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: Virtual suicide is not uncommon on Gor. : Look below on this Message Board and you will see a slave killing himself. : Yesterday I was perusing the message boards of other Gorean chat sites when I found a message from a slave in which she killed herself, and there was an outpouring of grief and anger from the members of that site. : I have seen slaves, Free Women, and even Warriors all kill themselves, online. A few have actually followed up their virtual act by leaving online Gor. But most show up, in one form or another, after the initial wave of sympathy and grief has ebbed. Sometimes the suicide is done merely to seek attention or commiseration. Sometimes there are deeper roots. : Take a moment to think about your online death. It will surely happen one day. It is inevitable. Will you merely fade away from online Gor, turning the computer off one day and simply leaving behind the world you once knew? Will you toss yourself on a quiva, posting a long farewell and then surreptitiously returning to the boards to see how many responses you get? Or will you fall in battle with another, feeling the touch of virtual steel at your throat as you are vanquished by a Warrior? : I have contemplated the death of Xern by fading away. R/t commitments may someday take up too much time, leaving online Gor in their wake. I may grow so tired of the petty infighting and gaming that exists that I will eventually take a break from online Gor and simply not return. Or I might make an announcement that I am retiring as the Senior Captain, and will simply visit the tavern on occasion. The latter is the most likely possibility. : I have contemplated the death of Xern by virtual suicide. It will not happen. It is distasteful to me. : I have contemplated the death of Xern at the hands of another. And someday it might happen. It will go like this: In perhaps the not-to-distant future, a known Gorean is going to challenge me to a duel. It will have to be a known Gorean, for I do not bother accepting challenges from HNG's or those who are unknown to the Gorean community. But at some point I will challenge, or be challenged by, a known Gorean, one whose honor and integrity are beyond question. I will accept this challenge, on the condition that the duel will be judged, and conducted under fair rules. The Battle Rules of Gorean Shores are an example of such a system. I would prefer to fight in Gorean Shores, judged by the Captains and Advisors of the tavern, not because I think they would favor me or grant me leniency. On the contrary. I know that they will vote not by their conscience, or allegiance, but rather by the formalized rules for dueling. I know that they will. I have seen them do it before. If I fight in Gorean Shores, and my opponent is better than me, I will expect him to be judged the winner. And I will expect to be killed. : And once killed, under fair judging and a fair system of battle, Xern is dead. The man behind the keyboard will leave online Gor behind, and will not return. It will hurt to do this, and that is proper, for nothing that is precious is easy to let go. But what makes it precious in the first place is the knowledge that it is as close to Gor as I can get. And that necessitates my belief that if Xern is killed, then the experience of Gor must die as well. Is this foolish? Does it make sense? Perhaps to some it does not. But this is my code, the code that I follow. I do not expect others to understand it. : So do not expect me to be saddened when I see someone commit a virtual suicide. The chances are, they are not going to remain dead for long. Life, even virtual life, is too precious to be taken by oneself. No one who cares deeply about Gor should make a decision to voluntarily give it up without hope of returning by committing virtual suicide. If the end is going to come some day, hope that it comes at the hands of a skilled Warrior, in a sand pit, with the ring of steel still loud in your ears, and the green waters of Thassa the final vision you see.

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