Pieeeeeedmont...

"A city mentioned in a brief comment on the exploits of Dietrich of Tarnburg. Its exact location is not specified though likely at the foot of a mountain, as the name would indicate." - www.worldofgor.com on Piedomont

I've been to this sim a few times before. Mainly when I'm bored and I want to take a visit to some non-threatening sim. Piedmont is a sim that doesn't participate in force collar or force capture, or raids and is purely role play! Perfect, eh? Not all the time...

Piedmont is a sim which is (for a lack of a better word) marketed to Gorean lifestylers. As I've made clear in my introduction, a Gorean lifestyler I am not. Also, after my first night in Piedmont, I was informed via IM that I shouldn't expect a lot of roleplay out of the locals, as they are purely about the lifestyle. I was a bit disheartened, but I decided to stay, even though I knew going into it that it wasn't going to be the best roleplay of my life. (I originally wanted to visit a different sim, but since the internets were acting funny I decided to head there instead.)

When I first got there I searched a bit for the little green dots on my screen, hopin' to get some action in. There was a scribe on and also a man who was wearing nothing but a "censored" bar across his crotch. My first thought was, "OMFG, you's trollin'!" but when I headed into the inn, sure enough censor man followed suite. I looked around and finally found my room for the night, (which seemed to me it may to be made up as a fancy alcove of sorts.) Knowing that censor man was downstairs, OOC, I made a trip to the second floor and hollared from the balcony - covering my eyes and so forth.

I soon found out that censor man was NOT a troll, but infact a pretty cool dude. My opening line was something along the lines of, "Any other city and your freedom would be questioned!" and so he came back with "Any other city and you wouldn't be here (in the tavern.)" I then declared that we're square and asked for his name, and told him my real name, as I felt he was no threat. Shortly after he asked my homestone; it was quickly after that we found that we were both outlaws of sorts. We sat in the tavern, BSing a bit and talking about whatever happened to come up. I am pleased to say that by the end of the night there were two yellow dots on my screen opposed to one. :) Eventually it came time for my RL bedtime and I said goodnight... hoping that I could perhaps just get a little bit of RP in the morning. The same person who was online the night before was the only person in sim, (the scribe, not censor man) so I left... because I didn't want to roleplay in a dead sim all day... just to go to a not dead sim where everyone runs around OOC, and downs their own people, it seems. o.o

In my time at Piedmont I learned something, rather important about roleplaying in Gor. Part of the experience of roleplay is defense. Defending your family, your homestone, your place of business, ect, ect. Anther important part of the roleplay experience is fear of being collared, of being caught, or being revealed. Now, I am in no way saying that raiding outlaw camps and taking them back to rape their men is my role in Gor. No, no. In fact, right now my header says "There's more to Gor than sex and raids!" buuuut, my point is that non-combat sims limit roleplay oppertunities. I can understand the position of the people of whom live in Piedmont. The majority of their residents, as mentioned earlier, are lifestylers. However, for those of us who aren't interested in sex... this brings up a bit of a problem.

In conculsion, Piedmont can be a fun place to stay if you're just hanging out and want to take a break for an hour or so without getting collared... but like Jort's Ferry isn't a vacation destination. o.o

(Image taken from www.myspace.com/goreanlifestyle)

The Wonderful World of Sais

"This town is part of the Vosk League. It is located west of Ar's Station, Jort's Ferry, Point Alfred, Jasmine, and Siba." - angelfire.com on Sais.

It's safe to say that Sais isn't like ANY other city that I've visited so far. Sais, is very much a very by-the-book sim, but at the same time treats it's people very, very well. Everyone from the red caste to the red silk is treated with respect and care. This is probably the first time that I've actually understood why a by-the-book sim is preferred by so many. The honor, the pride, the glory of the village filled the pixelated air. It is the first city that I've come across along the Vosk River that hasn't been taken over by pirates, panthers, outlaws or mercenaries. I was warned that Sais wasn't going to be an easy stay, and in order to keep myself safe I had to tell quite a few lies, this included my name, homestone and caste. Two of which I don't even posess. When I first came to Sais there were a set of men there, eager to greet me. One of the men escorted me into the city and set me up with a kajira tour guide (a lovely kajira.) When I first asked about lodging, I was under the impression that the inn was in the tavern, as so many things are. We discussed what would be of me, back and forth a few times before he insisted that my drinks and lodging were on his tab. For his generosity I owed to him a salve which I sent with the kajira before I went to bed, (logged off.)

I was given a tour by the pretty kajira. She showed me the village, the bakery, the various places where the castes practice and the residental area. What I found especially interesting was the tavern. There are very strict rules, as not only are unescorted freewomen not allowed to enter, but white silk slaves are also forbidden to enter. I was VERY VERY impressed, and pleased that white silk kajiras were so well protected. :) We finally ended our tour at the infirmary, where the inn is actually located. Since the kajira wasn't entirely sure how to get into the inn, we stopped and talked to the neighborhood scribe. This was where the majority of lying took place. While I am a merchant of sorts, and I do live in walking distance of Corcyrus it is not my homestone, nor is the gold and white caste mine. As I was wearing a green colored dress he asked me if I was of caste. When I told him no, he told me that it wasn't anything a bit of studying wouldn't fix. I then told him my secret Gorean ambition on second life... and that would be... that if I were to pick a caste... I'd be.. A LAWYER!

*GASP!*

He then told me that there is a training academy called the Gorean Legal Academy. OOC, I immediately joined their group and dropped my jaw. Guess where I'm gonna get my education on! You guessed GLA? You guessed right! I wonder if talunas have lawyers... :) (Probably not, as they are basically ex-slaves living as outlaws.) Regardless it can't hurt to look into it, right? Shortly after the friendly scribe added me as a friend and I prayed to God he would still think I was a worthy person to converse with after he saw my profile, (Which mind you, explains that I am NOT a pretty freewoman merchant from Corcyrus, and that I actually go by my username, "Valleri.") Last night ended with my stripping down to my underwear, (Which definately looks like kajira clothing, as it's just a corset and panties) and snuggling into my nice big bed. My first day in Sais was wonderful. I was hopeful that it would be just as lovely in the morning... and it was. :)

In the morning I headed out to the women's pavilion (a lovely, and MUCH less misogynist alternative to the tavern. My feminist self didn't enjoy the segregation, but very much enjoyed that I didn't have to listen to men drool over kajiras. There I met a recently freed ex-slave who was mourning the lost of her lover. It was sortly after that in which I decided it was time for an RL swim and a gri'lled cheese sandwich. When I signed back on, I shocked to see that there was a kajira who I had met earlier who was down to 25% health with a rock drawn. I looked to my left and low-and-behold the tavern was on fire. The kajira and I did our best to put out the flames, roleplaying carrying heavy buckets of water into the tavern and doucing the flames over crunchy arrowheads. There must have been a massive raid before I woke up because the lag was rediculous. When we were finished putting out the fire the sim called for a restart. That was when I roleplayed walking to the gate and leaving, as there was no way I was going to be able to actually, really leave in 60 seconds.

Overall, my stay in Sais was lovely. I wish that more Gorean sims could be as wonderful as this sim was. They were honorable, respectful, classy even. And, as close to the books as someone could realistically get. The people are so friendly from the red castes (which I usually fear and hate) to the freewomen and even the kajriae! I highly suggest a visit, and if your own sim recently folded, that you check out this place - as it's awesome! :)

Valleri's Rating of Win: ********** (out of ten of course.)

- Valleri


**Image belongs to jozie.net/gor

Valleri's Trip to Jort's Ferry

"This is a town located on the Vosk River. It is a member of the Vosk League; 19 river towns united against river piracy on the Vosk. It is similar to any of the city-states of ancient Earth Greece." - jozie.net on Jort's Ferry

My trip to Jort's Ferry was not what my Earthian self expected at all. In Jort's Ferry there is very little with the exception of the camps that outline the lands and the infermary. Even the most rural of sims generally have an inn or a tavern or somewhere "safe," so I wasn't expecting this at all. When I first stepped off the ship, onto the lands I wondered around for a little bit, looking for a tavern, an inn or a non-combat zone I could get some roleplay. I followed the signs to the infermary, thinking that there's probably something up there. Was I wrong, oohhhh was I wrong. I felt my RL self panic. I wanted to make sure that I stayed where I was, incase my sisters needed to find me - as I was sure to give Jaem a copy of my schedule before I left. Oh, and one of the most precious parts of this? My tribe has specific enemies in Jort's Ferry. As a matter of fact, the first time I ever went there I was a kajira and I went OOC, in the market so that I could be sure to get my damn bow (Shameless plug: Bow of Lazarus for $1L in the market of Jort's Ferry!) because I was scared that someone would see me and get suspecious.

Alas, the closest Jort's Ferry has to a tavern is a sign at their dock that says "Jort's Ferry Tavern" on top of the market for RP trade items. I ended up making a few discoveries, some of which I wont post here because I don't want to disclose any secrets for people who live there. After I realized that I wasn't going to find shit out there I found a tent that I decided to self-roleplay a little in. I took off my shoes, since I was wearing heeled boots, my cloak and my veil. I then took my hair down since I figured it would be a bit unrealistic for me to run around with my hair in a perfectly placed bun.

After sitting around there for a little while I decided to do some roleplay, that typically wouldn't be in my character to do unless I was desperate... and was I desperate. o.o I drew a panga that I RP'd stealing from the capitan on the way over,(Yeah, not the best roleplay I've ever done, but I wasn't about to play the poor helpless free woman game when I knew I was on heated ground.) and headed over to a set of houses that I found when I first started exploring Jort's Ferry. There, in a fenced community were three houses. A red house, a blue house and a yellow house. There was also a bosk off to one side and a fire in the center, with logs on it to sit. On the other side of the establishment there was an auction block. Seeing this made me shiver a little bit in my Victorian style dress. It was at this time that I decided to RP stealing something to eat, and placing it over the fire in the middle.

Now, the entire time that I was in this sim I was scared shitless, and wanted nothing but to leave. Jort's Ferry, obviously to people who actually know what they're doing, is a place made for combative role play. However, the way that I was roleplaying my stay in Jort's Ferry was that I couldn't leave until morning, because that was when the ship that I paid for was coming into port. I eventually settled somewhere when I was reading my friend's RP from earlier in the day and noticed that the locals had became hip to my being there via mini-map (as I have enemies there, they probably thought I was scouting.)

Eventually, I gave up and decided that since it was past midnight I could leave instead of making myself crazy, not wanting to stay online and moved on to my next location (which you get to read about tomorrow!) Moral of this story - Jort's Ferry isn't a vacation destination. :P

**Image belongs to jozie.net