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" What do you think is the most effective way to create War and dissension between the city-states of Gor ? Have you any idea at all..?" Ornoth asks. " To find an excuse for War is not so easy. I know there are some who threaten at the merest hint of an insult, but those hotheads are laughed off. No-one takes them seriously." The Assassin replies. Ornoth leans forwards again and whispers. "Imagine this, think it through as I explain what I have discovered. If you doubt me, I can show you proof, authentic scrolls, messages intercepted, I have accounts sworn on oath, against the fire of Priest-Kings. " Despite what many think, the thing that binds Gor is not so much the individual honour of a Warrior, a Merchant or a Scribe. It is the honour of the Home Stone to which we all swear allegiance. What constitutes honour in that context.......it is the reputation not of the representative of the place but of the place itself. Consider, you meet a Warrior in a tavern, you begin to speak to him, he tells you.." I am of Port Kar..." what is your first thought ? Do you picture that Warrior standing on the Docks ? No.. you consider Port Kar itself. You think of what you know of the city, its position as the paramount sea-trading centre of Gor. The picture which springs to your mind is what Port Kar is, what it stands for, what it means....Do you agree? " The Assassin slowly nods in agreement. "Yes, that I understand...." Ornoth continues.... " And what is your reaction to that Warrior, the one you have not met before .... do you not ascribe to him the reputation of his Home Stone? Do you not see him as possessing the qualities of that place ? Is he not, in your mind, a living embodiment of Port Kar ?" The Assassin nods again. " Then consider your response if the place he is from has a reputation for deceit, for dishonour, for undermining all with a view to its own advantage. Would you not transfer that impression, that opinion to the individual in the same way as you attributed honour. Would you not consider him to have those same qualities. Would your first reaction be to trust or to mistrust? Do you see my meaning here? " The Assassin stares into the half-light of gathering dusk , he considers and slowly responds. " My first thought would be to mistrust......but this is not possible, it is fantasy." "Not so." Ornoth replies " I will explain... but first another question." " Imagine now, that you are that Warrior, the one from the place with the poor reputation in your eyes. Put yourself in his place in that same Tavern. He meets you for the first time, he learns you are from... let us say the city of Tharna. He has been told exactly the same about Tharna as you have of Port Kar. Do you trust each other... will you speak as Brother Warriors. He believes as firmly as you do, but in his mind it is Port Kar that is a place of honour and that Tharna is a den of thieves. What will result ?" The Assassin ponders again.... " I must defend the honour of my Home Stone, if he insults me and my home. I must challenge him, we must fight until one yields or more likely, until one of us is dead." Ornoth smiles and nods...... "Exactly, my friend exactly. Now multiply that across the whole of Gor, what will happen. Will there not be War, one city aligned against another ?." "In theory, yes. But this cannot happen." "It can, and it is doing. What is the basis of a City's reputation?. Its military might, the beauty of its buildings, the generosity of its rulers? No it is the honesty of something, perhaps its trade and its coinage is this not the case.. is this not what makes a reputation ?" "Now cast your mind forward, picture a time when every City on Gor is suspicious of every other. When alliances are made between two or more to defeat another, when those alliances fracture and former allies square off to each other. Who will profit from this ? The Assassin opens his mouth to speak, but Ornoth waves him to silence. " I will tell you.. The suppliers of arms, of shipping, or horses, of slaves, of provisions... the lenders of money to hire mercenaries, to equip armies and to keep them in the field. In short the merchants and traders..... You look sceptical, as well you might, you cannot imagine how this will be done....well listen carefully. I have already discovered the cartels of merchants, you know of these as well..... have you discovered the shaving of coinage, the devaluation of the gold content in the coins of Ar, of Thentis, of Port Kar. Imagine when those responsible begin to complain, to expose the issue, blaming the mints in each city, accusing the Administrators, the Ubars of complicity, what will be the result... a complete breakdown in the structure and fabric of Gorean society. War is the inevitable consequence, war without an end in sight, a constant wheel of skirmish, invasion, counter - invasion, destruction and death. And as in all wars who will profit ?... those who are needed to maintain and fuel it, those who are held immune from its effects by being able play both sides of the game." The Assassin is stunned, disbelieving, he questions Ornoth in detail on every element of his tale. The discussion continues long into the evening, gradually the Assassin begins to realise that as far fetched as it seems to be, it is possible. Ornoth holds his proof till the end, he shows the statements, the contemporaneous records, the little details, insignificant in themselves but when taken together ...... damning proof.
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Chapter Six -
"Today Ar, Tomorrow .. Gor Itself. "