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Showing posts with label Citizen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Citizen. Show all posts

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Customs and Social Norms

Scribe's Note: This document is intended to describe the kind of behavior that is acceptable and polite within Fina.  As such, failure to comply with these customs and social norms is not punishable under the law, but rather by the censure of one's fellow citizens.  Customs and social norms are essentially part of the social contract, the things everyone subscribes to in order to achieve community and stave off anarchy.  The Rule of Law, as necessary as it is, cannot cover every situation, so much of what binds the community together must come from the individuals within it.  Customs are simply the "unwritten laws" of the city, carrying penalties that are often far subtler but no less harsh than the civil laws enforced by the caste of magistrates.  In life, they are instilled from birth.  Presumably, none of us can claim to have been born and raised on Gor; thus, they are submitted here, Fina's unwritten laws in written form.
Wherever possible, I have chosen to apply the social norms ascribed to Ko-ro-ba, as that city's customs and traditions are described most often and used to contrast with those of other cities in many of the narratives in the books of John Norman.  Every item contained herein is supported by a quote from the books which identifies it as the way of things in Ko-ro-ba, or as a common Gorean practice.
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        ALL FREE
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1.  The Home Stone is so central to Gorean life that the planet's name, Gor, means "Home Stone".  In a Gorean's view, a city's buildings may be destroyed, its people scattered, but while the city's Home Stone exists, the city itself still exists. 
2.  Free persons rise to their feet when speaking of their city's Home Stone.
3.  Free persons are attentive to the thoughts and feelings of one another, especially if they share a Home Stone.
4.  Goreans are typically suspicious of those who claim a Home Stone other than their own.
5.  Caste forms the structure upon which Fina's society is built.  There are three categories of person who have no caste: Priest-King, slave, and outlaw.
6.  A free person's ethics are based on the Codes of their Caste.  The Codes of each Caste form the basis of honor.
7.  Free persons of low caste commonly have a true name known only to their closest relatives, and a use name, by which most people address them.
8.  Companionship with a person who has no caste, family, or position is considered a gross and incomparable mistake.
9.  Those of lower castes are typically illiterate.  Warriors, whether it is true or not, will often claim to be illiterate.
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        FREE MEN
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1.  A Gorean free man values freedom, his own and that of others, above all things, save for honor. 
2.  Free men pay attention to free women when they speak.  It is their due.  They are, after all, free.
3.  Free men of Gor commonly stand when a free woman enters the room.
4.  Free men will find it easy to ignore insolence in a free woman, simply because she is free.
5.  One treats a free woman with deference, honor, and respect.  By contrast, one treats a slave with condescension and authority.
6.  A free man, walking with a woman, permits her to walk beside him or before him.  It is the slave who follows him at his heel.
7.  In the temperate climate of Fina, a free man wears either a tunic or robes, depending on his station and the level of physical activity he expects.  He will wear either sandals or boots, again depending on the activities he expects to be involved in.  His clothing will bear the insignia of his Home Stone and of his caste.  In Fina, the colors of a man's attire will also be primarily those of his caste.  He will take pride in all these things, even if his clothes are torn and dirty.

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       FREE WOMEN
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1.  Free women may address a free man by his name.  Doing so marks her as free.
2.  The free women of Fina do not willingly travel outside the walls of Fina with fewer than two warriors in attendance.
3.  Within Fina's walls, free women may move about the city unaccompanied without first obtaining permission from a male family member.
4.  When seated, free women kneel with their knees together, and their wrists before them, uncrossed.  Crossed wrists can be interpreted as an indication of submission.
5.  Free women of high caste do not perform menial tasks.
6.  A free woman may sell herself into slavery, and even negotiate the terms of it.  Once she is in a collar, her new Master may change the terms as he sees fit.
7.  A free woman is considered to be free, and will always be treated as one, until she has been branded a slave.
8.  Free women command attention when they speak.  It is their due.  Yes, this is noted twice.  It is that important.
9. A free woman does not change her name as a result of Free Companionship.
10. Free Women do not use cosmetics, nor do they wear earrings.  They will also not wear any jewelry or adornment that encircles their throat.
11. A free woman may often make a man angry with impunity, but not always.  A wise free woman will not make a habit of it.
12. Free women keep their hair long and, at least in public, wear it up.  Wearing the hair down is a sensual thing, which, as with all things sensual, will be avoided by modest free women.
13. Free women commonly wear veils in Fina.  To go without is considered immodest.
14. Free women of Fina dress modestly, wearing robes or gowns which conceal their entire form from shoulder to foot.  They will typically choose to wear multi-colored robes or gowns, though the central colors will usually be those of their caste.  On her feet, she will wear sandals, slippers, low-heeled boots, or platform shoes designed to help keep the hem of her clothing out of the mud.
15. In Fina, free women will typically turn away from an immodest woman and refuse to speak to her.  Free men may, if they choose, strip the immodest woman and force a veil upon her, then march her to her home or to the docks and aboard the next departing vessel if she does not live inside the city walls.  If this treatment must be repeated, the men may also turn her over to the magistrates, and she will likely be enslaved, in accordance with Fina Civil Law.
16.  No free woman would dare to bare her legs, shoulders, or wrists.  Likewise, a free woman will commonly conceal her throat, since it is natural for a Gorean male to look at her bared throat and think, "collar".
17.  A free woman walks proudly beside a free man, or before him.  She will be protective of this right, and should she ever find herself in a collar, she will acutely feel the loss of it.
18.  A free woman is considered justified if she chooses to be aloof, unapproachable, vain, petty, selfish, supercilious, or arrogant.  She may also choose to be proud, haughty, insolent, and outspoken.  She may treat males with contempt and ridicule.  She may certainly be deceitful.  She is, after all, free.
19.  High caste women typically regard vulgar language and gestures as being incompatible with the dignity of their caste.  Low caste women generally do not constrain themselves in this way.

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         SLAVES
========================
1. Slaves are not permitted to touch legal documents.  This includes slave papers. 
2.  The purpose of a the collar is to identify a slave's owner.  The slave, when commanded to identify her owner, will present her collar.
3.  Slaves in Fina will be branded.  City slaves will be branded with the kef.
4.  Kajirae will kneel in nadu, unless in the presence of free women or when her doing so might distract men from important tasks or discussions.  She will then kneel in the position of the tower slave.
5.  Slaves do not teach classes which might be attended by the free, or instruct free persons.
6.  Slaves are not permitted either dignity or frigidity.  Those things are reserved for free women.
7.  A slave does not lie.
8.  The pain that Gorean men will accept from their free women, in deference to their freedom and their sharing of a Home Stone, they do not, and will not accept from their slaves.
9.  A slave has neither Home Stone nor caste.
10.  The Gorean slave girl is commonly not permitted to be vulgar, though she may, of course, be ordered to use vulgar langauge in referring to herself or in begging for use.

9 - Homestone/New Citizens

[14:02]  Jarvis Quan: Let's see down and begin
[14:03]  Jarvis Quan: Well today's class is the last in the series of nine we have for our scribe apprentices.
[14:04]  Jarvis Quan: To quote my favorite teacher whose classes I enjoy very much. we are officially OOC but please act Gorean and this is informal, please break in with discussion and corrections.
[14:04]  Jarvis Quan: And brownie points for catching me in an error.
[14:04]  Jarvis Quan: I intend to do this class in two parts.
[14:04]  Marci Torok chuckles
[14:04]  Jarvis Quan: First I will cover what the homestone is, what it means, and something about the ceremonies.
[14:05]  Jarvis Quan: I will then switch to the very practical aspects of the citizenship application process.
[14:05]  Jarvis Quan: There was one Gorean city that was famous because it had no homestone. Does anyone know which one that was?
[14:06]  Jarvis Quan: It was Port Kar
[14:06]  Jarvis Quan: Anyone recall how Port kar got its homestone?
[14:06]  Owen Landar is Online
[14:06]  Jarvis Quan: Well Tarl said this:
[14:06]  Jarvis Quan: "Go outside," I told him, "and find a rock, and bring it to me."
He looked at me.
"Hurry!" I said.
He turned about and ran from the room.
We waited quietly, not speaking, until he returned. He held in his hand a sizable rock, somewhat bigger than my fist. It was a common rock, not very large, and gray and heavy, granular in texture.
I took the rock.
"A knife," I said.
I was handed a knife.
I cut in the rock the initials, in block Gorean script, of Port Kar.
Then I held out in my hand the rock.
I held it up so that the men could see.
"What have I here?" I asked.
Tab said it, and quietly, "The Home Stone of Port Kar."
[14:07]  Jarvis Quan: From this we learn that the homestone itself, a physical entity is nothing, just the most common kind of rock.
[14:07]  Jarvis Quan: Yet for the Gorean it was also the single most important thing in his life because it was the representation of exactly who he was.
[14:07]  Jarvis Quan: further down in the same quote we see the reaction of them when the homestone was declared.
[14:08]  Jarvis Quan: And, suddenly, the room was filled with cheers and more than a hundred weapons left their sheaths and saluted the Home Stone of Port Kar. I saw weathered seamen weep and cry out, brandishing their swords. There was joy in that room then such as I had never before seen it. And there was a belonging, and a victory, and a meaningfulness, and cries, and the clashing of weapons, and tears and, in that instant, love.
[14:08]  Jarvis Quan: What is a homestone?
[14:08]  Jarvis Quan: It is identity.
[14:08]  Jarvis Quan: all those men in the room on Port Kar knew Tarl merely scratched a common rock.
[14:08]  Jarvis Quan: they saw him do it
[14:09]  Jarvis Quan: Yet it became a symbol of who they were.
[14:09]  Jarvis Quan: In Gorean law allegiances to a Home Stone, and not physical structures and locations, tend to define communities.
Blood Brothers of Gor, 474.
[14:09]  Shayna Wulluf gave you New Note.
[14:09]  Jarvis Quan: Community, which is everything in Gor is defined not by any stupid rock, but by allegience to the Homestone and what it means.
[14:09]  Jarvis Quan: When Goreans meet a stranger they don't ask what is the man's name. What do they ask? What is your homestone.
[14:10]  Owen Landar is Offline
[14:10]  Jarvis Quan: What is your homestone and as soon as the homestone is declared you automatically know much about the man.
[14:10]  Jarvis Quan: Part of the reason is each Homestone oath of allegiance is to each is unique depending on the community.
[14:10]  Jarvis Quan: Take this quote: “Free People come from the conception of a child, between a free man and a free woman, but they may be born from the belly of a slave, by Tharnan law. In most cities, women must be free until the child is born, for the child to be considered free as well. Boys, as a portion of the Home Stone ceremony, swear an oath of mastery to never surrender the dominance which is rightfully theirs by nature.”
-Vagabonds of Gor, p 267
[14:10]  Owen Landar is Online
[14:11]  Jarvis Quan: This homestone allegiance includes a special part to deal with the past spoken by boys when they make oath
[14:11]  Jarvis Quan: So if a man says he is of Tharna you know he will pay particular attention to not giving up male dominance as one example.
[14:11]  Jarvis Quan: Each hovel, each building, each place any group called home had its homestone from the simplest peasant hovel to the grandest city like Ar.
[14:11]  Jarvis Quan: The stones themselves were not likely to be jewel encrusted.
[14:12]  Jarvis Quan: They were smaller, simpler, defined by history and not their value. Therefore Tarl of Cabot/Karoba could take the homestone of Ar and slip it easily into his saddlebag even though Ar was in the biggest and finest city in Gor.
[14:12]  Jarvis Quan: The homestone defines the city.
[14:12]  Jessie Nirvana is Offline
[14:12]  Owen Landar is Offline
[14:12]  Jarvis Quan: The city defines the man
[14:12]  Jarvis Quan: The typical Gorean would be born in a city, grow up, come of age, swear allegance, and live in die in his city.
[14:12]  Jarvis Quan: A gorean did not easily change cities.
[14:13]  Brixton Canning is Online
[14:13]  Jarvis Quan: I personally get very impatient in role play when someone says something like "Fine, if X and Y does or does not happen I am leaving."
[14:13]  Jarvis Quan: Gorean did not pack up and leave their homestone because some slave pissed them off or they didn't like someone else in the city.
[14:13]  Owen Landar is Online
[14:13]  SnapDragon Tigerpaw grins.
[14:13]  janette Inglewood is Online
[14:13]  Jarvis Quan: And again another quote:
[14:13]  spediye Chrome smiles
[14:13]  Jarvis Quan: 'For the Gorean, though he seldom speaks of these things, a city is more than brick and marble, cylinders and bridges. It is not simply a place, a geographical location in which men have seen fit to build their dwellings, a collection of structures where they may most conveniently conduct their affairs.
[14:13]  Jarvis Quan: The Gorean senses, or believes, that a city cannot be simply identified with its material elements, which undergo their transformations even as do the cells of a human body.
 For them a city is almos t a living thing, or more than a living thing. It is an entity with a history, as stones and rivers do not have history; it is an entity with a tradition, a heritage, customs, practices, character, intentions, hopes. When a Gorean says, for example, that he is of Ar, or Ko-ro-ba, he is doing a great deal more than informing you of his place of residence.
[14:14]  Simon Eddingham is Offline
[14:14]  Jarvis Quan: When a city is destroyed it can be rebuilt if the Homestone is safe.
[14:14]  Owen Landar is Offline
[14:14]  Jarvis Quan: These men of Ko-ro-ba, he knew, when their city had been destroyed by Priest-Kings, had been scattered to the ends of Gor but, when permitted by Priest-Kings, they had returned to their city to rebuild it, each bearing a stone to add to its walls. It was said, in the time of troubles, that the Home Stone had not been lost, and it had not. And even Kuurus, of the Caste of Assassins, knew that a city cannot die while its Home Stone survives. Kuurus, who would think little of men on the whole, yet could not despise such men as these, these of Ko-ro-ba.
[14:14]  Simon Eddingham is Online
[14:15]  Owen Landar is Online
[14:15]  Jarvis Quan: So if the homestone survives the spirit of the city survives and a city can be rebuilt as we saw with Ko-ro-ba
[14:15]  Jarvis Quan: But if the homestone is destroyed the city dies, men are scattered and become outlaw, if they are lucky they might be able to join another city.
[14:15]  Jarvis Quan: SO that is what the homestone is.
[14:16]  Jarvis Quan: Any questions?
[14:16]  Marci Torok: I have a comment
[14:16]  Jarvis Quan: please go ahead
[14:17]  Marci Torok: I have noticed some travel from place to place..They become citizens ,..they get thier feathers ruffled and leave and goto the next city. Does this happen here as well?
[14:17]  Jarvis Quan: Yes.
[14:17]  SnapDragon Tigerpaw: a lot..
[14:17]  Jarvis Quan: HOwever i have also noticed that those who flit from homestone to homestone rarely effect the bottom line. They are not rent payers.
[14:18]  Jarvis Quan: They are not contributors
[14:18]  Marci Torok: nods..they are more like freeloaders
[14:18]  Jarvis Quan: So I think we lose little when they depart except some drama
[14:18]  Jarvis Quan: That we can all do without.
[14:18]  Marci Torok: Yes..I agree 100 percent
[14:19]  Jarvis Quan: However to be fair I have had some come here who were deeply rooted and connected to their homesteon and devasted when they felt driven out.
[14:19]  Jarvis Quan: Those ones usually do pay rent and are usually fine citizens
[14:19]  Marci Torok: nods..
[14:19]  SnapDragon Tigerpaw: yes.. but were before the conflict arose..
[14:19]  Jarvis Quan: Yes.
[14:20]  Jarvis Quan: It IS sometimes the fault of the sim owner.
[14:20]  Jarvis Quan: usually not but sometimes
[14:20]  Jarvis Quan: The homestone ceremony itself is quite complex.
[14:21]  Jarvis Quan: According to the descriptions in the books there would be a presentation ot city leadership, usually with a sponsor who stood up for them, per4haps a parent.
[14:21]  Jarvis Quan: It was common for the Adminsitrator to require they pass a test of some sort to prove they were worthy.
[14:21]  Jarvis Quan: They also had to have a caste in most cities
[14:21]  Jarvis Quan: And then they had to prepare to take oath.
[14:22]  Jarvis Quan: The leader of the city would offer the new citizens bread fire and salt according to some descriptions
[14:22]  Jarvis Quan: They woould then swear allegience to the homestone
[14:23]  Jarvis Quan: This would be followed by some physical act to demonstrate that feality
[14:23]  Jarvis Quan: kissing the homestone
[14:23]  Jarvis Quan: I have seen warrors slice opn a hand and let the blood drip on the homestone
[14:23]  Jarvis Quan: As the nature of the oath varies by cityso to would the act I expect.
[14:24]  Jarvis Quan: I will move now to the issue of citizenship applications in Gorean cities here in SL now.
[14:24]  Jarvis Quan: First step is have a good application. It should ask the right questions.
[14:24]  Jarvis Quan: It should also not be so long as to make people give up in disgust and leave.
[14:25]  Jarvis Quan: My daughter lady Angeliquaelle Khandr came up with her own decision tree on accepting a candidate based on what she learned from Lady ChippyAnn Kamm and she gave a copy to me.
[14:25]  Jarvis Quan gave you Decision Tree Citizen Applications.
[14:25]  Jarvis Quan: So you have in front of you an application.
[14:25]  Jarvis Quan: Read the application, check for missing parts, unanswered questions
[14:26]  MystiTool HUD 1.3.1: Entering chat range: averdrace Macbain (6m)
[14:26]  Calli Llewellyn is Online
[14:26]  Jarvis Quan: We just started the section on processing citizen ship applications
[14:27]  Jarvis Quan: I'll be sending out a trasncript as well after class so you can catch up to this part.
[14:27]  Jarvis Quan: I'll just repeat that part again for the Lady's benefit
[14:27]  Jarvis Quan: [14:24] Jarvis Quan: I will move now to the issue of citizenship applications in Gorean cities here in SL now.
[14:24] Jarvis Quan: First step is have a good application. It should ask the right questions.
[14:24] Jarvis Quan: It should also not be so long as to make people give up in disgust and leave.
[14:25] Jarvis Quan: My daughter lady Angeliquaelle Khandr came up with her own decision tree on accepting a candidate based on what she learned from Lady ChippyAnn Kamm and she gave a copy to me.
[14:28]  Jarvis Quan: [14:25] Jarvis Quan: So you have in front of you an application.
[14:25] Jarvis Quan: Read the application, check for missing parts, unanswered questions
[14:28]  Jarvis Quan: What they don't say can tell you as much as what they say. What if they list no refereences?
[14:28]  Jarvis Quan: Contact references
[14:28]  Jarvis Quan: It is stunning what you get when you do.
[14:28]  Jarvis Quan: Usually you get confirmation this is a good person but sometimes you get tales of whoa and drama that make your hair curl, even if you don't have any.
[14:29]  spediye Chrome smiles
[14:29]  Jarvis Quan: pats his own bald head
[14:29]  Jarvis Quan: Examine profile for group affiliations, evidence of alting, potential trouble spots, making notes of assessment for interview questions
[14:30]  Jarvis Quan: People who play alts frequently leave astonishing obvious clues in their profile.
[14:30]  Jarvis Quan: With very litle effort you can find these errors.
[14:30]  Jarvis Quan: we had one fellow arrive breand new claiming he knew no one yet right in his picks was one of the city's citizens.
[14:30]  Marci Torok shakes her head
[14:30]  Jarvis Quan: If he claims to be Black but doesn't belong to any of the groups you also have to wonder.
[14:31]  Jarvis Quan: I once tracked down a criminal who had created a new alt by looking at their home pick, going to that location and checking to see who owned the property.
[14:31]  Jarvis Quan: Lo and behold 95% of the property in the person's home was that of the previous alt!
[14:31]  Jarvis Quan: So I knew this new alt was the same person and he had been major trouble in the sim.
[14:32]  Jarvis Quan: Banned for his actions both OOC and IC and he was trying to sneak back in.
[14:32]  Jarvis Quan: It's not a "for sure" kind of thing but you can garner many clues by a careful check of the profile
[14:32]  Jarvis Quan: Send out request for appointment card
[This point acts as a filter because about one quarter never bother to keep their appointment or answer.]
[14:32]  Jarvis Quan: I make exceptions for things like compnaions of someone already accepted. Those I may skip this step for.
[14:33]  Jarvis Quan: So you read the application, send out a request for an appointment and if they don't reply, they likely weren't very serious.
[14:33]  Jarvis Quan: So they arrive for the first interview. You can assess much there.
[14:33]  Jarvis Quan: understands Gor?
[14:33]  Jarvis Quan: yes- continue, no reject or consider mentoring
[14:33]  Jarvis Quan: know city laws?
[14:34]  Jarvis Quan: a lot of people claim to have read the laws but when you ask them they haven't read them
[14:34]  Jarvis Quan: has adequate rp and dress?
[14:34]  Jarvis Quan: I had one Free Women arrive dressed like an Amazon not a Gorean Free Woman yet she claimed to have read all the books.
[14:34]  Jarvis Quan: Or the Free Woman arrives with dangling earrings
[14:34]  SnapDragon Tigerpaw grins.
[14:34]  Jarvis Quan: All rght to be fair maybe she just came from an OOC dance club and forgot about it, but you do get clues.
[14:35]  spediye Chrome looks to the floor
[14:35]  Jarvis Quan: laughs
[14:35]  Jarvis Quan: has rational and reasonable personality for role play?
[14:35]  Jarvis Quan: I admit one can pretend to be normal for just one interview but the real bad cases will show up soon in first interview.
[14:35]  Jarvis Quan: It is important to discuss Caste Placement in the frist interview.
[14:36]  Jarvis Quan: Some new people automtically opt for warrior or scribe because they don't know anything. If you talk to them more you often suggest other ideas that might fit better.
[14:36]  Jarvis Quan: I almost always suggest peasant for brand new to Gor people.
[14:36]  Jarvis Quan: A peasant is expected to be rough, and uneducated. A peasant would be expected to arrive in the city, look around in awe, and not understand much of what is happening.
[14:36]  Jarvis Quan: A peasant is also not expected to be ready to fight or enter into roleplay. Most of the higher castes will simply ignore a peasant or be minimally polite.
[14:36]  Jarvis Quan: In the garb of the curious peasant you can wander about Vonda, check out the sights and sounds, stop by the library and pick up the many notecards there on Gor, being Gorean, and find many tips for joining the fun.
[14:36]  Jarvis Quan: If you are male, you can go to the arena and pick up the free city sword. You can try it out, see of you like the idea of fighting.
[14:37]  Jarvis Quan: All this as example
[14:37]  Jarvis Quan: It may be that a particualr caste has a good set of lessons and support for a newcomer so you can safely place even someone very new into the caste.
[14:37]  Jarvis Quan: For that you need to know your city.
[14:37]  Jarvis Quan: Caste approval?
[14:38]  Jarvis Quan: Our city's original first sword had a great policy and it is very Gorean.
[14:38]  Jarvis Quan: He accepts all new applicants without question. He just kills those he doesn't like.
[14:38]  Marci Torok: *Laughs*
[14:38]  SnapDragon Tigerpaw chuckles
[14:38]  Jarvis Quan: Saves a lot of trouble
[14:38]  Jarvis Quan: Other castes will want complex detailed paperwork and their own interviews.
[14:38]  Jarvis Quan: You must know what each caste wants.
[14:38]  Jarvis Quan: And be prepared to conform to their needs.
[14:39]  Jarvis Quan: I also recommend followup. After one week:
Settling in?
Yes? End of process.
[14:39]  Jarvis Quan: I offer friendship to all newcomers as a rule.
[14:39]  Jarvis Quan: I tell them to come back and see me if they have trouble.
[14:39]  Jarvis Quan: No? ascertain nature of problem and attempt to remedy, contact caste head for assessment of potential systemic problems, add one month followup, if required refer to supervisor for assessment of potential systemic problems
[14:40]  Jarvis Quan: This means if a Caste leader isn't doing his job you don't lose people because of it, you alert those in charge so that person can be replaced.
[14:40]  Jarvis Quan: For example, a builder may be a very fine builder but rotten breaking in newcomers.
[14:40]  Jarvis Quan: basically newcomers are simply ignored and left on their own
[14:40]  Jarvis Quan: In that case you need to bring it to the attention of someone and change that or refer the poor abandoned newcomer to another caste, or even, anoher city.
[14:41]  Jarvis Quan: I have personally referred several people to other cities when it was obvious to me they had the potential to be very good but my city lacked supports for them.
[14:41]  Jarvis Quan: Also you need to followup on the caste heads.
[14:41]  Jarvis Quan: Make sure they didn' bury the application and forget it.
[14:41]  Jarvis Quan: Or that they haven't left SL and forgot to you.
[14:42]  Jarvis Quan: The person doing the citizenship applications is in the position of the most senstivity to the pulse of the city, what is working and what is not by the information gathered in the followup.
[14:42]  Jarvis Quan: Now slaves.....
[14:43]  Jarvis Quan: Slaves are not given such an interviewing.
[14:43]  Jarvis Quan: They are usually collared by someone, usually the worst jerk in the city who does nothing but hang out by the docks.
[14:43]  Jarvis Quan: Then they leave
[14:43]  Jarvis Quan: I try my best to talk to slaves before collaring them in an OOC fashion.
[14:43]  Jarvis Quan: Many are under the impression they can walk into a city and submit and be taken care of.
[14:43]  Jarvis Quan: In fact being a slave is very difficult.
[14:44]  Jarvis Quan: Harder than being a free in some ways.
[14:44]  Jarvis Quan: So I try to steer people to the peasant role first. This goes double for a female who has never been a Gorean slave. She can always submit later if so inclined but what if she finds she loves role play but isn';t suited for slavery and she's already brqnded and collared?
[14:45]  Jarvis Quan: She's stuck.
[14:45]  Jarvis Quan: I have personally known three such women who resolved it by killing off their avatar and coming back again as a Free Woman. Why put people through that?
[14:46]  Jarvis Quan: a Free Woman who makes a mistake in ettiquette will generally not end up being whipped for it where as a slave likely will.
[14:46]  SnapDragon Tigerpaw nods.
[14:46]  Jarvis Quan: lloks over the decision tree
[14:46]  Jarvis Quan: Angel is this exceptionally rational and mathemtically inclined geek.
[14:46]  Jarvis Quan: said with great fondness
[14:47]  Marci Torok: she has done a very fine job on the decission tree
[14:48]  Jarvis Quan: Yes
[14:48]  Jarvis Quan: Now if someone wlaked in and said "I want to be a slave like Elizabeth" and proceeded to quote extensively from the books about what they wanted and it fit, I would not say, "No go be a peasant."
[14:48]  Jarvis Quan: That one I would collar
[14:48]  Jarvis Quan: That is everything I wish to cover today for the class. Any further questions or comments?

6 - Citizen Care Class

[8:07- Background - Sardar Fairs and Stabilisation shots.
8:24 - Special considerations when giving a citizen health exam.
8:39 - Public Health and other allied health professionals
8:40 - Gorean aging
[8:05]  Zenith Sorbet: Today's class is on citizen care. routine day to day issues commonly encountered, and new citizen health exams,
[8:05]  Zenith Sorbet: In fact most of what you need to know for dealing with citizens has already been covered in our previous classes.
[8:06]  Zenith Sorbet: A broken leg is a broken leg whether it is on a warrior, a slave girl or a scribe.
[8:06]  Zenith Sorbet: So I'm going to concentrate mainly on what is different about the citizen thing and give you some background.
[8:07]  Zenith Sorbet: Now as you may or may not know, all Free people in Gor are expected at least once in their life to travel to the Sardar fairs and attend the special services held there for by the Initiates.
[8:08]  Zenith Sorbet: Nominally the initiates run everything, however in reality all the practical issues, food, accomodations, everything else are taken care of by the Merchants.
[8:09]  Zenith Sorbet: During the time of the fair there is a general amnesty/truce to allow everyone to do this.
[8:09]  Zenith Sorbet: It becomes a time when everyone meets and exchanges information and is of particular importance to physicians and builders as new techniques, information and research results are shared.
[8:11]  Zenith Sorbet: We also know that Gorean children are born raised in an atmosphere of freedom and indulgence, cared for happily, in general never abused or starved or sexually assaulted, and protected from the violence and horror of adult society including slave children.
[8:11]  Zenith Sorbet: At some point Goreans come of age, and that is when they are expected to travel to their first Sadar fair.
[8:12]  Zenith Sorbet: At some point during this period of coming of age they will have a full health exam and primarily be checked to see if they need stabilisation shots.
[8:13]  Zenith Sorbet: As you will likely recall, when parents have had stabilization shots, they can pass on the results to their children to presumambly few people would actually need them but they would have to be checked for this. Apparently most have the shots done anyway as a precautionary measure.
[8:14]  Zenith Sorbet:  The Books clearly state that sometimes, not always, but sometimes, the changes are transmitted to the offspring.
[8:15]  Zenith Sorbet: More often than not I gather.
[8:16]  Zenith Sorbet: The quote is from Assassin
[8:16]  Zenith Sorbet: Genetic alterations are capable of being transmitted (from parent to child along with other genetic tendencies)
These genetic alterations, moreover, are commonly capable of being transmitted. For example, though I received the series of injections when first I came to Gor many years ago I had been told by Physicians that they might, in my case, have been unnecessary, for I was the child of parents who, though of Earth, had been of Gor, and had received the serums.
Assassin
[8:17]  Zenith Sorbet: Now there may be argument that everyone gets them from that quote as a precautionary measure, I agree.
[8:21]  Zenith Sorbet: I don't know for certain, but most of the members of Green Caste of Gor and Physicians Caste of Gor, if they have considered it seem to feel that most likely everyone got a physical when they arrrived at the fair.
[8:21]  Zenith Sorbet: This would would fit how every incoming ship is met by physicians at every major port to prevent the spread of plagues.
[8:21]  Zenith Sorbet: It would also give physicians a very good excuse to attend the fairs and interact with their colleagues.
[8:22]  Zenith Sorbet: There has been a lot of talk about holding a Sardar fair here in the Salarian Confederations and using that as an excuse once a year to have all our citizens examined.
[8:23]  Zenith Sorbet: So far it has not happened and we are not of a strength to do this. We can barely manage the slave exams.
[8:23]  Zenith Sorbet: But as we contintue to grow that is our long term goal.
[8:23]  Zenith Sorbet: So each physician would have basically the same exam for a citizen as for the slave exam with a few important differences.
[8:24]  Zenith Sorbet: 1) you never do anything to a citizen without explaining to them what are doing and why and making sure you have their full consent.
[8:24]  Zenith Sorbet: 2) You must be hypercautious about their confidentiality.
[8:24]  Zenith Sorbet: Anything you learn about them in your check up must never be shared with anyone else and you have to ensure no one is in the infirmary to hear your talk.
[8:25]  Zenith Sorbet: 3) You must be very aware of a Free Woman's modesty.
[8:25]  Zenith Sorbet: You would never, for example have her strip naked and jump up on the gynecological exam table.
[8:26]  Zenith Sorbet: You would always make sure her veil was in place and if possible carefully move her skirts and shirts up and down as needed to always perserve her modesty.
[8:27]  Zenith Sorbet: With men, if you are a female, you must be careful yourself to be modest and deferential. While it isn't likely, a man could collar you for behaviour in the infirmary if he perceived it as showing heat or aggression.
[8:34]  Zenith Sorbet: As far as dealing with all the other things you may encounter with citizens, as I review my notes just about eveything you might encounter and how to deal with it we have covered in our other classes.
[8:35]  Zenith Sorbet: or you can read up on them in the notecards except for two points.
[8:35]  Student: raises her hand
[8:35]  Zenith Sorbet: Yes?
[8:35]  Student: do we go into IM if we need to discuss something personal
[8:35]  Student: if the infirmary is busy
[8:35]  Zenith Sorbet: Gnerally a good idea but some lifestylers find that offensive.
[8:35]  Zenith Sorbet: Also some rpers regard IM as OOC
[8:35]  Student: nods
[8:35]  Zenith Sorbet: So I recommend checking the profiles for information on where they are at and using your judgement as to what will work.
[8:35]  Zenith Sorbet: Physicians in Gor do all forms of health care. There is no such thing as a registered nurse or a physiotherapist.
[8:36]  Zenith Sorbet: Partly this is because Goreans are so healthy that we don't need a lot of allied health professionals.
[8:36]  Zenith Sorbet: Partly this is because what we would think of as allied health professionals on Earth would all be called physicians in Gor.
[8:37]  Zenith Sorbet: All Green Caste are physicians and all of these allied health professionals would be speciality subcastes.
[8:37]  Zenith Sorbet: This incudes public health so we are also expected to regularly patrol our cities and be on the look out for public health issues.
[8:38]  Zenith Sorbet: You can use this in role play by ordering an innkeeper to clean up his kitchen, telling a merchant he cannot import kanda any longer, and you can be a general busybody insisting on inspecting ships when they arrive.
[8:38]  Zenith Sorbet: And if they don't listen, as a physician you have the power to shut them down.
[8:39]  Zenith Sorbet: I recently did a health inspection of the docks and it made for some for very good role play.
[8:39]  Zenith Sorbet: And such things are also part of citizen care.
[8:40]  Student: I wouldn't be surprised if more than one female physician wasn't threatend with a collar from an angry Inn keeper
[8:40]  Zenith Sorbet: Well yes that's why you take a MALE magistrate along with you.
[8:40]  Student: and a warrior guard or two.
[8:40  Zenith Sorbet: Yes. The last thing I want to discuss is aging.
[8:40]  Zenith Sorbet: Many people assume that aging never happens to our citizens due to the stabilisation shots.
[8:40]  Zenith Sorbet: This is not true.
[8:40]  Zenith Sorbet: Aging is delayed and slowed by centuries so Gorean can live in the prime of their youth for hunderds of years.
[8:40]  Zenith Sorbet: However people do eventually begin to age if they live long enough. On Gor few people live long enough to actually age.
[8:41]  Zenith Sorbet: They get killed or wars or duels or accidents well before they start aging.
[8:42]  Zenith Sorbet: However if they live long enough, you will eventually see signs of aging. Most commonly you would expect to see them in people like scribes from wealthy backgrounds who would have avoided wars and insurrections and killings and things like startvations.
[8:42]  Zenith Sorbet: In general somewhere around 800 years seems to be the time when you begin to see signs of aging if you had someone who lived that long. Such well aged poeple are described in the books.
[8:44]  Zenith Sorbet: And when all else fails, the best physicians in Gor are apparently those of Treve or Ar so you can advise a person to travel to Treve or Ar to consult with someone there.
[8:48]  Zenith Sorbet: All right, I will pause now and ask for questions.