"The brand was on Gor legal, institutional status; that which it marks it makes an object; its victim has not rights, or appeal, within the law." Eta smiled. She pointed to her brand. "Kan-lara," she said." Slave Girl of Gor, page 80 "It is here," said Hassan. He moved back the heavy iron door and we entered the room. I looked about, at the chains and devices. Tarna shrank back. She could not run, for my hand was on her arm. She seemed faint. I steadied her. It was dark in the room, except for a small tharlarion-oil lamp on a chain in one corner, and a brazier, glowing, near the branding rack. Hassan stirred the coals in the brazier. In a large kasbah irons are kept always hot. The slaves know this. I ripped the bit of cloth away from her hips and threw her against the rack. I swung shut the two heavy bands and with the two twist handles, tightened them on her thigh. She turned, trying to pound at the metal that held her. I took her wrists and pulled them forward, to the two posts, some six inches apart, part of the branding rack, putting them in the snap bracelets which dangled there, one from each post. These are simple mechanisms. It is quite easy to open and shut them, and it may be done with a snap of the finger, one for each bracelet. As the bracelets are situated, some inches apart, of course, and as the snap is on each bracelet itself, at the wrist, the girl herself cannot get her finger, of either hand, on the mechanism. Others may open them easily; she, on the other hand, is perfectly held. I took again the twist handles. I turned them extremely tightly. "Oh, oh," she cried. She pulled futilely at the snap bracelets. Then I again turned the twist handles. "Please!" she cried. "Be quiet," I told her. She bit her lip. I tightened the handles more and put in the locking device, that they might not slip back. Her thigh was absolutely immobile. "I see you like a left-thigh-branded girl," said Hassan. The girl can writhe in the rack or squirm, or scream, but the held thigh will not move. It is held for the kiss of the iron. With a heavy glove, Hassan pulled an iron from the brazier. "What do you think of this brand?" he asked. It was the Taharic slave mark. "It is beautiful," I said. "But let us assure ourselves that this will be a common slave, one fit to sell north." "A good idea," said Hassan. He returned the one iron to the brazier and reached for another. It glowed red. It was a fine iron, clean and precise. At its tip, bright red, was the common Kajira slave mark of Gor. Tarna looked upon it with horror. "It is not yet hot enough, my pretty," said Hassan. He returned it to the brazier. We heard shouting, as though from far away. Hassan looked at me. "I shall investigate," I said. I left the room and ascended to the third level. The noise was coming from the level above, the second. A soldier was stumbling by. "What is going on?" I asked. "On the level above?" "They are searching for Tarna," he laughed. He then stumbled away. I saw two slave girls led past me, on wrist chains, in the grip of another soldier. I returned to the fourth level. I returned to the room where Hassan waited. "They are searching for Tarna," I said. "On what level are they?" asked Hassan. "The second," I said. "Ah," said Hassan, "then we have plenty of time." In a few Ehn he removed the iron from the coals, and examined it. He then again replaced it. Shortly thereafter, however, for it must have been almost ready, he drew it-forth again. It glowed white. "You may scream and cry out, my pretty," said Hassan, not unkindly. She struggled in the bracelets, she watched the iron. Then she screamed. For five long Ihn Hassan held the iron, pressing it in. I saw it sink in her thigh, smoking and hissing. Then he, cleanly, withdrew it. Tarna was marked. She sobbed, wildly. We did not rebuke her. I freed her thigh of the rack. She fell on her knees at the posts, sobbing. I freed her wrists of the snap bracelets. I lifted her, sobbing, in my arms. Tribesman of Gor, p.337 There are many varieties of brands found on Gor. A slave may or may not be branded. In our home all slaves are branded as soon as they are released from the cage and chained in preparation for their training. "I have five brands," said the metal worker, "the common Kajira brand, the Dina, the Palm, the mark of Treve, the mark of Port Kar." Explorers of Gor, page 70 Types of brands: There are many different brands used for branding a slave. Some brands being more exotic and rare than others, usually invented by Merchants, are used to enhance the beauty and price of a girl. Personal brands are also given to some slave girls. Once the slave is marked with a personal brand, she is His more completely although this will lower her value if she is sold. kef It is about an inch and a half in height, and a half inch in width. A rather simple, delicate, graceful, almost floral mark, in cursive script. Appearing slender, more vertical, more like a stem with floral, cursive curled loops. A rather severe, straight line staff, with two, upturned, frondlike curls, adjacent to it, joined where they touch the staff on its right. It bears a distant, remote resemblance to the cursive "k". When an individual captures a girl for his own uses, he does not always mark her, though it is commonly done. On the other hand, the professional slaver, as a business practice, almost always brands his chattels, and it is seldom that an unbranded girl ascends the block. The brand is to be distinguished from the collar, though both are a designation of slavery. The primary significance of the collar is that it identifies the master and his city. The collar of a given girl may be changed countless times, but the brand continues throughout to bespeak her status. The brand is normally concealed by the briefly skirted slave livery of Gor but, of course, when the camisk is worn, it is always clearly visible, reminding the girl and others of her station. The Brand itself, in the case of girls, is a rather graceful mark, being the initial letter of the Gorean expression for slave in cursive script. If a male is branded, the same initial is used, but rendered in a block letter. Outlaw of Gor, page 186-187 "The man, placing heavy gloves on his hands, withdrew from the brazier a slave iron. Its tip was a figure some inch and a half high, the first letter in the cursive script, in the Gorean alphabet, of the expression Kajira. It is a beautiful letter." Hunters of Gor, page 51 "I noted her brand. It was a southern brand, the first letter in the cursive script, or Kajira, the most common expression for a Gorean female slave. It was entered deeply in her left thigh." ~Marauders of Gor, page 275~ "The brand was the common Kajira mark of Gor, the first letter, about an inch and a half in height and a half inch width, in cursive script, of the expression 'Kajira', which is the most common expression in Gorean for a female slave. It is a simple mark, and rather floral, a staff, with two, upturned, frondlike curls, joined where they touch the staff on its right. it bears a distant resemblance to the printed letter 'K' in several of the Western alphabets of Earth, and I suspect , in spite of several differences, it may owe its origin to that letter." ~Explorers of Gor, page 9~ dina The dina is a small flower similar to rose. The multi-petals are considered very feminine and lovely. This is the second most popular brand for a slave girl. "I looked at the brand. It was very meticulous, and clean, and deep, and lovely and delicate; it was incredibly feminine; it was as though my femininity had been literally stamped upon my body; it was thereafter, no matter what I wished, or what I might be told, I could never deny; never had I felt so soft, so feminine; I wore, burned in my flesh, one of the most beautiful of brands; I wore, incised in my thigh, resembling a small, beautiful rose, the dina, the slave flower. Slave Girl of Gor, page 70 "I had seen the design at the tip of the iron. It was a small flower, stylized; it was circular, about an inch and a half in diameter; it was not unlike a small rose; it was incredibly lovely and delicate." Slave Girl of Gor page 52 Toversland Brand of the North "The brand used by Forkbeard is not uncommon in the north, though there is less uniformity in Torvaldsland on these matters than in the south, where the merchant caste, with its recommendations for standardization, is more powerful. All over Gor, of course, the slave girl is a familiar commodity. The brand used by the Forkbeard, found rather frequently in the north, consisted of a half circle, with, at its right tip, adjoining it, a steep, diagonal line. The half circle is about an inch and a quarter in height. The brand is, like many, symbolic. In the north, the bond-maid is sometimes referred to as a women whose belly lies beneath the sword." Mauraders of Gor, page 87 Standard of the Tuchuk "I supposed that on the morrow Kamchak would call for the Tuchuk Iron Master, to brand what he called his little barbarian; the brand of the Tuchuk slave, incidentally, is not the same as that generally used in the cities. which for girls, is the first letter of the expression Kajira in cursive script. But the sign of the four bosk horns that of the Tuchuk standard; the brand of the four bosk horns, set in such a manner as to somewhat resemble the letter "H." is only about an inch high; the common Gorean brand, on the other hand, is usually an inch and a half to two inches high; the brand of the four bosk horns, of course, is also used to mark the bosk of the Tuchuks, but there, of course, it is much larger, forming roughly a six-inch square; following the branding, I supposed that Kamchak would have one of the tiny nose rings affixed; all Tuchuk females, slave or free, wear such rings; after these things there would only remain, of course, an engraved Turian collar and the clothing of Elizabeth Cardwell Kajir." Nomads of Gor, page 62~ Standard of the Kassar "The standard of the Kassars is that of a scarlet, three-weighted bola, which hangs from a lance; the symbolic representation of a bola, three circles joined at the center by lines, is used to mark their bosk and slaves. Nomands of Gor, page 106 Standard of the Kataii "The standard of the Kataii is a yellow bow, bound across a black lance, their brand is also that of a bow, facing to the left. Nomads of Gor, page 106~ Standard of the Paravaci "The Paravaci standard is a large banner of jewels beaded on golden wires, forming the head and horns of a bosk its value is incalculable, the Paravaci brand is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isosceles triangle. Nomads of Gor, page 106~ Priest Kings and the Kurii: There are two brands which are RARELY seen on Gor. These are those of the Priest Kings and those of the Kurii. "Incidentally, there are many brands on Gor. Two that almost never occur on Gor, by the way, are those of the moons and collar, and of the chain and claw. The first of these commonly occurs in certain of the Gorean enclaves on Earth, which serve as headquarters for agents of the Priest-Kings; the second tends to occur in the lairs of Kurii agents on Earth; the first brand consists of a locked collar and, ascending diagonally above it, extending to the right, three quarter moons; this brand indicates the girl is subject to Gorean discipline; the chain-and-claw brand signifies, of course, slavery and subjection with the compass of the Kur yoke." Explorers of Gor, page 12 Penalty brands There are 3 penalty brands. One brand for thief, one for liar, and one for traitoress. These brands are given and not looked upon lightly. "Four men held me, naked, near the brazier. I could feel the heat blazing from the cannister. The sky was very blue, the clouds were white. 'Please, no!' I wept. I saw Rask, with a heave glove, draw forth one of the irons from the fire. It reminated in a tiny letter, not more that a quarter of an inch high. The letter was white hot. 'This is a penalty brand,' he said. 'It marks you as a liar.' 'Please, Master!' I wept. I no longer have patience with you,' he said. 'Be marked as what you are.' I screamed uncontrollably as he pressed in the iron, holding it firmly into my leg. Then, after some two to four Ihn, he removed it. I could not stop screaming with pain. I smelled the odor of burned flesh, my own. I began to whimper. I could not breathe. I gasped for breath. Still the men held me. 'This penalty brand,' said Rask of Treve, lifting another iron from the brazier, again with a tiny letter at its glowing termination, 'marks you also as what you are, as a thief.' 'Please, no, Master!' I wept. I could not move a muscle of my left leg. It might as well have been locked in a vise. It must wait for the iron. I screamed again, uncontrollably. I had been branded as a thief. 'This third iron,' said Rask of Treve, 'is, too, a penalty iron. I mark you with this not for myself, but for Ute.' Through raging tears I saw, white hot, the tiny letter. 'It marks you as a traitress,' said Rask of Treve. He looked at me, with fury. 'Be marked as a traitress,' he said. Then he pressed the third iron into my flesh. As it entered my flesh, biting and searing, I saw Ute watching, her face betraying no emotion. I screamed, and wept, and screamed. Still the men did not release me. Rask of Treve lifted the last iron from the fire. It was much larger, the letter at its termination some one and a half inches high. It, too, was white hot. I knew the brand. I had seen it on Ena's thigh. It was the mark of Treve. Rask of Treve decided that my flesh should bear that mark. 'No, Master, please!' I begged him. 'Yes, Chemical Brand - "A small chemical brand," she said, "which you will wear in your flesh, something by which our agents in Cos will recognize you." "Chemical brand?" I said. "It will remain invisible until the proper reagent is applied," she said. "Can it be removed?" I asked. "Yes," she said, "but you cannot remove it. It requires the proper combination of chemicals." "Will it be removed?" I asked. "Of course," she said, "after it has done its work, identifying you for our agents. It would be foolish to leave it fixed in your body, would it not, to arouse the puzzlement of the curious, perhaps even to identify you as our message girl to the agents of the enemy?" The physician swabbed a transparent fluid on my arm. Suddenly, startling me, elating the men, there emerged, as though by magic, a tiny, printed sentence, in fine characters, in bright red. It was on the inside of my elbow. I knew what the sentence said, for my mistress, the Lady Elicia of Ar, had told me. It was a simple sentence. It said: "This is she." It had been painted on my arm with a tiny brush, with another transparent fluid. I had seen the wetness on the inside of my arm, on the area where the arm bends, on the inside of the elbow, and then it had dried, disappearing. I was not even sure the writing had remained. But now, under the action of the reagent, the writing had emerged, fine and clear. Then, only a moment or so later, the physician, from another flask, poured some liquid on a rep-cloth swab, and, again as though by magic, erased the writing. The invisible stain was then gone. The original reagent was then again tried, to check the erasure. There was no reaction. The chemical brand, marking me for the agents with whom the Lady Elicia, my mistress, was associated, was gone. The physician then, with the second fluid, again cleaned my arm, removing the residue of the second application of the reagent. The men looked at one another, and smiled. Slave girl of Gor, page 201 Passage Brand of the Wagon people "The street was lined by throngs of Tuchuks and slaves. Among them, too, were soothsayers and haruspexes, and singers and musicians, and, here and there, small peddlers and merchants, of various cities, for such are occasionally permitted by the Tuchuks, who crave their wares, to approach the wagons. Each of these, I was later to learn, wore on his forearm a tiny brand, in the form of spreading bosk horns, which guaranteed his passage, at certain seasons, across the plains of the Wagon Peoples. The difficulty, of course is in first obtaining the brand. If, in the case of a singer, the song is rejected, or in the case of a merchant, his merchandise is rejected, he is slain out of hand. This acceptance brand, of course, carries with it a certain stain of ignominy, suggesting that those who approach the wagons do as slaves. Nomads of Gor page 34 Knife Brand "From the box he then took a small, curved knife and a tiny, cylindrical leather flask. I gritted my teeth, but made no sound. With the small knife he gashed my left thigh, making upon it a small, strange design. He then took a powder, orange in color, from the flask and rubbed it into the wound." Explorers of Gor Page 330