Topic: The World of Gor

[Haibane]

Yup, I tend to steer away from group RPs that focus on higher level politics; kings, princes, queens, uber-level-wizards, etc... the highest levels of machinations since egos can get out of control. I find RPing a "bunch of nobodies" always more satisfying, and usually more flexible.

Unfortunately I think this is a minority preference.

[vin26m]

Vin, did you want to join us?

With you in the mix, Haibane, I'm so very tempted, but I'm already spread thin with RPs.  I'll be watching, though.
 


 

[lorcan]

Well actually the Ubar is quite a big deal cause he is the one who establishes the rules and laws of his home stone and Quite honestly its better to establish a homestone based on of the nations as a guide line for the flavors we would like to see as the people who will make up the homestone. To be honest i think you would also be denying in my opinion one of the more dynamic and fanscinating parts of Gor cause a great deal of the Culture. Cause it is a rare thing that a homestone falls and when it does the people who are  of that have to deal with a strong negative stereotype and are distrusted and  are just barely above slaves desptie being freemen or women and also opens any slaves you own to much more dangers especially if the situation happens where you fall in love with your slave cause it is not uncommon for even a free women to beg the collar of the one the love. Besides with an established home stone it is more common place for proper education cause also a slave that isnt well trained reflects poorly on the homestone so thus it would alllow for a little leeway with training. Especially since we have new people to Gor. Besides I also think we would be denying people to experience the true and beautiful essence of Gor. Yes that can happen that people do get overzealous with power but here we do have methods to curb them since the people playing the Ubar are not necessarily Adminstrators and Moderators for the out of character aspects so gross violations will be less likely to occur then whay i have seen in my time in Gor done in places like on Pal Talk or forums Strictly dedicated to Gor. Besides I think also it would provide everyone with the common Goal of working towards the safety and security that the Homestone represents in Gor.

[lorcan]

Also a Good Ubar in my opinion is not someone who looks neccesarily to his own concerns but the concerns of his citizens cause if not  he ulimately dishonors himself and the Homestone and will find himself deposed and with out a homestone of his own and have to live the cruel life of an exile. Which in Gor is a fate worse then death.

[Haibane]

The Ubar role sounds like one that would be best handled by an NPC, or our game simply need not concern itself with politics at that level. In most games set in the real world, few would think the American President is a vital role to be filled for every RP.

Or, if its not a war, the council would be in charge. Ubars are only dictators in time of crisis, so surely 99% of the time a council would be governing the city (if we even set the game in a city, there is no need even for that).

I think we need Meister to decide if he feels an Ubar is needed, or if the city we are in is at peace and then what level of society and politics he wishes his game to be set at.

[lorcan]

Well that could work but to be honest to play in such a large setting in Gor can be overwhelming  and would inolve alot of npc's and i think we would benefit more from a smaller homestone that is just begining to rise  and make its name for itself. if we go with using the cultures as a base. We can also focus more on the tight knit community and face the challenges of establishing such a place. Cause also such a place would also provide for some unique dynamics and fun and im not neccessarily concerned with holding the postion of Ubar i would want it to be someone everyone is more comfortable with besides my favorite caste is the Players caste I would much rather play one of them.

[FeBurns]

Hello good folks. 

Are you accepting male characters played by female writers or vice versa?

~Fe~

[Max]

I might be interested in this.  Maybe as a female slave, maybe as a kajirus.

[Krayz]

I'd need to do some research (my knowledge of Gor is an outsider's, and it's very limited), but I'm most definitely intrigued. When I was first introducing myself to the lifestyle in general, I was told by one Gorean man that a lot of my opinions on the matter were close to those of Gor.

I did some research, and found many of the ideas quite interesting.

So, with a little research, I'd be more than willing to join up. I'm not sure which role I'd fit into, but I'll either do a lot of research and be Gorean-born, or play someone who was taken, and learn and find my role as I go along.

^_^

[Meister]

I am hesitant to make any such ruling about the style we take in carrying out this RP simply because I'm the one that proposed it. That's exactly how most of the Gorean rooms start sliding down that slippery slope. I will say that I support Haibane's suggestion of keeping things relatively low-politics, if only because that's different from everything else I've seen, but I refuse to say that's how we are going to do it. I'd much rather go with what it seems like most people wanted for this, if only to try and provide the most fun for everyone. The only people I want to get butthurt are the ones that refuse to compromise and play nice. So far, only the three of us have discussed it, while there are a lot more showing interest in it now. I want to hear what everybody has to say.

@Max and FeBurns: I personally don't play with cross-gender players, but if somebody else wants to, that's all on them.

[Max]

My personal preference is to play male.  There was mention of a free woman, but only if there was a kajirus.  That would be great.  If not, then maybe a slave girl.

[Muse]

What's your preferred posting speed, FeBurns?  I'll cross dress opposite you. :) 

[Giulianna]

Hi,

I am interested in joining, but I know very little of Gor. Just followed one of the links here and it seems like something I'd love to learn more about. I basically always play submissive girls, so, if there is room for one more who would eventually be a slave, let me know. It seems you already have girls coming from Earth, so I suppose I should look for a different story, right?

So, a question. Would a free woman make a slave of herself for some reason? Love, magic, pure lust, born after she was raped or something like that? I realize that blackmail would work, but I would like the conflict that would come with a decision she made by herself. Just random thoughts right now.

Giulianna

[Haibane]

I don't play opposite cross-gender players either, so if people take up such roles we'd have to avoid each other. Not saying it won't work but it might get awkward.

[Meister]

Hi,

I am interested in joining, but I know very little of Gor. Just followed one of the links here and it seems like something I'd love to learn more about. I basically always play submissive girls, so, if there is room for one more who would eventually be a slave, let me know. It seems you already have girls coming from Earth, so I suppose I should look for a different story, right?

So, a question. Would a free woman make a slave of herself for some reason? Love, magic, pure lust, born after she was raped or something like that? I realize that blackmail would work, but I would like the conflict that would come with a decision she made by herself. Just random thoughts right now.

Giulianna

1. Yeah, I mean, there's nothing officially stopping you from going that route, it's just that the ratio of earth-girls to natives would start to get a little silly. Unless it's about an organization that makes those acquisitions... 

2. It does indeed happen. There are more than a handful of women in the books who are so impressed with a man's (usually Tarl, one of the primary and most common POVs in the series) virility, strength, and general all-around manliness, that they do, eventually, beg to be his slave. It's not something they don't take lightly, but considering the culture where slavery, while officially uncommon, is still considered a natural state for females, not surprising in the slightest.

[Isengrad]

A very interesting idea, I would love to be apart of this. I will certainly have to start reading the books(i'm lucky enough that my dad had most of them and have them downstairs)I am familer with some aspects of gorrean culture(like most people i'm familer with the kajira....at one point even owning one,well in a sense), however I can always stand to learn more about the socity.

IM thinking If I do join I would probably construct a Warrior, strong.. cunning if not educated like others, but still intelligent. Would just have a few questions about that, would a warrior not out.. well waging war.. be living off the soils of the last campaign? or would he find work in the city.. as a guard or some sort of police force?

[Meister]

I don't recall it being explicitly explained, but this is how I sort of understood it. Anybody who clearly remembers differently, feel free to interject.

I believe warriors received a stipend from the government just for being healthy and available at a moments notice. They may have earned more by taking on tasks like training younger men who hadn't joined the ranks yet, and for rising through the ranks of leadership, or by just being officially serving at a post outside the city like a fortress or keep, away from civilization. Some likely took mercenary work, especially for friends of their family, if they wanted extra coin. It could have been work as body guards, or protecting a caravan. Protecting the peace and law enforcement was a joint effort between a sub-caste of the warriors, the city watchmen, and several sub-castes of scribes who acted as attorneys, judges, record keepers, and investigators.

All in all, not TOO much different from how we support our military in the US. Though yeah, I'm pretty sure the rules concerning looting and pillaging, if extant, were much looser and less strenuously enforced.

[lorcan]

Yes, Freewomen have become slaves for the ones the love sometimes this is done in a contract that the freewomen first upon marrying will be made a slave so the husband my train his wife to serve him as he needs. Others do it cause the have been shown their true to desire to be a slave and submit themselves to someone they care for cause under the merchant guild laws in the more civilized areas of Gor thier is some protection for ones property.

[Meister]

Ok, this has been up for discussion for a while. Obviously a fair few people are interested. Now, we just need to figure out, specifically, we are all interested in.

Option #1:Lorcan, correct me if I am wrong, please, but it seems you want a more traditional RP with many of the elements I've seen in chat. That being the case, we may be able to do something on IRC or buzzen or any number of other free chat sites. We can do OOC and basic planning here on E, and RP as members of the ruling council and their slaves and various other VIPS offsite.

Option #2: Haibane has brought up playing as a family and group of friends within a city. Completely unconcerned with the politics or much intrigue, mostly just living as your typical Goreans. Easier to organize as a play-by-post, but we are going to have to come together on what, exactly, we are going to do.

Option #3: An idea I recently developed, wherein the men are mostly concerned with the capture and training of earth women as kajira, and the women are either aiding their training, or are being trained. Only two women expressed any interest in being FW, and one of them seems to be up for flipping on that. Haven't heard back from the other one, but I'm sure we can arrange something. Perhaps they run a more public face for the organization. Maybe they are the ones in contact with the Kur or Priest-Kings, due to the difficulty men have given them in the past. We can work something out.

Please, everybody that's interested, vote. If you want to keep it private, PM me. Otherwise, I see no reason to not just post your preference here. If you have any other ideas you'd prefer, raise them. If that happens, you can either remain silent and keep your vote, or change it to the new option. All I ask is that no one gets butthurt for not doing things the way they want to do them. If it's that important to you, you can start your own RP and hey, I might even join it too.

Just so we don't spend too much time debating, I'd rather like to have this hashed out before the end of the month, early next week preferred.

[bloodrose]

I would find it difficult to go along with option 1 as I'm on line at different times of the day, due to shiftwork, so I would have to go with option 2 or 3, either of those would be fine for me, but I have to say I prefer your idea of option 3, Meister. 

From what I've read of the character ideas that have been posted, option 3 seems to me to be the one that would work the best for everyone.

[Haibane]

I do not RP by IRC at all, so that only leaves options 2 and 3 and both of those work for me. The group of slavers working to capture and train Kajira is effectively the same scenario I suggested where a family group is buying new slaves and training them, so for me both these suggested story lines appear to hold the same appealing elements.

It might help if I summarise what it is about Gor that appeals to me - its the regularized fantasy world full of laws, customs and structure. Coming into this as an abducted earth girl and knowing a big fat zero about it but being trained to understand it and learn whilst being forced to unwillingly submit into a social order (slave) that my girl finds alien except in bedroom play holds that combination of appealing elements. My character will be the kind of girl who enjoys submitting (I can't play a submissive any other way since I play realistically and to play one who hates it would be too unpleasant); so whether we have a slave trading party or a family unit does not matter to me as long as those elements I'm interested in are available to enjoy.

Power politics holds no interest for me in his particular context.

[Giulianna]

I would rather a play by post too, it works much better with my work and all, as I have random free moments scattered through the day. I used to play on IRC, but can't find the time anymore.

Anyway, I assume FW is free woman. I mentioned the possibility of starting as one, but one who would soon decide to become a slave by her own choice. This could be fun, but, if the game runs around the idea of capturing earth women, I could start as one as well. I like both concepts, I will see how the ideas progress and then pick one. I am more inclined right now to go as the FW turned into kajira, but earth girl would fit my knowledge much better.

[Haibane]

I think the difficulty with playing as a Gorean is you would need to know the books pretty well and since I don't and I know my lack of knowledge would probably end up annoying the really knowledgeable people here, I went for the only obvious option the world of Gor allowed.

[lorcan]

Id say Option three would go best for me since  if were going the normal citizen route id be playing my favorite caste the players so i could always just win some slaves off people in a kaissa match.

[Meister]

Alrighty, so, sounds like #3 is the winner. Cool. I think we can proceed to character generation and hopefully get this beast finally up and running shortly after Christmas.

What I think we need:

-A physician. Male or female. Mostly responsible for treating new slaves, administering stabilization AKA virtual immortality serums. Lots of opportunities for medically themed scenes too, obviously.

-A head slaver, preferably male, to show the girls off to the public and boss people around. I call dibs. 

-Any number of male slavers to actually capture and train the girls under the head slaver's direction.

-A scribe, ideal for a free woman, to keep track of things and do the books and maybe be jealous of the pretty earth girls and their collars and brands.

-Whatever else you can make a solid argument for.