240 Week 3: The Salt and The Rot (Daily Life, Naval Tactics, a

 Here is the comprehensive lecture script for GOR 240, Week 3.

This lecture strips away the swashbuckling romance of piracy. We examine the grinding reality of life at sea: the starvation, the disease, and the brutal intimacy of 50 men living in a wooden box. We also detail the tactical mechanics of a boarding action and the grim economics of the Port Kar slave trade.

Lecture Script: GOR 240 - The Pirates of Port Kar

Instructor: Magistrate Kati Evans Location: Gorean College of Lara / Ar’s Station Educational Hall Week 3: The Salt and The Rot (Daily Life, Naval Tactics, and The Slave Markets) Duration: Approx. 60 Minutes

◈═══════════════════════◈

I. Introduction: The Floating Prison (00-10 Mins)

(Action: The room is stark. The Paga bottle is gone. On the desk sits a piece of bread so hard it looks like a rock, a jar of murky water, and a boarding pike (a spear with a hook). You tap the bread on the desk. Click. Click. It sounds like wood.)

Magistrate Evans: Tal.

When you think of a pirate, you think of a man standing on the prow, wind in his hair, looking at the horizon. You forget the smell.

A Tharlarion ship is 80 feet long. It carries 60 men. There are no baths. There are no latrines (other than the side of the ship). You sleep on the deck, wrapped in damp wool. You wake up wet. You go to sleep wet. Your clothes rot on your body. Your skin boils with salt sores.

To be a pirate is to live in a floating prison where there is a chance of drowning every hour. Why do they do it? Because one good prize—one fat merchant ship—pays more than a farmer makes in a lifetime.

Today, we study the Reality of the Voyage. We will taste the Hardtack. We will learn the bloody geometry of the Boarding Action. And we will walk the auction blocks of the Slave Markets, the true engine of Port Kar's wealth.

Open your tablets. And try not to think about the weevils in the bread.

◈═══════════════════════◈

II. Logistics: The Diet of Death (10-25 Mins)

Magistrate Evans: A ship is a machine that burns food. But fresh food rots in the humid Delta heat in three days. So, what do they eat?

1. The Biscuit (Hardtack)

(Action: Pick up the rock-hard bread.)

Magistrate Evans: Flour and water, baked four times until it is stone. It does not rot. But it does get Weevils. Sailors eat in the dark so they cannot see the worms. To eat it, you must soak it in water or wine, or break it with a hammer.

2. The Water

Magistrate Evans: Water in casks goes green with algae in a week. They mix it with vinegar or cheap Paga to kill the taste. Thirst is the constant companion.

3. Scurvy

Magistrate Evans: The killer. Gums bleed. Teeth fall out. Old wounds reopen. Smart Captains carry barrels of Sulba (a Gorean tuber) or pickled cabbage to fight it. Dumb Captains lose half their crew before they even see an enemy.

◈═══════════════════════◈

III. Tactics: The Boarding Action (25-40 Mins)

(Action: Pick up the Boarding Pike. Demonstrate the hook.)

Magistrate Evans: Pirates do not want to sink the enemy. A sunken ship has no loot. A sunken ship has no slaves. They want to Capture.

The Phase of Battle:

The Approach: Use the lateen sails to gain the "Weather Gage" (upwind position). Swoop down fast.

The Softening: As you close, the archers fire. They aim for the helmsman and the officers. Create chaos.

The Grapple: Throws hooks. Bind the ships together.

The Boarding: This is the moment of truth. The "Boarders" leap across. They do not use long swords (too clumsy in the rigging). They use Cutlasses (short, heavy blades) and Boarding Axes. It is brutal, close-quarters butchery. The Goal: Clear the deck. Force the enemy crew below decks. Secure the hatch. Once you control the deck, the ship is yours.

◈═══════════════════════◈

IV. The Slavers: The Flesh Trade (40-50 Mins)

Magistrate Evans: Once the ship is taken, the cargo is sorted. Silk goes to the hold. Gold goes to the Captain's chest. But the most valuable cargo breathes.

Port Kar is the Slave Capital of Gor. Every pirate is a slaver, but there is a specific caste of merchants in Port Kar who deal only in flesh.

The Assessment

Magistrate Evans: The captives are stripped and sorted on the deck.

Men: Strong ones are kept for the oars or sold to the mines (Klima). Weak ones are thrown overboard.

Women: The prize. A High Caste Free Woman from Ar can fetch 100 gold tarns. A peasant girl might fetch 5. They are chained. They are fed (to keep them valuable). They are guarded.

The Auction

Magistrate Evans: When the fleet returns to Port Kar, the Slave Markets open. Buyers come from all over Gor—even from cities that officially hate pirates—to buy "Kar-Training" girls. The Code of the Brethren regulates the sale. The Captain takes his cut, and the rest is divided among the crew. To a pirate, a captured woman is not a person; she is a walking bag of gold coins.

◈═══════════════════════◈

V. The Danger of Mutiny (50-55 Mins)

Magistrate Evans: A Pirate Captain sleeps with one eye open. The crew is armed. The crew is hungry. The crew is violent. If the Captain shows weakness—or if the prize money dries up—the Black Spot appears. Mutiny.

A deposed Captain is rarely killed quickly. He is usually marooned or set adrift in a small boat without oars. This keeps the Captains aggressive. They must find prey, or their own men will eat them.

◈═══════════════════════◈

VI. Conclusion & Assignment (55-60 Mins)

(Action: Drop the pike. It clatters loudly.)

Magistrate Evans: The life of a pirate is nasty, brutish, and short. But it is free. That is the seduction. No taxes. No castes. No Initiates telling you what to do. Just the wind, the sea, and the strength of your arm.

As Administrators, when you interrogate a captured pirate, do not threaten him with poverty. He is used to it. Threaten him with the one thing he fears: The cage. To a man of the sea, a cell is worse than death.

(Action: Pick up the assignment scroll.)

Magistrate Evans: Your Assignment for Week 3:

You are the Boarding Master of the Scourge of Thassa. You are about to board a Heavy Merchant Galley from Ar. The enemy has heavy infantry on deck. You have 30 men to lead the assault.

The Task: Write a Boarding Plan (200 words).

The Target: Where do you hit them? (The bow? The stern? Midships?)

The Weaponry: What do your men carry? (Axes to cut rigging? Smoke pots to blind the infantry?)

The Objective: Do you kill the Captain first? Or do you disable the rudder? Explain your priority.

Next week, in GOR 240, Week 4, we study the Enemies of the State. We look at the great Naval Wars. Port Kar vs. Cos. Port Kar vs. Tyros. And the legendary defense of the Delta.

(Action: Sharp nod.)

Magistrate Evans: Class dismissed.

Tal.