The moment you stepped inside the heavy steel gates of Port Kar you acknowledge you are in character. This is Gor, there is no such thing as OOC (Out Of Character).
Outside of the city limits, Port Kar claims sovereignty over the entire Vosk delta. In actuality, Port Kar is unable to effectively control this huge region. Port Kar did situate log outposts on the edges of the delta. These outposts were used primarily by Slavers and trained sleen patrols. Residences are strongly fortified as the citizens often must worry about other residents attacking them.
A common Gorean saying is that the slave chains are heaviest in Port Kar.
1. Be aware of your surroundings and act accordingly. This is a well fortified city, only way in or out is through the huge gates that protect the city which go well under the surface of the water, you must arrive by boat, to the docks and be allowed past the docks by the numerous guards that protect the city. Two separate law enforcement groups exist in the city, the Council Guard and the Arsenal Guard. Anyone NOT arriving at the docks and being shown into the city by a resident will not be considered "within role play
"Port Kar, squalid, malignant Port Kar, scourge of gleaming Thassa, Tarn of the Sea, is a vast, disjointed mass of holdings, each almost a fortress, piled almost upon one another, divided and crossed by hundreds of canals. It is, in effect, walled, though it has few walls as one normally thinks of them. Those buildings which face outward, say, either at the delta or along the shallow Tamber Gulf, have no windows on the outward side, and the outward walls of them are several feet thick, and they are surmounted, on the roofs, with crenellated parapets. The canals which open into the delta of the Tamber were, in the last few years, fitted with heavy, half-submerged gates of bars. We had entered the city through one such pair of gates. In Port Kar, incidentally, there are none of the towers often encountered in the northern cities of Gor. The men of Port Kar had not chosen to build towers. It is the only city on Gor I know of which was built not by free men, but by slaves, under the lash of masters. Commonly, on Gor, slaves are not permitted to build, that being regarded as a privilege to be reserved for free men." Raiders
"For one thing, they had now formed a Council Guard, with its distinctive livery, that was now recognized as a force of the council, and, in effect, as the police of the city. The Arsenal Guard, however, perhaps for traditional reasons, remained a separate body, concerned with the arsenal, and having jurisdiction within its walls." Raiders
2. Port Kar is governed by a Council of Captains.
"Be it known to you, Ubars," said he, "that Slaver, First Slaver of Port Kar, now proposes to the council that it take into its own hands the full and sole governance of the city of Port Kar, with full powers, whether of policy, and decree, of enforcement, of taxation and law, or other pertinent to the administration thereof." Raiders
"Meanwhile, while I had been plying the trade of pirate, the military and political ventures of the council itself, within the city, had proceeded well. For one thing, they had now formed a Council Guard, with its distinctive livery, that was now recognized as a force of the council, and, in effect, as the police of the city. The Arsenal Guard, however, perhaps for traditional reasons, remained a separate body, concerned with the arsenal, and having jurisdiction within its walls. For another thing, the four Ubars, Chung, Eteocles, Nigel and Sullius Maximus, their powers considerably reduced during the time of the unsuccessful coup of Henrius Sevarius, had apparently resigned themselves to the supremacy of the Council in the city. At any rate, for the first time in several years, there was now a single effective sovereign in Port Kar, the Council. Accordingly, its word, and, in effect, its word alone, was law. A similar consolidation and unification had taken place, of course, in the realm of inspections and taxation's, penalties and enforcements, codes and courts. For the first time in several years one could count on the law being the same on both sides of a given canal." Raiders
3. Port Kar recognizes a caste of Thieves, any thieves not belonging to this caste and caught stealing will be dealt with according to the books.
"There is even, in Port Kar, a recognized caste of Thieves, the only such I know of on Gor, which, in the lower canals and the perimeters of the city, has much power, that of the threat and of the knife. They are recognized by the Thief's scar, which they wear as caste mark, a tiny three pronged brand burned into the face in back of and below the eye, over the right cheekbone." (Raiders of Gor, Page 104)
"The caste of thieves was important in Port Kar, and even honored. It represented a skill which in the city was held in high repute. Indeed, so jealous of their prerogatives were the caste of thieves that they often hunted thieves who did not belong to their caste, and slew them, throwing their bodies to the urts in the canals. Indeed, there was less thievery in Port Kar than there might have been were there no caste of thieves in the city. They protected, jealously, their own territories from amateur competition. Ear notching and mutilation, common punishments on Gor for thieves, were not found in Port Kar. The caste was too powerful. On the other hand, it was regarded as permissible to slay a thief or take a female thief slave if the culprit could be apprehended within an Ahn of the theft. After an Ahn the thief, if apprehended and a caste member, was to be remanded to the police of the arsenal. If found guilty in the court of the arsenal, the male thief would be sentenced, for a week to a year, to hard labor in the arsenal or the wharves: the female thief would be sentenced to service, for a week to a year, in a straw -strewn cell in one of Port Kars penal brothels." (Hunters of Gor, Page 304)
4. (Regarding those "cap/kill happy" people who do spontaneous pop in T5's for a swift capturing or kill) If you plan to role-play within Port Kar at any length, we suggest you have read or are at least currently reading the Gorean Novels to properly interact with us. This is a Gorean City and we would like to role-play with those with the same Gorean mind set.
5. Again to re-irritate, Once you enter this city through the docks properly, you acknowledge that it is not a hunting ground, the Free Women and slaves herein are not to be removed, captured or manipulated from this place without the express permission of the Council of Captains.
6. One of the laws of Port Kar states that if you defeat a man in fair combat and you permitted the man the "death of blood and sea," then all his properties become yours. The people of Port Kar love Thassa and they often wish to observe the sea before they die. The men also do not wish to die in their beds. They would rather die by the sword which is considered an honorable way to die. *Note fair battle is considered by Port Kar's fighting rules*
"After the death of Surbus, the woman had been mine. I had won her from him by sword right. I had, of course, as she had expected, put her in my collar, and kept her slave. To my astonishment, however, by the laws of Port Kar, the ships, properties and chattels of Surbus, he having been vanquished in fair combat and permitted death of blood and sea, became mine; his men stood ready to obey me; his ships became mine to command; his hall became my hall, his riches mine, his slaves mine. It was thus that I had become a captain in Port Kar. Jewel of gleaming Thassa." Marauders
7. Any kills have to be role played to that point, meaning an argument (disagreement of some sort) then a fight breaking out (fight being described as a sign of aggression or intent on aggression), and then escalating (form of physical contact before fatal blows on formal attack with a weapon), killing is a last resort after all the above criteria is met. *Note: ANY killing has to be done by valid fighting rules of Port Kar.*
"A fellow was now standing some fifty feet across the room. I had seen the table there earlier. About it had sat some seven or eight fellows, unshaven, dour chaps. Several of them were scarred. Two wore earrings. More than one wore a handkerchief knotted about his head, in the manner of some oarsman, that there heads be protected from the sun. All were armed. "Kind Sirs, no!" called out Tasdron, the tavern's proprietor. There was a sudden sound, that of a short metal blade slipping from a sheath. "A silver tarsk," said the fellow again, holding the drawn blade. Goreans, I knew seldom drew steel unless the intended to make use of it." Rogue
8. Be fully aware of your surroundings and act accordingly for the City you are in. You cannot see the sky by looking up when in someone's house, tavern or Inn. This is a city full of rowdy men, rogues, outlaws and thieves as well as merchants and businessmen, narrow streets and canals, so learn fully your environment and surroundings to role-play accordingly.
9. If any kills, captures, or forced collars are disputed the Administration or Council of Captains shall have the last say. No other forum or venue will be recognized. (This includes all public boards)
10. If a slave partakes in any way at manipulating in any manner to get captured or killed, on purpose, by ignorance or by stupidity, they will be listed as a runaway and banned.
11. Troupes of entertainers will need permission to perform within Port Kar as illustrated within the books.
"Such troupes, incidentally, must petition for the right to perform within a city. Usually a sample performance, or a part of a performance, is required, staged before the high council, or a committee delegated by such a council. Sometimes the actresses are expected to perform privately, being "tested", so to speak, for selected officials. It the troupe is approved it may, for a fee, be licensed.
"No troupe is permitted to perform within city unless it has a license. These licenses usually run for the five days of a Gorean week. Sometimes they are for a specific night or a specific performance. Licenses are commonly renewable, within a given season, for a nominal fee. In connection with the fees for such matters, it is not uncommon that bribes are also involved. This is particularly the case when small committees are involved in the approvals or given individuals, such as a city's Entertainment Master or Master of Revels. There is little secret, incidentally, about the briberies involved. There are even fairly well understood bribery scales, indexed to the type of troupe, its supposed treasury, the number of days requested for the license, and so on. These things are so open, and so well acknowledged, that perhaps one should think of them more as gratuities or service fees than as bribes. More than one Master of Revels regards them as an honest perquisite of his office." (Players of Gor, pages 10-11)
12. Common sense is your friend, use it. If you have questions or concerns voice them with the Administration or Council of Captains otherwise we have no way of helping or assisting.
13. Raids must be carried out when a member of Port Kar is actually here, not be right back or away but actually in room. In order to attempt a raid you have to arrive at the docks and be allowed through the gates by a member of Port Kar or guard. Do remember getting anything out of Port Kar would be next to impossible due to the number of guards and everything having to go out through the heavy iron gates, which again would have to be opened by guards or a resident of Port Kar.
14. Veils are not required to be worn in Port Kar, this does not excuse slavish behavior or sluttish attire, act like a slave become one, Turn Based is not required for capping a FW for acting or dressing like a slave, slave like actions by the Free Woman are determined by the Free Men present.
15. Port Kar does not recognize the institution of Free Companionship. Free women in a steady relationship with a man of Port Kar are simply known as the women of their men.
16. Port Kar is not a safe place for slaves, collared or un-collared, they can and will be captured at the discretion of the Free within Port Kar. Slaves did not roam about freely on Gor.
17. Any slave acting in a non-pleasing form will be punished realistically as a slave on Gor would. Use your head and act Gorean using the discretion of the offense with appropriate punishment. For example a cuff to the mouth or whipping is the most used form of punishment for displeasure. Slaves who are found displeasing may in Port Kar face the Garbage Death. This is where a kajira is bound naked, and hurled to the canal urts in the water.
18. Disguises will not be accepted unless it is by a Free and only a Free, slaves in disguises will not be accepted unless accompanied by the Owner with an explanation. Disguised slaves are not allowed to capture a Free even with an explanation within Port Kar.
19. NPCs are NOT allowed "death blows" to active "real" characters. This includes killing yourself with an NPC.
20. You must list all weapons carried in your profile somewhere even if it is hidden, state hidden then. If you do not list what you carry and you begin combat, your posts will be deemed invalid.
21. Head of the CoC is Slaver; he can assist in problems, safe passage, treaties or to petition the city for residence.
22. The excuse of not having read the rules and laws is not a good enough excuse. You will be held accountable in consequence regardless if you have read the rules and laws or not.
These Rules supersede any and all rules, if you don't like the rules here, don't role play here. These Rules may be modified at any time by the Administration or Council of Captains.
