Archive for June, 2025
The Kur in the Labyrinth
Thursday, June 12th, 2025
Breaking news! The labyrinth near the ruins of the Oasis of Mandara has partially collapsed! Two caravan leaders who explored it on their own report that the eerie room with the murals is also no longer accessible. However, they have found a previously unknown gate. What could be hidden behind it? In any case, entering the labyrinth is life-threatening! The Southern Trade Alliance (STA) is currently equipping an expedition to explore the terrain and its secrets.
The legend
An old woman who lived in the Oasis of Mandara told us that many years ago, a warrior from the city of Ar sought refuge in the oasis. No one knew exactly where; perhaps an assassin or Kurii agents were after him. This warrior was very taciturn and didn’t say much, except that he was from Ar. He was said to have been the first to dare to enter the labyrinth.
At some point, he never returned. No one had the courage to search for him because the labyrinth was largely unexplored. It is said that the warrior had many gold coins from Ar with him. Perhaps he wanted to hide them in the labyrinth.
Enter the labyrinth and try to find a way to the room with the murals. Bring torches and watch out for each other so no one gets lost.
If you find gold coins, bring them to your respective leader. The Salt Ubar will claim a quarter of the gold if you find any. Find out if the legend is true or not.
The desert wind shrieked across the ruins of the Oasis of Mandara, dragging veils of sand through collapsed arches and sun-bleached pillars. Where once water flowed and men traded silks for dates, now the land groaned with secrets.
Below, under layers of stone and time, a deeper groan had awakened.
The Labyrinth had shifted, bared to the eyes.
The collapse was sudden—a thunderous quake beneath the southern corridor—and with it, the strange room with its faded murals had caved in. Explorers barely escaped with their lives, and yet amid the chaos, a gate was found. A gate of iron, older than the city of Ar itself. It had not been built by human hands.
They pried it open.
Beyond it lay blackness. Cold, stale air. Stone walls that breathed like lungs. And corridors no longer carved, but bored—as if melted into the rock.
They did not go far. But someone awoke.
In the dark of that hidden place, where the corridors twisted unnaturally and the very light of torches seemed to be swallowed whole, something stirred. The air tasted like rust and fire.
Behind a curtain of ancient stone doors and thermal seals, he lived… still.
Lord Macto.
He was a Kur of the old breed, bred on the Steel Worlds before the long migrations. Taller than three men, his fur black as void, armored with plates of steel bonded to living muscle. His eyes were like dying suns—amber, ancient, unblinking.
He had not forgotten the humans.
Once, long ago, he had been among them. Even bartered peace with them, on the decks of ships and the halls of hidden stations. But that time was drowned in blood. Now, he guarded.
The gold, stolen in the Wars of the Third Nest. Hundreds of bars of Ar’s coinage – some true, some counterfeit, all lures to greedy hands. Left here not just for safekeeping, but as bait. It was his, and none would take it.
When the walls of the Labyrinth shon, and the gate creaked open, he watched through old surveillance nodes, blinking to life with green static. He heard the voices. Men. Women. Explorers.
Trespassers.
He growled. It echoed like thunder through the metal bones of the tunnels.
“You come for gold,” he said, though no one could hear him. “I bring you fire.”
In the days that followed, the STA announced an expedition. Warriors. Slaves to carry provisions. Scribes to record discoveries. Greed wore many faces.
They entered.
Will they ever return?
Only one caravan leader – his arm shredded and his mind half-broken – escaped to the surface, babbling of eyes in the dark, of a beast that spoke, and of bodies hung like trophies in caverns deep beneath the oasis.
“Not a man. Not even a Kur I’ve seen before,” he whispered feverishly. “He waits. He guards. And he knows our names.”
Back below, Macto crouched among the bones.
He was no longer merely a guardian. He was a relic, a curse, a reminder that the past never forgets.
He would protect his hoard.
He would burn Mandara to the sand if need be.
Let them come.
Let them try.
It was reported that a terrible and fierce battle took place in the Labyrinth. Suddenly, the Kur disappeared, but no one saw where he had gone. One of the warriors from Belnend found a skeleton with gold coins from Ar in front of it.
It was decided to bring the find to the Kasbah. There, someone close to Salt Ubar received the coins and paid the finders a fair share.
Some northern men, who had marched along for reasons that are still unclear, presumably because they were looking for plunder, were very dissatisfied and complained. The mood became very tense, and some even drew their swords. The northern men left the kasbah in anger, because they had been unable to do anything against the superior numbers of the loyal warriors.
“By order of the Salt Ubar, access to the labyrinth near the ruins of the Oasis of Mandara is now prohibited. A Kur has been spotted there. Until the situation is resolved, the entrances will be filled in.”
Voyage of Aquisition III
Thursday, June 12th, 2025
Those abducted from Earth were taken from the Oasis of Lame Kakila to the Kasbah of Salt Ubar and from there to the Oasis of Klima. They were made aware of what awaited them if they did not submit to their new situation.
We will need taverns, cafes, at Klima, ”he said. “Subjects have been too long without recreation.”
“With the control of much salt,” I said, “you may have much what you wish.”
“We shall confederate the salt districts,” said T’Zshal. (Tribesmen of Gor)
Voyage of Aquisition II
Thursday, June 12th, 2025
Tarl is taken to Gor via space ship, and the Priest-Kings are protected from the air by a force-field that appears tied to some anti-gravity device.
“The truth of the matter doubtless lies on a distant steel world, in some archive of experiments.”
Voyage of Aquisition I
Thursday, June 12th, 2025
You receive a message/letter, from the ARCADIA event agency.
“Dear (your name), You have won a free trip to Greece, a talent scouting agency has drawn YOUR name in an open internet-based lottery. The letter says You have been entered by a friend.
Of course, You are more than sceptical.. but the letter contains a travel ticket, all costs are covered, and the reference number you call checks out. The travel agency confirms the validity, and your research yields the information that ARCADIA events is a subdivision of the widespanned, extremely well-reputed Von Meyland Corporation – a near 100 year old german corporation running on aviation tech and industry shares and patroning such events regularly.
The event is announced to take place over ten full days – on an exclusive greek resort island called Pharia, southeast of Naxos, and is set to begin on 23rd of May, 2025, ending the 2nd of June.
The list of sponsors is impressive, and the range of talents the agency seeks includes models, dancers, actors and artists. Since You have no other plans and apparently won’t have to spend a single buck on it yourself – You decide to try it out.
“How are your acquisitions selected?” she asked.
“There are usually a number of parameters involved,” said Peisistratus. “[F]eminine desirability…for they are to be sold…beauty, high intelligence, helpless sexual needfulness, and such.”
“[One is looking, most essentially, for women who…have slave dispositions, who desire to be slaves…who will not be happy until they are collared, and such,” said Cabot.
“They need not, of course, be fully aware of this on Earth,” said Peisistratus. “It will…however, be clear enough to them in their…fantasies, which they will perhaps fear and keep as their most closely guarded secret.”
“Some of these women are scouted carefully,” said Cabot.
“True,” said Peisistratus. “Our agents often scout them for days, weeks, even months, observing their characteristics and dispositions, considering what they might look like in tunics and shackles [and] such things…careful lists are kept.”
“You have lists?” said Cecily.
“Yes,” said Peisistratus, “there are possibility lists, which are, in effect…assessment lists, and then, if the female is deemed suitable, she is put on an acquisition list. Once on an acquisition list it may still be weeks or months before she is acquired. It is amusing in its way, how they go so naively, so unsuspectingly, about the boring, meaningless trivialities of their daily lives. They do not know that they are already Gorean slaves. They lack only the brands and collars.” (Kur of Gor)
Isle of Nara
Thursday, June 12th, 2025
The city has been under constant chaos, threat, raids, war and struggle to seek independence from the royal court who rules the islands of Pani, under the leadership of “Lord Shogun Shigenoi Sa” the feudal lord of Nara seeking to become a shoganate (Land ruled by Shogun as a ruler). Under his command he has loyal vessel Daimyos that serve him and fight for him along with undertaking any affairs on the lands and administrative and military branch of his court. Samurai’s are below the Daimyos, then comes the infantry men, which can vary in ranks and their skills as a swordsmen, tarnsmen or archer, or even a cavalry.
After taking over the city much of the land was taken over by the shogun as the supreme leader of the land. Land was then redistributed first among his Daimyo then rest reverted from public lands to be Shoen (which means lands owned by clans or feudal lord) Taxation was placed in the city to make the Shogun court self-sufficient, the districts were divided among the lords, which collected rent coin for the properties to the Citizens, partial payments were made to the Court for the allotment of these lands, to raise revenue. The Citizens of the city were placed under taxation to provide for the services of their well-being, protection and to keep the city day to day operations intact.
Finally after taking over most of the coin was spend on rebuilding the city, his gardens, farm lands, irrigation etc and with the arrival off alien men in Pani, the struggle to establish rule over rest of Pani lands now seems a strong possibility as it has provided the opportunity to trade outside of Pani to earn more coins and build more elaborate economy and military hardware. As the cost of war is very expensive physically and economically, mush of the fields have been destroyed, the “shogun” seems fascinated by the alien lands which are now been introduced too him, his fascination has led to allowing controlled trade agreements with several other lands who wish to trade, but keeping a minimal influence diffusion into his isle.
It was a wise decision that the shogun made spending the coins rebuilding to normalize the chaotic nature of the isle during and after war, thus allowing his people to cherish, his tea houses filled with Contract Women and customers, allowing farmers to farm. He also spend most of his time consolidating Nara as a strong hold well defended by any further intervention of adventure from the imperial court.
Since now the ability to sail across waters to other foreign lands in gor. The “shogun” have appointed several ambassadors who are normally from the house of Daimyos as they are the bureaucratic branch of his court to initiate trade and cultural exchange in controlled environment.
Holmesk
Thursday, June 12th, 2025
Nestled one hundred passages south of the Vosk River, Holmesk. A city where trade and commerce offer the opportunity for one to fill there coin pouch. Holmesk a large city cloaked in the darkness, intrigued where the vast under belly of the city where smugglers, thieves and slave handlers lurk in the shadows in its narrow, winding streets. Entering the city is marked by the flickering beacons of lit fires atop it’s two towers, casting dim light on the clandestine activities below.
Come experience the books through the eyes of a Free man a southern woman or a slave. Listen, as Holmesk calls you home! Explore the alluring by land, sea or Tarn. Experience the thrill of illicit dealings, or the desperate struggle for survival amidst the sinister underbelly that thrives in the corners of its alleys. As winter has passed, the city stirs back to life, pulsating with a raw energy that beckons adventurers and fortune seekers alike
Holmesk, now filling all roles with opportunity to travel the waters by ship or the skies by tarn. City of Holmesk is located 100 passages from the vosk river.
[13:07] Liam Valencia (darcybrent): “People of Holmesk, my brothers and sisters of the Home Stone — and all those who have walked among us during these days of trade and celebration.
The sun sets now upon the final day of the Merchant Fair. Soon the stalls will be folded, the songs will fade, and the dust of many footsteps will settle once more into the stone of our streets.
But what remains — is pride.
I speak now as your Ubar, and as a man filled with gratitude.
[13:07] Carmen Audebarn smiles as she see her Mistress Aggrapina approach
[13:08] Liam Valencia (darcybrent): To Leo of Holmesk, who first brought forth the vision of this fair, whose hands shaped its rise and whose heart beat for its success — I thank you before all. You have served this city with honor.
To Lady Marlee, whose guidance and resolve gave grace and strength to every corner of this endeavor — your name, too, shall be remembered with respect and admiration.
To the merchants of Holmesk — your skill, your courage, your trust in this city have filled our square with life. Your presence has brought prosperity and pride to our gates.
[13:10] Liam Valencia (darcybrent): And to every visitor who came to our city in peace — you have honored Holmesk by your presence. May your time here remain in your memory, as it shall in ours.
This fair may soon be over but not yet, but its spirit remains — in the friendships formed, the oaths spoken, the goods exchanged, and the strength of our city made visible to all.
[13:12] ღڰۣ ɧąƖɛყ ڰۣ-ღ (haley.eton) had loved every moment of the fair .. it had been wonderful to be part of such a welcoming city and she slid herself into the heat of her master’s body as they listened to the Ubar speak.
[13:13]J ąʍҽʂ βօʂաҽӀӀ (james.eton) was touched by the Ubar’s words “I think we should make this Fair a yearly event and turn it into a tradition for the years to come.
[13:14] Liam Valencia (darcybrent): I say now to all gathered: Holmesk stands grateful. Holmesk stands proud. And Holmesk shall always remember., lets now all stand toghter and may we praise sir leo and lady marlee for dong all this work, ” as i then looked around ” and to all merchant from all over gor ” i salute you all and thank you all for being here , now lets make this last day of the fair great with joy and celebration , agian thank you now please eat drink and spend coin at all those merchant stall , thank you agian , ” as i then walked of the stage.