Continued from Part 6 read from beginning here.

Will this placate Hazine enough to allow me to trade with the Veck En? We shall see..

In short..no.

So I wandered around the sims of sl gor for a time, trying to find some sustainable and fun rp. I didn’t have much luck. Either time differences or different interests(I.e. they just wanted to have pew-pew combat). That isn’t to say it’s not out there. In the process of writing this story I’ve encountered people that are working to increase rp in their community. An example of this was when I contacted the En of the (now-former) Veck ‘En, which became the Veck Jerag under the new leadership of Lico(Janine Braham).    She is creating things for them to do, to generate rp,which sounded very promising.

However at the time of my story, everything just seemed to have died. It began to feel like a chore visiting the sims searching for people or trying to resurrect old storylines. So I decided to adopt the philosophy of online casino advert warnings that had started appearing on tv: When the Fun stops. STOP.

I definitely wasn’t hooked on Gor. So I did.

Approximately the last week of June 2018 I decided enough was enough. I deleted all the Gor people on my friends list,apart from a select few and left all but a few of my Gor-related groups. Although I did file away all the “Calling cards” of those removed into a folder in my inventory,just in case, which did prove useful for writing this.

I did go back in a little while after, in July, to do a short rp with the girl,Lips. It had upset her that I had decided to leave, but it would have been worse (and unfair of me) to leave her ownerless. So I entrusted her care to a huntress of the Forest Moon tribe, by the name of Angel. It might surprise some that I chose someone in Forest Moon,but Angel had formerly been of Shekinah Arani before the merger.

RP Log Start

[13:28:27]  Ava: Tal all

[13:28:29]  ձռցεl : Tal Ava..very nice to see you…* smiles softly

[13:29:28]  Ava: greetings sav

[13:29:54]  Shameena(aka Lips) “Greetings my Mistress” I said as I saw Lady Ava entering the Tavern

[13:29:57]  Sav: tal ava

[13:30:01]  Ava: I’m glad you are here with the girl, Angel

[13:30:29]  ձռցεl : Thanks you yes…..nice you here now…

[13:31:25]  Ava: it is just a brief visit, I wanted to discuss the girl

[13:31:50]  Shameena sits there quietly listening to them

[13:32:21]  Ava: she has been mine for quite some time, however my trade and business are taking me further and further away

to the extent that I’m almost at risk of abandonment

[13:33:00]  ձռցεl : yes please..I gave her  a name …as she know now as Shameena …and yes ..therefore like to ask you to official  to open her collar for me

[13:33:01]  Ava: so I need someone to take her

[13:33:51]  Ragnar : taloha Ava

[13:33:52]  Ava nods and rummages in her pouch for a key

[13:34:02]  Ava: tal ragnar

[13:34:39]  ձռցεl : Thank you Ava ..and I am honored to accept her collar ..and her key of the collar

[13:34:45]  Sav: tal rags

[13:35:10]  Ragnar: seems, that half of ikarei have a bubble party

[13:35:22]  Ava bends over and unlocks the collar, straightens and holds out the key to angel

[13:35:24]  OpenCollar: Shameena’s collar has been unlocked.

[13:35:51]  Shameena gasps as my Collar been removed

[13:36:04]  ձռցεl : smiles as I take the key from Ava* thank you really my pleasure to take care of her ..*

[13:36:59]  Ava: I know I can trust you with her

[13:37:50]  ձռցεl : Nods for sure will not disappoint you…* takes off her collar and  slowly slide my collar around her neck

[13:41:22]  Ava brushes the girls hair away from her face and looked down at her “you’re now angel’s, I’m sure you’ll serve her as well as you have me”

[13:42:26]  ձռցεl : smiles..as I see her collar removed and place my own collar round Shameena her neck..locks with a small key * Thank you Ava

[13:42:37]  Shameena “Yes huntress, I will” I managed to say as it was an emotional moment for me”

[13:43:02]  Shameena “I am now Lady Angel property”

[13:43:16]  Ava: good girl

[13:43:26]  ձռցεl : Nods you are Shameen ..and again Thank you Ava..was a pleasure

[13:44:37]  Shameena said to Lady Ava “It was a pleasure serving you Huntress”

[13:45:24]  Ava: You know well that I am no huntress, just Lady

[13:45:54]  Ava looks around the tavern “interesting new replacment building, seems a little darker”

[13:46:47]  ձռցεl : mods..well we not finished yet but we slowly progress

(I have edited out shouting and combat meter msgs here to make the rp readable)

[13:46:49]  Ava hearing the shouting and noises of combat she speaks to angel “Now, that, I have not missed”

[13:48:20]  ձռցεl : well makes more customers as seems they need a drink after the fight and finally all ends good

[13:49:20]  Ava: I see you’ve not changed the prices, I never did get around to writing them up on the wall

[13:49:42]  Ava: I found it was convenient to let them overpay and only comment if they underpaid

[13:49:59]  ձռցεl : we working on a new price list..but this one will do for now

[13:53:13]  Ava: I should be going I have shipment to check on. Take care all

[13:53:15] Sav: be safe ava

[13:53:26]  Shameena “Well wishes”

RP Log End

And that was my last in-character conversation in SL Gor.

Lots of things have happened since my departure from sl gor, sadly not for the better. I heard of several others deciding they’d had enough of gor, as if I’d started some kind of Exodus, but that is heresy and I have nothing to back it up.

Things that definitely did happen and related to people and places I have mentioned,included:

• The departure of Mariko from Forest Moon, that she writes about in her Gazzette Editorial in October 2018. This caused a mix of emotions for me. Part of me thought “told you so” after the events nearly a year previous when she invited Forest Moon in, I saw and felt the lack of sisterhood she mentions right away. However a more rational part of me was sad for her, it was obviously a very hard choice to make. But is no surprise that such a strong leader and Gor player, that I have the greatest respect for, was able to move on to another tribe fairly quickly.
• The disbanding of Forest Moon (1st February 2019) Was sad but inevitable I thought.
• The closure of Elation and Three Moon Valley regions. (1st March 2019) Elation was where my tavern was located and where a lot of my story rp took place. This was a very sad day and a great loss to sl gor. As it says in the linked post: “a very big thank-you is owed to Anjel Goodnight” for keeping the sims going for so long. 

And in the words of Forest Gump, “that’s all I have to say about that”. I hope you enjoyed reading my story despite it’s length. I may post other snippets of rp if I come across them.

Please feel free to leave a comment on this or any of the other parts.

Ava

Shekinah Arani huntress,Elation Tavern Keeper,Forest Moon Friend,Last of the Shekinah, Ikeri Tribe Friend, Dani’s Band Friend and Free Merchant.

Continued from Part 4  (Read from the beginning Here)

On my next trade venture I visited once again the land of the Zima tribe, which wasn’t a particularly eventful trip. Since despite having assisted Bodi with the running of the nearby tavern, I had not formed a particularly strong bond with them. Maybe some readers will see the irony of this when contrasted against the events in Part 1. Given that my supposed association with Zima resulted in me sadly having to leave Elation. (SL drama is a strange thing.)

However in sl gor (one incarnation of) the city of Tharna is on the neighboring sim, in the books obviously it is a great distance away.

I headed over to the city in search of the head merchant or some official I could ask about setting up shop or any required trading permits and was in luck.

End RP Log

There were new vacant stalls that I could occupy with my drinks merchandise for only a small percentage of sales. So a very worthwhile trip, or so I thought.

Ava looks at her list and ponders “Yes, the Veck’En next I think.” and heads to the the docks..

Start RP Log

Continued from Part 3  (Read from the beginning Here if you’ve missed the earlier parts)

So I was now a merchant, with a base in a remote outpost.

In Gor there is a very rigid caste hierarchy system, each with associated colours that are worn by people to identify them. In my case being born of a Tavern Keeper father, that made me of Merchant caste,which has the colours white & gold. I decided if I was going to do this,the red dress would have to go and I’d have to adopt my caste colours.

My first step would have to be re-establish contact with groups and individuals that had passed through the tavern and already knew (and so wouldn’t shoot me on sight). Gor is not a very safe place for a lone woman.

This would have to start with Dani’s camp nearby to see which of my tavern workers Bodi had been able to retrieve and deliver there, since doing this on my own would be far from practical and a Free woman without servants would be very unusual.

Bodi had been able to find five people, four females (Dove,Lips,Mara,Shirin)and the single male (Nemo) I had acquired not long before the fire. However only four were present at the camp. Bodi found out that Mara,unbeknown to me, had been asleep upstairs in the tavern! Fortunately she had also made it out but lost her way in the dark and wandered for a time before finding her way to the Ikeri camp after I had been taken from there by bodi. I would have to collect her from the ikeri camp.

So I made a list of who I had to visit after Dani and packed up my trade samples.

I had prepared some sample barrels of drink as gifts for the groups I would be visiting, with my new trading symbol instead of the tarn bird of the tavern.

First I headed back to the Ikeri camp in my new Merchant clothing, including a hooded veil. Veils were not often worn in the North,despite being mandatory in the South, but I wanted to disguise my identity to some degree for the time being.

I arrived at the Ikeri camp and was let in by Mara, who did not recognize me in my current guise, but I was apparently a Free merchant wanting to trade. Inside the gates I removed my veil and Mara nearly fainted with surprise. First she was pleased to see me, it had been over a month since bodi took my prone body away in a boat, she did not know if I had survived. That quickly turned to fear which I was not expecting, it turned out she liked living with the Ikeri and didn’t want to be taken from there. So I spoke to Sky.

The feeling was apparently mutual, they liked having her there, she was a nice girl and a good worker, so it was agreed she would stay there under their care and protection.

I had decided it would be useful to have someone in these parts that could keep me updated on local affairs, for example I wouldn’t want to be bringing goods to trade into the area if there was a conflict between locals.

So my next visit would be to the Sheku to the south-west. I knew one of the former Shekinah Arani, Tara Freckleface, had gone there after the Forest Moon incident. So it would be safe for me to approach and would be welcomed.

Start RP log:

Tara: Tal, Ava *smiles

Kristin: yes tal again. you just missed Cally. she went comatose

Ava: Tara!

Ava: Tal indeed!

Ava: can I come in?

Ava smiles and hugs her friend

Tara hugs my old lovingly

Ava: good to see you in so long

Tara: If you have a weapon, just drop it near the gate inside, dear. But we welcome

Ava drops her whip to the foloor outside and steps in

Tara: Be seated my friend *smiles*

Ava: thankyou

Ava opens her backpack and takes out a container that was occupying most of it’s space and hands it to tara

Ava: I may no longer have a tavern, but my new role as a merchant will still involve drink..a sample

Tara smiles and pulls Ava close, half in her lap, but then she sees  a containerd offered to me…”For me? I’m surprised”

Ava smiles waiting for tara to recognize the embelem on the barrel

Ava: I chose that for my mark

Ava: in red instead of black

Ani: will you go trade Kristin?

Tara: Oh dear!! You’re spoiling me, or this tribe, Ava… paga… It’s very welcome, we’re running as bit short nowadays. Thank you very much

Tara looks sad “No tavern any more? how come?

Ava: it burned

Tara: You mean the tavern at Elation?

Ava: the tavern burned and i fell in the river, but I have other friends and was cared for while I was sick, so now I have gone from tavern keeper to merchant

Ava: you recognize the mark I presume?

Ava: I thought it apropriate

Tara: The white and gold matches beautiful with you sis *smiles

Ava smiles “thankyou”

Tara: Yes, I recognize the mark on the barrel, I will try not to notice it.

Tara: It has bad remembrances

Tara: But paga is unpolitic hehe

Ava: ah, but in red it is my symbol of defiance

Ava grins

Tara: In that case I apologize

Ava: it is fine

Ava: you all seem quite settled now

Tara: Yes, I am… I have found a home, an own hut sharing with my sis Jess *blushes*  and thanks to the Goddess no responsabilities, just an huntress… the only thing which worries me is that I might be expecting…

Ava gasps “Oh..my! That is not good!” Rumages in her bag “you want some slave wine to fix that?

Tara: Too late, I fear, but thanks… slave wine does not make undone a pregnancy, it only prevents it

Tara: I have been raped by a wild Tuchuk… it was awful

Ava: I used to give it to my girls regularly, never had to deal with the after

Ava looks over at footsteps “Tal Cally”

Cally: smiles Tal Ava

Cally: nice to see you here

Cally: tal tara

Tara: Tal, my En!  I suppose you know Ava?

Ava: I brought a small gift, a small barrel of my brand of paga

Cally: smiles……how nice …thank you

Cally: so what news from your travels Ava…..I see a massive outlaw fort is being built in Three Moon Valley? “

Ava: I would not know

Ava: I visited the ikeri recently but didn’t explore any further there

Cally: Nods…an unusual tribe

Tara: I saw that bunker too…

Ava: unfortunately on my first visit, forest moon raided them while I was there. So they now know I survived my fall into the river, which is unfortunate

Tara: Ikerei you visited? You know Prinven? She’s manufacturer of wonderful perfumes. A merchant should be interested!

Ava: I do know her, I did not have time to talk trade on my second visit, I was there to check up on some property that I hoped they had found.

Ava: My girl, mara, was still in the tavern

Ava: she ran from the fire and to the ikeri camp

Ava: they saw my collar on her and took her in

Tara: And sis you find her?

Ava: so she is well and making herself useful, so I have my own eyes and ears in that part of gor now

Ava: she was terrified when I arrived, thought I would take her away from there. But it serves my purposes beter that she stay

Tara looks at the tribe flag and shivers at the strong breeze from the west, then answers Ava: “Ikerei are good people generally…  “

Ava: Sky pulled me out of the river..so yes!

Tara nods  has it been clarified how the fire originated?

Ava: I am now setting up my merchant business in a northern outpost

Peyton shouts: arrows flying……..we’re being attacked

Ava blushes “errr..the fire was my fault”

Tara: Well, I certainly will visit you, buying some beads and mirrors *giggles

Ava groans at the sound of arrows “I haven’t missed that sound “

Tara shouts: ATTACK!!

End RP Log

As you can see the camp was attacked while I was there. So since I’m appalling at combat, I stayed out the way, but rather than sit idle, I played paramedic. The GM system allows for players to “bandage” each other, restore their hit points, so I ran back and forth along the wall bandaging people when they got critical. This was well appreciated, they said they’d probably have lost if I hadn’t been bandaging. Half an hours good deed would be remembered in the future no doubt.

I look at my list of contacts to visit and pondered where to go next .. Continued in Part 5

Click here for Part 5

Continued from part 2 (Read from the beginning Here)

Ava asks a little unsure having only been to the place once before “Is this Dani’s camp?”

Akashana  looks  over the  fire  to  Ava.. “Dani is EN here”  she  states  simply  and  kicks  the  thigh of  Bay  a  little  annoyed  he  is  still kneeling and  not  serving the  visitors

Ava sighs with relief now knowing where she is and she is safe

While I slept bodi worked to find my tavern workers and have them brought to the camp, so that their service would help compensate the panthers for my residence in their camp. The one you will hear most of is a girl by the name of “Lips”, who proved to be the most loyal during this journey.

I woke occasionally during this time, one time of note was when a healer came to the camp and examined me.

I was unable to find an rp log for this, however I did find the healers prescription for treatment:

Lady Ava has an amoebic infection from being  submerged in the river  recently. There is not much  we can  do  except  build  her bodies  defences up and  help  her  purge the infection. Here is  what I want her  to have.

    1. She  needs plenty  of fresh clean water and or  tea. Cherry Bark and cinnamon  bark in particular.. Mint tea if her stomach get upset

    2. Feed her plenty  of  fruits and melons. Cherries in particular.

    3. Leaving  her a mild antibiotic to  take  twice a day..

    4. No cheese, but mildly spices suls and lean meats in small amounts.

Make  sure  everyone  follows this. I will check on her  as  well.

Thank you

Sigmond Jones, Physician

 

This “sickness” was deliberate story element that allowed me to take a break of about a month from sl Gor to consider what I would do next. It was a year to the day between placing my new tavern building and sending out the Tavern Fire rp notecard.

Towards the end of this period of sickness Dani’s band moved their camp (the SIM closed). I felt perhaps it was time to try life in a gorean city…

Start rp log:Ava stirs as she hears footsteps in the hut
Ava turns over and looks up “Lips?”

Lips greetings my Mistress
Ava: Is something wrong? I heard a lot of noise in the camp
Lips “Mistress, the panthers are moving their camp, we have to leave, your sister left a note”Ava sits up startled “they’re moving? We must leave! ” sways a little at the sudden movement and looks about her
Lips hold Mistress by her hand and helped her in getting up “Mistress is there anything you want to take with you”
Ava passes the blanket covering her to the girl “quickly bundle up my good clothes and things into this and the bottle of water”
Lips takes up the blanket and started bundling things up “Mistress where will we go?”
Ava takes the note from the girl as she picks things up and reads through it “Ah bodi says she has found somewhere for me to go and paid a months rent for me in advance! It appears to be a city,called Skargill, judging by the map.”
Ava pulls on her boots grateful they have had time to dry out and are in a better state than her red dress
Ava looks at the map again “I’ve not heard of it, but I’m sure a captain will have. Lets get to the dock”

Lips picks up the luggage and follows Mistress
Ava looks about the camp sad to be leaving the place that has sheltered her and heads to the gate and the dock
Ava: which way to the dock girl? I don’t remember my way in
Ava stumbles slightly on the log bridge, unsteady on her feet still after her sickness
Ava eventually finds her way to a dock and shows the captain the map of where she wants to go
End of rp log.

Ava steps off the boat followed by her girl,Lips, and heads to the town gate. She tries the door but it doesn’t budge so she rings the bell and a slavegirl appears and lets them in.

Start rp log:
Ava: Tal, my name is Ava.  My sister has rented a house here for me, I have a map of where it is

Janet [Janetstar]: Greetings Misstress

Ava: Ah there you are my girl

Lips: Greetings Sister

Janet [Janetstar]: Greetings Karijra

Ava: My name is Ava, this is my girl by the name of Lips. I have traveled far from the forests, I believe there is High Caste housing here? Could you show me the way?

Janet [Janetstar]: Yes Misstress we do have a few did you rent the House over by the Long Hall Mistress

Ava: I believe that’s what my sister said in her note yes

Janet [Janetstar]: this one that is open

Janet [Janetstar]: i can show you your sister home

Ava: I had to cross a bridge to get to it, further from here

Janet [Janetstar]: yes misstress

Janet [Janetstar]: i can show you your sister home

Janet [Janetstar]: this is your sister home

Ava pushes open the door and looks around

Ava: She seems to have found a nice place for me to finish my recovery

Lips follows Mistress inside the house

Ava: Well lips, looks like this will be home for a while

Lips: Yes, my Mistress

Ava: Looks awfully bare, but I’m sure we can make ot habitable

Lips “yes my Mistress

End rp log

However this turned out to be a complete waste of time. The very next day I logged back in to find an empty sim. It became apparent (after some rather strong words with one of the owners that was there),that while I’d been sleeping (in real-life, not the rp) the owners of this brand new sim had a major fall-out and were closing the place!

So evidently Ava wasn’t destined for city life and retraced her steps to follow Dani’s band to their new camp.

The next morning Ava awakes to a rumbling in the city then sudden eerie silence, something is clearly very wrong. She quickly dresses, glad that the slaves have been able to repair her favourite dress and won’t have to wear the scraps of clothing the panther girls had been kind enough to loan her.  She steps out the door of the house to a horrific scene of emptiness. Very few buildings remain standing and those that are,are mostly in ruins. She takes a final look around, glad she had sent Lips elsewhere the night before. She scoops up her few remaining possessions and runs toward the dock,hoping it intact and a ship is still there.

As she approaches she sees the ship that brought her just the day before preparing to cast off. She calls rp them “Tal! Wait! I need passage!” The captain looks at her for a moment seemingly not recognizing her in her much better attire then recognizes the fur cloak she had still draped over her shoulders and answers, “yes Lady where do you wish to go this time? Was this not your destination? ”

Ava takes a step into the boat to better address him “yes, this was the place I was given directions to,but as you can see,it’s not fit for anybody to occupy, let alone a Free woman. Since I have no alternative destination available to me I need you to return me to the dock where you collected me yesterday. Hopefully from there I can find  a tracker to help me find the camp the panthers moved to.” Ava holds up a silver tarn disk she had liberated from one of the houses on her way to the dock “I’m sure this will cover your inconvenience captain”,she places it on the rail next to him and without another word heads to the sheltered part of the deck, leaving the captain and crew to their jobs.

Arriving back at Dani’s old camp,Ava uses her rather rusty tracking skills learnt from the panthers to follow the departing band, who hadn’t made much attempt to hide their path. She follows it to another dock..

On arrival at the docks where Dani’s band had apparently landed,I see a stone building across a rope bridge,clearly some kind of outpost or trading station. Perhaps city life wasn’t for Ava, but such a place would definitely have more comfortable beds than furs on the floor in a tent or hut.

I approach the gate cautiously now dressed once again in her repaired red dress, that will probably need replacing at some point soon. I did not however make it as far as the bridge, I met a Free man and his slave on the path.

While I was exchanging simple pleasantries with him a huntress emerged from the trees leading a kajira, which was to my surprise my First girl from my old tavern! Knowing that the panther band would have taken my other tavern workers with them to their new camp, I decided that despite how it pained me, to let the huntress keep her.

I then went somewhat dejectedly to sit on the dock to consider my options. I resolved that I’d had enough of tavern life and that having been born into Merchant caste family, I could use the contacts I made while running the tavern, combined with the stash of coin I had hidden a short distance from the tavern, to take up the trading way of life. I looked at the nearby outpost and got to my feet and headed for the gate.

When I entered the outpost the only person in sight was a lone kajira. I enquired of her owner who was apparently the head slaver there. I then had the girl show me around housing she knew may be vacant that I could occupy for my trade business. The third property she showed me seemed suitable and vacant, so I decided I would ask the head merchant for this one. As the girl and I returned to the town square a man arrived and introduced himself as the Tavern Keeper. Being in official position in the village he was able to accept me as Merchant on behalf of the Head Merchant and allow me to move into the house I liked. It appeared I would now indeed become a merchant!

There’s a little more to come before the end of this tale in the next part:

Click here for Part 4

Continued from Part 1..

She stands there a moment in shock, when another loud roar sounds from the tavern as the other barrels catch fire. She instinctively takes a step back and falls into the dark river and is carried away by the fast current. Before she loses consciousness from the cold she thanks the Priest-Kings she’d sent her girls to help at another tavern the night before and hopes an ikeri sentry from their vantage point above the tavern had seen her fall.

Only the Priest-Kings know where,when, or even if Lady Ava will wash up on a river bank somewhere.

I was overwhelmed by the responses to Ava’s plight, apparently I was more popular than I thought.

 I picked the most plausible ones and planned a storyline to incorporate two of them. The immediate next step was sensibly to the nearest neighboring band,the Ikeri.

it was late in the night …all seem quiet in ikerei forest ..but the attention of Sky is attracted by a strong glow coming from the tavern of elation

Sky approach on the border of the camp et see the tavern in fire .

She quick think about her new friend Ava is in trouble

She hurries to cross the river to see more closely what is happening, she see big fire all the tavern burning …Sky try to look in and yell Ava…Ava!!!! are you here !!!…no answer to his call

Sadly she walk around and see a form on the ground in the deep night …she come closer and find Ava lifeless .

She take  her in  arms …give some slap to make her regain consciousness….but she cant ….

Ava !!! wake up !!! sigh

Sky do not know what to do … Prin the shaman is on a trip and he has to take a decision, she can’t leave Ava here.

If the Forest Moon find her she will be in danger …she wraps Ava in her coat  so she does not get cold….

She considers putting Ava in a boat to send her away from these lands but is uncertain if she would survive the cold, so decides to bring her into the camp.

She whistles to one of her sisters and together they move Ava inside and put her where she will be safe and warm.

She knows that Forest Moon might send people looking for her friend, after the tavern burning, so she instructs her sisters not to let any know that Ava is there except for Ava’s sister by blood, Bodi.

(Sky Valerian, En of the Ikeri)

Bodi retrieved my prone body from the ikeri camp having seen shreds of my distinctive red dress nearby and correctly summised where I had gone or been taken.

Bodi took me to the camp of Dani in the remote Northern forest.

I had become ill from my time in cold water so was barely conscious during the journey and arrival at the camp.

Start RP Log:

Bodi pulls Ava out of the boat

Bodi: drags Ava up the slope

[03:06:37]  Danis Band Camp Gate shouts: BodicaPagan Resident knocks loudly at the door ♫

Bodi shouts: can some one help me

Akashana  draws  her  bow  and sends an arrow  towarsd the strangers  to  pin it  in the wood  very close  to  them..”WHAT YOU WNAT  STRANGER!”

 GM 4.69 ~ Akashana Resident hit you with ArrowS1 X-Blood [by LR] Elite 5.03 (20%) – strike type: arrow~direct ~

((Yes, they shot at the sick woman…!!))

Bodi shouts:  i have my sister ava , she know dani , i was asked to bring her here

Bodi: my sister ava is ill she needs a healer ,she was in the river her tavern burnt down , ikeri said to bring her here

Akashana  walks  up  “how  sick?  is  it Bazi  Plague?

Bodi: no not contagious , she must have hit her head in the river ,Bodi: she coughs myust be the water in her lungs. Can you let us in , i need to get her warm by a fire. Please!

Akashana “very well  you can leave  her  there  and  go  back to the village”  looks  suspiciously  at the strangers  “I will have a  slave  warm her”

Bay [Bailey Kerang] looked passed his Mistress her legs seeing the two Mistresses. He didn’t speak as he didn’t wish to interrupt the free as they were talking knowing his Mistress would not be pleased if he did.

Bodi: please let me stay till she is well, dani had a trade deal, i can carry this on

Bodi: i will leave as soon as she regains conscious ,  my name is bodi ava sister by blood sobs

Akashana looks at the  unconscious woman..  “very well..” she  taps  Bay  on the backside.. “go  fetch me the  Mistresses  bow  mine”  directs  him towards  Bodi..  “you dont  object to  giving me  your  bow  then?”

Bodi sighs and hands her bow over

Bay [Bailey Kerang]: Yes my Mistress he said as he crawled towards the Mistresses

Bodi: be careful with that bow , boy i say it very valuble

Bay [Bailey Kerang] opened his hands to receive the bows so he could take them back to his Mistress. He nods to the Mistress as she told him to be careful “Yes Mistress i will be careful with it” he said and smiled at her as he crawled back to his Mistress to hand her the bows.

Bay [Bailey Kerang] crawled back to his Mistress and handed her the bow ” My Mistress , this is the bow the Mistress gave me ” he said and presented her the bow.

Akashana  now  walks  up  slips  her  drawn bow  on her shoulder  and  “be welcome at  our  fire  then.. “BAY! carefully  carry the hurt  Mistress inside  and  warm her  by the  fire  HAR  TA  dont  you she  she is  hurt!”  she  sanps  impatiently at  him as she  takes  the visitors  bow  from him

Bodi wipse ava face and looks toward the huntress,  she need help please

[03:18:07]  Danis Band Camp Gate opened by Akashana Resident Ⓜ

Bay [Bailey Kerang] nods his head to his Mistress as he stood up carefully laid the seemingly injured Mistress down on the floor letting her rest her back against a treestump

Ava groans slightly but does not wake

Bodi pulls ava towards the heat of the fire , she needs warm dry clothes , her is still wet from river , maybe a blanket,  some warm soup perhaps,  i will feed her

Akashana  Keeps  an eye  on the  Male  slave.. then walks  over  to  the hurt Ava..  “BAY! why are you still kneeling  get the blanket  and some soup!”

Liz: tal akashana

Liz: greetings travelers

Akashana  smiles as she looks at Liz.. “tal Liz  this  is Bodi  a friend  of  DAni and her  Sister  both are under the protection of  the camp

Bay [Bailey Kerang] nods his head to her ” Yes my Mistress ” he said and stood up greeting Mistress Liz “greetings Mistress’ he said and went over to the mainhut to get a blanket , some clothes and some soup

Liz: hi Bay

Bodi: Tal Huntresses, I am Bodi , sister to Ava Here ,

Liz: I always think travelers are trouble, you are lucky i did not greet you. But I am new here and i an glad to see you are friends

Bodi: i was working in the zima tavern as tavern keeper , i heard my sister was in trouble, so i came to the land elation , ignor the small one who spaeaks  of trouble,   the ikeri told me to bring her here,

Bay [Bailey Kerang] rushed back to the campfire and was slightly out of breath. He kneels down besides bodi and had some clothes and a blanket in his hands and offered it to the Mistress. “Mistress I brought you some dry clothes and a blanket as requested. The soup i will get after this Mistress”

Bodi: nods help me undress her and put her in warm blanket , then we get the soup in her

Akashana  turns  as Eyota comes  up   “greetings  Elderly Respected Eyota”  she  says  with a smirk

Bay [Bailey Kerang] nods as he came closer “Yes Mistress” he said as he placed the clothes on the log next to him and the blanket on top. He went close to Ava as he helped undressing her , she was actually quite pretty, He piled up the wet clothes on another log and tried to hide his manparts between his legs to avoid any natural reactions to be seen.

Bay [Bailey Kerang]: Greetings Mistress

Bodi takes the soup and helps ava feed , noting the watmth coming back in to her body, ” Tal There i am Bodi sister to Ava, rubbing her arms and legs to get more warmth

єуσтα [aileen Rang] stuck out her tongue at Akashana “You make me sound like a withered old hag.” she’d chuckle teasingly and shook her head. Nonetheless, she’d soon wave to the rest and waved a hand at everyone around, “Well a passed out woman by the fire being undressed. Sounds about the right way to start the morning.” she’d sigh, “What happened exactly? And who is..” she’d point to Bodi, “Ah Ava? Like the tavern owner who trades with us?”

Ava groans slightly as she is moved and feels something warm in her mouth. Vaguely registering the scent of bodi’s cheap perfume she guesses it’s safe and swallows

Bodi is happy to see some change in ava gives more soup , well she coming too food always did that for her

Bay [Bailey Kerang] watched closely as the Mistress covered Mistress Ava up and fed her some soup. She seemed to have it all under control so Bay went back to his Mistress to kneel at her side.

Bodi turns to the new comer , is there a healer here  who can check her over?

ʏᴀɴᴀ sʜᴇᴘᴀʀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴜɴᴛᴏᴜᴄʜᴀʙʟᴇ [Johana Haystack] entered the firepit, saw the crowd and saluts to everyone “Tal there sister, slut, im looking for my daughter leona, ooh for those that doesnt know me, Im Leona’s evil Mom”  saluts again and continue shuffling her way to Leona’s hut, where she hides….

Akashana turns  to look as a huntress comes  to the fire.. “Tal”  she  says  and  smacks  Bay  upside the head  for  no particular reason

Bay [Bailey Kerang] grits his teeth as he was suddenly smacked on his head and looked at his Mistress to see what he did wrong this time

Bay [Bailey Kerang] looked at his Mistress ” Can i perhaps serve you anything my Mistress ? It was a long day for you after all ” he asked her.

єуσтα [aileen Rang] shook her head in the negative as the woman asked her about a healer, “Unfortunately, our healer Julie has been out for some time. I would say the alternative would be to bring her to the healer, Ethan, in the outpost. However, were not on good terms right now. But a panther camp really isn’t the best place for proper medical care.” her chest fell as she’d sigh and she’d move to sit on the log beside Ava. In a cursory glance, she’d peruse her features and tried to determine her ailment, “I would say your best bet is to sail her off to Mirkwood. There’s a healer’s house gsAkashana nods.. “some Larma  Bay  and  warmed  Wine  Bay”

Bodi cringe at these words, ” there is more to the tail , she is also fugitive  from some lands and  is wanted by ermm some , they blame her for burning down the tavern,  is is needed a safe place to stay  , too

Bay [Bailey Kerang] gave his Mistress a warm smile ” Yes my Mistress, Larma and warmed wine it is my Mistress ” he said and stood up to go to the kitchen area so he could prepare her food and drink

Ava lifts her head groggily, looks up and sees the legs of panther girls

Ava murmurs “where am I?”

Akashana: ?me  Slave  Outpost  5  she  syas  as the  woman asks

Bodi drys her dress next to the fire , ” AVA i say loud ,  i brought you here with the map i was given , do you remember  what happened

єуσтα [aileen Rang] rose a brow at Bodi and shook her head as she’d whisper a soft laugh, “You shouldn’t go around telling us that she’s a wanted woman. If there’s a bounty on her head, I am sure some of my Sisters would want to sell her off to the highest bidder.” she’d look at Akashana and just grinned widely. But her expression sobered soon and she’d look back to Bodi. “She may stay here under the understanding that I am not responsible for her life. And, like I said, I don’t have a medic who can tend to her now. So it’s hard to say whether or not she’ll pull through.”

Ava gasps” *slave* outpost?” and drops her head as the weariness overcomes her again

Akashana  began  to  look over the  pretty  bow  that  Bodi  had  gieven her..  “this is a nice  Bow  i will swap  it  with you!”  she  declares  to  Bodi

Bay [Bailey Kerang] finally made it to the kitchen area and looked around to see what he needed. His Mistress asked for some larma and warmed wine and looked around for a plate. He found a perfect bowl instead and knew it would be better suitable for the larma and made sure it was clean and in perfect condition. Then taking a goblet from the shelves he inspected it for cracks or possible chips that came off. Bay smiled pleased as he so none and carefully polished it clean with a repcloth. Then as he looked in the kitchen he found some Sa – Tarna wine which was perfect for warmed wine and poored some in the kettle he had found and started to warm it over the fire. Bay had to be careful with the fire as he was naked and didn’t wish to turn his manpart into a hotdog so he maneuvered in a bit of a strange way but it would get the job done.

Bodi listens to the words of the Huntress, and is relieved she offer  to give safety to her sister,     turning to the huntress she first met,  No  it is very valuable, and has new gut on it and i am used to it,  but i have  and ava have  coin   let me check her her purse , i look in her clothes

Akashana  would  lift her chin in agreement. “coin will do  fine, payment includes the warmth of the fire  the protection of the camp and  complimentary use and obedience  of  camp  slaves”

Bay [Bailey Kerang] softly sang a song to himself , an old sailors song he had learned a long time ago as he did his very best for his beautiful Mistress. While the wine was warming he peeled some fresh larma’s and pulled it apart. He then carefully aranged the larma pieces in the bowl and smiled pleased at his work before placing the bowl on the serving tray. Bay then looked at the wine and made sure it was the perfect temperature as he only wanted the best for his Mistress. Bay was pleased and filled up the goblet with the warmed Sa-tarna wine and filled it up till just below the rim. Then placing the goblet on the serving tray as well and make his way back to his Mistress. He had to lift the tray a bit higher as usual to not hang his man part on the tray as that would be a big no no to his Mistress. So carefully he walked back to his Mistress so he could serve her.

Ava half registering the conversation she hears the word “protection” and relaxes presuming bodi has taken her someone safe

Bodi looks in the clothes of ava, finding a purse, takes  1 silvercoin , and holds up ,  when she able i will leave i found canoe i left on the bank ,  feeds ava  more  soup,  i thinks she is waking up,  when she does i will go , and leave her to your safe  place  , i  have   trade  if you need things like metal

Bay [Bailey Kerang] finally made it back safely and placed the serving tray on the floor as he kneels down in front of his Mistress. Bay picked up the bowl with the larma up first and offered it to his Mistress with his head and eyes lowered respectfully. ” My Mistress may i offer you some of the finest larma i could find for you. I already peeled it and prepared it for your convenience my Mistress. I hope you will enjoy it my Mistress” he said and waited for her to take the bowl so he could serve her the warmed Sa-Tarna wine as well

Ava feels the spoon again at her mouth and takes some more

Ava rolls over and leans against the log and looks about her still very daze

Akashana  “nods” and  lifts  her  hand  for  the  Silver  coin  “toss  the  coin over  Lady”  Reached  to  takes  some  Larma  and  sucks  on one  slice..  then  place the sucked  out  skin back on the tray and reached  for  the warm wine.. “If  you wish  a  slave  to  refresh  you before  you  travel  back Bodi..  the  man here  will  do as  you command”  she  lifts  away  the  drink and  directs  Bay  to  offer  service

Ava takes in her surrroundings through blurry eyes

Bodi nods i will have some warm wine and perhaps ava will too,   , i hope to be on my way , hides my feather in my hair  ,

Ava asks a little unsure having only been to the place once before “Is this Dani’s camp?”

Akashana  looks  over the  fire  to  Ava.. “Dani is EN here”  she  states  simply  and  kicks  the  thigh of  Bay  a  little  annoyed  he  is  still kneeling and  not  serving the  visitors

Ava sighs with relief now knowing where she is and she is safe

End of RP Log.

My distinctive red dress was ruined from the water and the rough  journey and I was given some spare clothing that the panthers had acquired from somewhere and moved into a hut to recuperate.

Wait and see what is in store for Ava when she wakes..in part 3

In August 2016 a friend by the name of Empathy persuaded me to come visit a Gorean sim with her. I was extremely hesitant and wary, the little I had heard of “Gor” wasn’t very positive. So I grabbed some cheap suitable attire (cringeworthy on reflection) and went along. I was introduced to a group of “Panthers”, which I am later to understand as a shortening of “panther girls”. Women that have fled the male dominated society of Gor in favour of a life in the forests, called so because they often wear skins of the forest panthers.

They seemed very friendly and welcoming (despite the bows and knives they all carried) inviting me into their camp. This was the band known as the Sha’Kar Arani tribe, led by a woman named Mari.

I visited a few times over the following weeks and was made a junior member of the tribe.

I spent a bit of time there, learning how things ran, until I got in my first fight. I was with another member of the band not far from the camp when a guy turns up, she exchanged some minor insults with him but he appeared to have been leaving. Somehow an arrow was fired and things escalated rapidly, ending up with both of us bound and being led to his home.

I should clarify here that these sims use a combat system called Gor Meter,or GM for short. Once you have received a number of hits from compatible weapons you’re “unconscious” and your avatar drops to the floor and you are unable to move. You can then be bound and led on a leash. So when I say “being led” it was exactly that, no choice in the matter.

This was a real potential deal breaker for me, I found it a very unpleasant experience. So I started spending less time in the camp and more in the dock safe zone.

After being in sl gor a few months (approximately November 2016) Mari could see I wasn’t enjoying being a Panther, so she came to me with a proposal. She asked me if I would like to take over running of the tavern, since it was currently without a Keeper, I jumped at the chance.

At this point in writing this post I had a major case of de-ja-vu and realised I’d written a very similar piece in 2017 for the Gazzette of Gor blog and used that to revise some of this account.

I then wrote up the beginnings of a backstory for Ava’s presence in the forest:

Raised as a tavern keepers daughter in the city, I fled a unsuitable match and was found by a tribe of panthers as a teenager. I learned their ways but when the chance presented itself to take on a disused tavern I seized it with both hands, abandoning the primitive Panther life. Opting for a safer and more comfortable life than a panther camp.

A couple of months went by after taking the position the En(Mari) and Tor (like a tribe tutor) came by and said they had a gift for me. The En gave me a Huna  feather, making me full member of the tribe, not for the usual reason however. Normally a cub is made a panther after demonstrating skill in combat or such like during a raid, which in my role as tavern keeper I didn’t participate. I was bestowed the feather for showing dedication and enhancing the general roleplay (rp) experience for everyone. It deeply warmed my heart, I had not expected it, I had just taken on the role with sincerity and enthusiasm. For the most important of reason in SL, it was fun!

Around February 2017 the Sha ‘Kar Arani disbanded. This wasn’t such a disaster as it might have been. If I recall correcry it took just a few days for a new tribe to rise from the ashes; The Shekinah Arani.

I was proud to be one of the 6 founding members of this new tribe. So much so that I wanted to celebrate it by making a tribe tattoo for the members. I took the Phoenix emblem and made it into such. There were discussions of size and location on the body, but the final decision was on the thigh:

The next month, on 17th March 2017 I replaced the small simple tavern with new larger two-story building. This allowed a lot more people to fit inside improving roleplay considerably. The number of visitors inside the tavern went from occasionally double figures to 30-40 visitors a day.

Having invested in this new building and settled into the role,some more appropriate clothing was in order. In my former attire of leathers and cloaks I had been mistaken for a panther on a couple of occasions in the old tavern. I needed something distinctive that set me apart and made it quite clear who was in charge there.

The quiver of throwing knives I had worn before was stowed under the bar for when traveling afar. A coiled whip hung from a thong on my hip instead,the simple presence of which was sufficient deterrent for most would be troublemakers. For those that it wasn’t..I had a set of stocks.

There had always been other buildings around the tavern location. A blacksmith’s forge, a healers hut and similar. Some extra buildings that people could use for accommodation were added and the area became a small village outpost.

The docks of sl gor sims are always safe-zones, allowing for people to arrive safely if their intention was only rp. This safe zone was extended to encompass this outpost village, making the area roleplay only.

There was an article written about this significant change published on the gazzette of gor blog,which you can read HERE and I recommend you do. It is a great example of rp in the tavern and I really wish I had more examples.

Since the tavern was going so well I wanted to add something  to the RP, a little realism when buying food,drinks and accommodation in the tavern for example. I came up with the idea of a coin system. There are existing trade and bartering systems such as G&S, but these seemed over complicated for what I wanted to achieve. So I made some coins with the tavern name on one side and my name on the other.

I distributed some of these among the locals to try out the principle, as well as leaving some scattered across the sim, but there wasn’t sufficient interest and I didn’t have an infrastructure to back it up.

Also as part of this same idea for increasing RP, I made my own Elation Tavern branded barrels and casks of drinks to trade. These containers were scripted for realism with different ones containing different numbers of drinks. They would also notify me when they were empty so I could RP another visit. These clearly didn’t catch on either, since I never received any “container empty ” type messages from the samples I gave out.

Given the number of storylines running through this time period I did consider posting the rp’s. However given just 5 minutes of chat could generate several pages of text, a morning of rp would be a tedious read!

However I’m now regretting that choice, since it leaves large gaps in this tale for the time period in which I was most active. Perhaps I shall post those later if I can find records.

In the first weeks of December 2017 it was agreed rather quickly(in an hour according to this post , but I’m unsure of the exact timescale), that Shekinah Arani would be merging with a tribe called Forest Moon.

Rather than recounting all the events here, I will just say that I wasn’t too happy about the situation and made me feelings well known,perhaps excessively so. Bodi wrote an article about the merger which you can read here.

Several of the founding members of the Shekinah Arani tribe moved on to different places in the following weeks. I remained as the tavern keeper, however I created a tribe flag with the name Last of the Shekinah and adopted that title occasionally. It was meant mostly humorously while conveying how I felt, not everyone found it amusing.

I felt that summed up the situation, I was one of the last of the founding members. Others just left quietly, but when I’m upset, that is not me. Perhaps I over reacted, having invested too much emotional attachment into this tribe that had been going about a year.

Having recently re-read the chat logs of this time, I think I have some answers for questions raised at the time. I was asked several times, how come despite not living in the tribe camp, but in the tavern for at least a year, why was I so hung-up on the Shekinah Arani name, when others were not?

  I didn’t have an answer at the time, but now I think the answer is actually in the question. It was exactly because I hadn’t lived there that I held it so preciously. I still had the proud glow of being a member of a tribe I’d been a founder of. Despite being just across a sim from the camp, I wasn’t close enough to be aware of possible discontent or other negative issues. So I was as proud of the tribe as I was at the time of founding, naive to any issues that may have existed prior to the merger with Forest Moon.

Despite this change of the tribe, in the larger scheme of things it really didn’t change too much. I remained as the tavern keeper of Elation,rp continued at the tavern, but numbers began to dwindle.

Life in Gor drifted along, locals came and went. I helped out my friend and former tribe sister,Bodi,who had left and was trying to run a tavern elsewhere, since custom had slowed down at my own.

This became known to my tribe and was considered a betrayal,rather than just helping Bodi out, because the place was near the Zima panther camp. This actually made me consider moving there, since I don’t appreciate being thought of as a traitor, but I stayed out of loyalty. At least I would have, but the decision was taken out of my hands, I was removed from the group.

I had already written the beginning of a roleplay storyline for this situation if it arose and here it is:

Ava sits at a table in the darkened empty tavern. Nursing a bowl of paga, having long lost track of how many it was, as she tries to drown the accumulation of recent and past hurts, betrayals, accusations, insults and slights from all corners of her life. She puts it to the side, or tries to, not noticing the bowl fall from table and spill it’s nearly full contents across the floor. The trickling liquid reaches the base of a full barrel of the potent drink.

Ava picks up a candelabra of three candles and heads to the back stairs up to her room. As she bumps into the door frame on her way out, one of the candles falls loose and lands on the wooden floor amongst the liquid. It doesn’t register what is happening to Ava until she hears a roar and a flash of heat and light and she is thrown from the building out the back door.

Ava staggers across to the safety of the river bank. She stands there a moment in shock, when another loud roar sounds from the tavern as the other barrels catch fire. She instinctively takes a step back and falls into the dark river and is carried away by the fast current. Before she loses consciousness from the cold she thanks the Priest-Kings she’d sent her girls to help at another tavern the night before and hopes an ikeri sentry from their vantage point above the tavern had seen her fall.

Only the Priest-Kings know where,when, or even if Lady Ava will wash up on a river bank somewhere.

I sent this in a notecard to every En,band leader or significantly active player that I knew in SL Gor. In the hope that someone would show interest in continuing the story. I was overwhelmed by the response.

To be continued…

Click here for Part 2