Post by adreannaTal{fb} on Jan 4, 2011 16:20:54 GMT -5
~Players of Gor~
Written by John Norman
(Copyright 1984 by John Norman)
(Daw Books, Inc.)
~Back Cover~
During the holiday revels of Port Kar, an attempt is made on the life of Tarl Cabot. And Tarl discovers that the Priest-Kings have turned against him! To clear himself of their charge of treason, he must follow the assassin's trail. The way to achieve that was to join, in disguise, a troupe of travelling Players, a sort of Gorean carnival, which would give him entry to enemy cities and hostile territories.
But life in such a carnival is always a risk in itself. There are monsters in form and monsters in mind among them-- and there may be spies of the alien Kurs and the omnipotent Priest-Kings. Players of Gor is a rich and full adventure on that wondrous world where free men must fight and slave girls must yield, where life and liberty may depend on the chance moves of a game-board or the edged passions of the dueling ground. And where Tarl's destiny must bring him face to face with a conspiracy of superhuman powers.
~Inside~
"I have heard from the Sardar," Samos said to me.
"They ask for the arrest and detention of one reputed to be an enemy of Priest-Kings."
"Who is he?" I inquired.
"His name," said Samos, "is Tarl Cabot."
"That is absurd!" I cried. "How can I have betrayed their cause?
I have never pledged a sword to them, never sworn a fidelity oath in their behalf.
I am my own man, a mercenary of sorts, one who has labored in their behalf"
"I think you should conveniently disappear from Port Kar, until I manage to resolve these confusions and ambiguities, " said Samos.
Then I told him, "I think I have just killed an agent of Priest-Kings."
********************************************************************************************
~Quotations from the book, Players of Gor~
"She wore white gloves.
“This is an outrage!” she said. She wore tiny, golden slippers. Her robes of concealment, silken and flowing, shimmered in the torchlight.
“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded. “I demand my immediate freedom!”
One of the slave girls, one kneeling a few feet away, before us and to our right, at a table, one of those who was naked, save for her collar, laughed. Then she turned white with fear. She had laughed at a free woman. Samos turned to a guard and pointed at the offending slave. “Fifteen lashes,” he said. The girl shook her head in misery. She whimpered with terror. These would be lashes, she knew, with a Gorean slave whip. It is an efficient instrument for disciplining women."
~Players of Gor, page 11~
“I inclined my head, "Lady," said I, acknowledging the introduction. To a free woman considerable deference is due, particularly to one such as the Lady Rowena, one obviously, at least hitherto, of high station.”
~Players of Gor, page 12~
"In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is then, categorically, a slave, and he may do with her what he pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. Here we may note a distinction between laws and codes. In the codes of the warriors, if a warrior accepts a woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least for a time, an amount of time up to his discretion, she be spared. If she should be the least displeasing, of course, or should prove recalcitrant in even a tiny way, she may be immediately disposed of.
It should be noted that this does not place a legal obligation on the warrior. It has to do, rather, with the proprieties of the codes."
~Players of Gor, page 21~
"Stand," I told her. "Back straight, belly in, breasts out. Lift your hands to your shoulders, flex your knees."
~Players of Gor, page 25~
"In short, the game of favors permits free women, in a socially acceptable context, by symbolic transformation, to assuage their sexual needs to at least some small extent, and, in some cases, if they wish, to make advances to interesting males. There is no full satisfaction of female, sexuality, of course, outside of the context of male dominance….."
"A free woman, in swirling robes of concealment, veiled, appeared before me. “Accept my favor, please!” she laughed. She held forth the scarf, teasingly, coquettishly. “Please, handsome fellow!” she wheedled. “Please, please!” she said. “Please!”
“Very well,” I smiled.
She came quite close to me.
“Herewith,” she said, “ I, though a free woman, gladly and willingly, and of my own free will, dare to grant you my favor!”
She then thrust the light scarf through an eyelet on the collar of my robes and drew it halfway through. In this fashion, it would not be likely to be dislodged.
“Thank you, kind sir, handsome sir!” she laughed. She then sped away, laughing.
She had had only two favors left at her belt, I had noted. NOrmally in this game the woman begins with ten. The first to dispense her ten favors and return to the starting point wins. I looked after her, grinning. It would hve been churlish, I thought, to have refused the favor. Too, she had begged so prettily. This type of boldness, of course, is one that a woman would be likely to resort to only in the time of carnival
…………
There is competition among the females in the distribution of these favors, and she who first has her “favors” accepted therein accounts herself as somewhat superior to her less successful sisters, at least in this respect, and that the whole game, for these free women, is charged with an exciting, permissive aura of delicious naughtiness, this being indexed undoubtedly to the sexual stimulations involved, stimulations which, generally, are thought to be beneath the dignity of lofty free women.”
~Players of Gor, page 44 and 45~
”No woman is worth anything until she is put in a collar.
None of them have any worth until they are made worthless.”
~Players of Gor, page 56~
"Neither of these roads, incidentally, are “great roads,” in the sense of being mounted in the earth several feet deep, built of stone like a sunken wall, the sort of roads which are often intended to last a thousand years, the sort of roads which, typically, are found in the vicinity of large cities or are intended to be military roads, speeding directly to traditionally disputed territories or linking strategic points. These roads are both secondary roads, so to speak, generally graveled and rutted; occasionally they are paved with such materials as logs and plated stone; they can be almost impassable in rainy weather and in dry, warm weather, they are often dusty. Tertiary roads, so to speak, are often little more than unfrequented, twisting trails. There is often talk of improving the secondary roads, and sometimes something is done, but generally little is accomplished. The major consideration, of course, is money. Too, many roads, for great portions of their length are not clearly within the jurisdiction of given states."
~Players of Gor, page 100 & 101~
"I am a free woman," she said. "How can you, a free man, deny me anything I want?"
"Easily," I said.
She looked at me, angrily.
"Many free women believe they can have anything they want, merely by asking for it, or demanding it," I said, "but now you see that that is not true, at least not in a world where there are true men."
~Players of Gor, page 119~
"It must be understood, of course, to fully appreciate what was going on, that the public exposure of the features of a freewoman, particularly one of high caste, or with some pretense to position or status, is a socially serious matter in many Gorean localities. Indeed, in some cities an unveiled free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by guardsmen, then to be veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back to her home. Indeed, in some cities she is marched back to her home stripped, except for the face veil which has been put on her. In these cases a crowd usually follows, to see to what home it is that she is to be returned. Repeated offenses in such a city usually result in the enslavement of the female. Such serious measures, of course, are seldom required to protect such familiar Gorean proprieties. Custom, by itself, normally suffices."
~Players of Gor, page 124 & 125~
"An unveiled woman, for example, may find other women turning away from her in a market, perhaps with expressions of disgust. Indeed, she may not even be waited upon, or dealt with, in a market by a free woman unless she first kneels. It would not be unusual for her, in a crowded place, to overhear remarks, perhaps whispers or sneers, of which she is the obvious object, such as "Shameless slut," "brazen baggage," "As immodest as a slave," "I wonder who her master is," and "Put a collar on her!" And if she should attempt to confront or challenge her assailants, she will merely find such remarks repeated articulately and clearly to her face."
~Players of Gor, page 125~
"The beauty of a free woman is a commodity beyond price.
This was not because there was anything special about it,
of course, but only because it was not for sale."
~Players of Gor, page 132~
“Oh!” she wept, clutching me, squirming, helplessly pressing her imbonded flesh against mine………”What you can do to me!” she cried. “What men can do to me! I love it. I love it! Please, Master, do not stop!” She threw her head back, her lips parted, her eyes closed. “Ohh!” she gasped. “Yes! Ohhh! Yes! Yes!, Master! Continue, I beg you”……..
My touch had been light. I saw that she was ready for more. She was in a condition of slave arousal. She looked at me wildly. She began to squirm and shudder. “We now begin again, you have not yet even experienced the fullness of a slave orgasm,” I said. Then, in moments, building her earlier sensitivity, I conducted her perforce to a height where she might sense, but not yet experience, a new horizon. I held her there, on the brink, for a time, as it pleased me, sometimes permitting her to subside a bit, and then, again, when I wished, with the cruelty of the master, almost as though beckoning her, a command she could not refuse, bringing her back to the edge, where, almost in madness, she quivered and pleaded for release.
“Not yet,”“ I told her.
“Yes, Master,” she wept. The decision was mine. She was totally in my power. She was a slave.”
~Players of Gor, page 166 and 167~
"Insubordination in any form, of any sort, in even the tiniest, least significant degree, is not accepted from slave girls by their Gorean masters."
~Players of Gor, page 227~
"Also, of course, slaves generally have some value, at least to the master, even if not much. They, at least, can be bought and sold…..Free women, on the other hand, being priceless, have for most practical purposes no value whatsoever."
~Players of Gor, pages 228 & 229~
“In authenticated gold, naturally,” added Chino.
“Authenticated gold?” asked Petrucchio.
“Of course,” said Chino. “If you have not had the coins authenticated, my friend, Lecchio, here is certified by the caste of Builders to perform the relevant tests.”
~Players of Gor, page 297~
“Beware!” I said.
“You do not own me!” she said. “Neither of you own me!”
"Any free man may discipline an insolent or errant slave," I said, "even one who is the least bit displeasing, even one he might merely feel like disciplining. If she is killed, or injured, he need only pay compensation to her master, and that only if the master can be located within a specific amount of time and requests such compensation." In virtue of such customs and statutes the perfect discipline under which Gorean slaves are kept is maintained and guaranteed even when they are not within the direct purview of their masters or their appointed agents."
~Players of Gor, page 235~
“I noted that she had not knelt. She had not thrust her head to the ground. She had not asked for permission to speak. Her entire attitude was one of a slovenly disregard for our status, that of free men”
~Players of Gor, page 234~
“Gorean is written, as it is said, as the ox plows. The first line is written left to right, the second, right to left, the third, left to right again, and so on. I had once been informed by my friend, Torm, that the whole business was quite simple, the alternate lines, in his opinion, at least, also being written forward, “only in the other direction.”
~Players of Gor, page 243~
“It was one of the urt people. It had a narrow, elongated face and rather large, ovoid eyes. It was narrow-shouldered and narrow-chested. It had long, thin arms and short, spindly legs. It commonly walked, or hurried, bent over, its knuckles often on the ground, its head moving from side to side. This low gait commonly kept it inconspicuous among the large, migratory urt packs with which it commonly moved. Sometimes such packs pass civilized areas and observers are not even aware of the urt people traveling with them. The urt packs provide them with cover and protection. For some reason, not clear to me at that time, the urts seldom attack them. Sometimes it would rear up, slightly, unexpectedly, looking about itself, and then drop back to a smaller, more bent-over position. It was capable of incredible stillness and then sudden, surprising bursts of movement……. When it stood upright it was about three and a half feet tall.”
~Players of Gor, page 267~
“I took a slice of hard larma from the tray. This is a firm, single-seeded, applelike fruit. It is quite unlike the segmented, juicy larma. It is sometimes called, and perhaps more aptly, the pit fruit, because of its large single stone.”
~Players of Gor, page 267~
Written by John Norman
(Copyright 1984 by John Norman)
(Daw Books, Inc.)
~Back Cover~
During the holiday revels of Port Kar, an attempt is made on the life of Tarl Cabot. And Tarl discovers that the Priest-Kings have turned against him! To clear himself of their charge of treason, he must follow the assassin's trail. The way to achieve that was to join, in disguise, a troupe of travelling Players, a sort of Gorean carnival, which would give him entry to enemy cities and hostile territories.
But life in such a carnival is always a risk in itself. There are monsters in form and monsters in mind among them-- and there may be spies of the alien Kurs and the omnipotent Priest-Kings. Players of Gor is a rich and full adventure on that wondrous world where free men must fight and slave girls must yield, where life and liberty may depend on the chance moves of a game-board or the edged passions of the dueling ground. And where Tarl's destiny must bring him face to face with a conspiracy of superhuman powers.
~Inside~
"I have heard from the Sardar," Samos said to me.
"They ask for the arrest and detention of one reputed to be an enemy of Priest-Kings."
"Who is he?" I inquired.
"His name," said Samos, "is Tarl Cabot."
"That is absurd!" I cried. "How can I have betrayed their cause?
I have never pledged a sword to them, never sworn a fidelity oath in their behalf.
I am my own man, a mercenary of sorts, one who has labored in their behalf"
"I think you should conveniently disappear from Port Kar, until I manage to resolve these confusions and ambiguities, " said Samos.
Then I told him, "I think I have just killed an agent of Priest-Kings."
********************************************************************************************
~Quotations from the book, Players of Gor~
"She wore white gloves.
“This is an outrage!” she said. She wore tiny, golden slippers. Her robes of concealment, silken and flowing, shimmered in the torchlight.
“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded. “I demand my immediate freedom!”
One of the slave girls, one kneeling a few feet away, before us and to our right, at a table, one of those who was naked, save for her collar, laughed. Then she turned white with fear. She had laughed at a free woman. Samos turned to a guard and pointed at the offending slave. “Fifteen lashes,” he said. The girl shook her head in misery. She whimpered with terror. These would be lashes, she knew, with a Gorean slave whip. It is an efficient instrument for disciplining women."
~Players of Gor, page 11~
“I inclined my head, "Lady," said I, acknowledging the introduction. To a free woman considerable deference is due, particularly to one such as the Lady Rowena, one obviously, at least hitherto, of high station.”
~Players of Gor, page 12~
"In other cities, and in most cities, on the other hand, a free woman may, with legal tolerance, submit herself as a slave to a specific man. If he refuses her, she is then still free. If he accepts her, she is then, categorically, a slave, and he may do with her what he pleases, even selling her or giving her away, or slaying her, if he wishes. Here we may note a distinction between laws and codes. In the codes of the warriors, if a warrior accepts a woman as a slave, it is prescribed that, at least for a time, an amount of time up to his discretion, she be spared. If she should be the least displeasing, of course, or should prove recalcitrant in even a tiny way, she may be immediately disposed of.
It should be noted that this does not place a legal obligation on the warrior. It has to do, rather, with the proprieties of the codes."
~Players of Gor, page 21~
"Stand," I told her. "Back straight, belly in, breasts out. Lift your hands to your shoulders, flex your knees."
~Players of Gor, page 25~
"In short, the game of favors permits free women, in a socially acceptable context, by symbolic transformation, to assuage their sexual needs to at least some small extent, and, in some cases, if they wish, to make advances to interesting males. There is no full satisfaction of female, sexuality, of course, outside of the context of male dominance….."
"A free woman, in swirling robes of concealment, veiled, appeared before me. “Accept my favor, please!” she laughed. She held forth the scarf, teasingly, coquettishly. “Please, handsome fellow!” she wheedled. “Please, please!” she said. “Please!”
“Very well,” I smiled.
She came quite close to me.
“Herewith,” she said, “ I, though a free woman, gladly and willingly, and of my own free will, dare to grant you my favor!”
She then thrust the light scarf through an eyelet on the collar of my robes and drew it halfway through. In this fashion, it would not be likely to be dislodged.
“Thank you, kind sir, handsome sir!” she laughed. She then sped away, laughing.
She had had only two favors left at her belt, I had noted. NOrmally in this game the woman begins with ten. The first to dispense her ten favors and return to the starting point wins. I looked after her, grinning. It would hve been churlish, I thought, to have refused the favor. Too, she had begged so prettily. This type of boldness, of course, is one that a woman would be likely to resort to only in the time of carnival
…………
There is competition among the females in the distribution of these favors, and she who first has her “favors” accepted therein accounts herself as somewhat superior to her less successful sisters, at least in this respect, and that the whole game, for these free women, is charged with an exciting, permissive aura of delicious naughtiness, this being indexed undoubtedly to the sexual stimulations involved, stimulations which, generally, are thought to be beneath the dignity of lofty free women.”
~Players of Gor, page 44 and 45~
”No woman is worth anything until she is put in a collar.
None of them have any worth until they are made worthless.”
~Players of Gor, page 56~
"Neither of these roads, incidentally, are “great roads,” in the sense of being mounted in the earth several feet deep, built of stone like a sunken wall, the sort of roads which are often intended to last a thousand years, the sort of roads which, typically, are found in the vicinity of large cities or are intended to be military roads, speeding directly to traditionally disputed territories or linking strategic points. These roads are both secondary roads, so to speak, generally graveled and rutted; occasionally they are paved with such materials as logs and plated stone; they can be almost impassable in rainy weather and in dry, warm weather, they are often dusty. Tertiary roads, so to speak, are often little more than unfrequented, twisting trails. There is often talk of improving the secondary roads, and sometimes something is done, but generally little is accomplished. The major consideration, of course, is money. Too, many roads, for great portions of their length are not clearly within the jurisdiction of given states."
~Players of Gor, page 100 & 101~
"I am a free woman," she said. "How can you, a free man, deny me anything I want?"
"Easily," I said.
She looked at me, angrily.
"Many free women believe they can have anything they want, merely by asking for it, or demanding it," I said, "but now you see that that is not true, at least not in a world where there are true men."
~Players of Gor, page 119~
"It must be understood, of course, to fully appreciate what was going on, that the public exposure of the features of a freewoman, particularly one of high caste, or with some pretense to position or status, is a socially serious matter in many Gorean localities. Indeed, in some cities an unveiled free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by guardsmen, then to be veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back to her home. Indeed, in some cities she is marched back to her home stripped, except for the face veil which has been put on her. In these cases a crowd usually follows, to see to what home it is that she is to be returned. Repeated offenses in such a city usually result in the enslavement of the female. Such serious measures, of course, are seldom required to protect such familiar Gorean proprieties. Custom, by itself, normally suffices."
~Players of Gor, page 124 & 125~
"An unveiled woman, for example, may find other women turning away from her in a market, perhaps with expressions of disgust. Indeed, she may not even be waited upon, or dealt with, in a market by a free woman unless she first kneels. It would not be unusual for her, in a crowded place, to overhear remarks, perhaps whispers or sneers, of which she is the obvious object, such as "Shameless slut," "brazen baggage," "As immodest as a slave," "I wonder who her master is," and "Put a collar on her!" And if she should attempt to confront or challenge her assailants, she will merely find such remarks repeated articulately and clearly to her face."
~Players of Gor, page 125~
"The beauty of a free woman is a commodity beyond price.
This was not because there was anything special about it,
of course, but only because it was not for sale."
~Players of Gor, page 132~
“Oh!” she wept, clutching me, squirming, helplessly pressing her imbonded flesh against mine………”What you can do to me!” she cried. “What men can do to me! I love it. I love it! Please, Master, do not stop!” She threw her head back, her lips parted, her eyes closed. “Ohh!” she gasped. “Yes! Ohhh! Yes! Yes!, Master! Continue, I beg you”……..
My touch had been light. I saw that she was ready for more. She was in a condition of slave arousal. She looked at me wildly. She began to squirm and shudder. “We now begin again, you have not yet even experienced the fullness of a slave orgasm,” I said. Then, in moments, building her earlier sensitivity, I conducted her perforce to a height where she might sense, but not yet experience, a new horizon. I held her there, on the brink, for a time, as it pleased me, sometimes permitting her to subside a bit, and then, again, when I wished, with the cruelty of the master, almost as though beckoning her, a command she could not refuse, bringing her back to the edge, where, almost in madness, she quivered and pleaded for release.
“Not yet,”“ I told her.
“Yes, Master,” she wept. The decision was mine. She was totally in my power. She was a slave.”
~Players of Gor, page 166 and 167~
"Insubordination in any form, of any sort, in even the tiniest, least significant degree, is not accepted from slave girls by their Gorean masters."
~Players of Gor, page 227~
"Also, of course, slaves generally have some value, at least to the master, even if not much. They, at least, can be bought and sold…..Free women, on the other hand, being priceless, have for most practical purposes no value whatsoever."
~Players of Gor, pages 228 & 229~
“In authenticated gold, naturally,” added Chino.
“Authenticated gold?” asked Petrucchio.
“Of course,” said Chino. “If you have not had the coins authenticated, my friend, Lecchio, here is certified by the caste of Builders to perform the relevant tests.”
~Players of Gor, page 297~
“Beware!” I said.
“You do not own me!” she said. “Neither of you own me!”
"Any free man may discipline an insolent or errant slave," I said, "even one who is the least bit displeasing, even one he might merely feel like disciplining. If she is killed, or injured, he need only pay compensation to her master, and that only if the master can be located within a specific amount of time and requests such compensation." In virtue of such customs and statutes the perfect discipline under which Gorean slaves are kept is maintained and guaranteed even when they are not within the direct purview of their masters or their appointed agents."
~Players of Gor, page 235~
“I noted that she had not knelt. She had not thrust her head to the ground. She had not asked for permission to speak. Her entire attitude was one of a slovenly disregard for our status, that of free men”
~Players of Gor, page 234~
“Gorean is written, as it is said, as the ox plows. The first line is written left to right, the second, right to left, the third, left to right again, and so on. I had once been informed by my friend, Torm, that the whole business was quite simple, the alternate lines, in his opinion, at least, also being written forward, “only in the other direction.”
~Players of Gor, page 243~
“It was one of the urt people. It had a narrow, elongated face and rather large, ovoid eyes. It was narrow-shouldered and narrow-chested. It had long, thin arms and short, spindly legs. It commonly walked, or hurried, bent over, its knuckles often on the ground, its head moving from side to side. This low gait commonly kept it inconspicuous among the large, migratory urt packs with which it commonly moved. Sometimes such packs pass civilized areas and observers are not even aware of the urt people traveling with them. The urt packs provide them with cover and protection. For some reason, not clear to me at that time, the urts seldom attack them. Sometimes it would rear up, slightly, unexpectedly, looking about itself, and then drop back to a smaller, more bent-over position. It was capable of incredible stillness and then sudden, surprising bursts of movement……. When it stood upright it was about three and a half feet tall.”
~Players of Gor, page 267~
“I took a slice of hard larma from the tray. This is a firm, single-seeded, applelike fruit. It is quite unlike the segmented, juicy larma. It is sometimes called, and perhaps more aptly, the pit fruit, because of its large single stone.”
~Players of Gor, page 267~