 Civil Law |
 Ubar and Ubara• Information and Names of Ubars are listed here: Click Here • Information and Names of Ubaras are listed here: Click Here This is a narrative and relevant references from the Books where the Ubar and Ubara are mentioned. I make no pronouncements on these matters, but report them as I find them. Arrive at your own conclusions. I wish you well, Fogaban The High Council names a Ubar, sometimes known as a War Chieftain, [1] in a time of crisis. [2] Usually the Ubar will be one of the Caste of Warriors. [3] To be eligible though, you must at least be of High Caste. [4]
Or, one can presume to name himself Ubar and hope the people will accept him. [5] But if not of a High Caste, he would violate the limits of caste and the traditions of Gor to do so. [6]
There can be quite a celebration when a Ubar or Ubara takes the throne. The great signal bars of the city are rung. Warriors lift their swords in salute. Members of the High Council stand and applaud. Processions take place on the bridges. There are tournaments of the game organized. Poets and historians vie in praising the day. A holiday is declared, and great games and races are sponsored without cessation for the next ten days. [7]
For a Ubara, a crown of Tur leaves might be placed upon her head. Of course, members of the High Council would be in attendance. A medallion would be placed about her neck. Too, the ring of the Ubar would be placed on her finger. Also she is given the Home Stone of the city to hold it in her left hand, and a scepter, a rod of office, signifying power, to hold in her right hand. Her coronation might be followed by a declaration of five holidays. [8]
While Ubar, what authority does he have? While on the throne, there is still a High Council in place. [13] It's just that the Ubar's word takes precedence over councils. [14] The courts of the city are also under the jurisdiction of the Ubar. [15]
The Ubar could also be involved with seeing to it that certain women are sold as a slave. [16]
What does a man wear to signify he is Ubar? The Ubar Bila Huruma of Schendi is shown to wear a resplendent outfit. He sits upon a royal stool, of black, lacquered wood, mounted on the crossed, tied, horns of kailiauk. He has gold armlets, bracelets, and anklets. About his loins are the pelts of the yellow panther. As a necklace, the teeth of a beast. Also a gigantic cloak of yellow and red feathers, from the crested lit and the fruit tindel. On his head he has an elaborate headdress, formed largely from the long, white, curling feathers of the Ushindi fisher. [20]
It might be mentioned that, while, obviously, many of the free women of Gor and almost always those of High Caste wear the Robes of Concealment, their garments are seldom as complex or splendidly wrought as those of a Ubar's daughter. [21]
And then, somewhat humorously, at least it was to me, is that daughters of Ubars wear ridiculously tall platform shoes so that they can look down on their subjects, literally. [22]
Among the other numerous duties of being a Ubar, [23] perhaps the unification and revision of the codes, [24] he is responsible to, on the first day of En'Kara and in the name of the city, greet the sun, welcoming it to the city on the first day of the year. [25]
It has been said that the power of the Ubar rests on the lower castes. [26] One can imagine trying to keep the populace in check. To do so, Ubars have always employed the Initiates as tools to keep the lower castes contented. [27] But yet it is known that Ubars may fear the White Caste. [28]
Ubars might court the favor of the Merchant Caste [29] and are often in debt to them. [30]
Contests of arms, fought to the death, are popular in some cities. [31] And then there is always the clan of torturers, trained as carefully physicians, in the arts of detaining life and the arts of detection and persuasion. [32] He may even have on hand what is known as a torture slave, a slave trained to arouse, humiliate, frustrate, and then deny a male prisoner. [33]
The life of a Ubar is not easy. To illustrate, here are just a few quotes, the rest can be found below in the supporting references. [34]
Even though the Ubar would most likely have his palace in the tallest cylinder of the city, [35] complete with its own kitchens, [36] he might still have his own separate dwelling. [37] Too, he may be fond of wine, to the point where he might barter a city or a hundred slaves for a given flask of ka-la-na. [38] He would also have his own personal Physician. [39]
The palace and seat of power for a Ubar can range from a great domed chamber set with lights and stones in which, on a high, stepped dais, sits a marble throne, [40] to nothing more than a simple, worn, tattered robe of gray boskhide. [41] The palace of a Ubar is also the mint of a city. [42]
The Ubar's personal guards [43] might likely be outfitted in resplendent uniforms their helmets laced with gold, shields bound with silver and shoulders draped with the purple of the Ubar. [44] Also around their necks they might wear, in silver, the medallion of the Ubar. [45]
Some Ubars have a small number of elite and well paid guards. A drawback to this is that the honor of serving the Ubar is not broadly distributed. Also that faction of men might come, in time, to dominate the other guards. [46]
A Ubar may wish to keep his true identity secret as a protection against danger or assassination. [47] Messengers using tarns are commonly employed as couriers. [48] Should a Ubara be captured from a conquered city, quite likely, the victorious Ubar will keep the, now enslaved, woman for himself. [49]
Ubars needn't necessarily be of a city. Just as being the leader of his vast, predatory horde qualified Pa-Kur to be called Ubar. [50]
There are also the Ubars of the four Wagon Peoples who, of course, have no actual city. At times, they even chose a single Ubar to lead them all, referred to as a Ubar San. [51]
Port Cos, on the other hand, though a city, was at one time, ruled by five Ubars all at once. [52]
At one time in the forests outside of Brundisium, a famous brigand named Clearchus proclaimed his area of operations a Ubarate, proclaimed himself its Ubar, and then proceeded to impose taxes and levy tolls. Interestingly enough, in time, several cities accorded this Ubarate diplomatic recognition, generally in return for concessions on the taxes and tolls. Finally a large force of mercenaries, in the hire of the merchant caste, in a campaign that lasted several months, put an end to the spurious reign of Clearchus, driving him from the forest and scattering his men. It is generally conceded, however, that had Clearchus had more men he might have turned out to be the founder of a state. [53]
And according to the codes of the Warriors, "Within the circle of each man's sword, therein is each man a Ubar". [54]
The Ubar would need to be cautious that he did not fall victim to the smile of a slave [55] or the sparkling eyes of a Free Woman. [56]
But then again, he may have innumerable slaves of whom he might not even be aware. [57]
The Ubara is the companion of the Ubar. [58] However, the Ubar does not companion casually or lightly. [59]
The Ubara may also just be a woman ruler. [60] The word Ubara is a title, just as is Ubar. [61]
She would be regally dressed in the full regalia of a Ubara. [62] This would also include a tiara [63] and medallion of the Ubara. [64]
To be Ubara is the most glorious thing to which a woman might aspire. It means she would be rich and the most powerful woman in the city. It would mean the armies and navies, and tarn cavalries, could move upon her very word. And that the most precious of gems and jewelries might be hers. [65] Her word might create and destroy fortunes, humble generals and exalt common armsmen. Armies might march at her word, tarn cavalries launch, wars begin and wars end. [66]
A Ubar can rule for years and years, even after a time of crisis has passed. [67] However, the Ubar is supposed to step down after the time of crisis. It can be voluntarily relinquished meaning the time of crisis has passed. [68] But this rarely seems to happen. Not that the crisis never ends but that the Ubar does not voluntarily step down. The end of such a Ubar is not a pretty sight. [69]
It could be though, the Ubar makes a grievous error such as losing the Home Stone of the city. In such a case he would need to flee for his life. [70] Or the penalty could be being publicly refused bread and salt and, under penalty of death, ordered to leave the city. [71]
Perhaps the Ubar is thought to be unfit. It is not then uncommon for him to die beneath the steel of his outraged men. [72]
On the other hand, short of assassinations or uprisings, there is no legal limit placed on their tenure in office nor are there any obvious provisions for removing them from office. [73] In fact, They select their own successors, often by legally adopting a favored individual. Their power remains in place then, in a sense, not only because of popular support and contentment, but, as well, by means of the backing of the military. [74]
[1] "But," said my father, "sometimes such a war chief, or Ubar, Tarnsman of Gor Book 1 Page 42 You have mastered a tarn, a war tarn. In your veins must flow the blood of your father, once Ubar, War Chieftain, now Administrator of Ko-ro-ba, this City of Cylinders. Administrator of Ko-ro-ba, once Ubar, War Chieftain of the city. No new Ubar, as far as I could tell, had yet been appointed by the council. There had been, at least, no general ringing of bars such as might be expected to announce such an appointment. Gnieus Lelius, it seems, had been deposed, and Seremides, in a military coup he himself characterized as regrettable, had seized temporary power, a power to be wielded until the High Council, now the highest civilian authority in Ar, could elect a new leader, be it Administrator, Regent, Ubar or Ubara. "More powerful than a king," said Cabot. "But," said Xenon, "the will of the Ubar is law, and law is justice. Thus, it is the will of the Ubar that is justice. Thus a trial would be unnecessary and irrelevant." "The Ubar is then above the law," I said. "Certainly, the Ubar is above the law," said Seremides. "He must be; otherwise he could not make the law or change the law." "As you doubtless know," he said, "in Ar, the law is the Ubar and the Ubar is the law. But, in this case, the noble Marlenus, Ubar of Glorious Ar, in his graciousness and generosity, will allow the verdict to be delivered by a jury of suitably chosen citizens, subject, of course, to his right to overrule the verdict, should it somehow fail to be in conformity with justice, as he sees it." "If, somehow, Talena should be acquitted," I said, "the Ubar may void that verdict, and pronounce one of guilt?" "As is his right," said the scribe. "He is the law, and the law is he." "Justice is founded on the will of the Ubar," said Decius Albus. "How could it be otherwise? Such is right and law." "Will the Ubar be present at the trial?" I asked. "Of course," said Hemartius. "He is the supreme ruling judge." "She is guilty," said Thurnock. "What need is there of a trial?" "Perhaps," I said, "that vengeance be decked in the colors of law." "The Ubar makes law," said Thurnock. "He is thus above the law." I saw that among those barbaric ornaments was a ring. I gasped, for it was the seal of Ar, the signet of Glorious Ar. He threw it to Verna, as a bauble. She caught it. "With that," he said, "you are safe in the realm of Ar. With that you can command the power of the city. This is as the word of the Ubar. With this you can buy supplies. With this you can command soldiers. Any who come upon you and see this ring will know that behind you stands the power of Ar." "Marlenus is impatient," said Thurnock. "And the city will cry for the blood of Talena. And few Ubars, even a Marlenus, can brook the will of a roused, clamoring city with impunity." He was well aware of the balance of numbers, a fraction very little in our favor. Thus, to neutralize this disadvantage, he counted on surprise and audacity, and the indisputable awe in which a Ubar is commonly held, particularly by those nominally under his rule. Suppose a king had suddenly, unexpectedly appeared, as though from nowhere, to subjects, even recalcitrant subjects. Might not the power of his mere presence strike terror into the hearts of many? His voice then utters a thunderous command. "Tomorrow night, at the great victory feast," he said, "you will be turned over to Claudius, my Ubar, and the high council." At these tables were Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum, and members of the high council. It was not within your province to determine my innocence or guilt. That responsibility was that of Claudius, the Ubar of Argentum, and the high council. This was possible, as the word of the Ubar takes precedence over councils. I was glad that the tunic I wore was not of the Ubar's purple amchak stood before the throne of Phanius Turmus, the purple robe of the Ubar over one shoulder, Some seventy or eighty yards away I saw the box of the Ubar and, upon the throne of the Ubar, Cernus, of the House of Cernus, in the imperial purple of the Ubar. He was not wearing the purple of the Ubar, but his shoulders were covered with a brown cloak, rather of the sort worn by Administrators in certain cities, civilian statesmen, servants of the people, so to speak. The purple of Marlenus's cloak was the Ubarial purple. That is a special color. Only Ubars may wear that color. the golden medallion of a Ubar "One who steals a sul may be mutilated, crippled, or killed," said Callias, "whereas one who steals cities may be gifted with the medallion of a Ubar." "The daughter of a Ubar must look down on her subjects," was the simple if extraordinary reply. The daughter of a Ubar looked up to no man. Lastly, as the culmination of Ar's Planting Feast, and of the greatest importance to the plan of the Council of Ko-ro-ba, a member of the Ubar's family goes to the roof at night, under the three full moons with which the feast is correlated, and casts grain upon the stone and drops of a red winelike drink made from the fruit of the Ka-la-na tree. The member of the Ubar's family then prays to the Priest-Kings for an abundant harvest and returns to the interior of the cylinder, at which point the Guards of the Home Stone resume their vigil. At dawn on the day of the vernal equinox a ceremonial greeting of the sun takes place, conducted usually by the Ubar or administrator of the city. This, in effect, welcomes the New Year to the city. "Such words might have you impaled," I said. "Only where Ubars fear the white caste," he said. Some of these men have achieved fortune and fame in various Gorean cities, for their services to Initiates and Ubars, and others with an interest in the arts of detection and persuasion. Marlenus leaped to his feet, hurling the yellow robes of the Afflicted from him, drawing his blade from its sheath with a metallic flash. "A Ubar," he cried, "answers such a question only with his sword!" "Take what men of mine you will," he said. "But I must fight for my city. I am Ubar of Ar, and while I live, my city will not perish." It was obvious that Thorn, unlike my old enemy Pa-Kur, who presumably had perished at the siege of Ar, was not a man above sensual vices, not a man who could with fanatical purity and single-minded devotion sacrifice himself and entire peoples to the ends of his ambition and power. Thorn would never make a Ubar. The wagons are said to be countless, the animals without number. Both of these claims, are of course, mistaken, and the Ubars of the Wagon Peoples know well each wagon and the number of branded beasts in the various herds; The Wagon Peoples are fascinated with the future and its signs and though, to hear them speak, they put no store in such matters, yet they do in practice give them great consideration. I was told by Kamchak that once an army of a thousand wagons turned aside because a swarm of rennels, poisonous, crablike desert insects, did not defend its broken nest, crushed, by the wheel of the lead wagon. Another time, over a hundred years ago, a wagon Ubar lost the spur from his right boot and turned for this reason back from the gates of mighty Ar itself. Tuchuks do not make good spies, for they tend to be, albeit fierce and cruel, intensely loyal; and there are few strangers allowed in the wagon of a Tuchuk Ubar. Conrad, Hakimba and the Paravaci strode to the throne of Kamchak, but none of them, as befitted Ubars of their peoples, knelt. He released my hand and sat back, cross-legged, his back straight as that of a Ubar, "If a Ubar does not respect the law of the Home Stone, what man shall?" "His hand on the hilt of his sword," said Mira, "and his other hand on the medallion of Ar, his daughter was disowned." I gasped, stunned. "Yes," laughed Verna, "according to the codes of the warriors and by the rites of the city of Ar, no longer is Talena kin or daughter of Marlenus of Ar." I lay, stunned. According to irreversible ceremonies, both of the warriors and of the city of Ar, Talena was no longer the daughter of Marlenus. In her shame she had been put outside his house. She was cut off. In law, and in the eyes of Goreans, Talena was now without family. No longer did she have kin. She was now, in her shame, alone, completely. She was now only slave, that and nothing more. "Ubar," said I, "if the girl Verna had not cried out for mercy, if she had not wept and yielded herself, completely and utterly, to you as slave, would you have truly done what you threatened?" "I do not understand," said Marlenus. "Would you truly have hamstrung her?" I asked. "Of course," said Marlenus. "I am a Ubar." Only a Ubar, it is said, may sit upon the throne of a Ubar. Only when a true Ubar sits upon the throne is it said the pledge of sword loyalty is binding. "To truly see a Ubar," I said, "to look into his heart can be a fearful thing." "He who sits upon the throne, it is said," said Msaliti, "is the most alone of men." It is not always desirable to look deeply into the eyes of a Ubar. I then, truly, for the first time looked into the eyes of Bila Huruma. He sat upon the high platform, above the others, solitary and isolated, the necklace of panther teeth about his neck, the lamps below him. I sensed then, for a moment, what it must be to be a Ubar. It was then, in that instant, that I first truly saw him, as he was, and as he must be. I looked then on loneliness and decision, and power. The Ubar must contain within himself dark strengths. He must be capable of doing, as many men are not; what is necessary. Only one can sit upon the throne, as it is said. And, as it is said, he who sits upon the throne is the most alone of men. It is he who must be a stranger to all men, and to whom all men must be strangers. The throne indeed is a lonely country. Many men desire to live there but few, I think, could bear its burdens. Let us continue to think of our Ubars as men much like ourselves, only perhaps a bit wiser, or stronger, or more fortunate. That way we may continue to be comfortable with them, and, to some extent, feel ourselves their superior. But let us not look into their eyes too closely, for we might see there that which sets them apart from us. It is not always desirable to look deeply into the eyes of a Ubar. "Ubars," I pointed out to Kisu, "seldom see much point in engaging in single combat with common soldiers." "To a Ubar a friend is precious," he said. "We have so few." "Ubars, and Ubaras, have no friends," said Alcinoë. "The gray robe?" I asked. "That robe," said Kamchak, "which is the throne of the Ubars of the Tuchuks." We mounted the dais and approached the seemingly somnolent figure seated upon it. Although the dais was resplendent, and the rugs upon it even more resplendent, I saw that beneath Kutaituchik, over these rugs, had been spread a simple, worn, tattered robe of gray boskhide. It was upon this simple robe that he sat. It was undoubtedly that of which Kamchak had spoken, the robe upon which sits the Ubar of the Tuchuks, that simple robe which is his throne. They were probably mercenaries. Their speech reminded me of that of Ar. They did not wear, in silver, the medallion of the Ubar. There had not been, I knew, a Ubar San in more than a hundred years. It did not seem likely, either, that one would be elected in the spring. Even in the time I had been with the wagons I had gathered that it was only the implicit truce of the Omen Year which kept these four fierce, warring peoples from lunging at one another's throats, or more exactly put, at one another's bosk. Naturally, as a Koroban, and one with a certain affection for the cities of Gor, particularly those of the north, particularly Ko-ro-ba, Ar, Thentis and Tharna, I was not disappointed at the likelihood that a Ubar San would not be elected. Indeed, I found few who wished a Ubar San to be chosen. The Tuchuks, like the other Wagon Peoples, are intensely independent. Yet, each ten years, the omens are taken. In the council, in effect, was vested the stability and administration of Port Kar. Above it, nominally, stood five Ubars, each refusing to recognize the authority of the others, Chung, Eteocles, Nigel, Sullius Maximus and Henrius Sevarius, claiming to be the fifth of his line. The Ubars were represented on the council, to which they belonged as being themselves Captains, by five empty thrones, sitting before the semicircles of curule chairs on which reposed the captains. Beside each empty throne there was a stool from which a Scribe, speaking in the name of his Ubar, participated in the proceedings of the council. The Ubars themselves remained aloof, seldom showing themselves for fear of assassination. "Some slaves," she said, "have entangled the hearts of Ubars in their meshes." "Even a Ubar," I said, "may be a fool." "I will carry the message," said one of the guards, a large man, his eyes suspicious. He regarded me closely. Obviously, I was not anyone he knew. "The message is for the Ubara-to-be, and for her alone," I said angrily. "Do you deny admittance to the messenger of Pa-Kur?" "I do not know you," he growled. "Give me your name," I demanded, "so that I may report to Pa-Kur who it is that denies his message to his future Ubara. Harold looked at me. "Yes," he said, "she had been a Turian girl taken as slave by Kutaituchik - but he cared for her and freed her. She remained with him in the wagons until her death, the Ubara of the Tuchuks." "This woman," said Kamchak of the Tuchuks, brusquely, his voice stem but almost breaking, "is called Aphris - know her - she is Ubara of the Tuchuks, she is Ubara Sana, of my heart Ubara Sana!" Raised as she had been, in the sequestered quarters of high-born women in the palace of Tyros in Kasra, I supposed it was perhaps the first time that the lips of a man had touched hers. Doubtless she had expected to receive that kiss standing in the swirling love silks of the Free Companion, beneath golden love lamps, beside the couch of the Ubar of Cos; but it was not in the white, marbled palace of the Ubar of Cos that that kiss was to take place; and it was not to be received as a Ubara from the lips of a Ubar; that kiss was to take place in Port Kar, in the holding of her enemies, under barbaric torchlight, before the table of her master; and she was not to wear the love silks of a Free Companion and Ubara but the brief, wretched garment of a Kettle Slave, A Ubar might companion a Ubara from another city, a coveted city, one of wealth and power, or companion the daughter of another Ubar, of such a city, such things." "I see," she said, not pleased. As I knelt in the background, inconspicuous but at hand, I saw that the Lady Bina was not so much dissuaded of her astonishing ambition, as convinced that its realization might be less easily achieved than hitherto anticipated. "Occasionally," said the beast, "a Ubar may companion the Ubara of a captured city, forcing companionship however unwelcome, upon her, making of her free spoils, so to speak, thereby, as she is then companioned, entitling himself legally to the wealth of her treasury and the allegiance of her subjects. In such a case she may sit beside him, on a throne, within her fine robes, chained." "I suppose," said the Lady Bina "he may do this severally." "No," said the beast, "for one may have but one companion, at one time." I had no doubt, of course that a Ubar, or, indeed, any person of means, might have several slaves. "What if a second Ubara is conquered?" asked the Lady Bina. "You are thinking of companioning?" asked the beast. "Yes," she said. "Then the Ubara of less consequence," he said, "will be demoted to bondage, and then kept, or put up for sale, or such." "But surely," she said, "companioning is not always involved in such matters." "Certainly not," he said. "The conqueror holds rights to all in virtue of the right of conquest, in virtue of war rights. The usual ensuance in such matters is that the conquered Ubara will be marched naked in the triumph, chained to the stirrup of the victor's tharlarion or kaiila after which she, and the women of her court, similarly paraded, will serve naked at the victory feast, during which they will be enjoyed, and after which, in the morning, they will be lashed and fitted with their collars." "She can be given legal entitlement to the succession," said a fellow. "I have heard it discussed." "Not as of the line of Marlenus," I said. "No," he said. "But one need not be of the line of Marlenus, surely, to rule in Ar." "Minus Tentius Hinrabius and Cernus, both, ruled in Ar," said a man. "Neither was of his line." "That is true," I said. "She is a free citizen," said a man. "Accordingly, she could be given such entitlement." "That is not a name," he said. "It is a title." "A tiara," said Cabot. "A tiara?" "That of a Ubara," said Cabot. "In his judgment?" I asked skeptically. "Normally the office is surrendered after the passing of the crisis," said my father. "It is part of the Warrior's Code." "Those who do not desire to surrender their power," said my father, "are usually deserted by their men. The offending war chief is simply abandoned, left alone in his palace to be impaled by the citizens of the city he has tried to usurp." I nodded, imagining a palace, empty save for one man sitting alone on his throne, clad in his robes of state, waiting for the angry people outside the gates to break through and work their wrath. "But," said my father, "sometimes such a war chief, or Ubar, wins the hearts of his men, and they refuse to withdraw their allegiance." "What happens then?" I asked. "He becomes a tyrant," said my father, "and rules until eventually, in one way or another, he is ruthlessly deposed." My father's eyes were hard and seemed fixed in thought. It was not mere political theory he spoke to me. I gathered that he knew of such a man. "Until," he repeated slowly, "he is ruthlessly deposed." A moan escaped the girl. The officer continued; "Marlenus lost the Home Stone, the Luck of Ar. He, with fifty tarnsmen disloyal to the city, seized what they could of the treasury and escaped. In the streets there is civil war, fighting between the factions that would master Ar. There is looting and pillaging. The city is under martial law." when its Home Stone had been stolen and its Ubar forced to flee. "For the Ubar, too," said Myron. "Is his first office not the protection of the Home Stone?" In a sense, I suppose they, too, are tyrants, as there is no legal limit placed on their tenure in office nor are there any obvious provisions for removing them from office, short of, I suppose, assassinations or uprisings. To be sure, they commonly have the support of the people. They select their own successors, often by legally adopting a favored individual. Almost invariably a Ubar is a member of the caste of warriors. Their power remains in place then, in a sense, not only because of popular support and contentment, but, as well, by means of the backing of the military. |
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