The Clerk: Gorean Administrative and Record-Keeping Official

 In Gorean society, a Clerk is a ubiquitous and essential administrative official, forming a foundational part of the Scribe Caste. They are primarily responsible for meticulous record-keeping, processing documents, and supporting the operations of various civic and commercial functions.

I. Position and Affiliation

1. Scribe Caste Member: Clerks are explicitly identified as a branch or division within the Scribe Caste, alongside Scholars, Record Keepers, Teachers, Historians, and Accountants. This signifies their connection to knowledge, literacy, and administrative discipline.

2. Support Role: They serve as direct support to higher authorities like praetors' officers (e.g., a "court's clerk" below the praetor's officer) or other officials, administrators, and dignitaries in various departments (e.g., Commerce Court clerks).

3. Low to Mid-Level Rank: While essential, they appear to occupy a lower-to-mid rank within the Scribe Caste hierarchy. Warriors may even consider reading more appropriate for "record keepers, tradesmen, clerks, and such," suggesting a less esteemed, but vital, function.

4. Appearance: As members of the Scribe Caste, they would typically wear blue robes.

II. Key Responsibilities and Functions

1. Record-Keeping and Documentation:

   • Primary Duty: Their core function involves writing down expenses, making notations on records, and processing papers. This includes legal documents, official city documents, and commercial papers (e.g., verifying identities, recording fingerprints, checking identity of individuals, checking documents against pre-existing data).

   • Central to Legal Processes: They are crucial in legal proceedings, confirming identities (e.g., the "determination" of a prisoner's identity), managing evidence, and ensuring proper documentation for captures, sentencings, and transfers of ownership. They handle records related to "ransom capture" cases.

   • Formalities: They facilitate the formal processes of the court, such as assisting those being questioned or examined.

2. Administrative Support:

   • Supporting Officials: Clerks directly assist high-ranking officials (like praetors and administrators) by handling documents, confirming details, and managing logistical aspects of their work.

   • Disbursement/Collection: They may be involved in financial administration, such as handling jewels and pearls taken from a slave (presumably for state coffers or distribution).

   • Resource Management: They possess information regarding goods and schedules (e.g., "rich cargoes and secret schedulings" known to clerks in a shipping context).

3. Customer Service (Limited): In some contexts, like commissaries or warehouses, they might interact directly with citizens or other groups, managing goods or supplies (e.g., using "marking sticks"). At public events (like lotteries in a theater), they might call out numbers.

III. Interaction with Slaves

1. Authority Over Slaves: Clerks, despite their mid-level rank, hold authority over slaves. They can give orders (e.g., "Why did you delay her?"), interrogate them, and are involved in enforcing slave regulations (e.g., "Have you permission to speak, Girl?").

2. Enforcing Slave Laws: They play a direct role in enforcing brutal slave laws, such as disciplining slaves for defiance (e.g., hitting a slave or ordering a whip), or denying them clothing. They communicate the harsh reality of a slave's legal status.

3. Dehumanization: Clerks, like other Goreans, view slaves as property, even confiscating state-furnished adornments from newly enslaved individuals.

IV. Challenges and Misconduct

1. Vulnerability to Corruption: Like any official with access to funds or records, a clerk might be susceptible to "peculations" (theft or embezzlement), implying that dishonesty can occur even at this level of bureaucracy.

In conclusion, the Gorean Clerk is a vital, pervasive, and often unseen cog in the machinery of Gorean cities. They are the diligent administrators and meticulous record-keepers who ensure the day-to-day functioning of law, commerce, and city management, directly supporting higher authorities and enforcing the rigid social order.

- Kati Evans