Free Males Rules
Free Women's Rules
Free Woman will work
just like the of Uus, Free time is to be used in Your Caste be creative and
descriptive as possible try to have fun in Your role as a FW which is a
privledge and in Your Caste that which is a Honor
Caste
You were born to the caste of your father.
You likely are that same caste now. Switching caste was frowned on, though
it could happen. Upon Free Companionship you may elect to take the caste of
your FC.
Free Women would normally be Free Companioned to someone from the same
caste.
Women may be "of a caste" but generally did not do caste work. You are
usually supported by your father, brother or FC.
Those of high caste have a more refined speech than those of low caste.
Physcians, Builders and Scribes for example would say "You" instead of "Yer"
and "don't" instead of "dun". That is more suitable for low caste,
indicating uneducated common speech.
Castes of Gor General information about castes, and specific details
relating to many castes.
General Appearance
In most cities FW are veiled
Commonly wear robes of concealment
Often wear gloves
"Free women, in most of the high cities on Gor, particularly those of higher
caste, go veiled in public. Also they commonly wear the robes of
concealment, which cover them from head to toe. Even gloves are often worn.
There are many reasons for this, having to do with modesty, security, and
such."
Magicians
In this chair, in graceful lassitude, weary, sat another girl, though one
whose features, as she wore sheaths of pinned veils, I could not well
remark. I was startled, discerning the volume and splendor of her robes;
they were multicolored and brilliant in their sheens and chromatic textures,
and so draped and worn that, particularly at the hem, the diverse borders of
these various garments seemed to compete with one another to win the
observer’s accolade as the finest, the most resplendent, of all. About the
robes and over the hood and veils of the garmenting were slung medallions
and necklaces of wrought gold, pendant with gems. On her hands were white
gloves, fastened with hooks of gold. Beneath the final hem of the innermost
robe I saw the toes of golden slippers, jeweled, and scarlet-threaded,
sparkling in the torchlight.
Slave Girl
FW Tower
Same as slave tower position except FW does not cross wrists.
The position of the Tower Slave, in which Vika knelt, differs from that of a
free woman only in the position of the wrists which are held before her and,
when not occupied, crossed as though for binding. A free woman’s wrists are
never so placed.
Priest Kings
Veils
Normally, only a father and a husband (FC I presume ~s~) may see a woman
unveiled.
Normally, of men, only a father and a husband may look upon the woman
unveiled.
Tarnsman
FW normally do not show their face to strangers.
(These particular unveiled "FW" are really slaves to entertain men at a
dinner party)
"In my city," I said, "free women would not permit themselves to be seen
unveiled before strangers."
Nomads
Veils not required by law, they are a matter of custom and modesty.
The veil, it might be noted, is not legally imperative for a free woman; it
is rather a matter of modesty and custom. Some low-class, uncompanioned,
free girls do not wear veils. Similarly certain bold free women neglect the
veil. Neglect of the veil is not a crime in Gorean cities, though in some it
is deemed a brazen and scandalous omission.
Slave Girl
On the whole, however, Gorean culture prescribes the veil for free women.
Slave Girl
Here we see five veils - the light veil, the freedom veil, the pride veil,
the house veil, and the street veil.
Each is heavier and more opaque than the one beneath it.
"Eta, from behind me, pinned the first of five veils about my face. It was
light, and shimmering, of white silk, almost transparent. Then, one after
the other, she added the freedom veil, or veil of the citizeness, the pride
veil, the house veil, and the street veil. Each of these is heavier and more
opaque than the one which lies within.
Slave Girl
The street veil (the outermost veil visible to others) is extremely bulky.
It is very heavy and one is unable to see the lines of the FW's nose or
cheeks beneath it.
The street veil, worn publicly, is extremely bulky, quite heavy and
completely opaque; not even the lineaments of the nose and cheeks are
discernible when it is worn;
Slave Girl
House veil is worn indoors when anyone not in the immediate family is
present.
the house veil is worn indoors when there are those present who are not of
the household, as in conversing with or entertaining associates of one’s
companion.
Slave Girl
The intimacy veil, a long veil that wraps about the face several times
I then took forth a long, linear face veil; it was red; it was an intimacy
veil; any given layer of this veil is quite diaphanous; its opacity is a
function of the number of times it is wrapped about the face; a free woman,
entertaining an anxious lover, might detain him for days, each night
permitting him a less obscure glimpse of her features, until the shattering
moment when she perhaps permits him to gaze upon her unclothed face.
Beasts
Veils are worn in various combinations depending on caste and vanity.
Veils are worn in various numbers and combinations by Gorean free women,
this tending to vary by preference and caste. Many low class Gorean women
own only a single veil which must do for all purposes. Not all high-caste
women wear a large number of veils. A free woman, publicly, will commonly
wear, one or two veils; a frequent combination is the light veil, or last
veil, and the house or street veil. Rich, vain women of high caste may wear
ostentatiously as many as nine or ten veils.
Slave Girl
Peasant woman in simple rep cloth veil
I saw her eyes wild with fear for a moment above the rep-cloth veil and she
had sped past me. She was peasant, barefoot, her garment little more than
coarse sacking.
Nomads
Face and hair concealed by veils and robes
Her face could not be seen, for it was veiled, a white silken veil trimmed
with gold, nor even her hair, for it was hidden in the folds of the free
woman's Robes of Concealment, in her case, of course, done in the colors of
the merchants.
Nomads
"I cannot go to Turia!" she cried.
"Why not?" I asked.
"I have no veil!" she cried.
Nomads
May drink through veils so as not to reveal any features
"Free women, drinking, commonly lift their veil, or veils, with the left
hand. Low-caste free women, if veiled, usually do the same. Sometimes,
however, particularly if they are in public, they will drink through their
veil, or veils. Sometimes, of course, free women will drink unveiled, even
with guests. Much depends upon how well the individuals are known, and who
is present. In their homes, of course, with only the members of their
families present, or servants and slaves, most free women do not veil
themselves, even those of high caste."
Fighting Slave
Purposes of veils in gorean culture
FW guard their privacy, their feelings and emotions.
Veils conceal facial expressions which reveal these emotions
On Gor, for free women, both body veiling and face veiling are cultural, and
tend to be widely practiced. I suppose, objectively, there is something more
to be said for face veiling than body veiling. Bodies, though differing
remarkably, one to the other, tend perhaps to be somewhat more similar than
faces. Accordingly, if one should be concerned to protect one’s privacy and
one’s feelings, and such, it seems that the face might preferably be veiled.
In the face, surely, it is easier to read emotion and individuality than in
a body. Should not the face then, if one is concerned with concealment and
privacy, be veiled? Is the face not more personal and revealing than the
body? Does it not make sense then to consider it a proper object of
concealment in a free person? Is one not entitled, so to speak, to privacy
in the matter of one’s thoughts and feelings, sometimes so manifest in one’s
facial expressions? However this may be, there are congruences and
dispositions which seem appropriate in given contexts. Veils seem correct,
and right, with the robes of concealment.
Slave Girl
The woman at the counter had been veiled as is common with Gorean women,
particularly those of high caste and of the high cities. Many Gorean woman
in their haughtiness and pride, do not choose to have their features exposed
to the common view. They are too fine and noble to be looked upon by the
casual rabble. Similarly the robes of concealment worn by many Gorean women
are doubtless dictated by similar sentiments. On the other hand veiling is a
not impractical modesty in a culture n which capture, and the chain and the
whip are not known.
Rogue
Men seeing a woman unveiled
"May I introduce my new friend," she said, "Kliomenes, a river captain."
"Surely you remember him well," I said, " "It was he and his men who
captured you from Oneander when you were a slave and sold you.
"Perhaps that was a mistake," said Kliomenes. He grinned at her. She had
thrust back the hood of her robes and unpinned her veil. Her face was bared;
her hair, darkly brown and silken cascaded down about her shoulders. These
things were not unnoted by the men in the tavern. There was probably not a
man there but was wondering how she would look stripped and in a collar.
Rogue
Robes of Concealment
Thick, multitudinous,ornate
She was now contained precisely as she had been originally save that she had
exchanged the thick, multitudinous, ornate Robes of Concealment, the proud,
cumbersome insignia of the free woman of Gor, for the simple garment of a
Chamber Slave and a burning wound on her left thigh.
Priest Kings
Layers and layers of fabrics
Silk, brocade, satin, muslin
The girl screamed but no one came to her aid, and Elizabeth spun her about,
peeling off layers of Robes of Concealment until, in a heavy pile of silk,
brocade, satin and starched muslin the girl stood in a sleeveless, rather
brief orange tunic, attractive, of a sort sometimes worn by free women in
the privacy of their own quarters.
Assassin
Five layers of robes, plus slip-like undergown
"You would take away my clothes, wouldn't you?" she said.
"I am Gorean," I told her. I took a step toward her.
"Do not touch me," she said. "I will do it."
Her small hands reluctainly went to the hooks at the throat of the garments.
"The veil, and hood, first," I said.
She brushed them back, with a movement of her hand, a toss of her head.
"You would bring a high price," I told her. She looked at me in fury.
"Step from your slippers," I told her.
She did so. She was then barefoot.
"Continue," I told her.
Her hands again went to the hooks at the throat of the garments. Angrily,
deliberately, she loosened the hooks, one by one.
She pulled the garments down a bit from her throat. Her throat was slender
and lovely. It would take an engraved steel collar, bearing her master's
name, beautifully.
Her hands were at the two outer robes. She looked at me.
"We do not have all day," I told her.
They fell about her ankles.
"Between the third and fourth robes," I told her, "there is a sheathed
dagger, concealed in the lining. Keep your hands away from it."
"You are observant," she said.
A warrior is trained to look for such things.
The third and fourth robe slipped to the floor, about her ankles.
There remained now but the fifth robe, and the light, sleeveless,
greenish-silk, sliplike undergown.
Her hands hesitated at the throat of the fifth robe.
"Off with it," I told her.
Beasts
Commonly, with veils, conceals all but eyes and a bit of the nose
"I can still see your hair," said Drusus Rencius. I drew the hood angrily
even more closely about my features. Little more now could be seen of me, as
is common with the robes of concealment, but a bit of the bridge of my nose
and my eyes.
Face and hair are hidden from view by the hood of the robes, and the veil
I and all others turned our eyes to a wide, swirling marble stairway in the
back and to the left of the lofty banquet hall in the house of Saphrar the
merchant.
Down the stairway, slowly, in trailing white silk bordered with gold, the
colors of the Merchants, there regally descend- ed the girl who was Aphris
of Turia.
Her sandals were of gold and she wore matching gloves of gold.
Her face could not be seen, for it was veiled, a white silken veil trimmed
with gold, nor even her hair, for it was hidden in the folds of the free
woman's Robes of Conceal- ment, in her case, of course, done in the colors
of the merchants.
Nomads
Stiff, high brocaded collar of robes.
Numerous hooks & eyes
Robe is tight about the throat, up high under the chin
Her hands went to the stiff, high brocaded collar of her robes, the robes of
concealment, to the numerous eyes and hooks there, holding it tightly,
protectively, about her throat, up high under her chin.
Mercenaries
Street robe is outermost public robe
Street robe is stiff, ornate.
House robe also fairly inflexible material
In a few moments she had parted her robes, and slipped them, first the
street robe, that stiff, ornate fabric, and then the house robe, scarcely
less inflexible and forbidding, from her small, soft shoulders. Clad now
only in a silken sliplike undergarment, she then looked at me.
Mercenaries
FW guard against revealing even a glimpse of an ankle, or a bit of their
throat.
The chair, I noted, was not borne by male draft slaves, but was supported by
tharlarion. There might be various reasons for this. One might be
ostentation, a simple display of wealth, for good tharlarion are generally
more expensive than male slaves, particularly draft slaves. But perhaps,
even more, the cargo might be regarded as too precious to be risked in the
vicinity of male slaves. After all, they are men. Too, perhaps it was felt
appropriate, if the cargo was deemed of sufficient beauty, that it even be
borne by male slaves. After all, might there not be some danger, as the fair
occupant entered into, or descended gracefully from, the sedan chair, that
there might be the careless movement of a veil, revealing a bit of throat,
or the inadvertent lifting of a robe of concealment, giving them the glimpse
of a briefly exposed ankle?
Mercenaries
"I regarded the daughter of the Ubar, now a sorry sight. Her Robes of
Concealment were splattered with mud and marsh water, and in several places
the heavy brocade had stiffened and cracked. The dominant colors of her
Robes of concealment were subtle reds, yellows and purples, arrayed in
intricate, overlapping folds. I guessed it would have taken her slave girls
hours to array her in such garments. Many of the free women of Gor and
almost always those of High Caste wear the Robes of Concealment, though, of
course, their garments are seldom as complex or splendidly wrought as those
of a Ubar's daughter. The Robes of Concealment, in function, resemble the
garments of Muslim women on my own planet, though they are undoubtedly more
intricate and cumbersome. Normally, of men, only a father and a husband may
look upon the woman unveiled.
In the barbaric world of Gor, the Robes of Concealment are deemed necessary
to protect the women from the binding fibers of roving tarnsmen. Few
warriors will risk their lives to capture a woman, who may be as ugly as a
tharlarion. Better to steal slaves, where the guilt is less and the charms
of the captive are more readily ascertainable in advance."
Tarnsman
Snubbing the Customs
In many areas it is a socially serious matter for a FW to be unveiled.
May be taken into custody by guardsmen, veiled and forced home.
Repeated offenses usually result in enslavement.
"It must be understood, of course, to fully appreciate what was going on,
that the public exposure of the features of a freewoman, particularly one of
high caste, or with some pretense to position or status, is a socially
serious matter in many Gorean localities. Indeed, in some cities an unveiled
free woman is susceptible to being taken into custody by guardsmen, then to
be veiled, by force if necessary, and publicly conducted back to her home.
Indeed, in some cities she is marched back to her home stripped, except for
the face veil which has been put on her. In these cases a crowd usually
follows, to see to what home it is that she is to be returned. Repeated
offenses in such a city usually result in the enslavement of the female.
Such serious measures, of course, are seldom required to protect such
familiar Gorean proprieties. Custom, by itself, normally suffices."
Players
Other FW scorn an unveiled FW.
May make her kneel, as a slave, before attending her in a market.
Is spoken of as a slave, a slut
An unveiled woman, for example, may find other women turning away from her
in a market, perhaps with expressions of disgust. Indeed, she may not even
be waited upon, or dealt with, in a market by a free woman unless she first
kneels. It would not be unusual for her, in a crowded place, to overhear
remarks, perhaps whispers or sneers, of which she is the obvious object,
such as "Shameless slut," "brazen baggage," "As immodest as a slave," "I
wonder who her master is," and "Put a collar on her!" And if she should
attempt to confront or challenge her assailants, she will merely find such
remarks repeated articulately and clearly to her face."
Players
"In Ar's Station," he said, "as in Ar, robes of concealment, precisely, are
not legally obligatory for free women, no more than the veil. Such things
are more a matter of custom. On the other hand, as you know, there are
statutes prescribing certain standards of decorum for free women. For
example, they may not appear naked in the streets, as may slaves. Indeed, a
free woman who appears in public in violation of these standards of decorum,
for example, with her arms or legs too much bared, may be made a slave."
Renegades
Horrified to even think of baring their legs.
Such scandal could ruin a reputation.
In some cities, a woman with bared legs is taken to magistrates and
sentenced to slavery.
Contrariwise, almost no free woman would bare her legs. They would not dare
to do so. They would be horrified even to think of it. The scandal of such
an act could ruin a reputation. It is said on Gor, any woman who bares her
legs is a slave. Indeed, in some cities a free woman who might be found with
bare legs is taken in hand by magistrates, tried and sentenced to bondage.
After the judge’s decision has been enacted, its effect carried out upon
her, reducing her to the status of goods, sometimes publicly, that she may
be suitably disgraced, sometimes privately, by a contract slaver, that the
sensitivities of free women in the city not be offended, she is hooded and
transported, stripped and chained, freshly branded and collared, a property
female, slave cargo, to a distant market where, once sold, she will begin
her life anew, fearfully, as a purchased girl, tremulously as the helpless
and lowly slave she now is.
Mercenaries
FW "Work" Outfit
Worn by rich women when inspecting their holdings.
Full skirt falling six inches above the ground
High boots
Jacket and loose hood
Veil
"She wore a full, beige skirt, the hem of which fell to within some six
inches of the ground, and slim, high, black-leather boots, a beige blouse,
and a beige jacket, belted, which fell to her thighs; too, she wore a loose
hood, attached to the jacket by hooks, of matching beige material, and an
opaque veil, also of beige material. Such garments, far less formal than the
common attire of the Gorean free woman, are sometimes worn by rich women in
the supervision and inspection of certain sorts of holdings, such as
orchards, fields, ranches and vineyards. They constitute, for such women, so
to speak, a habit for work."
Fighting Slave
Through the books of Gor we are given a few glimpses into what we are told
is proper, normal behavior for free women when eating and drinking.
This scene, in Kajira of Gor, in the city of Corcyrus, is one of the most
enlightening as a slave explains how a free woman is to eat and drink.
I quickly left the couch and went to the small table, on which the tray
reposed. I did not wish to displease Ligurious.
He was the sort of man who was to be obeyed, immediately and perfectly.
I loosened my robe and sat down, cross-legged, on the cushion before the
table. I picked up a piece of the yellow bread.
"Oh, no, Mistress," said the girl, putting out her hand.
"That is how men sit. We are women. We kneel."
"I will sit," I told her.
"Mistress understands, surely," said the girl, in misery, "that I must make
reports to Ligurious, my master."
"I will kneel," I said.
"That is much more lovely," said the girl, approvingly.
I then began to eat, kneeling.
...
"Mistress' drink is cold," said the girl. "Let me have it reheated or fetch
you a fresh one."
"No," I said. "It is fine." I lifted the small, handleless bowl he had used
the word in two hands. I was excited that she had said "fetch." She was the
sort of girl who might carry or fetch for a Master or a Mistress.
"Mistress," said the girl. "You are a woman. Drink more delicately."
I drank from the bowl.
"Yes, Mistress," she said. "That is more feminine." I then realized, even
more profoundly than before, bow deeply sexuality must characterize and
penetrate this culture. The differences between men and women were to be
expressed even in their smallest behaviors. What a significant and real
thing it is in this culture to be a man or a woman.
"This is warmed chocolate," I said, pleased. It was very rich and creamy.
"Yes, Mistress," said the girl.
"It is very good," I said.
"Thank you, Mistress," she said.
"Is it from Earth?" I asked.
"Not directly," she said. "Many things here, of course, ultimately have an
Earth origin. It is not improbable that the beans from which the first cacao
trees on this world were grown were brought from Earth."
"Do the trees grow near here?" I asked.
"No, Mistress," she said. "We obtain the beans, from which the chocolate is
made, from Cosian merchants, who, in turn, obtain them in the tropics."
I put the chocolate down. I began to bite at the yellow bread. It was fresh.
"Perhaps Mistress should take smaller bites," she said.
"Very well," I said. I then began to eat as she had suggested. I was a
woman. I was not an adolescent boy. Again, even in so small a thing as this,
I began to feel my femininity keenly. Too, again, I became very sensitive of
the depth and pervasiveness of the sexuality which might characterize this
world. Men and women did not even eat in the same way.
"Exceptions can occur under certain circumstances, of course," said the
girl. "Mistress might, for example, in the presence of a man she wishes to
arouse, take a larger than normal bite from a fresh fruit, and look at the
man over the fruit, letting juice, a tiny trickle of it, run at the side of
her mouth."
"But why would I wish to arouse a man?" I asked.
The girl looked at me, puzzled. "Perhaps the needs of Mistress might be much
upon her," she said. "Perhaps she might wish to be taken and overwhelmed in
his arms, and forced to surrender to him."
"I do not understand," I said, as though horrified.
"That is because Mistress is free," she said.
Kajira
Here, in a scene in the city of Ar, free women delicately put tidbits
beneath their veils.
Some lift their veils *somewhat* to drink.
Some low caste women drink through their veils.
The crowd was now engaged in various pursuits, no fixed center now holding
their attention. Several were going about seeking the odds Merchants,
several of whom wandered in the stands, but others of whom kept their tables
at the foot of the stands, on the sand itself, almost under the nets beneath
the rings. The hawkers of candies and such were now crying their wares. I
heard a slave girl wheedling her master for a pastry. Free women, here and
there, were delicately putting tidbits beneath their veils. Some even lifted
their veils somewhat to drink of the flavored ices. Some low-caste free
women drank through their veils and there were yellow and purple stains on
the rep-cloth.
Assassin
Again, in this scene at a private dinner party of friends in the city of
Vonda, free women lift their veils to drink.
"I lift my wine to the Lady Florence of Vonda!" said the Lady Melpomene.
"We lift our wine to the Lady Florence of Vonda," said the guests.
All then drank, save the Lady Florence, who, smiling, did not lift her cup.
Free women, drinking, commonly lift their veil, or veils, with the left
hand. Low-caste free women, if veiled, usually do the same. Sometimes,
however, particularly if in public, they will drink through their veil, or
veils. Sometimes, of course, free women will drink unveiled, even with
guests. Much depends on how well the individuals are known, and who is
present. In their homes, of course, with only members of their families
present, or servants and slaves, most free women do not veil themselves,
even those of high caste.
Fighting Slave
Unfortunately even though the story continues quite a bit at this dinner
party, we are given no more glimpses of the free women eating.
Also unfortunate is that during the splendid dinner party scene that occurs
in Nomads of Gor, in the city of Turia, in which we meet the lovely Aphris
of Turia, we are not offered any further insight on this topic.
Aphris descends from her quarters to join her guardian and his guests well
after the dinner part is over and the men have been drinking paga for some
time.