Sinister Dagger – New Administrator of Tyros
by Pixeleen Mistral on 20/06/07 at 9:43 pm
How does an assassin end up in charge of an established city basically overnight?
by Humdog, Gorean Affairs desk
Sinister Dagger – black caste assassin
Humdog: hi — i’m talking today with Sinister Dagger, a black caste assassin, member of the Black Hand, and the new Administrator of Tyros. Welcome Excellency, and thank You for coming — smiles
Sinister Dagger: Thank you for having me, it’s a pleasure to be here -smiles-
Humdog: smiles — can You tell me — how does an assassin end up in charge of an established city basically overnight?
Sinister Dagger: Well I’ve been an outlaw, a merc, a wanderer then found my true home, a caste that i belong to, the blacks, as in relations tyros Alex has been a great friend of mine so does step they both mean alot to me i wanted to keep the city ran by the “local crew” I’ve reserved some property in memory of rama, the man behind tyros who past away sadly..
Humdog: You are referring to Ramayana Yin? who died last fall?
Sinister Dagger: Yeah, That’s the man who made tyros a beautiful city.
Humdog: smiles — for those of us who don’t know — could You tell us what is a “Black” and a “merc”?
Sinister Dagger: Well black is a strict caste, we lurk in shadows we keep ourselves to just that ourselves, we do not kill unless we’re on a mark, nor are we allowed to FC or force collar slaves a merc is kind of like red caste, they can rape, torture, kill for just pure fun, where i must be paid in black gold for my services…there’s much more to a question like that, but they’re some basics.
Humdog: tell us more, please — i am curious because You compare black caste to scarlet caste — the warriors — and i wonder, with all respect, how your definition runs into the red caste’s concern with Honor…for example, do You hold to the Codes — the Aphorisms that drive warriors?
Sinister Dagger: Sorry, IN IM’s and skype does not help, Yes i try to uphold the blacks codes, i Don’t attack Freewomen, i don’t touch slaves and i never kill those whom are not marked..
Humdog: are the Black Codes different than the Scarlet Codes?
Sinister Dagger: Well in these times of how Gor is ran I’ve seen plenty of red caste kidnap and rape free women, they’re turning out more like outlaws each day -laughs-
Humdog: smiles — the problems in Gor right now are intense — particularly those revolving around the idea that a lot of sims are owned and run by women with men as sort of figureheads or mouth pieces.
Sinister Dagger: Yes, it’s funny you should mention that, was just hearing someone say the same thing, however providing each person tries to play their role that they choose to correctly with the most upright correct knowledge that they may know, then it doesn’t matter whom owns a city, it’s all about the person being the best at their role..
Humdog: well — i can see Your point, but it is distressing to go to a Gorean city and find the first girl telling the warriors what to do – laughs — tell me…
Sinister Dagger: Well in that case the men allowing IC rp to be spoken in such are weak, a slave talked to me with lack of respect i would cut them ear-to-ear and ask them to hold their tongue.
Humdog: smiles — how did you come to choose Your role?
Sinister Dagger: As an assassin? Well, OOC wise i used to stir up the blacks i used to refer to them as the pink caste assassins -laughs- i had taken down a reasonable amount being an outlaw not really understanding or taking much knowledge as i could into the roles of such that being an assassin, once learning a little more come to realise a true assassin fits my personality somewhat quite well as it does for others such as Surbus, Lykin , Vincent and Randi they’re some very great people indeed..
Humdog: nods — one of the controversies I’ve heard discussed is whether or not a woman can be an assassin — does Your caste admit females?
Sinister Dagger: Hell no, if it did i would depart in my ways, this is Gor alot of other castes are messed up, at least this one is true to it’s colors -laughs-
Humdog: there is one female assassin i believe in, i think, port kar… i could be wrong — but i think that is, or was, true.
Sinister Dagger: Well that’s news to me, the last fake black i seen i cut the dagger from his forehead and then stabbed him in the heart on the port rarir docks as the sunset..
Administrator Dagger demands respect
Humdog: wow — so you would not see a female who said she was a black caste as a true member of your group?
Sinister Dagger: No, she certainly would be no blood of mine, If she claims to be an assassin in front of me i would terminate her.
Humdog: i see
Sinister Dagger: As would any other true black caste assassin..
Humdog: nods — a few months ago, the Second Life Herald ran an interview with an admin of a city called Tancred’s Landing — the city is gone now — and in that interview the Admin alleged that the Black Hand took protection money from admins of cities or tried to get it. He had a rate sheet from a man called Merc Battery. Do You know anything about those charges of alleged extortion?
Sinister Dagger: No, isn’t that what marcs should be doing?
Humdog: i don’t know — thought you might
Sinister Dagger: my services don’t offer protection, only the promise of that whom is agreed to be marked by my elder, this is why assassins are allowed to RP kills in such as safe zones etc, we shouldn’t abuse our rights or our codes..
Humdog: by “marked” what do you mean?
Sinister Dagger: Mark, someone who’s been paid in black gold to be terminated/murdered.
Humdog: ah, good thank You.
Sinister Dagger: alot of blacks these days run sims -laughs-
Humdog: at the time of that article, it was alleged that Alexandar Vargas was paying money to the Black Hand. Does that allegation have anything to do with Your becoming an Admin?
Sinister Dagger: I’ve changed tyros somewhat downscaled into an outpost -grins-
Humdog: i see
Humdog: but the relationship that Vargas is alleged to have had with Black Hand has nothing to do with that?
Sinister Dagger: With sim lag and such i like a good LAG FREE sim to be able to have decent combat in
Humdog: that is certainly understandable
Sinister Dagger: Certainly not, he’s my blood and believe my master Assassin, my loyalties are for my blood no matter what, but that is not the reason, i know how much tyros means to alot of people and I’m friends with them all could say i’m just “nursing” it, but i’m sure i will be able to bring tyros more traffic then it has been used to seeing -smiles-
Humdog: that’s good to hear. Smiles. does the Black Hand have leaders, and if so, would You be willing to identify them? what are Your plans for Tyros in the near future?
Sinister Dagger: Well if all goes well, i shall rebuild the city of tyros, but much darker not so pretty and lag chewing, buy a sim next to tyros and turn that into Outlaws, Panthers, Pirates … well those are my goals but for now i just opened today at 9am SL time so far so good -laughs-
Humdog: smiles — is there anything else you’d like to say to readers?
Sinister Dagger: Yes a little if you don’t mind?
Humdog: yes please
Sinister Dagger: firstly i would like to ask the Gorean community to please try to stick in IC while doing so remember the role you choose to play it’s not all about the mouse click it’s what you can come up with in interesting roleplay scenarios, i would also like to thank the Second Life Herald for finding interest in me to do a little story….oh and i haven’t forgot to mention if i may a huge Thank you to the people who created Tyros for it’s opening today which are, Satine Cortes, Jamie Northport, Randi Duke and Minx Ashton …please remember goreans keep OOC in your FirstLife not Secondlife -smiles-
Humdog: thank You, Admin. i really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us today — smiles
Artemis Fate
Jun 21st, 2007
“Yes i try to uphold the blacks codes, i Don’t attack Freewomen, i don’t touch slaves and i never kill those whom are not marked..”
——————————————
—”i don’t touch slaves”—
“Well in that case the men allowing IC rp to be spoken in such are weak, a slave talked to me with lack of respect i would cut them ear-to-ear and ask them to hold their tongue.”
—”i never kill those whom aren’t marked”—
“Well that’s news to me, the last fake black i seen i cut the dagger from his forehead and then stabbed him in the heart on the port rarir docks as the sunset..”
“If she claims to be an assassin in front of me i would terminate her.”
Contradictions are fun for the whole family! All in one interview too, very impressive.
Interesting that the Black Caste is gaining dominance it seems, whenever I heard goreans talk about black caste, it was almost always followed by a lengthy discussion of how they’re “disney gor” guys who’re only interested in killing and fucking (I found that ironic then, because that’s how most of Gor seems to me)
Dusk - Chimerical Observer
Jun 21st, 2007
The overall state of RP in Second Life saddens me, but especially in the Gorean sims. I’ve spent a fair amount of time meandering about looking for quality roleplay and I really cannot find it anywhere. It seems as though gorgeous sim development has hindered most player’s ability to weave beautiful pictures with their words. While the setting may not be for everyone, there is a significant amount of RP possibilities within the scope of the Gorean setting.
Worse though is the absolute lack of OOC/IC distinction that runs rampant – again, it seems to be the worst in the Gorean sims. I find it especially ironic that Sinister Dagger reminds goreans (though he might as well have said ‘roleplayers’) to keep “OOC in [their] FirstLife, not SecondLife”, and yet commits what many would consider one of the cardinal sins of a roleplayer – admits to doing things out-of-character to illicit an in-character response, some would even argue that refering to his character as “I” in what appears to be a strictly out-of-character context is just as bad, though I can forgive that. In most online roleplaying communities, attempting to manipulate IC play through OOC actions would be considered meta-gaming. Unfortunately Gor has no -real- predefined rules, just this abstract concept of setting, webpages and notecards floating around. If Gor were a game like Vampire: the Requiem, Changeling: the Dreaming, Dungeons and Dragons or RIFTS, you wouldn’t run into these kinds of things as much. Compare the overwhelmingly crappy free-form roleplay on IRC servers such as DALnet to say WhiteWolf’s official site, or any play-space specifically dedicated to a game with written rules.
Gor walks this weird line where some people are roleplayers and others claim to be life-stylers. Unfortunately the two do not function well together and make for the awful mess that is the state of Gor. What the Gor community in SL REALLY needs to do is decide if it is a roleplaying community or a lifestyle community. The two cannot mutually coexist as it creates problems for both groups – you have the lifestylers that mix in-character and out of character statements (ie: “Master may this girl go afk her phone is ringing”), and then the roleplayers who are seen as disrespectful by lifestylers when they deal with the same situation. (ie: “*Generic Slavegirl’s eyes glaze over temporarily – the girl clearly enraptured with some idle daydream. [[afk a sec, phone]]”)
If the Gor community came together and decided if they were a RP or Lifestyle community it would resolve the (non)issue of women owning sims. It honestly does not matter WHO pays the bills because there should be a distinction between REALITY and online, even more so between reality and in-character interaction. Even if Linda Smith is playing the role of a kajira and she is the person who PAYS FOR THE SIM she should be able to say to someone OOCly “Hey, I hear you are being a class A jerk, breaking established rules and I’m putting you on notice – one more warning and it’s a week ban,” without being harassed simply because she PLAYS a kajira.
If Gor is to be a viable roleplay community Gor needs to consolidate, come together in ONE collection of sims with continuity that stretches across all of them. As it stands, the actions in one area of Gor don’t neccessarily invoke consequences across the board and the rules aren’t exactly the same in all places. Easy to access out-of-character areas (skyboxes or something) need to be set up so that people can be out of character without disrupting in-character play, as well as an understanding that IC is simply that IC – roleplay is supposed to be fun, and if you aren’t having fun you should speak up about it “[[hey this is a little graphic for me]]”, but not in a manner where one is trying to avoid the consequences of IN CHARACTER actions “[[I know my character was a jerk but I don't want him to get killed!! you cant do this!!]]”
I will admit that I’ve gotten away with a lot of ‘non-standard’ RP in the Gorean community, playing what essentially amounted to an anthropologically-inclined Imaginary Friend of sorts – though you would never have known by speaking to her that anything was outside of normal. For a while I played a well-desired (“respected”?) kajira. From both perspectives I have seen that there is potential in the community, it just needs to be cultivated. A lot of quality roleplayers are curious, but quickly driven off by the current problems with Gor.
Chav
Jun 21st, 2007
Ah, Gor. Luddite misogynists on a fascism kick really do help make SL a friendly and fun place to be.
The part about not allowing female assassins makes me wonder how many “male” Goreans are going to be in trouble when voice arrives in the main client…
Nacon
Jun 21st, 2007
“If she claims to be an assassin in front of me i would terminate her.”
Wow, nice idiotic statement you have there. The question is… why would a assassin bother telling another assassin about it? Idiot, they don’t… they’ll let you know by killing you first. Therefore… if someone did claims to be a assassin… which would be a lie and you’re already making your first mistakes by killing a lying idiot.
“and i never kill those whom are not marked..”
Hahaha. Freaking Goreans, they can’t keep things straight.
Good luck figuring out who is your assassin before they get to you.
VIKINGBEZERKER Bobak
Jun 21st, 2007
do i detect a bit of bitterness there or is it pure stupidity?
Been there, done that
Jun 21st, 2007
Dusk said: “If the Gor community came together and decided if they were a RP or Lifestyle community it would resolve the (non)issue of women owning sims.”
I don’t think it’s a RP/lifestyle issue. It’s an issue of misogyny that is allowed to fester unchecked and is even encouraged by the environment. And you could smell it all over this interview.
Hel Pierterson
Jun 21st, 2007
I always find funny little gor men amusing.
*feels Sinister Dagger’s ass.. puts her hand on her strap on
Anonymous
Jun 21st, 2007
Patriotic Nígras – Wrecking SL and traumatizing weeaboos and furries since ’06.
Jonas Pierterson
Jun 21st, 2007
When I ran a Gor room on MSN (I do not play Gor on SL) while the area was being ‘set up’ it was safezones- and I applied it to all castes, even assassins.
When it became Sanctioned (each kill/capture was reviewed), assassins and killers had to meet certain requirements such as rp getting in, show knowledge of rooms and architecture. Scouting WAS involved. Of course at that point, while they could kill others.. they could be killed too.
I didn’t get the ‘can kill in safe zone’ and calle dit for the BS it was. No kill means no kill.
The only other alternative was making it safe zone, but let Assassins kill, and let assassins BE killed.
And for the record, yes, the home was around a while. about 6 – 9 months.
Chav
Jun 21st, 2007
>I don’t think it’s a RP/lifestyle issue. It’s an issue of misogyny that is allowed to fester unchecked and is even encouraged by the environment.
Yes, women owning sims being an issue? People are upset about the RL gender of the person that pays the bills? That’s bordering on the surreal.
Jessica Holyoke
Jun 21st, 2007
Without reiterating previous gorean comments, if Gor is so misogynist, why are there gay Goreans? Plus, I always wondered about “Disney Gor.” It seems counterintuitive that the killers and the fornicators are the “Disney” people.
I agree completely with Dusk, that there is a difference that needs to be settled between those who enjoy the roleplay and those who meld the real world and second life as a means of experience.
Been There, Done That
Jun 21st, 2007
“Without reiterating previous gorean comments, if Gor is so misogynist, why are there gay Goreans?”
I spend six months playing in Gor and never heard homosexuality or lesbianism referenced except as a way to ridicule or demean another. The admin of my city was even vehemently against girl-on-girl action, saying that such stuff couldn’t be allowed in Gor. If there are gay Goreans, I never saw a one of them.
Artemis Fate
Jun 21st, 2007
“Without reiterating previous gorean comments, if Gor is so misogynist, why are there gay Goreans? ”
Actually, i’ve talked to a few gay goreans, and they say they’re often kicked out of sims or treated poorly for being gay. In the more strict lifestyle ones, any sort of male slave is heavily looked down upon, especially gay ones.
But it depends on where you look, some are more free (and tend to be called disney gor by the others) and others are more strict, male master, female slave only types.
whateva
Jun 21st, 2007
“and in that interview the Admin alleged that the Black Hand took protection money from admins of cities or tried to get it.”
some things never change I see….and people wonder why mafia RP went to shit?
Brent Recreant
Jun 23rd, 2007
I’ve never heard of Mafia RP in SL. TSO, yes, in TSO how could you not? But never in Second Life have I heard of a Mafia.
Brent Recreant
Jun 23rd, 2007
Also if I may add, the Quality of Roleplay on the internet has gone to shit since the 90′s. People say the more advanced graphics get, the more RP goes to waste.
I can also understand how Gorean’s = Nazi’s.
William
Jun 23rd, 2007
City of Tyros corrections to this interview:
Ramayana Yin was the first administrator of this city. The roleplay was basically kept to a minimum after his death. The following administrator Alexandar Vargas was the one who finished the build on that city with the help of loki lusso, and many other. Alexandar vargas was administrator of that city up until real life changes gave mr. dagger the opportunity to become Admin. So true credit for the memories of that city go to both Ramayana yin and Alexandar vargas.
Proud citizen of the OLD Tyros and admin Alexandar Vargas who picked up the city after Rama’s death.
not lewis
Jun 25th, 2007
Shitty looking AV. Is that stupid looking tatt suppose to be cool or something?
Laos
Jul 5th, 2007
Chav, you do know the black caste cannot have females, and the black caste have two killing options
1. kill marked people for black gold
2. kill traitors of the caste/ not really caste members but acclaim to be (Likewise, female assassins)
Alice
Aug 12th, 2007
Not every gorean sim out there is about male dominance or anti-gay. And not every gor sim is about killing and ‘furring’.
Indeed, it is hard to maintain good RP standards without real rules set in advance. And in open-ended roleplay, you cannot make rules for everything in any case. Roleplaying is not that easy, and doing it in a conflict-setting without an arbitrator around all the time is really hard. Many of those who do try to administer roleplaying are allowing their in character part to influence their decisions. For example, I am admin on a gorean sim but also I play the part of chieftess of a panther tribe there. It is harder for me to tell a ‘sister’ of my tribe she broke a rule than it is for me to tell that to an outlaw that just came to enslave us. Most admins are also leaders of a group or city. And many do not even bother trying to be fair. And quite a few even seem to take pleasure in being unfair.
I do not think the roleplay/life-style divide is still the main thing dividing Gor in SL. It was perhaps a year ago, but now most of the stricter life-stylers have shielded themselves off and do not bother much with the roleplayers and there many sims. In fact, the roleplayer environment has has changed considerably. What would once have been called ‘disney’ is now common, such as ‘red caste’ warriors dressing in all black and female mercenaries all over. Because those that actually read the books that the environment is based on often have withdrawn from the main RP sims, people have to make things up as they go. As a result, gor has gotten a lot less ‘fascist’ and things are common practise now that would have met with instant disapproval a year ago.
That does not mean that less close adherence to the books also leads to a more open and tolerant roleplaying environment. Even more so than previously, Gor has become a place of conflicts between groups and individuals. Even the attempts by sim owners that would like to get together to improve the situation seem to founder on mistrust. Also, the latest ‘political devide in Gor’ seems to center around combat meters and weapons, mostly having to do with the ‘single combat meter for all gor’ and the ‘new weapon standard’ ideas that one texan came up with.
Still, there is good, interesting, exciting and funny roleplaying to be had in Gor. It is clearly the largest roleplaying ‘scene’ in SL measured in the numbers of sims devoted to it and it is still a fairly consistent and simple world with a lot of elements of conflict and development which make it very suitable for roleplaying. With the bad, there is good and vice versa. I suppose the smart roleplayer skirts the arguments, the politics and the discussions about ‘validity’ of roleplay and seeks out the good in all of it.
Alice
Aug 12th, 2007
Not every gorean sim out there is about male dominance or anti-gay. And not every gor sim is about killing and ‘furring’.
Indeed, it is hard to maintain good RP standards without real rules set in advance. And in open-ended roleplay, you cannot make rules for everything in any case. Roleplaying is not that easy, and doing it in a conflict-setting without an arbitrator around all the time is really hard. Many of those who do try to administer roleplaying are allowing their in character part to influence their decisions. For example, I am admin on a gorean sim but also I play the part of chieftess of a panther tribe there. It is harder for me to tell a ‘sister’ of my tribe she broke a rule than it is for me to tell that to an outlaw that just came to enslave us. Most admins are also leaders of a group or city. And many do not even bother trying to be fair. And quite a few even seem to take pleasure in being unfair.
I do not think the roleplay/life-style divide is still the main thing dividing Gor in SL. It was perhaps a year ago, but now most of the stricter life-stylers have shielded themselves off and do not bother much with the roleplayers and there many sims. In fact, the roleplayer environment has has changed considerably. What would once have been called ‘disney’ is now common, such as ‘red caste’ warriors dressing in all black and female mercenaries all over. Because those that actually read the books that the environment is based on often have withdrawn from the main RP sims, people have to make things up as they go. As a result, gor has gotten a lot less ‘fascist’ and things are common practise now that would have met with instant disapproval a year ago.
That does not mean that less close adherence to the books also leads to a more open and tolerant roleplaying environment. Even more so than previously, Gor has become a place of conflicts between groups and individuals. Even the attempts by sim owners that would like to get together to improve the situation seem to founder on mistrust. Also, the latest ‘political devide in Gor’ seems to center around combat meters and weapons, mostly having to do with the ‘single combat meter for all gor’ and the ‘new weapon standard’ ideas that one texan came up with.
Still, there is good, interesting, exciting and funny roleplaying to be had in Gor. It is clearly the largest roleplaying ‘scene’ in SL measured in the numbers of sims devoted to it and it is still a fairly consistent and simple world with a lot of elements of conflict and development which make it very suitable for roleplaying. With the bad, there is good and vice versa. I suppose the smart roleplayer skirts the arguments, the politics and the discussions about ‘validity’ of roleplay and seeks out the good in all of it.