Limiting Gor

Of all the topics across Gor, this one comes up an awful lot, and in an awful lot of contexts.

The more painful context, is the least brought up of course.  Cruelty, of course, role play that verges on 'Friday the Thirteenth' type blood and gore.

Was Gor itself bloody, and full of gore?  it could be, but there were also certain lines.  My usual mantra continues here, 'the strength of your sword shall set your limits'.

For one, Goreans loved children, would never dream of harming a child, test them and make them learn their limits? certainly, but outright harm them? Never.

There has been over the years, in second life, role play seen and passed around of various groups, who seem to think its fun and games to 'force' this kind of role play onto the women they come across.  Aborting pregnancies because the child wasn't part of the contract, while there is thankfully no example of this sort of thing in the books to define it either way, and yes, admittedly that can be a mixed bowl of paga, but you have to think, wouldn't it be simply easier to instead of killing the unborn child, to allow the woman to have the child, so you can then have your way with the captured free woman before handing her over to the expected contractor.

Oh Im sorry, your in a rush... GO GET A DAMN SLAVE!

Apparently some 6 months or so ago, a man I know, and yes, do not think highly of, took part in something along the same lines, a woman they had a contract on, was pregnant, and the end result of the supposed role play, was that the 'newborn?" children where beheaded.

Goreans Loved Children

Goreans Loved Life

Goreans would not, in my mind, have done this sort of thing.

What would most likely have happened, worst case, is the mercenaries, or contracted individuals, would have either kept the children, raised them, trained them, or in the case of females, if they where not ransomed out, they might have been raised, to be then sold off later into slavery.  Note, this wouldn't have happened until near the age of majority.

An then there is the capture of free women, now this happens right across Gor, probably on a weekly basis, for one reason or another.  There was an instance where one was tortured, and killed, for refusing to submit.  Was it cruel? was it Ogreish? Sure it was, but was it Gorean?  I would have to argue it was a darn site more 'Gorean' then the baby stealing/killing/massacre' role play I've seen before.

This sort of thing might not have happened ALL the time, but a woman, who is not found pleasing, and fails to obey, is in fact putting her life at risk.

The larger problem here, is did those partaking in the role play, take the time to read any of the books, did any of them take a moment out of their role play, to understand the culture they have chosen to play in, who their characters might be, who they themselves might be sans role play, within the Gorean environment.

This is one of the reasons I think we have the hated role play limits.  This is one of the reasons we have role play bans, etc, we fail to learn, and hold ourselves to a minimum standard.

In the role plays above, there is a very important aspect missing in all the 'enjoyment' taken, and that is the most valuable learning part of all, for those that cross what is desired within our gorean communities.

Where are the angry mobs.  Where are the men, with pitchforks, shovels, flaming torches, with fists, and heavy boots, hunting down the men who decided their sword was strong enough to allow them to do these things.  Where are these men?

Do they exist?

Why do they not act?

A woman screams for help as she is dragged from her town, when others are present.  Only one comes to assist.

Do they not care?

Why do they shrug their shoulders?

Do they not want role play?

The answer might be allot more scary then I like to think.

They want it when its convenient, and anything other, they wont tolerate.

Find something to get all hot and fired about.

I dare you, to find sometime in the next month, the next 4 hands, to find something to get all fired up about, to create a mob mentality about something on your sim, in your home, cry out for justice on some small thing, on some large injustice, march on your ubar's mansion and demand he step down for a administrators vote.  The role play ITSELF might just be worth the practice.

May your sword, defend your heritage.

Administrating Gor

Second life Gor.

Its a huge beast, you might compare it to turning a thalarion around, compared to a urt, or even a kaiila.  You can not change its direction easily, its a huge behemoth that just keeps going and runs over anyone who decides its direction is not right, that something needs to be changed.

So much so that some beautiful builds of Second Life Gor,  From Ar, to the more recent Thermae, to other builds such as incarnations of Cos, Tyros, Treve, even my old home Verr Fjord where I administered on behalf of Lyndal Homewood, they get cut down before their time.  They end up a distant memory until someone tries again, or tries something new.

Each and every one of us, who visit, or choose to live in a town, paid for by the generousity of others, need to pause, and take stock of our own contributions.  The least each and everyone of us can do, is determine to give the best possible role play that we can find within ourselves.

While I write this, the Jarl of Thermae has released notices to his group, about the sims closure, I stand here talking to him about the difficulties he has experienced, and to be honest, I know something about some of these, as I myself administrated Verr Fjord for nearly two years.

There will always be troubles from an administrative angle, you will always have at least a couple who make a circus out of how things are handled, or tended to, there will always be one, or two who will take exception to some act, large, or small by another, just for the sake of creating drama, and creating hardship for someone else.  You would think, that if its just one, or two difficult citizens, or visitors, the administration of a town, or camp should not be such a huge issue, it should not take alot of time out of the administrators hands, you would think that they would be able to be out, and about, enjoying their sim, taking part in roleplay, instead of 'putting out fires' or dealing with drama.

I was relatively lucky I guess, back when I administered Verr Fjord, I had a sim owner, who simply handed me the town reigns and said 'go with it'.  Of course, my name itself might have had a large part to play in that decision,  he wanted to fade to the background, and enjoy himself, he needed time away, which we all get from time to time, where second life events, storylines, drama can just get to much for each of us.  The story can just as easily be a polar opposite for another.  Especially if the sim owner himself administers the town.

When I come to Gor, I come to roleplay, yes, those who know me, know that I push lines, lines blur, and yes, I do bring a huge part of who I am in real life, to the role I take on within the Second Life grid we use to reconstruct John Normans Gor.  I take pride in knowing what I know from the books, a knowledge that while its far from perfect, is well earned, and hard LEARNED.

I also do something else when I come into Gor, and that applies every time I open a second life group, every time I open a IM, every time I step on a sim to roleplay.  I do a fact check on myself, every interaction, every word I say, its carefully measured against ONE standard.  That standard is the collection of John Normans Gor novels.

I suspend the truth we all know, that exists on earth, in how I was raised, to some extent, I align myself in the heritage of what is found in the culture, and ramblings of John Norman's Gor.  

Settlements like Thermae, like Tyros, like, well, each and every sim anyone has ever tried to build, have to survive not only financial burden, and the burdens that real life puts on us.  The time we spend in secondlife, should be enjoyable, should allow us to escape the pressures of our first lives, and explore, escape into something while fictional, and recreational, but perhaps even much more enjoyable.

The largest problem, it seems, that most of these sims, these settlements have to battle however, is something far different from financial.  Its far far worse.

Drama

Thats right, Drama, and its not even the good kind, that is roleplayed, and allows everyone to play off of each other for their own enjoyment.

I have seen this in person, however I was relatively lucky with the people that frequented Verr Fjord.  Turn that around however after I left, and in another settlement, another sim, different people, and suddenly I can see a bit more clearly why a city can be the best build in Second Life, it can be low lag, it can be perfect, and yet, when you add people, when you add the very life of a town to it, you risk destroying the hopes and dreams of what could have been.

In the end all it takes is one, one person, one role player, to destroy it.  Do you know your role?  Do you know how your character, played, would react? would grow?  would evolve?  Do you take what would be natural, as per the books, and integrate that into who you are when you put on your character inside Gor?  if you don't you would probly do alot of people, a huge favour by either not staying long, or staying out entirely.  Don't get me wrong, you'll most likely be welcomed.  You will likely be invited, you will get some roleplay, they will try to guide you, as long as you can be guided, and helped.

However.

What truely destroys these sims, these cities, is the fact that the drama queens, and kings of second life, they come in, they integrate themselves into a sim, to be part of it, either on an occassional basis, or as a key role basis, and then they take exception to an event, or a small bit of roleplay, or they toss a hard worked storyline in the garbage because they cant give up the least bit of control over their roleplay.  Every person who enters these chat areas, these roleplay areas, and it goes the same for second life, irc, or any other environment used to replicate, reproduce what we desire to roleplay in, needs to know how much damage they risk imparting on the community as a whole when they suddenly break from story, from culture, from what their role would be.

The problem is in Second life the financial strain is higher, and so when it comes down to a decision, a sim ends up being lost.

I can not stress how badly, its needed for each and everyone of us to throw down, and be what we came here, Gor, albeit Second Life Gor, to be.  Don't get hung up on the legalities, dont get hung up on the technicals, do not get hung up on every small detail, the books are varied for a reason, the books stretch over a huge mass of time, and across vast distances, so unless there is something in the books, that says something is 'unlikely' or 'did not happen', dont restrict your roleplay by it.

Remember, the strength of the sword shall set your limits; It also would not hurt, to let your sim owner, or sim administrator know, how much you appreciate them, and lend them your loyalty, they might have earned it.  Just a little.

Wind and Steel.

Random Thoughts, Real life vs Fantasy of Gor

This post, I dont think will be to long.  Some things came to thought last night, and the night before, and it seems to be a recurring theme among us.

To many, far to many mix real life expectations with the online fantasy.

Do not get me wrong, it is possible, its even probable some will do so successfully, but to rush headlong into such a relationship between a Master, and slave, is a thousand times more questionable then it is for a vanilla relationship.  You have so many more levels to work through, trust being only but ONE of those.

There must be clear, precise, and defined lines that seperate our real lives, and that of the roleplay life within Second Life, or, other online community forum.  Have you set yours?  Have you sat down and decided what lines are permissible to 'muddy' and what lines are strict 'no go' lines?  If you have not, then when you start role playing, then you will quickly find out how fast those lines can merge, and cross over.

In my view, this is one of the most common reasons drama is introduced into roleplay.  We as humans, in roleplay, or out of, invest feelings to some extent in each other, love, hate, among others creep in, if we do not keep them in check, they will slowly create issues between us, and can drive us, as Goreans, as HUMANS with a common interest, apart. As much as some might enjoy seeing us driven apart, through unnescessary drama, it is not something that helps the community, it harms it, it harms every sim, every city, every camp, every attempt to create a decent, recreated Gorean environment that anyone ever attempts to place on the Second Life grid.

We need to draw together.  One of the MANY steps we need to start with is defining such things as our lines, those lines we might cross, and those lines we will not cross.  Everyone, you, me, the she-urt on your docks has them.

Some of the conditions I place on the slaves, upon my chain, are really very simple.

• You will not cam without my permission
• You will not voice without my permission
• You will not telephone without my permission
• You will not share real life details or contact information without my permission.
• You will not cross any part of gorean roleplay into real life, without my 'permission'.
• You are up for sale, rent, lease, or trade, any roleplay, or act that will help enhance your feeling of 'slavery' within the roleplay environment.  
• You will not make real life purchases, for any man, or master or person without my permission.  Especially if it puts your real life financial position at risk

Now, do they really need my permission?  Of course not, however they wouldn't be very good slaves if they did disregard them, these are put in place for their protection, most, understand this, and some, if not all of them seem relieved.  They know they are protected, they know that a line has been drawn for them.  That I would need to do this at all kinda makes me disappointed in the type of men, or boys that play at games in second life, especially in the gorean environments that we try to duplicate closely, and attempt to savour.

Do my commands, upon my chain slave, cross into real life? Maybe it does, Do my commands, cross a line, that you might argue have no place in a gorean roleplay environment?  I would argue, yes, you might be correct.  The problem lays in when I do not do this.  The problem lays in when one of the girls on my slave chain, are subject to use, unrestricted, to some of the 'less gorean' men in secondlife, who like to take advantage of the girls being so eager to be pleasing, and might fear being told, well you are not a slave if you dont obey; In fearing, being told, they will be known as a displeasing slave to others in SL-Gor.  This I can not tolerate, stomach, or allow with my girls.  You see, yes, I am jealous, I am protective, and I am very much angered by some of the stuff I see purported to be done 'in the name of Gor' or 'in the name of mastery' when its something very much different.

The next time you 'command' a slave, to give you something on my list above, those things that I restrict of my slaves.  Consider what your asking, consider carefully what your crossing into.

The only protection a slave has, on Gor, according to the books, is her owner, her Master, only he might save her from the perils of what she might find herself up against.  In exchange, she offers every bit of who she is.  Her body, mind, heart, and even her soul.  Then again, she has no choice, for she is his, and these girls, those on my chain, in my collar, are mine.

Your Gorean Story

Do you have a gorean story?

Have you created a history, to go along with your roleplay, or did you simply drop yourself in the midst of others, hoping something will develop?

Some are luckier then others, some have been around for a length of time, and have had a 'story' develop over years.  My personal 'story' has developed with time, and included every Gorean chat I have ever been in.  I don't 'reboot' it with each interface, or community I join.  I take what went before, and build upon it.

From telnet chat, to irc, to Second Life, its one cohersive story, spotty perhaps, with wholes and gaps perhaps, but one story, one character, one roleplay which builds upon what came before.

Some, are not so lucky, some roleplayers drop themselves into a environment and have no idea to some extent what they are doing.  I believe, its time for everyone to stop, and consider their characters roleplay history.  In short it doesn't really matter if you make it up, get someone else to help you fabricate it, or wing it, but you should, have at least a beginning to it, so it can be built on as you travel through the roleplay environment.  This of course works regardless of what community, or theme your apart of.

One of my goals, over the years has been, to require of slaves to formulate their history, where did they come from, where they bred to be a slave, where they a free woman of fabulous wealth, where they a peasant girl, or a daughter sold to cover family debts.  Your imagination, and the books are your only limits.  John Norman's books on Gor are your guidelines, your imagination, takes you from there, who are you real life?  Who do you wish you were?  Do you want to be something different, or do you wish to mix who you are now, with who you might be if you where dropped on Gor?

Sit down, and summarize who you are, then, if you know the books,  you can formulate who you might be on Gor, make small adjustments for the society and its rules, how you might have been treated, or might have treated others.  Would you have had more patience, or less patience, would you have been enslaved into debt service, or would you be a noble warrior, who is on the front lines with many memories of brothers lost in battle.

Are you a peasant, who watches from afar, while men of noble birth battle in your fields, destroying your crop, defending only your homestead, and family from those who wander from the battlefield.  Are you a man, or woman transplanted from earth, to find your fortune, your future on Gor.

In my ten plus years, sadly I have only come across a very select few who have taken the challenge to heart, and been able to create a cohesive storyline which flowed, and indeed, allowed you to escape into the honest, and in depth journey.

If in doubt, find someone in one of the groups, to help with putting together your character.  Use some dice to randomize some facts if you need to, put some things to chance, and then build upon that.  I'd love to see what some of you might come up with, and see it role played to its richest.

There is however one other thing I see, sadly, in day to day Gor, that makes me wonder, if we will ever be able to truly enjoy a rich, diverse environment inside the virtual world of cyberspace, and this doesn't matter if its Second Life, irc, telnet chat, or any other 'virtual world' construct that might exist out there.

When your role playing, or in a role play environment, leave Real life behind, and unless your STORY involves a history that would include EARTH, then you should, in my opinion, leave it behind.  It does little to advance your storyline, or the role play you are attempting to create.  It does however, put people on edge, especially those who have read the books in depth and are trying to recreate a role play environment based on them.  You need to be able to suspend reality, to suspend your real life, earth based beliefs. Not completely but enough to realize, and role play effectively with enjoyment.

A second thing I find disturbing, is the never ending need to 'add on'.  I have seen the requests 'seeking daughter', 'seeking companion', 'seeking father' and so on, and so on.  I hope, that these people are doing at the very least what I did, when someone asked if they might become 'family' to me.

I literally make these people jump through hoops, see what I wrote above?  Yea, that's right, that's a NECESSITY for them. You best HOPE you can come up with some sort of storyline, showing our paths crossed, or met, or intersected to some degree to cause you to exist and mean something to me.

My sister, Anthea, had to create a storyline, telling about our childhood, and how we got seperated, sure, this was cheating a bit, it helped ME fill in blanks, and consider for a moment, that not EVERYTHING should be under your control.  Anthea, having created a storyline of value, and something I found creative enough, filled in some of my history, some of my culture, that she was allowed in.

My daughter, Sylvia, had to create a storyline.  I shared with her some small details, surrounding a possible 'history' for her character, and through discussion, I assisted her in creating something that fit with my previous roleplay.  Something that felt right, and something that would give her an understanding for how Gor worked.  Something I would feel good about, when it was introduced into roleplay.

My companion, everyone that decided they wanted to try to connect to her, as family, I required of them the same thing.  With my companion taking time out for real life, it enables a deeper storyline to continue, and develop as opportunities arise.

Take some time, take some care, and do yourself a favour, require of yourself a storyline, require of those around you a fulfilling storyline.  Free, or slave, man or woman, require it of everyone.  Make sure they know, and understand the extreme environment of Gor that we role play in.  Use the opportunity to mentor, and enhance our Gor.

Are you a 'Retired Gorean' ?

Don't bother me, Im retired.

Wait, what?

You do realize your doing the community a major disservice, right?

If you're truely retired, then you have no right to complain about how Gor used to be. You have no right to wax poetic for how things where, and how things will never be that way again.

Do you know why?

You just became part of the problem.

I've come across a few 'retired Goreans' in the last few years.

In fact, when I first came to Gor, back in 2000(ish) I heard stories about how the 'old Goreans' did things online, and how they have 'left' cause of how things are 'now'.

My first Gorean chat? A spod, talker, Moo, or whatever you wish to call it. I learned about how some of the old style Goreans used to keep the standards up, how things used to be, how things became so bad after they disappeared.

Fast forward, IRC.

Again more of the same, with how I wanted to explore the depths of Gor, I found that I would be regaled more, and more with old stories of the 'Old Gorean' and how I would have fit so well in with them. 'Where are they now' I'd ask. The answer I always got was pretty much the same 'left Gor' 'retired' 'just stopped showing up'. These people, these pioneers who came 'before' while some passed away, the vast majority just got tired of trying, I am sure, in mentoring the 'new gorean'. To be fair, that can be a hard task, that can be a job one can experience heavy burn out from, especially seeing todays community.

I did luck out, a couple of the 'old Goreans' where still around. This presented a challenge to me, as the way they acted, the way they presented themselves, was drastically different from what seemed 'common'. Even to the point of almost a bad taste in my own mouth. Was it me? or them? and which 'them' ?

Fast Forward, Second Life.

I feel like Im living a bad reboot of a tv sitcom. Almost worst then trying to relive my childhood cartoons, where things ever this bad? Really, where they?

I see, almost on a daily basis, people give up on Gor, new individuals, as well as old, the old Goreans are especially high on the burn out list. I know, cause I've felt it myself. However the more we leave 'Gor' to the vast masses that come flooding in, without trying to mentor, to guide, to assist those who are coming in to explore **OUR WORLD** as it was created by JOHN NORMAN, the more we are to blame.

Yes, thats right, every OLD GOREAN who leaves Gor to its own devices, in online ROLEPLAY community, is to blame for the state of how things are. EVERY OLD GOREAN who says they are retired, and are there only to be in contact with old friends, each one hurts the current roleplay community a little bit more.

Sure, some of the old Goreans will argue 'Im not roleplay, Im lifestyle'. It doesnt matter in my view, whether your roleplay, or lifestyle, you have something to contribute. Every lifestyle is a roleplay in some fashion, and being a lifestyle Gorean, while you can-not practice everything practical wise, you do bring a new fresh perspective to those who are new to the idea.

I challenge you. It doesnt matter if your character 'dies' or just gets 'tired'. I caution you. If your not partaking in 'Gor' but still 'hanging around' or 'moving on' to 'greener pastures' then your doing nothing to improve the situation with Gor, your doing more harm then good.

Stick around, mentor, guide, show the young whipper snaps WHY Gor is sooooo Great, show them WHAT makes it sooo Great.

Masters Round Table - Black Ort investigates the Tavern

They come in all shapes and sizes, have as many different uses as there are men for them, and everyone has their favorite ... is yours Gorean? what makes it Gorean? what makes it your favorite? Black Ort investigates Taverns, the good, the bad and the other. Pull up a chair, grab an ale and join in!Free and slave are welcome to attend and participate. Gorean dress and behaviour is required. 

Masters Round Table - Are you Free, do you act it?

Black Ort asks: Are you Free? Do you act it? What about your responsibilities to those you own?  Not happy with how things are going?

If you are the only one who is right, perhaps its time to re-evaluate what you do.
Gorean dress and behaviour is required. Free and slave are welcome to attend and participate.

Masters Round Table - Black Ort, a hypocrite for restriction?

Is Black Ort a hypocrite?  One slave said yes, because he restricts his slave sexually. Is he really "making her his princess" or is he just exercising his right as a Gorean Man?
Are restrictions by the book or is it just another online invention?

Gorean dress and behaviour is required. Free and slave are welcome to attend and participate.

Now Simulcast on Gorean Whip Radio