Metallan District
The Metallan District is south and east of the district of the Central Cylinder.
A shabby but not squalid district.
We were in a street of Ar, a narrow, crowded street, in which we
were much jostled. It was in the Metellan district, south and east
of the district of the Central Cylinder. It is a shabby, but not
squalid district. There are various tenements, or insulae, there.
It is the sort of place, far enough from broad avenues of central Ar,
where assignations, or triflings, might take place.
“Is Ar this crowded always?” asked Marcus, irritably.
“This street, at this time of day,” I said.
My companion was Marcus Marcellus, of the Marcelliani, formerly of
Ar’s Station, on the Vosk. We had come to Ar from the vicinity of
Brundisium. He, like myself, was of the caste of warriors. With him,
clinging closely, about him, as though she might fear losing him in the
crowd, and attempting also, it seemed, not unoften, to make herself
small and conceal herself behind him, was his slave, Phoebe, this
name having been put on her, a slender exquisite, very lightly
complexioned, very dark-haired girl. She had come into his keeping
in the vicinity of Brundisium, some months ago.
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District of the Central CylinderWe were in a street of Ar, a narrow, crowded street, in which we
were much jostled. It was in the Metellan district, south and east
of the district of the Central Cylinder.
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The named Streets of Ar
Wall Road
The longest street in Ar.
Follows circumference of the walls of the city.
I stood on the Wall Road, back near Harness Street. Here I was about a
hundred feet back from the wall. In moment or two Marcus was again beside
me, and Phoebe behind him, on his left. The girl normally heels a
right-handed master on the left, that she not encumber the movements of
the weapon hand.
“Much progress had been made since last we came here,” I said.
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“We are coming to the Wall Road,” said Marcus. This is the longest road,
or street, in Ar. It follows the interior circumference of the wall. It is
not only a convenience to citizens but it enables troops to be moved rapidly
from point to point in the defenses.
I could hear the flutes.
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Given the anger in Ar at Ar’s Station, and the fact that the Home
Stone of Ar’s Station had been sent to Ar, supposedly, according to the
rumors, not for safekeeping, given the imminent danger in the city, but
in a gesture of defiance and repudiation, attendant upon the supposed
acceptance of a new Home Stone, one bestowed upon them by the Cosians,
the stone was, during certain hours, publicly displayed. This was done
in the vicinity of the Central Cylinder, on the Avenue of the Central
Cylinder. The purpose of this display was to permit the people of Ar,
and elsewhere, if they wished, to vent their displeasure upon the
stone, insulting it, spitting upon it, and such.
“The stone,” I said, “is well guarded.”
We had ascertained that this morning. We had then gone to the Alley of the
Slave Brothels of Ludmilla, on which street lies the insula of Achiates.
I did not enter the insula itself, but made an inquiry or two in its
vicinity. Those whom I had sought there were apparently no longer in
residence. I did not make my inquiries of obvious loungers in its
vicinity. I went back., with Marcus and Phoebe, later in the afternoon.
The loungers were still in evidence. I had assumed then they had been
posted. There was a street peddler nearby, too, sitting behind a
blanket on which trinkets were spread. I did not know if he had been
posted there or not. It did not much matter. Normally in such arrangements
there are at least two individuals. In this way one can report to
superiors while the other keeps his vigil. As far as I knew, no one
knew that I was in the vicinity of Ar. I did know I could be recognized
by certain individuals. The last time I had come to Ar, before this time,
I had come with dispatches to Gnieus Lelius, the regent, from Dietrich
of Tarnburg, from Torcadino. I had later carried a spurious message
which had nearly cost me my life to Ar’s Station, to be delivered to
its commanding officer at the time, Aemilianus, of the same city. I had
little doubt that I had inadvertently become identified as a danger
to, and an enemy of, the party of treason in Ar. I did not know if the
regent, Gnieus Lelius, were of this party or not. I rather suspected
not. I was certain, however, from information I had obtained at
Holmesk, at the winter camp of Ar, that the high general in the city,
Seremides, of Tyros, was involved. Also, secret documents earlier obtained
in Brundisium, and deciphered, gave at least one other name, that of a
female, one called Talena, formerly the daughter, until disowned, of
Marlenus of Ar. Her fortunes were said to be on the rise in the city.
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Emerald Street
“I, too, am hungry,” I said.
“Very well,” he said.
“There are food shops on Emerald Street,” I said.
“Is it far?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
Then, in a moment we left, retracing our steps, moving north on the
Avenue of the Central Cylinder, past shops, fountains, columns and
such, until we would make our left turn, toward Emerald Street, Phoebe
heeling him, her hands now fastened behind her in the bracelets.
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Wagon Street
Located in southeast Ar
Phoebe was not with us. We had stopped at one of the depots for fee
carts on Wagon Street, in southeast Ar. There we had backed her into a
slave locker, reached by a catwalk, on all fours, inserted the coin, a
tarsk bit, turned and removed the key.
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Alley of the Slave Brothels of Ludmilla
A reasonably large street (even though it is called an alley)
We had ascertained that this morning. We had then gone to the Alley of the
Slave Brothels of Ludmilla, on which street lies the insula of Achiates. I
did not enter the insula itself, but made an inquiry or two in its vicinity.
Those whom I had sought there were apparently no longer in residence.
Magicians
We now crossed the Alley of the Slave Brothels of Ludmilla, actually
a reasonably large street.
“You need not look at the establishments on this street,” Marcus
informed Phoebe.
“Yes, Master,” she said, putting her head down, smiling.
I recalled my first visit to one of the slave brothels on the street,
the Tunnels. I recalled one of its slaves, a former Earth girl. She had
been slight but well curved for her size and weight. She had had red
hair. Her name, perhaps originally her Earth name, but now
on her as a slave name, had been “Louise.” In my arms, as I recalled,
she had learned to be pleasing. I also recalled a blond free woman
acquired later in the same place, the Lady Lydia, of the High Merchants,
whose wealth had been in gems and land, a tenant even of the Tabidian
Towers. I had sold her to a slaver. A few nights ago I had returned to
the Tunnels but had learned that Louise had been purchased long ago by
some sturdy young fellow who had been quite taken with her, finding her
extraordinarily pliant, eager and exciting. The brothel mistress could
not recall his name. On the other hand, she had speculated that he would
prove to be an exacting, stern and strong master to the former Earth
girl, such as she required. She did inform me that the girl had
accompanied her new master joyfully. I hoped that my instruction to the
girl had been of some use in bringing about this development, instruction
primarily profitable to her with respect to her nature and its correct
relationship to that of the male. The blonde, who had been highly
placed in the society of Ar, would presumably have been sold out of
the city long ago. In another city, of course, she would be only
another slave.
We then continued east on Harness Street.
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Demetrios Street
A street in the Metallan District
This morning, some Ahn before dawn, a convoy of wagons had rattled past our
lodgings in the Metallan district, in the insula of Torbon on Demetrios
Street. Our room, like many in an insula, had no window there, overlooking
the street. Below, guided here and there by lads, with lanterns, were the
wagons. There had been a great many of them. Demetrios Street, like most
Gorean streets, like no sidewalks or curbs but sloped gently from both
sides to a central gutter. The lads with the lanterns, their light
casting dim yellow pools here and there on the walls and paving stones,
performed an important function. Without some such illumination it is
only too easy to miss a turn or gouge a wall with an axle. Marcus had
joined me after a time. The wagons were covered with canvas, roped down.
It was not the first such convoy which we had seen in the past weeks.
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Avenue of Turia
One of the major avenues in Ar.
Particularly beautiful, lined with Tur trees.
In a few Ehn we were on the Avenue of Turia, one of the major avenues
in Ar. It is lined with Tur trees.
“What a beautiful street!” exclaimed Phoebe. The vista, when one comes
unexpectedly on it, particularly after the minor side streets, is
impressive.
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Gate Street
At a gesture from one of the guardsmen on the platform, another woman in
a white robe came forward, leaving the long line behind her, one
extending across the platform to the small ramp on the other side, down
the ramp, across the far side of the Plaza of Tarns, and thence down
Gate Street, where I could not see its end.
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Streets with no names
Many Gorean streets do not have specific names.
We then left the Avenue of Turia and were once again on a side street.
Many Gorean streets, incidentally, do not have specific names, particularly
from one end to the other, some being known by one designation here and
another there. Indeed, sometimes a long, winding street will have several
names, depending on its turns and so on. Others may have no names really,
in themselves, but are referred to, for example, as the street on which
Sabor has his smithy, and so on. This becomes more intelligible if one
thinks of “alleys.” For example, alleys seldom have names. So, too, many
Gorean streets, particularly those that are smaller and much like alleys,
may not have names.
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