Raven's journey into the unknown.

(send by Raven)

                   opening soon

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For those who don't know me yet, let me introduce myself. My name is Raven, but as you can guess, it's not my real name. A long time ago I was called Silas, son of Veit. I gave up this name voluntarily, actually at the time when I realized that I would never return home. It was meant to stand as a kind of closure. But you can't quite shake off your past. At some point it catches up with you again.

My current status? Slave to the Khan of Isfahan, the hidden city in the Schendi Jungle.

I come from Earth and I don't care what the Priest Kings think about it or that I would be doomed to die because I wasn't born on Gor. Which is what I've been hearing a lot. No, I don't hate those Priest Kings, they hadn't taken me. They were different from the ones you all worship

So I'm not a true Gorean, I was born on Earth, in Scotland. The land of green hills, myths and legends. An ancient land, full of history, warriors and rulers. Clans. In the Highlands.

I come from such a clan. Was born with the intention of being trained as a warrior, then to fight and die for our king. No not one of the kings you see in the history books. We were a separate people. Had our own problems, worries and rules. So when young men came of age, they were sent to a camp for training.

I can't say I looked forward to that time, or look back on it fondly. The camp was hard, only the best got through. Humiliation was the order of the day. We called the camp the arena because we practically lived in it. It was supposed to toughen us up, make us strong for everything that was to come. But many were broken, from the tyranny and torment, psychological and physical. The fear of failing in the arena was high, even tangible. Many preferred death.

I have always been a fighter and there was no turning back for me, but if I thought I would finish the training, I must have been barking up the wrong tree. I can still remember strange men coming up to us one night, walking through our ranks, looking at each one of us. Sometimes stopping longer than necessary.

We thought they were the ones who picked us out for private fights, this sometimes happened. To get money in the coffers, as the instructors said. But I didn't like the moment, my gut told me something was wrong here. I should have listened to my gut, but that's the way it is. These men took some of us to Gor.

How I got there I can't say, except that I was welcomed by a gush of cold water. Floating on a piece of wreckage. Alone, somewhere on a great sea. Above me, three moons. In retrospect, I can't describe what was going on inside me. But I wasn't alone for long, a sailing ship came astern and I was pulled onto the ship.

I didn't understand these people, their language, only their gestures, which were not exactly friendly. And my anger grew, fed with rising fear of the new, the unknown. My heart beat violently. Many thoughts ran through my head. Insane, crazy ones. Yes, had I gone crazy? Had I fallen too hard on my head during training? 

In my fear I yelled at the guys and hit one of them in the face with my fist and snatched the sword from him. Threw him to the ground and put my foot on his throat. They didn't understand me, but they should understand this gesture and they did. 

Fortunately for me, I must confess that they did not throw me to the fishes after all. The first time was hard, but I managed to assert myself. Soon I was one of them. In the long time I lived with them, I learned the language and what it means to be a pirate of Thassa. To consider Port Kar as one's home. I was not a slave at that time. I threw overboard one who tried to be. So that was the end of that issue.

But how I became a slave in the end and submitted to the Khan, that is what I would like to tell you now, because I think I would only bore you with anecdotes from my time in Port Kar

I'm sure everyone has heard of the naval battle of Port Kar, the time after that brought renewal, whether it was about the Captain's Council or the Rence farmers. I felt my time was up. I had heard a lot about Gor, seen many islands, but I now wanted to see Gor by land and became a pilgrim. No, to the priest kings I did not want to go. I wanted to see what Gor was all about.

I am a slave of the Khan of Isfahan. By choice? Yes, I chose it when our paths crossed by chance. We were both hunting and as luck would have it, we had chosen the same tarsk. Me to fill my stomach and the khan to restock his breed I guess.

Not being a slave at the time, I defended my food - well, in the end the tarsk won out - well, would have won out if the khan hadn't been there to slay the beast and save my life.... and my stomach growled even more. 

So when the Khan invited me to his city, I didn't say no. It was tempting to get something warm to eat and a sheltered place to sleep. At that point I hadn't told him what had driven me to the Schendi jungle. Nor did I want to. I kept it to myself. For the time being, however, I liked the inhabitants and the city better every day.

I liked the Khan very much, caught myself looking out for him, my early training and innate loyalty to another had taken root after all.

My respect for him grew and so I decided to offer myself to him as a slave. For I had been born for nothing else but to serve. On earth I had started my training as such and here I would finish it. With all the facets of what being a slave on Gor would mean.

I knew that slaves were also sold. I had often experienced it. That this would now also await me was no longer surprising when my Khan asked me to prepare for it. It was to be for three days. Well, three days would also pass.

Anyway, day X dawned, the morning passed with working, and slowly the first visitors arrived and my Khan opened the cages to present us there. I can still remember how it boiled up inside me when everyone started touching me, I am not one of the slaves you would normally expect. My khan likes to call me rebellious. Which I am.

Then shrugged my shoulders, I wasn't excited, at least I didn't show it. Looked at the visitors, then when my door was opened and it was time to go to the podium to present myself, the first bids were very slow, no doubt due to what my Khan had said. Most people like it easy in their lives.

But then suddenly the bids went up and now I was surprised after all. My heart suddenly beat up to my neck. Not only because the free woman with the baby had bid. She couldn't really want me to change her baby! I really wasn't suited for that. And then He appeared in the crowd.

Red long hair. Very self-confident, he looked at me with a steady gaze and bid high. And finally bought me too. Yes, I hadn't had weak knees for a long time, but somehow I managed to get down the platform and kneel before him. My new master was called Red Wolf and there was something wolfish about him that awakened the beast in me.

Normally we should have gone to the new masters the day after next, but my master took me right away. He didn't want to wait and so I got to know the huge desert city of Scimitars sooner than expected. 

At first, the journey seemed to have no end. The road led us into the desert. I never thought I would say I couldn't stand the sun. But it burnt me, made thinking difficult, almost unbearable. The heat seemed to penetrate everywhere. It was difficult to breathe. We were wrapped in white linen to be a little protected from the sun. Everything flickered before my eyes, I couldn't see far. I protected my eyes as best I could from the blinding sun and the sand.

And then, out of nowhere, when I was beginning to think I was going to die here, the city appeared. Like a mirage. So beautiful in the glow of the sun, so powerful and proud, it stood out against the sand. Those thick walls made it a fortress, a fortress in nothingness. As it seemed, but life pulsed inside. 

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At first I didn't know where to look first, so many impressions! Inside the city it was not so hot, almost pleasant. There was water at every corner, lively bubbling pools.

Master Red gave me his permission to move around freely. At first he showed me around, instructed me in serving his teahouse, taking care of the guests. So the first day passed, in the evening I got to know his premises and he showed me that he was not only interested in serving. I became very close to him. But here I will remain silent and end the first day.

As I discovered during my wanderings, and as my Master also showed me, the city had been built around an oasis. A magnificent place that was connected to the bathhouse. 

I liked to stay here when I wasn't walking around the city and looking around, which is also when I met Dante, a city slave. It was through him that I came to know and appreciate the city better. But just when you think everything is idyllic, calm and peaceful, the unexpected happens.

I was in the teahouse with Master Red when the town horn sounded. The guards ran around and straight to the gate. Master Red rushed after them and since I am very curious and it is my duty to protect my master, I followed him. So we ran to the gate and there was a lot of excitement.

Panthers were standing in front of the gate and they had a man with them. Naked and it seemed, a slave. But when he spoke of being able to buy his freedom with gold, it was clear to me that this was probably a free man who had had the misfortune to have run into the clutches of the panthers.

A guard, followed by what I thought was the slaver, left the safe walls of the city. They negotiated and then returned with the prisoner. A fierce confrontation now ensued. I was involved, but my master protected me from the slaver. And we then withdrew. What happened to the slave I cannot say, but by now I knew that the city was often attacked. Slaves are stolen, goods and even warriors. Often I asked myself, how should I defend myself as a slave? 

For swords are forbidden to slaves in Scimitars. Carrying them is even punishable by death. At some point I stopped worrying about it, pushed it aside as best I could. Moreover, my worries were also taken away for I saw that the city was a real fortress. Even if the enemy managed to penetrate, they would get no further. The city was criss-crossed with many tunnels to get from A to B quickly. My fighter's heart beat faster when I was allowed to enter the tunnels to have a look around. Under surveillance, of course.

It was only three days in total, but they flew by and I am grateful to my Khan that he made this possible for me. 

end 1 part

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We arrived in that desolate port early one morning, fog enveloping everything, and the biting cold of that early winter made me linger in my cabin for a few extra minutes.

I still didn't know what to expect, but I took courage and went out onto the deck of that ship, which was jarring due to the night's chill and the freshly melted ice from the little snow we'd encountered upon arriving in this cold area of ​​Torvie Land. I waited for the deck maneuvers to be completed, and as soon as the gangway was raised onto the quay, I stepped out. It wasn't a great port; distant lights emerged from the fog that was dissipating as the sun rose behind the hills. I had put on my large blue cloak, which protected me from the cold, and I searched the pier for something that would indicate the name of that village lost in the far north.

Until I found an inscription on the wall of the shack that served as a tavern that clearly read, "Nameless Village" (Torvie Land).

Some men, armed to the teeth, in their hand-sewn clothes of Tarsk hide, approached threateningly. It wasn't usual for them to receive visitors, so I introduced myself as the editor of the Gor Gazette, and that I was traveling to write about the villages and cities of the planet, but none of them could read when I handed out the newspaper. 

They looked at the pictures and asked me to follow them to the great Hall. I knew well that in these villages, in winter, everyone gathers in that great building to live together until spring. We entered that large house that was shaped like an upturned boat, the smoke and the fires gave a sense of warmth and welcome, in the back sitting on a large chair covered in skins, which must have been something reminiscent of the throne of an Ubar or a king, was a large man covered in long skins half reclining with a large steaming mug in his hands, and at his feet were some slaves, at the tables there were few people, the others were on their beds still asleep, and on a small dance floor a beautiful kajira with long red hair, tied in a ponytail on her shoulders, was dancing to the sound of a flute, she was very beautiful and attracted my attention, it was not easy for me to be interested in a slave, they had had many, but few had managed to imprint their memory in my mind.

I couldn't stop looking at her sinuous movements and the grace of her form. Her ponytail swayed in all directions and her smile was splendid. Meanwhile, the Jarl spoke to me, asking me who I was and what I wanted from them. I answered him with great reverence, trying to be as precise as possible. These tough, warrior men from the North were dangerous. After speaking at length with the Jarl, I invited him to sit at the top of the long table to eat and drink with him. Meanwhile, I couldn't stop looking at the beautiful dancer. A slave who had come to serve me saw my interest and told me that the kajira was called Sarah, and was the village's leading dancer. She had been part of the Valkyries' dancers but had been captured and brought to this remote village, where she was used as a dancer.

I couldn't stop looking at her sinuous movements and the grace of her form. Her hair ponytail swayed in all directions and her smile was splendid. Meanwhile, the Jarl spoke to me, asking me who I was and what I wanted from them. I answered him with great reverence, trying to be as precise as possible. These tough, warrior men from the North were dangerous. After speaking at length with the Jarl, I invited him to sit at the top of the long table to eat and drink with him. Meanwhile, I couldn't stop looking at the beautiful dancer. A slave who had come to serve me saw my interest and told me that the kajira was called Sarah and was the village's first dancer. She had been part of the Valkyries' dancers but had been captured and brought to this remote village, where she was used as a dancer.

The day was very long, and finally the dancer named Sara fell to the ground, exhausted, on that small dance floor made of sand. I had watched her for a long time, admiring her wonderful body, her sinuous hips, and her perky breasts that stood out, her nipples hardened by the cold, because she was dressed in a low-cut tunic that showed off her breasts in all their splendor. Other villagers took turns at the large table that extended from the door to the village Jarl's throne. His name was Kor, and from his assassins, one might have thought he had fought a long time.

Sitting at the end of that table I exchanged glances of complicity with the Jarl, but I never missed an opportunity to watch the beautiful Sarah sleeping on that sand, until I too, exhausted by the heat of those fires and too much food, dozed off. I dreamed of the beautiful Sarah dancing for me, making her veils flutter in the air and her movements seemed to float in the air like a feather in the wind. I woke up at the noise of some boxes that some men were carrying into the great Hall. The smoke was now filling the room and the heat of the fires that the slaves were keeping lit made the air suffocatingly hot. At the back left, where some beds were placed, some men were entertaining themselves with some slaves, and the Jarl with his powerful arms was holding two slaves sitting on his knees. I was a little dazed but I took a look at the dance floor. Sarah was no longer there, in her place two small dancers were dancing distractedly. I stood up to I stretched my legs and finally saw her. She was sitting in a corner with a piece of bane in one hand and a jug of water in the other, and was eating greedily. On a plate near her were two pieces of meat, definitely smoked from Tarsk, because they were smoked. I looked at her for a long time, smiled at her, she smiled back, and I took the initiative to sit next to her. After introducing myself as the editor of the newspaper and as the Emir of the oasis7palms, I asked him to tell me his story. At first she was hesitant for fear of her Jar's revenge, then she took courage and told me. She was born and lived in the forest with the Wlachiries. Her mother, a dancer, had taught her dance tricks and synchronized movements to music since she was little. One day, while she was walking near the pier in the port, she was captured by an unscrupulous slaver and sold at auction in a market in the large city of Jasmine. I bought her as a woman, a merchant from the north, who took her with him until his ship was attacked by the Vikings who killed the men and captured the women, taking them to this remote village. As she told her story, she cried at the memory of her family and her home. I beg you to take her with me and bring her on my travels, then to my oasis.

I liked that woman. I had been living alone for a long time, ever since Suya ran away to return to her Wan-Gao tribe. I had had a companion named Kim for some time, but then I returned to her castle where she had always lived. During my visit to the city of Var-Kor, I had made the declaration to Lady Myriam because I wanted her as a companion. I had seen her as a child at the Tashid oasis, but after the drama with Lady Kallis and her murderous friend, she left the city to embark on the journey north to await the great fair of The Thing.

I took courage and faced Sir Kor, I offered him some gold piastres for the beautiful Sarah, but he was not interested in the piastres, but since there was no one capable of keeping accounts and writing, he begged me to put his archives in order, and his credits with the merchants who traded with the village, and so it was, it took me a few days to get to the bottom of those accounts and those randomly written notes, but in the end Sir Kormi thanked me, and sold me his slave Sarah for the symbolic price of two silver Tarsk, and the deal was made, the beautiful Sarah, was very happy to leave that cold village and go with me.

   I took her to the cabin of my ship on a bed made of skins and made her rest, waiting for departure, in the evening with the breeze coming from the land we left for the new journey, after finishing the maneuvers on the deck I retired to the cabin, Sarah had prepared some food for me, then she cuddled up to my feet resting her head on my legs, until both of us tired we lay down on the bed, she held me tightly and kissed me forcefully, I forgot my tiredness and took she gives with all of me, and she reciprocates my love.  Now she lives with me, she has gathered dancers scattered around the cities, she has set up a dance troupe and when I travel she performs with her friends in the squares of the cities and villages.

XOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXXOXOXOXO

 I'm showing you some photos of the tents at the "The Thing 2026" fair. I apologize to anyone I couldn't find. I wandered around a lot, despite not having a map or a list, but I managed to capture most of them.

I hope you enjoy my work. Thank you in advance.

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