|
|
Based On GMT / UTC Time
|
Gorean Book Quote Requests
Requests 1-173 were asked and answered back when there were only 25 books.
Also, some of the early questions were unintentionally truncated and cannot be restored. However, the answers are shown in their totality.
[ Quote Request ]
[ Q& A List ]
| Q # | Question |
| 383 | Tal. My question is about Home Stones.
In one of the supporting references, Raiders of Gor | Book 6 | Pages 250 - 252, it is shown how Port Kar, a place unambiguously referred to as a city, receives a Home Stone when before it had none via the arbitrary selecting of a random stone and the carving of the initials of Port Kar into it.
If the city can exist independent of the Home Stone, and one can be acquired at will by its people, could a city with a Home Stone that is destroyed (either by accident, war, or vandalism) simply create a new one to continue the life of that city?
And with the example of Ko-ro-ba—the foundations of which were destroyed whilst the Home Stone remained intact—had the Home Stone of Ko-ro-ba also been destroyed, what if anything would prevent the people from that city re-founding it somewhere else with a new Home Stone under the same name?
Apologies for length and irregular format. Thank you.
Answer
I will say, you present a valid argument.
To rephrase your premise is to say:
A group of people live in a place
The place may or may not have a Home Stone
If the group loses a Home Stone or the group moves – it may simply reacquire one or both, as necessary.
So, to reason on what a Home Stone (or lack thereof) means to a group of people, I'll begin with your first example of Port Kar.
Port Kar was about to be attacked by the combined forces of Cos and Tyros. The population of Port Kar saw no other option than to flee. Just one example is in the pages you provide, page 250:
"What shall we do, Captain?" asked the officer once more.
"What do you propose?" I asked him, smiling.
He looked at me, startled. "There is only one thing to do," he said, "and that is to ready our ships, take our treasure and slaves aboard, and flee.
Raiders of Gor    Book 6    Page 250
One other example is on page 254:
A man stood on a narrow walk, a bundle on his back, tied over a spear. "Is it true, Admiral?" he cried. "Is it true?
Raiders of Gor    Book 6    Page 254
This man had slung over his shoulder what he could carry and was on his way out of the city.
But when he learns Port Kar now has a Home Stone, what does he do?
I looked once behind, and saw that he had thrown the bundle from his spear, and was following us, afoot. "There is a Home Stone in Port Kar!" he cried. I saw others stop, and then follow him.
Raiders of Gor    Book 6    Page 254
There is also the example of Turia. Turia is known as the Ar of the South. It is a huge city. And, as we are shown in Book 4, Turia is taken by the Tuchuks. But the Tuchuks did not destroy the physical city.
As shown on pages 333 and 334 of Book 4, what did Kamchak act as though he was going to do? What would have actually "broken" or "destroyed" the great city of Turia?
"Bring the Home Stone of the city," commanded Kamchak, and the stone, oval and aged, carved with the initial letter of the city, was brought to him.
He lifted the stone over his head and read fear in the eyes of the two men chained before him.
But he did not dash the stone to the floor. Rather he arose from his throne and placed the stone in the chained hands of Phanius Turmus. "Turia lives," said he, "Ubar."
Tears formed in the eyes of Phanius Turmus and he held the Home Stone of the city to his heart.
Nomads of Gor    Book 4    Pages 333 - 334
And why?
a city cannot die while its Home Stone survives.
Assassin of Gor    Book 5    Page 2
Lastly, to your other example of Ko-ro-ba. As you say, even though the walls, and timbers and stones were destroyed, Ko-ro-ba did not cease to exist.
I looked at my father. "I am sorry," I said, "that Ko-ro-ba was destroyed."
My father laughed. "Ko-ro-ba was not destroyed," he said.
I was puzzled, for I myself had looked upon the valley of Ko-ro-ba and had seen that the city had vanished.
"Here," said my father, reaching into a leather sack that he wore slung about his shoulder, "is Ko-ro-ba," and he drew forth the small, flat Home Stone of the City, in which Gorean custom invests the meaning, the significance, the reality of a city itself. "Ko-ro-ba cannot be destroyed," said my father, "for its Home Stone has not perished!"
Priest-Kings of Gor    Book 3    Page 304
The Home Stone of a city is the Heart of a city. As the example of Turia shows us, to destroy the Home Stone of a city is to destroy the city, despite the walls still standing.
And as the example of Ko-ro-ba shows us, to retain the Home Stone of a city despite the walls being destroyed, the city remains.
A city is not the walls and timbers and stones. For a city to mean something to its inhabitants, for the city to be worth fighting for, it must have a Home Stone.
The Home Stone is what is worth fighting for.
If, in the example of Turia, Phanius Turmus knew all he had to do was go get a different rock when Kamchak threatened to shatter the Home Stone, it would have said so. Phanius Turmus would not have shown fear in his eyes. And Phanius Turmus would not have wept when Kamchak placed the Home Stone in his hands.
And Kamchak would not have said "Turia lives."
For further information on this topic, I suggest you read my essay located here Home Stone
~ Return to Q&A List ~ |
|
|
