Positions of Law

Archon
"What are you going to do with me?" I asked.
"Turn you over to the office of the Archon, in Venna," he said.

My chin was thrust up, rudely, with a thumb. "No," said a voice. "It is not my Tutina."
The man, then, with the Archon's man, stepped down from the circular cement platform, and rejoined the crowds coming and going in the busy street. The street was apparently an important one in Venna, and led down to a market square. My platform was on the left side of the street, looking down toward the square, and at the forward corner, nearest the street, of a public slave market, some fifty feet in length, along the street, and some fifty feet in depth. Behind this area, at the back of the display area, was a gloomy building with barred windows. It was in this building that the slaves were kept at night. The Archon's man also had his office in this building.
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Page 218

"What is going on?" asked the Archon's man.
"Nothing, Master," I said.
"If you delay slaves in their errands, and they are late," he said, "they might be whipped."
"I am sorry, Master," I said.
"Why did you delay her?" he asked.
"I wanted her to read the sign posted over my head," I said.
"Why didn't you ask me?" he asked.
"I was afraid," I said. "You did not read it to me. I thought then perhaps you did not want me to know what it said."
"And, without determining whether that was true or not," he said, "you nonetheless sought, perhaps thereby circumventing my will, to determine its contents?"
"Yes, Master," I said. "Forgive me, Master!"
"You should be whipped," he said.
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Pages 223 - 224

"Sheila," said he, whispering in my ear. "You are Sheila, Tatrix of Corcyrus!"
"No," I whispered. "No!"
"The office of the Archon will doubtless be pleased to learn the identity of its lovely prisoner," he said.
"They will not believe it," I said.
"They will conduct inquiries," he said, "with rather clear consequences, I think, for yourself."
"Do not tell them, I beg you," I said. "They will take me back to Argentum for impalement!"
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Page 227

"Perhaps I could hold her for ten days," said the Archon's man, "and then, if there are no other claimant, turn her over to you."
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Page 229

"May I reimburse you for her keep?" inquired Speusippus. "No," said the Archon's man. "Such services are furnished by the city."
Kajira of Gor     Book 19     Page 230

"Many in Venna," she said, "as I understand it, are alarmed at the killing, and the mysterious footprints. Some think it is an omen or warning. The archon is consulting augurs, to take the signs."
I stood in the sand, waiting for her.
"They will concern themselves, surely, too, with legalities, and such," she said. "For example, those in the black chain who are not criminals, and for whom Ionicus does not have prisoner papers, will presumably be at least temporarily removed from the vicinity. That would mean many of the masters on our chain."
I nodded. This seemed understandable. The archon in Venna would be interested in putting his house in order before the taking of the auspices. He would doubtless regard it as politic, at least from the point of view of soothing possible apprehensions in his constituency, to become a bit more scrupulous about proprieties, at least in so serious a situation.
Dancer of Gor     Book 22     Page 339

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.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 442

"I now hold all power over you, my dear Milo, even though I do not own you. It is given to me by this note. Should it come to the attention of Seremides, or Myron, or the high council, or an archon of slaves, or perhaps even a guardsman, you may well conjecture what might be your fate."
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 447

But the leader, as he was that, and we shall call him Archon, to utilize a Gorean title for a variety of civic officials, removed the sheath and dagger from the remains of the Kur harness he wore and handed it to Cabot.
Kur of Gor     Book 28     Page 180

Aside from raids, warfare, and such, the exchange of kajirae normally takes place in a civilized manner, with negotiation, and buying and selling, and such. But, occasionally, I knew exchanges took place by means of the negotiation of blades, particularly on the open road or in the fields, outside walls, beyond the jurisdiction of archons and praetors.
Smugglers of Gor     Book 32     Page 469

Constable
Cuwignaka nodded, recognizing the justice of this view. It was not Hci, so to speak, who was being obeyed, but rather a duly constituted authority, an officer, a constable or warden in such matters.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 11

Police
Also considered, though nothing was determined that night, were matters of taxation, the unification and revision of the codes of the five Ubars, the establishment of council courts, replacing those of the Ubars, and the acquisition of a sizable number of men-at-arms, who would be directly responsible to the council itself, in effect, a small council police or army. Such a body of men, it might be noted, though restricted in numbers and limited in jurisdiction, already existed in the arsenal. The arsenal guard, presumably, would become a branch of the newly formed council guard, if such became a reality.
Raiders of Gor     Book 6     Pages 159 - 160


For one thing, had now formed a Council Guard, with its distinct livery, that was now recognized as a force of the Council, and, in effect, as the police of the city. The Arsenal Guard, however, perhaps for traditional reasons, remained a separate body, concerned with the arsenal, and having jurisdiction within its walls. For another thing, the four Ubars, Chung, Eteocles, Nigel and Sullius Maximus, their powers considerably reduced during the time of the unsuccessful coup of Henrius Sevarius, had apparently resigned themselves to the supremacy of the Council in the city. At any rate, for the first time in several years, there was now a single, effective sovereign in Port Kar, the Council. Accordingly, its word, and, in effect, its word alone, was law. A similar consolidation and unification had taken place, of course, in the realm of inspections and taxations, penalties and enforcements, codes and courts. For the first time in several years one could count on the law being the same on both sides of a given canal.
Raiders of Gor     Book 6     Pages 218 - 219


On the other hand, it was regarded as permissible to slay a male thief or take a female thief slave if the culprit could be apprehended within an Ahn of the theft. After an Ahn the thief, if apprehended and a caste member, was to be remanded to the police of the arsenal.
Hunters of Gor     Book 8     Page 304


Twice I was passed by pairs of guardsmen, in white robes with red sashes and scimitars, the police of Tor.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 51


At the oases, it is common for the local pashas to exact a protection tax from caravans, if they are of a certain length, normally of more than fifty kaiila. The protection tax helps to defray the cost of maintaining soldiers, who, nominally, at any rate, police the desert.
Tribesmen of Gor     Book 10     Page 151


Warrior Societies in the tribes have many functions. They are a significant component of tribal existence. Such societies, on an alternating basis, do such things as keep order in the camps and on the treks. They function, too, as guards and police. It is part of their function, too, to keep the tribes apprised as to the movements of kailiauk and to organize and police tribal hunts.
Savages of Gor     Book 17     Page 261


This was a moon in which the Sleen Soldiers held police powers in the camp, and so it was to their lot that numerous details, such as scouting and guarding, supervising the camp and settling minor disputes, now fell. Among their other duties, of course, would come the planning, organization and policing of the great Wanasapi, the hunt or chase.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 8


Among the red savages there are various sorts of chief. The primary types of chief are the war chief, the medicine chief and the civil chief. One may be, interestingly, only one sort of chief at a time. This, like the rotation of police powers among warrior societies, is a portion of the checks and balances, so to speak, which tend to characterize tribal governance.
Blood Brothers of Gor     Book 18     Page 18


"The crowd has dissipated," said Marcus. "I think it would be well for us, too, to withdraw."
"Yes," I said, and, in a few moments, in a sheltered place, between buildings, we had resumed our customary guise, that of auxiliary guardsmen, police in the pay of Cos.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 253


"Is that why your men carry staffs and chains?" I asked.
"You are an insolent, surly fellow!" he cried.
"Beware, Appanius," said one of his retainers. "He is of the police."
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 419

"The port police would not permit us within the walls of Brundisium," said a man. "Refugees were unwelcome. They brought nothing to the city, there was no work for them, they were dangerous, they would be expensive to feed."
"By heralds we were warned away from the walls," said a man.
Swordsmen of Gor     Book 29     Page 131

"There," said Tarl Cabot, "do you see them, the three of them, the farther islands, Chios, Daphna, Thera?"
They were dim, in the distance, in the snow, but one could make them out. I had never been this far west of Cos and Tyros, but the merchantry of the major island Ubarates, including Cos, of course, traded here, and rogue ships, from Port Kar and Brundisium, did as well. Indeed, the major reason for the western patrols, as that of the Metioche, was to police these routes, limiting them to licensed traffic.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 114

Pani no longer policed the work areas.
Mariners of Gor     Book 30     Page 179
Prefects
I looked about, through the curtain, at the guests of the Lady Florence, other than the Lady Melpomene. The fellow from Venna, clad in white and gold, was Philebus, a bounty creditor. He was known to the merchants of several cities. Such men buy bills at discount and then set themselves to collect, as they can, their face value. They are tenacious in their trade. I did not know the business of the two men from Ar. They were Tenalion, and his man, Ronald. The fourth man was Brandon. He was from Vonda. He was a prefect in that city. His certifications on certain documents would be important. The two ladies, both of Vonda, were Leta and Perimene, both friends of the Ladies Florence and Melpomene. As free citizens of Vonda they could witness legal transactions.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Page 277


She handed the draft to the Lady Melpomene. The Lady Melpomene handed her back the loan note. Philebus of Venna went to the table of the Lady Melpomene and took the draft. He looked at it, and was satisfied, and placed it in his pouch. The loan note was carried by the Lady Florence herself to the prefect and to the Lady Leta and the Lady Perimene. These, with their signatures, and the prefect with a stamp also, certified and witnessed the loan note. Pamela and Bonnie, incidentally, the two enslaved Gorean beauties in attendance on the tables, did not fetch or carry the documents about. This had been done by Philebus of Venna and the Lady Florence. Slaves, generally, are not permitted to touch legal documents. They are slaves.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Pages 278 - 279


     "Am I not your single and full creditor?" asked the Lad Florence.
     "Yes," whispered the Lady Melpomene.
     Then, grandly, loftily, the Lady Florence lifted up the lone note from the table before her.
     "I demand payment," said the Lady Florence. "I demand that you now pay me the sum of one thousand, four hundred and twenty tarns of gold."
     "I cannot pay you now," said the Lady Melpomene. "You know that."
     The Lady Florence turned to look upon Brandon, who was a prefect in Vonda. He jotted down something on a paper before him.
     "You cannot do this!" cried out the Lady Melpomene.
     "Such notes as that I hold," said the Lady Florence, "are due, as you must know, upon the demand of the creditor."
     "Yes, yes!" cried the Lady Melpomene, clenching her small fists. "But I did not dream you would desire to achieve so hasty a closure on your note."
     "Such is my prerogative," said the Lady Florence, imperiously.
     "You must give me time to recoup my fortunes!" cried the Lady Melpomene.
     "I do not choose to do so," said the Lady Florence.
     "Is it your intention to bring about my total ruin?" asked the Lady Melpomene.
     "My intentions go far beyond your ruin," said the Lady Florence.
     "I do not understand," said the Lady Melpomene.
     "A demand for payment has been made, Lady Melpomene," said Brandon, a prefect of Vonda. "Can you pay?"
     "You have lured me here," cried out the Lady Melpomene to the Lady Florence, "away from Vonda, beyond the shelter of her walls!"
     "The walls of Vonda," said the prefect sternly, "would no longer afford you protection, for your debt, in its plenitude, is now owed to one who is a citizen of Vonda."
     The Lady Melpomene shuddered. "I have been tricked," she said.
     "Can you pay?" pressed the prefect.
     "No," she cried in misery, "no!"
     "Kneel, Lady Melpomene, free woman of Vonda," said the prefect.
     "Please, no!" she wept.
     "Would you rather this be done on the platform of public shame in the great square of Vonda, where you might bring shame upon the Home Stone!" inquired the prefect.
     "No, no," sobbed the Lady Melpomene.
     "Kneel," said the prefect.
     "What is to be my sentence?" she cried.
     "Kneel," said he.
     She knelt, trembling, fearfully, before him.
     "I pronounce you Slave," he said.
     "No," she cried, "no!" But it had been done.
     "Let her be collared," he said.
     The girl put her head down, sobbing.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Pages 281 - 283


Brandon, though a prefect in Vonda, rose to his feet and carried papers to the Lady Leta and the Lady Perimene. They were, after all, free women. They affixed the seal of their witnessing signatures to the documents. He then returned to his place and himself signed the papers.
Fighting Slave of Gor     Book 14     Page 284


In a moment or two, I stopped a few yards from a registration desk. There one of Ina's pursuers, I recognized him from earlier, was making inquiries of one of the five camp prefects, fellows under the camp praetor. The perfects are identified by five slash marks, alternately blue and yellow, the slavers' colors, on their left sleeve, the praetor himself by nine such stripes, and lesser officials by three. Turning about, apparently alerted by the prefect's notice, the fellow with one hand suddenly turned the prefect's desk to its side so that it stood walllike between us, and hurried behind it.
"Be gone!" he cried. "It is no longer a concern of yours! Be gone!"
I advanced on him and he turned and fled.
The prefect, not much pleased, looked after him. Then he turned to face me. "No," he said, "I know nothing about a runaway blond slave."
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Pages 453 - 454

Scribe of the Law
He was replaced by a member of the Taurentians, Seremides of Tyros, nominated by Saphronicus of Tyros, Captain of the Taurentians. Shortly thereafter Maximus Hegesius Quintilius was found dead, poisoned by the bite of a girl in his Pleasure Gardens, who, before she could be brought before the Scribes of the Law, was strangled by enraged Taurentians, to whom she had been turned over;
Assassin of Gor     Book 5     Pages 233 - 234

The Companion Contract, thus, had been duly negotiated, with the attention of scribes of the law from both Fortress of Saphronicus and the Confederation of Saleria.
Slave Girl of Gor     Book 11     Page 111

"That is not Ephialtes," said a man.
"Even if it were," said another fellow, "you apparently did not see the theft, and do not have clear evidence, even of a circumstantial nature, that he is the culprit." The fellow who had said this wore the blue of the scribes. He may even have been a Scribe of the law.
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 244

"Why would one think of her in the terms of a Ubara?" I asked. "Sworn from Marlenus, she is no longer his daughter."
"I am not a scribe of the law," he said. "I do not know."
Mercenaries of Gor     Book 21     Page 265

"I will speak what I have heard," said a man, "if no one objects." "No one objects," said a fellow, looking about.
"It must be understood clearly," said the man, "that what I speak now is spoken generally, and spoken by hundreds of others, and thus, if any breach of security is involved in this. It is not one for which I am responsible. Further, I am not, intentionally breaching any confidence, nor, as far as I know is security even involved in this matter, at least now. Further, I do not vouch for the accuracy of what I have heard, but merely repeat it, and only at the earnest instigation of others. Indeed, I mention it openly only in order that we may scoff at it, none of us extending to it serious consideration. Indeed, it is so absurd that it cannot be true. I am, thus, merely for our amusement, speaking what is clearly false."
"Speak," said a man.
"Speak!" said another.
"Dietrich has escaped Torcadino!" he said.
"With his men?" asked a fellow.
"With men and slaves," said the fellow.
"Impossible," said a man.
"I agree, totally," said our narrator. He was, I suspected, a scribe of the law. Certainly he seemed a circumspect fellow.
Vagabonds of Gor     Book 24     Pages 411 - 412

"It seems you are a slave," said Talena. "I have always been a slave, Mistress," said Lady Tuta.
Talena turned to one of her counselors, and they conferred.
"Are you a legal slave, my child?" asked one of the counselors, a scribe of the law.
"No, Master," said the woman.
"You are then a legally free female?" asked the scribe.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"It is then sufficient," said the scribe to Talena.
Magicians of Gor     Book 25     Page 138

The free woman must have her respect, her self-esteem, her dignity. She must consider how her friends will view her, and the match, and what they will think of her, and say of her. She must consider her assets, her properties, and their protection. All details of contracts must be arranged, usually with the attention of scribes of the law. She must have a clear understanding of what will be permitted to her companion and what will not be permitted to him.
Prize of Gor     Book 27     Page 704

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
Warden
There are wardens who watch the trees, guarding against illegal cutting and pasturage, and inspectors who, each year, tally and examine them. The wardens are also responsible, incidentally, for managing and improving the woods. They do such work as thinning and planting, and trimming, and keeping the protective ditch in repair. They are also responsible for bending and fastening certain numbers of young trees so that they will grow into desired shapes, usually to be used for frames, and stem and sternposts. Individual trees, not in the preserves, which are claimed by Port Kar, are marked with the seal of the arsenal. The location of all such trees is kept in a book available to the Council of Captains.
Raiders of Gor Book 6 Page 141


Cuwignaka nodded, recognizing the justice of this view. It was not Hci, so to speak, who was being obeyed, but rather a duly constituted authority, an officer, a constable or warden in such matters.
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 11


"But you did not listen," said Hci. "You chose, rather, to deliberately disobey a warden of the hunt."
Blood Brothers of Gor Book 18 Page 67


"You might be spared," he said. "You might be enclosed in a cage, suspended in the piazza. Others might then learn from your fate a lesson. You might be put in a dozen chains and flung into the deepest dungeon in the city. Perhaps then, eventually, you would be forgotten, save perhaps by a warden and some urts. You might even be kept chained in the public tarsk pens, in the mud, for years, there to compete naked, mocked by all, for your swill."
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 209


The "Tarsk," the pit master, or, to use his more exact title, the depth warden, was still at the table.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 302


"It was your aide," I said. "I only conveyed your please to the depth warden. Had I not do so, in some failure to comply with your request, I might have risked serious discipline."
"Nonetheless, I am grateful!" she exclaimed. "You need not, I am sure, have conveyed my pleas. You might even have managed somehow to escape punishment for the inadvertence. Since my care was put in your keeping I have not even seen the depth warden. He might never have known. You might have pretended to misunderstand, or forget, or you might have denied that such pleas were made."
"In such a matter," I said, "your word would be taken over mine."
"How vulnerable are slaves!" she marveled.
"Yes," I said, climbing upward. "We are vulnerable."
"But you could have conveyed my pleas in such a manner as to have had them discounted, or rejected as haughty demands, or such."
I was silent.
"You must have enjoined them upon the depth warden with sympathy."
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 315


Specifically, I think it was useful to have had to explicitly, frequently, and humbly address the depth warden as "sir," which practice apparently, in its present authentic form, began on that day, to know that she was not permitted to attempt to interfere with the latching of the cage, and might thus, at any moment, walking or sleeping, be plunged into the pool, to the creatures which frequented it, and, perhaps most significantly, to learn that she, though a free woman, was being housed in a slave cage.
. . .
She had began soon after that, as I had learned from the brunette, Fina, she preferred by the pit master, who slept at his feet, to kneel in the cage at the approach of the pit master, the depth warden, who commonly attended to her.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 316


"It is the pit master, the depth warden, really, ultimately," I said. "who permits such things."
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 334


"You are in the presence of a warden of our city, Lady," said the clerk. "It is in his keeping that you will find yourself until your disposition is clear."
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 540


"You may begin," she said, "by removing these horrid bracelets and this obscene leash!"
"They are the devices," said he, "of your current keeper, a warden of the city."
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 542


The jailer, the warden of the cliff cells, Tenrik, in whose care I had first been in this city, had come out upon the plank and brought me back to safety, before I might fall.
Witness of Gor Book 26 Page 649


The container was transparent, and had there been wardens or guards, visitors or bystanders, the container's occupants would have been in public view.
Kur of Gor Book 28 Page 62