Part 2 - TOWARDS FALSWORTH

                                            Story of a Scribe around the Planet Gor)

I left that city with no regrets, except for the loss of the woman I'd fallen in love with, but in Gor it's easy to forget. I watched that island recede further and further, only to disappear into the fog of that autumn day. The journey to the new destination wasn't very long, just a few weeks of sailing. There were no clouds on the horizon to portend some nasty storm, only a light mist rising from the sea toward the sky. A pale sun filtered through those clouds, but it didn't provide much warmth. And I, standing on the stern of the ship, looked back, another piece of my story gone badly.

sir darian bonetto

A new city awaited me. Sir Darian Bonetto had sent me a message two Manos earlier (a week), saying I could make a good career for myself. They had just finished building it, and it was self-sufficient, able to survive on its fishing and large farm. Ubar was a good man.

After my experience in the city of Olni, and in Port Kar, and again in Egeria, I wanted to live peacefully and work. I was good at portraits and landscape painting, so I decided to work as a cartographer. I had studied the geography of the planet and couldn't wait to show off my skills.

During the voyage, I often went to the bow of that merchant ship to scan the horizon, searching for something resembling a distant land. Finally, one morning, as the mist cleared, I saw land clearly. We had been sailing on the Wosk River for a few days, and the Captain told me that according to his calculations, we would arrive in that port late in the afternoon. We would drop anchor in the roadstead and in the morning we would enter the harbor and moor at the quay. I packed all my things and anxiously awaited disembarkation. That night I didn't sleep. I thought and thought about what my life had been up until then, from when I was a child in Korat, in the Shendi region, then in the cold world of the North and so many years at the school for Scribes and Magistrates, some loves I had had, others I had lost, and the hope that one day I would be able to find my brother Orlando again and the family I adopted as a child, Lady BB and Sir Mith. I always carried them in my heart. Then finally I fell asleep.

Loud noises of crates and gangways being thrown onto the dock awoke me. I looked out the porthole; we were in port. I quickly dressed and went out onto the deck of the ship. I had grabbed my bag with my documents, and the crates containing my clothes and work tools would be unloaded by the sailors. I realized the city wasn't very large, nothing like Port Kar or Olni, all low wooden houses in that small port. I stepped down from that gangway with enthusiasm. I wanted to prove my worth, and I waited for someone to welcome me. There weren't many guards, only a few at the entrance to the central square where the buildings faced, and at the end of that square stood a much larger stone palace, where many flags fluttered in the wind. Two slaves were there waiting for me; they would take me to the palace of the castes and of Ubar sir Mingh. I followed those slaves, eager to get to know both the city and its citizens.

Walking along the road to the left of the square, I noticed some small docks where a few men and a woman were fishing, while on the right side I could see many trees and a long road leading to the farm fields. Sir Mingh was waiting for me with his companion, Lady Chiara, a beautiful woman with golden hair, wearing a robe adorned with gold embroidery, and strangely without a veil. Also with them was the merchant leader, Lady Betty, in charge of the farms and fisheries, a short, veiled woman with a large bag over her shoulders, and several slaves who came and went from a door leading to the kitchens.

Sir Mingh welcomed me with all honors. I had very good credentials, and Sir Bonetto had spoken well of me. He was a merchant who traveled the planet, not neglecting his work as a slave trader. It was he who, some time later, brought a beautiful slave named Ester. She was beautiful, dark brown with long, curly hair. She had been kidnapped from the planet Earth and taken to Gor. Bonetto had bought her and hoped to sell her well. I was also on the dock when they arrived. That slave was something no one had ever seen before. She was very tall and sensual, her doe-like eyes, and her long, amber-colored legs were exposed to the groin. Her barely veiled breasts showed off their hardness. I was ecstatic to see her and asked Bonetto to sell her to me. He agreed at first, but then said that only Ubar could assign her to me.

Unluckily, Sir Mingh was also at the dock that day. He too was struck by that. slave,I ordered the guards to take her to the palace and assign her a bed. I was very upset but didn't show it. I was new and didn't want to go against Ubar, who treated me as his equal. So I had no choice but to admire her during dinners at the palace. Sir Mingh always kept that slave with him. He was enchanted by that earthly beauty, but this aroused the anger of his companion, Lady Chiara. He treated the slave badly whenever he could. Often, shouts could be heard from the palace between her and her companion. Until one day, Sir Mingh couldn't take it anymore and chased his companion, Lady Chiara, away. Lady Betty too. I discovered they were sisters. He was very upset. Of course, he loved his sister. I followed her. They were accompanied to the port and put on a ship headed north to a city called Jasmine. Then Ubar freed the slave, taking her as his companion. But by then, nothing was the same. Lady Chiara wrote to me asking me to join her and her sister in the north, and I reluctantly decided to leave. The city was no longer the same. Many were leaving, even Sir Ming, I later learned, had left for an island in the Cos archipelago with his new companion. I remember him inviting me to join him. He had opened a tavern for passing pirates, and while I was with him, his companion fell ill and died shortly after. Sir Mingh couldn't find peace, until one day he disappeared without a trace. They say he died of a broken heart, others said he had returned to the South. After that, no one heard of Ubar Sir Mingh again.

Meanwhile, I reached Jasmine, a beautiful city with modern buildings but inhabited by people who loved racing on Tarms. There were no castes, only gambling halls, so I decided to leave again, heading south. A pirate told me he was heading for Anango Island, and I asked him to take me.

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