The Slaves
Brands and Branding
Kan-Lara
Eta smiled. She pointed to her brand. "Kan-lara," she said. She pointed to my brand. "Kan-lara Dina," she said. I repeated these words. — Slave Girl of Gor, page 80.
"Some fellows do not brand their slaves," I said.
"That is stupid!" she said.
"It is also contrary to the laws of most cities," I said, "and to merchant law as well."
Most female slaves on Gor, indeed, the vast majority, almost all, needless to say, are branded. Aside from questions of legality, compliance with the law, and such, I think it will be clear upon a moment's reflection that various practical considerations also command slave branding to the attention of the owner, in particular, the identification of the article as property, this tending to secure it, protecting against its loss, facilitating its recovery, and so on. — Vagabonds of Gor, page 188.
Thoughts on Branding of Slaves
Ah! The barbarity! 
A culture which physically and permanently burns forever a mark into the flesh of a slave girl! To some, slavery would seem barbarian in itself, but to brand a human being would be unthinkable.
In the Gorean culture, not only is this often the law to brand slaves, it is seen as an enhancement of a girl's beauty; the values of the brand aesthetic. Too, branding a slave imprints on the female that she is, in fact, well-owned. It is felt by many that a slave, once branded, goes through a psychological metamorphosis and thus learns her slavery much easier and quicker.
"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…
"I have wondered upon occasion why brands are used on Gorean slaves. Surely Goreans have at their disposal means for indelibly but painlessly marking the human body. My conjecture, confirmed to some extent by the speculations of the Older Tarl, who had taught me the craft of arms in Ko-ro-ba years ago, is that the brand is used primarily, oddly enough, because of its reputed psychological effect. In theory, if not in practice, when the girl finds herself branded like an animal, finds her fair skin marked by the iron of a master, she cannot fail, somehow, in the deepest levels of her thought, to regard herself as something which is owned, as mere property, as something belonging to the brute who has put the burning iron to her thigh. Most simply the brand is supposed to convince the girl that she is truly owned; it is supposed to make her feel owned. When the iron is pulled away and she knows the pain and degradation and smells the odor of her burned flesh, she is supposed to tell herself, understanding its full and terrible import, I AM HIS.
"Actually I suppose the effect of the brand depends greatly on the girl. In many girls I would suppose the brand has little effect besides contributing to their shame, their misery and humiliation. With other girls it might well increase their intractability, their hostility. On the other hand, I have known of several cases in which a proud, insolent woman, even one of great intelligence, who resisted a master to the very touch of the iron, once branded became instantly a passionate and obedient Pleasure Slave.
"But all in all I do not know if the brand is used primarily for its psychological effect or not. Perhaps it is merely a device for merchants who must have some such means for tracing runaway slaves, which would otherwise constitute a costly hazard to their trade. Sometimes I think the iron is simply an anachronistic survival from a more technologically backward age." — Outlaw of Gor, pages 189-190."The brand was on Gor legal, institutional status; that which it marks it makes an object; its victim has no rights, or appeal, within the law." — Slave Girl of Gor, page 60.
"Yes," I said, "a brand makes a woman a thousand times more beautiful. It is not just the aesthetic loveliness of the mark, of course, though that in itself incredibly enhances a woman's beauty; it is, of course, even more, its meaning." — Explorers of Gor, page 372.
"Sometimes a girl is not branded until she is first sold. There are various brands. Sometimes it pleases the master to decide with which the girl will be marked." — Tribesmen of Gor, page 41.
"Within an hour, however, of her arrival at the house of Samos, the girl had been sent to the branding chamber. The standard Kajira mark, as was the house policy, was put upon her. Masters, incidentally, seldom brand their own slaves. To brand a girl well demands a sure hand, and, usually, experience. In training a man to use the iron slavers always give him poorer women at first, sometimes having him mark them more than once, until he becomes proficient. Usually by the fifteenth or the twentieth woman, the man is capable of marking them deeply, precisely and cleanly. It is important for the girl's thigh to be held immobile: sometimes it is held by more than one man; sometimes it is bound to a wagon wheel; sometimes, in the house of slavers, a heavy, vise equipped, metal branding rack is used. " — Tribesmen of Gor, pages 41-42.
"The girls are usually branded impersonally, perfunctorily, as cattle. Though they feel their mark intensely physically, it is felt, interestingly, even more intensely, more profoundly, psychologically; not unoften it, in itself, radically transforms their self-images, their personalities; they are then only slaves,
not permitted their own wills, rightless, at the bidding of masters; the mark is an impersonal designation; this is understood by the girls; when she is marked she understands herself not to be marked by a given man for a given man, to be uniquely his, but rather, so to speak, that she is marked for all men; to all men she is a slave girl; usually, of course, only one among them, at a given time, will be her master; the brand is impersonal; the collar is intensely personal; the brand marks her property; the collar proclaims whose property she is, who it is who has either taken, or paid for, her; that the brand is an impersonal designation of an absence of status in the social structure is perhaps another reason why masters do not often brand their own girls; the brand relationship to the free man is institutional; the collar relationship, on the other hand, is an intensely personal one; it is not uncommon for masters to pride themselves on the depth with which they know their slave girls; this depth is far greater in my opinion than that with which the average husband of Earth knows his wife; the slave girl is not simply someone with whom the man lives; she is very special to him; she is a treasured possession; he owns her; he wants to know, profoundly and deeply, the background, history, the mind, the intelligence, the appetites, the nature and the dispositions of his lovely article of property; this knowledge, of course, puts her more at his mercy; by making it possible for him to manipulate her feelings, exploit weaknesses, drop asides, etc., she in the helpless condition of slavery, it gives him greater power over her. For example, it is common for a master to force his girl to speak at length and in detail to him of the secret sides of her nature, explaining and elaborating on her fantasies: if she is literate, she may be forced, naked, collared, on her knees at a small table, sometimes with her ankles shackled, to write them out; this supplies the master, of course, with abundant materials which may be used by him to make her further and more helplessly his; sometimes the girl attempts to deceive the master; it is not difficult to detect inauthenticity in such matters; she is then beaten; too, she may at times be ordered to invent fantasies, sometimes of a certain type; these, too, for she has invented them, are, to an astute master, instructive; these intellectual, emotional exercises, performed by the girl under a condition of slavery, particularly if coupled with an enforced exercise regime, posings under male surveillance, and such, can do much to sensitize her to her collar; they awaken her body and, of equal importance for the Gorean, though not for the Earthling, who sees sex with the perception of a hippopotamus, as a matter of body rubbings, her fantastic imagination and mind; she becomes curious, soon, about the deeper implications of what she is, a mere article of her master's property; then, with authority, with assurance and power, to the depth and height of her mind and imagination she is taught; the slave girl experiences a paradox of freedom; the free woman is physically free, but miserable, fighting to be what she is not; the slave girl, physically in bondage, even to the collar, sometimes chains, is given no choice by men but to be totally and precisely what she is, slave; such women, the slave girls, interestingly, are almost always joyful and vital; they are, paradoxically, in their feelings and emotions, liberated; they are not pinched, not psychologically restrained; why this should be I do not know; to see such women, their heads high, their eyes bright, their bodies, their movements, beautiful, as no Earth woman would dare to be, is quite pleasurable; some of them are so insolent, so proud of their collars, that I have cuffed them to my feet to remind them that they are only slaves." — Tribesmen of Gor, pages 42-43.
Types of Brands
Brands on Gor are often universal in design, but because of the artistic and deep-rooted meaning in each brand, there have sprung many varieties of brands found on Gor.
"Beyond this, there exists on Gor a variety of brands for women, though the Kajira brand, which Eta wore, is by far the most common. Some merchants invent brands, as the dina was invented, in order to freshen the nature of their merchandise and stimulate sales. Collectors, for example, those who are rich, sometimes collect exotic brands, much as collectors on Earth might collect stamps or coins, populating their pleasure gardens not only with girls who are beautiful but diversely marked… There are, of course, men who buy for brands. To meet this market various brands are developed and utilized." — Slave Girl of Gor, page 62-63.
In addition, many cities, such as Treve, Port Kar and Schendi, have their own brands. Below are listed the brands commonly found on Gor, as well as some of the rarer brands.
"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.
Common Brands
The Kajira Brand
Cursive Letter in Gorean script of the initial of Kajira, the letter Kef, usually an inch and a half high and a half inch in width. It is a simple mark, and rather floral, a staff with two, upturned frond-like curls, joined where the touch the staff on the right. It bears a distant resemblance to the printed letter "K" in several Western alphabets of Earth. This brand is often referred to as the "staff and fronds brand."
"A female's brand is smaller, and much more graceful, usually being the initial, in cursive script, of Kajira, the most common Gorean expression for a female slave. Some cities, Treve, for example, have their own brands. The Wagon Peoples, too, each have an individual brand for their female slaves. The Tuchuk brand, tiny and fine, is the paired bosk horns. Tana, the paga slave in Lydius, wore it. The brand of the Kataii is that of a bow, facing to the left; the brand of the Kassars is that of the three-weighted bola; the brand of the Paravaci is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isosceles triangle. Another common expression for a female slave, incidentally, the initial of which, in cursive script, is sometimes used to mark a girl, is Sa-fora, which means, literally, Chain Daughter." — Hunters of Gor, page 194.
"The brand was the common Kajira mark of Gor, the first letter, about an inch and a half in height and a half inch in 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.
"I saw the brand on her thigh. Although the brand was the first letter, in cursive Gorean script, of the most common Gorean expression for a slave girl, 'Kajira', its symbolism, I think, is much richer than this. For example, in the slave brand, the 'Kef', though clearly a Kef and in cursive script, is more floral, in the extended, upturned, frondlike curls, than would be the common cursive Kef. This tends to make the mark very feminine. It is at this point that the symbolism of the brand becomes more clear. The two frondlike curls indicate femininity and beauty; the staff, in its uncompromising severity, indicates that the femininity is subject to discipline; the upturned curves on the frondlike curls indicate total openness and vulnerability. It is a very simple, lovely brand, simple, as befits a slave, lovely, as befits a woman." — Explorers of Gor, pages 11-12.
"Her brand, however, was not precisely the same as mine. It was more slender, more vertical, more like a stem with floral, cursive loops, about an inch and a half in height, and a half inch in width; it was, I would later learn, the initial letter in cursive script of the Gorean expression 'Kajira'…" — Slave Girl of Gor, page 61.
"Only when I had unbound her had I noticed, on her left thigh, the tiny mark, which had been burned into her flesh long ago, the small letter in cursive script which was the initial letter of Kajira, which is Gorean for a female slave." — Raiders of Gor, page 63.
The Kajirus Brand
Block Letter in Gorean script of the initial of Kajirus, the letter Kef, usually an inch and a half high and an inch wide.
"The brazier, fierce with heat, stood not two yards from Marlenus of Ar. Its coals were poked and stirred with one of the metal bars. Then one of the men of Tyros lifted the iron, glowing redly, from the fire. Its marking surface, its termination, soft and red in the night, was in the form of a large, block letter in Gorean script, the initial of Karjirus, a common Gorean expression for a male slave." — Hunters of Gor, page 194.
Specialty Brands
Dina Brand
Named from and shaped as the dina flower, a small, short-stemmed flower indigenous to hillsides, resembling a rose of Earth; sometimes called the "slave flower."
"It was natural, given the fact that the dina is the "slave flower," that eventually enterprising slavers, warriors and merchants, those with interest in the buying and selling of women, should develop a brand based on the flower. — Slave Girl of Gor, page 62.
"There are, of course, men who buy for brands. To meet this market various brands are developed and utilized. The 'slave flower' brand was a natural development. Unfortunately for these entrepreneurs, their greed and lack of control over the metal shops resulted in the widespread proliferation of the dina brand. As it became more popular, it was becoming, simultaneously, of course, a fairly common brand. Girls branded as I was were already spoken of on Gor, rather disparagingly, as 'dinas.' Collectors now seldom sought for dinas." — Slave Girl of Gor, page 63.
The Kassar Brand
The Kassar brand is a symbolic representation of a bola; used on both bosk and slaves.
"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…" — Nomads of Gor, page 106.
The Kataii Brand
The Kataii brand is representative of a bow, facing to the left.
"… 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.
Palm Brand
A common brand on Go of the tribes of the Tahari, to represent the date palm that is the foundation of their culture.
"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.
Paravaci Brand
The Paravaci brand is a respresentation of a bosk head.
"… 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.
Schendi Brand
None named. In this quote, we see one of the Black Slaver's choosing the common Kajira brand, and follows is the description of the shipping collar of Ulafi, a Black Slaver.
"… 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.
"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."
"We have a common girl to brand," said Ulafi. "Let it be the common Kajira brand." … — Explorers of Gor, pages 70-71.
"I have a collar here," said Ulafi, lifting a steel slave collar. It was a shipping collar. It had five palms on it, and the sign of Schendi, the shackle and scimitar. The girl who wore it would be clearly identified as a portion of Ulafi's cargo. — Explorers of Gor, page 73.
Tahari Brand
The Tahari version of the common Kajira brand, utilizing the Tahari character 'Kef.'
I had little doubt that it would be the Tahari brand which, white hot, would be pressed into the thigh of the new slave, marking her thenceforth as merchandise. The contact surface of the iron would be formed into the Taharic character 'Kef', which, in Taharic, is the initial letter of the expression 'Kajira', the most common expression in Gorean for a female slave. — Tribesmen of Gor, page 148.
Northern Brand
Un-named in the books
The brand common among the Torvaldslanders, though less uniform than its southern counterparts, is about one and one-half inches (1-1/2") wide and one and one-fourth inches (1-1/4") high, consisting of a half circle, which at its right tip and adjoining it, a steep, diagonal line; very symbolic as most brand representing the woman whose belly lies beneath the sword.
"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 width, and the diagonal line about an inch and a quarter in height. The brand is, like many, symbolic. In the north, the bond-maid is some-times referred to as a woman whose belly lies beneath the sword." — Marauders of Gor, page 87.
Tuchuk Brand
In the shape of the four bosk horns, set in such a manner as to somewhat resemble the English letter "H." is only about an inch high. The Tuchuk brand their bosk with the same symbol though much larger.
"…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…" — Nomads of Gor, page 62.
Other Brands
Acceptance Brand
Because of the wary nature of the Wagon Peoples, a form of identification was needed by certain others, such as peddlers and haruspexes. 
This identification is in the form of a tiny brand. The implications of wearing such a brand is such that those who do wear this, approach the wagons as would a slave.
"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, pages 34-35.
Chemical Brand
Though not a true brand, this is a way of marking a slave girl with an invisible stain; a form of espionage practiced by agents of the Kurii.
"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." — Slave Girl of Gor, page 326.
Kurii Brand
The shape of the chain and claw; occur in the lairs of Kurii agents on Earth; chain-and-claw brand signifies, of course, slavery and subjection with the compass of the Kur yoke.
"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 second tends to occur in the lairs of Kurii agents on Earth… the chain-and-claw brand signifies, of course, slavery and subjection within the compass of the Kur yoke." — Explorers of Gor, page 12.
Penalty Brand
A small brand that marks a convicted liar, thief, traitor, etc. This brand can be administered both to a slave and to a free person.
"Sometimes, too," she said, "a girl may be branded as a punishment, and to warn others against her.""Penalty brands," she said. "They are tiny, but clearly visible. There are various such brands. There is one for lying, and another for stealing." — Captive of Gor, pages 276-277.
Priest-Kings Brand
In the shape of the moons and collar; 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; commonly occurs in certain of the Gorean enclaves on Earth, which serve as headquarters for agents of the Priest-Kings.
"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 Priest-Kings… 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…" — Explorers of Gor, page 12.
Thief's Brand
A tiny 3-pronged brand worn on the right cheek of those of the Caste of Thieves in Port Kar.
"I have seen the thief's brand!" she cried. "It is beautiful!" It was a tiny, three-pronged brand, burned into the face over the right cheekbone. I had seen it several times, once on one who worked for the mysterious Others, a member of a crew of a black ship, once encountered in the mountains of the Voltai, not far from great Ar itself. The caste of thieves was important to Port Kar, and even honored. It represented a skill which in the city was held in high repute. Indeed, so jealous of their prerogatives were the caste of thieves that they often hunted thieves who did not belong to the caste, and slew them, throwing their bodies to the urts in the canals. Indeed, there was less thievery in Port Kar than there might have been were there no caste of thieves in the city. They protected, jealously, their own territories from amateur competition. Ear notching and mutilation, common punishment on Gor for thieves, were not found in Port Kar. The caste was too powerful. 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 and a caste member, was to be remanded to the police of the arsenal. If found guilty in the court of the arsenal, the male thief would be sentenced, for a week to a year, to hard labor in the arsenal or on the wharves; the female thief would be sentenced to service, for a week to a year, in a straw-strewn cell in one of Port Kar's penal brothels. They are chained by the left ankle to a ring in the stone. Their food is that of a galley slave, peas, black bread and onions. If they serve well, however, their customers often bring them a bit of meat or fruit. Few thieves of Port Kar have not served time, depending on their sex, either in the arsenal or on the wharves, or in the brothels. — Hunters of Gor, page 304.
The Branding
There is no "branding ceremony" on Gor. Basically, the slave is strapped tightly to a rack or log or tree, or other such object that will hold her still and firmly, and rather unceremoniously, the branding iron, white hot and fierce, is pressed firmly into her skin for five full Ihn, then swiftly and cleanly removed. It is then examined to be sure the mark is clean and deep enough to create an excellent brand. There are many forms of branding racks. For example, the peoples of the Torvald use logs as their branding racks; the Wagon Peoples use wagon wheels. There are also, in slave houses, specific rooms for the branding of slaves, each equipped with their own preferred devices.
It is common Gorean practice to allow the slave the luxury of screaming, since it is in effect, her final act as a free person. Generally, branding is done by a metal worker, although Gorean Masters, especially those of the Warrior caste, learn to brand slaves, although they rarely do so. Commonly, slaves are branded on the left or right thigh; sometimes on the lower left abdomen, depending on the preference of the Master.
Most brands are placed on the left thigh of the slave girl, so that he may view the mark at his leisure. Other places that are not as common are the neck, the inside of the left arm, and the lower abdomen.
"The fellow then thrust the slave hood up about her chin, as high as it would move, without being unbuckled. He then looked under the leather leash collar at the sides of her neck. That is a rare brand site, like the inside of the left arm, or the lower left abdomen, but it is not unknown." — Vagabonds of Gor, page 431.
Medically Treated after Branding?
Common sense says "yes." However, remember, these people are on Gor, have had all those Stabilization Serums and such, and therefore, medical practice is far different than on Earth.
PLEASE NOTE: Branding a human in the real world absolutely cannot be done as it was within the books of Gor. Gor is a fictional world whose atmosphere and things such as the stabilization serums make for surreal healing properties. Never attempt to brand a human in the real world the way it is done in the books.
One of the biggest common things I have seen with online Gor is the coddling of slaves after their branding, the application of healing salves, numbing salves, cuddling in the furs, and on and on.
SLAVES ARE NOT CODDLED OR SOOTHED OR TENDED TO MEDICALLY AFTER THEIR BRANDING!!!! ARGGGGGGGGGGH!!!
Slaves are not given any numbing salve to stave the pain. Slaves are not slathered with healing salve. Slaves are not cooed to or given special work assignments because of a brand. Slaves are SUPPOSED to feel the pain; it burns into more than flesh their new status in the world. Too, slaves are often raped immediately after their branding!
Okay, now that I've had my little vent. Sorry, it's one of my biggest pet peeves.
Read on, the quotes provided. You will note that slaves are simply branded and drug to their feet, sometimes tossed into cages, sometimes immediately raped. You will never see a slave pampered with numbing salves and cooed pretty sweet cuddly words to them after their branding. Often, too, the slave's owner rarely brands his (or her) property; such is done by a member of the metalworkers caste.
"I liked the left-thigh branded girl. A right-handed master may caress it while he holds her in his left arm." — Beasts of Gor, page 25.
"Slave girls are commonly branded on the left thigh. Sometimes they are branded on the right thigh, or lower left abdomen." — Explorers of Gor, page 71.
"Kur slavers do not, usually, brand their girls. Usually it is their first Gorean master who puts the brand on them." — Explorers of Gor, page 25.
"Usually girls, if not marked by a slaver, are marked in the shop of a metal worker." — Explorers of Gor, page 38.
"Masters, incidentally, seldom brand their own slaves. To brand a girl well demands a sure hand, and, usually, experience. In training a man to use the iron slavers always give him poorer women at first, sometimes having him mark them more than once, until he becomes proficient. Usually by the fifteenth or the twentieth woman, the man is capable of marking them deeply, precisely and cleanly. It is important for the girl's thigh to be held immobile: sometimes it is held by more than one man; sometimes it is bound to a wagon wheel; sometimes, in the house of slavers, a heavy, vise equipped, metal branding rack is used." — Tribesmen of Gor, pages 41-42.
"Let her be taken to the nearest metal shop and branded," said the praetor. "Then let her be placed on sale outside the shop for five Ehn, to be sold to the first buyer for the cost of her branding. If she is not sold in five Ehn then take her to the public market shelves and chain her there, taking the best offer which equals or exceeds the cost of her branding." — Explorers of Gor, page 59.
"Bring her to the rack," said the judge. The man who had guided the wagon from the rear, and had now locked the brake on the front wheel, went to the bound girl.
He unfastened the chain that bound her against the curved leather at the end of the pole, and, holding her by the arm,her wrists still tied behind her, led her to the rear of the wagon, and up the steps. She then stood beside her judge, barefoot on the flat-topped, wooden wagon. Her head was down. "Lady Tina," requested the judge, "go to the rack." Wordlessly, the girl went and stood by the rack, her back to the curved stone.
The man who had brought her to the wagon now knelt before her, locking metal clasps on her ankles. He then went behind her, and unbound her wrists. "Place your hands over your head," he said. She did so. "Bend your elbows," he said. She did so. "Lie back," he then said, supporting her. She did so, and was stretched over the curved iron. He then took her wrists and pulled her arms almost straight. He then locked her wrists in metal clasps, similar to those, though smaller, which confined her ankles. Her head was down. He then bent to metal pieces, heavy, curved and hinged, which were attached to the sides of the rack, and a bit forward. Each piece consisted of two curved, flattish bands, joining at the top. He lifted them, and dropped them into place. Then, with two keys, hanging on tiny chains at the sides, he tightened the bands. They were vises. She might now be branded on either the left or right thigh. There was ample room, I noted, between the bands on either side, to press the iron. She was held perfectly. Her tanned thigh could not protest so much as by the slightest tremor. She would be marked cleanly. 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 cursive script, in the Gorean alphabet, of the expression Kajira.
"Brand the Lady Tina of Lydius," he said. "Brand her slave." Then he turned, and departed from the platform. The girl gave a terrible scream. The man now, swiftly, brutally, released the girl, spinning open the vises, and dropping them against the rack, unfastening her wrists and ankles, and dragged her to her feet. Her hair was over her face. She was weeping. — Hunters of Gor, page 50-51."I screamed, and screamed. I was alone with the pain, the agony, the degradation, the relentless, hissing object, so hurting me, the men. Mercifully they let me scream. It is common to let a girl scream, a Gorean kindness, while she is being marked with a white-hot iron." — Slave Girl of Gor, pages 57-58.
"The chamber of irons was empty, but coals glowed softly in the brazier, from. which two handles protruded. An iron is always ready in a slaver's house. One does not know when a new girl may be brought in." — Explorers of Gor, page 20.
"I saw two men of Tyros bringing forth a brazier, filled with glowing coals. They carried it by means of two metal bars thrust through it, the bars held by gloves. From the brazier there protruded the handle of a slave iron." … — Hunters of Gor, page 193.
"The man with the leather glove thrust the iron back in the fire. It was not yet hot enough to well mark a slave. White heat is preferred." … — Hunters of Gor, page 194.
… I saw the man of Tyros, with his leather glove, reach to the handle of the slave iron, protruding from the brazier… He lifted it up and there was a cry of pleasure. It was white with the ferocity of its heating. It was now ready to brand a slave." Hunters of Gor, page 196.The girl was brought into the shop and stood in the branding rack, which was then locked on her, holding her upright. The metal worker placed her wrists behind her in the wrist clamps, adjustable, each on their vertical, flat metal bar. He screwed shut the clamps. She winced. He then shackled her feet on the rotating metal platform.
"Left thigh or right thigh?" he asked.
"Left thigh," said Ulafi. Slave girls are commonly branded on the left thigh. Sometimes they are branded on the right thigh, or lower left abdomen.
The metal worker turned the apparatus, spinning the shaft, with its attached, circular metal platform. The girl's left thigh now faced us. It was an excellent thigh. It would take the mark well. The metal worker then, with a wheel, tightening it, locked the device in place, so that it could not turn. I looked at the girl's eyes. She hardly knew what was being done to her.
The metal worker drew out an iron and looked at it. "Soon," he said, putting it back.
I looked at the girl. She had tried to run away. She had lied at the praetor's desk. Yet her feet had not been removed. Her nose and ears had not been cut from her. She had been shown incredible mercy. She had only been whipped. Her transgressions, of course, had been first offenses, and she was only an ignorant barbarian. I think now, however, she clearly understood that Gorean men are not permissive, and that her second offenses in such matters would not be likely to be regarded with such lenience.
"She is in shock, or half in shock," I said.
He took the girl by the hair and, by it, cruelly, shook her head; then he slapped her, sharply, twice. She whimpered.
"May I?" I asked. I pointed to a bucket of water nearby, used in tempering.
"Surely," said the metal worker.
I threw the cold water over the girl who, shuddering and sputtering, pulled back in the branding rack. She looked at me, frightened. But her eyes were now clear. She twisted, wincing. She could now feel the pain of the whipping which she had endured. She sobbed. But she was no longer numb, or in shock. She was now a fully conscious slave, ready for her branding.
"The iron is ready," said the metal worker. It was a beautiful iron, and white hot.
Ulafi threw the metal worker a copper tarsk. "My friend her," said Ulafi, indicating me, "will use the iron."
I looked at him. He smiled. He had told me earlier that I was not of the metal workers.
"We are ready to said," said Ulafi's first officer, who had come to report.
"Good," said Ulafi. I donned leather gloves and took the iron from the metal worker, who cheerfully surrendered it. He assumed I was, because of my garb, of his caste. Ulafi watched me, to see what I would do. I held the iron before the girl, that she might see it. She shrank back. "No, no," she whimpered. "Please don't touch me with it." The girl is commonly shown the iron, that she may understand its might, its heat and meaning.
"Please, no!" she cried.
I looked upon her. I did not think of her as an agent of Kurii. I saw her only as a beautiful woman, fit for the brand. She tried, unsuccessfully, to struggle. She could move her wrists, her upper body and feet somewhat, but she could not move her thighs, at all. They were, because of the construction of the branding rack, held perfectly immobile. They would await the kiss of the iron.
"Please, no," she whimpered.
Then I branded her.
"An excellent mark," said Ulafi.
While she still sobbed and screamed the metal worker freed her wrists of the clamps. Ulafi put her immediately in slave bracelets, braceleting her hands behind her, that she not tear at the brand. Then metal worker then freed her thighs of the rack, and she sank, sobbing, to her knees. He freed her ankles of the shackles which had held them at the circular, metal platform. Ulafi then, pushing her head down, fastened the sturdy, steel shipping collar on her throat, snapping it shut behind the back of her neck. It had five palms on it, and the sign of Schendi, the shackle and scimitar.
"Put her in the cage and load her," said Ulafi.
The girl was then taken, braceleted, and thrust into the tiny slave cage, which was then locked shut. She knelt, sobbing, in the cage. The two sailors then lifted the cage on its poles, and kneeling, she was lifted within it. I looked at her. I saw in her eyes that she had begun to suspect what it might mean to be a slave girl. She was carried to the ship. — Explorers of Gor, pages 71-73."Heat the irons!" called the Forkbeard.
"They are hot!" laughed a brawny man, in leather apron, standing on the dock. The girls shuddered. They would be branded.
"Bring the anvil to the branding log!" said the Forkbeard. They knew then they would wear collars.
"It is there!" laughed the brawny fellow, doubtless a smith. … — Marauders of Gor, page 83.
When this was done, I accompanied the Forkbeard to a place behind, and to one side, of a forge shed. There was a great log there, from a fallen tree. The bark had been removed from the log. It was something in the neighborhood of a yard in thickness. Against the log, kneeling, one behind the other, their right shoulders in contact with it, knelt the new bond-maids, and Aelgifu. Some men stood about, as well, and the brawny fellow, the smith. Nearby, on a large, flat stone, to keep it from sinking into the ground, was the anvil. A few feet away, glowing with heat, stood two canister braziers. In these, among the white coats, were irons. Air, by means of a small bellows, pumped by a thrall boy, in white wool, collared, hair cropped, was forced through a tube in the bottom of each. The air above the canisters shook with heat. … She, moaning, was seized by a fellow and thrown on her belly over the peeled log. Two men held her upper arms; two others her upper legs. A fifth man, with a heavy, leather glove, drew forth one of the irons from the fire; the air about its tip shuddered with heat. At a sign from the Forkbeard, the iron was pressed deeply into her flesh, and held there, smoking for five Ihn. It was only when it was pulled away that she screamed. Her eyes had been shut, her teeth gritted. She had tried not to scream. She had dared to pit her will against the iron. But, when the iron had been pulled back, from deep within her flesh, smoking, she, her pride gone, her will shattered, had screamed with pain, long and miserably, revealing herself as only another branded girl. She, by the arm, was dragged from the log. She threw back her head, tears streaming down her face, and again screamed in pain. She looked down at her body. She was marked for identification. — Marauders of Gor, page 86.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… 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. — Tribesmen of Gor, page 337.
Slaves of the Wagon People are branded by, as well as having their noses pierced, the Iron Master.
"I supposed that on the morrow Kamchak would call for the Tuchuk Iron Master, to brand what he called his little barbarian…" — Nomads of Gor, page 62.
"She had been bound across a wagon wheel lying on the ground, her body over its hub. Her clothing had been removed. Fresh and clean on her burned thigh was the brand of the four bosk horns. She was weeping. The Iron Master affixed the Turian collar. He bent to his tools, taking up a tiny, open golden ring, a heated metal awl, a pair of pliers." — Nomads of Gor, page 173.
Special Note
Because of the differences in publishing the books, depending upon whether published in the U.S. or Europe, depending upon whether a first publishing or a Masquerade Books release, page numbers will often vary. All of my quotes are from original, first-printing U.S. publications (see The Books page for a listing of publishers and dates) with the exception of the following books:
- Tarnsman of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
- Outlaw of Gor (11th Printing, Balantine)
- Priest-Kings of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
- Assassin of Gor (10th Printing, Balantine)
- Raiders of Gor (15th Printing, Balantine)
- Captive of Gor (3rd Printing, Balantine)
Disclaimer
These pages are not written for any specific home, but rather as informational pages for those not able to get ahold of the books and read them yourself. Opinions and commentaries are strictly my own personal views, therefore, if you don't like what you are reading — then don't. The information in these pages is realistic to what is found within the books. Many sites have added information, assuming the existences of certain products and practices, such as willowbark and agrimony for healing, and travel to earth and back for the collection of goods. I've explored the books, the flora, the fauna, and the beasts, and have compiled from those mentioned, the probabilities of certain practices, and what vegetation mentioned in the books is suitable for healing purposes, as well as given practicalities to other sorts of roleplaying assumptions.