Civitatis Ar, Plus!

Central Cylinder

Generalities

We began the long journey through the halls of Ar's great Central Cylinder, almost a city in itself. At times we walked up swirling gradients, at times stairs, swirling and broad, leading higher and higher into the cylinder; sometimes we walked through marble-floored passageways, in which, through narrow windows, designed to be too small for a body to pass, but large enough for use as crossbow ports, I could see the blue sky of Ar's bright morning; through the ports I could hear, ringing here and there in the city, signal bars proclaiming the gladness of the people; then we would be walking deeper within the cylinder, down broad, carpeted, tapestried halls, set with energy lamps, seldom found in the homes of private citizens, emitting a soft, glowing light; many of the doors had locks on them, the vast ornate locks in the center of the door, so common in the northern cities; some others were secured only by signature knots, presumably the doors to the compartments of unimportant retainers or members of the staff, in many cases perhaps the doors to the compartments of mere slaves.  ASSASSIN OF GOR-, (5) Page 392

We were now passing along a carpeted corridor, rather more plain than many. I noted the doors here were secured only with signature knots. They were perhaps the doors to the compartments of slaves, housing little more doubtless than a straw mat, a washing bowl, and a small box in which might be kept some slave livery and perhaps simple utensils, a plate and a cup.
I glanced at the knots on the doors, as we passed them.
Soon we had emerged in the great domed chamber set with lights and stones in which, on a high, stepped dais, sits the marble throne of the Ubar of Ar. Warriors saluted as I entered, lifting their swords from their sheaths. I lifted my hand, returning the salute. The room was filled with men in the robes of many castes, both high and low. On the throne itself, in the purple robes of the Ubar, regal, magnificent, sat Marlenus, Ubar of Ar, Ubar of Ubars. At his side and about the steps in rough garb, stood Warriors who had been with him as long ago as his exile in 10,110, who had fled with him to the Voltai and shared his outlawry, and now shared the glory of his restoration. There were, I noted, no Initiates in the room. I gathered their influence in Ar was at an end, at least in the court of the Ubar. Marlenus lifted his hand to me. "Tal," said he.
"Tal," said I, "Marlenus of Ar."
I then stood to one side, Hup at my side, to behold the doings of the Ubar's court.
Many were the honors and awards bestowed by Marlenus on faithful retainers. Many were the new appointments to posts of importance in the city.  ASSASSIN OF GOR-, (5) Pages 394-395

On Gor it is said that only a true slave begs to be freed. That act, incontrovertibly, on Gor, more deeply than a brand and a collar, marks the individual as a true slave. Who but such a true slave would beg to be freed? Such individuals, of course, are never freed, but, commonly, their nature now being made undeniably clear, are put under heavier restraints and treated more harshly. When Talena, the daughter of Marlenus of Ar, Ubar of Ar, had, in a missive to him, begged her freedom, he had, on his sword and on the medallion of Ar, sworn against her the oath of disownment. As a consequence, she was no longer of high birth, no longer his daughter. I had had Samos free her and transmit her to Ar. There she lived, free but of no status; she was no longer recognized, in the sight of its Home Stone, as a citizen of Ar; she had not even the collar of a slave girl for her identity; she was kept sequestered by Marlenus in the central cylinder, that his shame not be publicly displayed upon the high bridges of the city.  TRIBESMEN OF GOR-, (10) Pages 350-351

I sat on the robes, eating the crumbled cake of pemmican. I thought of Talena. Once she had been owned by Rask of Treve. Doubtless he had taught her her slavery well. I thought I might teach it to her better. She lived now, free, but sequestered and dishonored, in the city of Ar, in the Central Cylinder itself, perhaps the most fortified, best-defended tower or keep in that huge city. It would be impossible, or almost so, to even think of extracting her from such a place. No, I must put it from my mind. I recalled her vanity, her arrogance and pride. In the Central Cylinder, if nowhere else, she was surely safe from the bracelets and nooses of marauding tarnsmen. No one, surely, could get at her there. There she was surely safe. I recalled her scorn, her contempt.  BLOOD BROTHERS OF GOR-, (18) Pages 47-48

II then put out my hand and touched the collar on her neck. It was one of three collars I had for her. The other two, with their keys, were in the flat box. The collar on her neck bore the legend, "RETURN ME TO TARL AT THE INSULA OF TORBON." I then removed the first of the other two collars from the box and, reaching out, put it on her neck, next to the other collar, but ahead of it, closer to the chin. I snapped it shut. It fit well. It was now on her, locked. Its legend read, "RETURN ME TO THE WHIP MASTER OF THE CENTRAL CYLINDER." I then turned it and, inserting the key, opened it, and removed it from her neck. I then lifted the second collar form the box, putting the first, with the key, back in it. This second collar I then put on her neck, next to the original collar, and ahead of it, closer to the chin, as I had the one a moment before. Then I snapped it shut. It, too, fit well, and was now on her, locked. Its legend read, "RETURN ME TO APPANIUS OF AR." I then let her remain that way for a little while, on all fours, in the two collars.  MAGICIANS OF GOR-, (25) Page 343

"Tell me of what occurred in the Central Cylinder," I said.
"It was much as you had anticipate," she said. "I approached the Central Cylinder. I knelt before the guards, my head down. The capped message tube even touched the stones. I looked up. I made known my errand, that I bore a private message emanating from the house of Appanius for the Ubara. They read my collar. It seemed then surely that I was a girl of Appanius. The guards were skeptical that I would be admitted. However, to their surprise, I was to be permitted to enter the presence of the Ubara."
"That the message might emanate from a particular person in the house of Appanius, and presumably not Appanius himself, who would not be likely to have any direct business with the Ubara," I said, "was what gained your admittance. The Ubara would suspect, and perhaps even hope, from whom the message might come. Too, of course, that the message was considered "private" would tend not only to confirm her suspicions, but to excite and intrigue her."
"Yes, Master," said the girl.
She had, of course, reported to the guards at the Central Cylinder back-braceleted, with the message tube about her neck. In this way, she could not have uncapped the tube and read the message. She would presumably be in ignorance as to its contents. Indeed, in a sense she was ignorant of its contents as Marcus and I, with Phoebe's expert assistance, as it turned out, had composed it yesterday evening, while she had been scouting the public boards for us, for any news that might be of interest. It is best for slaves to approach the public boards in the evening or very early morning, when it is less crowded in their vicinity. In that way they are less likely to be beaten. She did know, of course, its general purport, and its role in our plans. The letter itself, of course, had been written by Marcus. I had removed the bracelets from her and the thong, the tube attached, from about her neck, of course, when we had had our rendezvous, after her departure from the Central Cylinder. I had given her the cloak then and we had made our separate ways back to the insula of Torbon.
"Go on," I said.
"My bracelets were checked," she said. "It was found that I was perfectly secured.
"Yes," I said. Having her back-braceleted, of course, was also a convenience to the guards. That would save them putting her in their own bracelets, before conducting her into the presence of the Ubara.
"Then I was double leashed," she said.
"A single metal collar," I said, "with chain leashes on each side?"
"Yes," she said.
There are several double leashing arrangements, sometimes with two collars, and sometimes with a single collar, with leash rings on opposite sides. The collars are usually of leather, metal or rope. The leashes, too, are of similar materials. Some collars, stocklike, are of wood. The point of double leashing is security and control. A prisoner is not likely to be able to pull away from two leashes. At least one is likely to restrain him. Similarly, by two leashes, he can easily be immobilized, kept in place, held, say, between two leash masters, unable to reach either of them, or a third person. In the case of females double leashing is primarily aesthetic. Certainly a girl would not be likely, more than once, at any rate, to attempt to attack a leash holder, say, to bite or kick. That is something she would never do again. On the other hand, in Lavinia's case, clearly the guards would not wish to risk her approaching the Ubara too closely, even back-braceleted.
"I was then conducted by five guards within the double gate of the Central Cylinder," she said. "The leader went first. Two were with me, one on each side, each holding a leash. Two followed, with spears. Inside the double gate, I was hooded, and then I was led through what seemed to be a maze of passageways, and levels, and turnings. Sometimes I was even spun about. I had no idea where I was in the Central Cylinder. Then I was told to kneel and my leashes seemed to be fastened down, on either side of me. "Bring me the message from my dear friend, Appanius," said a woman's voice.
"What was the voice like?" I asked.
"It seemed friendly, even kindly, and charming," she said, "but, somehow, underneath, cold, or cruel."
"Continue," I said.
"I felt the tube being taken in hand, and uncapped, and heard the message being removed from it. The leader of the guard, I presume, did this, and then delivered it to the woman. For a time I heard nothing. Then she spoke again. "It is nothing," she said, "this little note from my dear friend, Appanius, news of a coming play. But leave us now, alone. And before you go, unhood the slave. I would see her."
I was unhooded.  MAGICIANS OF GOR-, (25) Pages 359-361

"The wall seems very bare there," said Marcus, as we passed a public edifice, a court building.
There were also numerous small holes in the wall, chipped at the edges.
"Surely you have noted similar walls," I said.
"Yes," he said.
"Decorative reliefs, in marble, have been removed from them," I said. "As I recall the ones here, they celebrated the feats of Hesius, a perhaps legendary hero of Ar."
"He for whom the month of Hesius is named," said Marcus.
"I presume so," I said. The month of Hesius is the second month of the year in Ar. It follows the first passage hand. In Ar, as in most cities in the northern hemisphere, the new year begins with the vernal equinox.
"Were the marbles here well done?" asked Marcus.
"Though I am scarcely a qualified judge of such things," I said, "I would have thought so. They were very old, and reputed to be the work of the master, Aurobion, though some have suggested they were merely of his school."
"I have heard of him," said Marcus.
"Some think the major figures profited from his hand and that portions of the minor detail, and some of the supportive figures, were the work of students."
"Why would the marbles be removed?" asked Marcus.
"They have antiquarian value, as well as aesthetic value," I said. "I would suppose that they are now on their way to a museum in Cos."
"The decorative marbles on the Avenue of the Central Cylinder, and those about the Central Cylinder itself, and on the Cylinder of Justice are still there," he said.
"At least for the time," I said. The building we had just passed was an extremely old building. Many in Ar were not sure of its age. It may have dated to the first ubarate of Titus Honorious. Many of the functions originally discharged within its precincts had long ago been assumed by the newer Cylinder of Justice, located in the vicinity of the Central Cylinder. Incidentally, many buildings, particularly public buildings, in this part of the city, which was an older part of the city, were quite old. Many smaller buildings, dwellings, shops, insulae, and such, on the other hand, were relatively new. I might also mention, in passing, if only to make the controversy concerning the "Auborbion marbles" more understandable, that many Gorean artists do not sign or otherwise identify their works. The rationale for this seems to be a conviction that what is important is the art, its power, its beauty, and so on, and now who formed it. Indeed many Gorean artists seem to regard themselves as little more than vessels or instruments, the channels or means, the tools, say, the chisels or brushes, so to speak, by means of diversities, in its beauties and powers, its flowers and storms, its laughters and rages, its delicacy and awesomeness, its subtlety and grandeur, expresses itself, and rejoices. Accordingly the Gorean artist tends not so much to be proud of his work as, oddly enough perhaps, to be grateful to it, that it consented to speak through him. As the hunters of the north, the singers of the ice pack and of the long night have it, "No one knows from whence songs come." It is enough, and more than enough, that they come. They dispel the cold, they illuminate the darkness. They are welcomed, in the darkness and cold, like fire, and friendship and love. The focus of the Gorean artist then, at least on the whole, tends to be on the work of art itself, not on himself as artist. Accordingly this attitude toward his art is less likely to be one of pride than one of gratitude. This makes sense as, in his view, it is not so much he who speaks as the world, in its many wonders, great and small, which speaks through him. He is thusly commonly more concerned to express the world, and truth, than himself.  MAGICIANS OF GOR-, (25) Pages 106-108
 

Kudos to you, Mr. Norman for writing the Gorean series!
A rich, yet utterly simple saga; a world, a time, a people;
those of the Counter-Earth .. the planet .. Gor.
Thank you!

The material presented herein was researched and compiled by me, naia{Saul}.
The material referenced comes from John Norman's Gor Series, The Counter-Earth Saga.
This is a work in process.
Please, do not take, copy, duplicate, or use this work as your own.
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