Port Victoria: Jewel of the Vosk

Pull-downs can be a bit confusing, so I've listed those pull-downs to take special notice of. Some pull-downs forbid a woman to utilize it, or a slave, and infractions can lead to punishments subject to review by the courts. Ignorance is not an excuse.

There are, of course, pulldowns that would only be used by citizens of Port Victoria, and off-limits to visitors, such as the building where the Homestone is kept on display for citizens to take their Oaths, and private homes and properties.

Take note that the city is 40 pasang (28 earth miles) deep and 25 pasang (17.5 earth miles) long (shoreline). That's a LOT of city to walk. It’s advised to avail yourself to fee carts and other transportation. The only valid points of entry is through the Sun Gate located along the Vosk Road, or by ship. The actual main marketplace (The Plaza of Iphricrates) and the City Square proper comprise approximately 5 pasang (3.5 earth miles) by 7 pasang (5 earth miles). There are five other smaller marketplaces within the city. Of the 25 pasang of shoreline all but approximately 10 pasang (7 earth miles) are dedicated to shipping docks, piers and warehouses, which take up approximately 3 pasang (2 earth miles) deep. The balance of coastline is mostly private property.

Outside of the city walls, I have provided the various approaches possible to the city, with a range of 20 pasangs maximum. Though we are not accepting raids, these travel routes will provide visitors with a realistic approach to our gates and port.

We have two gates of note in our pull-downs; the Sun Gate and the Night Gate. The Sun Gate is the main entry into the city by physical roadways and is open only from dawn to dusk. Once dark, there will be no entry or exit to or from the city to the Vosk Road. Grab a room at the Inn or head home. Citizens of Port Victoria, however, will be provided the undisclosed location of the Night Gate. Prepare to show your identification if you attempt to use this gate. Obviously slaves will never be allowed exit or entry through these gates by themselves. All non-citizens will be inspected for weapons, but not disarmed. A record of the weapons and other valuables will be recorded and delivered to the Magistrate at various times throughout the day, every day.

The Vosk River is the only other realistic entry into the city. The waterways are patrolled by the Vosk League.

The central avenue that runs from the Sun Gate directly through to the Magistrate’s Office continuing through to the headquarters of the Vosk League, is called the Avenue of Calliodorus. It's a very wide thoroughfare that allows for wagons and pedestrians alike. Make sure to note that many of the streets run through both the safe and unsafe zones, so make sure you know where you are.

There are various facilities offered in Port Victoria. The following facilities are located in unsafe zones. Please note: Port Victoria has NO tarn cots, therefore no tarns will be found in the city. You can fly overhead, but you cannot land in the city. Period.

Wagon Yards
Park your wagons here. Discuss fees with the yard keeper. Anything reasonable will be allowed.

City Laundries
Pay to have your laundry done or send your slave(s) to do your laundry for you. There is a fee (noted on the pull-down).

City Pens
Park and board your livestock here. There is a fee (noted on the pull-down).

Public Slave Kennels
Located at the Sale barn of Lysander, guests may board your slaves here. There is a fee (noted on the pull-down). This is also where caged slaves pending judicial decision will be placed until a decision has been determined.

The marketplace here is not the GRP marketplace or fair. There is no open-air mass seating areas. It’s not designed for tea parties, but for realistic interactions such as the purchase of goods from Merchants, the hiring of an Artisan to produce a custom product, etc. There will be provisions allowing for the purchase of a home and/or business (i.e., having your own pull-down in the menu) whether or not you are a member of your home, based upon your roleplay activity. To sit, eat and drink, visit a cafe or restaurant. For purposes of this home, we will refer to the main marketplace as the Plaza of Iphicrates.

“Buy some for your slave,” said the man. “Here,” said he, lifting a necklace from the blanket. “This was taken from a free woman, now scrubbing stones in the plaza of Iphicrates.”
    Rogue of Gor, page 104.

Within the City Square is the building known as that belonging to the Merchant Council. This is where the city's merchant councils hold meetings between themselves and the general public and generally socialize. Commodities within the building itself would be various offices for Merchant officials, apartments for those who do not own their own home, and a communal kitchen. There would be slaves availed to provide service.

There are the many restaurants and cafés found in the city. Some restaurants offer only indoor seating. Some restaurants offer both indoor and outdoor seating, some in the form of outdoor tables, and others with open-terrace table seating. The cafés are all outdoor only seating. These eateries, located on Gluttony Promenade, are well within the safe zone.

Slaves have no business being in the restaurants unless they are with their owner. Slaves do not serve in the restaurants. Period. The only slave service provided are by the slaves owned by the restaurant proprietor.

The Chrysanthe Restaurant
A more upscale restaurant serving high-end meals to the finer class of people.

The Garden Café
A low-key quiet smaller restaurant.

There are two Inns within Port Victoria noted on the pulldowns.

The Drop Dead Inn, a low-scale inn, is located by the Sun Gate and in an unsafe zone. The Weary Inn, more upscale, is located in the vicinity of the Plaza of Iphicrates.

For a cheaper venue, you can also rent a room at an insula for a full Hand for the same price as the Dead Drop Inn. However, be wary of gitches and cockroaches. Not all insulae are protected by frevets.

The Weary Inn
A more upscale Inn located in the vicinity of the Plaza of Iphicrates (safe zone). Owned and operated by Nicias Poulos, the inn offers generous and comfortable rooms, with a small dining room on the main floor.

The Drop Dead Inn
A low-scale inn, is located by the Sun Gate (unsafe zone). Owned and operated by Stabalos, a moderately honest fellow, the accomodations are very basic with little in the way of dining.

The Tired Sailor Inn
A low-scale inn, is located near the Wharves District (unsafe zone), owned by a shady fellow named Karahalios. The accomodations are very basic with nothing in the way of dining provided.

All facilities below are in the safe zone:

The Library of Philemon is home to the Scribes within the city. Realistically, it would be only Scribes who would enter the Library. However, visitors of other castes are allowed with special permission obtained at the Office of the Head Scribe of Victoria (currently an NPC by the name of Lysandro Dyakos). You must roleplay obtaining permission or end up fined for as much as five (5) silver. NO EXCEPTIONS. Slaves are NEVER allowed to enter the Library.

The Museum of Isidoris is opened to the public from morning to early afternoon only. Slaves are allowed to visit only on certain days each month.

There are two (2) theaters in the city; one outdoor, one indoor. The theaters may be rented by citizens and passing Entertainers alike.

This area houses the insulae, the sales barns of the slavers and the taverns of the city. It would not be wise for free women to be found wandering these streets, however, it would not be uncommon either. Taverns are not places for a free woman to visit. Doing so will cause a woman's freedom to be stripped. Slaves also need to take heed of their surroundings if they venture here.

For a cheaper venue, you can also rent a room for a full Hand for the same price as the Dead Drop Inn in one of the insulae. Be wary of gitches and cockroaches. Not all insuale are protected by frevets. Women are known to rent space in insulae at great risk.

Insulae: The Crooked Tharlarion
Noted by the sign outside, tethered by a chain, the Crooked Tharlarion is the largest of the insulae in Victoria.

Sales Barn of Lysander
One of the warehouses run by slavers.

I had tallied my resources, prior to coming to the tavern of Tasdron, off the avenue of Lycurgus, and found them to amount to only seventy copper tarsks, including five tarsks which I had happily, and unexpectedly, received, the captain being a good fellow, for acting as an oarsman from Fina to the vicinity of Victoria. I did not know how much a slave might go for in the market of Lysander, but I wished to have enough to be confident that I could bid realistically and effectively on one item of merchandise, should it be offered to the public.
    Rogue of Gor, page 108.

Market of Demetrius
Major slave market in Victoria, handling mostly slaves brought overland from the south of the Vosk.

“This one is destined, like the others, for Market of Demetrius in Victoria.” Market of Demetrius was a major market in Victoria, handling mostly slaves brought overland from south of the Vosk.
    Treasure of Gor , page 105.

Tavern of Cleanthes
One of the notable taverns.

I returned to the house near the fifth Ahn. I had slept some at the tavern of Cleanthes. I frequented various taverns in Victoria. There were several in the city. There were attractions, so to speak, in each. My favorite, on the whole, I believe, remained the tavern of Tasdron. It was in that tavern that the former Peggy Baxter, now a branded, encollared Gorean slave girl, served her master's customers.
    Rogue of Gor, page 182.

Tavern of Hibron
One of the notable taverns located near the wharves.

"Come home with me now," I said. "I have sought for you long." Returning from the wharves to the house I had not found her on the premises. There had been no sign of forced entry or struggle. Anxious, I had begun to search the public places of Victoria. Then, after two Ahn of searching, I had found her here, near the wharves, unattended, in the tavern of Hibron, a miserable tavern, a low place, called the Pirate's Chain.
    Rogue of Gor, page 235.

"Yes," she smiled, "it is well known in Victoria what occurred in the tavern of Hibron, but none blame you. You are not the master of the sword and even had you been, you were grievously outnumbered. None blame you, I assure you. Indeed, many feel you were courageous to have even entered the tavern under the circumstances, to attempt to extract the unwitting little fool from the situation in which she had placed herself."
    Rogue of Gor, page 244.

Tavern of Tasdron
One of the notable taverns.

I had tallied my resources, prior to coming to the tavern of Tasdron, off the avenue of Lycurgus, and found them to amount to only seventy copper tarsks, including five tarsks which I had happily, and unexpectedly, received, the captain being a good fellow, for acting as an oarsman from Fina to the vicinity of Victoria. I did not know how much a slave might go for in the market of Lysander, but I wished to have enough to be confident that I could bid realistically and effectively on one item of merchandise, should it be offered to the public.
    Rogue of Gor, page 108.

The Pirate’s Chain
One of the notable taverns.

"Come home with me now," I said. "I have sought for you long." Returning from the wharves to the house I had not found her on the premises. There had been no sign of forced entry or struggle. Anxious, I had begun to search the public places of Victoria. Then, after two Ahn of searching, I had found her here, near the wharves, unattended, in the tavern of Hibron, a miserable tavern, a low place, called the Pirate's Chain.
    Rogue of Gor, page 235.

Wharves are often claimed by Merchants of the city, named after the Merchant, or the products delivered. The wharves, are of course, in an unsafe zone.

The Spice Wharf
One of the known wharves in Port Victoria.

She had found them in holding cages, near the spice wharf.
    Guardsman of Gor, page 354.

The Wharf of Terence
As in the books, there is no such wharf called the Wharf of Terence.

“Does the Lady Portia still ship from the wharf of Terence?” he asked. “Less frequently now,” she said. ...
Too, the house of Portia would find it difficult to ship from the wharf of Terence in Victoria, as there is no such wharf.” “She is then a mercenary, of sorts,”
    Plunder of Gor, pages 440 & 448.

Owning a business or employed by a business insures your livability in Port Victoria. These are but a few:

Bank of Port Victoria
The largest and most popular bank in Port Victoria.

The Quill & Dagger
The investigative and attorney offices once owned by Verdict Corvus of Torcadino, this satellite office is now under the ownership of the Corvus family. They have kept in hire, the scribes who were employed by Verdict, with the chief among them now managing the business. (This is an NPS-Storytell interactive pulldown that Ayelen will act on behalf of the business/scribes in Storytell).

House Cassavetes Leatherworks
Originally called Leatherworks by Ayelen it was later changed to its current name. This workshop is owned and operated by Ayelen, and where she had in her hire, two employees who perform their craft as leatherworkers, principally being that of the tanning of hides and selling these to Clothiers, Shoemakers and other Artisans who design and make goods with the leather. The workshop does provide limitied crafting of leather goods, such as knife sheaths. Full catalogue can be found within.

Leatherwork by Ayelen
The smaller workshop annexed to House Cassavetes Leatherworks. This workshop is owned and operated by Ayelen, and where she performs her work as a leatherworker, principally being that of the tanning of hides and selling these to Clothiers, Shoemakers and other Artisans who design and make goods with the leather. Although, she is strictly a Leatherwork, Ayelen does provide limitied crafting of leather goods, such as knife sheaths. Full catalogue can be found within.

These areas are just common sense. There are low caste and high caste divisions with a general private residence in each, however members can petition their own personalized residential pull-down. Perks of having more developed pull-downs for your home will be earned.

High caste residential neighborhoods are all well guarded and therefore are safe zones. However, low castes homes are located in an unsafe zone as affordability of personal guards is unlikely.

Villa Nazarios
This is the home of Marsus Nazarios (NPC), an officer of the Vosk League and one of the high Merchants, he is also the father of Ayelen Cassavetes. This Villa is located among the others on Villa Row. Like all of the villas, the property is surrounded by high walls and guarded heavily.

Lepida Estate
This property is owned by Thalia Lepida, Builder of Port Victoria. Located on the lower portion of Lighthouse Road, this vast property currently sits empty. Building plans for a villa and other buildings have been made, supplies delivered and construction well underway!

Dagny’s Cabin
Nestled in the forest at the rear of the Lepida Estate and surrounded by lush herb and vegetable gardens, the quaint cabin of Dagny Thraindottir is a peaceful haven for the small woodland creatures that are inevitably drawn to her doorstep.

The Lighthouse and Cottage
Ayelen’s personal residence. The lighthouse itself is non-functional. Sitting on an outcropping overlooking the river from above, the walls are over fifteen feet high and border three sides of the property. The fourth side is bordered by a wall, fifteen feet at both ends, tapering to a mere four feet to provide a grand view of the Vosk River. The wall hides the sheer cliff that provides security against invasion.