Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Cara from the GU to discuss Cara’s newly opened group: Counter Earth Animal Planet. I was delighted to listen to her talk about how much work she put into this project and to also hear her express how much she simply wished to provide information to the community in effort to help others gain knowledge. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did!
LeorahMaliha: Cara, please tell the readers what is the CEAP?
CaraClair: CEAP stands for Counter Earth Animal Planet. It is basically a full collection of the book mentioned animals on Gor that any number of characters may come across in one manner or another. With so many web sites out there with bits and fragments, it made it difficult for people in one area to know what might be available in another area.....and so CEAP was born
LeorahMaliha: *smiles* ... so, how did you come to the conclusion that there needed to be more information on the animals of Gor?
CaraClair: It actually happened in a role play we had in Jove....during that story line Kei played a wild sleen that attacked a few characters that are on the outskirts of the city. We realized that we knew basic info, but lacked behavior, sixe, attack methods and so on. We spent a little time gathering that and I talked with Dareios at length. I felt one group where EVERYTHING was available would be a super resource...not just for Jove, but for any city to look into and hopefully make their personal role plays much more entertaining and guide them in factual information verses the common onlineisms we run across
CaraClair: There is more to that really. Two years ago I was researching things for the caste I play..... I found so many things were wrong and there was no real good place to get what I needed. So I made JPG.
CaraClair: when we played the sleen attacking us...it made sense to make CEAP for people to use....I figure if I have issues after 7 years of being in Gor...I can imagine others do as well
DareiosVarro: yeah, none of us could remember enough about the sleen without doing some research during and between sessions
LeorahMaliha: I know very little about the animals of Gor. So for me personally, I am thrilled to have that group available.
LeorahMaliha: I have looked through the group and the topics. It is quite obvious that you took a lot of time to put together the information that you found. How long did that take you?
CaraClair: In all it was about 4 months of work....I spent a little time working with Dareios on how to categorize things, what would be most helpful, what would we need to know to make RP interesting. With that, Dareios made a template for me to use and it was a matter of finding time to collect the 1000 pages of notes, condensing them, verifying quotes and using Wikipedia or an encyclopedia to give us enough information to make the page or thread useful.
LeorahMaliha: oh wow.. 1000 pages?!
CaraClair: Well think about it!.....with all the things on the web that are wrong or mis-quoted, not to mention Norman changing his mind...it was a lot of stuff
DareiosVarro: seriously, Lele... she messaged me every so often to vent about how stupid sleens or tharlarions were, telling me she had 65 pages of notes on just that topic and had no idea how to order it
CaraClair: OMG....Tharlarions were the WORST!
DareiosVarro: "sleen" as an entry ended up having to be split into 7 parts because there were so many quotes
CaraClair: at least Norman was consistent with those....can’t say he did the same when inventing Tharlarions
LeorahMaliha: that’s very interesting.
LeorahMaliha: It’s my understanding that you found 300 different types of animals? Is that correct?
CaraClair: I found 298....so 300 is right on the money there. And look at other groups. They have 25 or 50 and few things that you wonder where they even found it....like mamba....it is NOT a snake. I get that we have Mamba's on earth, but to a Gorean it is the nickname of the tharlarion. It becomes so difficult to simply find what you want and when you need it. Now, with CEAP.....anyone in any place can locate an animal relevant to where ever they are and have enough basic info to inject some serious fun stuff in the role play
LeorahMaliha: nice. So, it sounds like you really dug deep into references and the books to find the facts.
CaraClair: Oh my gosh.....those 33 books were turned upside down and then some. Yet every single quote I personally verified was there and is true to what we role play. For example...a saru. It is a slave girls name, but if you read further it is also a breed of a monkey. I would have never realized that had I not had all the books available to comb through. I wanted something anyone could use at anytime....a tool. I hope that is how others see it and sure the group
DareiosVarro: There are 310 individual animal entries on CEAP. Some animals have more posts (like sleen that has 7). Others (a few) are listed under two names, meaning each name has its own entry though it is (likely) the same animal.
LeorahMaliha: Is there anything else you want the Gorean community to know about the group?
CaraClair: To the entire community, I think it is important to say that while we might not all get along, we do share a love for role playing in Gor. It does me no good to keep information to myself. Dareios and I were not always friends, but he taught me to rise above and share knowledge. In doing that we all become better people. This group, as well as others I hope to share, is just one small way I can give back to the community...be it good bad or indifferent.
NOTE: Through further conversation, Cara expressed that the goal in creating CEAP is to bring complete and correct information to the entire community without bias.
I look forward to seeing what other projects the GU has in store for us! On a personal note, I cannot express enough how excited I am about the CEAP- as I know for myself, I will find it to be very beneficial. If you are interested in finding out more about the animals of Gor, visit the CEAP group HERE If you would like to stay up to date on the new projects and groups of the GU, check out their group page HERE.