Post by adreannaTal{fb} on Nov 21, 2010 11:27:31 GMT -5
Slave Brands
On Gor, almost all slaves are branded. The brands have various meanings and uses. Below is a list of the different brands and what they are used for.
"It is here," said Hassan. He moved back the heavy iron door and we entered the room. I looked about, at the chains and devices. Tarna shrank back. She could not run, for my hand was on her arm. She seemed faint. I steadied her. It was dark in the room, except for a small Tharlarion-oil lamp on a chain in one corner, and a brazier, glowing, near the branding rack. Hassan stirred the coals in the brazier. In a large Kasbah irons are kept always hot. The slaves know this.
I ripped the bit of cloth away from her hips and threw her against the rack. I swung shut the two heavy bands and with the two twist handles, tightened them on her thigh. She turned, trying to pound at the metal that held her. I took her wrists and pulled them forward, to the two posts, some six inches apart, part of the branding rack, putting them in the snap bracelets which dangled there, one from each post. These are simple mechanisms. It is quite easy to open and shut them, and it may be done with a snap of the finger, one for each bracelet. As the bracelets are situated, some inches apart, of course, and as the snap is on each bracelet itself, at the wrist, the girl herself cannot get her finger, of either hand, on the mechanism. Others may open them easily; she, on the other hand, is perfectly held. I took again the twist handles. I turned them extremely tightly. "Oh, oh," she cried. She pulled futilely at the snap bracelets. Then I again turned the twist handles. "Please!" she cried. "Be quiet," I told her. She bit her lip. I tightened the handles more and put in the locking device, that they might not slip back. Her thigh was absolutely immobile.
"I see you like a left-thigh-branded girl," said Hassan.
The girl can writhe in the rack or squirm, or scream, but the held thigh will not move. It is held for the kiss of the iron.
With a heavy glove, Hassan pulled an iron from the brazier. "What do you think of this brand?" he asked.
It was the Taharic slave mark.
"It is beautiful," I said. "But let us assure ourselves that this will be a common slave, one fit to sell north."
"A good idea," said Hassan. He returned the one iron to the brazier and reached for another. It glowed red. It was a fine iron, clean and precise. At its tip, bright red, was the common Kajira slave mark of Gor. Tarna looked upon it with horror.
"It is not yet hot enough, my pretty," said Hassan. He returned it to the brazier.
We heard shouting, as though from far away. Hassan looked at me. "I shall investigate," I said. I left the room and ascended to the third level. The noise was coming from the level above, the second. A soldier was stumbling by. "What is going on?" I asked. "On the level above?"
"They are searching for Tarna," he laughed. He then stumbled away.
I saw two slave girls led past me, on wrist chains, in the grip of another soldier.
I returned to the fourth level. I returned to the room where Hassan waited.
"They are searching for Tarna," I said.
"On what level are they?" asked Hassan.
"The second," I said.
"Ah," said Hassan, "then we have plenty of time." In a few Ehn he removed the iron from the coals, and examined it. He then again replaced it. Shortly thereafter, however, for it must have been almost ready, he drew it-forth again. It glowed white.
"You may scream and cry out, my pretty," said Hassan, not unkindly.
She struggled in the bracelets, she watched the iron. Then she screamed. For five long Ihn Hassan held the iron, pressing it in. I saw it sink in her thigh, smoking and hissing. Then he, cleanly, withdrew it. Tarna was marked.
She sobbed, wildly. We did not rebuke her. I freed her thigh of the rack. She fell on her knees at the posts, sobbing. I freed her wrists of the snap bracelets. I lifted her, sobbing, in my arms.
--Tribesman of Gor p.337—
TYPES OF BRANDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have five brands," said the metal worker, "the common Kajira brand, the Dina, the Palm, the mark of Treve, the mark of Port Kar."
--Explorers of Gor, page 70--
The Kef
"The man, placing heavy gloves on his hands, withdrew from the brazier a slave iron. Its tip was a figure some inch and a half high, the first letter in the cursive script, in the Gorean alphabet, of the expression Kajira. It is a beautiful letter."
--Hunters of Gor, page 51--
The Dina
"I had seen the design at the tip of the iron. It was a small flower, stylized; it was circular, about an inch and a half in diameter; it was not unlike a small rose; it was incredibly lovely and delicate."
--Slave Girl of Gor-- page 52
The common brand of the North
"The brand used by Forkbeard is not uncommon in the north, though there is less uniformity in Torvaldsland on these matters than in the south, where the merchant caste, with its recommendations for standardization, is more powerful. All over Gor, of course, the slave girl is a familiar commodity. The brand used by the Forkbeard, found rather frequently in the north, consisted of a half circle, with, at its right tip, adjoining it, a steep, diagonal line. The half circle is about an inch and a quarter in height. The brand is, like many, symbolic. In the north, the bond-maid is sometimes referred to as a women whose belly lies beneath the sword."
--Marauders of Gor, page 87--
The Brands of the Wagon Peoples
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tuchuk standard: I supposed that on the morrow Kamchak would call for the Tuchuk Iron Master, to brand what he called his little barbarian; the brand of the Tuchuk slave, incidentally, s not the same as that generally used in the cities. which for girls, is the first letter of the expression Kajira in cursive script. but the sign of the four bask horns that of the Tuchuk standard; the brand of the four bosk horns, set in such a manner as to somewhat resemble the letter "H." is only about an inch high; the common Gorean brand, on the other hand, is usually an inch and a half to two inches high; the brand of the four bosk horns, of course, is also used to mark the bosk of the Tuchuks, but there, of course, it is much larger, forming roughly a six-inch square; following the branding, I supposed that Kamchak would have one of the tiny nose rings affixed; all Tuchuk females, slave or free, wear such rings; after these things there would only remain, of course, an engraved Turian collar and the clothing of Elizabeth Cardwell Kajir.
--Nomads of Gor, page 62--
The standard of the Kassars: The standard of the Kassars is that of a scarlet, three-weighted bola, which hangs from a lance; the symbolic representation of a bola, three circles joined at the center by lines, is used to mark their bosk and slaves;
--Nomads of Gor, page 106--
The standard of the Kataii: The standard of the Kataii is a yellow bow, bound across a black lance; their brand is also that of a bow, facing to the left ;
--Nomads of Gor, page 106--
The Paravaci standard: The Paravaci standard is a large banner of jewels beaded on golden wires, forming the head and horns of a bosk its value is incalculable; the Paravaci brand is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isosceles triangle.
--Nomads of Gor, page 106—
Specialty Brands
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priest-Kings and Kurii brands:
"Incidentally, there are many brands on Gor. Two that almost never occur on Gor, by the way, are those of the moons and collar, and of the chain and claw. The first of these commonly occurs in certain of the Gorean enclaves on Earth, which serve as headquarters for agents of the Priest-Kings; the second tends to occur in the lairs of Kurii agents on Earth; the first brand consists of a locked collar and, ascending diagonally above it, extending to the right, three quarter moons; this brand indicates the girl is subject to Gorean discipline; the chain-and-claw brand signifies, of course, slavery and subjection with the compass of the Kur yoke."
--Explorers of Gor, page 12--
Penalty brands:
"Four men held me, naked, near the brazier. I could feel the heat blazing from the canister. The sky was very blue, the clouds were white.
'Please, no!' I wept.
I saw Rask, with a heavy glove, draw forth one of the irons from the fire. It ruminated in a tiny letter, not more that a quarter of an inch high. The letter was white hot. 'This is a penalty brand,' he said. 'It marks you as a liar.'
'Please, Master!' I wept.
I no longer have patience with you,' he said. 'Be marked as what you are.'
I screamed uncontrollably as he pressed in the iron, holding it firmly into my leg. Then, after some two to four Ihn, he removed it. I could not stop screaming with pain. I smelled the odor of burned flesh, my own. I began to whimper. I could not breathe. I gasped for breath. Still the men held me.
'This penalty brand,' said Rask of Treve, lifting another iron from the brazier, again with a tiny letter at its glowing termination, 'marks you also as what you are, as a thief.'
'Please, no, Master!' I wept.
I could not move a muscle of my left leg. It might as well have been locked in a vise. It must wait for the iron.
I screamed again, uncontrollably. I had been branded as a thief.
'This third iron,' said Rask of Treve, 'is, too, a penalty iron. I mark you with this not for myself, but for Ute.'
Through raging tears I saw, white hot, the tiny letter.
'It marks you as a traitress,' said Rask of Treve. He looked at me, with fury. 'Be marked as a traitress,' he said. Then he pressed the third iron into my flesh. As it entered my flesh, biting and searing, I saw Ute watching, her face betraying no emotion. I screamed, and wept, and screamed.
Still the men did not release me.
Rask of Treve lifted the last iron from the fire. It was much larger, the letter at its termination some one and a half inches high. It, too, was white hot. I knew the brand. I had seen it on Ena's thigh. It was the mark of Treve. Rask of Treve decided that my flesh should bear that mark.
'No, Master, please!' I begged him.
'Yes, Worthless Slave,' he said, 'you will wear in your flesh the mark of the city of Treve.'
'Please,' I begged.
'When men ask you,' said he, 'who it was that marked you as a liar and a thief, and traitress, point to this brand, and say, I was marked by one of Treve, who was displeased with me.'"
--Captive of Gor, page 310--
Brand of Passage
The street was lined by throngs of Tuchuks and slaves. Among them, too, were soothsayers and haruspexes, and singers and musicians, and, here and there, small peddlers and merchants, of various cities, for such are occasionally permitted by the Tuchuks, who crave their wares, to approach the wagons. Each of these, I was later to learn, wore on his forearm a tiny brand, in the form of spreading bosk horns, which guaranteed his passage, at certain seasons, across the plains of the Wagon Peoples. The difficulty, of course is in first obtaining the brand. If, in the case of a singer, the song is rejected, or in the case of a merchant, his merchandise is rejected, he is slain out of hand. This acceptance brand, of course, carries with it a certain stain of ignominy, suggesting that those who approach the wagons do as slaves.
--Nomads of Gor, page 34--
Knife Brand
On an iron table, to the right of the rack, there was a flat box. 'Lie on your right side, exposing your left thigh, ' he said. 'Yes Master,' I said. From the box he then took a small curved knife and a tiny cylindrical leather flask. I gritted my teeth, but made no sound. With the small knife he gashed my left thigh, making upon it a small, strange design. He then took a powder, orange in color, from the flask and rubbed it into the wound.
--Explorers of Gor, page 330--
LOCATION OF BRANDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"'Yes, left thigh,' said Samos to one of the guards. I liked the left-thigh branded girl. A right-handed master may caress it while he holds her in his left arm."
--Beasts of Gor, page 25--
"Where are we branded?" She said. "A girl is commonly branded on the left or right thigh," I said, "sometimes on the lower left abdomen."
--Beasts of Gor, page 229--
"Left thigh or right thigh?" he asked. "Left thigh," said Ulafi. Slave girls are commonly branded on the left thigh. Sometimes they are branded on the right thigh, or lower left abdomen."
--Explorers of Gor, page 71--
"I also checked certain less common brand sites, such as the lower left abdomen, the interior of the left forearm, and the high instep area of the left foot."
--Players of Gor, page 191--
"I had seized her, half lifted her, and turned her from side to side, examining her slim, attractive thighs for the tiny brand which would confirm the matter. The most common brand sites, that on the left thigh, the favorite, and that on the right thigh, lacked slave marks. This determination, given the nature of her garmenture, could be instantly made. I then put her on her feet. "Oh!" she said. She was not branded on the lower left abdomen. That is perhaps the third most favored brand site. I then checked several other brand sites, such as the inside of the forearms, the left side of the neck, behind and below the left ear, the backs of her legs, and her buttocks. I even examined the insteps of her left and right feet. Her body was not branded."
--Renegades of Gor, page 124--
The Branding "Ceremony"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Master secures the slave in the branding rack (shaped rather like an X-shaped table, with either snap-bracelets (manacles) for her wrists and ankles at the ends of the X, or metal rings set into the wood so her wrists and ankles might be secured with binding fiber. A removable vise-like clamp fitted with spinning twist handles to adjust the tension can be attached to the left leg platform, to hold the slave's thigh motionless during the actual branding. The Master holds up the heated branding iron, white hot, for the slave to see and says, "You will soon be branded, girl." When the brand is ready, he holds it above here left thigh and says, "You are now to be branded, slave girl." He then brands the slave, pressing it firmly into her skin for five full Ihn (seconds), then swiftly and cleanly removing it. He examines the mark closely, hoping that it was clean and deep enough to create an excellent brand. It is common Gorean practice to allow the slave the luxury of screaming, since it is in effect her final act as Free Person. Sometimes assistants are standing by with small vials of oil and salve, which they then dab onto the brand to reduce chance of infection and promote faster healing. The Master then frees the slave from the rack.
On Gor, almost all slaves are branded. The brands have various meanings and uses. Below is a list of the different brands and what they are used for.
"It is here," said Hassan. He moved back the heavy iron door and we entered the room. I looked about, at the chains and devices. Tarna shrank back. She could not run, for my hand was on her arm. She seemed faint. I steadied her. It was dark in the room, except for a small Tharlarion-oil lamp on a chain in one corner, and a brazier, glowing, near the branding rack. Hassan stirred the coals in the brazier. In a large Kasbah irons are kept always hot. The slaves know this.
I ripped the bit of cloth away from her hips and threw her against the rack. I swung shut the two heavy bands and with the two twist handles, tightened them on her thigh. She turned, trying to pound at the metal that held her. I took her wrists and pulled them forward, to the two posts, some six inches apart, part of the branding rack, putting them in the snap bracelets which dangled there, one from each post. These are simple mechanisms. It is quite easy to open and shut them, and it may be done with a snap of the finger, one for each bracelet. As the bracelets are situated, some inches apart, of course, and as the snap is on each bracelet itself, at the wrist, the girl herself cannot get her finger, of either hand, on the mechanism. Others may open them easily; she, on the other hand, is perfectly held. I took again the twist handles. I turned them extremely tightly. "Oh, oh," she cried. She pulled futilely at the snap bracelets. Then I again turned the twist handles. "Please!" she cried. "Be quiet," I told her. She bit her lip. I tightened the handles more and put in the locking device, that they might not slip back. Her thigh was absolutely immobile.
"I see you like a left-thigh-branded girl," said Hassan.
The girl can writhe in the rack or squirm, or scream, but the held thigh will not move. It is held for the kiss of the iron.
With a heavy glove, Hassan pulled an iron from the brazier. "What do you think of this brand?" he asked.
It was the Taharic slave mark.
"It is beautiful," I said. "But let us assure ourselves that this will be a common slave, one fit to sell north."
"A good idea," said Hassan. He returned the one iron to the brazier and reached for another. It glowed red. It was a fine iron, clean and precise. At its tip, bright red, was the common Kajira slave mark of Gor. Tarna looked upon it with horror.
"It is not yet hot enough, my pretty," said Hassan. He returned it to the brazier.
We heard shouting, as though from far away. Hassan looked at me. "I shall investigate," I said. I left the room and ascended to the third level. The noise was coming from the level above, the second. A soldier was stumbling by. "What is going on?" I asked. "On the level above?"
"They are searching for Tarna," he laughed. He then stumbled away.
I saw two slave girls led past me, on wrist chains, in the grip of another soldier.
I returned to the fourth level. I returned to the room where Hassan waited.
"They are searching for Tarna," I said.
"On what level are they?" asked Hassan.
"The second," I said.
"Ah," said Hassan, "then we have plenty of time." In a few Ehn he removed the iron from the coals, and examined it. He then again replaced it. Shortly thereafter, however, for it must have been almost ready, he drew it-forth again. It glowed white.
"You may scream and cry out, my pretty," said Hassan, not unkindly.
She struggled in the bracelets, she watched the iron. Then she screamed. For five long Ihn Hassan held the iron, pressing it in. I saw it sink in her thigh, smoking and hissing. Then he, cleanly, withdrew it. Tarna was marked.
She sobbed, wildly. We did not rebuke her. I freed her thigh of the rack. She fell on her knees at the posts, sobbing. I freed her wrists of the snap bracelets. I lifted her, sobbing, in my arms.
--Tribesman of Gor p.337—
TYPES OF BRANDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I have five brands," said the metal worker, "the common Kajira brand, the Dina, the Palm, the mark of Treve, the mark of Port Kar."
--Explorers of Gor, page 70--
The Kef
"The man, placing heavy gloves on his hands, withdrew from the brazier a slave iron. Its tip was a figure some inch and a half high, the first letter in the cursive script, in the Gorean alphabet, of the expression Kajira. It is a beautiful letter."
--Hunters of Gor, page 51--
The Dina
"I had seen the design at the tip of the iron. It was a small flower, stylized; it was circular, about an inch and a half in diameter; it was not unlike a small rose; it was incredibly lovely and delicate."
--Slave Girl of Gor-- page 52
The common brand of the North
"The brand used by Forkbeard is not uncommon in the north, though there is less uniformity in Torvaldsland on these matters than in the south, where the merchant caste, with its recommendations for standardization, is more powerful. All over Gor, of course, the slave girl is a familiar commodity. The brand used by the Forkbeard, found rather frequently in the north, consisted of a half circle, with, at its right tip, adjoining it, a steep, diagonal line. The half circle is about an inch and a quarter in height. The brand is, like many, symbolic. In the north, the bond-maid is sometimes referred to as a women whose belly lies beneath the sword."
--Marauders of Gor, page 87--
The Brands of the Wagon Peoples
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Tuchuk standard: I supposed that on the morrow Kamchak would call for the Tuchuk Iron Master, to brand what he called his little barbarian; the brand of the Tuchuk slave, incidentally, s not the same as that generally used in the cities. which for girls, is the first letter of the expression Kajira in cursive script. but the sign of the four bask horns that of the Tuchuk standard; the brand of the four bosk horns, set in such a manner as to somewhat resemble the letter "H." is only about an inch high; the common Gorean brand, on the other hand, is usually an inch and a half to two inches high; the brand of the four bosk horns, of course, is also used to mark the bosk of the Tuchuks, but there, of course, it is much larger, forming roughly a six-inch square; following the branding, I supposed that Kamchak would have one of the tiny nose rings affixed; all Tuchuk females, slave or free, wear such rings; after these things there would only remain, of course, an engraved Turian collar and the clothing of Elizabeth Cardwell Kajir.
--Nomads of Gor, page 62--
The standard of the Kassars: The standard of the Kassars is that of a scarlet, three-weighted bola, which hangs from a lance; the symbolic representation of a bola, three circles joined at the center by lines, is used to mark their bosk and slaves;
--Nomads of Gor, page 106--
The standard of the Kataii: The standard of the Kataii is a yellow bow, bound across a black lance; their brand is also that of a bow, facing to the left ;
--Nomads of Gor, page 106--
The Paravaci standard: The Paravaci standard is a large banner of jewels beaded on golden wires, forming the head and horns of a bosk its value is incalculable; the Paravaci brand is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isosceles triangle.
--Nomads of Gor, page 106—
Specialty Brands
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Priest-Kings and Kurii brands:
"Incidentally, there are many brands on Gor. Two that almost never occur on Gor, by the way, are those of the moons and collar, and of the chain and claw. The first of these commonly occurs in certain of the Gorean enclaves on Earth, which serve as headquarters for agents of the Priest-Kings; the second tends to occur in the lairs of Kurii agents on Earth; the first brand consists of a locked collar and, ascending diagonally above it, extending to the right, three quarter moons; this brand indicates the girl is subject to Gorean discipline; the chain-and-claw brand signifies, of course, slavery and subjection with the compass of the Kur yoke."
--Explorers of Gor, page 12--
Penalty brands:
"Four men held me, naked, near the brazier. I could feel the heat blazing from the canister. The sky was very blue, the clouds were white.
'Please, no!' I wept.
I saw Rask, with a heavy glove, draw forth one of the irons from the fire. It ruminated in a tiny letter, not more that a quarter of an inch high. The letter was white hot. 'This is a penalty brand,' he said. 'It marks you as a liar.'
'Please, Master!' I wept.
I no longer have patience with you,' he said. 'Be marked as what you are.'
I screamed uncontrollably as he pressed in the iron, holding it firmly into my leg. Then, after some two to four Ihn, he removed it. I could not stop screaming with pain. I smelled the odor of burned flesh, my own. I began to whimper. I could not breathe. I gasped for breath. Still the men held me.
'This penalty brand,' said Rask of Treve, lifting another iron from the brazier, again with a tiny letter at its glowing termination, 'marks you also as what you are, as a thief.'
'Please, no, Master!' I wept.
I could not move a muscle of my left leg. It might as well have been locked in a vise. It must wait for the iron.
I screamed again, uncontrollably. I had been branded as a thief.
'This third iron,' said Rask of Treve, 'is, too, a penalty iron. I mark you with this not for myself, but for Ute.'
Through raging tears I saw, white hot, the tiny letter.
'It marks you as a traitress,' said Rask of Treve. He looked at me, with fury. 'Be marked as a traitress,' he said. Then he pressed the third iron into my flesh. As it entered my flesh, biting and searing, I saw Ute watching, her face betraying no emotion. I screamed, and wept, and screamed.
Still the men did not release me.
Rask of Treve lifted the last iron from the fire. It was much larger, the letter at its termination some one and a half inches high. It, too, was white hot. I knew the brand. I had seen it on Ena's thigh. It was the mark of Treve. Rask of Treve decided that my flesh should bear that mark.
'No, Master, please!' I begged him.
'Yes, Worthless Slave,' he said, 'you will wear in your flesh the mark of the city of Treve.'
'Please,' I begged.
'When men ask you,' said he, 'who it was that marked you as a liar and a thief, and traitress, point to this brand, and say, I was marked by one of Treve, who was displeased with me.'"
--Captive of Gor, page 310--
Brand of Passage
The street was lined by throngs of Tuchuks and slaves. Among them, too, were soothsayers and haruspexes, and singers and musicians, and, here and there, small peddlers and merchants, of various cities, for such are occasionally permitted by the Tuchuks, who crave their wares, to approach the wagons. Each of these, I was later to learn, wore on his forearm a tiny brand, in the form of spreading bosk horns, which guaranteed his passage, at certain seasons, across the plains of the Wagon Peoples. The difficulty, of course is in first obtaining the brand. If, in the case of a singer, the song is rejected, or in the case of a merchant, his merchandise is rejected, he is slain out of hand. This acceptance brand, of course, carries with it a certain stain of ignominy, suggesting that those who approach the wagons do as slaves.
--Nomads of Gor, page 34--
Knife Brand
On an iron table, to the right of the rack, there was a flat box. 'Lie on your right side, exposing your left thigh, ' he said. 'Yes Master,' I said. From the box he then took a small curved knife and a tiny cylindrical leather flask. I gritted my teeth, but made no sound. With the small knife he gashed my left thigh, making upon it a small, strange design. He then took a powder, orange in color, from the flask and rubbed it into the wound.
--Explorers of Gor, page 330--
LOCATION OF BRANDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"'Yes, left thigh,' said Samos to one of the guards. I liked the left-thigh branded girl. A right-handed master may caress it while he holds her in his left arm."
--Beasts of Gor, page 25--
"Where are we branded?" She said. "A girl is commonly branded on the left or right thigh," I said, "sometimes on the lower left abdomen."
--Beasts of Gor, page 229--
"Left thigh or right thigh?" he asked. "Left thigh," said Ulafi. Slave girls are commonly branded on the left thigh. Sometimes they are branded on the right thigh, or lower left abdomen."
--Explorers of Gor, page 71--
"I also checked certain less common brand sites, such as the lower left abdomen, the interior of the left forearm, and the high instep area of the left foot."
--Players of Gor, page 191--
"I had seized her, half lifted her, and turned her from side to side, examining her slim, attractive thighs for the tiny brand which would confirm the matter. The most common brand sites, that on the left thigh, the favorite, and that on the right thigh, lacked slave marks. This determination, given the nature of her garmenture, could be instantly made. I then put her on her feet. "Oh!" she said. She was not branded on the lower left abdomen. That is perhaps the third most favored brand site. I then checked several other brand sites, such as the inside of the forearms, the left side of the neck, behind and below the left ear, the backs of her legs, and her buttocks. I even examined the insteps of her left and right feet. Her body was not branded."
--Renegades of Gor, page 124--
The Branding "Ceremony"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Master secures the slave in the branding rack (shaped rather like an X-shaped table, with either snap-bracelets (manacles) for her wrists and ankles at the ends of the X, or metal rings set into the wood so her wrists and ankles might be secured with binding fiber. A removable vise-like clamp fitted with spinning twist handles to adjust the tension can be attached to the left leg platform, to hold the slave's thigh motionless during the actual branding. The Master holds up the heated branding iron, white hot, for the slave to see and says, "You will soon be branded, girl." When the brand is ready, he holds it above here left thigh and says, "You are now to be branded, slave girl." He then brands the slave, pressing it firmly into her skin for five full Ihn (seconds), then swiftly and cleanly removing it. He examines the mark closely, hoping that it was clean and deep enough to create an excellent brand. It is common Gorean practice to allow the slave the luxury of screaming, since it is in effect her final act as Free Person. Sometimes assistants are standing by with small vials of oil and salve, which they then dab onto the brand to reduce chance of infection and promote faster healing. The Master then frees the slave from the rack.