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One of the pleasures of this particular walk was the number and variety of shops and offices one passed, particularly on the Thieves' Way South. There were shops for clothing and footwear for the free; the robings and veilings for free women were particularly rich, abundant, luxurious, and colorful; I suspect that there are fewer free women in Port Kar than in most cities; this doubtless has something to do with the history of the city; I am told, incidentally, that there is one city on Gor, Tharna, noted for its silver mines, in which there is but one free woman, Lara, its Tatrix; doubtless this also has something to do with the history of that city; men of Tharna are commonly recognized by the two yellow cords, each some eighteen inches long, that they wear at their belt; such cords are convenient for the binding of a woman, hand and foot; visiting free women in Tharna must be in the custody of a male, and must be licensed and tagged; the custodial male must see that his charge spends no more than four days in the city or she will be seized and collared; some men bring unsuspecting free women to the city, sometimes arrogant free women interested in seeing such a city, to scorn it and its customs, willing even to endure the humiliation of tagging and licensing for such a pleasure, but somehow, doubtless inadvertently, fail to inform them of the law; the woman then, on the fifth day, is seized and reduced to bondage; she finds herself then become no more than another Tharnan slave; there were also shops for manufactured or crafted goods such as cups, goblets, vessels, pans, pitchers, dishes, and utensils; care and art commonly characterize even such simple objects on this world; there was a leather worker's shop and a cloth worker's shop, some weavers in view, at their looms, and two metal worker's shops. Outside the cloth worker's shop was a bin for irregular cloths, discarded patches, strips, shreds, and such; some masters, doubtless of a thrifty sort, avail themselves of such a trove to outfit their slaves; patches, even small patches, may be sewn together, to repair, or even form, a garment, say, a tunic; to the girls, of course, any clothing is precious, even a motley, scanty rag; do not we beg for even so little, and hope that it will be granted to us by the masters; in any event, for the most part, little money is wasted on slaves; we are kept nude as the animals we are, or are inexpensively clad, muchly bared, as with tunics, camisks, ta-teeras, and such. Outside one of these metal worker's shops, on racks and poles, hung a number of slave collars, slave bracelets, manacles, shackles, siriks, mixed chains, and various slave-holding devices, such as racks and spreaders. Toward the rear some slave cages were strewn about, in one of which, perhaps for purposes of display, there was, curled within its tiny confines, a nude slave. Sometimes stairs led up to a second floor where coins might be weighed and changed, or loans made; there is no designated "Street of Coins" in Port Kar; one could ascend stairs, too, to visit one or more physicians, or, if one wished, to solicit the services of a scribe, perhaps to have a letter read or written; many Goreans, particularly outside the cities, are illiterate; these stairwells, or some alleyways, leading from the walkway, bore signs; such things are helpful for those who cannot read; a green auscultation tube commonly signifies a physician; a set of wooden coins, painted white and gold, or white and yellow, hanging from a rod, usually signifies a handler of money, one who might furnish loans, accept pawnings, effect exchanges, and such; and a dangling blue scroll, or a dangling tablet with a stylus or pen, commonly stands for a scribe, and so on. Vegetables, cereals, fish, meat, and such are most often found in the open markets, some roofed, not in the stores or shops. - (Quarry of Gor, Chapter )