Artists Against Ostia

Standing before the open window of her private chambers which overlooked the Street of Talender, she watched the clusters and groups of people pass by. It had been like this for the past two hours. An endless parade of signs and chants. There had been reports already received that clusters of street artists from both Abby Lane and Central tried to claim back terrority that had been swallowed up by the rich and powerful Ostia District. This was met with well financed resistance. She had anticipated such a outcome happening but for the sake of the struggling artists now trying to feed families from their small sells of cameo work and commissoned pieces, it was unlikely. They simply didn't have the experience to take on such a powerful opponent. It was indeed a sad situation and she as Magistrate was suppose to try and remedy this and make it all better. But how? She had the collective conscious of Artists groups, including the largest of the SFC, which had just only organized a single hand ago and was already up to fifty members, banging on her door daily. What was she going to do to make this better? Turning back to her desk, she picked up her paper and glanced at what she had signed. It was a permit to hold a Festival of the Arts in West Village. Half the proceeds from street sales would go to those that had lost something during the Ostia Overthrow.

Port Cos Struggle for Domination Turn 5

Click here for Turn 5 results






















Reporting to you today, for the port Cos gazette, sasha the slave who sees all.

It looks like another exciting week in Port Cos, the tables are turning, the people of the city are winning, or are they losing?

Top stories are as follows:

Earlier in the week we had details of a possible truce between Garden Valleran and Lake Ostia, by newer accounts those rumors are untrue,. Do not worry, the old source has been flogged and will not be giving us information anymore. The lie was put to these rumors when a surprise demonstration from the Gardens upon Tarsks West occured sometime during the night. Citizens from Tarsks East managed to disrupt the demonstration by the people of the Gardens. Gold district has been weakened due to this, but shall it still prevail? And what of Lake Ostia holding onto the truce regardless? Anonymous sources were quoted as saying, “We were wronged and still keep strong!”
Latest reports also reveal also that the Valleran Academy joined the gardens in trying to grab control of Lake Ostia holdings. Hooded scribes slipped through and halved support from Copper to Silver with offers of free legal services.

With the disappearance of Dominick the Brewer, the merchants caste appeared rudderless in the Market District and Titanius clan has gained control over North West Market. Will the reappearance of Brewer bring back hope to regain this territory? No matter of this fall, his other quarters remain steady. The Titanius clan also wrestled back control of Bridgemont from the Brook Lane faction, will Lucian try and retaliate or try to find some truce with Titanius? It seems while losing the battle for defense of Bridgemont, it may be due to an infiltration of scribes being pushed from South and South East of Brook Lane, down towards the East of the Docks. The Dock workers of the Crotona family did not take to their scribes offers however. Will the Crotona family try and regain some of its lost senatorial influence due to this attack? As in our earlier report, when one seems to be surprise attacked, do not underestimate, hmm?

Ah, but now it seems we have news of the Crotona having attempted to push out those despicably, vile Karians! To no avail has this turnout come, the Karians held their own. Boooo!!!!!!!! The Karian menace made a serious effort to push out the peasants in the west Old fortress but the interference of dock workers in the street fight of wayward cobblestone gangs broke up the attempt leaving the west old fortress in Renaldi hands.

SUICIDE
Perhaps as a consequence of this failure rumor has it that Junt, the Karian leader was seen committing suicide at the cliffs! No one knows for sure why any Gorean man would choose to die in this way and we may never know the reasons.

Agrippa Moves to the Pharos

The old house on goat hill just started to have too many memories for him. He wasn't yet willing to sell it, but now that Lola was gone, it was haunted by the memories of her laughter and worse, the way it had faded. The loss of cute was not a laughing matter. He had a deficiency of cute and it needed to be fixed. So it was euphemistically appropriate that he should move into the Pharos, where the most of the barracks for the detachment was on the lower floors. From the three floors the Over watch commander customarily held, beneath the massive fires over head and hoisted a hundred and fifty feet over the city, he felt like this was the way it was supposed to be, a sort of destiny. Remote, seeing but not touching, he drank his beer in the wide rooms with their rail-less balconies, and contemplate the future. The Pharos rooms were always lit from over head with an orange glow from the pyres, and the constant flow of Tharlarion oil or coal oil soaked wood kept a lot of people in Port Cos in business. The people bringing new furniture up the multiple steps and ramps were never happy when they got to the 25 foot across circular room he spent most of his time in.

He and the scribe slave were spending time together. Her demure nature pleased him and filled a little peaceful gap. At the same time he found his crueler side assuaged by abusing glory, whose death he feared, by his own hand, was edging ever closer.

"Take a letter," he snapped at the blue silks brunette.

"Be advised, Consul calls for the formation and meeting of the Port Cos senate. A single representative of every quarter in Port Cos will be called to represent their district. Senate meeting will be held in the council hall under guard. The Senate will convene as soon as an agenda can be devised. Any agenda items to be placed by district magistrates should be messaged to this office as soon as possible. Signed, Agrippa Pontus, Consul." When the scribe slave had taken the letter down he checked it and signed it beneath her words. Then he affixed the seal and sent the scribe slave down to the messenger caste office in the Pharos and turned back to the balcony to look over the city.

"Here we go." he said, resigned.

A life on the line....

The woman, Shana, one of the physicians in the city was awakened in the middle of the night by two slave girls and she curses as she wonders why did I take this caste again? Grumbling, she got dressed in her green layered robes, not even bothering with a veil, they want to collar her ass, then so be it, let people die then, go ahead! Quickly grabbing her supplies, which is all in a small chest, kept ready on her hallway table. One of the girls, a brunette in red ((sasha)) grabs her hand to rush her along. The other girl((scribe slave)) eager as well and seeming frightened, both of them did. Her guards follow and she sends one of the three to go and fetch her assistants. Telling him to make it quick, a life is at stake, correct? She shakes the girl's hand off and rubs at her sleepy eyes.

"Slow down girl! I am coming, you remember that I was sleeping!" She says curtly, really not liking to be awakened at all, she had made her rounds at the clinic and was not asleep for what, she looks to the night sky and how the stars are positioned, 3 hours! Oh Kings, this better be life and death, some people exaggerate a paper cut, for Priest Kings sake! Though she will admit, they do sting like a gitch.

Dragged, well taken almost clear across the city, okay not really but when tired, one's mind tends to erm..... exaggerate, haha. Slippered feet bring her to the inn, oh of all places and she hopes it is sanitary. She ushers the girl who had practically dragged her, inside and as she looks around, a lot of people about. Then she saw the body and the girl urges her over.

"I hear you girl! Calm down, you hear me now stay out of the way! Dear Priest Kings, what happened here?!" A woman ((Nightly-sorry didn't catch name of her)) and a man ((Furius)) were trying to keep the man's blood flow to a minimum.

"A girl can help you, Mistress, she has had some training" sasha piped up and watched as glory, she was here! and scribe slave were called away by Master Agrippa, safe haven it seems and she smiles, but then frowns as she looks to the Mistress and Master Valentin, her tears had dried for now.

"Thank you both for your trying to help him, it is greatly appreciated." She looks haughtily to the girl, who kept pestering her to hurry hurry and not having appreciated it, but, she gives her some leniency the girl was just worried for her Master, or so the woman believes.

She then moves to kneel, blood or not it did not matter and reaches to her medical chest, throwing it open and taking out gloves to protect her hands and from infecting the man's wounds. "What do we have here?" She starts to pull away the cloths and her assistants would get everything ready at the nearest clinic, she could trust her guards to follow her orders, the other two waited just inside of the door to the inn.

"Girl, get me some basins of water, harta!" The girl ((sasha)) rushes to her feet and she hears the man groan in pain, well his vocal chord is not cut, that is a good thing. She inspects the wounds, his throat first and tsks, must be a sword the wound is long, but did not hit his jugular. "You are a very lucky man." She assures him, regardless if he can hear her.

She then looks to the girl who returns, "Do you know how to make poultices?" As she shakes her head, Shana sighs. "I will show you when the time comes." She points to her chest, not wanting her bloody gloved hands to reach within. "Take out the green herbal powder, it's there to the small pouch in there, then I need you to get a bowl and put some of that water you brought into the bowl and mix it with half of that jar, harta now!" As the slave scrambles to do her bidding, the woman moves to root around in her bag with her elbows, good. The man is turned to again and she assesses the other wounds, one at his side and his mouth is a mess, dear Kings... what does the other man look like?

"When done with that, take the tuber leaves and put them into another bowl with some water, it will be come a thick mass." She takes the green herbal mixture from the girl and then starts to rinse out his wounds, speaking to the man softly. "I am here to help you, Sir. Just listen to my voice and keep focus as best you can." If he can hear her, great! If not, she is just doing what she does best, healing and bedside manner.

"This man needs to go to the clinic, once I have cleaned and stanched the bleeding." One of her assistants, a harried young woman who rushes over, telling her everything is ready back at the clinic. She tells her to head back and be sure to have some of that blood ready, the man will need some.

Wounds cleansed and she looks to the girl. "Now take that mixture and distribute it on several cloths, then hand them to me one by one." She wishes she could have taken care of this at the clinic, the better herbs there, ka-la-na root and tassa powder, but she will be able to tend to him better there, just needing to take care of the largest of the wounds. "Forget several, get me two cloths girl! I need to get him to the clinic fast."

Quick patch bandages are set to his smaller wounds, she will have to set that jaw too, glad the blood from his mouth had ceased, but she would put some of that coagulant on any wounds. Once handed the poultice, she sets it to his throat and then the other to a large deep gash on his chest. All of this taking about half an hour or so.

"Blankets! Several of them and guards, guards to help carry him out!" She shouts to them, the girl knowing to do her bidding or she would be smacked for not, she has been good so far, so Shana would feel a little bad for hitting her. Guards came bumbling in, her two did not help, knowing their duty is to protect her. "Put the blankets together, make a cot and then we will put him on it, carefully." She pulls off the gloves, all she can do for now is done, the gloves turned inside out and set into her chest, the blood kept in the enclosed space. "Girl put the rest of my supplies away and hand the chest to me. Come, we need to get him right away to the clinic, no dilly dallying!" She then moves in a swish of green robes, but stopped by a man and he hands her a jar of..... Priest Kings salve, how in the... She asked him, but he refused to say, instead something cryptic came out and she was puzzled, but she would tell the injured man.

"Wait Mistress! Wait, please!" She rolls her eyes, oh for the love of..... She turns her head, then looks to the guards. "The clinic you bumbling idiots and hurry!" Returns that light brown gaze to the girl, impatience upon her features.

"A girl wishes to go with you, please! She will not be in the way, she can help you, please." sasha feels the need to be with him, everything in such chaos, but she figures he needs someone he knows if he wakes up, he may prefer to see his girl, but she did not want to see him hurt or dying and her eyes fill with tears.

"I have much needed help at the clinic, I do not need you there." She snaps and then she saw the teary eyes and so help her, she is not a total tyrant and she sighs, non too low, letting the girl know her thoughts in that sound alone. "Very well, but do not get underfoot or I will boot you out and be done with you. Too much trouble and I will gladly beat you senseless. Hurry on then, harta!" A shake of her head, light-brown hair with blonde highlights moving and she huffs, then moves to follow. Watching the slave girl take the man's hand in hers as she walks beside him.

At the clinic, the guards were trying to usher him in and Shana rushes up. "Oh do be useful you slave and open those doors!" She yells at sasha, who rushes forward letting go of Valentin's hand and opening the doors for the men. "I warned you, no getting in the way, now keep back and follow and do what I say, understood?" As she nods mutely, she moves past her and over to the hall, calling out for her assistants who have exam room 5 open, 2 and 4 occupied. She rushes in ahead of the men and goes to the sink, to wash her hands.

"I cleaned his wounds and set a poultice to stop the bleeding, we need tassa powder, kur fat, ka-la-na root and wylow!" Her assistants move around and she takes the time to check the man's other wounds, gloves slipped on like her assistants and she instructs the slave girl and another to do the same. She has the girl help her turn him to his side a bit, away from them, leans close, good good no wounds seems to be all front ones.((i forgot most of the wounds, sorry, improvising a bit)) Her assistants come back with the supplies and she began to work. "Girl get me more water in a large basin over there and cloths."

She starts at the throat, removing the poultice and cleansing it of the coagulant, tuber root paste and she looks it over. The water brought and another empty basin is set beneath her near her feet as she cleanses the wound with the water. As she reaches for the ka-la-na root, that had been soaked in water, she then starts to move it over his wounds, carefully and her assistant in the meantime starts spreading numbing salve around the outer skin of those open gashes, so he will not feel the pain of suturing. "No need for the kur fat, I changed my mind." She waves off her other assistant, a young man with sandy hair. "Get some kanda leaves incase he wakes up. You didn't mix the tassa powder, did you? Good, put it away, but set up that blood transfer immediately, before he dies of the loss."

Once the wound cleaned and she glances to the slave, "Go outside and we will get you, take off the gloves before you do." As she seemed heistant to leave she barks out. "Harta! There is no time for games." Once she is gone, she takes the needle, that has been sterilized and a red thread already set through it, she uses long tweezers to close up the inside damdage first, once that is done, she inspects her work and then takes a new needle and starts to sew up his neck skin itself. "Set a bandage to that."

Moving along she starts to suture up his body, the chest, head and side wound and oh look, another wound that he had and it looks like it opened. So, she takes care of that one too, threaded needle given back to her each time. She sat back and everything is set up, a needle in his arm for fluids, the other for blood. "We need to keep on him all night, his injuries are bad. Dennis, go get a trained slave, I think I saw one earlier and tell her she will need to stay with him and we will keep watch here. You two did fine, thank you go on home. I will keep the vigil. I just need to set his jaw and we shall just hope."

As soon as they left, she walks over to a table and pulls out the drawer thinly beneath it, pulling out a bit of metal and she walks back over, setting it on the narrow table near the bed. She pulls up a stool and looks over his face, reaching to open his mouth with newly gloved fingers and hmm, seems he is missing a tooth or two and she feels around, coming out with no blood, but she needs to get someone else to look at it. For now she sets his jaw in metal to keep it steady and he would barely be able to talk, looks like it was just dislocated. She swipes top of forearm across her forehead and sighs. Well, she has done all she can and she removes her gloves, taking the ones out of her chest nearby and disposing of them. She then looks to the slave she sent for. "Clean this up, you and I will be staying and keeping watch over him." The girl nods and moves to start her duty.

Shana walks to the door and looks out. "Okay, you can come in, but do not and I repeat, do not touch his wounds. If you cause him to move in anyway the stitching will be undone and then I will be using your body for my personal table as I do jobs, understood? Good, I am going to get some things and be right back, that girl there, she will be able to help if he wakes up."

sasha jumps from her sitting, knees to her chest and she nods to her, moving inside and slowly walks over, reaching to take his hand, but she pauses and then does anyway and holds it as she kneels by his bed. She cries and wishes she had jumped in front of that blade for him, she is just a slave after all and she closes her eyes.

The woman came back in and asked who he is, then she sent word by guard to let his family know what has happened and where he is.

The good thing.

Sadness is a wall between two gardens.

- Kahlil Gibran

The only good thing to come about from the take over of the East Artist section of the Garden district was the fact that the fellow artists that now took in the refugees from the outbreak of violence were inspired to create.



An overemotional band of people had suddenly needed an outlet to release these feelings they were experiencing over the loss of their homes, gardens and businsses. The CenterPiece Park located in Central area was filled each day with clusters of artists creating, discussing projects and the new things they were developing, all because of what had been witnessed by the brassy push of the rich men in the Avenue of Coins or as some started to refer to it "The Ostia Overthrow". It was already receiving very negative press by the grass roots papers that floated by between hands of scuptors, painters and writers that stayed in the Garden District.



While there had been no reported deaths from the fighting and destruction that had resulted the night the strongarmed men hired by the rich had jumped the walls into the East, it was slowly becoming apparent that those that had been there that night wished they had showed more force and not kept to their normal pacifist ways.



The only good thing indeed was the sudden surge of creativity that always erupts when things of this nature happen. There was already a production being planned for the Revival Playhouse, a working title..

"A tale of two worlds.." Supposedly this was to be the Playwright Garpo's great comeback. There were already tickets being sold.

"The Lake Ostia District."

Initially, she lived in an apartment by the docks until something could be arranged and when it was, she was oh so excited to move into the villa in the Avenue of Coins. Certainly, the sizable investment she had made in the cities banks to procure such an estate was worth it, when she saw the massive villa on its sprawling lot, near the lake. She settled in immediately with her seven house girls, one kajirus taken from the city prison, her handmaiden mara, her first girl and assistant trainer ashley, a barbarian girl in training, and another slave, who was in a crate, and whose name she had forgotten, along with which room of the 72 in the villa they had put her in during the unpacking. Oh well.

Just as soon as she moved in she began to explore the city, its beautiful artist’s districts, its illustrious singer the lady Persephany, who she had over immediately with her companion Valentin. But soon after she began to hear the rumors, and then being Ostia, began to dig for them herself. It seemed the bohemians in the gardens were set on controlling the guards at the toll road, possibly through wine and music and drugs and sex, and seeing as how there was little or no sight of the tenants to the north, she was suspicious that something must be afoot. Meanwhile, the homeowners association began to look to Ostia for guidance with their schemes. You see the Avenue of Coins, or as Ostia was beginning to refer to it, the Lake Ostia District, was a mere 50 wealthy families who were used to running things in Port Cos before the troubles began. They were insanely upset about the problems lately, as every upheaval seemed to hurt their estates and holdings, making it harder to employ the peasantry who they allowed to stream through the checkpoint gates in the mornings, do the menial labor during the day, and then deport every night in long lines at the city walls. They insist that Ostia help them to expand their estates, and clean out the beatniks who in the south east so they could open more checkpoints to the city and not coincidentally, gain control over the real estate.

“The red one mara!” Ostia called from the vanity to the spacious closet where mara was getting lost. “I have to look just right from far away! at the naming ceremony!” Earlier in the hand members of the bankers caste had come to the garden district and insisted that the squatters there either pay vacate or be evicted. Ostia had made sure the areas tribune was paid off handsomely to represent her in what would be known as “Tarsks West” A tribute to the Avenue of Coins old name. “The Lake Ostia District.” She sighed, and smiled into her massive vanity mirror. She pursed her lips, turning the beauty mark side of her face to the mirror, gave herself a sultry look, and then hurried to get dressed for the ribbon cutting.

It was no picnic....

It had started out as such a delightful evening in the park...cooling off in the stream, our picnic basket close at hand with yet another bottle of some of the finest vino in Port Cos. Deva and her girl arrived and we chose to take our little party back to the house, you know more drinks and fun. The fun AND the picnic was way over the moment we arrived back home. There on the door step like yesterday's trash awaited a vile man, Murker Junt, and with him came a few sacks of Kings only knew what. He demanded an opportunity to speak with Valentin bravest of all men who walk the face of Gor mind you. Apparently Junt thought to prove a point by producing for all of us to see the still corpse of a little boy. I thought I would die right there on the spot and surely I would have ruined my hot pink slippers vomiting all over the door step. Do you know how embarrassing it is to retch in front of company with such delicate sensibilities as Deva? And here I had just invited the man into my home for cupcakes, those with the pink cherry frosting I had just baked that morning. Instead of appreciating ME the songbird for my hostessing skills, the man shows me a dead body. I say that is to be the most rude conduct of a guest I have ever heard. Naturally, my beloved Valentin who can be slightly high handed at times, this I do admit, promptly sent me, Lady Deva and sophia inside. I guess there must have been some sort of spat outside with all the yelling and foul words who could tell? I have one thing to say to that...that "Karian" stay AWAY from me you ungrateful man. I would rather feed your cupcake to an urt than suffer having you served in my garden!