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. I considered such things as the difficulties of communication, thedifficulties of maintaining supply lines, the lengths of marches, (pg.100)the paucity of roads, the isolation of cities, the diversities of cultures andsuch. I think you are right, I said.It would be merely that Cos would now be the dominant force on the continent.Also, geopolitically, it did not seem likely that Cos could indefinitelyPage 66 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlmaintain her power.Her seat of power was overseas and her forces were largelycomposed of mercenaries who were difficult to control and expensive tomaintain.The recent campaigns of Lurius of Jad must have severely drained thetreasury of Cos, and perhaps of Tyros, too, her ally.To be sure, her outlaysmight now be recouped here and there, for example, from conquered Ar.Cos hadsucceeded in defeating Ar.It was not so clear, I now realized, that she hadmanaged to guarantee and secure her own hegemony indefinitely.Indeed, with Arvulnerable and helpless, nullified militarily, if the power of Cos shouldcollapse, a new barbarism might ensue, at least within the traditionalboundaries of Ar, a lawless barbarism broken here and there by the existenceof minor tyrannies, places where armed men imposed their will. I do not hear the bars any longer, said Marcus. Nor the crowds. Nor do I, I said.Magicians of GorIt now seemed quiet at the park of the Central Cylinder, save for the soundsof the workmen, striking apart the boards of the platform.Few people, too,were about.Some papers blew across the park, some of them tiny banners ofcolored paper, banners of both Cos and Ar.Again I considered the platform.On it Talena had stood, barefoot. Look, I said to Marcus, indicating some of the boards removed from theplatform and piled to one side. What? he asked. The boards, I said, on their upper surfaces, they are smoothed. And from the reflection of light, sealed, he said. Yes, I said. Doubtless prepared for the feet of the noble Talena, he said. Yes, I said. Unusual solicitation for a penitent or suppliant, said Marcus. Yes, I granted him. But we would not wish to risk her little feet, would we? Marcus askedPhoebe. No, Master, said Phoebe.Although Marcus had spoken in irony, Phoebe s response was quite serious, andappropriately so.She did not even begin (pg.101) to put herself in thecategory of a free woman.An unbridgeable and, to the slave, terrifying chasmseparates any free woman on Gor from a slave, such as Phoebe. It is regrettable, is it not, Marcus asked Phoebe, that she was forced toappear degradingly unshod? Yes, Master, said Phoebe, for she is a free woman. Indeed, I suppose that it had cost Talena much to be seen in public, barefoot.Phoebe, of course, was barefoot.That is common with slaves.I watched another board being thrown on the pile.For the most part the platform was held together by wooden pegs, poundedthrough prepared holes.In this wayI supposed it might be easily reassembled.Perhaps there was some intentionthat it might be used again, perhaps, say, for the coronation of a ubara.Then the portion of the platform nearest us was down.Magicians of GorI wondered how Talena might look on another sort of platform, say, on anauction platform, stripped and in chains, being bid upon by men.such asurface, would be likely to be quite smooth to her feet, too, presumablyhaving been worn smooth by the bared feet of numerous women before her. Let us seek lodging, said Marcus. Very well, I said.CHAPTER 8THE WALLPage 67 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html I have had the good fortune to be chosen for wall duty, said a youth to hisfellow. I myself volunteered for it, answered the other. Such things are the least we can do, said the first. By means of them Ar will become great, said the other. Not all values are material, said the first. By means of such things we shall visibly demonstrate our love of peace, saidthe second. Without such things, said the first, our protests of love and brotherhoodwould be empty. Of course, said the other. I am weary, said Marcus. It is the wagons, I said.In Gorean cities it is often the case that many streets, particularly sidestreets, little more than alleys, are too narrow for (pg.102) wagons.Localdeliveries in such areas are usually made by porters or carts.Similarly,because of considerations such as congestion and noise, and perhapsaesthetics, which Goreans take seriously, wagons are not permitted on certainstreets, and on many streets only during certain hours, usually at night or inthe early morning.Indeed, most deliveries, as of produce from the country,not borne on the backs of animals of peasants, are made at night or in theearly morning.This is also often the case with goods leaving the city, suchas shipments of pottery and linens.We were walking in the Metellan district, and then turned east toward theAvenue of Turia.Phoebe was heelingMarcus.This morning, some Ahn before dawn, a convoy of wagons had rattled past ourlodgings in the Metallan district, in the insula of Torbon on DemetriosStreet.Our room, like many in an insula, had no window there, overlooking the street.Below, guided here and there bylads, with lanterns, were the wagons.There had been a great many of them.Demetrios Street, like most Gorean streets, like no sidewalks or curbs butsloped gently from both sides to a central gutter.The lads with the lanterns,their light casting dim yellow pools here and there on the walls and pavingstones, performed an important function.Without some such illumination it isonly too easy to miss a turn or gouge a wall with an axle.Marcus had joinedme after a time
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Tematy
IndexJohn Ringo Ghost 01 Ghost
John DeChancie Castle 07 Castle Spellbound
John Dalmas Farside 01 The Lion of Farside
John Betancourt Dawn of Amber 1 Dawn of Amder
Black Elk Speaks Being the Life Story of A Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux as told to John G Neihardt
John Ruston Pagan Anne Orthwood's Bastard, Sex and Law in Early Virginia (2002)
Gribbin John & White Michael W poszukiwaniu kota Schrödingera realizm w fizyce kwantowej
John Connolly Charlie Parker 04 The White Road (com v4.0) (lit)
Roberts John Maddox Nova Roma 01 Operacja Marka Scypiona (2)
szal John Lutz