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The Branding

The Master secures the slave in the branding rack (shaped rather like an X-shaped table, using snap-bracelets (manacles) for her wrists and ankles at the ends of the X. A removable vise-like clamp fitted with spinning twist handles to adjust the tension can be attached to the left leg platform, to hold the slave's left thigh motionless during the actual branding.

  • The Master holds up the heated branding iron, white-hot, for the slave to see and says, "You will soon be branded, girl."

  • When the brand is ready, He holds it above her left thigh and says, "You are now to be branded, slave girl."

  • He then brands the slave, pressing it firmly into her skin for five full ihn (seconds), then swiftly and cleanly removing it.

  • He examines the mark closely, ensuring that it was clean and deep enough to create an excellent brand.

  • 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.

  • Sometimes assistants are standing by with small vials of oil and salve, which they then dab onto the brand to reduce chance of infection and promote faster healing.

  • The Master then frees the slave from the rack.

The Ko-laring

Master: "Assume the posture of female submission."
kajira: Kneels, leaning back on her heels, her arms extended, wrists crossed, her head between them, down.
Master: "Repeat after Me..."this girl, once (her name) of (her home city or town, or of Earth)..."
kajira: Repeats this.
Master: "...herewith submits herself, completely and totally, in all things..."
kajira: Repeats this.
Master: "...to Him who is known as (His name) of (His camp)..."
kajira: Repeats this.
Master: "...His girl, His slave, an article of His property, His to do with as He pleases."
kajira: Repeats this.
Master: Produces the ko'lar. If it is engraved with His name or an inscription, He reads it to her, making sure that she understands what it says and means. He places it about her neck and snaps it shut with a click.
Master: "This girl is Yours, Master."
kajira:

 Repeats this.

At this point, any freepersons in attendance will typically congratulate the Master on His new slave. When this is done, the new Master will usually ask the slave the following three questions:

Master: "Who were you?"
kajira: Tells him her former name.
Master: "What are you?"
kajira: "This girl is Your slave, Master."
Master: "What is the girl's name?"
kajira:

 "Whatever Master wishes."

The Master will then, if it pleases Him, give the girl her new slave-name, which can be taken from her or changed at any time,according to His whim.

Master: "You are (new slave-name)."
kajira:

 "Yes, Master. This girl is (new slave-name)."

The ceremony is now over.

The Rite of Submission

If at any time, or for any reason, a Freewoman decides that it is in her best interests either to become a slave or to openly submit herself to a Male for His protection and use, this is accomplished by the performance of a formal gesture of submission in which she invokes the ancient Gorean "rite of submission." THIS IS THE ONLY WAY A FREE WOMAN MAY BE KO'LARED IN TUCHUK, AND WILL ONLY RESULT IN A CAMP KO’LAR, NEVER A PERSONAL KO’LAR.. Many Freewomen would rather die than perform such a subserviant act. It is important that a Freewoman understand that when this rite is invoked, there is no going back.

Typically there are only two possible outcomes when a Freewoman submits so: either she is enslaved and becomes the personal chattel of the male, His to do with as He sees fit, or she is found lacking in desirability by the Male in question and is driven from Him in disgrace. In the case of a Warrior, the consequences are even more dire, since a Warrior is not permitted by His codes to abandon the female while she is still alive.

Therefore, most Warriors have no qualms whatsoever against putting the submitting female to death on the spot. Indeed, to a Warrior's mind, it is better by far to take the supplicant's life than to abandon her to be randomly enslaved by the first person who comes along. Believe it or not, in such a situation a Warrior is acting to preserve the honor of the former freewoman and her caste and family.

The way the rite is invoked is as follows:

  • The Freewoman typically facestrips herself, publicly announcing that she willingly submits to the individual she has chosen.

  • She then assumes "the Position of Female Submission," wherein the Freewoman kneels at her Captor's feet and leans her body back, sitting upon her heels, with her arms extended upward, crossed at the wrists, and her head beneath them lowered in supplication.

  • If the Male accepts her, she becomes His slave and forfeits all titles, rank and property immediately. If He does not, she accepts the consequences of her actions, even if it means her death.

  • It should be obvious that a Freewoman does not invoke the Rite of Submission hastily or without much consideration, as the very act can cost her her life.

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