The Coronation of Prince Urdash

In ancient Canaan, the worship of Ashtarte, the goddess of 
fertility, involved ritual male prostitution involving eunuch 
priests. This story describes the coronation of a prince and his 
brother's sacrifice.

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The Coronation of Prince Urdash



Prince Urdash squatted naked, knees apart, shivering in the bright 
coolness of the early morning sun. He had bathed and been anointed 
with the fragrant oil of Maroht reserved for high occasions. His 
long black hair hung straight and wet, framing his tan, handsomely 
molded face whose habitual expression, an attractive mixture of 
dreamy innocence and sensuality, made everyone look upon him with 
pleasure. I have served and loved Urdash for most of his nineteen
years, and it was my great honor that it was my semen that he 
received during the nurturing, my semen that had contributed to his 
manliness, hardening his pods and thickening his own juices. 

Today his fertility would undergo the Test of the Succession, as 
three days before, his father, Tysis Kargh, Lord of Canaan, took his 
last breath and left his people. I was confident that my
beautiful lord would pass the noon testing, but the danger of the 
moment weighed heavily on us both. We would prepare calmly, under 
heavy guard and taking every conceivable precaution.

The three days of interregnum are always highly dangerous. There are 
always, of course, some who want the succession to pass to someone 
other than the heir. If there is but one son and he doesn't live to 
ascend the throne or fails the fertility requirement, the dynasty 
ends and a new one is established. The chances, though, that an 
outsider could bring harm to an heir are remote, given the way royal 
princes are guarded. And, if there is more than one prince, the odds
are great that even if one is assassinated or rendered infertile, 
the dynasty will survive. And the punishment for such treachery is 
so severe as to discourage any but the most desperate or deranged. 
However, it is far more dangerous for the heir apparent if there is 
more than one son, since only the one who is enthroned keeps his 
pods. As long as the khan lives, all sons are protected from each 
other by the simple, implacable rule that if one dies, the others 
are slain, and if one suffers injury to his manhood, the others 
suffer the same, unless it can be proved that the harm was either 
the result of an accident or the work of someone outside of the 
ruling family. From the time he is born, there is always the danger 
of a prince being made infertile through some subtly administered 
poison, but we are constantly on guard, and furthermore the
princes eat and drink from the same vessels. 

It is the youngest capable of producing seed who stands first in the 
line of succession. If there is but one prince and he is too young 
to produce, a regent is appointed to rule until he reaches his 
thirteenth year or until the priests determine that he is ready for 
the test.
 
The princes are isolated from outsiders and unable to inflict harm 
on one another as long as the rule is stable. But the interregnum is 
that desperate time when the only chance the elder son or sons have 
of saving their sex is to ascend the throne themselves, since the 
throne affords total protection while all brothers of the new khan 
are ceremonially made into eunuchs and inducted into the priesthood 
for the Goddess Astarte. Of course, that is a very great honor, but 
not one that is often sought by princes or members of the nobility. 
For the older son to be spared that fate, the heir must either die 
or be incapable of passing the noon test, either naturally or by 
other means.

Urdash's older brother, Chavash, is crafty, rather indolent, always 
using slave girls and boys for pleasure with the edge of desperation 
that comes with knowing one's seed-spending days may be numbered. He 
would do whatever it took to prolong them, and grew ever more 
concerned over his father's health. Tysis Kargh's slow decline drove 
Chavash to distraction. He really began to panic when the training 
for the priesthood began the sure sign that the king's end was
soon anticipated. He would rather worship Astarte by spending seed 
than receiving it in his anus, and memorizing the elaborate rituals 
of the fertility rites required more concentration than he could 
manage under the pressure. 

Our precautions were thorough. Every object or substance with which 
Urdash would come into contact had to be meticulously examined or 
tested. This included the anointments, any food or water he ingests, 
clothing, even the orb and its accoutrements. Furthermore, Urdash's 
sleep had to be supervised so that an over-exciting dream would not 
bring about a night-loss that could weaken him. An heir trains for 
the test by at least daily stimulation of his reproductive organs,
usually to the point of discharge, and whenever possible the semen 
is collected and made into a drink with water and a bit of honey so 
that as little as possible is lost. The frequent discharges
increase the volume of semen the pods produce and the force with 
which it is spilled. However, during the interregnum, the heir 
abstains from discharge so that a good volume will issue at the
testing.

The orb is the most dazzlingly exquisite object in the royal 
regalia, encrusted with many fine jewels. It symbolizes the power 
and glory of the khanate and is worn at coronation and other
high occasions. It is I who has the honor of decorating my lord with 
this proudest of ornaments. So, as Urdash squatted and shivered, I 
reached from behind and gently grasped his full and vital pods, 
pulling them down and stretching his bag, ever so carefully, for the 
great concern is that touch will overstimulate and cause a spill. 
With the other hand I passed the leather under-strap tightly around 
the upper part of the bag above the pods. This collar must be tight, 
but not so much so that it will inhibit the passage of semen out of 
the pods. Urdash's shaft began to stiffen, so we paused for a few 
minutes of prayer before continuing. The strap is thicker at the 
bottom edge, with a concave band around the middle. Around this I 
fixed the two pieces that form the upper part of the orb, fastening 
them together with a leather cord tied around the closure to make
a heavy golden collar covering the upper half of his pods, the 
bottom edge of the collar being fashioned to fit over the lip of the 
bottom bowl so that the three pieces could be secured together
with a second cord fastened around the bottom edge of the collar. 
Once the pods were fully encased in the orb, its weight pulled down 
on them so that Urdash would have to move with care to keep it from 
bouncing against his thighs. Before the ceremony, he could hold onto 
the orb to keep the weight off his pods, but during the actual 
coronation he could not touch the orb and had to move in such a way 
that its motion was kept to a minimum.

Chavash, in different quarters was also being similarly prepared, 
his pods enclosed in an orb as magnificent as Urdash's. The attempts 
to assassinate Urdash had never come close to success, and spies 
left no doubt that Urdash was potent. Chavash had little hope that 
his brother would fail. Still, he refused to anesthetize his organs. 
If Urdash failed to produce abundant seed and the boy's orb (with 
its contents) was pruned from his loins, Chavash must be ready to 
pass the test or suffer the same fate.

As the hour drew near, you could hear the excited murmuring of the 
huge crowd assembling in the Great Courtyard facing the Temple of 
Ashtarte. Each person had brought a small symbolic grain offering to 
the Goddess and prayed that Urdash's reign would mark an era of 
bountiful harvests and many children. The alter on which the grain 
was being burnt was attended by the six priests who anticipated at 
least one addition to their ranks that day. 

Urdash began to show signs that the pressure was getting to him. The 
temptation to stimulate his limp shaft to make sure it would harden 
was more than he could resist, and I had to remind him of the danger 
of causing a loss - it would take little to trigger the release of 
five day's buildup of fluid. Finally the escort arrived, and Urdash 
took a long breath, rose and slowly walked down the hallway to meet 
his brother. Neither spoke nor looked upon the other. Together, at 
the sound of a gong after which the crowd grew silent, they stepped 
through the portal into the heat of the noontime.

From the crowd one saw two beautiful men, naked but for the gleaming 
gold and jewel-encrusted balls nestled before their thighs. They 
stood facing the throng while two attendants brought forth the 
bowls, one shallow and golden for catching the seed, the other deep 
and filled with water.

The noon ceremony is brief and silent. The young son positions 
himself before the shallow bowl, dons the hare-fur glove (such as 
the priests use during the initiation of the newly-ripened boys
at First Seed Ceremony) and begins the test by rubbing his shaft. 
Once erect, he pauses to display his manliness, then works it to the 
release. It took Urdash little time to stiffen and even less to 
begin the release. It was a magnificent one, forceful and thick, at 
least ten spurts and a shower of smaller drops splattering the bowl 
before the emission subsided to a slow drool. An attendant gave 
Urdash a towel while the elders examined the bowl. Their spokesman 
announced "It is enough." - at which the crowd burst into cheers. At 
that instant, Chavash, standing over the deeper bowl, legs apart, 
was unmanned with one quick slice of the chief priest's gelding
knife, the orb dropping with a splash into the bowl of water. He 
choked back a scream, then with shaking hands accepted a towel from 
an attendant and pressed it to his bleeding crotch. The crowd 
immediately fell silent. Chavash, with the self-control the occasion 
demanded, retrieved his orb from the bowl, draining the bloody water 
from it and formally presented it to Urdash with the words "My pods" 
and was then escorted away to be attended to by the physicians. It
was his moment of glory, and the crowd roared its approval and 
admiration. He was now a holy man and his courage would be 
celebrated in song and not forgotten.

The solemn conclusion of the rite moved us all. Now robed in kingly 
splendor, Urdash emptied the contents of Chavash's orb into the 
golden bowl holding his own seed and with proud dignity advanced to 
the Great Altar of Ashtarte and anointed it with fluid and flesh - 
the vital manliness of a generation of royalty. Finally, to the 
sound of rams' horns and cymbals he stepped before the High Priest 
Cephus who placed upon his head the Azurite Crown. Thus the reign of 
King Urdash Kargh, Lord of Canaan and the Seven Cities, began 
auspiciously. Surely Ashtarte will look upon the coronation with 
favor and bestow bountiful harvests throughout a long and peaceful 
reign.