The Sardar Fairs on Gor Four Sardar Fairs
Four great fairs are held during the Gorean year (it is not a permanent fair)Fair of En'KaraIt was not far to the fair of En`Kara, one of the four great fairs held in the shadow of the Sardar during the Gorean year, BeastsMonth names differ, unfortunately, from city to city, but, among the civilized cities, there are four months, associated with the equinoxes and solstices, and the great fairs at the Sardar, which do have common names, the months of En- 'Kara, or En'Kara-Lar-Torvis; En'Var, or En'var-Lar-Torvis; Se'Kara, or Se'Kara-Lar-Torvis; and Se'Var, or Se'Var-Lar- Torvis. AssassinsThe Fair of Se'Var in autumnThese men of Tharna, mostly small tradesmen in silver, had come for the autumn fair, the fair of Se`Var, which was just being set up at the time of the gravitational lessening. I remained with them, accepting their hospitality, while going out to meet various delegations from different cities, as they came to the Sardar for the fair. Priest KingsDescription of the Sardar Fairs
The Fairs cover several square pasangsThe district of the fair covered several square pasangs. It was very beautiful at night.BeastsDirt "streets" between the rows of tents and boothsIt had rained in the night, and the streets of the fair were muddy.The Sardar fairs are organized, regulated and administered by the Merchant Caste.BeastsLike the cities, the booths of castes are together, making a "street of pottery" and a "street of coins" and so onI turned down one of the muddy streets, making my way between booths featuring the wares of pottery and weavers. It seemed to me that if 1 could find the fair's street of coins, that the makers of odds might well have set their tables there. It was, at any rate, a sensible thought."Where is the street of coins?" I asked a fellow, in the tunic of the tarnkeepers."Of which city?" he asked."My thanks," I said, and continued on. The fairs are large, covering several square pasangs. BeastsLong central avenueTents, booths, stalls, pavillions, stockadesIt was not far to the fair of En`Kara, one of the four great fairs held in the shadow of the Sardar during the Gorean year, and I soon walked slowly down the long central avenue between the tents, the booths and stalls, the pavilions and stockades of the fair, BeastsSize of the Fairs
The Fairs cover several square pasangs, and appear to be huge since several times we read of someone asking "Where is....?""Where are the merchant tables," I asked a fellow from Torvaldsland, with braided blond hair and shaggy jacket, eating on a roast hock of tarsk, "where the odds on the Kaissa matches are being given?""I do not know," he said. Beasts"Where are the slave markets?" he asked."There are many," I said. ..."The nearest," I told the fellow from Torvaldsland, pointing down a corridor between pavilions and booths, "lies some quarter of a pasang in that direction, beyond the booths of the rug merchants. The largest, on the other hand, the platforms of slave exhibition and the great sales pavilion, lie to your left, two pasangs away, beyond the smithies and the chain shops." Beasts"Where are the platforms of Tenalion of Ar?" I asked a man. They had been his property.The fellow pointed to the two hundreds. ...In the two hundreds Tenalion's platforms were numbered from two hundred and forty through two hundred and eighty, inclusive.BeastsThousands in the crowds at the FairsI looked out over the crowds. Thousands were at the fair of the Sardar.My chances of finding one man in that crowd, and one who knew I searched for him, would be negligible. BeastsFunctions of the Sardar Fairs
Buying and selling of goods is important in gorean economy"The markets of the Sardar fairs are large and important ones in the Gorean economy." BeastsNot permitted to fight, kill, or enslave within perimeters of the FairBuying and selling of merchandise is a main function of the Fairs"Indeed, one might buy slaves here and there, publicly and privately, at many places in the Fair of En'Kara, one of the four great annual fairs at the Sardar. It is not permitted to fight, or kill, or enslave within the perimeters of the fairs, but there is no prohibition against the buying and selling of merchandise within those precincts; indeed, one of the main functions of the fairs, if not their main function, was to facilitate the buying and selling of goods; the slave, of course, is goods. BeastsWide variety of goods from all over Gor are for sale at the FairsMany are the objects for sale at the fair. I passed among wines and textiles and raw wool, silks, and brocades, copperware and glazed pottery, carpets and tapestries, lumber, furs, hides, salt, arms and arrows, saddles and harness, rings and bracelets and necklaces, belts and sandals, lamps and oils, medicines and meats and grains, animals such as the fierce tarns, Gor’s winged mounts, and tharlarions, her domesticated lizards, and long chains of miserable slaves, both male and female. BeastsCaste conventions are held at the Sardar Fairs - members meet and exchange ideasMerchant Law is drafted and stabilizedGorean language becomes standardizedPolitical NegotiationsPeace, war and arrangements & treaties are determined during the truce of the Fairs in a great pavillionThe fairs, too, however, have many other functions. For example, they serve as a scene of caste conventions, and as loci for the sharing of discoveries and research. It is here, for example, that physicians, and builders and artisans may meet and exchange ideas and techniques. It is here that Merchant Law is drafted and stabilized. it is here that songs are performed, and song dramas. Poets and musicians, and jugglers and magicians, vie for the attention of the crowds. Here one finds peddlers and great merchants. Some sell trinkets and others the notes of cities. It is here that the Gorean language tends to become standardized. These fairs constitute truce grounds. Men of warring cities may meet here without fear. Political negotiation and intrigue are rampant, too, generally secretly so, at the fairs. Peace and war, and arrangements and treaties, are not unoften determined in a pavilion within the precincts of the fairs. BeastsCastes gather & share information"Members of castes such as Physicians and Builders use the fairs for the dissemination of information and techniques among Caste Brothers, as is prescribed in their codes in spite of the fact that their respective cities may be hostile. And as might be expected members of the Caste of Scribes gather here to enter into dispute and examine and trade manuscripts." Priest KingsTrade disputes between cities are settled through contests"Make way! Make way!" laughed the brawny young fellow. He had a naked girl over his shoulder, bound hand and foot. He had won her in Girl Catch, in a contest to decide a trade dispute between two small cities, Ven and Rarn, the former a river port on the Vosk, the second noted for its copper mining, lying southeast of Tharna. BeastsCommon ground to resolve territorial & commercial disputes without loss of honor"It is little wonder then that the cities of Gor support and welcome the fairs. Sometimes they provide a common ground on which territorial and commercial disputes may be amicably resolved without loss of honor, plenipotentiaries of warring cities having apparently met by accident among the silken pavilions." Priest KingsContests held at the Sardar Fairs
Contests held at the fairs do not involve weaponsThe contests I mentioned which take place at the fairs are, as would be expected, peaceable, or I should say, at least do not involve contests of arms. Indeed it is considered a crime against the Priest-Kings to bloody one’s weapons at the fairs. The Priest-Kings, I might note, seem to be more tolerant of bloodshed in other localities.WrestlingRacingFeats of strengthSkill with bow and spearContests between poets and chorusesThe contests at the fairs, however, I am pleased to say, offer nothing more dangerous than wrestling, with no holds to the death permitted. Most of the contests involve such things as racing, feats of strength, and skill with bow and spear. Other contests of interest pit choruses and poets and players of various cities against one another in the several theaters of the fair. I had a friend once, Andreas of the desert city of Tor, of the Caste of Poets, who had once sung at the fair and won a cap filled with gold. And perhaps it is hardly necessary to add that the streets of the fair abound with jugglers, puppeteers, musicians and acrobats who, far from the theaters, compete in their ancient fashions for the copper tarn disks of the broiling, turbulent crowds. BeastsThe Pavillion at the Sardar Fairs
Gigantic sales pavillion where slaves are soldBlue and yellow silk Surrounded by aised platforms outside, displaying slaves for saleI turned my steps toward the main market. I would look at the goods on the long wooden platforms. Perhaps I would buy a girl for the night and sell her in the morning.In a few minutes I saw the silken summit of the gigantic sales pavilion, its pennons fluttering, its blue and yellow silk billowing in the wind.I saw male slaves thrusting a cart filled with quarry stones. It left deep tracks in the rain-softened earth.I smelled verr, closed in shallow pens, more than a pasang away. The air was clear and sparkling.I came to the great sales pavilion, but it was now roped off and quiet. There was much activity, and bustle, however, among the platforms. Here and there slaves were being thrown food.BeastsHundreds of raised platforms at Fairs, rented to slaversI mingled with the crowds among the platforms. There are hundreds of such platforms, long, raised about a foot from the ground, far more than one could easily examine in a day's browsing. They are rented to individual slavers, who, reserving them before the fairs, would rent one or more, or several, depending on their riches and the numbers of their stock. Small signs fixed on the platforms identify the flesh merchant, such as 'These are the girls of Sorb of Turia' or 'These slaves are owned by Tenalion of Ar'. BeastsSales in the Pavillion take place at nightLit by torchesSales take place at night in the pavillion, from a sawdust-strewn block, under the light of torches, but girls may also be sold directly from the platforms. Indeed, many girls are sold from the platforms. Given the number of girls at the fair, and the fact that new ones are constantly being brought to the platforms, it is impractical to hope to market them all from the block. It is just not feasible. At the end of every fair there are always some hundreds of girls left unsold. These are usually sold in groups at wholesale prices In sales restricted to professional slavers, who will transport them to other markets, to dispose of them there. Beasts"Where are the new slaves?" asked one man of another."They are on the western platforms," said the respondent. Those platforms are commonly used for processing and organization. Girls are not often sold from them. They wait there, usually, when they are brought in, before they are conducted to their proper platforms, those on which they will be displayed, those having been rented in advance by their masters. BeastsA tarsk bit to enter the pavillionThe sales in the pavillion would already have begun. "Buy these girls! Buy these girls!" I heard, as I made my way between the platforms toward the pavilion. "Buy me, Master!" called a girl, with long dark hair, naked, lying on her side on one of the darkly varnished platforms, her body hail covered with chains bound about her."A tarsk bit to enter, Master," said a slaver's man at the entrance to the pavilion.I handed him a tarsk bit from my pouch, and pushed through the canvas.My nostrils flared, my blood moved now faster in my veins. There is something charged and exhilarating about a slave market, the color, the movement, the excitement of the crowds, the bidding, the intensity, the lovely women being sold. BeastsThe Amphitheater at the Sardar Fairs
Huge sloping, semicircular amphitheaterI climbed on the tier and stood. I could now see, in the robes of the players, Scormus of Ar, the fiery, young champion of Ar. He was with a party of the men of Ar. The table with the board was set in the center of the stage, at the foot of the huge, sloping, semicircular amphitheater. It seemed small and far away. BeastsAmphitheater is used for kaissa matches, poet readings, pageants, song dramas Centius of Cos walked to the edge of the stone stage, some five feet above the pit, and lifted his hand to the crowd. He smiled.The amphitheater, of course, is used for more than Kaissa. It is also used for such things as the readings of poets, the presentations of choral arrangements, the staging of pageants and the performances of song dramas. Indeed, generally the great amphitheater is not used for Kaissa, and the Sardar matches are played in shallow fields, before lengthy sloping tiers, set into the sides of small hills, many matches being conducted simultaneously, a large vertical board behind each table serving to record the movements of the pieces and correspond to the current position. The movements of the pieces are chalked on the left side of the board, in order; the main portion of the board consists of a representation of the Kaissa board and young players, in apprenticeship to masters, move pieces upon it; one has thus before oneself both a record of the moves made to that point and a graphic representation of the current state of the game. The movements are chalked, too, incidentally, by the young players. The official scoring is kept by a team of three officials, at least one of which must be of the caste of players. These men sit at a table near the table of play. Games are adjudicated, when capture of Home Stone does not occur, by a team of five judges, each of which must be a member of the caste of players, and three of which must play at the level of master. BeastsForty foot high board records the movements of the kaissa game for the crowd Behind them, more than forty feet high, and fifty feet wide, was a great vertical board. On this board, dominating it, there was a giant representation of a Kaissa board. On it, on their pegs, hung the pieces in their initial positions. On this board those in the audience would follow the game. To the left of the board were two columns, vertical, one for yellow, one for red, where the moves, as they took place, would be recorded. There were similar boards, though smaller, at various places about the fair, where men who could not afford the fee to enter the amphitheater might stand and watch the progress of play. Messengers at the back of the amphitheater, coming and going, delivered the moves to these various boards. BeastsThe Public Tents at the Sardar Fairs
Public tents are set up for those coming to one of the Fairs to sleep inFive copper tarsks rents furs and a place in the tentMeals are not served in the tentsIn a few minutes I had come to the area of the public tents, and there was there no difficulty in determining where the Kaissa lines were to be found. There were dozens of tables, and the lines were long at each.I would stay in one of the public tents tonight. For five copper tarsks one may rent furs and a place in the tent. It is expensive, but it is, after all, En'Kara and the time of the fair. In such tents it is not unusual for peasants to lie crowded, side by side, with captains and merchants. During En'Kara, at the Fair, many of the distinctions among men and castes are forgotten.Unfortunately meals are not served in the tents. For the price it seems one should banquet. This lack, however, is supplied by numerous public kitchens and tables. These are scattered throughout the district of the fair. Also there are vendors. BeastsPaga and wines are served in the public tentsThere are some compensations in the public tents, however. One may have paga and wines there. These are served by slave girls, whose comforts and uses are also included within the price of the lodging.BeastsMore than a thousand men sleep in a public tentSmall lamps hang on tiny chains from the tent polesI lay thinking in the furs, my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling of the tent above me. There was little light in the tent, for it was late. It was difficult for me to sleep.More than a thousand men slept in this great tent.The ceiling of the tent above me billowed slightly, responsive to a gentle wind from the east.There were small lamps hung here and there in the tent. They hung on tiny chains. These chains were suspended from metal projections on certain of the tent poles. BeastsRestaurant Tents at the Fairs
One pays for the meal and carried a voucher disk to the tableA slave girl brings the meal to the table, taking the diskThe slave girls wear leather aprons and iron beltsOne pays before the meal, and carries a disk, a voucher, to the table. The meal itself is brought to his place, marked on an identical disk, by a slave girl. One surrenders the disk to her and she places the meal before you. The girl wears a leather apron and an iron belt. If one wants her one must pay more. BeastsIn this restaurant tent, there are 200 tablesI swilled down the last of the Kal-da. I had not had it since Tharna.In the restaurant where I had eaten there were some two hundred tables, under tenting.I wiped my mouth on my sleeve and rose to my feet.There were many at the tables who were singing the songs of Ar. BeastsCommon scenes at the Sardar Fairs
Puppet showI stopped to watch a puppet show. In it a fellow and his free companion bickered and struck one another with clubs.Two peasants walked by, in their rough tunics, knee-length, of the white wool of the Hurt. They carried staves and grain sacks. Behind them came another of their caste, leading two milk verr which he had purchased.I returned my attention to the puppet show. Now upon its tiny stage was being enacted the story of the Ubar and the Peasant. BeastsVendors hawking their wares"Candies! Candies!" called a hawker of sweets near me in the crowd. "Candies of Ar!" BeastsJugglersSome jugglers, to one side, were exhibiting their astonishing talents with colored plates and torches.I passed some booths where rep-cloth was being sold in bolts. Peasant women were haggling with the vendors.In another area boiled meat hung on ropes. Insects swarmed about it. BeastsThe Administration of the Fairs
Each of the Fairs are organized, regulated & administered by the Merchant Caste "The Sardar fairs are organized, regulated and administered by the Merchant Caste." BeastsFairs are goverened by Merchant LawFairs are supported by booth rents and taxes on items sold or bartered "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 KingsThe Fair has Merchants on its staffThere are booths of Fair staff and praetor stations to asist the visitors with informationI decided it would be best to search for a merchant who was on the fair's staff, or find one of their booths or praetor stations, where such information might be found.BeastsMerchant staff rents space for tarnsMy own tarn was at a cot, where I had rented space for him. BeastsTravel and Transport to and from the Fairs
Delegations from cities begin to arrive early, as Fairs are being set up I remained some days beside the Sardar, in the camp of some men from Tharna, whom I had known several months before. I regret that among them was not the dour, magnificent, yellow-haired Kron of Tharna, of the Caste of Metal Workers, who had been my friend.These men of Tharna, mostly small tradesmen in silver, had come for the autumn fair, the fair of Se`Var, which was just being set up at the time of the gravitational lessening. I remained with them, accepting their hospitality, while going out to meet various delegations from different cities, as they came to the Sardar for the fair. Priest KingsTarn baskets loaded with people returning to their citiesCaravans harnessed for return tripsThere was little now to hold me at the fair. Overhead, with some regularity, I saw tarns streaking from the fair, many with tarn baskets slung beneath them, men and women returning to their cities. More than one caravan, too, was being harnessed. My own tarn was at a cot, where I had rented space for him. BeastsOne can arrange trasportation & shipment of purchasesBefore I left, the fair I would inspect the major market, that beyond the smithies and chain shops, where the most numerous exhibition platforms were erected, near the great sales pavillion of blue and yellow silk, the colors of the slavers.If I found girls who pleased me I could arrange for their transportation to Port Kar. The shipment and delivery of slaves is cheap.I turned down the street of the dealers in artifacts and curios. I was making my way toward the public tents in the vicinity of the amphitheater. It was there that the tables for the odds on the Kaissa matches might be found. BeastsReceipts and shipping vouchers are issuedIn my pouch were the receipts and shipping vouchers for five slave girls, she whom I had purchased at the public tent this morning and four others, recently acquired on the platforms near the pavilion. BeastsPilgrimmage
At least once, prior to age 25, goreans must make the trip to the Sardar "Although no one may be enslaved at the fair, slaves may be bought and sold within its precincts, and slavers do a thriving business, exceeded perhaps only by that of Ar's Street of Brands. The reason for this is not simply that here is a fine market for such wares, since men from various cities pass freely to and for at the fair, but that each Gorean, whether male of female, is expected to see the Sardar Mountains, in honor of the Priest-Kings, at least once in his life, prior to his twenty-fifth year. Accordingly the pirates and outlaws who beset the trade routes to ambush and attack the caravans on the way to the fair, if successful, often have more then inanimate metals and cloths to rewards their vicious labors." Priest KingsSlave girls, of course, as goods, as exchangeable properties, and so on, are likely to see a great deal more of their world than the average free woman. Many free persons on Gor seldom travel more than a few pasangs from their village or the walls of their city. An important exception to this is the pilgrimage to the Sardar, which every Gorean, male and female, is expected to undertake at least once in his life. The journey, of course, from many points on Gor to the Sardar is, at least in certain parts, dangerous. It is not unknown for a young woman who sets out in the pilgrim’s white to arrive as a chained slave, who will be sold at one of the fairs. Her glimpse of the Sardar is likely to be obtained from the height of a sales platform. Renegades"This pilgrimage to the Sardar, enjoined by the Priest-Kings according to the Caste of Initiates, undoubtedly plays its role in the distribution of beauty among hostile cities of Gor. Whereas the males who accompany a caravan are often killed in its defense or driven off, this fate, fortunate or not, is seldom that of the caravan's women. It will be their sad lot to be stripped and fitted with the collars and chains of slave girls and forced to follow the wagons on foot to the fair, or if the caravan's tharlarion have been killed or driven off, they will carry its goods on their backs. Thus one practical effect of the edict of the Priest-Kings is that each Gorean girl must, at least once in her life, leave her walls and take the very serious risk of becoming a slave girl, perhaps the prize of a pirate or outlaw." Priest Kings"Each young person of Gor is expected, before their twenty-fifth birthday, to make the pilgrimage to the Sardar, to honor the Priest-Kings. These caravans come from all over known Gor. Most arrive safely. Some are preyed upon by bandits and slavers. More then one beauty who thought to have stood upon the platforms by the palisade, lifting laurel wreaths and in white robes singing the glories of the Priest-Kings, has found herself instead looking upon the snow-capped peaks of the Sardar from the slave platforms, stripped and heavily chained." Priest KingsOfferings are made to the Priest KingsI climbed the stairs to the platform. I would look upon the Sardar in the morning light. At this time, particularly in the spring, the sun sparkling on the snow-strewn peaks, the mountains can be quite beautiful.I attained the height of the platform and found the view breath-taking, even more splendid than I had hoped. I stood there very quietly in the cool, sunlit morning air. It was very beautiful.Near me, on the platform, stood the red hunter. He, too, it seemed, was struck to silence and awe.Then, standing on the platform, he lifted his bare arms to the mountains."Let the herd come," he said. He had spoken in Gorean. Then he reached into a fur sack at his feet and, gently, took forth a representation of the northern tabuk, carved in blue stone. I had no idea how long it took to make such a carving. It would take many nights in the light of the sloping, oval lamps.He put the tiny tabuk on the boards at his feet, and then again lifted his arms to the mountains. "Let the herd come," he said. "I give you this tabuk," he said. "It was mine, and it is now yours. Give us now the herd which is ours."Then he lowered his arms and reached down and closed the sack. He left the platform.There were other individuals, too, on the long platform. Each, I supposed, had their petition to make to Priest-Kings.