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The weapons pages info was received and written by cara{SIN}
AXES
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Battle Axe (Torvaldslander) |
This weapon is described as a single-bladed
axe of hardened iron, with a blade of anywhere from 8 to 14 inches in
width. It is mounted on a thick wooden handle and also usually has a
wrist thong attached to the end the handle, which enables it to be more
easily retained during combat. Used in conjunction with a round
iron-bound shield of wood and hardened leather.
Book 8 Marauders of Gor |
| Battle Axe (Kurii) | A huge axe wielded by the members of the
Kurii race who have become native to Gor. It has a four inch thick round
handle of green needlewood, approximately eight feet in length, and is
equipped with a fixed double-bladed iron axe head, the blade of which is
over two feet wide, and razor sharp. It is typically used in conjunction
with a wide round iron shield some four feet in diameter
Book 8 Marauders of Gor
|
| Great Axe (Torvaldslander) | This weapon is similar in most respects to
the Torvaldslander Battle Axe, except it is much larger, with a handle
up to four feet in length. The axe blade is also much larger, and this
weapon is used two-handed, without the benefit of a shield of any sort.
Occasionally such axes will be double-headed, though that adds
considerably to the weight of the weapon.
Book 8 Marauders of Gor |
| Tomahawk (War Hatchet) | This weapon consists of a shaped wooden
handle up to two feet in length, capped with a narrow hatchet-type blade
comprised either of sharpened metal, shaped stone or obsidian glass.
Often carved with ceremonial inscriptions, it is a common war-arm in use
by the Red Savages of the vast Grasslands located to the northwest of
the civilized city states of Gor. Can be used as a hand weapon, often in
conjunction with a shield of dried rawhide over a wood frame, or thrown
as a missle weapon.
Book 17 Savages of Gor |
BLUDGEONING WEAPONS
| War Club (Red savages) | A carved, shaped club of wood or bone, often
mounted with a stone or metal head of some sort. This weapon is probably
approximately two to three feet in length
Book 18, Blood Brothers of Gor |
MISSLE WEAPONS
| Quiva | A balanced saddle knife, usually part of a
set of seven such weapons. It consists of a narrow double-edged blade of
between 9 and 12 inches in length mounted on a shaped handle of wood,
bone, or horn. It is honed to razor sharpness, and its blade tapers to a
needle point. Designed for use primarily as a missile weapon, the quiva
is also perfectly functional as a hand weapon and general utility knife.
It is mostly used by the nomadic Wagon Peoples of the southern
hemisphere, who will carry matched sets of seven in special sheaths
attached to their kaiila saddles. The best examples of these weapon are
produced in the city of Ar. Once made, they are shipped to the Wagon
Peoples via traders, where they are sharpened and fitted with
distinctive handles.
Book 4 Nomads of Gor |
| Great (Peasant) Bow | A long bow typically made from the wood of
the ka-la-na tree or sometimes of temwood. Unstrung it is over six feet
in length, and can require a pull of up to 120 lbs, depending upon the
strength of the user. The bowstring itself is usually made of hemp or
sinew lashed with silk thread. Armed with such a weapon, a highly
skilled archer can accurately strike a target the size of a man's head
at distances of up to 100 yards, and by arcing his line of fire upward
to allow for gravity can fire a shaft into a ten foot diameter circle at
up to 300 yards. The arrows of such a bow are temwood, metal-piled and
fletched with the feathers of the vosk gull. Each such arrow is
approximately three feet in length, and can be tipped with several
different types of arrowheads; of these, the flight tip (a long narrow
three-sided metal spike designed for extreme penetration) and the sheaf
tip (a wide double or triple edged blade designed to inflict maximum
tissue damage upon impact) are the most common. Special arrowheads such
as ones fitted with whistles or noisemakers for signalling or reservoirs
for inflammable liquids are not unknown. It is commonly carried slung or
strapped over the shoulder of the archer when not in use, and is
accompanied by a belt or shoulder quiver containing forty (or more)
shafts. Its use requires the archer to wear a bracer of thick leather
upon the forearm of his bowarm, and to utilize a special archer's glove
or leather finger tab to protect his hands and arm from friction caused
by the motion of the string when fired. It is a difficult weapon to
master, though despite that fact it is widely used by both many members
of the Caste of Peasants, and the rencers of the Vosk Delta.
Tarnsman of Gor, Book1 |
| Crossbow | The standard infantry missle weapon of Gor.
It consists of a heavy, flexible bow of tempered steel, perhaps 18"
across (when bent), mounted on a heavy wooden stock about two feet long,
with a trigger mechanism built into the shaped handle. It can fire
several types of spiked, smooth tipped or broad bladed quarrels, with
enough force to penetrate wooden walls, doors or human bodies with
relative ease. It has an effective range of approximately 150 meters for
aimed fire, and can strike a target at up to 200 meters when fired into
a press of bodies. Slow to reload, it is commonly redrawn through use of
a "goat's-foot" hook or a cranequin (bow crank). Quarrels, or
"bolts," are carried by the user in a belt-case or quiver.
Common throughout all of the Gorean city-states, and the preferred
weapon of the Caste of Assassins.
Book 1 Tarnsman of Gor |
| Crossbow (Cavalry) | Similar in most respects to the larger
crossbow, though instead of possessing a heavy metal bow, it has a much
lighter bow of layered wood and horn. It is slightly smaller in overall
size than its heavy cousin, and is equipped with a metal stirrup at the
firing end, enabling it to be more quickly restrung and drawn from
kaiila or tarnback.
Savages of Gor, Book 17 |
| Short Bow | This weapon is heavily used upon Gor for
hunting, sport and warfare. Among its adherents are the warriors of the
Wagon Peoples, the panther girls (or Talunas), the Red Hunters and the
Red Savages. It is much smaller in size than the great bow, and is
better suited for use from the back of a kaiila, tharlarion or tarn. It
is often carved from a single, flexible piece of tem wood or ka-la-na
wood, though such peoples as the Wagon Peoples and the Red Savages can
craft shortbows of layered wood and horn, which gives such bows much
greater strength and durability. Among the Red Hunters, it is a common
practice to treat such bows against inclement weather by smearing them
with liquified blubber taken from the carcass of the Hunjer whale. The
shortbow can fire as many different types of arrowheads as can its
larger cousin, though with substantially less range and penetrating
power. The arrows used by the shortbow are also much shorter than those
employed by the great bow, due to the shorter range of the weapon's
"pull." These bows come in all shapes and sizes, and are found
throughout Gor.
Tarnsman of Gor, Book 1 |
| Bola | It consists of three long straps of leather,
each about five feet long, each terminating in a leather sack which
contains, sewn inside, a heavy round metal weight. Developed for hunting
fleet-footed and flighted game it is also used as a weapon of war.
Thrown low the long straps, with their approximate ten-foot sweep,
strike the victim and the weighted balls, as soon as resistance is met,
whip about the victim's legs, tangling and tightening the straps. Thrown
high it can pin a man's arms to his sides; thrown at the throat it can
strangle him; thrown at the head the whipping weights can crush his
skull. Once a victim is entangled with the bola, typically another
weapon, usually a quiva, is then utilized to dispatch the victim if he
or she still lives.
Book 4 Nomads of Gor |
SHIELDS AND HELMETS
| Shields | Several different types of shield are described in the series. Typically they are round in shape, though they range in size from the huge shield used by the Gor-bound Kurii to the small bucklers wielded by gladiators in the Stadium of Blades in Ar. The most common shield in use upon Gor is the standard warrior's shield of the civilized cities. This is a largish round shield comprised of many concentric overlapping layers of dried shaped leather, probably stretched over a wooden or metal frame, and banded for extra strength with brass or iron bands. It is fitted with a pair of straps whereby it can be worn upon the user's arm, typically the left one, and is worn slung across the back for ease of movement while its user in travelling from place to place. Among the civilized armies of Gor such shields are normally painted boldly and have infixed in them some device for identifying the bearer's city. The Warriors of the southern city of Turia are known for their usage of distinctive shields which are oval, rather than circular, in shape. |
| Helmets | There are various types of helmets in use by soldiers and
warriors upon Gor. The most commonly used is the standard Gorean war
helmet, popularized and manufactured in the larger city-states by the
thousands. It is described by Tarl Cabot as being a close-faced helmet
which encloses the entire head, with a distinctive "Y" shaped
opening in the faceplate to admit air and to allow breathing. This style
of helmet seems to be based on the Barbuta style helmets which date from
classical antiquity on Earth, perfected and much in use during the
heyday of the Athenian city-states of Greece. Typically mounted atop
each example of this type of helmet is a crest plate, upon which can be
displayed the symbol of a city or organization. The crests themselves
adorn the top of the helmet either crosswise, from one side of the neck
to the other, or lengthwise from the back of the neck to the upper
forehead like half-fans, and can be fitted with any number of
accoutrements, from sleen fur to tarn feathers and the like; in
addition, the helmet itself can be painted or lacquered in any color, to
represent a grouping, city or caste. As described in the books they are
hammered and riveted together in several pieces, though the pierced
faceplate itself is depicted as "a single piece of iron." Due
to the highly developed metal-working capabilities of modern Goreans,
however, it is a safe assumption that they are actually of tempered
steel, which is lighter and stronger, and that Cabot's reference to them
as iron is merely a fanciful allusion on the part of the author.
Additionally such helmets can be hammered from bronze, also an inferior
metal, though such examples are probably symbolic of some cultural
significance and not intended to be used in actual combat. According to
Cabot each such helmet is fitted with removable padding of rolls of
leather, stuffed with softer material and laced into the helmet to
insure a superior fit. These helmets are often stripped of their crests
and padding to be used as crude cooking vessels by soldiers on the
march.
Book 1 |
| Helmets | Another example of a Gorean helmet is that often worn by
the desert tribesmen and denizens of such southern cities as Turia and
Tor, as well as by the nomadic warriors of the Wagon Peoples. This
helmet is similar in design to the mongol/saracen battle helmet of Earth
and is a cone-shaped steel defense worn atop the head, often fitted with
a nasal guard of narrow flat construction. Such helmets may be adorned
with a ring of fur or fabric which encircles the browband area, and can
also be found mantled with either a cloth covering or a camail of linked
chain. These helmets are closely fitted to the wearer's head, padded
with a thick cloth cap which laces into it, and are often fitted with a
leather or cord chinstrap to secure the device in place
Book 4 Nomads of Gor |
| Helmets | Spangenhelm-type worn by northern warriors, which is in
effect a steel or iron bowl constructed from heavy metal strapping. A
single metal browband encircles the head, with two or more curved metal
straps attached to it in the pattern of an "X", covering much
of the wearer's skull. Curved plates are riveted in place to fill the
gaps between the strapping, resulting in a layered metal cap with covers
the entire head. These helmets are often fitted with cheek and neck
guards, chainmail camails or even metal faceplates which conceal the
face or portions of it like a metal mask. The horns of animals or metal
spikes may be attached to the helmet as decoration or to add some
measure of protection to the apparatus, though this usually makes them
rather bulky and difficult to wear in combat. These helmets are padded
with leather or lined with thick fur, and can also be fitted with a
leather or cord chinstrap to insure a reliable fit.
Book 8 |
RARE AND UNUSUAL
| Spiked Hand Wraps | Similar to the Earth Cestus, or heavy cloth or leather
strips bound about the hand, with projecting spikes which cover the
wearer's knuckles.
Book 14 Fighting slave of Gor |
| Spiked Leather | A pair of spiked leather balls which are worn upon the
hands of gladitorial fighters; the spikes of these devices can be very
long.
Book 14 |
| Knife Gauntlets | A pair of thick leather gauntlets, upon which are mounted
crescent shaped knife blades. Sometimes used by gladiators in arena
combats. Fighting Slave of Gor, Book 14 |
| Kurii beam projector | A handheld device of some kind, big enough to fit
comfortably in the hand of a Kur. This missle weapon fires a highly
concussive heat blast, which strikes its target fiercely, often leaving
a 3/4" wide hole at the point of impact, and an exit wound of
upwards of ten inches across, where applicable. It is described as
having only a limited number of charges, similar to a revolving
cartridge weapon. Used only by the Kurii.
Book 10 Tribesmen of Gor |
| Kurii Dart Thrower | A breech loading missle weapon which fires a six inch long
conical gas propelled dart. Its configuration is similar to an Earth
rifle. Kurii Dart Throwers have carved wooden stocks, upon which are
incised eccentric designs. These tubular weapons discharge with a hiss,
which is not particularly loud. Several types of darts may be fired from
such a weapon, including poison tipped, explosive tipped, and
tranquilizer darts. These weapons are used exclusively by human agents
of the Kurii. The actual firing button is located on the forepart of the
stock, and the weapon itself seems to be a one-shot weapon, requiring
reloading after every firing.
Book 12 Beasts of Gor |
| Silver Tube | This is a charged, cylindrical weapon, perhaps two feet in
length, manually aimed and operated; it incorporates principles much
like those of the Priest-King's Flame Death mechanism. When not in use,
it is encased in a sealed plastic quiver for storage. When fired it
generates a fierce blast of blue flame from its tip, as the air within
the path of its beam ignites into flame. It is effective at distances of
up to 100 meters, and its use can be aurally detected by the audible
hiss caused by the ignition of the air in the beam's path. Any living
creature within the path of the beam, as well as any organic matter
caught therein, will instantly erupt into a ball of bright blue flame as
the target consumes itself from within. A silver tube will sputter and
become inert once its charge is fully expended, though a typical charge
will last for literally hundreds of firings. These weapons can only be
found within the Nest Complex of the Sardar, and none who do not dwell
there can possess them. An additional example of this type of weapon
also makes an appearance in the series, and is described as a narrow,
cylindrical, silverish object small enough to be concealed in the palm
of a human hand. When used upon its lowest setting, such an object
produces a small flame suitable for igniting brush and kindling;
however, it can be reset to fire one short burst of high intensity blue
flame, after which the weapon's charge is expended.
Book 3 Priest Kings of Gor |