third person. But, it is not a necessity to do so unless they have been specifically told to do so by their Master. "Speak as a slave" is generally the command for a kajira to speak in the third person. The novels contain a multitude of examples where slaves commonly speak in the first person. It all depends on each kajira's master and her training. It is not wrong for a slave to use the first person unless she is under specific orders to speak in third person.
Any free man may discipline an insolent or errant slave, even one who is in the least bit displeasing. If she is killed or injured, he need only pay compensation to her master and only if the master can be located within a specific time and requests such compensation. Discipline of a slave may be attended to by any free person, otherwise she might do much what she wished, provided only that her master did not learn of it. Gorean masters, though often strict, are seldom cruel. Sadism and wanton cruelty are almost unknown. Any cruelty done is usually purposeful, as in teaching a woman that she is a slave. Sometimes they are punished without the master explaining the reasons. It is then for the kajira to guess and wonder the reasons. She may even be punished for no reason at all. A girl is seldom punished for trying to be pleasing, at least at first. A public master is more likely to punish a girl than a private master. Part of this has to do with how a master is perceived in public, by others, in how his slave acts. In private, a girl has more leeway to avoid discipline by being pleasing.