Background for the Tales of Gor RPG
adventure that will be commencing on this blog very soon now.
The Lady Rosalita lives in Telnus on
the coast of the island of Cos which like all Gorean cities is a
bustling, thriving and colourful place in which to have adventures. I
like to flesh out settings and so this is a short list describing
some of the locations that the gentle Lady Rosalita will be familiar
with at the start of the interactive Tales of Gor role-playing game.
Any of these places can be visited and more locations will be created
as the story unfolds.
The House of Yellow Lanterns: So
called because of the yellow lanterns that hang from the outside
walls facing the Thassa – yellow being the caste colour of the
builders. This is your house, cylindrical in design, built by your
father atop a cliff overlooking the main harbour of Telnus. It has an
impressive sea view, narrow but three storeys in height with an
extensive basement below. The sea facing part of the house opens out
onto a beautiful courtyard verandah that extends to the cliff's edge
itself where a crenellated safety wall of about chest height allows
you to gaze down at the waves crashing against the rocks three
hundred yards below. The courtyard faces the sun in the mornings and
has beautiful plants and fruit trees growing inside. It is protected
by strands of tarn wire set high above head level. You own your
father's business and tend to draw from the profits the sum of five
silver tarsks a month (roughly $10,000). The business runs itself
with only moderate involvement on your part unless you wish to assume
more control.
The Caverns: something of a
secret, discovered by your father when he first designed and built
your house, there is a cave mouth at the bottom of the cliffs below
your house, open to the surging sea, which can only be accessed by
small boats (if at all). Your father always forbade you from going
down there for it was far too dangerous (there are many rocks close
by, some submerged, and the tidal pull can be quite strong on that
part of the coastline). Some years after your father died you
discovered that the cave actually leads to a set of tunnels that
stretch far underground and lead eventually to a small hamlet nestled
maybe a pasang from the city walls called Luden. In olden times
smugglers and pirates used to use the cave entrance late at night to
unload contraband goods and convey them from the cliff side to the
hamlet itself. You discovered the truth about the cave mouth when you
were visited by a man called Barras several years ago and he enquired
whether you might perhaps turn a blind eye to comings and goings at
the foot of your cliffside residence, for technically the cave mouth
sits within the boundaries of your property. Your lifestyle is such
that additional income is always welcome and so you agreed to allow
Barras to come and bring his small boats below your cliffs late at
night without mentioning anything. In exchange for this every month
you receive a silver tarsk coin (worth approximately $2,000 in
current Earth terms). You have no idea what this constitutes as a
percentage of Barras's profit, since you've never enquired what he is
actually doing, and possibly you don't really want to know. There is
a very heavy wood and iron bound door in the extensive basement of
your house that has always been locked (you don't have the key –
presumably it was lost long ago) that you suspect may lead to a
narrow passage that connects somehow to the tunnels below for you can
feel and smell a sea breeze from behind it.
It is possible that if you were in need
of help from a man who was somewhat vulgar with his fists and not
exactly unaccustomed to hurting people, that Barras might be amenable
to helping you out for a price. You are after all incredibly
beautiful and you can be exceptionally charming if you want to be.
Past experience has taught you that men often want to please you.
Barras would surely also fall for your charms, and you do after all
already have something of a business relationship. You don't know
where he lives, but you have a way of contacting him if need be – a
one way dead drop that is checked regularly where you can remove a
brick in an alleyway and leave a copper tarsk bit there, replacing
the brick. That is your signal you wish to speak to him. He has
warned you however that he is not a man prone to idle chit-chat, and
that you should only contact him on matters of importance.
The Circularium: There are of
course many slavers operating distinguished business premises within
the city of Telnus, but most of them are dangerous looking men with
weasel like faces who regard Free Women as potentially new stock,
even if they don't act on such thoughts. This slaver house however
offers a rather more respectable welcome to Free Women should they be
looking to purchase a slave. The House understands that it can be an
intimidating and somewhat traumatic experience for a Free Woman to
make enquiries of a business nature with a slaver, and it therefore
has a rather more welcoming customer area to set a woman's mind at
ease; a place where she can recline in a pleasantly decorated room
with soft cushions, good quality complimentary refreshments, pleasing
aromas from scented pomanders and gentle soothing music. The
considerate and understanding slaver staff are polite, well spoken,
sympathetic towards the anxious feelings of Free Women and they will
do everything in their power to make a customer of the fairer sex
feel relaxed and comfortable. Slaves will be paraded individually
within the display room or perhaps in twos or threes depending on the
woman’s time and preferences. The slaves will of course be
presented in a tasteful and less salacious manner than if they were
being viewed by men. They will be dressed in modest tunics, they will
be clean and demure and they will not be sexually intimidating in any
way to a Free Woman. Orders can then be recorded and deliveries made
so that a woman need not have to visit any of the, shall we say, less
salubrious areas of the slaver house. All girls are given a thorough
health assessment and once sold will be delivered freshly fed, washed
and groomed, along with a complimentary guide on how to look after
and get the best out of your new kajira.
Slaves from this house tend to be a bit
more expensive than if you purchased them from the Street of Brands,
but it is surely a price worth paying to avoid such a seedy and
alarming part of town.
The house will also consider the
purchase of unwanted slaves and can make house calls to assess your
property if the girls are presumed to be of sufficient quality.
The Chambray is the most
fabulous boutique in the whole of Telnus. It’s where the wealthy
women of the city shop, and perhaps the less wealthy too if they
understand that they need to wear robes and gowns from the Chambray
if they have any ambition to advance and be accepted within polite
society. All garments are made to measure – a fitting is arranged
where your measurements are taken. A woman may browse through display
models of currently fashionable garments and consult heavy books of
sample fabrics. Garments are then sewn to an incredibly high standard
based on a woman’s requirements. It would be unthinkable to attend
High Caste social functions wearing garments of lesser quality. So in
demand is the Chambray that there is often a waiting time of up to 3
months for orders to be completed. High Caste women can usually
reduce this to a maximum waiting time of 3 weeks. Women who can wield
influence of some sort may have special priority and receive their
finished wardrobe within 3 days provided the materials are in stock.
Galliano’s: a high quality
perfumer in Telnus. The perfumes are exquisite and made from rare
ingredients and secret formulas that other perfumers can only dream
of obtaining. Sadly, Galliano himself tends to be brusque, humourless
and rude to his female customers, often treating them with little
respect, safe in the knowledge that he offers a premium product that
cannot be equalled by any of his rivals. Free Women of high caste can
sometimes be kept waiting in the shop for an hour or more while he
rudely ignores them because he is perfecting a particular scent at
his work table and doesn't wish to look up. The woman in question
knows that if she leaves prematurely in a fit of annoyance, Galliano
will remember and make a point of then making her wait again twice as
long next time she visits.
Lumina’s is a luxurious bath
house that caters for women only. It is a place to go to relax,
bathe, unwind, be pampered and enjoy social interaction with other
ladies of the city who happen to be there as well. Often friends will
arrange to meet up and will spend an entire morning there, maybe
breaking off for a light lunch served in one of the cloistered alcove
areas. The waters are heated, the air is scented and everything is in
exquisite taste. Low caste women are only admitted as guests of high
caste women. This gives the place an air of exclusivity that adds to
its desirability.
The 49: A favourite restaurant
within the city that is particularly welcoming to Free Women, whether
in groups or whether they choose to dine alone. There are no menus as
such – a Free Woman (or women, or indeed men) will give the girl
who waits on their table an idea of what they are in the mood for –
fish perhaps - and then the experienced chef will arrange a plate of
food on this theme with a surprising array of innovations and
flavours rarely imitated elsewhere. Prices are expensive, and rarely
advertised anywhere in sight. It is considered uncouth to query the
price of your meal in advance. Only Cosian wines are served at the
table, but the quality is always first rate. The name refers to the
fact that statistically on Gor, 49 out of every 50 women are Free,
and therefore being a Free Woman is the natural state for females and
they should celebrate that fact, possibly with a very expensive meal?
Partellus is a reliable service
that can provide palanquins for a Free Woman to travel around the
city. A palanquin is basically a small carriage like convenience set
on long poles that is carried through the streets of Telnus by four
burly male slaves, shackled to the poles. A ‘driver’ walks beside
the shackled slaves with a short whip, guiding the palanquin through
the often crowded streets, moving low caste individuals out of the
way with a wave of his iron shod walking stick. A Free Woman need
only tell him where she wishes to go and she will be conveyed there
via the most efficient route as the driver has an expert knowledge of
the streets. The palanquin can wait for her or arrange to return at a
required time. Rates are triple once it gets dark because obviously
the security of a palanquin is in demand then, and because a
guardsman also accompanies the carriage.
The Vestibule : a ceremonial
shrine of sorts to the Priest Kings, officiated by members of the
Caste of Initiates who burn incense around the clock and make
ceremonial prayers at regular intervals. It is considered good luck
to make small offerings at this shrine before embarking on any worthy
venture where the outcome is important.
Talon’s Point: a popular place
for citizens to walk and enjoy the city’s parks and landscapes. The
city authorities maintain cages of exotic beasts on display here as
an amusement and there are often side stalls selling food and drink.
When night falls the place is not safe for Free Women to venture in
unless they have burly guards at their side. Young men take to the
park late at night with botas of paga and strong spirits seeking a
little amusement. They drink, they may brawl and if they happen to
come across a woman reckless enough to be passing through the park
grounds late at night on her own, they may perhaps take her into one
of the bushes for a bit of ‘rough and tumble’. The authorities
view this simply as the high spirits of young men growing into
maturity and turn a blind eye to their antics provided they do not
get too carried away. They would have little sympathy for any lone
woman who reported being accosted, as they would view her decision to
enter the parks after dark as an invitation for trouble on her part.
The Square of Justice: curiously
mis-named as it is quite obviously a rectangle in shape, this is a
popular venue mid week when it hosts the public enslavements for
penal reasons. Justice is often served with slavery for certain
crimes and the good citizens of Telnus love nothing more than a good
public enslavement, especially if the poor wretch happens to be a
once lofty Free Woman who has transgressed the city laws in some way.
Only last week the insufferable Lady Clara was enslaved after it was
revealed she had slept with a male slave belonging to one of her
neighbours. In doing so she had broken the couching laws that
originated in Ar thirty years ago but have since spread to many other
cities in Gor. How she cried out and begged for mercy as her fine
clothes were stripped from her and she was made to kneel before the
magistrate to pronounce sentence. Citizens are advised to arrive
early if they want to get a good view of proceedings. Stalls selling
spiced vullo on a stick are usually present.
Malvara: Almost certainly the
subject of an urban myth, but it is one that every Free Woman in
Telnus knows and occasionally talks about over cups of ka-la-na when
she is alone with the company of her own sex. The place does exist –
it is a small coastal inn nestled in a sheltered fishing cove,
approximately 5 pasangs outside the city walls, reached by a winding
road that passes along the high cliff coast line through low
wind-swept scrub countryside. It is surrounded by a small hamlet of
buildings belonging to fishermen who ply their trade in the coastal
waters of the Thassa. But according to the urban myths, that place
has a stranger and darker purpose at times – on certain nights Free
Women are kidnapped from within Telnus itself and they are carried
out to this hamlet where they are made to don the scandalous silks of
dancing slaves! Bells are tied to their ankles and wrists and with
the sprightly encouragement of playful whips, they are made to dance
on paga soaked wooden tables for the laughter and sport of young
masked men of high caste who converge and meet at the Inn late at
night to enjoy the sport. The women are forced to perform well in all
manner of degrading ways, not knowing who their captors are, for the
men are masked and cloaked to conceal their identities. Then before
dawn they are returned to the city and released. In their shame the
women of course dare not tell anyone what has happened to them, for
fear that the good citizens of Telnus might believe they were
complicit in their treatment, or that perhaps they went looking for
such treatment. Their shame is absolute, and for months after they
fearfully wonder whether they might perhaps pass their masked captors
in the street, never knowing whether a random face in the crowd might
be one of the roguish men who seized them and made them act like
slaves on that dark and miserable night.
It is almost certainly a cautionary
tale simply created to scare Free Women of good breeding into locking
themselves into their homes late at night instead of venturing out
after dark. After all, wouldn’t the authorities have put a stop to
such practices by now if they truly occurred?
The Copernican: Gorean theatre
is of course commonly vulgar and insensitive to the delicate feelings
of Free Women. But sometimes a play with more refinement and virtue
may be performed in the Copernican (though usually to much smaller
crowds than say a bawdy romp such as 'Three Suitors for the Golden
Courtesan' which always packs out the floor space). Lofty and high
theatre tends to concentrate on impassioned oratories between actors
on stage, proclaiming verses of exquisite beauty, but not much ever
happens plot wise. Nevertheless such plays are suitable for Free
Women and they may find it pleasant to attend in the afternoon after
a light but heartening lunch.
Places to avoid:
Paga Taverns: Free Women would
not be welcome in a paga tavern and would be dissuaded from entering,
not that any respectable woman would consider doing so anyway. These
'men only' ‘taverns’ serve (surprise, surprise) paga which is
essentially very strong ale, and they offer a place for men to
socialise away from the distraction of Free Women. Paga slaves serve
the alcohol and are available for use as part of the price of the
drink. Small curtained alcoves are available for men who wish privacy
with their chosen paga girl, though it is permissible to use the girl
at your table if you prefer. Men will also gamble with dice, wrestle
and (once they are drunk) sing bawdy songs loudly. The air tends to
be warm due to hearth fires at night and can smell of sweat,
fermented brewing and cooked food, not to mention sex. There is quite
often a sand pit slightly sunken below floor level in which wrestling
matches might take place (often spilling past to knock over tables)
or paga girls with some dancing skills may perform. Paga slaves are
not trained pleasure slaves as such, but they are experienced at
serving men in all capacities. They tend to be at the cheaper end of
the spectrum when it comes to block prices. Expensive girls are
rarely purchased by paga taverns. Paga taverns are common place
throughout Telnus, but particularly so in the back streets away from
the more refined city areas.
Anywhere at night: Once dusk
falls a Free Woman is advised to shut herself into her home sliding
back all the bolts to the outer doors unless she has paid for
guardsmen to escort her somewhere. The streets of the city are
generally not safe for a Free Woman to walk alone after dark. Not all
streets are lit – only the main thoroughfares in Telnus have lamp
lights ignited. The back streets and dingy alleyways can be gloomy
and may hide all manner of disreputable individuals. A Free Woman of
Telnus cannot be legally enslaved within her city, but common rape
and assault may still take place if a perpetrator feels he can get
away with it. Once dawn rises, Free Women may emerge from their homes
once more.
Outside the city walls: Again,
this is as unsafe for a Free Woman as roaming through the back
streets of a city at night. The authority of Telnus theoretically
extends far beyond its city walls, encompassing a wide area of land
that is home to many peasant settlements, but really the authority of
Telnus only extends to the frequency of its mounted patrols. A Free
Woman can pass safely through the countryside with a male escort, but
again she would be foolish to do so alone.
The Street of Brands: a
misleading name as it’s often more than one street, but the area
usually centres on an actual street that is indeed called the Street
of Brands. It is where the various slavers operate their businesses
ranging from sole traders who may have small establishments with a
mere handful of cheap end girls, to the larger slave houses with
maybe hundreds. Generally speaking the finer houses have the best
stock, though prices are accordingly higher. Free Women can of course
visit the Street of Brands, but it might be considered improper do so
unless you have business to transact. A free woman who frequently
wandered through the area to view the various public aspects of
slavery, they might be considered a little too curious. It is
generally thought to be improper for a Free Woman to express too much
interest or curiosity into the nature of slavery. Free Women
therefore make a point of showing considerable disinterest in such
things. A further reason for not visiting the area known as the
Street of Brands is that they are likely to be viewed with a degree
of curiosity by the slavers there, men who might consider objectively
what sort of wrist shackle size they might take, or what sort of
block price they might fetch. Free Women are of course protected
within the walls of their own Home Stone, but the way the slavers
might look at them can be unsettling.
A man’s home: it would be
scandalous for a Free Woman to attend a man's home unless there were
people she trusted there such as close family, or other ladies of
irrefutable repute. Well attended social functions are of course
perfectly okay, but there would be the whiff of scandal if a Free
Woman were to call upon a man at his domicile, particularly if the
assignation was after dark. She would be considered promiscuous at
the very least, even if the meeting was perfectly innocent. Other
Free Women would soon ostracise her and she would not be welcome at
the more respectable establishments within the city.
Similarly a Free Woman would be ill
advised to permit a strange man to enter her own home unless there
were other people present. Again, Goreans would assume the worst. The
proper way to meet and converse with men would be at a public venue
with lots of other people in attendance. The social customs are
relaxed somewhat if a relationship with a man is heading towards that
of Free Companionship, but even here in the early days some form of
discrete chaperone would be recommended.
Public Kaissa tables: Telnus has
many areas of the city where there are free to use kaissa tables.
These can often be found in park spaces, close to the sea walls and
public piazzas. Men often take long lunch breaks to sit at one of the
tables and play against strangers or friends who may turn up. You are
required to bring your own kaissa pieces, but the tables themselves
have the board patterns engraved on their surfaces. Gorean men take
their kaissa very seriously, and although there is no prohibition
against women playing the game, some men can be very irritated by the
sight of women doing so. The caste of players for example would
refuse to play a woman and would probably rise from the table in
obvious disgust at the proposition, taking their pieces home with
them. Occasionally though women may be brazen enough to ignore the
muttering and scowling of the men and they may kneel at a table to
play between themselves. A particularly bold Free Woman might even
challenge a man to a game, and suggest he is afraid of losing if he
appears to be about to refuse. The humiliation for the man if he is
indeed beaten by the woman is considerable. The women however find
that sort of thing funny. “A woman defeated you at kaissa!” they
would call out at the man as he shuffled away, keeping his head down,
not wishing to see the look on the faces of other male players
nearby. The kaissa tables tend to be very busy and crowded during the
various carnival and festival days.
There is a possibly apocryphal tale of
a mysterious veilled Lady who once sat at a kaissa table all
afternoon inviting men to play her at Kaissa, offering herself as a
slave if they could beat her. Man after man failed to do so, and
within a few hours large crowds had gathered to cheer each new man on
in the hope of seeing this arrogant Lady lose to her own wager.
Soon men began muttering that the pride
of kaissa was at stake, for if no man here could beat this mysterious
veiled lady, then shame would fall on Telnus. Crowds rushed to the
home of the tournament kaissa player and beseeched him to step out
and defend the pride of the city against this woman.
“I do not play women,” was his
answer, but as the crowds grew larger and as even the Ubar of the
city grew concerned that the woman might eventually leave the table
undefeated, the Player was persuaded to take up the challenge. He
played with disdain for his opponent, refusing to look or acknowledge
her beyond the movements on the board. He thought he would finish her
with ease, but soon he found himself facing complex strategies that
he rarely encountered and he found himself playing hard for his very
own title. It even began to look like the woman might win as she took
several high value pieces from him, but then as if by luck, she
seemed to make a reckless mistake, perhaps due to the fatigue of
playing all afternoon. It was a foolish mistake, hardly worthy of a
beginner in fact, and the champion swooped on it, seizing her Home
Stone three moves later.
“I have won,” he said simply with
relief. “You are mine.” The crowds cheered. The foolish woman had
over reached herself with their champion. They called on her to
remove her veils, taunting her that she would now be a slave. She did
so, stripping her face before the kaissa champion to reveal a face he
knew only too well – Lady Angelica - the beautiful daughter of a
close family friend – a woman with whom he had grown up since
childhood.
“For many years I have known you to
be my natural Master,” she said with tears in her eyes, “but I
knew you would never claim me for yourself, for my father is the
closest friend of your father. And yet my life is worth nothing if I
do not wear your chains. I have studied kaissa for years to bring
about a situation where you would enslave me without realising what
you were doing. But now it is done. I am your slave. I can only hope
that you will keep me, that you will take your pleasure with me and
that you will not cast me aside as worthless.”
The player was speechless, for it
transpires that he had always dreamt of this noble lady in his collar
and chains but he had always kept himself aloof and disciplined,
knowing he could never surrender to such emotions because of who she
was. But now through this strategy, she was his slave. They
presumably lived happily ever after.
The story is obviously a fiction, for
how could any woman possibly be that skilled in playing kaissa?
The cities of Ar, Port Kar and
Argentum: all Gorean cities have enemies somewhere, but the
nation of Cos probably has more of them than most. Over the last
fifty years it has waged ill-fated wars against Ar and Port Kar in
particular, and it has a long standing enmity against Argentum
(because Cos sided with Corcyrus while Argentum was backed by Ar).
Goreans have long life spans and equally long memories and so it is
safe to say that a Free Woman of Cos would be running an exceptional
risk if she entered the walls of Ar, Port Kar or Argentum, or indeed
ventured into the regions controlled by those powers. In Ar a woman
of Cos can be legally enslaved on sight, such is the hatred still
felt after the Cosian occupation.
Ships: Gorean sailors are very
superstitious and one of the things they feel uncomfortable about is
having a Free Woman on board ship. Apart from the sexual tension
involved in having women in close proximity to sailors in an enclosed
space where those sailors have no other means to sate their sexual
desires until they make port, something that can often be bad for
ship’s discipline, it is considered to be an added burden for a
ship to cater for the various complex needs of a female passenger.
Many ships are simply not set up to cater for passengers with the
level of expectations that Free Women have. Transporting slaves on
board ship is a different matter entirely for they are simply
livestock and can be stored in the hold as such. Free Women take up
precious cabin space and make stringent demands on the captain and
his meagre resources. They are a distraction to the crew and a source
of discontent. All told, women are generally discouraged from
travelling on a ship. Sometimes of course they need to do so,
especially if they live on an island such as Cos and need to reach
the mainland. They should be aware though that there will be a level
of resentment on the part of the crew and they will at best be
grudgingly accepted unless they are of such high rank and status that
they have influence.
Lady Rosalita Sanchez of Telnus
(Cos)
So, here are the
final character stats for chloeK's character in the upcoming Tales of
Gor RPG game. The higher the number, the better, and normally the
ratings range from 1D to 5D+2 as a maximum. I will use these numbers
to determine how well she does at times when the outcome is
uncertain.
Agility 1D+1
Athletics 1D+1
Fistfight 1D+1
Pleasure 1D
Dexterity 2D
Care 1D+1
Crossbow 1D+1
Draft Beast 1D+1
Rope Work 1D+1
Body 2D
Fitness 2D+1
Endurance 2D+1
Swimming 2D+1
Reason 5D
Philosophy 3D+2
Kaissa 3D+1
Scholar 4D+2
Arts 3D
Craft 6D
Art 1D
Charm 6D+1
Animal Handling 1D+2
Slave Handling 1D+2
Charisma 2D
Convince 2D
Traits
Agent of the Kurii
Patron
Slave Heart
Health: 28 pts (you are crippled when
health drops below 14)
Power Damage bonus: 1D (how much damage
you do unarmed)
Accuracy Damage Bonus: 1D
---------------------------------
How the game mechanics work:
When Rosalita attempts to do something
where the outcome is in doubt, I roll a set of dice using a combined
attribute and skill combination that seems most relevant in her
situation. She needs to roll a number that is equal to or greater
than a target difficulty number from the table below:
TARGET DIFFICULTIES (roll over this
to succeed):
Very Easy: 5
Easy: 10
Moderate: 15
Difficult: 20
Very Difficult: 25
Heroic: 30
Legendary: 35
In some cases the target difficulty
numbers can be adjusted by one of the following factors:
Variable factors to add/subtract to
that:
+5 Difficulty: Lacking a necessary
skill, poor lighting, poor footing.
+10 Difficulty: A significant drawback,
climbing a stone wall in the rain, tracking through old snow.
+15 Difficulty or more: A decisive
disadvantage, a driving storm, a heaving ship deck.
-5 Difficulty: A well equipped workshop
or set of tools, a wall covered in handholds.
-10 Difficulty: A significant advantage
such as a knotted rope for climbing a wall.
-15 Difficulty or more: A decisive
advantage from a wonderful set of tools, a rope ladder and so on.
The degree of success is then measured
by the difference between her dice roll and the target number that
had to be met. See the below table:
Quality of success (how much you
rolled above the target number):
Minimal Success (0): The bare minimum
needed to succeed.
Solid Success (1-4): An effective
success, a competent display.
Good Success (5-8): You succeeded to a
better degree than was necessary. +1 pip of damage.
Superior Success (9-12): You may get a
bonus for the amount you have succeeded by. +2 pips of damage.
Spectacular Success (13-16): You
performed as an expert, with notable ease and grace. +1D of damage.
Incredible Success (17-21): You did so
well that stories may be told about it for some time. A
masterpiece. +1D+1 of damage. Every
five points higher adds another +1 pip of damage.
And that's basically it.
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