Geography
           Plains of Turia    Turia   

The Wagon Peoples
           General   

           THE PEOPLES   
           Kassar    Kataii    Paravaci    Tuchuk   

Camps
           Camps    The First Wagon    Wagons    The Public Slave Wagon   

Free Men
           Kamchak    Harold    Kutiatuchik    The Scar Codes    Free Men Clothes   

Free Women

Slaves
           General    Feeding a slave    Punishment   
           Clad kajir    Curla    Chatka    Kalmak    Koora    Kes   
           Sirik    Turian Camisk    Turian Collar    Brands    Dances of love   

Caste System
           Clan of Torturers    Clan of Scarers    Clan of Leather Workers    Clan of Singers   
           Clan of Year Keepers   

Economy
           Agriculture    Herding    Trade   

Culture and Traditions
           Greetings    Friendship    Funeral   
           Gambling    Games    Games of Love War   
           Literature    Music    The Blue Sky Song   
           Religion    Haruspexes    Omen Year    Calender   

Warfare
           Militar Organisation    Army    Ubar San   

Weapons
           Bola    Kaiila Lance    Horn Bow    Quiva    Saber   

Fauna
           Bosk    Kaiila Lance    Kailiauk    
           Kites    Horned Gim    Hurlit   
           Prairie Sleen    Horned Gim    Rennels    Urt    Domestic Verr    Vulo   

Flora
           Kanda    Flower Tree    Tem-Wood   

By Van Gogh

GEOGRAPHY

Plains of Turia

"The Wagon Peoples claimed the southern prairies of Gor, from gleaming Thassa and the mountains of Ta-Thassa to the southern foothills of the Voltai Range itself, that reared in the crust of Gor like the backbone of a planet. On the north they claimed lands even to the rush-grown banks of the Cartius, a broad, swift flowing tributary feeding into the incomparable Vosk. The land between the Cartius and the Vosk had once been within the borders of the claimed empire of Ar, but not even Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars, when master of luxurious, glorious Ar, had flown his tarnsmen south of the Cartius." "Nomads of Gor" page 2

"In the past months I had made my way, afoot, overland, across the equator, living by hunting and occasional service in the caravants of merchants, from the northern to the southern hemisphere of Gor. I had left the vicinity of the Sardar Range in the month of Se'Var, which in the northern hemisphere is a winter month, and had journeyed south for months; and had now come to what some call the Plains of Turia, others the Land of the Wagon Peoples, in the autumn of this hemisphere; there is, due apparently to the balance of land and water mass on Gor, no particular moderation of seasonal variations either in the northern or southern hemisphere; nothing much, so to speak, to choose between them; on the other hand, Gor's temperatures, on the whole, tend to be somewhat fiercer than those of Earth, perhaps largely due to the fact of the wind-swept expanses of her gigantic land masses; indeed, through Gor is smaller that earth, with consequent gravitational reduction, her actual land areas may be, for all I know, more extensive than those of my native planet; the area of Gor which are mapped are large, but only a small fraction of the surface of the planet; much of Gor remains to her inhabitants, simply terre incognita."
"Nomads of Gor" page 2/3

Turia
For more detail go to Turia  

"Turia the high-walled, the nine-gated, was the Gorean city lying in the midst of the huge prairies claimed by the Wagon Peoples. Never had it fallen." "Nomads of Gor" page 1

"I left the caravan before it reached Turia My business was with the Wagon Peoples, not the Turians, said to be indolent and luxury-loving; but I wonder at this charge, for Turia has stood for generations on the plains claimed by the fierce Wagon Peoples." "Nomads of Gor" page 4

"The Turian feast usually consumes the better part of a night and can have as many as a hundred and fifty courses. This would be impractical, naturally, save for the detestable device of the golden bowl and tufted banquet stick, dipped in scented oils, by means of which the diner may, when he wishes, refresh himself and return with eagerness to the feast. I had not made use of this particular tool, and had contented myself with merely taking a bite or two, to satisfy the requirements of etiquette, from each course." "Nomads of Gor" page 87

"I found Turia to match my expectations. She was luxurious. Her shops were filled with rare, intriguing paraphernalia. I smelled perfumes that I had never smelled before. More than once we encountered a line of musicians dancing single file down the center of the street, playing on their flutes and drums, perhaps on their way to a feast. 1 was pleased to see again, though often done in silk, the splendid varieties of caste colors of the typical Gorean city, to hear once more the cries of peddlers that I knew so well, the cake sellers, the hawkers of vegetables, the wine vendor bending under a double verrskin of his vintage." "Nomads of Gor" page 87

"I suppose that life in high-walled Turia, for most of its citizens, went on from day to day in its usual patterns oblivious of the usually distant Wagon Peoples. The city had never fallen, and had not been under siege in more than a century. The average citizen worried about the Wagon Peoples, customarily, only when he was outside the walls. Then, of course, he worried a great deal, and, I grant him, wisely." "Nomads of Gor" page 88

"One disappointment to me in trekking through the streets of Turia was that a crier advanced before us, calling to the women of the city to conceal themselves, even the female slaves. Thus, unfortunately, save for an occasional furtive pair of dark eyes peering from behind a veil in a recessed casement, we saw in our journey from the gate of the city to the House of Saphrar none of the fabled, silken beauties of Turia." "Nomads of Gor" page 88

THE WAGON PEOPLES

General

"The Wagon Peoples grow no food, nor do they have manufacturing as we know it. They are herders, and it is said, killers. They eat nothing that has touched the dirt. They live on the meat and milk of the bosk. They are among the proudest peoples on Gor, regarding the dwellers of the cities of Gor as vermin in holes, cowards who must fly behind walls, wretches who fear to live beneath the broad sky, who dare not dispute them the open, windswept plains of their world.
"Nomads of Gor page 4/5

"The bosk is said to be the Mother of the Wagon Peoples, and they reverence it as such. The man who kills one foolishly is strangled in thongs or suffocated in the hide of the animal he slew; if, for any reason, the man should kill a bosk cow with unborn young he is staked out, alive, in the path of the herd, and the march of the Wagon Peoples takes its way over him."
"Nomads of Gor" page 5

"I knew that they spoke a dialect of Gorean, and I hoped I would be able to understand them." "Nomads of Gor" page 9

"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." "Nomads of Gor" page 11

"The Wintering was not unpleasant, although, even so far north, the days and nights were often quite chilly; the Wagon Peoples and their slaves as well, wore boskhide and furs during this time; both male and female, slave or free, wore furred boots and trousers, coats and the flopping, ear-flapped caps that tied under the chin; in this time there was often no way to mark the distinction between the free woman and the slave girl, save that the hair of the latter must needs be unbound; in some cases of course, the Turian collar was visible, if worn on the outside of the coat, usually under the furred collar; the men too, free and slave were dressed similarly, save that the kajiri, or he-slaves wore shackles, usually with a run of about a foot of chain." "Nomads of Gor" page 59

"The mount of the Wagon Peoples, unknown in the northern hemisphere of Gor, is the terrifying but beautiful kaiila."
"Nomads of Gor" page 13

"The head of the kaiila bear two large eyes, one on each side, but these eyes are triply lidded, probably an adaptation to the environment which occasionally is wracked by severe storms of wind and dust; the adaptation, actually a transparent third lid, permits the animal to move as it wishes under conditions that force other prairie animals to back into the wind or, like the sleen, to burrow into the ground. The kaiila is most dangerous under these conditions, and, as if it knew this, often uses such times for its hunt."
"Nomads of Gor" page 13/4

"The kaiila of these men were as tawny as the brown grass of the prairie, save for that of the man who faced me, whose mount was a silken, sable black."
"Nomads of Gor" page 14

"The children of the Wagon peoples are taught the saddle of the kaiila before they can walk." "Nomads of Gor" page 17

"It was said a youth of the Wagon Peoples was taught the bow, the quiva and the lance before their parents would consent to give him a name, for names are precious among the Wagon Peoples, as among Goreans in general, and they are not to be wasted on someone who is likely to die, one who cannot well handle the weapons of the hunt and war. Until the youth has mastered the bow, the quiva and the lance he is simply known as the first, or the second, and so on, son of such and such a father." "Nomads of Gor" page 11

THE PEOPLES

"And there were four Wagon Peoples, the Paravaci, the Kataii, the Kassars and the dreaded Tuchuks." "Nomads of Gor" page 9

"We moved slowly, walking the kaiila, in four long lines, the Tuchuks, the Kassars, the Kataii, the Paravaci, some two hundred or so warriors of each. Kamchak rode near the head of the Tuchuk line. The standard bearer, holding aloft on a lance a representation of the four bosk horns, carved from wood, rode near us. At the head of our line, on a huge kaiila, rode Kutaituchik, his eyes closed, his head nodding, his body swaying with the stately movement of the animal, a halfchewed string of kanda dangling from his mouth.
Beside him, but as Ubars, rode three other men, whom I took to be chief among the Kassars, the Kataii, the Paravaci I could see, surprisingly near the forefront of their respective lines, the other three men I had first seen on coming to the Wagon Peoples, Conrad of the Kasars, Hakimba of the Kataii and Tolnus of the Paravaci. These, like Kamchak, rode rather near their respective standard bearers. The standard of the Kassars is that of a scarlet, three-weighted bola, which hangs from a lance; the symbolic representation of a bola, three circles joined at the center by lines, is used to mark their bosk and slaves; both Tenchika and Dina wore that brand; Kamchak had not decided to rebrand them, as is done with bosk; he thought, rightly, it would lower their value; also, I think he was pleased to have slaves in his wagon who wore the brand of Kassars, for such might be taken as evidence of the superiority of Tuchuks to Kassars, that they had bested them and taken their slaves; similarly Kamchak was pleased to have in his herd bosk, and he had several, whose first brand was that of the three-weighted bole; the standard of the Kataii is a yellow bow, bound across a black lance; their brand is also that of a bow, facing to the left; the Paravaci standard is a large banner of jewels beaded on golden wires, forming the head and horns of a bosk its value is incalculable; the Paravaci brand is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isoceles triangle."
"Nomads of Gor" page 105/6

"I had learned to my surprise that the Ubars of the Kassars, Kataii and Paravaci were, respectively, Conrad, Hakimba and Tolnus, the very three I had first encountered with Kamchak on the plains of Turia when first I came to the Wagon Peoples. What I had taken to be merely a group of four outriders had actually been a gathering of Ubars of the Wagon Peoples. I should have known that no four warriors of the four peoples would have ridden together.
Further, the Kassars, the Kataii and the Paravaci did not reveal their true Ubars with any greater willingness than the Tuchuks had. Each people, as the Tuchuks, had its false Ubar, its decoy to protect the true Ubar from danger or assassination. But, Kamchak had assured me, Conrad, Hakimba and Tolnus were indeed the true Ubars of their peoples."
"Nomads of Gor" page 156/7

"Suddenly there was commotion at the door and three men, followed by some others, burst into the hall.
The first was Conrad of the Kassars, and with him were Hakimba of the Kataii and a third man I did not know, but who was Paravaci. Behind them were some others, among whom I saw Albrecht of the Kassars, and behind him, to my astonishment, clad in brief leather, not collared, was Tenchika, who held a small bundle tied in cloth in her right hand.
Conrad, Hakimba and the Paravaci strode to the throne of Kamchak, but none of them, as befitted Ubars of their peoples, knelt.
Conrad spoke. "The Omens have been taken," he said.
"They have been read well," said Hakimba.
"For the first time in more than a hundred years," said the Paravaci, "there is a Ubar San, a One Ubar, Master of the Wagons!"
Karnchak stood up and threw from his shoulders the purple of the Turian Ubar and stood in the black leather of a Tuchuk, as one man the three Ubars raised their arms to him.
"Kamchak," they cried, "Ubar San!"
The cry was taken up by all in the room, even myself.
''Kamchak' Ubar San"
Kamchak held forth his hands and the room was quiet.
"Each of you," he said, "the Kassars the Kataii the Paravaci have your own bosk and your own wagons live so but in time of war when there are those who would divide us when there are those who would fight us and threaten our wagons and our bosk and women our plains, our land then let us war together and none will stand against the Wagon Peoples we may live alone but we are each of us of the Wagons and that which divides us is less than that which unites us we each of us know that it is wrong to slay bosk and that it is right to be proud and to have courage and to defend our wagons and our women we know that it is right to be strong and to be free and so it is together that we will be strong and we will be free. Let this be pledged."
The three men came to Kamchak and he and they placed their hands together. "It is pledged," they said. "It is pledged."
Then they stood back. "All hail Kamchak," they cried, "Ubar San!"

"All hail Kamchak," rang throughout the hall, "Kamchak Ubar San!"
"Nomads of Gor page 334/5

Kassars

"The third rider placed himself, reining in suddenly, pulling the mount to its hind legs, and it reared snarling against the bit, and then stood still, its neck straining toward me. I could see the long, triangular tongue in the animal's head, behind the four rows of fangs. The rider, too, wore a wind scarf. His shield was red. The Blood People, the Kassars."
"Nomads of Gor" page 14

"The standard of the Kassars is that of a scarlet, three-weighted bola, which hangs from a lance; the symbolic representation of a bola, three circles joined at the center by lines, is used to mark their bosk and slaves;"
"Nomads of Gor" page 106

" From my right there came a great laugh. "I am Hakimba of the Kataii," he roared. He pulled aside the wind scarf with one hand, and his face, though black, bore the same marks as the others."
"Nomads of Gor" page 15

Kataii

"The second rider had halted there. He was dressed much as the first man, except that no chain depended from his helmet, but his wind scarf was wrapped about his face. His shield was lacquered yellow, and his bow was yellow. Over his shoulder he, too, carried one of the slender lances. He was a black. Kataii, I said to myself." "Nomads of Gor" page 14

"From my right there came a great laugh. "I am Hakimba of the Kataii," he roared. He pulled aside the wind scarf with one hand, and his face, though black, bore the same marks as the others." "Nomads of Gor" page 15

"... the standard of the Kataii is a yellow bow, bound across a black lance; their brand is also that of a bow, facing to the left;
"Nomads of Gor" page 106

Paravaci

"The fourth rider was dressed in a hood and cape of white fur. He wore a flopping cap of white fur, which did not conceal the conical outlines of the steel beneath it. The leather of his jerkin was black. The buckles on his belt of gold. His lance had a rider hook under the point, with which he might dismount opponents. The kaiila of these men were as tawny as the brown grass of the prairie, save for that of the man who faced me, whose mount was a silken, sable black, as black as the lacquer of the shield.

"About the neck of the fourth rider there was a broad belt of jewels, as wide as my hand. I gathered that this was ostentation. Actually I was later to learn that the jeweled belt is worn to incite envy and accrue enemies; its purpose is to encourage attack, that the owner may try the skill of his weapons, that he need not tire himself seeking for foes. I knew, though, from the belt, though I first misread its purpose, that the owner was of the Paravaci, the Rich People, richest of the wagon dwellers."
"Nomads of Gor" page 14

"The man behind me called out, speaking Gorean with a harsh accent. "I am Tolnus of the Paravaci." Then he shook away his hood, letting his long hair stream behind him over the white fur of the collar. I stood stock still, seeing the face."
"Nomads of Gor" page 15

"... the Paravaci standard is a large banner of jewels beaded on golden wires, forming the head and horns of a bosk its value is incalculable; the Paravaci brand is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isoceles triangle."
"Nomads of Gor" page 106

Tuchuk

"And then I saw the first of the outriders, moving towards me, swiftly yet not seeming to hurry. I saw the slender line of his light lance against the sky, strapped across his back. I could see he carried a small rounded shield, glossy, black, lacquered; he wore a conical, fur rimmed iron helmet, a net of colored chains depending from the helmet protecting his face, leaving only holes for the eyes. He wore a quilted jacket and under this a leather jerkin; the jacket was trimmed with fur and had a for collar; his boots were made of hide and also trimmed with fur; he had a wide, five buckled belt. I could not see his face because of the net of chain that hung before it. I also noted, about his throat, now lowered, there was a soft leather wind scarf which might, when the helmet and veil was lifted, be drawn over the mouth and nose, against the wind and dust of his ride. He was very erect in the saddle. His lance remained on his back, but he carried in his right hand the small, powerful, horn bow of the Wagon Peoples and attached to his saddle was a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows. On the saddle there also hung, on one side, a coiled robe of braided bosk hide and, on the other, a long, three weighted bola f the sort used in hunting tumits and men; in the saddle itself, on the right side, indicating the rider must be right handed, were the seven sheaths for the almost legendary quivas, the balanced saddle knives of the prairie. It was said a youth of the Wagon Peoples was taught the bow, the quiva, and the lance before their parents would consent to give them a name, for names are precious among the Wagon Peoples, as among goreans in general, and they are not to be wasted on one who is likely to die, one who cannot handle the weapons of the hunt and war. Until the youth has mastered the bow, the quiva, and the lance he is simply known as first, or the second, and so on, son of such and such a father."
"Nomads of Gor" page 10/11

"Now the rider in front of me lifted the colored chains from his helmet, that I might see his face. It was a white face, but heavy, greased; the epicanthic fold of his eyes bespoke a mixed origin.(...)
Now the man facing me lifted his small, lacquered shield and his slender, black lance.
"Hear my name," cried he, "I am Kamchak of the Tuchuks!"
"Nomads of Gor" page 15/6

"He wants a kill I told myself. He is under the eyes of Warriors of other peoples. It would be safest to throw low. It would be a finer cast, however, to try for the throat or head. How vain is he? How skillful is he? He would be both skillful and vain; he was Tuchuk." "Nomads of Gor" page 25

"Kamchak rode near the head of the Tuchuk line. The standard bearer, holding aloft on a lance a representation of the four bosk horns, carved from wood, rode near us." "Nomads of Gor" page 105

THE CAMPS

"The Wagon Peoples, it is said, slay strangers. The words for stranger and enemy in Gorean are the same. I would advance openly. If I were found on the plains near the camps or the bosk herds I knew I would be scented out and slain by the domesticated, nocturnal herd sleen, used as shepherds and sentinels by the Wagon Peoples, released from their cages with the falling of darkness." "Nomads of Gor" page 9

"I followed the warrior Kamchak into the encampment of Tuchuks. Nearly were we run down by six riders on thundering kaiila who, riding for sport, raced past us wildly among the crowded, clustered wagons. I heard the lowing of milk bosk from among the wagons. Here and there children ran between the wheels, playing with a cork ball and quiva, the object of the game being to strike the thrown ball. Tuchuk women, unveiled, in their long leather dresses, long hair bound in braids, tended cooking pots hung on tem-wood tripods over dung fires." "Nomads of Gor" page 27

"Among them even some Kassars and Paravaci, and one of the rare Kataii, seldom seen in the encampments of the other peoples. The Tuchuks, of course, were most in evidence, sitting cross-legged in circles rather about a large fire near the center of the enclosure. They were in good humor and were laughing and moving their hands about as they regaled one another with accounts of their recent deeds, of which there were plainly a great many, it being the most active season for caravan raiding. The fire, I was pleased to note, was not of boskdung but wood, timber and planking, I was less pleased to note, torn and splintered from a merchant's wagon. To one side, across a clearing from the fire, a bit in the background, was a group of nine musicians." "Nomads of Gor" page 152/3

"Kamchak strode among the wagons, toward the sound, and I followed him closely. Many others, too, rushed to the sound, and we were jostled by armed warriors, scarred and fierce; by boys with unscarred faces, carrying the pointed sticks used often for goading the wagon bosk; by leather-clad women hurrying from the cooking pots; by wild, half-clothed children; even by enslaved Kajira-clad beauties of Turia; even the girl was there who wore but bells and collar, struggling under her burden, long dried strips of bosk meat, as wide as beams, she too hurrying to see what might be the meaning of the drum and horn, of the shouting Tuchuks.
We suddenly emerged into the center of what seemed to be a wide, grassy street among the wagons, a wide lane, open and level, an avenue in that city of Harigga, or Bosk Wagons. The street was lined by throngs of Tuchuks and slaves. 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

"The afternoon among the wagons was a busy one, for they were preparing to move. already the herds had been eased westward, away from Turia toward Thassa, the distant sea. There was much grooming of wagon bosk, checking of harness and wagons, cutting of meat to be dried hanging from the sides of the moving wagons in the sun and wind. In the morning the wagons, in their long lines, would follow the slowly moving herds away from Turia. Meanwhile the Omen Taking, even with the participation of the Tuchuck haruspexes, continued." "Nomads of Gor" page 183/4

The First Wagon

"To be of the First Wagon," said Kamchak, "is to be of the household of Kutaituchik." I repeated the name slowly, trying to sound it out. It is pronounced in four syllables, divided thus: Ku-tai-tu-chik. "He then is the Ubar of the Tuchuks?" I said. 'His wagon," smiled Kamchak, "is the First Wagon and it is Kutaituchik who sits upon the gray robe." "The gray robe?" I asked. "That robe," said Kamchak, 'which is the throne of the Ubars of the Tuchuks." "Nomads of Gor" page 32/3

"There are a hundred wagons in the personal household of Kutaituchik," said Kamchak. 'To be of any of these wagons is to be of the First Wagon." "I see," I said. �And the girl she on the kaiila is perhaps the daughter of Kutaituchik, Ubar of the Tuchuks?" "No," said Kamchak. "She is unrelated to him, as are most in the First Wagon." "She seemed much different than the other Tuchuk women," I said. Kamchak laughed, the colored scars wrinkling on his broad face. "Of course," said Kamchak, "she has been raised to be fit prize in the games of Love and War.�" "Nomads of Gor" page 33

The Wagons

"The wagons of the Wagon Peoples are, in their hundreds and thousands, in their brilliant, variegated colors, a glorious sight. Surprisingly, the wagons are almost square, each the size of a large room. Each is drawn by a double team of bosk, four in a team, with each team linked to its wagon tongue, the tongues being joined by tem-wood crossbars. The two axles of the wagon are also of tem-wood, which perhaps, because of its flexibility, joined with the general flatness of the southern Gorean plains, permits the width of the wagons. The wagon box, which stands almost six feet from the ground, is formed of black, lacquered planks of tem-wood. Inside the wagon box, which is square, there is fixed a rounded, tentlike frame, covered with the taut, painted, varnished hides of bosks. These hides are richly colored, and often worked with fantastic designs, each wagon competing with its neighbor to be the boldest and most exciting. The rounded fame is fixed somewhat within the square of the wagon box, so that a walkway, almost like a ships bridge, surrounds the frame. The sides of the wagon box, incidentally, are, here and there, perforated for arrow ports, for the small horn bow of the Wagon Peoples can be used to advantage not only from the back of a kaiila but, like the crossbow, from such cramped quarters." "Nomads of Gor" page 30/1

"One of the most striking features of these wagons is the wheels, which are huge, the back wheels having a diameter of about ten feet; the front wheels are, like those of the Conestoga wagon, slightly smaller, in this case, about eight feet in diameter; the larger rear wheels are more difficult to mire; the smaller front wheels, nearer the pulling power of the bosk, permit a somewhat easier turning of the wagon. These wheels are carved wood and, like the wagon hides, are richly painted. Thick strips of boskhide form the wheel rims, which are replaced three to four times a year. The wagon is guilded by a series of eight straps, two each for the four lead animals. Normally, however, the wagons are tied in tandem fashion, in numerous long columns, and only the lead wagons are guided, the others simply following, thongs running from the rear of one wagon to the nose rings of the bosk following, sometimes as much as thrity yards behind, with the next wagon; also ,too, a wagon is often guided by a wman or boy who walks beside the lead animals with a sharp stick." "Nomads of Gor" page 30/1

"The wagon of Kutaituchik, called Ubar of the Tuchuks, was drawn up on a large, flat-topped grassy hill, the highest land in the camp. Beside the wagon, on a great pole fixed in the earth, stood the Tuchuk standard of the four bosk horns. The hundred, rather than eight, bosk that drew his wagon had been unyoked; they were huge, red bosk; their horns had been polished and their coats glistened from the comb and oils; their golden nose rings were set with jewels; necklaces of precious stones hung from the polished horns. The wagon itself was the largest in the camp, and the largest wagon I had conceived possible; actually it was a vast platform, set on numerous wheeled frames; through at the edges of the platform, on each side, there were a dozen of the large wheels such as are found on the much smaller wagons; these latter wheels turned as the wagon moved and supported weight, but could not of themselves have supported the entire weight of that fantastic, wheeled palace of hide. The hides that formed the dome were of a thousand colors, and the smoke hole at the top must have stood more than a hundred feet from the flooring of that vast platform. I could well conjecture the riches, the loot and the furnishings that would dazzle the interior of such a magnificent dwelling." "Nomads of Gor" page 41

"Somewhat confusingly, the First Wagon of the Ubar is not the only wagon in the encampment known as the First Wagon. In fact, there may be a hundred wagons bearing that designation, but only one of them is the huge supreme wagon of the Ubar, with its raised dais and its standard of four bosk-horns. The other wagons of his household are smaller, and house many of noble blood who are generally not related directly to the Ubar. To be "of the First Wagon" means that one is an influential member of Tuchuk society, one who has been singled out, such as a girl who is being trained to be a fitting prize in the games of Love War." "Nomads of Gor" page 42

"The interiors of the wagons, lashed shut, protected from the dust of the march, are often rich, marvelously carpeted and hung, filled with chests and silks, and booty from looted caravans, lit by hanging tharlarion oil lamps, the golden light of which falls on the silken cushions, the ankle-deep, intricately wrought carpets. In the center of the wagon there is a small, shallow fire bowl, formed of copper, with a raised brass grating. Some cooking is done here, though the bowl is largely to furnish heat. The smoke escapes by a smoke hole at the dome of the tentlike frame, a hole which is shut when the wagons move. " "Nomads of Gor" page 31

"Kamchak, as he often did, was sitting on what resembled a gray rock, rather squarish, except that the corners tended to be a bit rounded. When I had first seen this thing, heaped with the odds and ends in one corner of the wagon,some of the odds and ends being tankards of jewels and small, heavy chests filled with golden tarn disks, I had thought it merely a rock. Once, when rummaging through his things,Kamchak had kicked it across the rug for me to look at. I was surprised at the way it bounced on the rug and, when I picked it up, I was interested to see how light it was. It was clearly not a rock. It was rather leathery and had a grained surface, I was a bit reminded of some of the loose, tumbled rocks I had once glibpsed in certain abandoned portions of the place of Priest_Kings, far beneath the Sardar. Among such rocks it would not have been noticed. "What do you make of it?" Kamchak asked. "Nomads of Gor" page 139

"I took out some coins from my pouch and handed them to Kamchak who slipped them in a fold of his sash. As I did so I glowered significantly at the tankards of jewels and chests of golden tarn disks in the corner of the wagon. "Here come the slaves," said Kamchak. Elizabeth and Aphris entered, carrying the kettle between them, which they sat on the brass and copper grating over the fire bowl in the wagon." "Nomads of Gor" page 150

Public slave wagons

"The public slave wagons, incidentally, also provide Paga. They are a kind of combination Paga tavern and slave market. I know of nothing else precisely like them on Gor. Karuchak and I had visited one last night where I had ended up spending four copper tarn disks for one bottle of Paga. I hauled Kamchak out of the wagon before he began to bid on a chained-up little wench from Port Kar who had taken his eye." "Nomads of Gor" page 150

FREE MEN

Kamchak

"Then in the clearing inside the gate, on his kaiila, lance in his right fist, turning and barking orders, I saw Kamchak of the Tuchuks, waving men to the left and right, and to the roof tops. His lance point was red. The black lacquer of his shield was deeply cut and scraped. The metal net that depended from his helmet had been thrown back and his eyes and face were fearful to behold. He was flanked by officers of the Tuchuks, commanders of Thousands, mounted as he was and armed. He turned his kaiila to face the city and it reared and he lifted his shield on his left arm and his lance in his right fist."
"Nomads of Gor" page 247

"The city burns," I said.
"Let it burn," said Kamchak.
"It is yours," I said.
"I do not want Turia," he said.
"What is it you seek?" I asked.
"Only the blood of Saphrar," said he. "All this," I asked, "is only to avenge Kutaituchik?"
"To avenge Kutaituchik," said Kamchak, "I would burn a thousand cities.
"How is that?" I asked."
"He was my father," said Kamchak, and turned away."
"Nomads of Gor" page 254

Harold

"Kamchak had told me of the young man. Among the wagons he was nothing. He did what work he could, helping with the bosk, for a piece of meat from a cooking pot. He was called Harold, which is not a Tuchuk name, nor a name used among the Wagon Peoples, though it is similar to some of the Kassar names. (...)
The problem of the young man, and perhaps the reason that he had not yet won even the Courage Scar of the Tuchuks, was that he had fallen into the hands of Turian raiders in his youth and had spent several years in the city; in his adolescence he had, at great risk to himself, escaped from the city and made his way with great hardships across the plains to rejoin his people; they, of course, to his great disappointment, had not accepted him, regarding him as more Turian than Tuchuk. His parents and people had been slain in the Turian raid in which he had been captured, so he had no kin.
There had been, fortunately for him, a Year Keeper who had recalled the family. Thus he had not been slain but had been allowed to remain with the Tuchuks. He did not have his own wagon or his own bosk. He did not even own a kaiila. He had armed himself with castoff weapons, with which he practiced in solitude. None of those, however, who led raids on enemy caravans or sorties against the city and its outlying fields, or retaliated upon their neighbors in the delicate matters of bosk stealing, would accept him in their parties. He had, to their satisfaction, demonstrated his prowess with weapons, but they would laugh at him. "You do not even own a kaiila," they would say. "You do not even wear the Courage Scar." I supposed that the young man would never be likely to wear the scar, without which, among the stern, cruel Tuchuks, he would be the continuous object of scorn, ridicule and contempt. Indeed, I knew that some among the wagons, the girl Hereena, for example, who seemed to bear him a great dislike, had insisted that he, though free, be forced to wear the Kes or the dress of a woman. Such would have been a great joke among the Tuchuks." "Nomads of Gor" page 68/9

"To a Tuchuk," said Harold, "success is courage - that is the important thing- courage itself - even if all else fails - that is success." "Nomads of Gor" page 273

Kutaituchik

"Near the center of the wagon, alone, his head bent over, on the robe of gray boskhide, sat Kutaituchik, perhaps fifteen or twenty arrows imbedded in his body. At his right knee was the golden kanda box. I looked about. The wagon had been looted, the only one that had been as far as I knew. Kamchak had gone to the body of Kutiatuchik and sat down across from it, cross-legged, and had put his head in his hands. I did not disturb him. Some others pressed into the wagon behind us, but not many, and those who did remained in the background. I heard Kamchak moan.
'The bosk are doing as well as can be expected,' he said. 'The quivas--I will try to keep them sharp. I will see that the axles of the wagons are greased.' Then he bent his head down and sobbed, rocking back and forth. Aside from his weeping I could hear only the crackle of the torch that lit the interior of the rent dome. I saw here and there, among the rugs and polished wood bristling with white arrows, overturned boxes, loose jewels scattered, torn robes and tapestries." "Nomads of Gor" page 178

The Scar Codes

"I was looking on the faces of four men, warriors of the Wagon Peoples. On the face of each there were, almost like corded chevrons, brightly colored scars. the vivid coloring and intensity of these scars, their prominence, reminded me of the hideous markings on the faces of mandrills; But these disfigurements, as I soon recognized, were cultural, not congenital, and bespoke not of natural innocence of the work of genes but of glories, and status, the arrogance the prides, of their bearers. The scars had been worked into the faces, with needles and knives and pigments and the dung of bosk over the period of days and nights. Men had died in the fixing of such scars. Most scars were set in pairs, moving diagonally down from the side of the head toward the nose and chin. The man facing me had seven such scars ceremonially worked into the tissue of his countenance, the highest being red, the next yellow, the next blue, the fourth black, then two yellow then black again. The faces of the men I saw were all scarred differently, but each was scarred. The effect of the scars, ugly, startling, terrible, perhaps in part calculated to terrify enemies, had even prompted me, for a wild moment, to conjecture that what I faced on the plains of Turia were not men, but perhaps aliens of some sort, brought to Gor long ago from remote worlds to serve some now discarded or forgotten purpose of the Priest Kings; but now I knew better; now I could see them as men; as now more significantly, I recalled what I had heard whispered of once before, in a tavern of Ar, the terrible Scar Codes of the Wagon Peoples, for each of the hideous marks on the face of these men had meaning, a significance that could be read by the Paravaci, the Kassars, the Kataii, the Tuchuks, as clearly as you or I might read a sign in a window or a sentence in a book. At that time I could read only the top scar, the red, bright, fierce cordlike scar that was the Courage Scar. It is always the highest scar on the face. Indeed, without that scar, no other scar can be granted. The wagon peoples value courage above all else."
"Nomads of Gor" page 15/6

"Without the Courage Scar one may not, among the Tuchuks, pay court to a free woman, own a wagon, or own more than five bosk and three kaiila. The Courage Scar thus has its social and economic, as well as its martial, import."
"Nomads of Gor" pg 113

A young man, blondish-haired with blue eyes, unscarred, bumped against the girl's stirrup in the press of the crowd. She struck him twice with the leather quirt in her hand, sharply, viciously. I could see blood on the side of his neck, where it joins the shoulder.
"Slave!" she hissed.
He looked up angrily. "I am not a slave," he said. "I am Tuchuk."
"Turian slave!" she laughed scornfully. "Beneath your furs you wear, I wager, the Kes!"
"I am Tuchuk," he responded, looking angrily away. Kamchak had told me of the young man. Among the wagons he was nothing. He did what work he could, helping with the bask, for a piece of meat from a cooking pot. He was called Harold, which is not a Tuchuk name, nor a name used among the Wagon Peoples, though it is similar to some of the Kassar names. (...)
He did not have his own wagon or his own bosk. He did not even own a kaiila. He had armed himself with castoff weapons, with which he practiced in solitude. None of those, however, who led raids on enemy caravans or sorties against the city and its outlying fields, or retaliated upon their neighbors in the delicate matters of bask stealing, would accept him in their parties. He had, to their satisfaction, demonstrated his prowess with weapons, but they would laugh at him. "You do not even own a kaiila," they would say. "You do not even wear the Courage Scar." I supposed that the young man would never be likely to wear the scar, without which, among the stern, cruel Tuchuks, he would be the continuous object of scorn, ridicule and contempt."
"Nomads of Gor" page 67/8

"It should be worth the Courage Scar," said Harold from above, "don't you think so?"
"What?" I asked.
"Stealing a wench from the House of Saphrar and returning on a stolen tarn."
"Undoubtedly," I grumbled. I found myself wondering if the Tuchuks had an Idiocy Scar. If so, I might have nominated the young man hoisting himself up the rope above me as a candidate for the distinction. "
"Nomads of Gor page 191

"And while you are remembering things," remarked Harold, 'you might recollect that we two together won the Courage Scar in Turia."
"No," I said, "I will not forget that either."
"Nomads of Gor" page 340

"To a Tuchuk," said Harold, "success is courage--that is the important thing- courage itself--even if all else fails--that is success."
"Nomads of Gor" page 273

Free Men Clothes

"I could see he carried a small rounded shield, glossy, black, lacquered: he wore a conical, fur rimmed iron helmet, a net of colored chains depending from the helmet protecting his face, leaving only holes for the eyes. He wore a quilted jacket and under this a leather jerkin; the jacket was trimmed with fur and had a for collar; his boots were made of hide and also trimmed with fur; he had a wide, five-buckled belt. I could not see his face because of the net of chain that hung before it. I also noted, about his throat, now lowered, there was a soft leather wind scarf which might, when the helmet and veil was lifted, be drawn over the mouth and nose, against the wind and dust of his ride. He was very erect in the saddle. His lance remained on his back, but he carried in his right hand the small, powerful, horn bow of the Wagon Peoples and attached to his saddle was a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows. On the saddle there also hung, on one side, a coiled robe of braided bosk hide and, on the other, a long, three-weighted bola f the sort used in hunting tumits and men; in the saddle itself, on the right side, indicating the rider must be right handed, were the seven sheaths for the almost legendary quivas, the balanced saddle knives of the prarie. It was said a youth of the Wagon Peoples was taught the bow, the quiva, and the lance before their parents would consent to give them a name, for names are precious among the the Wagon Peoples, as among goreans in general, and they are not to be waisted on one who is likely to die, one who cannot handle the weapons of the hunt and war. Until the youth has mastered the bow, the quiva, and the lance he is simply known as first, or the second, and so on , son of such and such a father."
"Nomads of Gor" page 10/1

FREE WOMEN

"The Wintering was not unpleasant, although, even so far north, the days and nights were often quite chilly; the Wagon Peoples and their slaves as well, wore boskhide and furs during this time; both male and female, slave or free, wore furred boots and trousers, coats and the flopping, ear-flapped caps that tied under the chin; in this time there was often no way to mark the distinction between the free woman and the slave girl, save that the hair of the latter must needs be unbound; in some cases of course, the Turian collar was visible, if work on the outside of the coat, usually under the furred collar; the men too, fee and slave were dressed similarly, save that the Kajiri, or he-slaves wore shackles, usually with a run of about a foot of chain."
"Nomads of Gor" page 59

"Tuchuk women, unveiled, in their long leather dresses, long hair bound in braids, tended cooking pots hung on tem-wood tripods over dung fires. These women were unscarred, but like the bosk themselves, each wore a nose ring. That of the animals is heavy and of gold, that of the women also of gold but tiny and fine, not unlike the wedding rings of my old world." "Nomads of Gor" page 27

"She was not as the other women of the Wagon Peoples I had seen, the dour, thin women with braided hair, bending over the cooking pots. She wore a brief skirt leather skirt, slit on the right side to allow her the saddle of the kaiila, her leather blouse was sleeveless; attached to her shoulders was a crimson cape; and her wild black hair was bound back by a band of scarlet cloth. Like the other women of the Wagons she wore no veil and, like them, fixed in her nose was the tiny, fine ring that proclaimed her people." "Nomads of Gor" page 32

"Free women, incidentally, among the Wagon Peoples are not permitted to wear silk; it is claimed by those of the Wagons, delightfully I think, that any women who loves the feel of silk on her body is, in the secrecy of her heart and blood, a slave girl, whether or not some Master has yet forced her to don the collar." "Nomads of Gor" page 58

"The women of the Wagon Peoples, incidentally, keep a calendar based on the phases of Gor's largest moon, but this is a calendar of fifteen moons, named for the fifteen varieties of bosk, and functions independently of the tallying of years by snows; for example, the Moon of the Brown Bosk may at one time occur in the winter, at another time, years later, in the summer; this calendar is kept by a set of colored pegs set in the sides of some wagons, on one of which, depending on the moon, a round, wooden plate bearing the image of a bosk is fixed. " "Nomads of Gor" page 12

"The women of the Wagon Peoples, it might be mentioned, are not permitted to pray; many of them, however, do patronize the haruspexes, who, besides foretelling the future with a greater or lesser degree of accuracy for generally reasonable fees, provide an incredible assemblage of amulets, talismans, trinkets, philters, potions, spell papers, wonderworking sleen teeth, marvelous powdered kailiauk horns, and colored, magic strings that, depending on the purpose, may be knotted in various ways and worn about the neck." "Nomads of Gor" page 28

"She was a peasant, barefoot, her garment little more than coarse sacking. She had been carrying a wicker basket containing vulos, domesticated pigeons raised for eggs and meat." "Nomads of Gor" page 1

"In the crowd, on the back of a kaiila, I noted the girl Hereena, of the First Wagon, whom I had seen my first day in the camp of the Tuchuks, she who had almost ridden down Kamchak and myself between the wagons. She was a very exciting, vital, proud girl and the tiny golden nose ring, against her brownish skin, with her flashing black eyes, did not detract from her considerable but rather insolent beauty. She, and others like her, had been encouraged and spoiled from childhood in all their whims, unlike most other Tuchuk women, that they might be fit prizes, Kamchak had told me, in the games of Love War. Turian warriors, he told me, enjoy such women, the wild girls of the Wagons. A young man, blondish-haired with blue eyes, unscarred, bumped against the girl's stirrup in the press of the crowd. She struck him twice with the leather quirt in her hand, sharply, viciously. I could see blood on the side of his neck, where it joins the shoulder." "Nomads of Gor" page 67

SLAVES

General

"The Wagon Peoples enjoy being served by civilized slaves of great beauty and high station; during the day, in the heat and dust, such girls will care for the wagon bosk and gather fuel for the dung fires; at night they will please their masters."
"Nomads of Gor" page 57

"As Kamchak and I walked to his wagon, I saw several girls, here and there, clad Kajir; they were magnificent; they walked with the true brazen insolence of the slave girl, the wench who knows that she is owned, whom men have found beautiful enough, and exciting enough, to collar. The dour women of the Wagon Peoples, I saw, looked on these girls with envy and hatred, sometimes striking them with sticks if they should approach too closely the cooking pots and attempt to steal a piece of meat."
"Nomads of Gor" page 30

"Few it seemed to me, much objected to leaving the luxurious delights of the gardens for the freedom of the winds and prairies, the dust, the smell of bosk, the collar of a man who would master them utterly, but before whom they would stand as human shes, individual, each different, each alone and marvelous and prized in the secret world of her master's wagon."
"Nomads of Gor" page 332

Feeding a slave

"Kamchak of the Tuchuks is your master," I said. "He will eat first. Afterward, if he chooses, you will be fed."
She leaned back against the wagon pole.
"All right," she said.
When Kamchak rolled out of his furs Elizabeth, involuntarily shrank back, until the pole would permit her to withdraw no further. Kamchak looked at me.
"How is the little barbarian this morning?" he asked.
"Hungry," I said.
"Excellent," he said. He looked at her, her back tight against the wagon pole, clutching the pelt of the larl about her with her braceleted hands. Kamchak snapped his fingers and pointed to the rug, Elizabeth then knelt to him, clutching the pelt about her, and put her head to his feet."
"Nomads of Gor" page 62/3

"Elizabeth Cardwell took the meat in her two hands, confined before her by slave bracelets and the chain of the sirik, and bending her head, her hair falling forward, ate it. She, a slave had accepted meat from the hand of Kamchak of the Tuchuks. She belonged to him now." "Nomads of Gor" page 54

Punishment

"Do you not recall," asked Kamchak, "the banquet of Saphrar?"
"Of course." she said, warily.
"Do you not recall," asked Kamchak. "the affair of the tiny bottles of perfume and the smell of bosk dung--how nobly you attempted to rid the banquet hall of that most unpleasant and distasteful odor?"
"Yes," said the girl, very slowly.
"Do you not recall," asked Kamchak, "What I then said to you--what I said at that time?"
"No!" cried the girl leaping up, but Kamchak had jumped toward her, scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder. She squirmed and struggled on his shoulder, kicking and pounding on his back. "Sleen!" she cried. "Sleen! Sleen! Sleen!" I followed Kamchak down the steps of the wagon and, blinking and still sensible of the effects of the Paga, gravely held open the large dung sack near the rear left wheel of the wagon.
"No, Master!" the girl wept. "You call no man Master," Kamchak was reminding her. And then I saw the lovely Aphris of Turia pitched head first into the large, leather sack, screaming and sputtering, thrashing about. "Master!" she cried. "Master! Master!" Sleepily I could see the sides of the sack bulging out wildly here and there as she squirmed about. Kamchak then tied shut the end of the leather sack and wearily stood up.
"I am tired," he said. " I have had a difficult and exhausting day." I followed him into the wagon where, in a short time, we had both fallen asleep."
"Nomads of Gor" page 143/4

Clad Kajir

"Among the Wagon Peoples, to be clad Kajir means, for a girl, to wear four articles, two red two black; a red cord, the Curla, is tied about the waist; the chatka, or long , narrow strip of black leather, fits over the cord in front, passes under, and then again, from the inside, passes over the cord in back; the chatka is drawn tight; the kalmak is then donned; it is a short sleeveless vest of black leather; lastly the koora, a strip of red cloth, matching the curla, is wound about the head, to hold the hair back, for slave women, among the Wagon Peoples, are not permitted to braid, or otherwise dress their hair; it must be, save for the koora, worn loose. For a male slave or kajirus, of the Wagon Peoples, and there are few, save for the work chains, to be clad Kajir means to wear the Kes, a short, sleeveless work tunic of black leather." "Nomads of Gor" page 30

- Curla

"... a red cord, the Curla, is tied about the waist; "

- Chatka

"... the chatka, or long , narrow strip of black leather, fits over the cord in front, passes under, and then again, from the inside, passes over the cord in back; the chatka is drawn tight;"

- Kalmak

"... the kalmak is then donned; it is a short sleeveless vest of black leather;"

- Koora

"... lastly the koora, a strip of red cloth, matching the curla, is wound about the head, to hold the hair back, for slave women, among the Wagon Peoples, are not permitted to braid, or otherwise dress their hair; it must be, save for the koora, worn loose."

- Kes

"For a male slave or kajirus, of the Wagon Peoples, and there are few, save for the work chains, to be clad Kajir means to wear the Kes, a short, sleeveless work tunic of black leather."

"As Kamchak and I walked to his wagon, I saw several girls, here and there, clad Kajir; they were magnificent; they walked with the true brazen insolence of the slave girl, the wench who knows that she is owned, whom men have found beautiful enough, and exciting enough, to collar. The dour women of the Wagon Peoples, I saw, looked on these girls with envy and hatred." "Nomads of Gor" page 30

Sirik

"both girls wore the Sirik, a light chain favored for female slaves by many Gorean masters; it consists of a Turian-type collar, a loose, rounded circle of steel, to which a light, gleaming chain is attached; should the girl stand, the chain, dangling from her collar, falls to the floor; it is about ten or twelve inches longer than is required to reach from her collar to her ankles; to this chain, at the natural fall of her wrists, is attached a pair of slave bracelets; at the end of the chain there is attached another device, a set of linked ankle rings, which, when closed about her ankles, lifts a portion of the slack chain from the floor; the Sirik is an incredibly graceful thing and designed to enhance the beauty of its wearer; perhaps it should only be added that the slave bracelets and ankle rings may be removed from the chain and used separately; this also, of course, permits the Sirik to function as a slave leash."
"Nomads of Gor" page 42

Turian Camisk

"The Turian camisk, on the other hand, if it were to be laid out on the floor, would appear somewhat like an inverted "T" in which the bar of the "T" would be beveled on each side. It is fastened with a single cord. The cord binds the garment on the girl at three points, behind the neck, behind the back, and in front at the waist. The garment itself, as might be supposed, fastens behind the girls neck, passes before her, passes between her legs and is then lifted and, folding the two sides of the T's bar about her hips, ties in front. The Turian camisk, unlike the common camisk, will cover a girl's brand; on the other hand, unlike the common camisk, it leaves the back uncovered and can be tied, and is, snugly, the better to disclose the girl's beauty."
"Nomads of Gor" page 90

Turian Collar

"The Turian collar lies loosely on the girl, a round ring, it fits so loosely that, when grasped in a man's fist, the girl can turn within it; the common Gorean collar, on the other hand, is flat, snugly fitting steel band. Both collars lock in the back, behind the girl's neck. The Turian collar is more difficult to engrave, but it, like the flat collar, will bear some legend assuring that the girl, if found, will be promptly returned to her master." "Nomads of Gor" page 16

Brands

"The brand of the Tuchuk slave , incidentally, is not the same as that used in the cities, which for girls is the first letter of the expression Kajira in cursive script, but the sign of the four bosk horns, that of the Tuchuk standard, the brand of the four bosk horns, set in a manner to somewhat resemble the letter H, is only about an inch high." "Nomads of Gor" page 62

"The standard of the Kassars is that of a scarlet, three- weighted bola, which hangs from a lance; the symbolic representation of a bola, three circles joined at the center by lines, it is used to mark their bosk and slaves." "Nomads of Gor" page 106

"The standard of the Kataii is a yellow bow, bound across a black lance; their brand is also that of a bow, facing to the left;" "Nomads of Gor" page 106

"... the Paravaci brand is a symbolic representation of a bosk head, a semicircle resting on an inverted isosceles triangle." "Nomads of Gor" page 106

Love Dances

"Dance!" screamed Aphris, rising to her feet. "What shall I do?" begged the kneeling girl of Kamchak. She looked not too unlike Hereena, and was perhaps a similar sort of girl, raised and trained much the same. Like Hereena, of course, she wore the tiny golden nose ring. Kamchak spoke to her, very gently. "You are slave," he said. "Dance for your masters." The girl looked at him gratefully and she, with the others, rose to her feet and to the astounding barbarity of the music performed the savage love dances of the Kassars, the Paravaci, the Kataii, the Tuchuks. They were magnificent. One girl, the leader of the dancers, she who had spoken to Kamchak, was a Tuchuk girl, and was particularly startling, vital, uncontrollable, wild. It was then clear to me why the Turian men so hungered for the wenches of the Wagon Peoples. At the height of one of her dances, called the Dance of the Tuchuk Slave Girl, Kamchak turned to Aphris of Turia, who was watching the dance, eyes bright, as astounded as I at the savage spectacle. "I will see to it," said Kamchak, "when you are my slave, that you are taught that dance."
"Nomads of Gor" page 98

CASTE SYSTEM

"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 must 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" footnote of page 12

"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 with a given city; the caste, on the other hand, is transmunicipal or intermunicipal."
"Slave Girl of Gor" page 213

Clan of Torturers

"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."
"Nomads of Gor" page 9/10

"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."

"For what you have done," he said, "it is common to call for one of the Clan of Torturers." "Nomads of Gor" Page 142

Clan of Scarers

"When I have time," said Harold, "I will call one from the Clan of Scarers and have the scaraffixed. It will make me look even more handsome." "Nomads of Gor" page 274

Clan of Leather Workers

"Come along," he said. "There is a new kaiila I want to see near the wagon of Yachi of the Leather Workers' Clan." "Nomads of Gor" page 170

Clan of Singers

"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" footnote of page12

Clan of Year Keepers

"The years, incidentally, are not numbered by the Wagon Peoples, but given names, toward their end, based on something or other which has occurred to distinguish the year. The year names are kept in living memory by the Year Keepers, some of whom can recall the names of several thousand consecutive years. The Wagon Peoples do not trust important matters, such as year names, to paper or parchment, subject to theft, insect and rodent damage, deterioration, etc.(...)"
"Nomads of Gor" footnote of page 12

ECONOMY

Agriculture

"The Wagon Peoples grow no food, nor do they have manufacturing as we know it. They are herders, and it is said, killers." "Nomads of Gor" page 4

Herding

"The bosk, without which the Wagon People could not live, is an oxlike creature. Its is huge shambling animal with a thick, humped neck and long shaggy hair. It has a wide head and tiny red eyes, a temper to match that of a sleen and two long, wicked horns that reach out from its head and suddenly curve forward to terminate in fearful points. Some of these horns, on the larger animals, measured from tip to tip, exceed the length of two spears. Not only does the flesh of the bosk and the milk of the cows furnish the Wagon Peoples with food and drink, but its hides cover the domelike wagons in which they dwell; its tanned and sewn skins cover their bodies; the leather of its hump is used for their shields; its sinews form their thread; its bones and horns are split and tooled into implements of a hundred sorts, from awls, punches and spoons to drinking flagons and weapon tips; its hooves are used for glues; its oils are used to grease their bodies against the cold. Even the dung of the bosk finds its uses on the treeless prairies, being dried and used for fuel. The bosk is said to be the Mother of the Wagon Peoples, and they reverence it as such. The man who kills one foolishly is strangled in thongs or suffocated in the hide of the animal he slew; if, for any reason, the man should kill a bosk cow with unborn young he is staked out, alive, in the path of the herd, and the march of the Wagon Peoples takes its way over him."
"Nomads of Gor" page 4/5
"The bosk is said to be the Mother of the Wagon Peoples, and they reverence it as such. The man who kills one foolishly is strangled in thongs or suffocated in the hide of the animal he slew; if, for any reason, the man should kill a bosk cow with unborn young he is staked out, alive, in the path of the herd, and the march of the Wagon Peoples takes its way over him."
"Nomads of Gor" page 5

Trade

"The Wagon Peoples, though enemies of Turia, needed and wanted her goods, in particular materials of metal and cloth, which are highly prized among the Wagons. Indeed, even the chains and collars of slave girls, worn often by captive Turian girls themselves, are of Turian origin. The Turians, on the other hand, take factor or trade in trade for their goods obtained by manu with other cities principally the horn and hide of the bosk, which naturally the Wagon Peoples, who live on the bosk, have in plenty. The Turians also, I note, receive other goods from the Wagon Peoples, who tend to be fond of the raid, goods looted from caravans perhaps a thousand pasangs from the herds, indeed some of them even on the way to and from Turia itself. From these raids the Wagon Peoples obtain a miscellany of goods which they are willing to barter to the Turians, jewels, precious metals, spices, colored table salts, harnesses and saddles for the ponderous tharlarion, furs of small river animals, tools for the field, scholarly scrolls, inks and papers, root vegetables, dried fish, powdered medicines, ointments, perfume and women, customarily plainer ones they do not wish to keep for themselves; prettier wenches, to their dismay, are usually kept with the wagons; some of the plainer women are sold for as little as a brass cup; a really beautiful girl, particularly if of free birth and high caste, might bring as much as forty pieces of gold; such are, however, seldom sold; the Wagon Peoples enjoy being served by civilized slaves of great beauty and high station; during the day, in the heat and dust, such girls will care for the wagon bosk and gather fuel for the dung fires; at night they will please their masters."
"Nomads of Gor" page 57

"It might be added that there are two items which the Wagon Peoples will not sell or trade to Turia, one is a living bosk and the other is a girl from the city itself, though the latter are sometimes, for the sport of the young men, allowed, as it is said, to run for the city. They are then hunted from the back of the kaiila with bole and thongs."
"Nomads of Gor" page 58

"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 34/5

CULTURE AND TRADITIONS

Greetings

"He grinned a Tuchuck grin.'How are the Bosk?' He asked.
'As well as may be expected,' said Kamchak.
'Are the Quivas sharp?'
'One tries to keep them so,' said Kamchak.
'It is important to keep the axles of the wagons greased,'
observed Kutaituchik.
'Yes,' said Kamchak, 'I believe so.'
Kutaituchik suddenly reached out and he and Kamchak, laughing, clasped hands." "Nomads of Gor" page 44

Friendship

"Suddenly the Tuchuk bent to the soil and picked up a handful of dirt and grass, the land on which the bosk graze, the land which is the land of the Tuchuks, and this dirt and this grass he thrust in my hands and I held it. The warrior grinned and put his hands over mine so that our hands, together held the dirt and grass, and were together clasped upon it. 'Yes,' said the warrior, 'come in peace to the Land of the Wagon Peoples.' "Nomads of Gor" page 26

"'He is a stranger,' she said. 'He should be slain!' Kamchak grinned up at her. 'He has held with me dirt and earth,' he said." "Nomads of Gor" page 32

"'You would risk,' I asked, 'the herds- the wagons- the peoples?' ' Yes,' said Kamchak. 'Why?' I asked. He looked at me and smiled.'Because,' said he, 'we have together held grass and earth.' "Nomads of Gor" page 52

Funeral

"I had found Kamchak, as I had been told I would, at the wagon of Kutaituchik, which, drawn up on its hill near the standard of the four bosk horns, had been heaped with what wood was at hand and filled with dry grass. The whole was then drenched in fragrant oils, and that dawn of the retreat, Kamchak, by his own hand, hurled the torch into the wagon.
Somewhere in the wagon, fixed in a sitting position, weapons at hand, was Kutaituchik, who had been Kamchak's friend, and who had been called Ubar of the Tuchuks. The smoke of the wagon must easily have been seen from the distant walls of Turia."
"Nomads of Gor" page 231

Gambling

"The Tuchuks, not unlike Goreans in general, are fond of gambling. Indeed it is not unknown that a Tuchuk will bet his entire stock of Bosk on the outcome of a single kailla race; as many as a dozen slave girls may change hands on something as small as the direction that a bird will fly or the number of seeds in a tospit." "Nomads of Gor" page 60

"'Odd or even?' he asked. I had resolved not to wager with Kamchak, but this was indeed an opportunity to gain a certain amount of vengeance which, on my part, would be sorely appreciated. Usually, in guessing tospit seeds, one guesses the actual number, and usually both guessers opt for an odd number. The common tospit almost invariable has an odd number of seeds. On the other hand the rare, long-stemmed tospit usually has an even number of seeds. Both fruits are indistinguishable outwardly. I could see that, perhaps by accident, the tospit which Kamchak had thrown me had had the stem twisted off. It must be then, I surmised, the rare long stemmed-tospit.
'Even,' I said. Kamchak looked at me as though pained.
'Tospits almost always have an odd number of seeds,' he said.
'Even,' I said.
'Very well,' said he, 'eat the tospit and see.'
'Why should I eat it?' I asked. The tospit, after all, is quite bitter. And why should't Kamchak eat it? He had suggested the wager.
'I am a Tuchuk,' said Kamchak, 'I might be tempted to swallow seeds.'
'Lets cut it up.' I proposed.
'One might miss a seed that way,' said Kamchak.
'Perhaps we could mash the slices.' I suggested.
'But would that not be a great deal of trouble,' asked Kamchak, 'and might one not stain the rug?'
'Perhaps we could mash them in a bowl,' I suggested.
'But then a bowl would have to be washed,' said Kamchak.
'That is true.' I admitted.
'All things considered,' said Kamchak, 'I think the fruit should be eaten.'
'I guess you are right,' I said. I bit into the fruit philosophically. It was indeed bitter.
'Besides,' said Kamchak, 'I do not much care for tospits,'
'I am not surprised,' I said.
'They are quite bitter,' said Kamchak. 'Yes,' I said. I finished the fruit and, of course, it had seven seeds.
'Most tospits,' Kamchak informed me, 'have an odd number of seeds.'
'I know,' I said.
'Then why did you guess even?' he asked.
'I supposed,' I grumbled, 'that you would have found a long-stemmed tospit.'
'But they are not available,' he said, 'until late in the summer.'
'Oh,' I said. "
"Nomads of Gor" page 149/150

"'I wager,' she said, 'that I will reach the lance.' This irritated me. Moreover, I was not insensitive to the fact that though she were slave and I a free man, she had not addressed me, as the custom is, by the title of Master. I had no objection to the omission itself, but I did object to the affront therein implied. For some reason this wench seemed to me rather arrogant, rather contemptuous.
'I wager that you do not,' I said.
'Your terms!' she challenged.
'What are yours?' I asked. She laughed.
'If I win,' she said, you give me your bola, which I will present to my master.'
'Agreed,' I said. 'And if I should win?'
'You will not,' she said.
'But if do?'
'Then,' said she, 'I will give you a golden ring and a silver cup.'
'How is it that a slave has such riches?' I asked. She tossed her head in the air, not deigning to respond.
'I have given her several such things,' said Albrecht. I now gathered that the girl facing me was not a typical slave, and that there must be a very good reason why she should have such things.
'I do not want your golden ring and silver cup,' I said.
'What then could you want?' asked she.
'Should I win,' I said, 'I will claim as my prize the kiss of an insolent wench.' " "Nomads of Gor" page 74/5

Games

- Running for the Lance
"As soon as Kamchak had agreed to Albrecht's proposal the children and several of the slave girls immediately began to rush toward the wagons, delightedly crying 'Wager! Wager!' Soon, to my dismay, a large number of Tuchuks, male and female, and their male or female slaves, began to gather near the worn lane on the turf. The terms of the wager were soon well known. In the crowd, as well as Tuchuks and those of the Tuchuks, there were some Kassars, a Paravaci or two, even one of the Kataii. The slave girls in the crowd seemed particularly excited. I could hear bets being taken." "Nomads of Gor" page 60

"A black lance was fixed in the prairie about four hundred yards away. A rider beside it, on a kaiila, marked its place. It was not expected, of course, that any of the girls would reach the lance. If one did, of course, the rider would decree her safe. In the run the important thing was time, the dispatch and the skill with which the thing was accomplished. Tuchuk girls, Elizabeth and Tuka, would run for the Kassars; the two Kassar girls would run for Kamchak and myself; naturally each slave does her best for her master, attempting to evade his competitor. The time in these matters is reckoned by the heartbeat of a standing kaiila. Already one had been brought. Near the animal, on the turf, a long bosk whip was laid in a circle, having a diameter of somewhere between eight and ten feet. The girl begins her run from the circle. The object of the rider is to effect her capture, secure her and return her, in as little time as possible, to the circle of the whip. Already a grizzled Tuchuk had his hand, palm flat, on the silken side of the standing kaiila." "Nomads of Gor" page 70

- Lance and tospit
"Save for armed combat, lance and tospit with the living wand is the most dangerous of the sports of the Wagon Peoples. In this sport, as might be expected, one's own slave must stand for one. It is essentially the same sport as lancing the tospit from the wand, save that the fruit is held in the mouth of a girl, who is slain should she move or in any way withdraw from the lance. Needless to say many a slave girl has been injured in this cruel sport." "Nomads of Gor" page 79

"This is the most difficult of the lance sports. The thrust must be made with exquisite lightness, the lance loose in the hand, the hand not in the retaining thong, but allowing the lance to slip back, then when clear, moving it to the left and, hopefully, past the living wand. If well done, this is a delicate and beautiful stroke. If clumsily done the girl will be scarred, or perhaps slain." "Nomads of Gor" page 80

Games of Love War

"The institution of Love War is an ancient one among the Turians and the Wagon Peoples (...) The games of the Love War are celebrated every spring (...)" "Nomads of Gor" page 115

"The theoretical justification of the games of the Love War, from the Turian point of view, is that they provide an excellent arena in which to demonstrate the fierceness and prowess of Turian warriors, thus perhaps intimidating or, at the very least, encouraging the often overbold warriors of the Wagon Peoples to be wary of Turian steel."
"Nomads of Gor" page 116

"I once asked Kamchak if the Wagon Peoples had a justification for the games of Love War. "Yes," he had said. And he had then pointed to Dina and Tenchika, clad kajir, who were at that time busy in the wagon. "That is the justification," said Kamchak. And he had then laughed and pounded his knee."
"Nomads of Gor" page 116

"The morning sun flashed from their helmets, their long tharlarion lances, the metal embossments on their oval shields, unlike the rounded shields of most Gorean cities. I could hear, like the throbbing of a heart, the beating of the two tharlarion drums that set the cadence of the march. Beside the tharlarion walked other men-at-arms, and even citizens of Turia, and more vendors and musicians, come to see the games.
On the heights of distant Turia itself I could see the flutter of flags and pensions. The walls were crowded, and I supposed many upon them used the long glasses of the Caste of Builders to observe the field of the stakes." "Nomads of Gor" page 113

"Judges and craftsmen from Ar, hundreds of pasangs away, across the Cartius, were already at the stakes, inspecting than and preparing the ground between them. These men, as in every year, I learned, had been guaranteed safe passage across the southern plains for this event. The journey, even so, was not without its dangers, but they had been well recompensed, from the treasure chests of both Turia and the Wagon Peoples. Some of the judges, now wealthy, had officiated several times at the games. The fee for even one of their accompanying craftsmen was sufficient to support a man for a year in luxurious Ar."
"Nomads of Gor" page 115

"As I knew, not just any girl, any more than just any warrior, could participate in the games of the Love War. Only the most beautiful were eligible, and only the most beautiful of these could be chosen." "Nomads of Gor" page 117

"I do not know if there are, by count, a thousand stakes or not on the Plains of a Thousand Stakes, but I would suppose that there are that many or more. The stakes, flat-topped, each about six and half feet high and about seven or eight inches in diameter, stand in two long lines facing one another in pairs. The two lines are separated by about fifty feet and each in a line is separated from the stake on its left and right by about ten yards. The two lines of stakes extended for more than four pasangs across the prairie." (...) "In the space between the two lines of stakes, for each pair of facing stakes, there was a circle of roughly eight yards in diameter. This circle, the grass having been removed, was sanded and raked."
"Nomads of Gor" page 112/3

"I heard a cry from the Turians across the way. "The wenches!" he cried, and this shout was taken up by many of the others. There was much laughing and pounding of lances on shields. In a moment, to a thunder of kaiila paws on the turf, racing between the lines of stakes, scattering sand, there came a great number of riders, their black hair swirling behind them, who pulled up on their mounts, rearing and squealing, between the stakes, and leaped from the saddle to the sand, relinquishing the reins of their mounts to men among the Wagon Peoples. They were marvelous, the many wild girls of the Wagons, and I saw that chief among them was the proud, beauteous Hereena, of the First Wagon. They were enormously excited, laughing. Their eyes shone. A few spit and shook their small fists at the Turians across the way, who reciprocated with good-natured shouts and laughter."
"Nomads of Gor" page 115

"One by one, clad in the proud arrays of resplendent silks, each in the Robes of Concealment, the damsels of Turia, veiled and straight-standing, emerged from their palanquins, scarcely concealing their distaste for the noise and clamor about them.
Judges were now circulating, each with lists, among the Wagon Peoples and the Turians.
As I knew, not just any girl, any more than just any warrior, could participate in the games of Love War. Only the most beautiful were eligible, and only the most beautiful of these could be chosen.
A girl might propose herself to stand, as had Aphris of Turia, but this would not guarantee that she would be chosen, for the criteria of Love War are exacting and, as much as possible, objectively applied. Only the most beautiful of the most beautiful could stand in this harsh sport." "Nomads of Gor" page 116/7

"I heard a judge call, "First Stake Aphris of Turia."
"Hah!" yelled Kamchak, slapping me on the back, nearly knocking me from the back of my kaiila.
I was astonished. The Turian wench was beautiful indeed, that she could stand at the first stake. This meant that she was quite possibly the most beautiful woman in Turia, certainly at least among those in the games this year. In her silks of white and gold, on cloths thrown before her, Aphris of Turia stepped disdainfully forward, guided by a judge, to the first of the stakes on the side of the Wagon Peoples. The girls of the Wagon Peoples, on the other hand, would stand at the stakes nearest Turia. In this way the Turian girls can see their city and their warriors, and the girls of the Wagons can see the plains and the warriors of the Wagon Peoples. I had also been informed by Kamchak that this places the girl farther from her own people. Thus, to interfere, a Turian would have to cross the space between the stakes, and so, too, would one of the Wagon Peoples, thus clearly calling themselves to the attention of the judges, those officials supervising the Games. The judges were now calling names, and girls, both of the Wagon Peoples and of Turia, were coming forward. I saw that Hereena, of the First Wagon, stood Third Stake, though, as far as I could note, she was no less beautiful than the two Kassar girls who stood above her.
Kamchak explained that there was a slight gap between two of her teeth on the upper right hand side in the back." "Nomads of Gor" page 117

"The selection of the girls, incidentally, is determined by judges in their city, or of their own people, in Turia by members of the Caste of Physicians who have served in the great slave houses of Ar; among the wagons by the masters of the public slave wagons, who buy, sell and rent girls, providing warriors and slavers with a sort of clearing house and market for their feminine merchandise. The public slave wagons, incidentally, also provide Paga. They are a kind of combination Paga tavern and slave market. I know of nothing else precisely like them on Gor. Karuchak and I had visited one last night where I had ended up spending four copper tarn disks for one bottle of Paga. I hauled Kamchak out of the wagon before he began to bid on a chained-up little wench from Port Kar who had taken his eye.
I looked up and down the lines of stakes. The girls of the Wagon Peoples stood proudly before their stakes, certain that their champions, whoever they were to be, would be victorious and return them to their peoples; the girls of the city of Turia stood also at their stakes, but with feigned indifference. I supposed, in spite of their apparent lack of concern, the hearts of most of the Turian girls were beating rapidly. This could not be for them an ordinary day.
I looked at them, veiled and beautiful in their silks. Yet I knew that beneath those Robes of Concealment many wore the shameful Turian camisk, perhaps the only time the hated garment would touch their bodies, for should their warrior lose this match they knew they would not be permitted to lithe stake in the robes in which they came.
They would not be led away as free women."
"Nomads of Gor" page 118

"But to my amazement, Kamchak only smiled. "Why should I fight?" he asked. "What do you mean?" demanded Kamras. "What is to be gained?" inquired Kamchak. "Aphris of Turia!" cried the girl. There were cries of horror, or protest, from the men crowded about. "Yes!" cried Aphris of Turia. "If you will meet Kamras, Champion of Turia, I, Aphris of Turia, will stand at the stake in Love War!" Kamchak looked at her. "I will fight," he said." "Nomads of Gor" page 120

Literature

"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 11

Music

"To one side, across a clearing from the fire, a bit in the background, was a group of nine musicians. They were not as yet playing, though one of them was absently tapping a rhythm on a small hand drum, the kaska; two others, with stringed instruments, were tuning them, putting their ears to the instruments. One of the instruments was an eight-stringed czehar, rather like a large flat oblong box; it is held across the lap when sitting cross-legged and is played with a horn pick; the other was the kalika, a six-stringed instrument; it, like the czehar, is flat-bridged and its strings are adjusted by means of small wooden cranks; on the other hand, it less resembles a low, flat box and suggests affinities to the banjo or guitar, though the sound box is hemispheric and the neck rather long; it, too, of course, like the czehar, is plucked; I have never seen a bowed instrument on Gor; also, I might mention, I have never on Gor seen any written music; I do not know if a notation exists; melodies are passed on from father to son, from master to apprentice. There was another kalika player, as well, but he was sitting there holding his instrument, watching the slave girls in the audience. The three flutists were polishing their instruments and talking together; it was shop talk I gathered, because one or the other would stop to illustrate some remark by a passage on his flute, and then one of the others would attempt to correct or improve on what he had done; occasionally their discussion grew heated. There was also a second drummer, also with a kaska, and another fellow, a younger one, who sat very seriously before what appeared to me to be a pile of objects; among them was a notched stick, played by sliding a polished tem-wood stick across its surface; cymbals of various sorts; what was obviously a tambourine; and several other instruments of a percussion variety, bits of metal on wires, gourds filled with pebbles, slave bells mounted on hand rings, and such. These various things, from time to time, would be used not only by himself but by others in the group, probably the second kaska player and the third flutist. Among Gorean musicians, incidentally, czehar players have the most prestige; there was only one in this group, I noted, and he was their leader; next follow the flutists and then the players of the kalika; the players of the drums come next; and the farthest fellow down the list is the man who keeps the bag of miscellaneous instruments, playing them and parceling them out to others as needed." "Nomads of Gor" page 153/4 "The songs of Gor varied from place to place as you will see in the following examples. Some were sung as part of tradition, to tell a story, or played for there beauty and melody. It might be noted that they were never written down, but instead passed from generation to generation and master to apprentice. I might mention, I have never on Gor seen any written music; I do not know if a notation exists; melodies are passed on from father to son, from master to apprentice." "Nomads of Gor" page 153

Blue Sky Song

"Some of the Tuchuks began to sing the Blue Sky Song, the refrain of which is that though I die, yet there will be the bosk, the grass and sky." "Nomads of Gor" page 263

Religion

"The Tuchuks and the other Wagon Peoples reverence Priest-Kings, but unlike the Goreans of the cities, with their castes of Initiates, they do not extend to them the dignities of worship. I suppose the Tuchuks worship nothing, in the common sense of that word, but it is true they hold many things holy, among them the bosk and the skills of arms, but chief of the things before which the proud Tuchuk stands ready to remove his helmet is the sky, the simple, vast beautiful sky, from which fans the rain that, in his myths, formed the earth, and the bosks, and the Tuchuks. It is to the sky that the Tuchuks pray when they pray, demanding victory and luck for themselves, defeat and misery for their enemies." "Nomads of Gor" page 28

"The Tuchuk, incidentally, like others of the Wagon Peoples, prays only when mounted, only when in the saddle and with weapons at hand; he prays to the sky not as a slave to a master, nor a servant to a god, but as warrior to a Ubar; the women of the Wagon Peoples, it might be mentioned, are not permitted to pray;" "Nomads of Gor" page 28

"the women of the Wagon Peoples, it might be mentioned, are not permitted to pray; many of them, however, do patronize the haruspexes, who, besides foretelling the future with a greater or lesser degree of accuracy for generally reasonable fees, provide an incredible assemblage of amulets, talismans, trinkets, philters, potions, spell papers, wonderworking sleen teeth, marvelous powdered kailiauk horns, and colored, magic strings that, depending on the purpose, may be knotted in various ways and worn about the neck." "Nomads of Gor" page 28

Haruspexes

"I heard a haruspex singing between the wagons; for a piece of meat he would read the wind and the grass; for a cup of wine the stars and the flight of birds; for a fat bellied dinner the liver of a sleen or slave." "Nomads of Gor" page 27

"The saying is; under such conditions it was not surprising that the 'omens tended to be unfavorable"; indeed, what more inauspicious omens could there be? The haruspexes, the readers of bosk blood and verr livers, surely would not be unaware of these, let us say, larger, graver omens." "Nomads of Gor" page 27

Omen Year

"The Wagon Peoples war among themselves, but once in every two hands of years, there is a time of gathering of the peoples and this, I had learned, was that time. In the thinking of the Wagon Peoples it is called the Omen Year." "Nomads of Gor" pg 11

"The games of the Love War are celebrated every spring between, so to speak, the city and the plains, whereas the Omen Year occurs only every tenth year." "Nomads of Gor" page 115

"the Omen Year, or season, lasts several months, and consists of three phases, called the Passing of Turia, which takes place in the fall; the Wintering, which takes place north of Turia and commonly south of Cartius, the equator of course lying to the north in this hemisphere; and the Return to Turia, in the spring, or as the Wagon Peoples say, in the Season of Little Grass. It is near Turia, in the spring, that the Omen Year is completed, when the Omens are taken, usually over several days by hundreds of haruspexes, mostly readers of bosk blood and verr livers, to determine if they are favorable for a choosing of a Ubar San, a One Ubar, a Ubar who would be High Ubar, a Ubar of all the Wagon Peoples, a Ubar of all the Peoples, one who could lead them as one people. The omens, I understood, had not been favorable in more than a hundred years." "Nomads of Gor" pages 11/2

"It is the Omen Year," had said Kamchak of the Tuchuks. The herds would circle Turia, for this was the portion of the Omen Year called the Passing of Turia, in which the Wagon Peoples gather and begin to move toward their winter pastures; the second portion of the Omen Year is the Wintering, which takes place far north of Turia, the equator being approached in this hemisphere, of course, from the south; the third and final portion of the Omen Year is the Return to Turia, which takes place in the spring, or as the Wagon Peoples have it, in the Season of Little Grass. It is in the spring that the omens are taken, regarding the possible election of the Ubar San, the One Ubar, he would be Ubar of all the Wagons, of all the Peoples." "Nomads of Gor" page 55

"It is the Omen Year,' had said Kamchak of the Tuchuks....It is in the spring that the omens are taken, regarding the possible election of the Ubar San, the One Ubar, he who would be Ubar of all the Wagons, of all the Peoples." "Nomads of Gor" page 55

"The animals sacrificed, incidentally, are later used for food, so the Omen taking, far from being a waste of animals, is actually a time of feasting and plenty for the Wagon Peoples, who regard the Omen taking, provided it results that no Ubar San is to be chosen, as an occasion for gaiety and festival. As I may have mentioned, no Ubar San had been chosen for more than a hundred years." "Nomads of Gor" page 171

"This is the first Omen, said Kamchak, '--the Omen to see if the Omens are propitious to take the Omens. " "Nomads of Gor" page 172

"Conrad spoke. 'The Omens have been taken, ' he said. 'They have been read well, ' said Hakimba. 'For the first time in more than a hundred years,' said the Paravaci, 'there is a Ubar San, a One Ubar, Master of the Wagons!'... 'Kamchak,' they cried, 'Ubar San!' " "Nomads of Gor" page 334

Calender

"The years, incidentally, are not numbered by the Wagon Peoples, but given names, toward their end, based on something or other which has occurred to distinguish the year. The year names are kept in living memory by the Year Keepers, some of whom can recall the names of several thousand consecutive years. The Wagon Peoples do not trust important matters, such as year names, to paper or parchment, subject to theft, insect and rodent damage, deterioration, etc." "Nomads of Gor" page 11

"In the thinking of the Wagon Peoples it is called the Omen Year, though the Omen Year is actually a season, rather than a year, which occupies a part of two of their regular years, for the Wagon Peoples calculate the year from the Season of Snows to the Season of Snows; Turians, incidentally, figure the year from summer solstice to summer solstice; Goreans generally, on the other hand, figure the year from vernal equinox to vernal equinox, their new year begining, like nature's, with the spring;" "Nomads of Gor" page 11

"the women of the Wagon Peoples, incidentally, keep a calendar based on the phases of Gor's largest moon, but this is a calendar of fifteen moons, named for the fifteen varieties of bosk, and functions independently of the tallying of years by snows; for example, the Moon of the Brown Bosk may at one time occur in the winter, at another time, years later, in the summer; this calendar is kept by a set of colored pegs set in the sides of some wagons, on one of which, depending on the moon, a round, wooden plate bearing the image of a bosk is fixed. " "Nomads of Gor" page 12

"Your coming and going with the Wagon Peoples,' said Kamchak, 'has spanned parts of two of our years.' I looked at him, not really understanding. What he said, of course, was true. 'The years,' said Harold, smiling, 'were the Year in which Tarl Cabot Came to the Wagon Peoples and the Year in which Tarl Cabot Commanded a Thousand.' Inwardly I gasped. These were year names which would be remembered by the Year Keepers, whose memories knew the names of thousands of consecutive years. 'But,' I protested, 'there have been many things of much greater importance than those in these years. The Siege of Turia, the Taking of the City, the Election of the Ubar San' 'We choose most to remember Tarl Cabot,' said Kamchak." "Nomads of Gor" page 342

WARFARE

"The mount of the Wagon Peoples, unknown in the northern hemisphere of Gor, is the terrifying but beautiful kaiila. It is a silken, carnivorous, lofty creature, graceful, long-necked, smooth-gaited. It is viviparous and undoubtedly mammalian. The young are born vicious and by instinct, as soon as they can struggle to their feet, they hunt. The kaiila is extremely agile and can easily outmaneuver the slower, more ponderous high tharlarion. It requires less food, of course, than the tarn. A kailla, which normally stands about twenty to twenty-two hands at the shoulder, can cover as much as six hundred pasangs in a single day's riding. The head of the kaiila bear two large eyes, one on each side, but these eyes are triply lidded, probably an adaptation to the environment which occasionally is wracked by severe storms of wind and dust; the adaptation, actually a transparent third lid, permits the animal to move as it wishes under conditions that force other prairie animals to back into the wind or, like the sleen, to burrow into the ground. The kaiila is most dangerous under these conditions, and, as if it knew this, often uses such times for its hunt." "Nomads of Gor" page 13/4

"The morning sun flashed from their helmets, their long tharlarion lances, the metal embossments on their oval shields, unlike the rounded shields of most Gorean cities." "Nomads of Gor" page 113

"He wore a helmet and carried the Turian shield, which is oval." "Nomads of Gor" page 123

"The kaiila and its master fight in battle as one unit, seemingly a single savage animal, armed with teeth and lance." "Nomads of Gor" page 170

Militar Organisation

"Each warrior of the Wagon Peoples, and that means each able-bodied man, is a member of an Or, or a Ten; each ten is a member of an Oralus, or Hundred; each Oralus is a member of an Oralus, a Thousand. Those who are unfamiliar with the Wagon Peoples, or who know them only from the swift raid, sometimes think them devoid of organization, sometimes conceive of them as mad hordes or aggregates of wild warriors, but such is not the case. Each man knows his position in his Ten, and the position of his Ten in the Hundred, and of the Hundred in the Thousand. During the day the rapid movemeets of these individually maneuverable units are dictated by bosk horn and movements of the standards; at night by the bosk horns and the war lanterns slung on high poles carried by riders." "Nomads of Gor" page 175 Ubar San

Ubar San

"It is near Turia, in the spring, that the Omen Year is completed, when the Omens are taken, usually over several days by hundreds of haruspexes, mostly readers of bosk blood and verr livers, to determine if they are favorable for a choosing of a Ubar San, a One Ubar, a Ubar who would be High Ubar, a Ubar of all the Wagon Peoples, a Ubar of all the Peoples, one who could lead them as one people. The omens, I understood, had not been favorable in more than a hundred years." "Nomads of Gor" pages 11/2

"It is the Omen Year,' had said Kamchak of the Tuchuks....It is in the spring that the omens are taken, regarding the possible election of the Ubar San, the One Ubar, he who would be Ubar of all the Wagons, of all the Peoples." "Nomads of Gor" page 55

"As I may have mentioned, no Ubar San had been chosen for more than a hundred years." "Nomads of Gor" page 171

"This is the first Omen, said Kamchak, '--the Omen to see if the Omens are propitious to take the Omens. " "Nomads of Gor" page 172

"Conrad spoke. 'The Omens have been taken, ' he said.
'They have been read well, ' said Hakimba.
'For the first time in more than a hundred years,' said the Paravaci, 'there is a Ubar San, a One Ubar, Master of the Wagons!'(...)
'Kamchak,' they cried, 'Ubar San!' "
"Nomads of Gor" page 334

WEAPONS

Bola

"...Slowly, singing in a guttural chant, a Tuchuk warrior song, he began to swing the 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. It was probably developed for hunting the tumit, a huge, flightless carnivorous bird of the plains, but the Wagon Peoples use it also, and well, as a weapon of war. Thrown to low the long straps, with their approximate ten-foot sweep, almost impossible to evade ,strike the victim and the weighted balls, as soon as resistance is met, whip about the victim, tangling and tightening the straps. Sometimes legs are broken. It is often difficult to release the straps, so snarled do they become. Thrown high the Gorean bola can lock a man's arms to his sides; thrown to the throat it can strangle him; thrown to the head, a difficult cast, the whipping weights can crush a skull. One entangles the victim with the bola, leaps from one's mount and with the quiva cuts his throat..." Nomads of Gor, Page 24

Kaiila Lance

"Ah, yes, weapons," Kamchak was saying, "what shall it be--the kaiila lance, a whip and bladed bola--perhaps the quiva?" "Nomads of Gor" page 123

"His lance had a rider hood under the point, with which he might dismount opponents." "Nomads of Gor" page 14

"The lances of the Wagon Peoples are not couched. They are carried in the right fist, easily, and are flexible and light, used for thrusting, not the battering-ram effect of the heavy lances of Europe's High Middle Ages. Needless to say, they an be almost as swift and delicate in their address as a saber. The lances are black, cut from the poles of young tem trees. They may be bent almost double, like finely tempered steel, before they break. A loose loop of boskhide, wound twice about the right fist, helps to retain the weapon in hand-to-hand combat. It is seldom thrown. Nomads of Gor, Page 15 �Over his shoulder he, too, carried one of the slender lances.� Nomads of Gor, page 14 �His lance had a rider hook under the point, with which he might dismount opponents.�" "Nomads of Gor" page 14

Horn Bow

"I learned as well the rope and bow. The bow, of course, small, for use from the saddle, lacks the range and power of the Gorean longbow or crossbow; still, at close range, with considerable force, firing rapidly, arrow after arrow, it is a fearsome weapon." "Nomads of Gor" Page 66

"His lance remained on his back, but he carried in his right hand the small, powerful horn bow of the Wagon Peoples an attached to his saddle was a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows. "Nomads of Gor" Page 11

"the small horn bow of the Wagon Peoples can be used to advantage not only from the back of a kaiila but, like the crossbow, from such cramped quarters.� "Nomads of Gor" page 31

Quiva

"I was most fond perhaps, of the balanced saddle knife, the quiva; it is about a foot in length, double edged; it tapers to a dagger like point." "Nomads of Gor" page 67

"(...)the quiva itself is regarded, on the whole, as more of a missile weapon than a hand knife(...) "Nomads of Gor" page 124

"(...)the seven sheaths for the almost legendary quivas, the balanced saddleknives of the prairie. It was said a youth of the Wagon Peoples was taught the bow, the quiva and the lance before their parents would consent to give him a name." "Nomads of Gor" page 11

Saber

"The saber, incidentally, is not only unpopular among the Wagon Peoples but among the warriors of Gor generally; it is regarded as being too long and clumsy a weapon for the close, sharp combat so dear to the heart of the warrior of the cities; further it is not of much use from the saddle of a tarn or tharlarion." "Nomads of Gor" page 124

Helmets

"I could see he carried a small rounded shield, glossy, black, lacquered: he wore a conical, fur rimmed iron helmet, a net of colored chains depending from the helmet protecting his face, leaving only holes for the eyes. He wore a quilted jacket and under this a leather jerkin; the jacket was trimmed with fur and had a for collar; his boots were made of hide and also trimmed with fur; he had a wide, five-buckled belt. I could not see his face because of the net of chain that hung before it. I also noted, about his throat, now lowered, there was a soft leather wind scarf which might, when the helmet and veil was lifted, be drawn over the mouth and nose, against the wind and dust of his ride." "Nomads of Gor" page 10/1

"Then in the clearing inside the gate, on his kaiila, lance in his right fist, turning and barking orders, I saw Kamchak of the Tuchuks, waving men to the left and right, and to the roof tops. His lance point was red. The black lacquer of his shield was deeply cut and scraped. The metal net that depended from his helmet had been thrown back and his eyes and face were fearful to behold. He was flanked by officers of the Tuchuks, commanders of Thousands, mounted as he was and armed. He turned his kaiila to face the city and it reared and he lifted his shield on his left arm and his lance in his right fist."
"Nomads of Gor" page 247

"Harold and I, and those of our men that remained, stood with the wagons, watching the nearing waves of warriors, observing the moment when the chain face guards of the Paravaci helmets were thrown forward, the moment when the lances, like that of a single man, were leveled. We could now hear the drumming of the paws of the kaiila, growing ever more rapid and intense, the squealing of animals here and there along the line, the rustle of weapons and accouterments."
"Nomads of Gor" page 263

Shields

"His shield was lacquered yellow, and his bow was yellow. Over his shoulder he, too, carried one of the slender lances. He was a black. Kataii, I said to myself."
"Nomads of Gor" page 14

"His shield was red. The Blood People, the Kassars."
"Nomads of Gor" page 14

"The kaiila of these men were as tawny as the brown grass of the prairie, save for that of the man who faced me, whose mount was a silken, sable black, as black as the lacquer of the shield.
Now the man facing me lifted his small, lacquered shield and his slender, black lance.(...)
"Hear my name," cried he, "I am Kamchak of the Tuchuks!"
"Nomads of Gor" page 14

About the neck of the fourth rider there was a broad belt of jewels, as wide as my hand. I gathered that this was ostentation. Actually I was later to learn that the jeweled belt is worn to incite envy and accrue enemies; its purpose is to encourage attack, that the owner may try the skill of his weapons, that he need not tire himself seeking for foes. I knew, though, from the belt, though I first misread its purpose, that the owner was of the Paravaci, the Rich People."
"Nomads of Gor" page 14

FAUNA

Bosk

"The bosk is a large, horned, shambling ruminant of the Gorean plains. It is herded below the Gorean equator by the Wagon Peoples, but there are Bosk herds on ranches in the north as well, and peasants often keep some of the animals." "Raiders of Gor" page 26

Kaiila

"I then saw the kaiila pass. It was lofty, stately, fanged and silken. I had heard of such beasts, but this was the first time I had seen. It was yellow, with flowing hair. Its rider was mounted in a high, purple saddle, with knives in the saddle sheaths." "Fighting Slave of Gor" page 178

"The kaiila of these men were as tawny as the brown grass of the prairie, save for that of the man who faced me, whose mount was a silken, sable black..." "Nomads of Gor" page 14

Kailiauk

"Even past me thundered a lumbering herd of startled, short-trunked kailiauk, a stocky, awkward ruminant of the plains, tawny, wild, heavy, their haunches marked in red and brown bars, their wide heads bristling with a trident of horns; they had not stood and formed their circle, she�s and young within the circle of tridents" "Nomads of Gor" page 2

Meadow Kite

"The first southern migrations of meadow kites,' he said, 'have already taken place.'" "Nomads of Gor" page 138

Horned Gim

"The migration of the forest hurlit and the horned gim do not take place until late in the spring." Nomads of Gor, page 138

Hurlit

"The migration of the forest hurlit and the horned gim do not take place until late in the spring." Nomads of Gor, page 138

Prairie Sleen

"I saw a pair of prairie sleen, smaller than the forest sleen but quite as unpredictable and vicious, each about seven feet in length, furred, six-legged mammalian, moving in their undulating gait, with their viper's heads moving from side to side continually testing the winds" "Nomads of Gor" page 2

"As we passed among the wagons I leaped back as a tawny prairie sleen hurled itself against the bars of a sleen cage, reaching out for me with its sicx-clawed paw. There were four other prairie sleen in the cage, a small cage, and they were curling and moving about one another, restlessly, like angry snakes. They would be released with the fan of darkness to rum the periphery of the herds, acting, as I have mentioned, as shepherds and sentinels." "Nomads of Gor" page 28

Rennels

"I was told by Kamchak that once an army of a thousand wagons turned aside because a swarm of rennels, poisonous, crablike desert insects, did not defend its broken nest, crushed by the wheel of the lead wagon." "Nomads of Gor" page 27

Urt

"The urt is a loathsome, horned Gorean rodent; some are quite large, the size of wolves or ponies, but most are very small, tiny enough to be held in the palm of one hand." "Nomads of Gor" page 125

Domestic Verr

"I passed fields that were burning, and burning huts of peasants, the smoking shells of Sa-Tarna granaries, the shattered, slatted coops for vulos, the broken walls of keeps for the small, long-haired domestic verr, less belligerent and sizable than the wild verr of the Voltai ranges." "Nomads of Gor" page 10

Vulo

"She was a peasant, barefoot, her garment little more than coarse sacking. She had been carrying a wicker basket containing vulos, domesticated pigeons raised for eggs and meat." "Nomads of Gor" page 1

FLORA

Kanda

"The roots of the kanda plant, which grows largely in desert regions on Gor, are extremely toxic, but, surprisingly, the rolled leaves of this plant, which are relatively innocuous, are formed into strings and, chewed or sucked, are much favored by many Goreans, particularly in the southern hemisphere, where leaf is more abundant." "Nomads of Gor" page 43

Flower Tree

"And so we sat with our backs against the flower tree in the House of Saphrar, merchant of Turia. I looked at the lovely, dangling loops of interwoven blossoms which hung from the curved branches of the tree. I knew that the clusters of flowers which; cluster upon cluster, graced those linear, hanging stems, would each be a bouquet in itself, for the trees are sobered that the clustered flowers emerge in subtle, delicate patterns of shades and hues." "Nomads of Gor" page 217

Tem-Wood

"(...) there was also, at one side of the garden, against the far wall, a grove of tem-wood, linear, black, supple. "Nomads of Gor" page 217