Fortune Tellers of Gor

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May 2012

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May 28 - Memorial Day

[Moon Firegrave]

Hi Everyone,

Is there such a thing?
I am searching for the quotes related to female “psychics, fortune tellers and the like” from the books. I can’t remember from my readings if there was any mention. It’s research for some role-play scenarios I am creating and I wanted to keep it as authentic as possible. 
Appreciate the help!
Thank you
Moon

[Rayzor McAuley]

I haven't gotten deep enough into Nomads of Gor to know the nature of it, but I've been told that there is mention of haruspex....or people who read the entrails of a sacrificed animal.

[Sayrax wiefel]

Magicians of Gor ....was a hoax caste building off the lack of knowledge anyone really had on anago, i see no reason why that can be added. You also have the rune readers of the north that did their schtick for odin.   Mix those two a lil togeather and, i see no logical reason why you coudlnt spend a lil time as a enertainer styled sub caste.


**did a google*



I have mentioned that masks are commonly  worn in serious drama and sophisticated comedy, such as it is; I might also  mention that they are not worn in most of the minor forms, such as mime or story  dance, unless called for by the plot, as in the case of the brigands, and so on;  farce, on the other hand, represent an interesting case for in it some  characters commonly wear masks and others do no; the Comic Father, the Pedant,  usually depicting a member of the Scribes, and the Timid Captain, for example,  are usually masked, whereas the young lovers, the Golden Courtesan, the  Desirable Heiress, and others, are not. Some roles, those of saucy free maids,  comic servants, and such, may have gathered many of the characters in Gorean  comedy and in the minor forms are, for the most part, stock characters. Again  and again one meets pompous merchants, swaggering soldiers, fortune tellers,  parasites, peasants and slaves.
The stock characters are well known to  Gorean audiences and welcomed by them. For example, the Pompous Merchant and the  Wily Peasant are well known. The audience is already familiar with them, from  numerous performances in dozens of plays and farces, many of them largely  improvised around certain standard types of situations. They know generally how  the characters will act and are fond of them. They are familiar even with  mannerisms and dialects. Who would accept the Comic Heiress if she did not speak  in the soft accents of Venna, north of Ar? What would the Timid Captain be if he  did not, beneath his long-nosed half mask, have those fierce moustaches to twirl  the formidable wooden sword dragging behind him. Even gestures and grimaces are  well known, looked for, and eagerly awaited. This type of familiarity, of  course, fives the actor's great deal to build on. The character, even before he  greets the purposes established, and in rich, complex detail; furthermore it is  anticipated with relish and welcomed with affection. This being neither the case  it is interesting to note that one actor's Merchant is not the same Merchant as  that of another actor. Somehow within the outlines of the role, and the  traditional business associated with it, these actors manage to make their  versions unique and special onto themselves. I suspect that there are no purely  interpretative arts; all arts, I suspect are ultimately creative. Players of  Gor, pave 48-49

[Rayzor McAuley]

Magicians of Gor ....was a hoax caste building off the lack of knowledge anyone really had on anago, i see no reason why that can be added. You also have the rune readers of the north that did their schtick for odin.   

Hey, now....best not be disrespecting the Rune Priests. 

[Kaitlin Eiren]

Hi Everyone,

Is there such a thing?
I am searching for the quotes related to female “psychics, fortune tellers and the like” from the books. I can’t remember from my readings if there was any mention. It’s research for some role-play scenarios I am creating and I wanted to keep it as authentic as possible. 
Appreciate the help!
Thank you
Moon

For carnival events this type of role would exist but they of course would be without caste.  I'll add a relevant quote on theatrical groups overall.

Such itinerant troupes, theatrical troupes, carnival groupings, and such, are not uncommon on Gor. They consist usually of rogues and outcasts. With their wagons and tents, often little more than a skip and a jump ahead of creditors and magistrates, they roam from place to place, rigging their simple stages in piazzas and squares, in yards and markets, wherever an audience may be found, even at the dusty intersections of country crossroads. With a few boards and masks, and a bit of audacity, they create the mystery of performance, the magic of theater. They are bizarre, incomparable vagabonds.  They are denied the dignity of the funeral pyre and other forms of honorable burial. (Players of Gor)

[Moon Firegrave]

Yay Yay Yay! 
Now I can finish the roleplay scene.
Thanks so much for the feedback, you guys rock! 

[Sayrax wiefel]

I would actualy like to counter that, as they were not treated as outlaws



No troupe is permitted to perform within  a city unless it has a license. These licenses usually run for the five days of  a Gorean week. Sometimes they are for a specific night or a specific  performance. Licenses are commonly renewable, within a given season, for a  nominal fee. In connection with the fees for such matters, it is not uncommon  that bribes are also involved. This is particularly the case when small  committees are involved in the approvals of given individuals, such as a city's  Entertainment Master or Master of revels. There is little secret, incidentally  about the briberies involved. There are even fairly well understood briberies  scales, indexed to the type of troupe, its supposed treasury, the number of days  requested for the license, and so on. Perhaps one should think of them more as  gratuities or service fees, than as bribes. More than one Master or Revels  regards them as an honest perquisite of his office. Player of Gor, page 10-11
"We are here in connection with the  matter of a license," said the officer.



"Yes?" said the paunchy fellow, Boots  Tarsk-Bit, pleasantly.
'Do you have one?" asked the officer.
"Would you care to come to my quarters?"  asked Boots.
"We have some lovely larmas there, and  perhaps you and your men would like to try my Bina and Brigella."
"In ??the license," said the officer, "there is the provision that girls associated with companies such as yours, if  slaves, may be commanded to the apartments and service of whomsoever the  council, or a delegated officer of the council direct." Players if Gor, page 58

[Kaitlin Eiren]

I would actualy like to counter that, as they were not treated as outlaws



No troupe is permitted to perform within  a city unless it has a license. These licenses usually run for the five days of  a Gorean week. Sometimes they are for a specific night or a specific  performance. Licenses are commonly renewable, within a given season, for a  nominal fee. In connection with the fees for such matters, it is not uncommon  that bribes are also involved. This is particularly the case when small  committees are involved in the approvals of given individuals, such as a city's  Entertainment Master or Master of revels. There is little secret, incidentally  about the briberies involved. There are even fairly well understood briberies  scales, indexed to the type of troupe, its supposed treasury, the number of days  requested for the license, and so on. Perhaps one should think of them more as  gratuities or service fees, than as bribes. More than one Master or Revels  regards them as an honest perquisite of his office. Player of Gor, page 10-11
"We are here in connection with the  matter of a license," said the officer.



"Yes?" said the paunchy fellow, Boots  Tarsk-Bit, pleasantly.
'Do you have one?" asked the officer.
"Would you care to come to my quarters?"  asked Boots.
"We have some lovely larmas there, and  perhaps you and your men would like to try my Bina and Brigella."
"In ??the license," said the officer, "there is the provision that girls associated with companies such as yours, if  slaves, may be commanded to the apartments and service of whomsoever the  council, or a delegated officer of the council direct." Players if Gor, page 58

What exactly are you countering? 

[Anarch Allegiere]

This could be a very nice role for some of the outlaws in Clearchus if they want to go out and perform in places.

Such itinerant troupes, theatrical troupes, carnival groupings, and such, are not uncommon on Gor. They consist usually of rogues and outcasts. With their wagons and tents, often little more than a skip and a jump ahead of creditors and magistrates, they roam from place to place, rigging their simple stages in piazzas and squares, in yards and markets, wherever an audience may be found, even at the dusty intersections of country crossroads. With a few boards and masks, and a bit of audacity, they create the mystery of performance, the magic of theater. They are bizarre, incomparable vagabonds.  They are denied the dignity of the funeral pyre and other forms of honorable burial. (Players of Gor)

That's a really inspiring quote. Although I'm gonna roughly guess that in 90% of the cases they'll be greeted with tag-reading and an "OMG OUTLAHW IMPALEEEUUHHHHHHHH!!"-response, unless they would agree on something in advance through RP with local authorities.

[Moon Firegrave]

This could be a very nice role for some of the outlaws in Clearchus if they want to go out and perform in places.

Yes, a know just the eccentric FW who wants to do exactly that! LOL

[serene mistwood]

Although I'm gonna roughly guess that in 90% of the cases they'll be greeted with tag-reading and an "OMG OUTLAHW IMPALEEEUUHHHHHHHH!!"-response, unless they would agree on something in advance through RP with local authorities.

@ Sayrax.

Only those troupes that were of the Caste of Entertainers would be required to get a license.  Roaming rougue and itinerant groups wouldn't even apply for one for obvious reasons and try their luck much as hawkers.  I think its a great scenario for a RP, and also one where slaves can often be the main players and RP'ers for a change. 

"On Gor, as I have mentioned, most  actresses are slaves." Players of Gor, page 122

IC outraged caste pride from those of the Caste of Entertainers would be a good conflict RP too.. 

"He had, this afternoon, at the edge of  the woods, for local villagers, given his first performances since the fair,  from which, as we had anticipated, he had been duly expelled, that following  from various complaints lodged with the fair's board of governance by a certain  woman, the Lady Telitsia of Asperiche. He had also, given the supposed gravity  of his offences, been fined three silver tarsks and publicly flogged." Players of  Gor, page 174-175

[Kaitlin Eiren]

This could be a very nice role for some of the outlaws in Clearchus if they want to go out and perform in places.

Such itinerant troupes, theatrical troupes, carnival groupings, and such, are not uncommon on Gor. They consist usually of rogues and outcasts. With their wagons and tents, often little more than a skip and a jump ahead of creditors and magistrates, they roam from place to place, rigging their simple stages in piazzas and squares, in yards and markets, wherever an audience may be found, even at the dusty intersections of country crossroads. With a few boards and masks, and a bit of audacity, they create the mystery of performance, the magic of theater. They are bizarre, incomparable vagabonds.  They are denied the dignity of the funeral pyre and other forms of honorable burial. (Players of Gor)

That's a really inspiring quote. Although I'm gonna roughly guess that in 90% of the cases they'll be greeted with tag-reading and an "OMG OUTLAHW IMPALEEEUUHHHHHHHH!!"-response, unless they would agree on something in advance through RP with local authorities.

I think even the arrangements to perform could be kept IC.  The negotiations for bribes and free use of the performers would be pretty interesting and I thought it was a good fit for outlaws as a way to also scope out a city IC for other ways of making coin while the troupe was in town.

[Betony Baryl]

Gak!  This was an angle I was working on with some others as I thought it a good way to get entrance into a city.  These are some great quotes and references! 

[DeciusBlackheart]

I've lurked for a while on these boards and finally signed up not long before I saw this thread. I play a self-described magician and thought-reader with a somewhat murky and sinister history who calls himself 'Decius the Magnificent'. Here are some of the quotes from the books that inspired me:

I heard a fellow advertising the booth of a thought reader. This reader probably read coins. One, presumably without the knowledge of the reader or a confederate, selects one coin from several on a tray or platter, usually tarsk bits, and then, holding it tightly in his hand, concentrates on the coin. Then, after the coin has been replaced on the tray or platter, the thought reader turns about and, more often than not, far more than the probabilities would suggest, locates the coin. One then loses ones tarsk bit. If the reader selects the wrong coin, one receives all the tarsk bits on the tray or platter, usually several. I assumed there must be some sort of trick to this, though I did not know what it was.

Goreans, on the other hand, often accept, rather uncritically, in my mind, that the reader can actually read thoughts, or usually read them. They reason that if one fellow can see farther than another, and such, why cant someone, similarly, be able to "see" thoughts. Similarly, less familiar with tricks, prestidigitation, illusions, and such, than an Earth audience, some Goreans believe in magic. I have meet Goreans who really believed, for example, that a magician can make a girl vanish into thin air and then retrieve her from the same. They accept the evidence of their senses, so to speak. The taking of auspices, incidentally, is common on Gor before initiating campaigns, enterprises, and such. Many Goreans will worry about such things as the tracks of spiders and the flights of birds. Similarly, on Earth, there is a clientele, particularly in uncertain, troubled times, for those who claim to be able to read the future, to tell fortunes, and such.

- Magicians

And just for fun, some roleplay from last night in Tyros:

http://www.gor-sl.com/index.php/topic,6957.0.html

[Jenn Acker]

If I'm not mistaken...and the priest kings knows that happens way to often as is lol.........do i remember correctly from my studies that indeed some 'read the fortunes' from the tea leaves after the bazi tea cups were emptied?