Facing the gleaming Thassa by way of the Tamber Gulf, is the crowded, squalid, malignant city at the mouth of the Vosk Delta called Port Kar. It is sometimes referred to as the Tarn of the Sea. It is the only city on Gor that recognizes a Caste of Thieves, and it is the only city on Gor actually built by slaves under the whip of their Masters. The city is a mass of holdings, each almost a fortress, all crossed and divided by hundreds of canals.Port Kar is ruled by a several conflicting Ubars, and, under them, the Council of Captains who are responsible for maintaining and managing the great arsenal, as well as the fleets of Port Kar. Her name is a synonym in Gorean for cruelty and piracy.
"Raiders of Gor"
"Samos wore the blue and yellow robes of the Slaver. Indeed, he was First Slaver of Port Kar, and First Captain in its Council of Captains, which council, since the downfall of the four Ubars is sovereign in Port Kar. I, too, was a member of the Council of Captains, Bosk, of the House of Bosk, of Port Kar. I wore a white robe, woven of the wool of the Hurt, imported from distant Ar, trimmed with golden cloth, from Tor, the colors of the Merchant. But beneath my robe I wore a tunic of red, that color of the warriors."
"Raiders of Gor"
"I took my seat in the Council of the Captains of Port Kar.
It was now near the end of the first passage hand, that the following En’Kara, in which occurs the Spring Equinox. The Spring Equinox, in Port Kar as well as in most other Gorean cities, marks the New Year. In the chronology of Ar it was now the year 10,120. I had been in Port Kar for some seven Gorean months.
None had disputed my right to the seat of Surbus. His men had declared themselves mine.
Accordingly I, who had been Tarl Cabot, once a warrior of Ko-ro-ba, the Towers of the Morning, sat now in the council of these captains, merchant and pirate princes, the high oligarchs of squalid, malignant Port Kar, Scourge of Gleaming Thassa.
In the Council, in effect, was vested the stability and Administration of Port Kar."
"Raiders of Gor"
"The hall was lit by torches, and by many lamps with candles, set on tables between curule chairs."
"Raiders of Gor"
"There are commonly about one hundred and twenty captains who form the council, sometimes a few more, sometimes a few less. Admittance to the council is based on being master of at least five ships.
"Raiders of Gor"
“Do you know who is senior captain of the council?” he asked.
“No,” I said.
“I am,” said Samos, of Port Kar."
"Raiders of Gor"
"Be it known to you, Ubars," said he, "that Samos, First Slaver of Port Kar, now proposes to the council that it take into its own hands the full and sole governance of the city of Port Kar, with full powers, whether of policy, and decree, of enforcement, of taxation and law, or other pertinent to the administration thereof."
"Power to the council!" said Samos, bowing his head.
"Power to the council!" cried the men in the tiers. Even the page boys and the scribes, and the minor captains, in the back of the room and about the sides, cried out these words. "Power to the council!"
I sat in my curule chair, smiling.
"Further," said Samos, "I propose that the council decree that all bonds among clients and patrons in Port Kar be now dissolved, to be reestablished only on the basis of mutual consent and explicit contract on the part of the parties involved, which documents, in copy, are to be placed with the council."
Sullius Maximus shook his fist at Samos. "You will not shear us of our power!" he cried.
"Further," said Samos, "Let the council decree that any who fail to abide by the resolutions of the council, or act against it, be regarded, at the council's convenience, subject to her pleasure."
"Raiders of Gor"
"The council met late that night, and much business was conducted. Even before dawn walls were being raised about the holdings of Henrius Sevarius, and his wharves were being blockaded with ships of the arsenal, while large watches were being maintained on the holdings of the other four Ubars. Several committees were formed, usually headed by scribes but reporting to the council, to undertake various studies pertaining to the city, particularly of a military and commercial nature. One of these studies was to be a census of ships and captains, the results of which were to be private to the council. Other studies, the results of which would be kept similarly private to the council, dealt with the city defenses, and her stores of wood, grain, salt, stone and tharlarion oil. Also considered, though nothing was determined that night, were matters of taxation, the unification and revision of the codes of the five Ubars, the establishment of council courts, replacing those of the Ubars, and the acquisition of a sizable number of men-at-arms, who would be directly responsible to the council itself, in effect, a small council police or army. Such a body of men, it might be noted, though restricted in numbers and limited in jurisdiction, already existed in the arsenal. The arsenal guard, presumably, would become a branch of the newly formed council guard, if such became a reality. It is true, of course, that the council already controlled a large number of ships and crews, but it must be remembered that these forces were naval in nature; the council already had its navy; the events of the afternoon had demonstrated that it would be well if it had also at its disposal a small, permanent, dependable, rapidly deployable infantry. One might not always be able to count on the rallying of the men of individual captains to protect the council, as had been the case this afternoon. Besides, if the council were to become truly sovereign in Port Kar, as it had proclaimed itself, it seemed essential that it should soon have its own military forces within the city.
"Raiders of Gor"
"Meanwhile , while I had been plying the trade of pirate, the military and political ventures of the council itself , within the city, had proceeded well. For one thing, they had now formed a Council Guard, with its distinctive livery, that was now recognized as a force of the council, and, in effect, as the police of the city. The Arsenal Guard, however, perhaps for traditional reasons, remained a separate body, concerned with the arsenal, and having jurisdiction within its walls.For another thing, the four Ubars, Chung, Eteocles, Nigel and Sullius Maximus, their powers considerably reduced during the time of the unsuccessful coup of Henrius Sevarius, had apparently resigned themselves to the supremacy of the Council in the city. At any rate, for the first time in several years, there was now a single effective sovereign in Port Kar, the Council. Accordingly, its word, and, in effect, its word alone, was law. A similar consolidation and unification had taken place, of course, in the realm of inspections and taxations, penalties and enforcements,codes and courts. For the first time in several years one could count on the law being the same on both sides of a given canal."
"Raiders of Gor "
