With pad and pen in hand, mandi wiggles close to interview the handsome Master. This girl had the wonderful privilege of interviewing Master Atshn`Wnd this month. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to meet him, he can be found in #Crooked_Tarn on austnet.

Master Atshn`Wnd was born in Montreal, Canada in 1971, where he still lives today. He proudly states, "The province Quebec has a small population of some 7 million people where about 5 million French Canadians are still thriving in the north American continent containing close to 400 million English speaking folks." Although currently he is what he calls a "computer handy man" for a marketing research firm, he begins a new position in June as a webmaster taking care of six web sites and 3000 web pages. Since art has always been a major part of his life, he is looking forward to using his talent to make a living with graphic design.

Master Atshn`Wnd has been on IRC Gor for about 4 years now. When asked how he found gor, he said, "Like many others I suppose, stumbling into some disneygor channel close to 4 years ago. Amidst all the nonsense going on in the place I saw something that caught my attention and decided to learn about it and then to learn more about myself in the process." A girl asks, "In your opinion, what does it mean to be Gorean?" Master Atshn`Wnd answers, "Partly it is when someone decides to live in honesty, integrity and honor and take them for what they are and not fickle little concepts that we shrug off as we would a bad cold, or something to overuse and abuse to the point of making meaningless. Honor does not come with a three way flicker switch (on, off and standby) and is not something that we can put on the backburner while facing any kind of issues and situations. These are principles that one lives by, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, one facet of a higher set of standards one decides to live by no matter what. To be Gorean is to know whom you are and what you want, to take control of your life no matter what comes your way. To live your life for yourself and to strive to be self sufficient in many different ways. To be honest towards others and foremost towards yourself. To lead your own life rather than be directed as one individual in the flock of sheep that is today's society. I know I am not covering most of it but to me these things are part of what makes someone Gorean."

Unable to keep from smiling at his previous answer, mandi then asks, "Are you Gorean, Master, and if so, how long have you considered yourself to be Gorean?" Master Atshn`Wnd answers, "That's another interesting question, if you ask others about this, some may say I am, others will tell you I am not. But what others believe is not much of a concern to me as I do not look for or need anybody else's approval or benediction. I came to Gor as just another clueless person like many others and took the time to learn and grow. When exactly within the past 4 years did I become Gorean, or was I Gorean from day 1 without having a word for it I cannot say, but yes I do think of myself as a Gorean man no matter what others may think of me."

When asked what he seeks from Gor both online and offline, he says, "Online Gor is like a prelude to me, a place where one may learn and grow to a certain extent but never more than the first step into one's learning or growing path. It is a place where you can easily meet other likeminded persons and discuss your beliefs and opinions. But the ultimate goal to me is to take what I have with a few people online and bring it all offline. One can never truly own a slave totally in an online relationship. Friendships may be forged online, but they will be strengthened a lot more once brought offline. Online is but a first step into bringing Gor to your life. No matter how hard some will debate this, online is no more no less than that, a medium by which to learn and exchange with others on beliefs you live your life by. For any kind of relationship to survive or actually grow in deep and meaningful manner it has to eventually be brought into one's life, the real life, out there, the one you live 24/7 offline."

This girl asks, "How does this lifestyle affect your offline?" Master Atshn`Wnd smiles and says, "What you see online when talking to me is what you get no matter where. I take as much offline as I take online. Change the name to André instead of Atshn`Wnd, change blackwine to coffee, mead to Belgian beer and there is really no difference between the two. I am who I am, whether it be bad or good, and this is what you get when you meet me online or offline and there is no difference in that case." Since he has met a few people from IRC Gor offline, mandi asks if they met up to his expectations. He answers, "Some did measure up to my expectations, some did not. With a few I actually had some expectations, others I had none. When someone gets to meet friends with whom you have been discussing online and on the phone for years, I really do not think there would be such an issue as them not measuring up to your expectations. As far as meeting slaves, then the expectations tend to come in a bit more, mainly if you are actually considering getting into some kind of relationship with the woman. Some people, by falsely portraying themselves either physically or in the way they think, make themselves not measuring up to your expectations as they were never what you thought they made you think to begin with."

Smiling softly, mandi wiggles even closer to him and asks, "What qualities are you looking for in a slave, Master?" He answers, "Age and looks may come in as aspects of what may make a girl truly interesting to me. By this I mean, I have to feel some kind of physical attraction to the woman. Does she have to be a top-model to be pleasing to me, no, but nonetheless she has to be beautiful to me. Like they say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. But beauty also comes from within just as much as it comes from the outside, no matter how pretty a woman may be she might still very well be unattractive to me, if all she has is an esthetic and static kind of beauty. A drone no matter how beautiful is nothing more than a drone in the end." Then mandi asks, "What do you find very undesirable in a slave, Master?" Master Atshn`Wnd states, "To answer both what makes a woman desirable and undesirable to me at the same time, I will say that honesty is crucial to me, the presence or lack of honesty in a woman will make her either very attractive or very undesirable to me. I do not waste my time very long on someone who decides to breach my trust. I turn the page on people very easily when it comes to honesty and I expect others to be the same way. Therefore I am as honest as one can be at all time. Honesty may make someone seem brash or inconsiderate at times, but I would rather be seen by some as a hard headed and opinionated man than to be seen as a liar."

Being asked what he considers to be the most difficult aspect of the medium, he answers, "What I find most difficult about this medium is the lack of non-verbal communication. Words can convey much, but at the same time they can convey only so much. There is a lot that may be communicated without exchanging any words and this lack is more often than not quite frustrating to me online."

Master Atshn`Wnd’s favorite books are Nomads and Savages. He says, "[Both books] delve more than some of the other books in the relationships of men between themselves while giving you some insight of other cultures found on Gor. There is only so much that can interest me about Ar the city after all." When asked if he has a favorite quote, he answers, "I do have a favorite quote, one I try to live my life by but it is not from Norman’s books. It is an old Chinese proverb." "The key to immortality is to live a life worth remembering."

This girl tucks her pen behind her ear and closes the interview on a thoughtful note. mandi wants to thank Master Atshn`Wnd for allowing her to interview him. This girl wishes everyone a wonderful day.