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which it shared
    with the two parts of the inn, and then across it, to the right portion of the
    inn, in which the porter had informed me was the keeper’s desk. In this covered
    way, too, it might be mentioned, passengers, with some protection from the
    weather, may board and alight from fee carts, and such. It was late. It was not
    raining much now. The night had turned chilly, however. I was looking forward to
    a hot bath, a place to dry my clothes, some food, some drink, a warm bed.
    “Please!” I heard the first woman calling after me. “Please!” But I left them
    behind me, at the wall, stripped and shackled, and tasted.
    3       The Inn
    (pg.51) I struck the keeper’s desk twice.
    Behind the desk, on the wall, there was posted a list of prices. They were quite
    high. I did not think that those were normal prices. If they were, I did not see
    how the inn could manage to be competitive.
    I struck the keeper’s desk twice more.
    There was a tharlarion oil lamp hanging on three chains from the ceiling, to my
    right, above the desk.
    Sample items from the list were as follows:
     
                Bread and paga…………………………………………………….2 C.T.
                Other food……………………………………………………...3 – 5 C.T.
                Lodging……………………………………………………………10 C.T.
                Blanket(s)……………………………………………………………2 C.T.
                Bath………………………………………………………………….1 C.T.
                Bath girl……………………………………………………………...2 C.T.
                Sponge, oil and strigil………………………………………………..1 C.T.
                Girl for the night……………………………………………………..5 C.T.
                T., Greens and Stable………………………………………………...2 C.T.
                T., Meat and Cot……………………………………………………..5 C.T.
     
    A comment, or two, might be in order on this list of prices. First, it will be
    noted that they are not typical. In many inns, depending on the season, to be
    sure, and the readiness of the keeper to negotiate, one can stay for as little
    as two or three (pg.52) copper tarsks a day, everything included, within reason,
    of course, subject to some restraint with respect to page, and such. Also, the
    bath girl, and the sponge, oil and strigil, in most establishments, come with
    the price of the bath itself. The prices on the list on the wall seemed
    excessive, perhaps to a factor of five or more. The prices, of course, were in
    terms of copper tarsks.
    For purposes of comparison, in many paga taverns, one may have paga and food,
    and a girl for the alcove, if one wants, for a single copper tarsk. Dancers, to
    be sure, sometimes cost two. I did not know what the “other food” might be. One
    always inquires. It would vary seasonally, depend on the local suppliers, and,
    in some cases, even on the luck of local hunters and fishermen. In most inns the
    fare is simple and hearty. If one is particular about one’s food, one sometimes
    brings it with one, and instructs the keeper how it is to be prepared. Some rich
    men bring their own cooks. After all, one cannot always count on a keeper’s man
    knowing how to prepare Turian vulo or Kassau parsit. The references to “greens”
    and “meat”, and such, were pertinent to draft tharlarion and tarns, and so, too,
    the references to stabling and cots, respectively.
    It might be of interest to note that when I had come to Gor, some years ago,
    domestic tarns, like wild tarns, almost always made their own kills. They may
    still do so, of course, but now many have been trained to accept prepared, even
    preserved,