Saturday, 25 May 2024

 THE CASTE OF MURDERERS..

A TRUE STORY

    It is not easy to talk about this caste which is unknown to many, during my travels I have often met men of the black caste but I have never managed to glean from them any minimal information on the composition of the caste, their codes or their way of interacting with Gorean citizens.

     The Wagon People have the Clan of Torturers, who dress in black, but are not Assassins.

Assassins must be loyal only to their own Caste.    They do not have Home Stones as that would constitute potentially conflicting loyalties.

The color of the Assassin caste is black and their helmets are also black.    They also use a black banner as a symbol.    Assassins can be called "killers" and this is actually considered a title of respect. When an Assassin receives payment for a job, he places a small, thin black dagger mark on his forehead. It is not known what material it is. used to affix this mark. With the dagger on his forehead, an Assassin can freely enter any Gorean city. No one will stop him from entering or try to interfere with his mission. Some people who see the dagger fear that the Assassin may come after them. City leaders often strengthen their personal defenses if they know that an Assassin with a black dagger is present in their city.

The Assassin's primary weapon of choice is the crossbow.    A crossbow has considerable attack power and can penetrate most shields.

Pa-Kur is a Master Assassin of Ar who appeared in Tarnsman of Gor.    He was a tall man with a cruel-looking face and inscrutable eyes. 

   Pa-Kur was an expert crossbowman and it is said that he was perhaps the best swordsman in Gor.    But he doesn't play Kaissa.    When the Initiates took control of Ar, Pa-Kur decided to raise an army to conquer Ar.    He was able to rally the forces of a number of cities to support his military enterprise.    Ultimately he was successful and forced the Initiates to hand over the city to him.    His reign was rather short as Tarl Cabot and others arrived to overthrow the Master Assassin.    Tarl and Pa-Kur engaged in a thrilling duel on the Cylinder of Justice.    Tarl, however, proved to be the master of the sword.    Instead of catching his face, Pa-Kur jumped from a tall cylinder.    But Pa-Kur's body was never found, and his fate remains a mystery that has yet to be resolved in the novels.    One day, Pa-Kur may return. After Pa-Kur's defeat, the other Assassins who had supported him were captured and enslaved.    The murderers were then outlawed in Ar.    As an interesting note, he considers the name Pa-Kur. "Kur" means beast in Gorean but it is unknown what "Pa" means. Drusus works for the Kurii at their base on the polar ice cap.    He attempts to kill Tarl Cabot in a duel but he fails.    He later chooses to side with Tarl against the Kurii.


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(Story taken from the Friday meeting in Isfahan)

               THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK CASTE


      I returned to the Tashid oasis and work happily, one day a caravan arrives from the desert stopping on the shore of the lake, and an elderly merchant joins me under the large tent and I invite him to sit down, after asking me who the leader of the merchants was and I told him to speak to the Vizier, I invited him to drink and to tell me his story, since he was an elderly man I thought he certainly had something to say.

He was hesitant at first and then told me I'll tell you the story of one of my great-grandmothers who, from being a slave, became a murderer of the black caste. and after a long breath I begin............

I had been walking for about an hour when I discovered a clearing from which smoke was rising. I felt relieved, because where there was a fire, there had to be people. I arrived at a small camp with four tents, a hut and a training ground. At first I was irritated but happy to have found someone, I bravely headed towards the camp and discovered a man by the fire

   I slowly approached, fell to my knees and greeted him, he turned his head towards me, he had probably already heard me and calmly asked me what I was doing here, so alone and away from other people. I tried to explain it to him, but I think he didn't really believe me and I felt the consequences. He approached me, grabbed me and dragged me into one of the cages, pushed me inside and closed the gate. He told me to wait here until the camp chief arrives.

It was not funny! Wait here, What else could I do, I couldn't escape. But at least I had the advantage of being attacked less by wild animals here in the cage, so I was surprisingly calm. I think the man also noticed it and it probably surprised him even more. So I sat there for three long days and nights until the camp leader finally returned from his trip and they told him my story. He approached me, he opened the cage letting me out of my prison. He was quite strange, he had a hood on his head and you couldn't see his face, his voice was dark and sharp, not very friendly, he started asking me questions and immediately told me that if I lied, it would be my last day on Gor,,,,,

     Why should I lie? My story was true, I told him everything, I answered all his questions and apparently he believed me, because he saved my life by telling me that I would stay here and be trained and that if I tried to escape from the camp, I wouldn't have survived. My fate was therefore sealed in that field.

  At first many things seemed familiar to me, I thought the people who lived here were just outlaws on the fringes of civilization. My training started like that of a Bond, I learned to serve in the Nordic way, to talk like a Bond, to do my job and to serve the boys in the camp. The surprising thing is that from the beginning I was taught to read, write and count, which is not very common in the North, but I had a lot of fun and was very motivated to learn

  Soon I was able to read and write quite well, I could also do calculations quite well, and so the day came when the head of the clan, who everyone called Master, called me and told me that I had done very well in my training , that I had studied hard and that people now trusted me, and after months it was time to be properly trained

  I was visibly confused: why train anymore? I had already been trained. But well, if that's what he wanted, better not to contradict him

    So first I went to a healer, where I was taught herbalism and how to treat all kinds of wounds, even how to stitch them up or remove arrows from body parts. It was a difficult time, because I had no idea before and it took me a few moons to get to the point where the healer took me back to the master. He was quite satisfied with what I had learned

Then I was sent for combat training, where I learned to handle weapons, whether fans, bows and arrows or blowguns, I had to have confidence, and I learned about castes, their characteristics, their signs, their functions . I can tell you that it was really hard to learn all this and especially memorize it in my head, but I did it.

    I think more than a winter had already passed by the time these two phases were completed. The simplest part of my training was finally learning to seduce men, to look at them and to show them around, obviously also to serve them in the skin and to obtain information from them that could be important, asking the right questions and also behaving with discretion was a major part of what was repeated over and over again.

     I was so excited and I was afraid of failing and disappointing the master, I was shaking all over and I was so worried and uncertain that the master even gave me a sip of mead to calm me down, then they placed me next to another master, I had to go with him to a city , I had been given the name of a person who I had to spy on and learn certain things.

      It seems easy, but it is not easy at all, first you have to find the person and then you have to approach them without being noticed, once you have succeeded, you still have to get the important information and not everyone talks about them like a fountain, so I had to use skill and learning to get what I wanted to know.

     I managed to do everything with two fingers (days). What I didn't know at the time was that I only had three fingers of time and if I didn't have the information it would be death. But I was faster, I returned to the camp with the teacher and brought him all the information he wanted. He looked impressed and visibly satisfied. I had passed the exam and would receive the camp grade as a sign of recognition.

I still thought I was living with outlaws

As soon as I said his words I felt a strong burning sensation on the back of my neck. I had been branded with a black dagger, the mark of caste that would now bind me to it forever. I was very confused. Neck pain was not 

nothing, the fact that I didn't realize where I ended up and what it meant.


     I finally realized that I was now serving the black caste. I didn't have a fixed teacher, if a teacher needed a connection he could take me with him for his assignment, otherwise I did the normal work in the field or I trained improving what I had learned. Furthermore, I was now also taught how to behave if I was tortured and that no matter what happened, I would never betray my caste. It was a damn painful process until I was ready to endure the torture.



  A few more moons passed and I met another Master. We got along very well straight away, we laughed together and often chatted in front of the fire, one day he came and said he needed me for a job, I should pack my bags for the south and that he would take me to the city in he needed to achieve his goal, I should have gotten the information he needed for him.

It is said that a killer does not go looking for his target and kills him immediately. No, it is not like that, even a murderer first checks whether the sponsor is telling the truth and whether the person really deserves to die, and only in this case will the branding be carried out.

So I packed my backpack, put on a Kajira dress, and followed the master into town. In front of the city gates he explained to me who he was that I had to investigate, that is, the Ubar of the city, the Master would pass himself off as a merchant and I had to see if I could reach him, so first I slipped through the gates, in the city no one should know that I and the merchant we knew each other.

Once there, I stood aside, I first observed and memorized the faces, I listened to the conversations until the Ubar appeared and discovered me, my black hair had attracted his attention and he beckoned me to come, he observed in detail and once again, I was rather calm and reserved, which probably encouraged him, because he took me with him to his quarters.



Once I arrived, I was able to serve him, I met his partner and the other slaves he had. This obviously had its advantages, because as you all know, slaves talk to each other and tell each other things, this was also the case with the slaves of the Ubar, so I was able to quickly learn things about him, his schedule, what he preferred eat, of the drinks he had always brought, in the hours when he went to sleep or even in those when he walked around the city.


I collected all this information and wrote it on parchment so as not to forget anything, obviously hiding it so I wouldn't find it. At night I left the house, I went out of town, to a small clearing near the river where the master was waiting for me to receive the information I had collected. This lasted several fingers and when he knew enough and I showed him the layout of the city and the alleys where we could hide, the time had come, the next day the Ubar would die.


The day leaves and you stay in the vicinity of the Ubar, you will find a small clue that will probably be revealed here at the moment it will pass and that the Ubar will then mobilize all the guards of the town, all of you will be present in the town and wait for your entry into it. the city. Obviously I couldn't let this happen, so I had to quickly find a solution to distract the guards. If you don't go to any other garden, you can guide me to the meeting point, but without the name of the garden, you must find another solution, then I'll head towards the tavern - it's my right to leave it freely in the city. I told Ubar that I would cook for the warriors, which made him very happy


Once there, I prepared everything to make a stew, I peeled the vegetables and cut the meat. The cauldron in which the stew was to be cooked was placed on the hearth. All I had to do was light a fire under the boiler, so I put some pieces of wood under the boiler, then some slightly larger branches, I bent down and rubbed two flints together, I had immediately a small flame caught the pieces of wood and the thin branches and they began to burn well

Once there, I prepared everything to make a stew, I peeled the vegetables and cut the meat. The cauldron in which the stew was to be cooked was placed on the hearth. All I had to do was light a fire under the boiler, so I put some pieces of wood under the boiler, then some slightly larger branches, I bent down and rubbed two flints together, I had immediately a small flame caught the pieces of wood and the thin branches and they began to burn well



I blew a little and the fire increased, so I put two more large pieces of wood, blew again and waited for the flames to envelop the pieces and start to burn well. I looked around, there was no one nearby. Then it was easy to move one of the burning pieces of wood so that the nearby fur received the embers and began to burn slowly. I waited for the fur to actually burn... the fire quickly spread throughout the tavern and the moment came when I ran out shouting *Fire. fire *


  To make sure the guards were coming, I ran with a torch, but the healer's flag got in my way and caught fire. I continued towards the barracks, opened the door and one of the warriors, busy with his naked slave, saw me and asked 

what was going on, but since everyone in the village thought I was made of white silk and I had never seen a naked boy, this was the opportunity to drop the torch on the floor, on the carpet and, of course, so that the fire reached also the tent, which happened quickly. Then I ran towards the exit, panicked and screaming, followed by a naked warrior and his slave.


I can tell you that it was a very funny image to see him chasing me naked with his little pendant moving... At his cries others arrived, the whole city was in turmoil, one part put out the flames, the other chased me and then the master had the easy part, because the Ubar was not protected. He completed his mission, he killed the Ubar.


  There was nothing left but to get rid of the warriors, but I was unlucky and stumbled, then the naked warrior managed to catch me, I was in his clutches, I knew well that it would cost me my life, and while I was on the verge of ending my life , the master appeared, killed the warrior, took me with him and we managed to escape from the city.


Once safe, the Master looked at me, he couldn't help but laugh at what I had done to make his task easier. At the camp, it was a long evening in which the master told everyone around the campfire how the mission had been accomplished and what I had done.



  In reality, all the other teachers in the camp liked me, even if they were often reserved or preferred to be alone, especially one, who sometimes smiled and often turned his head towards me. There were nights where they simply partied, nights where they talked, or even nights where new kids who wanted to become assassins took exams or were trained.

When the Master, with whom I had already been in the city, called me 

for a new mission, I already knew it would be fun, because he had disguised himself as a merchant again, but this time as someone who couldn't count to three and was a little clumsy.

Our prey was a merchant from a town, so we came and explored it, looking at the streets and houses, alleys and corners, then we went to the tavern where the owner wanted to have a drink and introduced himself to everyone as a merchant. The curiosity of the town merchant was immediately aroused and she wanted the master to come to her house, and so it happened.

We arrived at the merchant's house, it was very sumptuous, the landlady was a bit old and had a bit of a big nose, which I didn't like right away. She presented her three beautiful slaves to the master, which made me smile, because as I said, the master played dumb. When he looked at the girls, the lady told him that they were so hot that no man could calm them down.


  He shouldn't have said that, the master looked at the girls and made the first one jump on the table, he had to spread his legs, I looked down and laughed inside, the master took a candle and put it between the girl's legs, very close to his heat to check how it was basically he couldn't see it. Frightened by this, the first slave ran away, then it was the second's turn, he took the candle again and looked for her warmth, which he also did not find in her, finally it was the third's turn.

Unfortunately for her, this slave had some hair between her thighs and the master so he burned it a little with the candle, the slave started screaming and the mistress got angry and demanded that she be compensated, for some burnt hair * shakes head * but hey, it's not like they didn't want me to be with the teacher, so they handed me over to help her while the other one fixed up with their hair.

 The Master left the house and told the Mistress that he would come back for me in a hand, I knew what to do and where to meet him, so I got to work. The landlady sent me to the market to sell her goods 

 Then the landlady arrived with a basket of vulo eggs to sell at the market. What can I say, she stupidly put the eggs on the edge and when I had to turn around to get the eggs, what was supposed to happen happened, the basket and the eggs fell on the floor, the eggs were scrambled and the lady was furious, I was laughing inside.

The next day she told me I had to go back to the market, which I didn't like. How could I get such information about the lover? So I had to find another solution, I wisely went to the market, the owner reached me after an hour and a Verr came out of the stable taking

  Larma from the stall that he liked, I tried with all my strength to push Verr away from the stall, but he was rather rebellious. After a struggle and the owner's cries to get rid of the beast, it collapsed along with everything that remained 

it was a pile of wood with larmas juice and scrambled eggs I shrugged laughing to myself.

 From that day on I no longer needed to go to the market I stayed close to her, so I could gather her information and provide it to the teacher. The days passed and every day I found something new that bothered the lady. Once I accompanied her to the city and she told me again about the heat, I waited until I was in the market square where there were a lot of people and I told her out loud if I should get under her dress and do something warmth in this regard

Let's say it was worth seeing the mistress's face, it was so red that it was foaming with anger. Well, maybe I exaggerated a little, but I didn't like the teacher at all. Luckily I knew that the next day the owner would come and free me from this situation, so he didn't mind spending the night in the cage.

The next day the Master came, dressed in black, the Dagger on his forehead. the mistress panicked, but apparently she had so much trouble in her hand, that she threw herself on her knees and begged the master to kill her, so this job was completed quickly we returned together to the camp where I felt comfortable and I was not a presumptuous lover. There are many similar stories that I experienced during my stay in the camp, but unfortunately many of the masters disappeared and soon I was left alone in the camp. I didn't know why, but I knew I had to look for a Master, because one thing was clear, I couldn't leave like this, so off I went, wandering the countryside looking for a Master of the caste, but I couldn't find anyone I traveled alone for many moons, hiding and living on the fruits of the forest or on small animals that I could kill with traps, until I arrived in Isfahan and found a new place, until the masters who knew the camp found me. Even today they protect me and warn me. I know: one mistake, one wrong word and it's the death of me The mark of the black caste that I wear on the back of my neck, I hide in my hair. I behave so as not to attract attention and no one must know that I am a Shadow Bond who will serve the caste until its last breath. This is why I told you my story . Only one person in Isfahan knows about my other life and he will also remain silent, knowing that otherwise it will be my death

Risultati della traduzione

RisulThen I was sent for combat training, where I learned to handle weapons, whether fans, bows and arrows or blowguns, I had to have confidence, and I learned about castes, their characteristics, their signs, their functions . I can tell you that it was really hard to learn all this and especially memorize it in my head, but I did it.

    I think more than a winter had already passed by the time these two phases were completed. The simplest part of my training was finally learning to seduce men, to look at them and to show them around, obviously also to serve them in the skin and to obtain information from them that could be important, asking the right questions and also behaving with discretion was a major part of what was repeated over and over again.

     I was so excited and I was afraid of failing and disappointing the master, I was shaking all over and I was so worried and uncertain that the master even gave me a sip of mead to calm me down, then they placed me next to another master, I had to go with him to a city , I had been given the name of a person who I had to spy on and learn certain things.

       It seems easy, but it is not easy at all, first you have to find the person and then you have to approach them without being noticed, once you have succeeded, you still have to get the important information and not everyone talks about them like a fountain, so I had to use skill and learning to get what I wanted to know.


:I managed to do everything with two fingers (days). What I didn't know at the time was that I only had three fingers of time and if I didn't have the information it would be death. But I was faster, I returned to the camp with the teacher and brought him all the information he wanted. He looked impressed and visibly satisfied. I had passed the exam and would receive the camp grade as a sign of recognition.Then I was sent for combat training, where I learned to handle weapons, whether fans, bows and arrows or blowguns, I had to have confidence, and I learned about castes, their characteristics, their signs, their functions . I can tell you that it was really hard to learn all this and especially memorize it in my head, but I did it.

    I think more than a winter had already passed by the time these two phases were completed. The simplest part of my training was finally learning to seduce men, to look at them and to show them around, obviously also to serve them in the skin and to obtain information from them that could be important, asking the right questions and also behaving with discretion was a major part of what was repeated over and over again.

     I was so excited and I was afraid of failing and disappointing the master, I was shaking all over and I was so worried and uncertain that the master even gave me a sip of mead to calm me down, then they placed me next to another master, I had to go with him to a city , I had been given the name of a person who I had to spy on and learn certain things.

       It seems easy, but it is not easy at all, first you have to find the person and then you have to approach them without being noticed, once you have succeeded, you still have to get the important information and not everyone talks about them like a fountain, so I had to use skill and learning to get what I wanted to know.


:I managed to do everything with two fingers (days). What I didn't know at the time was that I only had three fingers of time and if I didn't have the information it would be death. But I was faster, I returned to the camp with the teacher and brought him all the information he wanted. He looked impressed and visibly satisfied. I had passed the exam and would receive the camp grade as a sign of recognition.Then I was sent for combat training, where I learned to handle weapons, whether fans, bows and arrows or blowguns, I had to have confidence, and I learned about castes, their characteristics, their signs, their functions . I can tell you that it was really hard to learn all this and especially memorize it in my head, but I did it.

    I think more than a winter had already passed by the time these two phases were completed. The simplest part of my training was finally learning to seduce men, to look at them and to show them around, obviously also to serve them in the skin and to obtain information from them that could be important, asking the right questions and also behaving with discretion was a major part of what was repeated over and over again.

     I was so excited and I was afraid of failing and disappointing the master, I was shaking all over and I was so worried and uncertain that the master even gave me a sip of mead to calm me down, then they placed me next to another master, I had to go with him to a city , I had been given the name of a person who I had to spy on and learn certain things.

       It seems easy, but it is not easy at all, first you have to find the person and then you have to approach them without being noticed, once you have succeeded, you still have to get the important information and not everyone talks about them like a fountain, so I had to use skill and learning to get what I wanted to know.


:I managed to do everything with two fingers (days). What I didn't know at the time was that I only had three fingers of time and if I didn't have the information it would be death. But I was faster, I returned to the camp with the teacher and brought him all the information he wanted. He looked impressed and visibly satisfied. I had passed the exam and would receive the camp grade as a sign of recognition.



Tuesday, 21 May 2024

 TRIP TO THE WOSK OUTLAWS DELTA



      While I was in the Tashid oasis without having decided exactly where to go for my next trip, I recently returned from the city of Var, I was there for a few days, then searching my memory 

 remembered Lady Carry, met at the En fair -Kara, she invited me to visit the city of the Wosk Delta, where she is the Commander, and without thinking about it I decide to reach that island in the delta, I'm starting to get old and the desert heat heats me up too much better to go to one place cooler and with all the comforts of a city.

    

LADY HAZEL

   As soon as I arrived at the port I asked the guards at the gate to take me to Lady Carry, and as soon as they found out about my caste they did their best to take me to the area of the city where the commander usually stays.


       She was very happy to see me again, even though at that moment she was busy with some citizens and a gentleman who would surely be her partner even though I initially thought he was her son, she showed me the way to the tavern where I would certainly find a clean and comfortable room. hot, and I promise it would reach me soon.

LADY EM
   I walked along that clean street surrounded by gardens, until I glimpsed the tavern from afar, a large building with a large portal. As soon as I was nearby I heard the screams of women, and a man dressed in black running away in the direction of a secondary gate. , I took a look inside the inn and saw two women on the ground tied and hooded, and instinctively I launched myself in pursuit of that mysterious figure dressed in black, who was running with his head down so as not to be recognised, I chased him out from that gate that overlooked an impervious road that reached the port from the

less busy left side, but my man disappeared among the crowd I took it, so I decided to return to the inn, I rushed towards the women, took my dagger and cut the ropes who tied them like salami, took off their hoods and finally they breathed better even if they were very tired and distraught, it happens in cities that criminals kidnap ladies to sell them as slaves in other places.

     The ladies thanked me by introducing themselves, the first said her name was Hazel and that she was the innkeeper, while the other said her name was Em, but she ran away to reach her home and her very tired family, I chatted with the innkeeper making myself assign a room, then bring me some borsk stew and some Cos wine.

      Now I'm eating peacefully looking at that beautiful lady called Hazel with her golden hair and her portentous presence, I hope to be received soon by the regent for the newspaper to put up a newsstand and open a branch, but we'll see this later.. .. ..

    darianeditor

Wednesday, 15 May 2024

 


 


NEW EXHIBITION IN SERENA (09-11-2024)

       Grand opening yesterday of the exhibition of paintings by the artist Zia Branner,
the event with the inauguration in the presence of Vita Theas, of Bella Allure, the two managers of Serena's Art Center, with the artist present.
   The paintings are exhibited in three different locations, all with glass and the works in bright colours, with some landscapes, many flowers and many colored figures which remind us of the informal paintings of the 70s but for the better with outlined figures and complex shapes, his flowers are red like roses, and they don't leave you indifferent while you look at them.

BIOGRAPHY ZIA BRANNER

The quote 'Art is rebellion against the finiteness of life' fits me perfectly.
I recognize that rebelliousness in the fact that everything is transient, and in that sense painting is a kind of clinging to life. Like most people, I regularly think about all kinds of life issues. I collect special words from all kinds of languages ​​about this. They inspire me for a painting.
It also works the other way around: sometimes I paint on intuition and sometimes I have to paint through something that is constantly in my head. Then I find a word that fits.

I get inspiration from everywhere: from nature, from structures, in museums and from other painters from the past and present. I prefer to paint abstract and abstract landscapes and seascapes. With an occasional trip to figurative work. When choosing color and when making the composition, I mainly work on my feelings.

Painting is also a way for me to deal with the everydayness of existence. To literally and figuratively add color to the day. Something we can all use.
If a work of mine gives color to someone else's life, I consider that a great compliment.

If you are interested in my art you are kindly invited to visit my art gallery/shop at:

Elven Falls Art Collective:
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The Galleries (artist in residence):
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Emergent:
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Enjoy!

'The Earth without 'art' is just 'eh'... "

P.S.: I also exhibit RL. Several shows coming up in 2024!

CEREMONY AT TASHID OASIS SIR YUSUD-LADY CHIARA       It had been a while since I had heard from Tashid Oasis. The place where I lived and wh...