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Clans
The wagon peoples do not have castes like most Goreans. Every male is expected to be a warrior. There is no Red Caste among the wagon peoples. This is true of most of the barbaric cultures of Gor. All males must also be able to ride, hunt, and care for the bosk. After the primary duties there are certain clans that specialize in other duties. These clans include healers, torturers, leather workers, salt hunters, camp singers, year keepers, scarrers, and more. Though they themselves do not have castes the wagon peoples do accept and interact with castes on gor. Mobility is the main reason they have clans instead of castes, the wagon peoples are constantly traveling. Bosk-Keepers Camp Singers Clerks Drummers Haruspex Healers Hunter Iron Masters(no women) Kaiila Keepers Leather Workers Salt-Hunters Scarrers Sleen Keepers Slave Trainers Spies Traders Torturers (No women) Wagoneers Year Keepers Tarnsman of Gor 'You must learn,' Torm had said matter-of-factly, 'the history and legends of Gor, its geography and economics, its social structures and customs, such as the caste system and clan groups, the right of placing the Home Stone, the Places of Sanctuary, when quarter is and is not permitted in war, and so on.' . Nomads "They do not have castes, as Goreans tend to think of them. For example, every male of the Wagon Peoples is expected to be a warrior, to be able to ride, to be able to hunt, to care for the bosk, and so on. When I speak of Year Keepers and Singers it 'muss be understood that these are not, for the Wagon Peoples, castes, but more like roles, subsidiary to their main functions, which are those of the war, herding and the hunt. They do have, however, certain clans, not castes, which specialize in certain matters, for example, the clan of healers, leather workers, salt hunters, and so on. I have already mentioned the clan of torturers. The members of these clans, however, like the Year Keepers and Singers, are all expected, first and foremost, to be, as it is said, of the wagons namely to follow, tend and protect the bosk, to be superb in the saddle, and to be skilled with the weapons of both the hunt and war. Nomads of Gor, page 12 Tuchuks do not make good spies, for they tend to be, albeit fierce and cruel, intensely loyal; and there are few strangers allowed in the wagon of a Tuchuk Ubar. Nomads of Gor, page 201 Clan of torturers I hoped that I would be granted death in battle, if death it must be. The Wagon Peoples, of all those on Gor that I know, are the only ones that have a clan of torturers, trained as carefully as scribes or physicians, in the arts of detaining life. Some of these men have achieved fortune and fame in various Gorean cities, for their services to Initiates and Ubars, and others with an interest in the arts of detection and persuasion. For some reason they have all worn hoods. It is said they remove the hood only when the sentence is death, so that it is only condemned men who have seen whatever it is that lies beneath the hood. But then I realized that this was not true. If Kamchak and her master were not convinced that she had run as well as she might, it wool not go easily with her. She would have contributor to the victory of a Kassar over a Tuchuk. That night, one of the hooded members of the Clan of Torturers would have come to her wagon and fetched her away, never to be seen again. She would run well, hating Elizabeth or not. She would be running for her life. "Most of those of the Wagon Peoples have excellent memories, trained from birth. Few can read, though some can, perhaps having acquired the skill far from the wagons, perhaps from merchants or tradesmen. The Wagon Peoples, as might be expected, have a large and complex oral literature. This is kept by and occasionally, in parts, recited by the Camp Singers. Nomads of Gor, page 12 "Among them, too, were soothsayers and haruspexes, and singers and musicians, and, here and there, small peddlers and merchants, of various cities, for such are occasionally permitted by the Tuchuks, who crave their wares, to approach the wagons. Each of these, I was later to learn, wore on his forearm a tiny brand, in the form of spreading bosk horns, which guaranteed his passage, at certain seasons, across the plains of the Wagon Peoples. The difficulty, of course is in first obtaining the brand. If, in the case of a singer, the song is rejected, or in the case of a merchant, his merchandise is rejected, he is slain out of hand. This acceptance brand, of course, carries with it a certain stain of ignominy, suggesting that those who approach the wagons do as slaves." Nomads of Gor, page 34-35 Meanwhile the Omen Taking, even with the participation of the Tuchuk haruspex, continued for the haruspex of the people would remain behind until even the final readings had been completed. I had heard, from a master of hunting sleen, that the Omens were developing predictably, several to one against the choice of a Ubar San. Indeed, the difficulty of the Tuchuks with the Turians had possibly, I guessed, exerted its influence on an omen or two in passing. One could hardly blame the Kassars, the Kataii and Paravaci for not wanting to be led by a Tuchuk against Turia or for not wanting to acquire the Tuchuk troubles by uniting with them in any fashion. The Paravaci were particularly insistent on maintaining the independence of the Nomads of Gor, page 184 I could now see the other haruspex of the peoples pouring with their animals toward the altars. The Omen Taking as a whole lasts several days and consumes hundreds of animals. A tally is kept, from day to day. One haruspex, as we left, I heard cry out that he had found a favorable liver. Another, from an adjoining altar had rushed to his side. They were engaged in dispute. I gathered that reading the signs was a subtle business, calling for sophisticated interpretation and the utmost delicacy and judgment. Even as we made our way back to the kaiila I could hear two more haruspex crying out that they had found livers that were clearly unfavorable. Clerks, with parchment scrolls, were circulating among the altars, presumably, I would guess, noting the names of haruspex, their peoples, and their findings. The four chief haruspex of the peoples remained at the huge central altar, to which a white bosk was being slowly led. ---Nomads of Gor, page 172-173 Leather workers Clan Kamchak, if he saw, did not stop her. "Come along," he said. "There is a new kaiila I want to see near the wagon of Yachi of the Leather Workers' Clan." They do have, however, certain clans, not castes, which specialize in certain matters, for example, the clan of healers, leather workers, salt hunters, and so on. I have already mentioned the clan of torturers. The members of these clans, however, like the Year Keepers and Singers, are all expected, first and foremost, to be, as it is said, of the wagons namely to follow, tend and protect the bask, to be superb in the saddle, and to be skilled with the weapons of both the hunt and war. Scarrers Clan "There is something here I think you do not realize," said Harold. "What is that?" I asked. He paused. "That in entering Turia and escaping as we did even bringing tarns to the camp we the two of us won the Courage Scar." I was silent. Then I looked at him. "But," I said, "you do not wear the scar." "It would have been rather difficult to get near the gates of Turia for a fellow wearing the Courage Scar, would it Indeed it would," I laughed. "When I have time," said Harold, "I will call one from the clan of Scarerrs and have the scar affixed. It will make me look even more handsome." The clan structures are kinship groups. They function, on the whole, given mating practices, within the caste structure, but they are not identical to it. For example, in a given clan there may be, though often are not, individuals of different castes. Many Goreans think of the clan as a kinship group within a caste. For most practical purposes they are correct. At least it seldom does much harm to regard the matter in this way. Clans, because of practical limitations on mobility, are usually associated, substantially, with a given city; the caste, on the other hand, is trans-municipal or inter-municipal. These remarks would not be complete without mentioning Home Stones. Perhaps the most significant difference between the man of Earth and the Gorean is that the Gorean has a Home Stone, and the man of Earth does not. It is difficult to make clear to a non-Gorean the significance of the Home Stone, for the non-Gorean has never had a Home Stone, and thus cannot understand its meaning, its reality. I think that I shall not try to make clear what is the significance to a Gorean of the Home Stone. It would be difficult to put into words; indeed, it is perhaps impossible to put into words; I shall not try. I think this is one of the saddest things about the men of Earth, that they have no Home Stone. Kajira of gor He then turned to Emily. "You may kneel, Emily," said. Swiftly she knelt. "You, too; are pretty," he smiled. Swiftly she opened her knees, baring to Him tender intimacies, enslaved, and the sweet interior softness of her thighs. "Your name, 'Emily,' is very beautiful," he said. "As you probably know, it is a barbarian corruption of nyge, my name. It seems that fate has thrown us together." The gens name the clan name. Outlaws of Gor "After all, though the Caste of Singers, or Poets, was not a high caste, it had more prestige than, for example, the Caste of Pot-Makers or Saddle-Makers, with which it was sometimes compared. Outlaw of Gor, page 103 |
