The Paga Diaries (16) by Arizona Wanderer: ‘Dautium Market Square’

 

Tereus was a large muscular man, over six foot tall and always serious.  He proceeded Mirus and I as we followed him through the busy streets on our way to the Dautium market square.  Before we left Mirus’s mansion, he saw me inside the home wearing my sword.  When he had entered the office, leading the leashed Lina, I noticed him look at my sword when he first saw me, sitting on a floor cushion at the low table. It was at an awkward angle, for it can be uncomfortable wearing a sword on your belt when sitting on a floor cushion.  It has to be positioned just right to lie without pulling on the belt when sitting. If being armed with a sword in Mirus’s house bothered him, he didn’t say anything to me.

 

When we left the area where Mirus lived, the homes in the neighbourhoods that we passed through became smaller, but were still very nice and well kept.  I would be really comfortable living in a neighbourhood like these.  I really needed to move out of the slums and I wondered if I could afford anything in this area.

 

As we walked towards Dautium, we passed two massive cylindrical towers built very close together.  They were amazing.  A suspended walkway connected the two towers very high up, at least two-thirds up the height of the building.  I could see many other towers not far away and a concentration of them in what was the city centre.  There easily over a hundred of these massive towers in this city. 

 

 

Mirus lived fairly close to the Dautium area, and we had only walked about fifteen ehn before Mirus told me that we had arrived in the outer ring of streets of the market square.  The area was very upscale, maintained well with buildings constructed from stone of high quality.  There were open spaces in between buildings that had large pavilion tents with all sorts of things for sale.  Attached to some buildings were large canvas awnings that billowed slightly in the breeze.  As we got even closer to the centre of the square it quickly became apparent that many of the buildings were taverns and that this area had a very high concentration of them.  We passed by an awning that had six or seven naked women kneeling beside each other in a line.  They all wore collars with an attached chain which connected them all, in a coffle.  A brunette woman was standing and being put through paces by a man holding a whip.  It was a slave auction and it drew my attention.  I had been avoiding these types of auctions knowing that I would succumb to the temptation of bidding and then acquiring a naked beauty. My hesitation at owning a woman until I was ready was diminishing quickly; even quicker now seeing an auction and how easy it was to purchase one.  The naked brunette sold for 38 copper tarsks as we walked by.  That was cheap!  I was very tempted to stay and watch the rest of the auction.

 

“Rykart, there are some fine slaving houses in the Dautium with much more variety,” Mirus said, observing my keen interest in the auction.

 

“I wait until ready before buying slave. Need to learn Gorean, and find secure place,” I said.

 

“Well, with the advance I gave you on your gemstones, you can easily find a place to live where you can secure property. A solid door and a wall with a slave ring can be found almost anywhere.  And you speak enough Gorean to own a slave. The only language you need for kajirae is spoken with a whip.”

 

I noticed that we had not seen any Free Women for a couple blocks now, proceeding more and more towards the centre of the Dautium.  The Dautium market square is a market of human flesh for sale or rent, and everything else here was an accessory. 

 

On our way to the centre part of Dautium we passed a half dozen large taverns, each with nude or nearly nude women displayed near their entrance.  Many taverns had more than one woman on display.  The collared, usually chained woman called out to men as they passed by, flaunting their bodies in provocative poses while proclaiming very submissive, seductive promises to anyone who enters.   I was ready to test these promises and wanted to enter each tavern.  I would definitely need to remember how to return to this place.

 

Eventually we got to the centre of the square.  This inner ring of buildings was the finest of all the ones we had passed.  They were larger and some of them reminded me of casinos with their immaculate exteriors.  The four streets that formed the square were limited to pedestrians only, no carts or draft animals were permitted.  

We passed by a street alcove with a slightly elevated platform that contained a beautiful black skinned woman in a collar standing in chains.  She smiled at the three of us and said “Tila begs your touch. Sample Tila, strong Master.”  With a graceful dance like motion, she dropped into nadu in front of us and pushed out her breasts.  She had gotten my full attention and I stopped walking.  I reached over and grabbed a perfectly shaped breast.  It was firm and her skin was silky.  The dark brown nipple was rigid and pointy, inviting a pluck or pull.  I gave it a slight pinch, making it bigger.  “Oh yes Master, Tila is wet and ready to please you Master.”

 

“We are here Rykart, let’s go inside,” Mirus said. We were next to an impressive tavern.  “This is one of my favourites, The Shackle and Chain, and it may be the best one in Argentum.  There were three beautiful women chained to a central pole near the entrance.  The entrance was open and wide, inviting.  I could see before entering, a silken feminine figure dancing, visible from the street if one looked in the right direction.  Great advertising!  I couldn’t keep my eyes off the dancer as we entered, the transparent yellow silk she wore, a thinly wrapped package of undulating slave flesh.  

 

“Let’s find a corner table Tereus,” said Mirus.  We worked our way over to a corner through the busy tavern, most of its patrons focused on the sand pit in the centre of the room with the dancer.  There was a small section next to the pit with musicians playing notes that the dancer used to emphasize her fluid taunting motions.  As we got to a corner, a man at a low table waved at us, inviting us over.  There was another man sitting next to him, wearing what looked to be a uniform. 

 

Both men stood up as we approached their table.  The man in uniform was tall and muscular, built like a tank, as the saying goes in America. He reminded me of Mike Tyson when he was a champion.  Mirus greeted the two men while Terseus gave acknowledgement.  Mirus brought me into the greeting.

 

“Rykart, I want to introduce you to my good friend, Julian Lepidus, a Magistrate of Argentum.  And this is Atticus, a Captain of the City Guard.  Rykart is a barbarian, and his Gorean is raw.  He will be joining us as our guest.”  Mirus said. 

 

“Welcome to the Shackle and Chain, Rykart.  Have you been here before?” asked Julian.

 

“No Sir, Mirus is generous.”

 

“This tavern is sure to please any man, even barbarians.  Let us sit and enjoy,” said Julian.  The table could seat six comfortably and the five of us sat around it.  I made an effort to get a spot with a good view of the dancing girl in the sandpit.  I was seated next to Mirus and opposite from Julian. 

 

Within an ehn of sitting, a beautiful, silk wrapped, collared blond slave knelt next to Julian and said, “Greetings Masters, and welcome to The Shackle and Chain. My name is Elsi and I beg to serve you.  Please remember I come with the price of the paga.” Mirus ordered ka-la-na and I was tempted to as well, but I decided on paga.  Everyone else also ordered paga.  

 

“Where is your Home Stone, Rykart?” Julian asked.  I knew this question would eventually come.  

 

“My Home Stone is Arizona.  It is far, past Barrens,” I suggested.  Trem had told me of a faraway place on Gor that he wanted to see, called the Barrens.  A place without cities, where men roamed free, made women serve and pursued an easy life of hunting.  I remembered my Gorean briefing about the different levels of knowledge.   I supposed that a magistrate would know of Earth as a separate planet versus a region, but I shouldn’t assume it.  Mirus would know that my answer wasn’t completely honest as I did not mention Earth.  He did not say anything.

 

“That is far from here, very far.  Do you speak Dust Leg?” he asked.

 

“No Sir,” I answered.  I had no idea what Dust Leg was, presumably something to do with the Barrens. 

 

Our paga slave returned to our table with a small tray of drinks.  I admired how gracefully she knelt beside Julian while holding the tray.  She then brought the tray up to her lips, kissed the edge, and lowered her head while using her arms to proffer the tray to Julian.  Julian took the tray and placed it on the table.  The slave lingered for a bit, awaiting any possible orders, before she rose up and left.   

 

After getting our drinks, I turned to look at the dancer in the sandpit.  She had finished and was being applauded. 

 

“How long have you been in Argentum?” Julian asked.

 

“About a month,” I said, taking a large sip of paga.  I still didn’t fully understand the Gorean calendar very well, with its five-day weeks and five weeks to a month with a five day ‘Passage Hand’ period between months.  I was having a great time on Gor and my time here had been a blur so far.  

 

“What brought you to our great city?” Julian asked.

 

“Opportunity, Sir,” I answered, half truthfully, taking another large sip of paga.  I didn’t want to say that I had been dropped off by a spaceship and then walked into the city. But I did come to Gor for the opportunity to own women, and have them serve me for a long, long time, during the course of my artificially extended stabilized life.  I was getting uncomfortable with what was starting to feel like an interrogation by this city magistrate. 

 

“Do you have residency papers?” he asked.  Everyone at the table was now looking at me intently, ready to hear my answer.

 

“I don’t know Sir. I have paper to pass city gate. I can’t read paper,” I said.

 

Mirus cut in and said, “Julian, Rykart is my guest and in the short time I have known him he has proven to be honourable. I can assure you that he is self-sufficient and will not be a burden for the city. Let’s let him relax and enjoy the paga and all that the Shackle has to offer.” 

 

“Argentum is at war and we need to be careful with letting barbarians run around our city at will.  But I trust you Mirus, and you are right, let us enjoy our afternoon,” Julian said.  I felt very relieved and thankful for Mirus’s intervention.  I didn’t think I had done anything wrong or illegal, but not being fluent and responding to questions from an official was very unnerving; especially with the official having Atticus the Hulk, at the ready. 

 

The paga was very good here, actually the best that I ever had. It had great flavour and a smoothness that made it easy to sip.  We ordered more drinks and they were served by a different paga slave, a thin brunette in light blue silk, with lovely long legs.  As the men talked about various things that were hard for me to follow because of the language, I enjoyed the scenery of The Shackle and Chain. There were many paga slaves serving the tavern floor.  This was an enormous tavern and the ratio of paga slaves per table seemed to be three times that of other taverns I had been in.  As I watched them go in all directions, I was impressed with the variety of women serving here.  There were women of all types and colours, all gorgeous.  I had not been in any tavern where the paga slaves were unattractive, but this place really made an effort to present its customers with stunningly beautiful women to service them. 

 

When the women walked, fetching paga and food, they were not running or even appearing to be in a hurry. They displayed elegance with every step, kneel and serve.  All of them wore soft diaphanous pleasure silk, wrapped around their bodies in a variety of colours and secured with a slipknot on the shoulder.  This knot could be untied quickly with a tug, removing the silk in an instant. The silk was very provocative!  A man could see that there were delicious curves underneath, but the silk made one want to see even more.  The silk was a tease, very irresistible.  And the scent of the women was intoxicating!  I had never smelt such exotic perfumery.  I suspected the finest Parisian perfumers would trade a daughter to obtain the magic formulas of these scents.  

 

I would be content to sit here all day and watch these silken sceneries flow past me.  Well maybe not all day, I was becoming aroused by the sensory overload of feminine curves, movements and smells and there was no way I could sit here for long without relief.

 

It didn’t help that the conversation parts that I could understand were mostly about the quality of the kajirae here. I wasn’t the only one affected by the collared servers.  Many women passed by and were pointed out for all of us to notice and discuss their exquisite features.  Several times, Julian mentioned his slaves Tasha and Yarna, comparing them to the slaves we were admiring.  It seemed he was very fond of his Yarna, as she was mentioned the most, and he expressed her having superior features in comparison. 

 

Our group also talked about the highly anticipated tarn race coming up.  Tarn races had been temporarily suspended because of the war, but now a race had been scheduled and everyone was excited about it.  I was excited about it too and I listened as best I could about the different racing teams and their histories.  There was much speculation about the many different teams and which ones would enter the race.  Everyone seemed to agree that it was probable that most teams would race due to the long period of time since the last race.  

 

Julian and Mirus seemed to be fans of the team, Red Spike, and were very optimistic of that team’s chances at winning.  I gathered that the races were exciting to watch but a lot of excitement was also centred around gambling and the odds given on certain teams.  It seemed that certain teams were commonly favoured to win races and Red Spike was frequently mentioned as one of the heavy favourites.

 

A couple of dancers had come and gone into the pit, giving captivating performances.  I tried to watch and enjoy these dances as much as possible without showing too much disinterest in our table conversations, which I had trouble following.  A lot of the men in the tavern focused on these dances, and I was surprised and a little irritated that our table paid hardly any attention to them.

 

Mirus mentioned that he had heard a rumour that conscription of men into the Argentum Army was going to be announced and implemented soon.  Julian quickly dispelled this rumour as false, stating that the war had gone on longer than originally anticipated, but that it should be coming to an end very soon.  I was finding that on first impression, I did not care much for Julian.  He was a bit overbearing and authoritarian.  He seemed to like controlling the conversation.  

 

He changed the subject by talking about how we should all look forward to seeing coffles of the Free Women of Corcryus being led through the streets to be sold cheaply from Argentum auction blocks.  I wondered if I should wait for such cheap sales to begin before purchasing a woman to collar as my own.  I did want to wait a bit more to get settled and better with the language before taking on the responsibility of owning a kajira. Maybe after I found a better place to live.  On the other hand, seeing the auction today, the slaves seemed very cheap and plentiful.  I would not be able to suppress my temptation to own very much longer.

 

“You know Rykart, the slaves in this tavern are available for use.  Do you see all of the alcoves lining the walls?  The alcoves are there for taking slaves inside for your pleasure,” Mirus said. 

 

“Yes, I know alcoves. So many choices, hard to choose,” I said.   

 

A beautiful blond walked by carrying some food.  Atticus pointed her out saying “That is Thea. She is new to her collar but squirms well in the furs.”

 

“It can be very enjoyable to put new slaves to use, teaching them their slavery and how they must submit to masters in a variety of ways,” Julian said.  

 

Thea had a perfect body, seen even through the pleasure silk.  I could see myself being very happy owning her.  I should sample her I thought, just as another beautiful woman walked by, this time a brunette.  “That is Lita, she is very talented,” Atticus said.  I enjoyed seeing Lita walk past us; perhaps it would be her that I would sample. 

 

We had finished our second set of drinks when a new slave came to our table.  She was a short petite brunette with brown eyes and large breasts. Her breasts were bulging against the tight wrap of green pleasure silk and seemed too large for her small frame.  She knelt next to our table in nadu and in a very pleasant seductive voice she said, “Hello Masters, my name is Callie. I beg to serve you. Is there anything you desire? More drinks perhaps?”

 

I could not resist my urge any longer, I had to have a woman and it was going to be her.  I stood up and said, “Pleasure me in alcove,” before anyone else could claim her.  Everyone around the table smiled and Atticus said, “Fine choice Rykart!”