As many of you know online Gor is a rather murky place at best. Normally this just serves to annoy me to a slight degree, long ago having got over the disappointment when I had come to that realization. But, today, I was surprised to see that online Gor had sunk to yet another new low. I actually thought it couldn't get any lower. Well, live and learn.
Today I got to see a freeman, by the name of Agrit, make a bald face lie regarding Phelan curing ost venom, despite the fact that a scroll had been provided making it clear that he had done so. This action was supported by using only part of the scroll provided, of course omitting the section that made the situation clear, and then only evaluated that which he cherry picked. This allowed him to make an evaluation out of context, which enabled him to prevent a revised version of the event to support his conclusion
I will present, again, part of the scroll posted. I, however, will not "forget" to include that which gave the situation context.
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alli-cat-CoF-ys reaches out and and carefully and slowly starts to slide the jeweled straight pin into danicas white silks her hands trembling badly as she tries not to hurt the girl
danica-Phelan-CoF-ws looking down at the lovely pin, tears spill over and gently caress the pale skin of her cheeks. looking back to her sister, she hops off her Master's lap and takes her in a tight embrace then kisses her cheek whispering
danica-Phelan-CoF-ws : thank you sister, it means more to me than you can imagine. you are such a wonderful and beautiful sister, thank you, thank you so much
alli-cat-CoF-ys takes another deep breath to steady nerves and tries to quickly get the jeweled pin thats tipped through her hand trebles and it slips and scratches danica just barely but makes it through the fabric
danica-Phelan-CoF-ws oops, got ahead of myself
danica-Phelan-CoF-ws ahem - please see my response above *giggles*
Phelan-CoF-Phy-Adm reaches into his pocket pulling out several ring that are used for piercing other parts of the body and looks to the three girls
Phelan-CoF-Phy-Adm let me see he thinks as he looks them over
ÅŸÄđįqÅ©Ä~ÄŒôF~Ŗřş peeks to Master
alli-cat-CoF-ys blinks as she suddenly realizes that was the wrong pin that that one was tipped in ost poison she turns pale and backs away slowly
danica-Phelan-CoF-ws : hmmm, not sure what to do about ost poison
danica-Phelan-CoF-ws : any advice?
Phelan-CoF-Phy-Adm reahes into his bag pulling out the salve of the PKs
Phelan-CoF-Phy-Adm then an antidote he has been working on
alli-cat-CoF-ys : ugh let see um right theres gots to be a antidote around here somewhere
ÅŸÄđįqÅ©Ä~ÄŒôF~Ŗřş watches Master
Phelan-CoF-Phy-Adm reaches down gently appling the antidote
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To ensure crystal clarity, I will repost the post that establishes the context:
alli-cat-CoF-ys blinks as she suddenly realizes that was the wrong pin that that one was tipped in ost poison she turns pale and backs away slowly
That that pin was tipped in ost venom is beyond dispute. There was no subsequent post that said anything to the contrary. Phelan provided a cure regardless. It is irrelevant that Phelan himself didn't say anything about ost venom. That it was ost venom had already been established. With ost venom a scratch is enough.
I know, Agrit, that you wish this issue would go away. Making outright lies about it, that can be so easily shown to be such, is not going to accomplish that. You simply managed to accomplish diminishing your own character by the attempt.
Perhaps you can reestablish some by removing your false claim and admitting the error of it.
I wish you all well.
Conversation
Showing 1–20 of 58 comments.
So does this mean we all have countless mulligans for whatever happens that we don't like? No matter how it's played or acknowledged?
No what it means is some people just have to put their two cents worth in to defend their buddies "honor" even if to do so is clearly wrong instead of simply admitting the truth and telling their "friend" " ok pal you screwed up, this ones on you"....where's that "Gorean accountability" now?....I seem to recall Manon using the phrase "conveniently discarded" once when referring to My own principles I suggest that happens to "all Goreans, great and not" to borrow a phrase.
I find it laughable that the Physicians we DO have are hardly ever found in roleplay and yet so many applicants to the caste who actually DO show up in roleplay are refused training. Frankly Im surprised noone has yet cried and pointed out that "Fina is a safe zone and nothing bad can ever happen in a magical safe zone"....
In my opinion each city should be responsible for training their own castes.
Do you mean I cannot claim the caste of scribes unless the grand Pooba scribe says I can?
As far as I know each City controls its own castes. There's no grand poobas who need to approve anything anyone else does. Why should there be? Here we have an example of a trained Physician with decades of experience clearly violating the books...so gosh golly gee, I can't imagine anyone having anything legitimate to say about what others do that needs to be approved first, but thanks for asking the question Lady Scribe.
There is no grande Pooba scribe, just like there's no grand Pooba warrior. You find someone who is of that caste and ask them to train you. If they will, and you stick with it, Eventually, BOOM...Scribe. Physicians have always been the accept ion to the rule. This has always been something that the high castes have been more concerned with than the low. Who really cares how long it took a lamplighter to get it just right?
Why would the Physicians caste be an exception to the rule? Are Physicians also then exempt from the Law?
Maybe they are better organized than the other castes? I don't know. It's been this way for as long as I can remember.
It is precisely instances such as the one depicted in the scroll that efforts were made to unify certain Castes in the first place. It meant enough to certain members of the Physicians Caste that their craft not be made a mockery of by an uneducated few, that they formed a sort of "guild" type operation for the sake of consistency, that those of us who may need such an individual get proper care, regardless of the outcome.
"It is little wonder then that the cities of Gor support and welcome the fairs. Sometimes they provide a common ground on which territorial and commercial disputes may be amicably resolved without loss of honor, plenipotentiaries of warring cities having apparently met by accident among the silken pavilions.
Further, members of castes such as Physicians and Builders use the fairs for the dissemination of information and techniques among Caste Brothers, as is prescribed in their codes in spite of
their codes in spite of the fact that their respective cities may be hostile. And as might be expected members of the Caste of Scribes gather here to enter into dispute and examine and trade manuscripts."
Priest-Kings of Gor"page 9
Also, there's that. So the idea of conference and the sharing of information to provide consistency isn't so foreign after all. But since there isn't a sardar fair for this community, things had to be handled in a slightly less passive fashion. Think Field of Dreams for gorean medical professionals.
I would hardly refer to it medical professionalism. I'm just a scruffy pirate and even I know ost poison is fatal and I have no medical training whatsoever. This entire episode serves only to raise the question "is training truly valid? How does a qualified Physician with decades of practice behind him make such a mistake? Was this simply because of the value he placed on the slave versus his value of common knowledge?"....Malpractice I say.
No one is disputing the magnitude of this fubar. The question was why physicians have a "grand pooba" review the misdoings of greens. The ground work was laid out in the books and simply had to be adapted to a "council" in this little slice of what could loosely be described as gorean roleplay. There simply aren't enough physicians, cities, or people to fill a role in either to justify not having some kind of governing body. There weren't judges for combat in the books. Part of making the game.
One should keep in mind that the difference in medium from preset books to interactive online ineveitably results in some difference between the two. What works well in one environment may not in another, so may well need replacement by something more suited.
It turns out that ost venom is not entirely always fatal according to one of the later books. -- "It is the smallest, and deadliest, snake on Gor," he said. "It moves quickly, and can hide almost anywhere. Its bite is lethal, unless the limb can be cut off within a few Ihn. It is an unpleasant death. It ensues within a few Ehn. The victim commonly cries out with joy, to die, rejoicing that the pain will end. Smugglers of Gor, Book 32, Page 544
If an experienced Physician can disregard all published information relating to ost bite then of what real value is training when clearly ethics were violated ? My point being if even the oldest and *coughs* "most honorable and highly trained" among us choose to lay aside ethics for personal interests then how is required training justifiable ? Is it not better to entrust an honest slave with our health than a Free man who seeks to have his own way through dishonesty ?
Let's not go pretending that Phelan qualifies as anything approaching "most honorable" or even "highly trained" in matters of gorean roleplay. It has been a long, long time since that name was synonymous with much more than a manchild bending and breaking what rules float his whimsy in the confines of Fina, and anywhere else he held residence.
And while an ost bite may not necessarily be "instant death" , it does read there that the offending limb must be removed within a few seconds.
One could ask since one physician improperly prescribed pain killers to numerous patients, why does the medical profession still exist. Just because one judge accepted a bribe to scew the result of a trial, why does the legal profession still exist? Just because one member of a profession fails in his duty does not mean the profession is scrapped. The same holds for an online caste, espeically one with so much work devoted to it.