Maintaining immaculate cleanliness in a Gorean household for a slave involves tireless, detailed, and often specialized labor, as the aesthetic of the quarters directly reflects the Master's status.
Here are detailed tasks falling under Gorean housekeeping, excluding modern chemical cleaners and tools:
🧹 Daily & Detailed Housekeeping Tasks
Floor & Surface Care
Fine Sweeping & Mopping: Use stiff-bristled brooms or bound grasses to sweep floors multiple times a day. Dampen clean cloths or bundles of fibrous plants to wipe hard floors (mopping) to remove fine dust and sand common to the Gorean environment.
Sanding & Scrubbing: For stone or wood surfaces, fine sand, abrasive minerals, or crushed volcanic rock would be used with water and stiff brushes for scrubbing stains.
Mat & Rug Beating: Daily or near-daily, take the woven mats and heavier rugs outside to shake or beat them rigorously with a flat stick to expel accumulated dust and sand.
Terrace & Balcony Cleaning: Clear debris, dust, and sand from outdoor spaces like terraces or balconies, often involving careful sweeping or flushing with water.
Furniture & Fixtures Maintenance
Wood Polishing: Apply and rub specialized oils (such as nut oils or certain animal fats) into wooden furniture, shelves, and paneling to clean, condition, and give them a reflective polish.
Metal Polishing: Use fine sand, ashes, or acidic substances (like vinegar from Ka-la-na) mixed with water and coarse cloth to scour and polish metallic items such as lamp stands, braziers, and door fittings until they shine.
Bedding & Pallet Freshening: Air out the Master's sleeping pallet (mat or furs) daily, fluffing and shaking it to maintain comfort and remove odors.
Dusting Ornaments: Carefully use soft feather dusters or silk cloths to remove dust from ornaments, statuary, and scrolls without disturbing their arrangement.
Air & Environment Management
Odor Control: Burn specific incense, dried herbs, or perfumed oils in small containers to eliminate cooking or stale air odors and keep the Master's quarters smelling fresh.
Brazier Management: Empty ashes from heating braziers, polish the metal, and lay fresh fuel (wood or charcoal) for immediate use, ensuring the Master's quarters are always ready to be heated.
Pest Inspection: Conduct constant, quiet patrols to inspect and clear corners, crevices, and storage areas of vermin, insects, or webs.
Specialized Cleaning
Window/Shutter Cleaning: Wipe the interior surfaces of shutters or the translucent material (if any) used for windows to maximize light.
Weapon Wiping: Use a clean, oiled cloth to lightly wipe down the Master's weapons and leather goods (harness, belts) to remove fingerprints and prevent rust or drying.
Toilette Cleaning: Meticulously clean and empty the Master's washing bowls and the waste systems, using strong scents or cleansing sands to ensure no lingering impurities or odors.
🍳 Cooking and Provisioning Tasks for a Gorean Slave
The task of cooking and provisioning requires a Gorean slave to be a knowledgeable and efficient kitchen manager. Her responsibilities extend from selecting raw ingredients to preserving finished food, all to ensure the Master is well-fed and provided for.
🔪 Meal Preparation & Cooking
Fuel Management: Gather, store, and prepare firewood or charcoal and maintain the cooking fire/brazier, ensuring a consistent temperature for various methods (roasting, stewing, baking).
Ingredient Preparation: Butcher and carve cuts of common Gorean meats like Tarn or Kajira (small game), clean and prepare Surt eggs or Vulo (a type of fowl), and clean and chop vegetables and herbs.
Basic Dish Mastery: Prepare staples such as baked or fried bread (like flatbread or a heavier loaf), cook grain gruels or stews (often using Tuk grain), and roast or stew meats.
Beverage Brewing: Brew and strain Larma (tea) or Kashwa (coffee substitute), and ensure the Master’s designated drinking vessel is always filled with fresh water or Ka-la-na (wine).
Master's Service: Serve the finished meal with correct Gorean protocol: kneeling, presenting the food at the proper temperature, and ensuring a fly-free presentation.
🧺 Market & Provisioning
Market Shopping: Travel to the public market to purchase fresh, high-quality ingredients. She must know the current exchange rates for copper coins or barter goods for food.
Quality Assessment: Be skilled at judging the freshness and integrity of meats, fruits (Kanda), vegetables, and grains, knowing which vendors offer the best value without being cheated.
Inventory Management: Maintain a current inventory of all foodstuffs, grains, and kitchen supplies (e.g., cooking fats, salts, herbs) and request permission from the Master to replenish stocks before they run out.
Supply Transport: Safely carry heavy loads of provisions back to the Master's quarters from the market, often using woven baskets or nets.
🥩 Food Preservation & Storage
Drying Meats/Fruit: Slice meat thinly and prepare it for sun-drying or smoking to create edible provisions for long storage or travel. Similarly, dry certain fruits like Kanda.
Salting and Oiling: Know how to salt, cure, or store meats/fish in sealed clay jars using oils or fats to prevent spoilage.
Grain Protection: Store grains (Tuk, Silo) in sealed, dry containers (like ceramic jars or leather bags) to protect them from moisture and pests common to the Hold or tent.
Preparing Travel Rations: If the Master is planning a journey, she must prepare and package non-perishable rations that are easy to transport and consume while traveling on the saddle or in a caravan.
👗 Personal Grooming & Attire Tasks
These tasks ensure the Master's impeccable presentation and comfort, which reflects his status, while also covering the mandatory upkeep of the slave's own minimal clothing.
Master's Garments & Harness
Meticulous Laundering: Hand-wash the Master's garments (such as tunics, togas, or riding silks) using lye soaps, purified water, and beating stones or paddles. This must be done without damaging the fabric.
Mending and Tailoring: Inspect clothing daily for rips, loose threads, or wear. She must be skilled with a needle and thread to perform small mends and repairs quickly.
Folding and Storing: Fold and stack the Master's clothes using specific, neat methods to prevent wrinkles and store them in trunks or on shelving away from dust and pests.
Dressing Assistance: Assist the Master in putting on complex garments, harnesses, boots, or war-belts, ensuring proper fit, alignment, and comfort before he leaves his quarters.
Weapon Polishing: Use specific oils and cloths to clean, sharpen, and polish the Master's personal knives, swords, or shield, often using different materials for the blade versus the hilt/scabbard.
Leather Conditioning: Oil, condition, and polish all leather goods, including boots, belts, and riding gear, to keep the leather supple, crack-free, and shining.
Master's Personal Care
Hair and Beard Styling: Assist in combing, oiling, and styling the Master's hair and beard according to current fashion or his personal preference.
Oiling the Skin: Apply perfumed oils or unguents to the Master’s skin after a bath, ensuring proper coverage and scenting.
Foot Care: Wash, dry, and massage the Master's feet and legs upon his return from travel or exercise, tending to minor abrasions or soreness.
Slave's Attire & Presentation
Cleaning Slave Garments: Hand-wash and mend her own minimal attire (usually a few strips of coarse cloth or a single silk shift) daily, ensuring her garments are clean, if simple.
Maintaining Collar/Fetters: Use a cloth or soft material to clean and polish her own slave collar, wrist-fetters, or anklets, if worn, keeping them free of grime and rust, as the Master's property must be presentable.
Hair & Body Cleansing: Maintain her own basic hygiene, keeping her hair tied back or covered, and her body oiled and clean, primarily to avoid presenting any offensive sight or scent to her Master or others.
🧍 Waiting and Serving Tasks for a Gorean Slave
Waiting and serving epitomize the slave's role as a living extension of her Master’s will and comfort. This work is constant, requires acute observation, and must be performed with strict adherence to Gorean social protocol.
Anticipating Needs (The "Invisible" Slave)
Observing Master's Habits: Learn the Master's precise schedule and routines (when he prefers Kashwa, when he cleans his weapons, or his favorite time for a bath).
Tracking Environment: Monitor the lighting, air temperature, and air quality in the Master's vicinity, adjusting windows, shutters, or braziers before the Master feels the need to speak of his discomfort.
Recognizing Mood: Be acutely aware of the Master's mood and body language. If he seems tense, offer a low stool for him to rest his feet; if focused on a scroll, ensure the light is adequate.
Silent Preparation: Ready the next necessary item during a sequence of tasks. For example, when the Master is removing a garment, silently step forward with the basin for his hands or the Ka-la-na (wine) he enjoys afterward.
Food Readiness: Keep a constant stock of simple, ready-to-eat foods (like Kanda fruit or dried bread) easily accessible in his chambers or next to his chair.
Protocol & Presentation
Serving Posture: When serving food or drink, approach the Master with lowered eyes, a bowed head, and an unhurried, submissive stride.
Kneeling to Serve: Always kneel or sink to the floor when presenting items like cups, bowls, scrolls, or tools, ensuring the item is presented at the level of the Master’s hand or lower.
Distance and Position: Know the "proper distance to stand" or kneel—close enough to respond to a gesture or murmured request, but far enough not to intrude upon his personal space or block his view.
Accepting Refuse: Quickly and quietly retrieve empty cups, used bowls, or discarded waste (such as discarded quills or spoiled food) as soon as the Master sets them down, and withdraw to dispose of them.
Presenting a Stool: When visitors are present, she would often be required to quickly place a small stool or bench by the Master's side for any Free Woman who accompanies him.
Public and Social Settings
Silent Following: When accompanying the Master in public (e.g., through the marketplace or to the Council Hall), walk a prescribed distance behind him and slightly to the side, ready to carry goods or retrieve items, never walking abreast.
Handling Gifts: If the Master accepts a gift, she must step forward instantly to receive the item from his hand, ensuring the gift is handled carefully and stored safely until they return to quarters.
Attending Visitors: If the Master has guests, she must anticipate their needs for refreshment (always deferring to the Master's specific instructions for his guests), and quietly replenish the Master's own drink without drawing attention.
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