Shadow Over Ko-Ro-Ba - Gorean Roleplay - Recruiting

[Athos]

Shadow Over Ko-Ro-Ba

It is the year 10, 112 from the founding of the great city of Ar. It has been two years since the barbarian Tarl Cabot led the great siege against the master assassin Pa Kur and his horde and subsequently disappearing as if into thin air. Though Marlenus, once called the Ubar of Ubars, is in exile a relative peace has returned to the civilized regions of Gor. However, a strong undercurrent of tension and fear runs through the city of Ko-Ro-Ba. Every night for the last two months, a fog has descended on the city and with it rumors of strange creatures roaming the streets abducting slaves and free persons alike. The warriors of the city do their best to keep order, but no-one has been able to catch even a glimpse of the creatures, though many have died trying. The peasants and the low castes have begun whisper of the city’s impending destruction. They fear that near mythical Priest-Kings of the Sardar Mountains mean to destroy them and the caste of Initiates, who are born to commune with the god-like beings, remain silent on the matter.

Only Matthew Cabot, father of Tarl Cabot, the administrator of the city, and agent of the Priest-Kings knows the terrible truth: The Kurii have come to Ko-Ro-Ba. Knowing that his city is in danger, he calls upon the Priest-Kings for help. To him they send the feared assassin known only as Arune, for he is the only man of Gor who has hunted the Kurii beast and lived to tell the tale.

IC Thread - https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=155015.0
OOC Thread - https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=155032.0

Rules

Rules:

1.   Familiarize yourself with the things that your character should know. A slave should know what is expected of her, so too should free men and women. As well, whatever caste you choose to be a part of, you should have an idea of their codes and conduct. Resources will be provided below to make it easier.

2.   When speaking OOCly to other players, do so with respect.

3.   All players must submit a character sheet using the format shown below and be accepted before posting in the IC thread.

4.   Capturing slaves: Any free woman without an escort can be captured by a free man and made a slave. This is done using the capture system written below. All free women are entitled to have one escort (an NPC they control) with them when they are out in the city. If a free woman has an escort, then you will likely have to duel first and then attempt to capture her. If you wish to capture someone who is already a slave, you will have to duel her owner.

5.   Dueling/killing other players: Since we are such a small group I don’t expect that we will immediately be at each other’s throats, however since this is Gor I believe it is only right that players have the opportunity to duel each other if they so choose. I have put below a pretty basic dueling system. Duels can be fought over slaves, money or honor. They may be to the death or not. If a duel is not to the death, be sure to say so in your IC post as well as your OOC challenge.

6.   Combat with NPC’s as part of the story – While combat is not the same as dueling, you may not simply make the statement “Character Y lunges at NPC X with his sword, killing him instantly.” Instead, during combat one would say “Character Y lunges at NPC X with his sword, attempting to kill him.” Then I, as the GM will make the determination whether or not the blow does what it is intended to do. I will take the character’s skill in combat into account when deciding this, as well as the believability of the attack and the strength of the NPC (Ie. A city guardsman would be more difficult to kill than a common peasant and a Kurii beast would be even more difficult to kill than a city guardsman). While players cannot be killed as a result of combat with NPC’s, they may be wounded or captured if is deemed to advance the story.

Dueling

A duel will consist of:

1.    A challenge post – in which the challenger declares his desire to fight a duel. This should be done ICly, as a part of the post as well as indicated in an OOC manner at the end, so there is no misunderstanding. Duels can only be declared between free men or a free woman using a champion (can be an NPC).

2.   A response post from the defender – this is where the one who is challenged has the opportunity to accept or refuse the challenge.  Note: If the challenge is refused, then no duel is fought. However, it is important to note that if your caste had rules governing the refusal of challenges and you break them (For example: Warriors), there will be consequences.

3.   Three action posts are posted by each of the duelists in the order: Challenger, defender, challenger, defender, challenger, defender.  Each action post should have two parts: The first is the reaction, in which the poster responds to what occurred in the last post and the second is the action, in which the poster may then perform an action in return. While the action may be an attack, it could also be something as simple as flipping over a table to make it difficult for your opponent to charge, or changing weapons. If there is nothing from your opponent’s last post that requires an immediate reaction (ie. An attack) then the poster may take two actions. At the bottom of each of your action posts, you should put which number your post is.

4.   The judgement. Unless I am involved in the duel, I am more than happy to act as the Judge. However, if one of you wishes another to Judge the duel simply ask them as part of your OOC challenge or response. No matter who judges the duel, they should take into account the following: Adherence to the dueling rules (Ie. Neither poster uses too many actions or tries to godmod the other), creativity (using the terrain and or switching up weapons rather than just hacking away at each other with swords), believability of the poster’s actions (ie. It is not believable that a member of the caste of physicians would carry a belt of killing knives or know how to use them), and basic spelling/grammar. Once the judge has made a decision, that decision is final. He/she will post it as an OOC post and whoever wins can then write the concluding post.

5.   The conclusion. This post is written by the winner. The winner of a duel has a couple of options, he can kill his opponent only if the duel is to the death, or he can simply choose to wound his opponent, or he may choose to spare his opponent entirely. If the duel is over an object, or a slave, then the winner may simply choose to take whatever it is they wished and go on about their business. If a character is killed, then he is dead plain and simple. Such is the brutality of Gor. The player is more than welcome to create another character and rejoin the game if they wish.

For example a duel between two players might look like this:

Arune stepped in front of the city guardsman, preventing him from leaving the tavern. From his scabbard, he drew his Gladius and locked eyes with the scarlet clad warrior. “Do not think that you can speak such filth about the Caste of Assassins and except to live.”

(OOC: Arune issues a challenge to the city guardsman, to the death.)

-------

The city guardsman scowled at the assassin as he spoke and drew his sword, the only response he deemed worthy of such a creature.

(OOC: City guardsman accepts Arune’s challenge.)

-------

Arune then drew his hook-knife from his belt, grasping it in his off-hand (This would an example of a reaction turned into an additional action because there was no action in the previous post). He then lunged forward with his Gladius in an attempt to gut the city guardsman (Action – he attacks his opponent).

(OOC: Challenger post 1)

-------

The city guardsman readies his shield and tries to knock Arune’s lunge sideways (Reaction). He then lunges forward with his own Gladius, trying to drive it into Arune’s chest (Action).

(OOC: Defender post 1)

-------

Arune jumps back, trying get out of the way of his opponent’s blade (Reaction), he then slashes at the guardsman’s sword hand with his hook-knife
(Action).

(OOC: Challenger post 2)

-------

The city guardsman abandons his attempt to lunge (Reaction), and takes a step back to distance himself from Arune (Action).

(OOC: Defender post 2)

-------

Arune sheaths his hook-knife and draws one of his killing knives from the belt across his chest (Reaction). He then throws it at the city guardsman, aiming for his chest (Action).

(OOC: Challenger post 3)

-------

The city guardsman once more tries to use his shield to deflect the throwing knife attack (Reaction). He then charges forward, swinging his sword at Arune’s head (Action).

(OOC: Defender post 3)

-------

(OOC: Judgement: Arune wins the duel.)

-------

(Conclusion)

Arune ducks down underneath the guardsman’s attack and then brings up his sword and drives it into his opponent’s chest, killing him. He then spits on the warrior’s crumpled corpse and declares to the rest    of the tavern: “Let this be a lesson, those who disrespect the caste of assassins are destined to have a short life.”

Capturing

The capture of a free woman will consist of:

1.   A challenge post – in which the enslaver declares his intention to capture the one he wishes to make his slave. This should be done ICly, as part of the post as well as indicated in an OOC manner at the end of the post so there are no misunderstandings of your intentions. In this post, the would-be enslaver may take a single action after declaring his intent. This would count as the attacker’s first action post.

2.   The defender may then post a response where she may agree to be enslaved, which would then end the process immediately. Otherwise if she intends to fight off her attacker she then will post a reaction to his declaration, followed by an action. This would count as the defender’s first action post.

3.   The attacker and defender then each make two more additional action posts each consisting of a reaction to their opponent’s previous action and an action of their own. (See dueling for more information)

4.   Judgement is done much in the same way as with dueling. The judge will take the same things into consideration when making his/her ruling.

5.   If the judge rules that the woman will be captured, then the attacker will post a concluding post in which he enslaves the woman in question. If the judge rules that the woman escapes, then the defender will post a concluding post in which she safely gets away.

An example of a capture might look like this:

Arune approaches Dresella as she makes her way into the market. “You know,” He tells her sternly. “It is not safe for a Free Woman to walk around without protection. If she is not careful, she may very well end up my new pleasure slave,” (Statement of intent to capture). He then reaches forward and grabs her wrist in an iron grip (Action).

(OOC: Arune intends to capture Dresella)

------

Dresella gasps as Arune’s hand clamps down on her wrist. “No!” She cries out, “I will not be your slave!” (Reaction). She then kicks out at him with her foot, trying to get him to let go. (Action.)

(OOC: Dresella intends to fight off her attacker)

------

Arune jumps back in surprise, letting go on Dresella’s wrist (Reaction). “You will learn respect,” He tells her as he charges forward to grab her

(Action).
(OOC: Attacker post 2)

------

Dresella pushes over a table of fruit between them (Reaction). “I will never respect you!” She spits as she tries to run into the crowd (Action).
(OOC: Defender post 2)

------

Arune vaults over the table (Reaction), and runs after Dresella trying to reach her before she disappears into the crowd (Action).
(OOC: Attacker post 3)

------

Dresella tries to run even faster toward the crowd (Reaction), while desperately throwing pieces of fruit behind her in an attempt to slow Arune down (Action).

(OOC: Defender post 3)

------

(OOC: Judgement: Arune is not successful.)

------

(Conclusion)

Dresella outruns Arune and disappears safely into the crowd.

Character Sheet

Name:
Alias/Use-Name/Slave name:
Age:
Gender:
Are you free or a slave?
If free, to what caste do you belong?
If a slave, what kind of a slave are you and who is your owner (Can be an NPC to start)?
Where is your home stone?
Appearance (please post an image with any additional notes you wish):
Biography:
Weapons and Equipment (what your character would normally carry):

Accepted Characters

Daden Coyle/Arune - Free Man/Former Kajirus - Caste of Assassins
Aiko Kishimori/Blossom - Kajira - Owned by Slavers
Cedric Bar-eamon - Free Man - Caste of Warriors
Adilah - Free Woman - Caste of Physicians
Lisah - Free Woman - Caste of Warriors

Resources

The Gorean Cave - www.thegoreancave.com - possibly the best Gorean resource I've come across yet.
Gorean 101 - http://www.gorean101.com - a roleplay site in and of itself but with some resources that may be useful.
The Gor article on Wikiepedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor - Useful as a basic overview of the universe

[Athos]

Well, that's kind of what I'm trying to find out. Gor is like a party, it's no fun without the girls.

[helvorn]

Two masters just for myself!  I am very interested in playing in a Gor game.

[Athos]

Awesome, glad to hear you're interested helvorn! So what I'm thinking is that I'll wait a day or so to see who else (if anyone) might be interested before I start playing around with possible plot ideas.

[helvorn]

The weekend is always quiet...

[Missy]

But not too quiet for me . . .


I would definitely be interested and would have said so before had I gotten around to it.

would you be comfortable with players making off gender characters?

Also do you know where I could do a wee bit of research pertinent to the theme? I know things about it but not every detail.

[Athos]

I personally am not really into off gender characters, but if its what you really want to do and nobody else has an issue feel free to go for it. As for resources, I would suggest googling Gorean lifestyle. I'll take a look myself sometime today and post anything I think would be helpful.

Okay so I found this site which offers various pieces of information about Gorean society taken directly from the books.  http://www.thegoreancave.com/

[Athos]

That's a nice find. Now I don't have to read through the books again to refresh my knowledge - not that it would have been too bad a thing :D

I'm glad it helps. Anyway, so now that we've established that there are a couple of people interested I'm going to put work on getting some character sheets made up and get some kind of plot ideas up as well. Sound good?

[Missy]

Yes much better than anything else I've found.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you have in mind for plot and setting! :)


EDIT: I also put a link to here in this thread, we all should to promote the group game. Well if you guys would like that is, four people is fine with me.

[helvorn]

Looking forward to the initial outlines of the game.

[Athos]

EDIT: I also put a link to here in this thread, we all should to promote the group game. Well if you guys would like that is, four people is fine with me.

The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

[Athos]

Okay, so this is the premise that I've been playing around with in my head. Have a read and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Shadow Over Ko-Ro-Ba

It is the year 10, 112 from the founding of the great city of Ar. It has been two years since the barbarian Tarl Cabot led the great siege against the master assassin Pa Kur and his horde and subsequently disappearing as if into thin air. Though Marlenus, once called the Ubar of Ubars, is in exile a relative peace has returned to the civilized regions of Gor. However, a strong undercurrent of tension and fear runs through the city of Ko-Ro-Ba. Every night for the last two months, a fog has descended on the city and with it rumors of strange creatures roaming the streets abducting slaves and free persons alike. The warriors of the city do their best to keep order, but no-one has been able to catch even a glimpse of the creatures, though many have died trying. The peasants and the low castes have begun whisper of the city’s impending destruction. They fear that near mythical Priest-Kings of the Sardar Mountains mean to destroy them and the caste of Initiates, who are born to commune with the god-like beings, remain silent on the matter.

Only Matthew Cabot, father of Tarl Cabot, the administrator of the city, and agent of the Priest-Kings knows the terrible truth: The Kurii have come to Ko-Ro-Ba. Knowing that his city is in danger, he calls upon the Priest-Kings for help. To him they send the feared assassin known only as Arune, for he is the only man of Gor who has hunted the Kurii beast and lived to tell the tale.

For anyone who might be confused about who the Priest-Kings and the Kurii are, this is an excerpt from Wikipedia which kind of summarizes who and what they are: “The Priest-Kings rule Gor as disinterested custodians, leaving humans to their own affairs as long as they abide by certain restrictions on technology. The Kurii are an aggressive, invasive race with advanced technology (but less so than that of the Priest-Kings) who wish to colonize Gor and Earth. The power of the Priest-Kings is diminished after the "Nest War" described in the third book, and the Priest-Kings and Kurii struggle against each other via their respective human agents and spies.”

[Caela]

Sounds interesting. Will have to do a bit of reading before saying for certain, but so far it looks fun.

[helvorn]

I like the idea of conflict and mystery.  Getting tied into a high level conflict even as lower power minions is very attractive as ultimately we can have a great deal of influence over happenings.

[Athos]

Awesome, I'm glad you guys like what you've seen so far. Now that it looks like we might have enough people to get the game started, on the first post of this thread I've posted up some rules as well as some resources and a character sheet template for you guys to use. So have a look and feel free to ask me if something doesn't make sense.

Otherwise, please post a completed character sheet for your character and we'll get this show on the road. As an example and for general knowledge, I've posted a character sheet below with the character that I will be playing in our adventure.

----------

Name: Daden Coyle

Alias/Use-Name/Slave name:  Arune

Age: 39 years old

Gender: Male

Are you free or a slave?  Free

If free, to what caste do you belong?  Assassins

Appearance (please post an image with any additional notes you wish):

It should be noted that while his hair is naturally blonde, Arune had dyed his hair black as is expected of the caste of assassins.

Biography:

Earth: Daden Coyle was born to farmers in rural Saskatchewan, Canada on August 12th, 1922.  As a boy, he worked the fields with his father and brothers while his mother and sisters tended to their homestead. In 1936, at 14 and six years into the Great Drepession, Daden left his father’s farm and went to work as a lumberjack in British Columbia. In 1939, at 17, Daden enlisted in the Canadian army and was sent overseas to fight in the

Second World War. As a Private, he fought in Italy and was decorated twice for heroism. In 1944 he was promoted to Sergeant and participated in the D-day landing in Normandy. He continued to see action throughout France and Holland. In 1946, Daden was honorably discharged from the army and returned home to British Columbia where he had intended to find a wife and start a family.

However, powers greater than he had other plans. On April 17th, 1947 while working once more as a lumberjack in the redwood forests of British
Columbia, Daden found himself cut off from the rest of his group as a storm was coming in. Lightening like he had never seen before, crackled overhead and the wind blew hard enough to knock him down. The last thing he remembered was the sound of a branch falling from above and then everything went dark.

Gor: Injured and disoriented, Daden awoke in the middle of a meadow, groggy but alive. In the distance a massive bird flies overhead, a tarn as he would soon learn it was called. Alone and lost, he wandered for days without knowing where he was. Eventually he saw the smoke of a campfire and stumbled into a slavers’ camp looking for help. At first, thinking that he is an enemy, the slavers attempt to kill him. But with his soldier’s training, he managed to kill one of them and injure another before being captured. Though regarded as nothing more than an ignorant barbarian, the camp’s leader saw in him the makings of a grand fighting slave. He was stripped of his name and renamed Arune, an alias that he maintains to this day and sent to fight in the arena. For the next six years, Arune would fight as a gladiator and eventually won his freedom.

As a barbarian and former slave, Arune had neither caste nor a home stone. In essence, he was utterly alone. Angered by his brutal treatment, he killed his former master and fled into the wilds of Gor. He then turned to the only caste that would accept possibly him, and became an assassin. Cold, calculating and deadly, Arune has since carved out a fierce reputation in blood.

Weapons and Equipment (what your character would normally carry): Arune generally wears the black tunic and helmet indicative of his caste. In the way of weapons, he usually has a gladius (short sword), a belt of seven killing knives (smaller cousins of the quiva, designed for throwing), a hook knife (a small curved knife often used in the arena), and a crossbow which is the signature weapon of the assassin.

[helvorn]

Great character.  Let me think on whether I want to play a slave or start out free.  I'm tempted to start out free as a temptation to our stalwart band of warriors :)

[Missy]

Aiko Kishimori - Kajira slave Blossom, as played by Hitomi Aizawa

Name: Aiko Kishimori
Slave name: Blossom
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Class: Kajira
Role: Pleasure Slave
Owner: Slavers
Home Stone: None - earth girl.
Appearance:
Blossom is a fairly typical Asian girl of Japanese descent. She is 160cm in height or five feet and three inches. Her hair is dark brown, which she used to keep shorter on earth, but since becoming a Gorean slave has grown long enough to rest around her shoulders. She has large breasts and wide hips by most standards. She has been branded with a Kef on her right thigh.

Biography:
Aiko was born and grew up in Japan where she lived with her parents on their rice farm. On the farm she learned to work hard, to honor one's family and to respect others at all times. Life was difficult on the farm with the work seeming to be unending, as her parents had only one other child Aiko was needed to help keep the farm running as the Kishimori's couldn't always afford to pay farmhands to do the work.

Aiko's time was further compounded by the legal requirements for her and her brother to attend school on weekdays. All told there was little time for Aiko to play or do much other than farmwork and homework. What little time Aiko did have to herself she spent reading and studying about anything she could get her hands on. She kept it from her parents, but inside she didn't want to spend the rest of her life on a farm.

When she turned eighteen years of age she applied for a college and was accepted. Her parents were frustrated by her decision saying they needed her on the farm, but she decided to attend college all the same. She spent four years working to achieve a degree, visiting her parents during breaks to do all she was able on the farm, despite her parents feelings of being abandoned by her.

Aiko received her first degree at twenty two. Her parents implored she return to the farm and for the summer, as she had every year since going to school, she worked as a hand on her parents farm. Come the next semester however she intended to return to achieve the next level of her education. She would never return to school however as near to the end of the summer she went on a camping trip by herself. She pitched her camp and went to sleep that night, but awoke in an entirely different and unfamiliar forest.

It wasn't long before she encountered others in this strange land she had mystically awoken in, unfortunately for her they were Gorean slavers. Gorean slavers who were all too familiar with the strange attire of earth women. Aiko's new masters wasted no time in stripping their new slave and burning her clothes to impress upon her the reality of her situation. As if it weren't enough ti burn her clothes and leave her naked each man took his turn raping the earth girl as well, impressing upon her deeply the condition of her new reality.

Despite the abuses and her situation Aiko did not give in easily, she rebelled and promised to find her way back to her home from these horrid perverse men. In response to her resistance the slavers called her 'Blossom' that she would 'blossom into a beautiful, obedient kajira and pleasure slave'. In time Blossom's resistance faded and gave way to obedience, even accepting the name Blossom before others. Blossom has come to accept her place as a slave overtly, yet subliminally resents the enforced upon her role. Blossom has made strides to becoming kajira, a slavegirl of Gor, yet has in truth not fully accepted her new identity.

Weapons and Equipment:
Blossom, like all kajira, is given only that which her Master permits to her.

[Athos]

Great character.  Let me think on whether I want to play a slave or start out free.  I'm tempted to start out free as a temptation to our stalwart band of warriors :)

Sounds good, take your time. :)  Nice character MCsc, looks good.

[helvorn]

Can you suggest one of the books that give a good account of a Free Woman or at least one who starts out that way or was one at one time?

[Moraline]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I love, Gor.

Other commitments have me tied up at the moment but I'll keep my eye open for your game in the future.

[Athos]

Can you suggest one of the books that give a good account of a Free Woman or at least one who starts out that way or was one at one time?

I would suggest the character of Talena, daughter of Marlenus of Ar, in the first book Tarnsman of Gor as well as the character of Elizabeth Cardwell in the fourth book Nomads of Gor as well as the eighth book Hunters of Gor in which both of their story lines are completed.

Just wanted to pop in and say that I love, Gor.

Other commitments have me tied up at the moment but I'll keep my eye open for your game in the future.

You're welcome anytime! Thanks for dropping by.

[Caela]

Will work up a CS but it probably won't be until tomorrow night or Friday since I worked today and tomorrow and a 12 hour shift isn't, typically, inspiring to my Muse! lol

[Athos]

Will work up a CS but it probably won't be until tomorrow night or Friday since I worked today and tomorrow and a 12 hour shift isn't, typically, inspiring to my Muse! lol

Hey no problem! I know how you feel. I work 12's too and there's nothing I want to do after them except eat and sleep.

[Athos]

Same here, I'm afraid. I'll try to come up with my character sheet as soon as possible (tonigh or tomorrow at the latest).
My character, most likely, will be a free man of the caste of warriors, a tarnsman from the city of Thenthis. I'm not sure, however, if he is Gor-born or a captive from earth.

Not a problem. If you need anything, feel free to give me a shout.

[helvorn]

If I do a Free Woman can I have her noble born?  What would a good high but not the highest noble rank be for her father within the city or the nearby environs?