Races

Our server offers three "races" for players to choose from; Gorean, Hyborian and Earthling. (These races are less actual races and more references to geographical locations like we might say Asian or European.)

• Goreans are those characters who were born on the mainland of Gor which includes the large continent and surrounding islands represented in the book series by John Norman.
• Hyborians are those characters who were also born on the planet of Gor but specifically from an unknown region of the planet generally referred to as World's End by the Gorean mainlanders. These Hyborians are the descendants of humans taken from Earth's far history, more then 10,000 years ago.
• Earthlings are those characters taken from modern day earth to be brought to Gor primarily to become slaves.

Further information for those new to the fiction can be found here:

Gorean

On our server, any character who was born on the mainland or born from parents originally born on the mainland are considered to be Gorean. According to the fiction, all of the humans on the planet of Gor were brought here from Earth by the Priest Kings thousands of years ago. The mainland cultures include everything from Norse, to Greek, to Native American and Asian. It is a vast melting pot comprised of all varieties of Earth cultures now irrevocably changed by the passage of time and the technological restrictions imposed by the Priest Kings.

Language

Gorean is the linga franca of the mainland and thus it is assumed that any character brought into this server knows at least enough Gorean to get by.

Earthling

The Gorean Saga novels are set in modern day, from the 1960s onward. The stories depict many women from Earth being taken from their homes and brought to Gor via space ship. Some by agents of the Priest Kings and some by their enemies the Kur. Most Earthlings are female, and are intended to become slaves. There are a very few examples of men being brought to Gor but it is a rare plot line.

If you want to play as a free woman and are new to the fiction please choose Hyborian instead of Earthling. The chance you will remain free is significantly high as a Hyborian than as an Earthling who are considered to be natural slaves.

Language

It is assumed that any character brought from Earth has learned at least enough Gorean to interact with the rest of the population.

Points to Note

This is a common backstory for those who are new to Gor, and it is certainly a valid backstory in the fiction, especially for slaves, please be advised of the following.

• English (and all other earth languages) are not the same as Gorean, and there is no "common". Consequently, anyone brought from Earth will need to have been taught enough Gorean to get by in Roleplay.

• Earth girls are usually only brought to Gor as slaves. They are typically collared (but not branded) before they even arrive on the planet. A free man who learns that a player is from Earth, is likely to assume they should be enslaved simply because they are from earth.

• Untrained Slaves or Free Woman turn Slave: While we all understand that part of the allure of the books is the erotic descent into Gorean love slave, there are rarely enough male roleplayers who enjoy the training of slave girls to satisfy those who wish to experience this - manage your expectations.

• Further there are many lore examples of slave girls simply being punished "until they figure it out" for the rest of the male population to justifiably not engage in this type of role-play if it doesn't interest them.

• References to Earth lore, technology, food, history, etc are rarely appreciated in Gorean role-play. We do not want to talk about hamburgers, airplanes, televisions or World War II -- AND this is almost never brought into the book as dialog, so its a justified pushback.

• "Free the slaves", "women are equals" is certainly part of the mindset of Earth girls who are brought to Gor. But these points of view are not appreciated and will be actively discouraged by other Goreans. You may get something as simple as a funny look or as severe as an attack/beating/capture. Such sentiments, from female chars, out you as an Earth born girl who are considered by Goreans to be "natural slaves".

Far more respected is the new player who is trying their best to learn the fiction without forcing the educational process onto others.

Hyborian

The presence of Hyborians in our fiction is a complete supposition being made by the Server owners and is not canon for Gor.

Hyborian

Refers to all people from Conan's lore, including Stygians, Cimmerians, Aesir, Argossean, etc. It does not refer exclusively to the tall blonde norse-like Hyperboreans.

Theory: Ten thousand years ago, Howard’s World of Conan was happening on Earth during the Hyperborean age. Ten thousand years ago the Priest Kings of Gor were taking people from the planet Earth and populating their planet. What if various groups of Hyborians were taken and placed on a remote set of islands in the far western edge of the ocean, Goreans call Thassa. Like the rest of the planet, the Priest Kings would limit the technology available to these Hyborian descendants. Little would change of their original cultures over the intervening millennial but eventually they would be more Gorean than Earthling, even if as unknown to the mainlanders as the Pani were for so very long.

Hyborians in our fiction were all born on the planet of Gor, not Earth, and are only the descendants of the Conan cultures. They were born either on New Sardar (the exile map we use for Season 1&3), World's End (Siptah which we used for Season 2), or surrounding islands reachable by small ship. They are as much like other Goreans as the non-caste cultures of the mainland are, but their cultures are significantly influenced by their "Conan" ancestry - just as those on the mainland have their culture influenced by other periods of earth's history.

Language

Hyborians speak all manner of different languages and dialects but we assume all player characters have learned enough Gorean to interact with the others.

Q&A

Can my character be from earth's history?

Mostly no, there is no time travel in the fiction, so you cannot play a gladiator of Rome brought to Gor recently. However, Goreans have access to serums which slow the aging process down significantly, so there are some on Gor who are over 500 years old. It is possible to have been born on Earth a few hundred years ago, brought to Gor and still be alive. But this backstory makes you essentially Gorean with all the expectations of knowing the lore.

Can my character be from Nemedia, Cimmerian, Argos or any other place in the Conan world by Robert Howard?

No, there is no time travel. Those lands are from Earth's "distant past" and Gor is set in modern day. However, you can be a descendant of one of those people who were brought to the plant of Gor over 10,000 years ago and settled in the area known as World's End.

What is World's End again?

In the Gorean novels, people refer to World's End as being a theoretical location(s) that are assumed to exist in the far western part of the sea, which Goreans call Thassa. In the novels, Tarl travels to some of these locations, and we have books in the later series which are set in this area, such as the lands of the Pani. However, it is still a generalize concept of these far lands. It is the ideal Gorean term to refer to the collection of maps and lands we are using for our server.

Can my Hyborian have had the serums?

The anti-aging serums are not available to Hyborians and thus there are none alive over the age of normal human life span. This is however part of an ongoing plot line on the server - to bring those serums to everyone.

Can I use personal head canon for my Hyborian?

This option should never be used to try and force some personal head canon as being "valid" because we are on another part of the planet. It is not a license for creating new cultures.

Why Hyborians

We have to admit that when we put up our Gorean server, we expected only a handful of Conan lore players to join us. Certainly the two fictions have things in common. However, what we did not expect, was how many Conan Lore players would be interested in Gor. Our Season Three fiction allows new to Gor players an entrance into our world where they can learn as they go, without pushing our suspension of disbelief. 

Gor needs new blood and new players, and we are delighted with those who have joined us. They are excellent writers who are growing and learning every day. The role-play has been amazing.