WHEN IT ALL BEGAN (first part)

 My father then showed me a letter my sister had written. Kareen had heard of my ordeal and had invited me to come to her in Nadira to recover from my fright. I thought it was a good idea, because after all the people of Bazi gossiped about me. My reputation had been somewhat tarnished by my stay at Rarir. So it couldn't hurt to get away from Bazi, and my perfume shop was still closed anyway. So I accepted the invitation.

   I have already told you about my departure from Bazi, about the ghost ship that brought the plague to Bazie about my arrival in Nadira and my misadventures .. up to the departure for the sanctuary for the pilgrimage. One day the exalted Khan asked me to tell him about my life, I didn't know what to tell him or where to start the story, so I decided to start from the beginning. because memory is like a Sleeen it lies in us and the memories live forever.

  MY STORY BEGINS IN BAZI..
  premise:.
       ( Bazi is the only city in Gor built directly on the equator, where the equator meets the coast of Thassa. The city has a large port from which ships go everywhere: to Anango, Kargash, Kamras, Port Schendi, Ianda, Brundisium, Cos, Telnus, Lydius and even Kassau. To the north, a road leads to Genesian Port. Directly south of the city begins the jungle of Schendi. Only the city wall separates Bazi from the jungle. At night we could hear the jungle animals scream and roar.

    The people living in the jungle, indigenous to the villages of Ushindi, mambas, pygmies and talunas, came to our city from time to time to trade whatever they gathered: spices and herbs, scented petals to make perfumes, Kailiauk skins from which our leatherworkers produced the finest gloves, myrrh resin from the coastal forest belt that stretches from Bazi to Port Schendi Bay, and, occasionally, some fine glittering gemstones.

    The relationship between us city dwellers and jungle dwellers was very good. Because Bazi owed his prosperity to the goods of the jungle. As a result, the goods were also well paid. Many Bazi families had also lived in the jungle in the past and moved to the city at some point. I too have ancestors who came to Bazi from Ushindi long before my time

Bazi is rightly called the city of perfumes. This is mainly due to the fragrant Bazi tea, which is sold all over the world and for which Bazi is best known, but also to myrrh and jungle herbs and last but not least the perfumes that are produced here. The heavy sensual fragrance oils extracted from the leaves of the jungle flowers and the balsamic reverberations that we draw from the woods are typical of Bazi. Having trained there as a perfumer, I also created such perfumes.)
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I was born in Bazi as the second daughter of Bruno Bazani, the magistrate of the port. We lived in the port district, the lower town of Bazi, right next to the port. My father had a very important job as a port magistrate and was therefore highly respected. All vessels entering and leaving were to be reported to him and recorded by him.

My mother did like me today. She was a healer and herbalist and she ran a little perfume shop down at the harbor where I learned. She too was called Sabina, and for this reason they called me Sabinilla, little Sabina, throughout the city to distinguish me. It wasn't until many years later, when I moved to Tahari with my partner Rarius Yuroki, that my name was changed according to local custom. Since then my name is Sabayna, which means nothing but Sabina.

I also had an older sister, Kareen. She soon left our home and formed a company with the warrior Ajax, with whom she and her two children lived at Nadira. These are my two nephews Alex and Bresi. We visited each other from time to time. In Bazi I was one of the "Free Maids" of our city, the free girls. We came from all castes: with Hannah, Mary, Margo and Poppy, the healer caste formed a strong core. Marie and Pamela were from the scribal caste. The merchant caste was also well represented: Zee came from a large trading house, Zanitta belonged to the slave traders and G of her sold tea from her plantation. Ambergris was an art painter and Gabby was the daughter of the innkeeper of Hafeninn. The two sisters Bella and Stella belonged to the caste of bakers. Later Rosa from the wine merchants also joined us

We have performed our flower dance on special occasions. It was the only dance we knew, but it was used on all official occasions, at the commencement of En'kara as well as at homage, council changes, and receptions for foreign legations.

Tea merchant G taught us how to serve Bazi tea to the guests of our city. that was our job, not Kajiras'. We did it in a very contemplative, almost meditative way that only free girls can make tea. We filled boiling water into tea glasses, carefully laid the tea leaves over the water, and carefully placed the sugar on top of the leaves with small spoons. We then let our guests watch in silence as the sugar pushed the tea leaves down and the hot water gradually took on the color of the tea.

We also regularly attended arena sword tournaments with the great fighters and watched the competitors we wanted to take on as mates. We each had one that we loved. We suffered with our favorite and rejoiced when he won a fight. The contests of Tharlarion, however, did not take place. Whenever there was a Tharlarion race, the riders were always so clumsy that they fell off their horses or rode in the wrong direction. We never warmed up at Tharlarion's contests; the free girl heroes of my generation were the swordsmen.

I learned many things about cures, herbs and perfumes from my mother, the great Sabina. However, she died when I was not yet 15 years old. Shortly thereafter, on my fifteenth birthday, I received a letter from the High Council saying that I was destined to be a healer. I would be given two armbands, one of which would always be taken off when I gave birth to a child, and when the second band was taken off, I would be allowed to fully practice as a healer.

So far so good, but there was a problem. The thing with the kids and the tapes should be done as soon as possible, before I turn 18. Therefore, my father had already chosen a powerful mate. Unfortunately, this was not one of the elegant and agile swordsmen we were so fond of, but a wealthy and handsome jungle spice merchant. The groom chosen for me was called Enzi and he had built a trading house in Bazi

After all, that made me cringe at that man. I was quite angry with my father who had chosen someone like that for me. Outraged, I rejected his request. I tried to wriggle out by saying that my mother had taught me more about making perfume than healing. But, of course, my father knew better; he had witnessed me being taught the art of healing at home as well.

I was already thinking about going to the Taluna's when I remembered my friend Maria as a way out. Maria belonged to the healers and had always been very interested in medicine. She liked to come to our house when my mother was teaching me. She always curiously hung on my mother's lips and in the end she possessed even more knowledge than me, because she learned so much more avidly. So what could be more natural than her proposing her to the High Council as the new healer? And I did, because Maria was a very sweet, shy and modest girl who would never apply for this position.

My plan worked: the High Council agreed! Dear Mary accepted the offer with great gratitude. I think it was really her big dream to become a healer. And she did it really well. As for the spice merchant Enzi, we too found a solution: Maria entered the company of Whisper, who was our ambassador and had been courting her for some time. Enzi didn't take Maria or me. He then took the tea merchant as his companion to him.