[14:03] Abraham Jacobson (abrahamjacobs2): Victoria you up next
[14:03] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): let me pray first
[14:03] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Thank you, my Khan
[14:04] ꝀȺɌ (karisima.stein) claps softly " Thank you, Khan of Isfahan. Great Lecture
[14:04] Drew Barnard applauds politely
[14:06] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino) "normally I would sit with the students and not use the podium too much. I never liked that. I preferred to be amongst you. Because we are on the same level always. I remember the good days of the Gorean Campus and also when GCU started. I founded the University in the memory of Lady Janette Inglewood. Abraham has carried the quill for this long and he will continue to do so. All of you have stood up too in your own way. I'm going to talk about Gorean Geography for a little while."
[14:08] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Tal, scholars, and citizens: to know Gor is more than to know its customs or hierarchy. It is to know its land—its deserts, seas, mountains, forests—as those shape culture, conflict, commerce, and caste. A city perched on the Vosk, or sheltered by mountain walls, lives a different life from one in the red sands or the jungle fringe. Understanding geography is to understand the why behind every war, trade route, and political scheme.
[14:09] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): According to the lore, Gor is a counter-earth—in the same orbit as Earth, but permanently hidden behind the Sun.
Wikipedia
This conceit gives Gor its mythos of isolation and mystery.
Norman often underscores that Goreans are not Earthlings:
“They are different men. They are not earthlings. They are strong, they are hard, and they will conquer you.”
goreanliving.com
That quote isn’t about geography per se—but it reminds us that when Norman describes land (mountains, jungles, deserts), he does so in a spirit of confrontation, of taming and claiming the wild.
[14:12] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Geography does not lie inert—it pushes and pulls caste, authority, and the possibility of leadership.
A city in the desert may fall into disrepair if leadership is absent, because supply lines depend on water caravans and desert trade routes. If the male Ubara is absent, a free woman who knows the desert might better steward the city than an absentee lord.
A forested or mountainous domain demands someone practiced in concealment, scouting, and logistics—not brute martial power always. A free woman of intelligence may manage those demands more aptly than an ill-prepared male who cannot maintain presence.
Cities along rivers or coasts require diplomatic touch, trade negotiation, knowledge of currents—again, a typist with steadiness and knowledge may serve better than a male who logs in sporadically.
Thus, the land itself becomes an argument for adaptability in leadership. When a man is absent, let the one who knows the ground, the climate, the routes, carry the torch of power until he may return.
[14:15] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): In Norman’s saga, Gor is presented as a counter-earth—a planet hidden from Earth by the Sun, locked forever in our orbit, yet always on the other side. That conceit establishes Gor’s sense of mystery: a parallel world, familiar and yet alien, mapped in fragments but vast in scope. The great sea of Thassa forms the western horizon, seeming without end, while to the east the jagged Voltai Mountains rise like a wall, difficult to pass, cutting east from west, city from city. Between sea and mountain stretches a continent immense and varied, from icy northern forests to burning southern deserts, a continent Norman describes as both populated and profoundly wild. As he once wrote:
“The cities of Gor are scattered like islands in a sea of wilderness.” (Tarnsman of Gor)
It is this image of fragile islands amid an endless sea of wild land that sets the tone for Gorean civilization itself: precarious, proud, surrounded by peril.
[14:16] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Rivers are lifelines in Gor. They are roads of commerce, battlegrounds of war, and sources of survival. The Vosk River, wide and turbulent, cuts across the continent east to west, dividing north from south. Upon its banks cluster dozens of cities, each dependent on its flow, each ambitious to command it. The Laurius River, flowing into Thassa, is described with precision in Captive of Gor:
“The Laurius is a winding, long, gently, slow river… Laura is a small trading city… From Lydius goods may be embarked… The Laurius flows in a generally westernly direction… though it inclines more to the southwest.” (Captive of Gor, pp. 59–60)
This winding river nurtures the city of Laura, set inland some two hundred pasangs from the coast, while at its mouth the free port of Lydius serves as a gateway between inland goods and the western sea. Each river in Gor is more than water: it is a channel of destiny. Whoever rules its banks commands trade, culture, and survival. I have a notecard for you that you
[14:16] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): can use for reference. Although you probably already have these charts.
[14:18] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Cities are the jewels upon this landscape, but every jewel has its stone. The Gorean word “Gor” itself means Home Stone, a symbol at once civic, sacred, and binding. In the northern civilized cities, to speak of Gor is to speak of loyalty to stone and soil. Cities rise at crossroads, river mouths, and caravan routes, each jealously guarding its Home Stone. Consider Torcadino, a crossroads city fed not by rivers but by ingenuity:
“The natural wells of Torcodino had, more than a century ago, proved inadequate… Two aqueducts now brought fresh water to Torcodino from more than a hundred pasangs away, one from the Issus and the other from springs in the Hills of Eteocles.” (Mercenaries of Gor, p. 101)
Thus, the city survived not by chance but by artifice, adapting to its geography through aqueducts and engineering. Its position on the great roads — the Genesian, the Northern Salt Line, the Northern Silk Road, the Pilgrim’s Road, the Eastern Way — made it indispensable as a hub of trade. To speak
[14:18] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): of a city in Gor is to speak not merely of walls and towers, but of its relationship to the land: the rivers it draws from, the plains it guards, the stones it venerates.
[14:20] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): If rivers nurture, deserts test. The Tahari Desert is one of the most vivid landscapes in Norman’s work: blistering by day, freezing by night, where a man might die of thirst within hours. The desert conceals its water in hidden oases, and Norman warns how easily they may be missed:
“The oasis of the Battle of Red Rock lay… on the borders of the dreaded dune country… there are oases in the dune country but they are small and infrequent… among the dunes one can pass within ten pasangs of an oasis, missing it entirely. Only salt caravans ply the dune country… caravans from Tor or Kasra to Turmas avoid the dune country…” (Tribesmen of Gor, p. 179)
Here, life is reduced to its essence: water, salt, survival. The names of the oases—Nine Wells, Red Rock, Four Palms—are spoken like prayers. Geography here enforces humility: no city, no caste, no ruler is greater than thirst.
[14:23] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): On the open land, geography writes its lessons in blood. Near Corcyrus, the Fields of Hesius, the Plains of Eteocles, and the shores of Lake Ias are etched into the record of war. Norman records a commander’s words:
“Our first victory occurred on the Fields of Hesius, the second on the shores of Lake Ias, the third east of the Issus… They lie within a hundred pasangs of Corcyrus… Now we have been victorious on the Plains of Eteocles, also within a hundred pasangs of Corcyrus.” (Kajira of Gor)
The very names of these places became synonymous with victory, defeat, destiny. Geography is not abstract—it is memory, written in soil and blood.
[14:23] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Not all lands are open. The Northern Forests are dark, tangled, filled with Panther Girls and outlaws. Norman describes them as lands of silence and sudden death. The Mountains of Thentis, capped with snow, are home to tarn flocks and fierce tribes. Mountains are boundaries, refuges, and fortresses. And beyond, in the Barrens, lie the red savages, their lives mirroring the wide grasslands: endless, open, dangerous. Each frontier pushes against the edges of civilization, reminding Goreans that cities are fragile and the wilderness vast.
[14:24] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): So, when you speak of Gor, do not think only of its laws, its castes, its intrigues. Remember that every law is shaped by land, every caste tied to place, every intrigue constrained by geography. Cities are islands, Home Stones are anchors, rivers are lifelines, deserts are trials, plains are battlefields, mountains are walls, seas are horizons.
John Norman, in crafting Gor, gave us more than stories of masters and slaves—he gave us a world, where geography is itself a character, silent but sovereign. To study the maps of Gor is to study its soul.
[14:25] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): “To those who read these books, study these notecards, and trace the rivers and mountains of Gor with your minds — know this: you are doing more than memorizing names on a map. You are giving breath to cities that only live when we speak them. Every page you turn, every lecture you attend, every landmark you place upon your sim is an act of preservation — of keeping the scrolls alive, of ensuring that Gor remains more than a handful of novels but a living, breathing world in our Second Life. Geography is not just study; it is the soil from which your stories will grow. Without you, the maps remain empty parchment. With you, they become roads, rivers, oases, and Home Stones that others may walk. The strength of Gor’s roleplay has never been in one person’s imagination, but in the countless scribes, builders, and players who care enough to learn and then to create. You are that strength. And because of you, Gor will never be forgotten.”
[14:26] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Its questions time
[14:27] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I've taught both Ambassador and Mapmaker Courses so ask me anything
[14:29] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I am going to pass the notecard around now to all of you
[14:29] Fogaban: That's the measure of a good lecture, when there are no questions
[14:30] Drew Barnard chuckles
[14:30] Drew Barnard: @
[14:30] Phoebe Thiessam is offline.
[14:30] Davor O'Donnell (davoroflaura): @
[14:30] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Yes, Sir Davor
[14:32] Davor O'Donnell (davoroflaura): Was there ever so much as a hint that there could be more then the one continent that appears relatively small to me, and the islands of World's end? I am aware of the fact that a single continent would not be an astonishing fact, as we had one in earth geografical history.
[14:32] Ella De Wren Bade (elladewren) is offline.
[14:33] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I have missed Drew's question too, please repost
[14:33] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I'm a lag bunny
[14:33] Drew Barnard: @
[14:35] Davor O'Donnell (davoroflaura): Whom of us do you wish to repost?
[14:36] Kiki Silverclaw-Jacobson (elphaba.jinxing) is offline.
[14:36] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I'm doing Davor and then Drew, apologies
[14:36] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): It is a sharp question, Davor. In the texts, what we largely see is one principal continent: Gor bounded by Thassa to the west and the Voltai Mountains to the east, and punctuated by islands such as those at World’s End. Yet there are glimpses beyond that frame. Norman references the Pani lands, arrayed across the eastern seas, inhabited by culturally distinct, disciplined people whose domain lies beyond the usual Gorean sphere. This and other hints, of strange women, contract women, exotic lands suggest that Gor is not as geographically confined as it appears. Whether those Pani lands form a second continent or a vast archipelago remains uncertain. What is certain is that Norman left these edges undefined, giving our imaginations, and our sims, the freedom to extend Gor farther than a single landmass. In Swordsmen of Gor, for example, Norman gives us the image of the Pani warrior
[14:37] Drew Barnard: I believe that was directed to me, but I will wait for Lady Victoria to speak to the question on the floor
[14:37] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): “A Pani warrior with a large horned face-concealing helmet … the Pani warrior clutched a long curved sword with two hands.” (Swordsmen of Gor, cited in City of Edo archive)
The Pani culture is drawn quite deliberately from Japanese inspiration. Their discipline, armor, and use of the long curved sword echo the traditions of samurai. Their customs of loyalty, fealty, and martial honor all bear the mark of that cultural mirror. Likewise, the “contract women” of the Pani lands parallel the geisha of Japanese history: women bound by training and contract, skilled in the arts of companionship, ceremony, and subtle politics. They are not kajira in the usual Gorean sense, but fulfill a different role, more formalized, more socially embedded, and reflecting a cultural texture alien to the Gorean mainland.
[14:37] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Norman, by introducing the Pani, reminded us that Gor was never meant to be a single block of stone. It is a world with multiple faces, some carved in our likeness, others in the likeness of Earth cultures transposed and reshaped. The Pani are his most explicit homage to Japan, their warriors the samurai, their contract women the geisha. For us in roleplay, they serve as proof that the world is broad enough to sustain many traditions, many geographies, many stories waiting to be told.
[14:38] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Does that offer any insight, Sir Davor?
[14:39] Davor O'Donnell (davoroflaura): I always though th epani island are th eworlds end islands, seems I need to re-read
[14:40] Second Life: EvaValentino gave you GCU: Gorean Geography Cheat Sheet for the SS2025. (( BELOW ))
[14:40] Drew Barnard looks to the Lady with a questioning face ...
[14:40] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Please go ahead, Sir Drew
[14:44] Drew Barnard nods ... "Thank you, M'Lady. And thank you for your most interesting and impassioning remarks. My question is about your impressions of the relative import of various geographical features. Surely they all have their influence on the cities, politics and lives of Goreans. But could it not be said that one feature not yet discussed - that being the swamp - is perhaps the greatest threat and asset? Imperial Ar, my home stone, has benefited greatly from the protections the swamps surrounding the city afford. And Port Kar has leveraged its isolation in the marshes of the Vosk forge a distinct culture and path."
[14:48] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino) "Port Kar has only been two things. Women are free. Women can be taken. They have been at odds with Cos for as long as Ar has stood and they will continue to do so. The Empire of Ar has been able to fall and rise over and over because of that swamp. The swamps are perhaps among the most underestimated features of Gor. Where mountains declare themselves and deserts punish openly, swamps conceal their power in silence. They slow armies, swallow roads, and turn invasion into a war of attrition. For Ar, the vast marshes have long served as a natural moat, blunting assaults that might otherwise have brought the city low. For Port Kar, the so-called “Scourge of Thassa,” its marshland cradle has been both curse and crown. Norman himself describes it as: “Port Kar, squalid, malignant Port Kar, scourge of gleaming Thassa, crowded, clumsy, vile and rotting, blood-sated, disease-ridden, the tarn of the gleaming sea.” (Raiders of Gor, Ch. 1) That description reminds us that the city’s very identity is
[14:48] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): inseparable from its geography. Port Kar’s marshes isolated it from conventional allies, forcing it to become hard, pragmatic, and self-reliant. They also protected it from the landward reach of enemies. Thus swamps are paradox: they are disease-ridden, stifling, difficult for daily life and yet they shield, shelter, and preserve cities that could never endure upon open plains. It is the reason once the Tuchuks conquered Turia, they never let her go. It is the Ar of the South."
[14:51] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): "Controlling Turia means controlling the wealth of caravans, the life that flows through those plains and edges of the desert. For the nomads, letting her slip away would have been unthinkable; she was too valuable, too defining, to ever give back. Controlling Ar would be controlling Gor."
[14:52] Drew Barnard nods ... "Thank you for your thoughts on this matter."
[14:52] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino) "if Ar would actually do its BTB thing, of stealing Home Stones, every single day, but they don't have that kind of warriors."
[14:53] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino) "A lot of Ars and Korobas and Schendis have been museums for the past two decades. Those were the ones the Vosk League and the Salerian Confederations looked out for. And in a perfect world, Port Kar would be raiding you every day too.
[14:54] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino) "I'm calling it here. Please pass me the notes and I did pass out a Geography Chart. Thank you all for hearing me out."
[14:54] Davor O'Donnell (davoroflaura): Thank you Lady Victoria for not only talking about the physical geography but also the human geography.
[14:54] Drew Barnard frowns and his smile turns to a scowl ... mutters ... "M'Lady, do not challenge the honour of a man's Home Stone."
[14:54] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino) "How many Home Stones do we have?"
[14:57] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino) "we should only have one but the (Sims) don't let us do that."
[14:58] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I logged on to this question [06:06] (Saved Sat Mar 22 09:06:00 2025):
“Hi Victoria, I participated in your classes for Grandmaster Ambassador. I'm reading over everything from the 3 classes right now… Do Ambassadors have to be sworn to the city Home Stone, or are they able not to be sworn? … Sorry for the offline. <3 Itah”
[14:59] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): Ambassador is a temporary political role given by the Administration or the Ubarate or the Tatrixate. The scribe or warrior or merchant occupying the role does not need to be of the same Home Stone, its an occupation, its a jurisdiction. It changes. RP changes. Home Stone Ceremonies unless held weekly, take time to organize and they can be tirin
[14:59] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): tiring*
[14:59] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): this person may also lose their life
[15:00] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): they are "given immunity", they can be "rescued", they can be "protected" by the laws, but they are not excused from breaking it and walking out like celebrities
[15:00] Trygg Tyran (tryggtyran): A marvelous presentation Victoria.
[15:00] Trygg Tyran (tryggtyran): Thank you
[15:00] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I think this role should be filled out ASAP on any BTB sim, and those inspired by the books too
[15:01] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): You're so welcomed, Trygg!!!!
[15:01] Victoria Forstander (evavalentino): I'm thrilled to see you!!!
[15:01] Kati Evans: Thank you, Victoria.
[15:01] ꝀȺɌ (karisima.stein): Claps softly “Thank you, Lady Victoria. That was a truly insightful lecture on Gor’s geography and I agree with your Ambassador answer!
===============================================================
GOREAN CONTINENTAL UNIVERSITY
Tahari Chapter
Scholar: Victoria Forstander
GEOGRAPHY CHART
------------------------------------------------------------stretch notecard this far-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
| Region | Canon Description / Imagery | Roleplay Significance |
| ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **The Barrens / Great Plains** | Norman often evokes sweeping grasslands, treeless expanses to highlight nomadic peoples and red savages. | Travel is perilous. Caravans must plan for water, scouts, patrols. Cities near plains must guard flanks. |
| **Deserts (Tahari, etc.)** | He describes them as punishing: blazing by day, freezing by night, where thirst kills swiftly. | Tribes adapted to harshness, secluded cities, desert passes become chokepoints in power struggles. |
| **Forests & Jungles** | Dense, shadowed, dangerous. The wilds shelter outlaws, hidden enclaves. | Roleplay can host fugitives, mysterious quests, forest customs, guerilla raids. |
| **Mountains & Highlands** | He cites mountain ranges as sources of rivers, as cold, high places. | Mountain passes, fortress cities, climactic vistas, seasonal isolation. |
| **Rivers & Seas** | Rivers like the Vosk divide lands, bring trade, build wealth. The sea (Thassa) looms as infinite horizon. | Control of waterways is power. Ports, merchant cities, naval raids. |
| Region / Feature | Canonical Description / Norman Imagery | Roleplay & Leadership Implication |
| -------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Thassa, the Great Sea** | In many books, Norman evokes the sea as vast, without shore, the ultimate horizon. It is a force, a limit, a path of travel, danger, and trade. | Coastal cities, ports, sea raids, navigational knowledge are power. A ruler must know currents and diplomacy across waves. |
| **Vosk and Major Rivers** | Rivers in Gor divide lands, provide trade, sustain cities. Control of rivers often equals control of region. | Leadership over river trade, controlling crossings, defending banks — a ruler must not neglect these. |
| **Plains & Open Land (Barrens, Grasslands)** | Norman often describes sweeping grasslands, with little shade, wide horizons, exposure. | Travel requires logistics and protection. Cities near plains must guard their perimeter; a weak leader invites incursion. |
| **Desert (Tahari, etc.)** | Norman paints deserts as punishing: searing days, icy nights, where water is life—and death. | Desert cities must guard wells, caravans, pass knowledge. A leader in desert domains must be reliable, present, consistent. |
| **Forests & Jungles** | Dense, secret, dangerous: hiding places, ambush, wild bands, lost roads. | Authority in forested lands needs scouts, covert knowledge, patience, diplomacy. A leader who never enters cannot govern effectively. |
| **Mountains / Highlands** | Norman often places strongholds, remoteness, water sources, and jagged terrain in the high places. | Mountain cities may be isolated; passes become gateways; defenders win with terrain advantage. |
📜 Gorean Geography Study Guide
Prepared by Victoria Forstander, Scribe of the Continental Academy
The Barrens / Great Plains
Canonical Imagery: Norman evokes sweeping grasslands, treeless expanses, and horizons without end. These lands are home to the Red Savages and nomadic peoples.
Roleplay Use: Travel is perilous. Caravans must plan carefully for water, scouts, and patrols. Cities bordering the Barrens must always guard their flanks.
Deserts (Tahari and Beyond)
Canonical Imagery: The Tahari and dune country are described as punishing—scorching by day, freezing by night, where a man might die of thirst within hours. Oases are few and easily missed.
Roleplay Use: Desert tribes adapt fiercely to this harshness. Cities survive only with wells and caravans. Desert passes and trade routes become chokepoints for power struggles.
Forests & Jungles
Canonical Imagery: Norman paints these regions as dense, shadowed, and dangerous. The forests shelter Panther Girls, outlaws, and hidden enclaves.
Roleplay Use: Ideal settings for fugitives, mysterious quests, and guerilla raids. Forest cities require patience, covert knowledge, and diplomacy to thrive.
Mountains & Highlands
Canonical Imagery: Mountains provide rivers, snow-caps, and cold heights. Norman often uses them as strongholds, boundaries, or untamed wilderness.
Roleplay Use: Mountain passes become gateways of war. Highland cities may be isolated, relying on fortress walls and seasonal defenses. Defenders often win by mastering terrain advantage.
Rivers & Seas
Canonical Imagery: Rivers like the Vosk divide lands, bring trade, and foster wealth. The sea of Thassa is described as vast, seemingly without shore, the ultimate horizon.
Roleplay Use: Whoever controls waterways controls trade. Ports and merchant cities thrive here, while naval raids and piracy add constant tension.
Thassa, the Great Sea
Canonical Imagery: Norman often describes Thassa as infinite, without limit, both path and peril. It is mystery itself.
Roleplay Use: Coastal cities depend on seafaring skill, diplomacy, and defense against raids. To rule here is to understand tides, storms, and trade across waves.
Vosk and Major Rivers
Canonical Imagery: The Vosk is turbulent and wide, dividing north from south. Dozens of cities rise along its banks, each drawing life from it.
Roleplay Use: Control of riverbanks equals control of wealth. Leaders must secure crossings, patrol waters, and defend from rival fleets or ambush.
Plains & Open Lands
Canonical Imagery: Norman speaks of sweeping fields and open horizons with little shade. Exposure is constant.
Roleplay Use: Travel requires logistics and protection. Armies and caravans crossing must secure supply lines. Cities here need strong walls and constant vigilance.
Desert (Tahari, reprise)
Canonical Imagery: Life or death revolves around water. Norman emphasizes searing days, icy nights, and the fragility of oasis survival.
Roleplay Use: Leaders must maintain wells, protect caravans, and ensure constant presence. Inconsistent leadership means collapse.
Forests & Jungles (reprise)
Canonical Imagery: Ambush and shadow dominate. These lands are secretive and hostile.
Roleplay Use: Outlaws, hidden cults, and guerilla fighters thrive here. Authority must rely on scouts, trackers, and alliances.
Mountains & Highlands (reprise)
Canonical Imagery: Jagged terrain, fortress vantage, snow-fed rivers. Norman often treats these heights as barriers and sanctuaries.
Roleplay Use: Cities built here are difficult to assault but often isolated. Defenders can dominate passes, holding whole regions by terrain alone.
📖 Motivation for Scholars:
“Every page you read, every notecard you open, is more than study — it is an act of creation. By learning the lands of Gor, you bring its mountains and rivers into Second Life. Without you, the map is empty. With you, cities rise, caravans travel, Home Stones endure. You are the scribes who keep Gor alive.”
Contact Me
victoria.forstander@gmail.com
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