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 Slave PapersThese are relevant references from the Books where Slave Papers 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 see also Manumission It was with this man that Vella had been placed, her registration, papers and purchase having been arranged. In the House of Cernus, after the sheet, bracelets, leash and collar had been removed, agents of House of Cernus had checked her fingerprints against those on the papers. She had then been examined thoroughly by the Physicians of the House of Cernus. Then, found acceptable, she had knelt while agents of the House signed the receipt of her delivery and endorsed her papers, retaining one set, giving one set to the seller's agent, for forwarding to the Cylinder of Documents. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Pages 40 - 41 Misk looked at her for a long time, his antennae focused. "It will be arranged," said he, "that you will be placed as a slave in the House of Cernus, as a member of the staff of Caprus. Papers will be prepared on you and you will be transmitted to the House of Clark in Thentis, whence you will be taken by tarn caravan to Ar, where you will be sold privately, your purchase to be effected by the agents of the House of Cernus, under the instructions of Caprus." Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 72 Elizabeth was much amused by the forged slave papers prepared for her, giving in detail an account of her capture and exchanges, complete with endorsements and copies of bills of sale. Some of the information such as Physicians' certifications and measurements and marks of identification had been compiled in the Nest and later transferred to the documents. In my compartment, Al-Ka fingerprinted her, adding her prints to the papers. Under a section on attributes I was interested to note that she was listed as literate. Without that, of course, it would be improbable that Caprus could have justified adding her to his staff. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 77 "Have you prepared the initial papers on them?" asked Ho-Tu. "Yes," said Flaminius. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 129 The papers of most of the girls, including those of Elizabeth, Virginia, and Phyllis, had been transmitted days before to the staff of the Curulean, to be checked for authenticity, and for the updating of certain endorsements. The papers are correlated with the lot number and the girls' fingerprints are taken and checked against those on the papers. Some girls, whom the House had determined late would be sold, arrive at the Curulean with a small leather cylinder tied about their collar, which contains their papers, which girl is then, by the staff of the Curulean, assigned a lot number. Lana, whom Ho-Tu, who held considerable power in the House of Cernus, had decided to sell at the Love Feast, so arrived at the Curulean. Virginia, thanks to Ho-Tu, need not fear that the forward Lana would be likely to soon grace the leash of her Relius. When the members of the staff of the Curulean are satisfied that the girl's papers are in order the ticket with her lot number is stamped approved. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 283 Scribes at nearby tables endorsed and updated papers of registration, that the ownership of the girls be legally transferred from the state to individual citizens. Assassin of Gor Book 5 Page 396 "I have brought papers," said Hup. "They have been endorsed to you. The slave is yours." Elizabeth looked at Hup. He was Gorean. To him she was that, simply, a slave. To me she seemed the world. "Write on the papers," said I, "that on this first day of the restoration of Marlenus of Ar, the slave Vella was by her master, Tarl of Ko-ro-ba, granted her freedom." Hup shrugged, and so endorsed the papers. I signed them, my name in Gorean script, followed by the sign of the city of Ko-ro-ba. Hup gave me the key to Elizabeth's collar and anklet and I freed her of the steel that marked her slave. "I will file the papers in the cylinder of documents," said Hup. "You will make a lovely slave," he said. Then he said. "You may lower your hands, and kneel." The woman always examines the papers of enslavement on her knees. "Slave Girl," said the man, speaking to me, "remove the towel from about her head and permit her to dry her hands upon it." "Yes, Master," I said. I removed it carefully, lest it contain a needle or other device of which I might be unaware. The lovely cascade of dark hair which was Elicia's fell down her back. "Yes," said the man, "a lovely slave." Elicia dried her hands and, miserably, broke the ribbon and seal and examined the paper. "You are literate?" inquired the man. "Yes," she said, acidly. "Do you understand the document?" he asked. "Yes," she said. "It is an order of enslavement." "You understand further, of course," said he, "that under Gorean merchant law, which is the only law commonly acknowledged binding between cities, that you stand under separate permissions of enslavement. First, were you of Ar, it would be my right, could I be successful, to make of you a slave, for we share no Home Stone. Secondly, though you speak of yourself as the Lady Elicia of Ar, of Six Towers, you are, in actuality, Miss Elicia Nevins of the planet Earth. You are an Earth girl and thus stand within a general permission of enslavement, fair beauty quarry to any Gorean male whatsoever." "She is apparently yours. Do you have papers on her?" "No," said Speusippus. "Do you have friends who can vouch for you, that she is yours?" "I am from Turia," said Speusippus. "I am a stranger in this beautiful city." "Things, then, are not so simple," said the Archon's man. "As you can see she is not even collared or branded. She is claiming to be a free woman." "No, Master," I said. "Perhaps I could hold her for ten days," said the Archon's man, "and then, if there are no other claimant, turn her over to you." Two of the gate guards crawled into the wagon. Mincon presented his papers to the gate captain. "Mercenaries, from the north," said Mincon to the captain, indicating Hurtha and myself. The captain nodded. "More come in each day," he said. "They smell loot." "Who is this?" asked the captain, indicating Boabissia. He returned the papers to Mincon. They were apparently in order. I gathered this form of dance was quite common here and that it might be required of any female, or any female of our sort. Interestingly enough I had had only two days of this sort of instruction before I was stopped, and sent from the room, to be applied to other lessons. I was told that my skills in these matters, as they had now ascertained, and confirming reports on my "papers," or "records," were already far beyond the rudiments that I would obtain in such a class. That I was a virgin had undoubtedly been included by Teibar in my papers, or records. "I think she is a stolen tavern dancer," said the man. "I bought her properly," said my master. "You have papers on her?" asked the man. "No," said my master. "You received stolen goods," said the man. "Not to my knowledge," said my master. "An investigation might nonetheless prove you have no legal hold on her." "Are you a magistrate, or a praetor's agent?" inquired my master, narrowly. "No," said the fellow. My master relaxed, visibly. "But I could always lodge a citizen's inquiry, and have the matter looked into," he said. "What do you want?" asked my master. "She is a hot slave, and is curvy, and beautiful," he said. "So?" asked my master. "Too, she dances well, and her ears are pierced," said the man. "So?" inquired my master. "What did you pay for her?" he asked. "That is my business," said my master. "Not much, I would suppose," said the man. "Stolen slaves seldom bring high prices, unless delivered to private dealers on contract, or to slavers, who know what to do with them, and where to sell them." "She is mine," said my master. "I have held her in my collar for a sufficient time." "I am prepared to accept that she is now yours," said the fellow. "For example, she seems clearly accommodated to your collar. The official recovery period is doubtless now passed." "Then our conversation is at an end," said my master, angrily. "Nonetheless it seems you might still count, officially, as a fellow who had received stolen goods," said the man. "Not to my knowledge, if at all," said my master. "Ignorance of the origin of the goods," said the man, "might indeed exonerate you from personal guilt in the matter." My master shrugged. "Still," said the man, "it might be of some interest to a praetor to hear you protest your innocence in the matter. He would be likely to be interested, too, in whom you bought the slave from, and such, and perhaps even where they obtained her." "What do you want?" asked my master, angrily. "I am prepared to be generous," said the man. "She is not for sale," said my master. "I have come from Argentum," he said. "I have come to Market of Semris looking for a certain type of slave. I think that your girl might be just what I need." "Are you a slaver?" asked my master. "No," he said. He looked down at me. "You are an exciting slut," he said. I put my head down. I did not want to be involved in this. In Gorean courts the testimony of slaves is commonly taken under torture. "She is not for sale," said my master. "I will give you five silver tarsks for her," said the man. My master seemed stunned. I myself could scarcely believe what I had heard. Such prices are not paid for street dancers. "Done!" said my master. "You do not mind filling out certain pertinent papers, do you?" I asked. I had brought some sets of such papers with me. "Common slave papers?" he asked. "Yes," I said. "It is not necessary," said one of the retainers. "Not at all," said Appanius. "You do not have an appropriate collar at hand, I gather." "No," I said. "If I am not mistaken," said Marcus, "ink and a pen are in the back." "Interesting," I said. To be sure, they had been here when we had scouted the compartments. Doubtless they had been used before, in the course of Appanius' acquiring new slaves. Slave papers, too, were in the back, although I had brought my own. Hoods, gags, ropes, and such, were in the back, too. "Give me the papers," said Appanius. I handed him a set. "I will fill these out in the back, and you, Lucian, will witness them." In a few moments Appanius and I had concluded our business. The papers had been signed, and witnessed. "Let the papers be prepared, and the measurements, and prints, taken," said Tolnar. "Yes, Tolnar," said Venlisius. "Papers! Measurements! Prints!" she protested. "I think you can understand," said Tolnar, "that in a case such as this, such documentations, guarantees and precautions are not out of order." "No! No!" she cried. Tolnar and Venlisius put their wands of office to the side and went to the back room, to obtain the necessary papers and materials. "You!" cried the prisoner, looking at Marcus. "It is then you to whom I belong!" He merely regarded her. "Who are you?" she cried. "It does not matter," he said. "I will buy my freedom!" she said. "I will give you a thousand pieces of gold! Two thousand! Ten thousand! Name your price!" "But you have nothing," he said. "No more than a kaiila, or sleen." "Contact Seremides!" she said. "Contact Myron, Polemarkos of Temos! They will arrange my ransom." "Ransom or price?" asked Marcus. "Price!" she said, angrily. "But you are not, as of this moment, for sale," he said. "Sleen!" she wept. She struggled but I, behind her, kept her well in the net. At this point Tolnar and Venlisius reentered the room and, in a few moments, were in the process of filling out the papers. These included an extremely complete description of the woman, exact even to details such as the structure of her ear lobes. Tolnar then, with a graduated tape, reaching in and about the net, and moving the woman, as necessary, took a large number of measurements, these being recorded by Venlisius. Additional measurements were taken with other instruments, such as a calipers. With these were recorded such data as the width and length of fingers and toes, the width of her heels, the lovely tiny distance between her nostrils, and so on. The result of this examination, of course, was to produce a network of data which, to a statistical certainty, far beyond the requirements of law, would be unique to a given female. Then, one hand at a time, pulled a bit from the net, then reinserted in it, her fingerprints were taken. Following this, her toeprints were taken. Then, the woman shaken, tears on the furs, was again fully within the net, on her belly. Her fingers and toes were dark with ink, from the taking of the prints. "I shall sign the papers," I said to Tolnar. "And I shall stamp, and certify, them," he said. "Do you think I cannot recognize a hot little tart when I see one?" asked Aynur. "I do not know," I murmured. "Do you think I have not read your papers?" she asked. "I do not know," I said. I could not read them, of course. I did not even know what they said. There was apparently some remark on them pertinent to my heat. He whose whip I had first kissed, in the corridor long ago, he who had later treated me with such cruelty, spurning me, throwing me to others, he whom, in the long nights in the kennels, I had never forgotten, had old me that I was supposedly quite "vital." The matter had been confirmed in the pens, of course. I had wept with misery and shame for hours afterward. But the proper endorsements had been included, I had gathered, on my papers. "It is hard to believe that she is new to her collar," said a man. "It is so certified," remarked another. "I have seen her papers," said a fellow. I knew I had papers but, of course, I could not read them. Such papers, as I understood it, begin with a girl's arrival in the pens. That is when her meaningful existence, her slave existence, begins. Nothing before that counts. There is no interest in our origins, save that we are of Earth, nor in our history or background. Such things have no relevance, or importance. They are all behind us. We are no longer free women. What interests them is merely that we are slaves, and our slave properties. A number of things are commonly found on papers, which may be more or less detailed, for example, our brand type, a number of measurements, the sorts of training we have received, and such. There is also, usually, a place for sales endorsements, for when a girl changes hands. There is also a "remarks section." where miscellaneous information may be recorded. "How soon will we be sold?" asked a slave. "Not soon," said another. "We must be rested and refreshed." "There will be measurements to be taken, finger and toe prints to be made, and papers to be prepared," said another slave. "Do not champion her," said the floor manager. "That will not go well with you, especially as you are a yellow-placard girl." "I did not know you knew that," I said. "It is on your papers," he said. |       
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