RAVEN'S JURNEY INTO THE UNKNOW

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. 

 

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. 

 send by RAVEL

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