THE INN ON THE PORT

    That night I didn't sleep, I was anxious, I mentally retraced my memories, I remembered an episode that happened to me on the way back from the city of Jad to my oasis.


   I had paid passage on a ship, bound for the island of Landa, not that it was who knows what, from afar it looked like a ghost ship, and the crew was made up of sailors of fortune, the best ships had been booked by all the Ubars of the large ones towns overlooking the Wosk River, my cabin was close to the captain's, usually occupied by his second mate, small and smelly, but I had to put on a good face, I had no other choice, ships headed for the South there were few of them at this time of year, all traveling upriver or across the Thassa Sea north into Torvaldsland for the fur trade.



    Suddenly shouts on the ship attracted my attention, a merchant accompanied by his slave, slipped on the slimy gangway, falling into the sea hitting his head on the railing, promptly rescued by some sailors who, unaware of the danger, dived in, there was a risk of being bitten by Urt, (large rats of Gor) they pulled the merchant out of the water but he was now lifeless, they laid him on a blanket near a large basket, while his terrified and crying slave was in despair, they took her to covered he was refreshed with a little water they gave him a dry suit and the Commander of the ship called me to decide what to do.

    I told the captain that if we had called the port guards, they would certainly have blocked the departure for who knows how long, therefore it would be better to weigh anchor as soon as possible from that port, we would have buried the merchant at sea according to the laws of seafaring, divided the her belongings among the sailors, I took the slave over to my Oasis.
    So it was, the Commander, a smart guy, immediately understood and ordered the departure, while the slave was taken to my cabin and placed in a corner on a bed made with pieces of old sails, the ship put its bow to the South, my Oasis, but we would have called at the port of Brundisum to unload goods for the city of Ar, and loaded goods from Port Kar, it was customary for ships to make these stops so that the two cities were at war with each other, but in secret they traded using the free port of Brundisum.


    We only stayed in the free port for one day and would leave the next morning, then in the late afternoon when the work on deck was completed, I took the slave with me and we went down to the mainland. the girl still dazed and crying for the loss of her master, he was certainly more than a master for her, I took her to the manager of the Kennel (city slave dormitory) to make her calm down so it was, leaving the slave who in a moment of lucidity he told me his name was Aarre, I reached the commander near the tavern which at that time of the evening was crowded with passing merchants and sailors, the landlady of the tavern was a tall, large woman and I took us to a room behind the kitchen waiting for him to arrive. freed up a table.
While I was sitting alone, the commander was outside discussing with other sailors, I noticed a very beautiful girl sitting in a corner, even though she was wearing a veil you could tell from her hair the color of the sun and from her eyes as deep as the blue sea I saw her cry , I approached her and asked why she was crying so softly, she said she was running away because she hadn't confirmed her marriage agreement at the end of the year. (in Gor the free married women must confirm the union every year by drinking a jug of wine with their partner in front of a fire), I introduced myself as the Regent of the Oasis of the Seven Palms, and that I was returning home as soon as I learned of the my caste. I begged to take her with her and take her to my Oasis, I told him yes, she told me that she would pay for the trip herself, she had some silver plates from her work as a perfumer in her city, but just at that moment some arrived noisy people approaching her, I knew they were father, mother and son, the latter husband of the free girl whom he called Azula, with a trembling voice the drunken husband who could barely stand on his legs, begged her to return, she said he would never return with him an alcoholic, who spent his days loitering in the streets, and many nights in the tavern with the slaves stealing from the perfumery case.
  As soon as I understood the situation I called the guards on duty at the port and ordered them to escort the woman to my cabin on the ship and to chase those dirty and smelly people out of the tavern. so it was that I entered the tavern called by the landlady and after eating I passed by the Inn to pick up the slave Aarre and take her with me,  but as soon as she was outside she ran away through the streets of the port, and having reached an empty pier in the blink of an eye she threw herself into the sea, drowning in that putrid and smelly water.


    This fact left me quite upset, not that the life of a slave was important, I had let the situation slip out of my hands, I hadn't fully understood that girl's drama, then once the first few minutes of sadness had passed I returned to reality, reaching freedom. in my cabin, which in the meantime had changed clothes, she was shining without a veil, truly very beautiful, certainly the rest of the journey would have been very pleasant

 

 

 

 

 

THE LEGEND OF SKOVLD

 THE GREAT AIDAN

I didn't want to believe it when I received a message from a Pirate from my great friend Jinny, I hadn't seen her since she escaped from Cartassa, to I don't know where, and now she told me that she had finally found her son Aidan; in fact it was he who found her, he had been looking for her for years.

She told me to join her on a remote island in the Thassa Sea, far to the north, in Torvsland which the maps don't mention, until then everyone knew her as the legend of the Pirate, who had accumulated riches by pocketing the bounties of wanted men around the planet , the legend that my captain often told me spoke of an island with a fortress on the hill lost in the fog and the cold of the north of Thorvsland, but no one had ever discovered it, they called it ''treasure island'' until his son the great Aidan with his ships, sailing through the thousands of islands of Thassa, managed to discover and make the island and the Rock his home and abode.

I was fascinated by this story, even as a young man when I lived in portKar I had heard about the treasure island, but no captain of the city's great fleet had ever found it, I decided to leave leaving the city of Lara, passing through Telnus in the archipelago of Cos, arriving in Hammersgaard, where I would buy food for the journey into the unknown, Jinny had sent me a map, but not a detailed one, the captain of the ship would have studied it.

We came in sight of the island, as I had said it was not mentioned in the maps, the fog enveloped it, the hills covered in snow, we docked at the port where Sir Aidan's fleet was stationed, and we prepared to go ashore, my friend Lady Jinny, was on the dock to welcome me together with her son and her slaves, I was happy to see Jinny happy and radiant again, (by now I had forgotten the wedding) she told me that she was now in charge of the merchandise, and trade, in the fortress there are no Castes and citizens are the pirate sailors of his fleet, Sir Aidan invites us into the large hall before taking us to the fortress, not in good condition, and once seated at a table and refreshed by the slaves I asked Jinny's son to tell me his story, he after after thinking about it for a while he said to me, ''yes, I'll tell you about it, but I don't think you have enough paper to write about my life''.

Giggling, he patted his slave Rare's ass, after drinking from her cup, he looked at me and said: As a child, after the fall of the first Cartassa in the desert, a slave hid me in a basket, taking me to a tribe of Kasar chariots. , they welcomed me and taught me many things about life and the earth, I was fascinated by the creation of handmade objects, the tribe taught me the art of the Torturer, and this took me traveling from city to city, until I landed in Port Kar where with my skills I became captain of a ship, with my cutthroat pirates as crew, I amassed wealth until I had nine ships in my fleet, and selling my sword and my fleet to the highest bidder, he still missed my mother , so I started touring the cities from the north and south for many years but in vain, it was then that during that search I found the treasure island, In reality it was an old fortified fortress built on the hill immersed in the fog, the sea in that stretch was always very agitated by the currents that meet between Thassa and the islands of the great North, the old Pirate had accumulated wealth with the proceeds of the bounties pocketed by capturing or killing wanted people throughout the Planet Gor.

After having renovated the island, the fortress and the port, to make it his hideout, I set off again in search of my mother who I had never forgotten, after much research I found her in an anonymous city in the south with powerful leaders of Torvsland. finally the family was reunited, while I was with her I was summoned to a small outpost in the city of Venna to extort a confession from a slave, (as you know the testimony of a slave in trials is valid only if extorted with torture, because slaves they cannot speak in the presence of freemen), then he had another job as an escort for a free woman in a village in the north, later found destroyed, from then on through the north from village to village until arriving at Thornhall, embracing the culture of the North, even though he realized that in the North they were almost all Southern men transplanted men who hated the politics and weaknesses of the South, he was looking for a place to call ''Homestone'' and I found them a bond, which took his heart and I call it ''Rare'' as rare were his qualities, now he had a home, a mother and a slave who gave him the warmth of the fire and the love of the earth. But the Pirate's island that he had always kept in his heart, Skuold's Rock was the one that he had always dreamed of living happily on his island, and creating his home there.

He took his ships and

 

    SERENA ART CENTER      by VITA&BELLA

A new big event on February 16, 2024
     Everyone is invited, in formal dress, to bid farewell to the 2024 carnival,
     The event aims to be a moment of meeting between all friends, artists, managers, and inhabitants of the Serena platform.

    We thank you in advance for your participation.

 CARTASSA. LA CITTA' NEL DESERTO

      Thus began the new adventure in the city of Cartassa, after the En-Kara fair I settled in the new house, and in the new office, I began to get to know the city and the citizens, especially those who were closest to me, thus I discovered that Lady Mae, the Head Caste of Healers, she was the adoptive sister of lady BB,      

and consequently also Safina, she would be my cousin, lady Mae became my aunt, even if I was not the real son of lady BB and her husband Sir Mith, they saved me from port Scip Rock, while the Panthers of the Shendi forest attacked and destroyed the overlying city of Korat, I also met my adoptive sister Lady Lucy, and my brother Sir Finthor, with his slave YiYi, while Safina's companion, lived in the forest not far away with his Congo tribe. Several ladies lived in the city, they had key positions in the management, Lady Jinny, a very beautiful Scribe in her blue clothes, Lady Shadow, and Lady Athena, Finthor, despite having a slave, who he flaunted by

 always carrying her with him, also courted Lady Athena, or perhaps the opposite, it was she who died of love for him, even though he, the Chief of the Red Caste, the warriors, preferred fighting and taverns with slaves. I looked around, there wasn't much work to do, I spent the days with the others in the tea room, at the outdoor tables at the end of the street, after the square, and on the way to get there, Lady Shadow stopped often with his easel, he painted, men or landscapes, I had forgotten to talk about Sir Bernhard, the Chief of the Caste of Scribes, very good and knowledgeable, but often absent, he too had at the time been adopted by Lady BB, who as you understood he helped all the young people who were alone, homeless or who had lost their family like me. One day as I passed by the large square on my 

way to the tea room, usually at that time everyone gathered, but strangely that day there was no one, everyone had gone to the forest for Safina's engagement with Sir Combo, so I returned to the square , I heard the screams of women, as soon as I turned the corner I saw fire inside the tavern, I rushed, trying to make myself useful, to help the slaves who lived upstairs, where they usually welcomed the customers, eager to pass by. a few hours with a blanket on, with the help of a slave who also came, we put out the flames on the ground floor with water taken from barrels that were used in the tavern, other slaves were trapped on the upper floor, we ran up the staircase,

and with blankets we tried to put out the flames, we saved all the slaves screaming and blackened by the smoke, the girl who was with me, slipped on the water and fell into the fire and was burned, I pulled her away and rushed her down the street, the infirmary was not very far away, it was on the other side of the square, then luckily Lady Mae also arrived, the head of the Healers caste who immediately took care of her, I immediately understood that it was very serious, and Mae said we will do everything to save her, to It wasn't difficult for me, I was wearing a long Scribe dress with my arms covered, I had only burned my hands, the little slave was very serious, I waited for Mae to take care of her, she did the first dressings with her ointments, then finally he cured me too, he told me not to get my hands wet and come back the next day for the check-up, of course I came back often, I was anxious for that brave young woman, who had risked her life to save her friends. Upon their return everyon  

complimented me, I was proud for having demonstrated my courage, meanwhile I didn't miss the opportunity, every time I went to the tea room, to stop and have a chat with the beautiful Shadow, but in addition to the views and the colours, he saw nothing else, so I concentrated on Lady Jinny, who in theory was engaged to Finthor, even if unrequited, which is why in my opinion, she was trying to make him jealous, by directing her attentions towards me, Lady Athena took the she did everything she could to make us become something more than friends, so I started courting her, even though Jinny was very attached to her job, she wanted to become an Ambassador and was studying.

Finthor preferred fighting in the arena rather than city life, sometimes I went to watch him while he trained, he didn't have a great technique, I had seen better, but since he was my adoptive brother I admired him, what I didn't admire in he was his attitude towards Athena, he preferred to have his slave YIYI with him, meanwhile Lady Mae had had her little girl, a little angel, she carried her with her wrapped in a cloak on her shoulders. I continued to court Jinny, she secretly loved Finthor, in the end to make him even more jealous, she agreed to do the companionship ceremony with me. We did it on the upper floor of the tea room, where in the center there was a large round table, and in the presence of Athena, Finthor, and Safina, we exchanged the glass of wine to seal the company, I had prepared the documents and we signed them with our seals, including the two witnesses, once the ceremony was over she went back to her job and I went back to mine, we didn't have a house together yet, so everyone went back to their own homes, there hadn't yet been any relationship between us , Athena had realized that Finthor would never become her companion, together with YIYI she organized a trap against me, making Jinny believe that I had an agreement with Shadow, so Jinny broke up the company, with the help of Bernahrd the Caste Chief.

I didn't love that woman and I forgot her, in the meantime another Scribe had arrived in the city who passed himself off as a Magistrate, his name was Lord Cougar, LC, Bernhard his old friend gave him the job of assistant Chief Caste, I was furious, I had aspired to that job for a long time, I was well known and appreciated in the city, for this reason there was immediate hatred between us, a deep hatred mixed with jealousy on his part towards me, he spent his time sitting outside the office, like a farmer with his feet on a barrel, and there he sometimes dozed off, but he looked and observed, his intentions were immediately clear, to take command of Cartassa, one day what I had foreseen

happened, he with the help of Bernhard and some Congo warriors attempted to conquer the city, my concern was to save Safina and lady Mae, while Jinny, Athena, and Shadow were now safe in the forest. Protected by Sir Combo, meanwhile there was no trace of Finthor, I ran to the palace but it was deserted, I knew of an exit that led to the small lake, I ventured towards the shore, in the end I found Safina hidden among the rocks.

In the fallen city was in the hands of those people, everyone fled running towards the desert, then finally Finthor arrived with his soldiers, and after a small fight I managed to drive those savages back towards their forest, but in their escape they destroyed everything they they could, making the city a pile of rubble.
By now Cartassa was destroyed, it would have taken a long time to rebuild, so I decided to leave, I still didn't know where, I had heard of a city called Lara, so I would head there.....

... ...............

 PAGAN LANE AN ARTIS

    Today I will tell you about a great artist.
The gallerist Vita Theas invited me to the inauguration of the Pagan Lane exhibition, as soon as I landed I immediately saw the hand of a serious professional, one of those who are rarely encountered anymore, his paintings displayed on the road before the tunnel, signifying that they are the light, and we see the light in the colors and shapes that follow one another as we look carefully at his works.

     I stopped to admire the many works displayed with such care, Vita was right when she said he was a Rare artist, all his forms are full of meaning, and you can imagine his artistic soul putting all his effort into painting these tele.

I had said the light before the tunnel., And pagan created it with the colors of him.
     as usual people were enthusiastic, joyfully admiring the works, and complimented Pagan Lane the artist, who happily shook everyone's hands, thanked them, and invited them into his showroom to view all his still unpublished works.

    From a short interview, he talks to me about space, the universe, the colors that are the soundtrack of his life, and the happiness that others convey to him by admiring his works.......

DARIAN - MEET AN ARTIST

                      ANI(anibrm jung)

 

About The Artist:

• Ms. Jung is a RL award-winning photographer for her sensitive and vibrant portraits of nature's works of art.
 

 • Framing in natural light at the viewfinder of her Nikon D60 digital camera - no cropping or image manipulation is used.

 • She allows us to see exactly as she sees - and to feel the closeness to nature that is her joy.

• I was surprised to learn that Ani is multi-talented.  She has previously been the lead singer for the SL's Slave Girls Rock Band.  

 • From her RL home in the Netherlands, Ms. .

"My Second Life objective, is to show others how beautiful art is:

- Art that is created by an artist who loves Art.
- Smiles on faces while viewing my photography.
- Gallery visitors who respond in a loving way to Art.
- Photos that remind someone of a distant time or place.
- Or an animal photo that brings back memories of their pet.

That is what Art does! And I love that!" ~ Anibrm Jung / Age53
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      Here we are at the second appointment, with the space dedicated to Art, I landed at the ''SERENA ART CENTER'', a good artist,Vita Theas the gallery owner, famous throughout SL, had told me, I immediately noticed the beauty, and the search for colors and the shapes that the artist ANI put on his canvases, I focused on the colors and shapes, sometimes metaphysical, sometimes classic, the result of years of experience and work, I published at the top of the page the full interview done with artist, very deep in his explanations about his art.

What more can I say, the artistic space of the open-air gallery was full of visitors and a good DJ, with his music, enlivened the evening, and after saying goodbye to everyone, I left for my Oasis....

􀀂

 

TOWARDS THE THAHARA-CARTASSA

       Our Oasis was now a reality, the castle was renovated even if a little gloomy, the houses of the inhabitants were built, life had taken the right direction, the ships arrived, the word had spread throughout the Planet of the new Oasis, all there. ..

       Our Oasis was now a reality, the castle was renovated even if a little gloomy, the houses of the inhabitants were built, life had taken the right direction, the ships arrived, the word had spread across the Planet of the new Oasis, all the ships Pirates, who left or were headed to Anango, sailing from North to South, or headed towards the large cities of Brundisium, Port Kar, or even further east up the Wosk river, towards the Olni river, with the city of the same name, very large very rich, or towards the Thentis river, from where the track starts for the Great Sardar, or for the Sanctuary, thousands of young people every year, before they turn twenty-five years old, have to make the Pilgrimage.

    Some Captains at the port were talking about the En-Kara fair, it was the great celebration of the Gorean New Year, on that occasion thousands of people from all over the planet exhibited their goods, I had never been to that fair, I always sent ...

Some Captains at the port were talking about the En-Kara fair, it was the great celebration of the Gorean New Year, on that occasion thousands of people from all over the planet exhibited their goods, I had never been to that fair, I always sent the leader of the Merchants, sometimes the Ambassador, and I was curious to see her, the Oasis was now built, everything was calm and I had excellent administrators, I no longer had ties, Margot with the slave Alika, left to return to the island of Leisure, I had no more news from them, I was alone now, I had the desire to cross the desert again and see again the place where I was born, in the great Tahari desert, and from there passing through the glorious city of AR, I would go to proud, this year there was going to be a conference of Scribes and Magistrates and I didn't want to miss it.

Some Captains at the port were talking about the En-Kara fair, it was the great celebration of the Gorean New Year, on that occasion thousands of people from all over the planet exhibited their goods, I had never been to that fair, I always sent ...

I organized the trip in every detail, I wanted to disembark at the port of Ship Rock, I wanted to revisit the places of my childhood, I remember that Korat, the city where I lived with my adoptive father, Sir Mith and Lady BB, had fallen to the Panthers of the forest, we fled at night to Ship Rock and from there, we embarked for the North, Leaving ruin and death behind us

I didn't take many men with me, just some trusted guards and some slaves, the crossing to the mainland wasn't very long, we passed by the island of moor, they had rebuilt it but much smaller, I had lived there, many memories emerged in the my mind, but I closed my eyes, so as not to remember, the next day we disembarked at the small port of Kanras, now everything had changed, we asked if any caravan was headed for the desert, after speaking with many Bedouin merchants, they finally told us that there was it was a possibility of a caravan, but only for the Four Palms oasis, the next day finally, they warned me for a caravan, which went down to Kargash, then Turia, Omen valley, Kataii, and finally we would arrive at the Two Scimitars Oasis , it was there that the great En-Kara fair would be held that year, they told me that the city of Tor was at war with the city of AR, for this reason, we would cross the desert from further south, keeping stay away from any trouble.


It promised to be a long journey, I wasn't prepared enough, I hadn't crossed the desert for many years, and I had some small fears, about the unknowns of the future, we set off with a certain enthusiasm, but sometimes the future proves to be different from reality, therefore something terrible was waiting for us around the corner.

In fact, after leaving Gargash headed for Turia, the horizon darkened, the Caravan leader said that we would stop, due to that storm coming, I was not prepared for this new test that the King Priests were sending us, we relied on the skill of the Bedouins , who identified a clearing protected by some rocks, with extreme speed they tied the tents together, dug a large ditch in the sand, we covered ourselves with sheets and blankets, it was something terrible, it lasted for a few hours, the wind carried away everything it encountered on his way, even some Camels disappeared from the field, carried away by that terrible wind, finally everything passed, the merchants counted the damage, collecting as much of their goods and animals as they could, the leader of the Merchants after a careful evaluation, decided it was better reach the city of Cartassa, a little further north, we would have bought them back food and water, I didn't know of the existence of this city in the desert, but there was no other way, other than to die of hunger and thirst, so we waited the cool of the afternoon and we set off, he said we would travel all night, and the next day before the sun was high we would be there.

We arrived in the city as expected, it had very high walls, many tents outside for visitors and traders, the leader stopped the caravan under those walls, I ordered the tents to be pitched, of course my men also set up our large tent, in reality I was always an Emir, my brother Orlando, after the death of our father, had become the Pasha, even if we no longer had our great Oasis in the desert, we would finally have rested and refreshed ourselves, changed our clothes to present ourselves to the regents of Cartassa, who still I didn't know if they had an Ubar, a regent administrator or a Pasha.

The next morning, I presented myself to the guards with my credentials as Scribe and Magistrate, without saying that I was an Emir, I did not want to create enemies, the commander of the guards, after having welcomed me, escorted me into the palace of Pasha Congo, so I had the opportunity to meet his partner lady Mae, and his two daughters Umar and Safina, and my joy was great, when I recognized my half-sister lady Shani, daughter of lady BB, there was also a beautiful woman named lady Shadow, there we embrace smiling, everyone was happy to welcome me with them, assigning me a small palace for me and my entourage, Sir Congo asked me to stay with them, they were organizing the trip to the fair and we would go together, in the meantime since the Magistrate had died , he asked me to temporarily take his place, I willingly accepted, I was happy it seemed like a happy family, I would finally leave those unfortunate merchants.

This was how my new adventure began.................continued