Magistrate

"The drink she gave me," said Arn, smiling, "was well drugged. I awakened at dawn, with a great headache. My purse was gone."

"Times are hard," said Rim.

"I complained to a magistrate," said Arn, laughing, "but, unfortunately, there was one present who well recalled me, one with whom I had had prior dealings." He slapped his knee. "Soldiers were set upon me, and, over the roofs and into the forests, I barely escaped."
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Page 23


Most ports and islands on Thassa, of course, are not managed by the Merchants, but, commonly, by magistrates appointed by the city councils. In Port Kar, my city, the utilization of the facilities of the port is regulated by a board of four magistrates, the Port Consortium, which reports directly to the Council of Captains, which, since the downfall of the warring Ubars, is sovereign in the city. I suppose the magistrate, who, with his papers, met us at the dock, did not believe my story.
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Page 43


Behind the wagon, in the white robes, trimmed with gold and purple, of merchant magistrates, came five men. I recognized them as judges.
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Page 49


Similarly, slave girls, attempting to escape, can be separated out from free women, even when all are veiled and wear the robes of concealment. Again, the tests may be simple. Once, in Ko-ro-ba, I saw a slaver, before a magistrate, distinguish such a girl, not even one of his own, from eleven free women. Each, in turn, was asked to pour him a cup of wine, and then withdraw, nothing more. At the end, the slaver rose to his feet and pointed to one of the women. "No!" she had cried. "I am free!" Officers of the court, by order of the magistrate, removed her garments. If she were free, the slaver would be impaled. When her last garment had been torn away, there was applause in the court. The girl stood there. On her thigh was the brand.
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Page 156


On Earth you had the society at your back, the result of centuries of feminization; he could not so much as speak harshly to you but you could rush away or summon magistrates; here, however, society is not at your back, but at his; it will abet him in his wishes, for you are only a slave; you will have no one to call, nowhere to run; you will be alone with him, and at his mercy.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 12


I did not think they would slay me in the cell. This would seem, to the magistrates of Nine Wells, inexplicable, an ancient demanding the most rigorous and exacting inquiry.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 129


Though there are some token tributes involved, exemptions for Aretai merchants from caravan taxes, and such, the vassal tribe is, in its own areas, almost completely autonomous, with its own leaders, magistrates, judges and soldiers. The significance of the relationship is, crucially, interestingly, military alliance.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Pages 176 - 177

"Kill the spy," said a man.

"No," said Aurelion. "We will take him to the magistrates."

The double gate was unlocked by Strabo, who had recovered his keys. Four men made ready to conduct Clitus Vitellius from the tavern.

"It is the heavy galleys for spies," said one man.

"Better to kill him now," said a man.

"No," said Aurelion, "conduct him to the magistrates. They will have much sport with him before he is chained to a bench."
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 351


"Your minions," said the man, "will be of little service. It is understood they are of Cos. They are already in the custody of the magistrates of Ar."
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 391


"Shall I have you taken before the magistrates of Ar," he inquired, "to substantiate your claim of citizenship?"
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 395


"You are a stranger in Lydius," said the man.
"I scarcely think you are magistrates investigating my business," said I. "Who are you? What do you want?"
Beasts of Gor     Book 12     Page 141

"The slave is awarded to Ulafi of Schendi," ruled the praetor.

There were cheers from the men present, and Gorean applause, the striking of the left shoulder with the right hand.

"My thanks, Praetor," said Ulafi, receiving back the slave papers from the magistrate.
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Page 68


"With this letter," I said, indicating the document, "you may return when you wish. I would advise you, however, should the ruling, as I would expect, be in your favor, to consider the adoption of an honest occupation. If the magistrates do not apprehend you you might, in Port Kar, run afoul of the caste of thieves. They are sometimes jealous of their prerogatives."
Explorers of Gor     Book 13     Page 463


For example, although one may see a girl in the streets, naked save for, say, her brand and collar, or a bit of chain, this is not common. This sort of thing is done, usually, only as a discipline. Free women tend to object, for the eyes of their companions tend almost inadvertently to stray to the exposed flesh of such girls. Perhaps, too, they are angry that they themselves are not permitted to present themselves so brazenly and lusciously before men. Needless to say it is difficult for men to keep their minds on business when such girls are among them. Perhaps this is the reason that magistrates tend to frown upon the practice.
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Page 106


Let us suppose that the Gorean youth buys his first girl. Before this, of course, he may have used house slaves or the girls in the paga taverns. Indeed, in gangs of roaming youths, he may have caught and raped slave girls on errands in his own city. Some young men regard this as an interesting sport. If a magistrate should chance upon them in some alley he will commonly say, "Thigh," to them, and they will turn the girl, so that he may see if she is branded or not. If she is branded, he will commonly continue on his rounds. The unauthorized rape of slave girls, without the permission of their masters, is officially frowned on in most cities, but, too, it is as often winked at.
Guardsman of Gor     Book 16     Page 184


Such itinerant troupes, theatrical troupes, carnival groupings, and such, are not uncommon on Gor. They consist usually of rogues and outcasts. With their wagons and tents, often little more than a skip and a jump ahead of creditors and magistrates, they roam from place to place, rigging their simple stages in piazzas and squares, in yards and markets, wherever an audience may be found, even at the dusty intersections of country crossroads.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 9


On Gor; as I have perhaps mentioned, most of the actresses are slaves. In serious drama or more sophisticated comedy, when women are permitted roles within it, the female roles usually being played by men, and the females are slaves, their collars are sometimes removed. Before this is done, however, usually a steel bracelet or anklet, locked, which they cannot remove, is placed on them. In this way, they continue, helplessly, to wear some token of bondage. This facilitates, in any possible dispute or uncertainty as to their status or condition, a clear determination in the matter, by anyone, of course, but in particular by guardsmen or magistrates, or otherwise duly authorized authorities.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 122

"With your permission, Lady Telitsia?" inquired Boots, addressing himself politely to the haughty, rigid, proud, vain, heavily veiled, blue-clad free female standing in the front row below the stage.

"You may continue," she said.

"But you may find what ensues offensive," Boots warned her.

"Doubtless I will," she said. "And have no fear, I shall include it in my complaint to the proper magistrates."
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 129

Boots obliged. "Are you disrobing?" he asked. The men in the audience began to cry out with pleasure. Some struck their left shoulders in Gorean applause.

"Yes," called the Brigella. She was quite beautiful.

"I shall mention this in my complaint to the proper magistrates," said the free woman from her position near the stage.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Pages 134 - 135

"Apparently you are a slave," he said, grimly. "You should not have tried to masquerade as a free woman. There are heavy penalties for that sort of thing."

She put her head in her hands, sobbing.

"I wonder if I should turn you over to magistrates," he said.

"Please, do not!" she wept.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 145


"I will, before nightfall, and you may depend upon it," she said, "lodge my complaint with the magistrates. By tomorrow noon, you will be closed, forbidden to perform at the fair."
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 160

"If you are magistrates," he cried, "know that I have come on this camp of brigands and, in cognizance of my jeopardy, was making ready to defend myself!" He looked about, wildly, drawing back another pace or so. "Show yourself," he cried, "as befits your office, that of those who courageously do war with brigands, that of those who do nobly defend and support the law, or as plain honest men, if that you be, that I may ally myself with you, that we may then offer to one another, no, then pledge to one another, mutual protection and succor on these dark and dangerous roads."

It was very quiet, save mostly for the rustling and clicking of insects. Too I heard, intermittently, from somewhere far off, the cries of a tiny, horned gim.

"You do not show yourselves," called the man. "Good! Know then that I am a brigand, too! I feared you might be magistrates. It was thus that I spoke as I did.
Players of Gor     Book 20     Pages 187 - 188

"I refuse!" she cried. "The very thought of it! The outrage! The indignity! How dare you even think of such a thing! I am of high caste! I am of the scribes! Wait until I bring this matter to the attention of magistrates!"

"As I may remind you, my dear," said Boots, patiently, "you are no longer of high caste nor of the scribes. Similarly, as I am sure you will recognize, at least upon reflection, you now have no standing before the law. You are now of no more interest to magistrates, in their official capacities, as opposed to their private capacities, than would be an urt or a sleen."

She regarded him, frightened.

"Your days of making a nuisance of yourself are now over," said Boots. "Indeed, I speculate that those very same magistrates whom you have so often inconvenienced would be quite pleased to learn that you are now, at last, no longer capable of pestering them with your inane, time-consuming nonsense. I doubt that they would wish to see you again, unless perhaps it would be to turn you naked and bound to your master, with the blows of a whip on your body, or perhaps, say, to have you serve them in a tavern, helpless in the modality that would then be yours, that of the total female slave."
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 201


"This is an outrage!" she cried. "It is an unspeakable insult! I shall have the magistrates on you for this!"
Players of Gor     Book 20     Page 303


Contrariwise, almost no free woman would bare her legs. They would not dare to do so. They would be horrified even to think of it. The scandal of such an act could ruin a reputation. It is said on Gor that any woman who bares her legs is a slave. Indeed, in some cities a free woman who might be found with bared legs is taken in hand by magistrates, tried and sentenced to bondage. After the judge's decision has been enacted, its effect carried out upon her, reducing her to the status of goods, sometimes publicly, that she may be suitably disgraced, sometimes privately, by a contract slaver, that the sensitivities of free women in the city not be offended, she is hooded and transported, stripped and chained, freshly branded and collared, a property female, slave cargo, to a distant market where, once sold, she will begin her life anew, fearfully, as a purchased girl, tremulously as the helpless and lowly slave she now is.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 69


There had even been some handbills distributed by boys about the city, and others, I had heard, had been tacked up on public boards. There had been signs painted too, I gathered, here and there among similar signs, usually on poorer streets, or in alleys, where magistrates, less inclined to object, were also less prone to patrol.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Page 167


Similarly, if it seems understandable that, say, a high magistrate, a general, a Ubar, or such, might enjoy sitting in his pleasure gardens and inspecting his women, having them before him naked, or clothed according to his preferences, it is just as understandable that a less rich or well-fixed person might, similarly, on a more modest level, enjoy the sight of his girl, or girls.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Page 260


"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.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Page 287


He was "recruiting" for the chains of work masters. To be sure, he must do this work surreptitiously. It would be quite unfortunate for him, I had gathered, if he were to be discovered to have been involved in such work. Judges, magistrates, and such, would not be likely to look indulgently on these activities.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Page 306

"I sentence you to slavery," he said, uttering the sentence.

She trembled, sentenced.

"It only remains now," said Aemilianus, "for the sentence to be carried out. If you wish I, in the office of magistrate, shall carry it out. On the other hand, if you wish, you may yourself carry out the sentence."

"I?" she said.

"Yes," he said.

"You would have me proclaim myself slave?" she asked.

"Or I shall do it," he said. "In the end, it does not matter."
Renegades of Gor     Book 23     Page 387


I had left some slaves beads in recompense, of course, pretty beads of cheap wood, such as are cast about in festivals and carnivals, sometimes even being seized up secretly by free women who put them on before their mirrors, in secret, as though they might be slaves. In many cities, incidentally, a woman who is discovered doing such a thing may be remanded to magistrates for impressment into bondage. There will then be nothing inappropriate, even from the legal point of view, in their wearing such ornaments, assuming that they have their master's permission.
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Page 69

"I am sure you are familiar with the law," said the first fellow, flanked by two magistrates.

"No!" she cried.

The magistrates were ex officio witnesses, who could certify the circumstances of the capture. The net was a stout one, and weighted.

"Any free woman who couches with another's slave, or readies herself to couch with another's slave, becomes herself a slave, and the slave of the slave's master. It is a clear law."
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 7


I saw the fellow who had been in the room emerge through the door. He was followed by the two magistrates, who had probably now made the entries in their records. They were followed by four guardsmen, in single file.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 11


I recalled the free female whose capture I had noted in Ar, that which had taken place in a street-level room in the Metellan district. Surely she must have known the law. The consorting of a free female with another man's slave renders her susceptible to the collar of the slave's master. The net had been cunningly arranged, that it might, when released, activated perhaps by springs or the pulling of a lever, fall and drape itself over the couch. It was clearly a device designed for such a purpose. The net and the room doubtless constituted a capture cubicle, simpler perhaps, but not unlike those in certain inns, in which a woman, lulled by the bolting on the doors, and feeling herself secure, may complete her toilet at leisure, bathing, combing her hair, perfuming herself and such, before the trap doors, dropped from beneath her, plunge her into the waiting arms of slavers. Guardsmen and magistrates, I had noted, had been in immediate attendance.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 42


My friend, the actor, magician, impresario and whatnot, Boots Tarsk-Bit, once narrowly escaped an impalement in Besnit on the charge of using false dice. He was, however, it seems, framed. At any rate the charges were dismissed when a pair of identical false dice turned up in the pouch of the arresting magistrate, the original pair having, interestingly, at about the same time, vanished.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 59


"No!" wept Claudia. "It is one thing to be captured by a man and taken to his tent, and put to his feet and made to serve, or to be sentenced by a magistrate in due course of law to slavery for crimes which I have actually committed, and another to stand here publicly shamed, before my enemy, a woman, in her triumph, to be consigned by her to helpless bondage."
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 150

"And what later," I asked, "in the edifice of the magistrates?"

"I was in a cell," she said, "naked, lying on some straw, chained by the neck to a wall."

"And your emotions?" I asked.

She looked up at me.

"My thigh was sore," she said. "I had been branded."

"Of course," I said.

"There were two collars on my neck," she said, "a light, temporary slave collar, identifying me as a slave provisionally in the custody of magistrates, and, over it, a retaining collar, that by means of which I was fastened to the wall."

"And your emotions?" I asked.

"I lay there," she said, "my fingers on the chain, near the retaining collar."

I looked at her.

"Serenity, contentment," she said. "Happiness. The fighting was over."

"When did you receive the collar of Appanius?" I asked.

"The next day," she said, "affixed on me by one of his agents. Later I was called for at the edifice of the magistrates by one of his slaves, driving a tharlarion wagon.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 309

"He will then presumably regard it as his work to keep the free woman, whoever she turns out to be, here until Appanius and the magistrates arrive."

"I would think so, Master," she said.

"Which arrival, as he understands it, will be in the neighborhood of a half past the sixth Ahn?"

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Good," I said. The original time of the assignation, conveyed to the slave, which he, in turn, would have conveyed to his master, was the seventh Ahn. Accordingly the master, and presumably two magistrates, who would act as official witnesses and be officers versed in certain matters, would wish to arrive early, presumably about half past the sixth Ahn, or, at any rate, at a decent interval before the seventh Ahn.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 414

"Yes," she said. "That is the door by means of which I was entered into this room. Appanius, and the magistrates, and others, apparently had entered through the back, or some side entrance."

"There is such an entrance," I said. "It lets out into an alley, a little further down the street. One then comes back to the street between buildings."

"That is, I believe," she said, "the way I left the premises. To be sure, once out in the street I was almost instantly disoriented."

I nodded.

"I did not even know where I was," she said, "until I was unhooded, and found myself chained by the neck in a magistrate's cell."
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 415

"The magistrates should arrive any moment," I said. "Presumably they will come to the back," he said.

"I would think so," I said. Surely they would have been here often enough in the past. Too, it did not seem likely they would wish to be seen entering by the street door. They would be, as far as they knew, keeping their appointment with Appanius and his men. When they arrived, of course, they would discover that a change of plans had occurred, and that it would not be Appanius for whom they would render their services, but another.
. . .

In the back room I tracked these matters by means of one of the observation portals. One of the two magistrates, he who was senior, Tolnar, of the second Octavii, an important gens but one independent of the well-known Octavii, sometimes spoken of simply as the Octavii, or sometimes as the first Octavii, deputy commissioner in the records office, much of which had been destroyed in a recent fire, was at the other portal. His colleague, Venlisius, a bright young man who was now, by adoption, a scion of the Toratti, was with him. Venlisius was in the same office. He was records officer, or archon of records, for the Metellan district, in which we were located. Both magistrates wore their robes, and fillets, of office. They also carried their wands of office, which, I suspect, from the look of them, and despite the weapons laws of Cos, contained concealed blades. I was pleased to hope that these fellows were such as to put the laws of Ar before the ordinances of Cos. I had requested that they dismiss their attendant guardsmen, which they had done. I did not anticipate that they would be needed.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Pages 441 - 442

"I am not only preparing to couch with you," she said. "I am prepared to couch with you." She then knelt on the couch, and back on her heels.

I glanced to Tolnar, the magistrate. He nodded.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 452

"What was your name?" inquired Tolnar. "We shall wish it for the records."

"I am Talena!" she cried. "I am Talena, Ubara of Ar! Down on your knees before me! I am Talena, Talena! Ubara of Ar! I am your Ubara!"

"You may, of course, attempt to conceal your former identity," said Tolnar. "At this point it is immaterial."

"I am Talena!" she cried.

"Perhaps you might think to delude a poor slave," said Tolnar, "but we are free men."

"Fools!" she wept.

"What was your name?" he asked.

"My name is Talena!" she said. "I am Ubara of Ar!"

"You would have us believe that Talena of Ar is a sensuous tart in need of sexual relief, a mere chit who would condescend to keep a rendezvous so shameful as this?"

"I am Talena!" she cried, squirming in the net. "Release me! I shall scream!"

"That would be interesting, if you are Talena," said Tolnar. "You would then choose to publicize, it seems, your whereabouts. You would choose to be discovered naked and netted, before magistrates, in a room in the Metellan district, having been prepared to couch with a slave?"

She threw her head down, angrily, on the furs. "I am Talena," she said. "Release me!"

"What is more pertinent to our purposes," said Tolnar, "is your legal status, or, in this case, it seems, your former legal status."

"Release me, fools!" she said.

"What was your legal status before you entered this room?" asked Tolnar.

"I was, and am, a free woman!" she said.

"Of Ar?" he asked.

"Yes!" she cried, angrily.

"That is the crux of the matter," said Tolnar. He glanced to Venlisius, who nodded.

"Do you doubt that I am Talena?" she demanded of Tolnar.

"Surely you must permit me to be skeptical," he smiled.

"I am she!" she cried. Then she looked wildly at Milo. "You know me!" she wept. "You can attest to my identity! You have seen me in the Central Cylinder! So, too, has that slut of a slave!"

"Stand," said Tolnar to Lavinia, who immediately complied.

"Please, Milo," begged the netted beauty, helplessly, pathetically, agonizingly, "do not lie! Tell the truth!"

He looked at her.

"Please, Milo!" she begged. "Tell them who I am!" How much she felt then dependent upon him, how much in his power! How different this was from her former mastery of him! How terrified she was that he might, for one reason or another, lie to the magistrates, putting her then before them as no more than a common, captured, compromised female.

"Who was she?" asked Tolnar of Milo.

"Talena, Ubara of Ar," said Milo.

"Ah!" she wept in relief.

Tolnar and Venlisius exchanged glances. They did not much relish this development.

"Release me, you sleen!" wept Talena, struggling futilely in the net.

"And you?" asked Tolnar of Lavinia, who was looking on the netted captive, indeed, a prisoner of the same cords which, months before, had held her with such similar perfection.

"Master?" asked Lavinia.

"Who was she?" said Tolnar.

"That, too, is my understanding," said Lavinia. "Talena, of Ar."

"Release me!" demanded the captive.

"What difference does it make," asked Marcus, "if, indeed, she is Talena of Ar?"

"Fool!" laughed the netted captive.

"From the legal point of view," said Tolnar, "it makes no difference, of course."

"Release me!" she said. "Do you think I am a common person? Do you think you can treat one of my importance in this fashion! I shall have Seremides have you boiled in oil!"

"I am of the second Octavii," said Tolnar. "My colleague is of the Toratti."

"Then you may be scourged and beheaded, or impaled!" she wept.

"You would have us neglect our duty?" inquired Tolnar. He was Gorean, of course.

"In this case," she snapped, "you are well advised to do so."

"That is quite possibly true," said Tolnar.

"The principle here, I gather," said Marcus, "is that the Ubara is above the law."

"The law in question is a serious one," said Tolnar. "It was promulgated by Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars."

"Surely," said Venlisius to the netted woman, "you do not put yourself on a level with the great Marlenus."

"It does not matter who is greater," she said. "I am Ubara!"

"The Ubara is above the law?" asked Marcus, who had an interest in such things.

"In a sense, yes," said Tolnar, "the sense in which she can change the law by decree."

"But she is subject to the law unless she chooses to change it?" asked Marcus.

"Precisely," said Tolnar. "And that is the point here."

"Whatever law it is," cried the netted woman, "I change it! I herewith change it!"

"How can you change it?" asked Tolnar.

"I am Ubara!" she said.

"You were Ubara," he said.

She cried out in misery, in frustration, in the net.

"Interesting," said Marcus.

"Release me!" demanded the woman.

"Do you think we are fond of she who was once Talena," asked Tolnar, "of she who betrayed Ar, and collaborated with her enemies?"

"Release me, if you value your lives!" she cried. "Seremides will wish me free! So, too, will Myron! So, too, will Lurius of Jad!"

"But we have taken an oath to uphold the laws of Ar," said Tolnar.

"Free me!" she said.

"You would have us compromise our honor?" asked Tolnar.

"I order you to do so," she said.

Tolnar smiled.

"Why do you smile?" she asked.

"How can a slave order a free person to do anything?" he asked.

"A slave!" she cried. "How dare you!"

"You are taken into bondage," said Tolnar, "under the couching laws of Marlenus of Ar. Any free woman who couches with, or prepares to couch with, a male slave, becomes herself a slave, and the property of the male slave's master."

"I, property!" she cried.

"Yes," said Tolnar.

Absurd!" she said.

"Not at all," he said. "It is, I assure you, all quite legal."

"Proceed then with your farce!" she cried. "I know Appanius well, and his position in this city is much dependent upon my support! Have I not freed him of numerous burdens? Have I not adjusted his taxes? Have I not spared his house, and those of other favorites, the exactions of the levies?"

"You acknowledge, then," asked Tolnar, "that you are a slave?"

"Yes," she said, angrily, "I am a slave! Now, summon Appanius, immediately, that I may be promptly freed! Then you will see to what fates I shall consign you!"

"But what if Appanius wishes you as a slave?" asked Marcus.

She laughed. "I see you do not know our dear Appanius," she said. "The most he would want from a woman would be to have her do his cleaning and scrub his floors!"

"But what if that is precisely what he has in mind for you?" asked Tolnar.

She turned white.

"Doubtless she would look well, performing lowly labors in chains," said Marcus.

"Perhaps, unknown to you," said Tolnar, "Appanius is a patriot."

"Never!" she said. "Bring him here!"

"What if he would keep you in his house as a slave?" asked Marcus.

"Perhaps you think you could make your former identity known," said Tolnar. "That might be amusing."

"'Amusing'?" she asked.

"Who would believe that once you had been Talena, the Ubara of Ar?" asked Tolnar.

"More likely," said Venlisius, "you would be whipped, as a mad slave."

"While," said Tolnar, "another woman, suitably coached, and veiled, would take your place in the Central Cylinder. From the point of view of the public, things would be much the same."

"Bring Appanius here!" she cried. "I know him. I can speak with him. I can make him see, I assure you, what is to his advantage! This is all some preposterous mistake. Free me! This is all some terrible misunderstanding! Bring Appanius here! I demand it!"

"But what has Appanius to do with this?" asked Tolnar.

"I do not understand," said the woman.

Tolnar regarded her.

"He has everything to do with it," she said. "He is Milo's master!"

"No," said Tolnar.

The prisoner turned her head about, not easily, in the net.

"Appanius is your master!" she said to Milo.

"No," he said.

"Yes!" she cried. "He is your master. He is also the master of that short-haired slut!"

"No!" said Lavinia.

"You did not call me 'Mistress'," said the prisoner.

"Why should I?" asked Lavinia.

"It is true that you belong to the master of Milo," said Tolnar, "but it is false that the master of Milo is Appanius."

"To whom, then, do I belong?" she asked, aghast.

"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.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Pages 453 - 457


A woman behaving in this fashion and accordingly being suspected of the collar, of trying desperately to conceal her femininity by this ruse, may be remanded to free women for an examination. If a brand is found the woman will be stripped and bound by the free women, switched liberally, for there is little love lost between free women and slaves, and then turned over to magistrates, to be returned to the mercies of her master.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 216


How beautiful, too, were their faces! And suddenly, she was delighted that her own face, too, despite the contempt this might elicit from free women, would be bared, and must be bared, on this world. She, as slave, she knew, would have no choice in the matter. And this pleased her. She knew that she had a very pretty face; she was certain of that; it was exquisite, delicate, feminine, sensitive, lovely. She was sure that men would like it. But, too, she was frightened. It was the sort of face, she had learned, that called forth the master in a man. To be sure, she might be transiently sensitive to its exposure in a given context, as in the presence of a contemptuous free woman, or perhaps before magistrates, and officials, but that was only to be expected in this culture, with its particular views.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 223


Did they think she was a free woman, of wealth and title, of placement and connections, who might threaten them, one to whom magistrates would carefully attend?
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 644


"The matter became public knowledge shortly after the rising of the people, the return of Marlenus," he said. "Two magistrates furnished the details, Tolnar, of the second Octavii, and Venlisius, by adoption, a scion of the Toratti. The former Ubara had been embonded in accord with the couching law of Marlenus of Ar, any free woman who couches with, or prepares to couch with, a male slave, becomes herself a slave, and the property of the male slave's master. She was preparing to couch with Milo, a slave, and actor, when apprehended, and, it seems, you were at that time, by some stratagem or subterfuge, the master of the slave, Milo, and so became the master of the former free woman, Talena of Ar. The whole thing was very cleverly done, it seems. Considering the nature of the case, papers were carefully prepared, and measurements and prints taken, that there be no mistake about the legality of the proceeding, nor any possible problem later in the exact identification of the slave.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Pages 450 - 451


Possession, particularly after a lengthy interval, is often regarded as decisive, by praetors, archons, magistrates, scribes of the law, and such. What is of most importance to the law is not so much that a particular individual owns a slave as that she is owned by someone, that she is absolutely and perfectly owned.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Page 452


Clipped coins are easy to identify but then, of course, one must bring forth the scales, and, not unoften, as well, rough silver or gold, unminted, is presented, perhaps melted droplets, or pieces cut from silver or golden vessels and goblets, which items will also require judicious determinations. Negotiations and bargainings, over the scales, often grow heated. The advantage of courses, lies with the stallsman. Complaints may be lodged with either of the two praetors, who, interestingly, though magistrates of Ar, apparently strive to adjudicate matters to the best of their lights. Their efforts not only redound to the honor of Ar, but, too, one supposes, tend to preserve the value and integrity of the market, which, in the long view, is doubtless in the best interest of the city's commerce. To be sure, major transactions often take place near the walls, and outside them, in the wholesale markets.
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31     Page 273 - 274


"One always hears things," I said, warily.
"I am not an investigating magistrate," he said, "with a rack in the next room."
"I understand," I said.
Conspirators of Gor     Book 31     Page 521


In problematical situations, escaped slaves are commonly publicly exhibited for a time, chained under a pertinent notice and then, if not claimed, auctioned, or delivered to the finder. Sometimes a slave is tortured and, in this case, she is likely to acknowledge herself the slave of anyone whom the magistrate might suggest, perhaps a relative in another village.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 442


"I will report the capture of the slave to the magistrates," said Axel.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 469
"My master," she said, "Decius Albus, of Ar, Trade Advisor to the Ubar, welcomes Lord Grendel to the city. He regrets only that he was not earlier informed of his presence. Master Decius understands that Lord Grendel stands high in the estimation of a Lord Arcesilaus, magistrate of a remote city, and hopes that his presence here might lead to arrangements of mutual profit. With this end in view, Master Decius invites the presence of Lord Grendel, or his agent, to a meeting at the tenth Ahn tomorrow in his home, the House of a Hundred Corridors."
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Page 426


"I have noted," called out Decius Albus, waving the goblet about, "that some of you, my dear friends of Ar, administrators and magistrates, companions and colleagues, have witnessed the pleasures of our friends with but subdued enthusiasm.
Plunder of Gor     Book 34     Pages 548 - 549