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MERCHANT LAW; SHORT NARRATIVE ON MERCHANT LAW
By: Nyah691 Date: May 7, 2016, 10:48 am
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This is a short narrative on Merchant Law, followed by
supporting references.
It is not meant to be anything other than the facts of the
matter.
Arrive at your own conclusions.
I wish you well,
Fogaban
Merchant Law is the only common legal arrangements existing
among the Gorean cities. [1] Merchants also, in effect, arrange
and administer the four great fairs that take place each year
near the Sardar Mountains. [2] It is here that Merchant Law is
drafted and stabilized.[3] Weights and measures are standardized
throughout the Gorean cities by Merchant Law.[4]
Certain defensible stockades on main trade routes are governed
under Merchant Law, legislated and revised, and upheld, at the
Sardar Fairs. [5]Some free port cities like Lydius, Helmutsport,
Schendi and Bazi also subscribe to Merchant Law which controls
things like wharfage and proof of registration. [6]Down at the
docks in Brundisium, in the warehouse, a Praetor has a curule
chair where he might clarify the Merchant Law, interpret it,
adjudicate disputes, and make rulings.[6a]
Businesses, too, complying with Merchant Law are aided in
acquiring contracts, even with both sides of a conflict at the
same time. [7] And yet, Merchant law has been unsuccessful, in
introducing such things as patents and copyrights between
cities. [8]
What receives the most attention throughout the books, though,
is how Merchant Law pertains to slaves.
Long before Tarl coming to Gor and for about a generation, a
series of wars, loosely referred to as the Slave Wars had
occurred. Out of these wars grew much of the Merchant Law
pertaining to slaves.[9] Probably foremost among these has to do
with the brand and collar. A prisoner is not the same as being a
slave. "I have been neither branded nor collared, nor have I
performed a gesture of submission."[10] Merchant Law upholds the
self-pronouncement that one is slave, after which it is binding.
[11]
Merchant Law defines permissions of enslavement, at least two of
which are making one a slave when not sharing a Home Stone and
any Earth girl. [12] Merchant Law also dictates that sometimes,
in the fall of a city, girls who have been enslaved, girls
formerly of the now victorious city, will be freed. The rescuer
has no obligation to free the girl. In having been enslaved she
has lost all claim to her former Home Stone. [13]
Merchant Law prescribes the brand and collar.[14][15] And, while
some men do not do so this, it is contrary to the laws of most
cities and to Merchant Law, as well. [16] Following the
recommendations of Merchant Law, the three standard marking
places for the brand are the thighs and the lower left abdomen.
[17][18]
The collar, as prescribed by Merchant Law, identifies a slave
and, if the collar is engraved, often her master.[19]
Merchant law goes on to state that an unclaimed slave, who is
legally subject to claimancy, may be then be claimed, and
becomes the property of the claimant. [20]
Supporting References
[1] "The fairs incidentally are governed by Merchant Law and
supported by booth rents and taxes levied on the items
exchanged. The commercial facilities of these fairs, from money
changing to general banking, are the finest I know of on Gor,
save those in Ar's Street of Coins, and letters of credit are
accepted and loans negotiated, though often at usurious rates,
with what seems reckless indifference. Yet perhaps this is not
so puzzling, for the Gorean cities will, within their own walls,
enforce the Merchant Law when pertinent, even against their own
citizens. If they did not, of course, the fairs would be closed
to the citizens of that city."
Priest-Kings of Gor Book 3 Page 10
[2] "There is a saying on Gor, "Gold has no caste." It is a
saying of which the merchants are fond. Indeed, secretly among
themselves, I have heard, they regard themselves as the highest
caste on Gor, though they would not say so for fear of rousing
the indignation of other castes. There would be something, of
course, to be said for such a claim, for the merchants are often
indeed in their way, brave, shrewd, skilled men, making long
journeys, venturing their goods, risking caravans, negotiating
commercial agreements, among themselves developing and enforcing
a body of Merchant Law, the only common legal arrangements
existing among the Gorean cities. Merchants also, in effect,
arrange and administer the four great fairs that take place each
year near the Sardar Mountains. I say "in effect" because the
fairs are nominally under the direction of a committee of the
Caste of Initiates, which, however, largely contents itself with
its ceremonies and sacrifices, and is only too happy to delegate
the complex management of those vast, commercial phenomena, the
Sardar Fairs, to members of the lowly, much-despised Caste of
Merchants, without which, incidentally, the fairs most likely
could not exist, certainly not at any rate in their current
form."
Nomads of Gor Book 4 Page 84
[3] "The fairs, too, however, have many other functions. - It is
here that Merchant Law is drafted and stabilized."
Beasts of Gor Book 12 Page 44
[4] "The Weight and the Stone, incidentally, are standardized
throughout the Gorean cities by Merchant Law, the only common
body of law existing among the cities. The official "Stone,"
actually a solid metal cylinder, is kept, by the way, near the
Sardar. Four times a year, on a given day in each of the four
great fairs held annually near the Sardar, it is brought forth
with scales, that merchants from whatever city may test their
own standard "Stone" against it.
. . .
As in the case of the official "Stone", so, too, at the Sardar
is a metal rod, which determines the Merchant Foot, or Gorean
foot, as I have called it."
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 127 and 128
[5] "The Merchants have, in the last few years, on certain trade
routes, between Ar and Ko-ro-ba, and between Tor and Ar,
established palisaded compounds, defensible stockades.
. . .
Various cities, through their own Merchant Castes, lease land
for these stockades and, for their fees, keep their garrisons,
usually men of their own cities, supplied. The stockades are
governed under Merchant Law, legislated and revised, and upheld,
at the Sardar Fairs."
Captive of Gor Book 7 Page 219
[6] "The representative of the Merchants, to whom I reported my
business, and to whom I paid for wharfage, asked no questions.
He did not even demand the proof of registration of the
Tesephone in Tabor. The Merchants, who control Lydius, under
merchant law, for it is a free port, like Helmutsport, and
Schendi and Bazi, are more interested in having their port
heavily trafficked than strictly policed."
Hunters of Gor Book 8 Page 43
[13] [6a] "In a couple of places on a platform, there was a
harbor praetor, now indoors, in the warehouse, on his curule
chair, as opposed to on the docks themselves, their usual
station, who might clarify the Merchant Law, interpret it,
adjudicate disputes, and make rulings. There were many caste
colors in the crowd, but clearly predominating were the yellow
and white, or white and gold, familiar to the Merchants.
Mariners of Gor Book 30 Page 503
[7] "He himself resided, I understood, in Telnus, the capital of
Cos, where his company had its headquarters. His work chains,
however, were politically neutral, understood under merchant law
as hirable instruments. They might, accordingly, and sometimes
did, work for both sides in given conflicts."
Dancer of Gor Book 22 Page 322
[8] "Merchant law has been unsuccessful, as yet, in introducing
such things as patents and copyrights on Gor. Such things do
exist in municipal law on Gor but the jurisdictions involved
are, of course, local."
Magicians of Gor Book 25 Page 394
[9] "She was referring to a series of wars, loosely referred to
as the Slave Wars, which occurred among various cities in the
middle latitudes of Gor, off and on, over a period of
approximately a generation. They had occurred long before my
coming to Gor. Although large-scale slaving was involved in
these wars, and was doubtless a sufficient condition for them,
hence the name, other considerations, as would be expected, were
often involved, as well, such as the levying of tribute and the
control of trade routes. Out of the Slave Wars grew much of the
merchant law pertaining to slaves."
Vagabonds of Gor Book 24 Page 272
[10] "It is my understanding, following merchant law, and Tahari
custom," I said, "that I am not a slave, for though I am a
prisoner, I have been neither branded nor collared, nor have I
performed a gesture of submission."
Tribesmen of Gor Book 10 Page 196
"Now I surely acknowledge that the confiscation was within the
letter of the law, given the current sorry state of Ar and the
ordinances of the occupation; and I acknowledge further that she
has been out of my hands for more than the number of days which,
in Merchant Law, legitimate her seizure and claiming by another,
and I recognize, further, of course, that she has passed through
one or more hands in this time, as his or their slave, and that
she was honestly purchased in open auction, in good faith, from
her actual and completely legitimate owner, the state of Cos."
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 520
[11] "In the case of the girl, Rowena, of course, as she was
already a self-pronounced slave, the brand and collar were
little more than identificatory formalities. Nonetheless she
would wear them. They would be fixed visibly and clearly upon
her. This is in accord with the prescriptions of merchant law."
Players of Gor Book 20 Page 36
There, in fear of her life, in the midst of a Kur raid, she had
proclaimed herself slave. The slave, of course, cannot unsay
such words, for she is then a slave. At that moment, whether she
had understood it or not, she had become a slave. Later, on a
far world, far beyond the Prison Moon, a Steel World, as there
were slavers there, and her attractions warranted this, she had
been simply taken in hand, and branded and collared, routinely
so, they not even understanding at that time that she was
already a slave, not that that would have spared her the brand
and collar, for such details are in order, and prescribed by
merchant law.
Swordsmen of Gor Book 29 Page 592
[12] "You understand further, of course," said he, "that under
Gorean merchant law, which is the only law commonly acknowledged
binding between cities, that you stand under separate
permissions of enslavement. First, were you of Ar, it would be
my right, could I be successful, to make of you a slave, for we
share no Home Stone. Secondly, though you speak of yourself as
the Lady Elicia of Ar, of Six Towers, you are, in actuality,
Miss Elicia Nevins of the planet Earth. You are an Earth girl
and thus stand within a general permission of enslavement, fair
beauty quarry to any Gorean male whatsoever."
Slave Girl of Gor Book 11 Page 394
[13] "The legal point, I think, is interesting. Sometimes, in
the fall of a city, girls who have been enslaved, girls formerly
of the now victorious city, will be freed. Technically,
according to Merchant Law, which serves as the arbiter in such
intermunicipal matters, the girls become briefly the property of
their rescuers, else how could they be freed? Further, according
to Merchant Law, the rescuer has no obligation to free the girl.
In having been enslaved she has lost all claim to her former
Home Stone."
Explorers of Gor Book 13 Page 409
[14] "Girls such as I must expect to be marked," she said. "It
is in accord with the recommendations of merchant law."
Kajira of Gor Book 19 Page 46
Not all masters brand and collar their slaves, but branding and
collaring is strongly recommended in Merchant Law, and it would
be a rare slave girl who was not both branded and collared.
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 209
"A slave should be branded," I said. "It is an explicit
recommendation of Merchant Law."
Swordsmen of Gor Book 29 Page 82
[15] "You're going to be branded," he said, "and put in a
collar." I regarded him with disbelief.
"But so too, will the other girls," he said. "You will all have
your brands and collars."
I could not speak.
"Such things are prescribed by merchant law," he said.
Dancer of Gor Book 22 Page 62
In its way, the collar has some of the symbolic aspects of the
marriage ring, except, of course, that that ring is a symbol
worn by a free woman who is the putative equal of a man, whereas
the collar is worn by a slave, and, aside from such things as
its identificatory purposes, important in Merchant Law, is a
symbol of the natural woman, the woman who is categorically
owned by a man, her master.
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 299
Surely Mirus seemed pleased with what he saw. Too, there was a
collar on her neck. This, she knew, too, had its effect on men.
Not only did it serve as an attractive adornment, rather like a
necklace, contrasting with, and setting off, the slim, lovely,
rounded softness of her throat, but she could not remove it. It
was locked on her, publicly and obviously. It proclaimed her
property, slave. Thus, on the symbolic level, where human
sexuality luxuriates, thrives and flourishes, and aside from the
obvious identificatory conveniences of Merchant Law, it was far
more than a lovely piece of jewelry; it enhanced her beauty not
only aesthetically but symbolically, overwhelmingly,
devastatingly meaningfully.
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 566
It is little wonder, he thought, that Merchant Law prescribes
that the fair throats of female slaves will know the collar,
that their fair throats be clasped within such lovely,
indicatory, uncompromising, irremovable, possessive
encirclements.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 97
On Gor, of course, these collars, at least the simple ones, sell
for a pittance, and even common slaves are routinely fastened in
them. Indeed, this is required by Merchant Law.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 65
What man, seeing a beautiful woman, does not imagine her in a
collar, and want her? It is, accordingly, not surprising that
Gorean masters keep their girls in collars. To be sure, Merchant
Law, in any case, prescribes the collar, the brand, distinctive
garmenture, and such.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Pages 702 - 703
The throats of slaves, of course, are commonly bared, save, of
course, for the collar. As they are slaves, they are expected to
display the collar, obviously, and publicly, such a lovely badge
of servitude. Indeed, as earlier noted, this display, as certain
others, is prescribed by Merchant Law, which is a general,
intermunicipal body of law regularly promulgated by the Merchant
caste at the great fairs, and tending to be shared by disunited,
often hostile, Gorean communities. Even were it not for such
law, of course, practical considerations would dictate some
obvious ways of marking the distinction between the female slave
and the free woman. One might think in terms of a slave bracelet
or a slave anklet, or such, but the collar is almost universally
preferred, possibly because of the prominence of its mounting,
its unmistakable visibility, its way of clarifying the nature of
its wearer, as a collared animal, and its beauty.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 703
[16] "Some fellows do not brand their slaves," I said.
"That is stupid!" she said.
"It is also contrary to the laws of most cities," I said, "and
to merchant law, as well."
Vagabonds of Gor Book 24 Page 188
It is natural that not every property should be marked
identically. But it is recommended that each property be marked.
That is prescribed in Merchant Law.
Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 9
[17] "But her left thigh worn no brand. Her right thigh, too, as
I soon noted, did not wear the slave mark, nor did her lower
left abdomen. These are the three standard marking places,
following the recommendations of Merchant Law, for the marking
of Kajirae, with the left thigh being, in practice, the
overwhelmingly favored brand site."
Fighting Slave of Gor Book 14 Page 312
[18] "The thighs and the lower left abdomen are the brand sites
recommended by Merchant Law."
Fighting Slave of Gor Book 14 Page 349
"I thought that slaves were branded," said the woman to Mirus.
"Not all," said Mirus, "though it is recommended by Merchant
Law. Turn your left thigh to our guest, Ellen. Look high, just
under the hip.
"She is branded!" said the woman.
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 98
How the collar enhanced her beauty, in a thousand ways,
aesthetically and psychologically, and how delicately,
unmistakably, and beautifully, too, was her status, condition,
and nature made clear, fixedly and absolutely, by the tiny,
tasteful mark placed in her body, in her thigh, just beneath the
hip, a site recommended by Merchant Law, a mark proclaiming her
the most exciting and beautiful of women, kajira.
Prize of Gor Book 27 Page 101
She was then handled, and turned about, for he was looking for
slave brands. The most common site for such, recommended in
Merchant Law, is high on the left thigh, under the hip. But
there are other sites, as well.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 50
[19] The collar may be viewed as a simple contrivance, a device
prescribed by Merchant Law, identifying a slave and, if the
collar is engraved, often her master.
Conspirators of Gor Book 31 Page 41
[20] Whereas cities have laws, and most castes have caste codes,
there is only one law which is generally respected, and held in
common, amongst Gorean municipalities, and that is Merchant Law,
largely established and codified at the great Sardar Fairs.
According to Merchant law an unclaimed slave, one legally
subject to claimancy, may be claimed, and then is the property
of the claimant.
Smugglers of Gor Book 32 Page 424
NB...((These Scrolls were given to Me Nyah Coultrain Merchant Of
Gor by Joe MacBain To use as Reference to my Caste))
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