| Book of Knowledge General Knowledge |
| ahleen, ahleena: beautiful ahn: similar to an Urth hour. consisting of 40 ehn, there are 20 ahn in a gorean day. akaam, aka'am: sister akab: brother akas: clan applause: as on Urth, a sign of approval; on Gor, however, it is performed by striking the right hand against the left shoulder. Aria: of Ar barbarian: a native of the planet Urth; usually used in a derogatory sense in reference to slavegirls from that planet. bazi plague: a deadly, rapidly spreading disease with no known cure; its symptoms include pustules which appear all over the body, and a yellowing of the whites of the eyes. binding strap: a strap 3/4 inch wide and 18 inches long commonly used for binding the wrists and/or ankles of prisoners and slaves. black silk slave: the silk color of an unowned slave. bondage knot: a knot, tied by a slavegirl in her hair on the right side of her face; it is a silent plea to her master that she be ravaged. bond-maid: the term for a slavegirl used in Torvaldsland also called a girl whose belly lies under the sword .bosk: though similar in build to the yak of Urth the bosk bears the heavier form of the Urth buffalo and like him, provides food, leather and many of the needs of the people of Gor. the meat may be roasted or broiled, dried, stewed or served in myriad ways. bracelets or chaining position: in this position the slave stands gracefully before her Master with her hips slightly turned to one side, her back and shoulders erect, her wrists crossed behind her back, and her head turned to the left in anticipation of having slave bracelets attached to her wrists. slaves are commonly chained to their Master's bed or in a tavern where there are rings in the walls that a Master may use to attach a slave to while He goes about his business. brand: a mark burned into the flesh of animals and slaves to mark them as property. specific brands include the kef (common kajira brand), Dina, Palm, mark of Treve, mark of Port Kar, mark of the Tahari, mark of Torvaldsland (a girl whose belly lies under the sword), and the Tuchuk brand of the 4 bosk horns. brand, penalty: small 1/4 inch brands that mark a convicted liar, thief, traitor, etc. brand, thief's: tiny 1/4 inch, 3-pronged brand worn on the cheek of those of the Caste of Thieves. branding rack: a device to which a new slavegirl is chained for branding. the slave's hands are chained above her head, but the rest of her body is free to move, except for whichever thigh is to be branded, this being held motionless in a large vise. canjellne: challenge capture dance: a dance recounting the time in a slave's life when she was captured and made a slave. capture scent: chloroform caste: a division or class of society in any community, applying to freemen. caste, high: white: caste of the Initiates (interpreters of the priests); green: caste of the Physicians; yellow: caste of the Builders; blue: caste of the Scribes; red: caste of the Warriors caste, low: black: assassin; brown and black: wood carriers and woodsmen; brown: peasant; black and gray: charcoal makers; gray and green: tarn keepers; aqua and red: poets and minstrels; brown/green: pot makers; tan: saddle makers; gray: metal workers; gold and white: merchants; blue and yellow: slavers; green, white, and red striped: lighters. chain luck: the attempt to capture a slavegirl without having a particular target in mind chronometer: variety of rare and valuable devices used for various calibrations, time keeping including candles, sun dials, sand glasses, clepsydras (water clocks), and oil clocks. Magicians of Gor, page 358 coin girl: a slavegirl who, with a coinbox and triangular flat bell chained around her neck, is sent out in the streets of a city to earn money from Masters in return for her sexual use. coffle: a method of chaining a line of slaves together for trekking. common methods are to link the slaves by the left ankle, left wrist, or throat. also used to refer to the line of slaves itself. collar: any of several iron or steel devices that fit around the neck of a slave. in Torvaldsland, they are of iron, hinged, and fastened with a rivet collar, dance: a collar to which light-weight (but effective) chain has been attached in order to set off the dancer. a common type consists of a large oval of chain roughly 3 yds. in circumference, to which wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs are attached. once the two sides of the oval have been attached to a ring on the collar, the chain gives about 36 inches of play for each hand, and 18 inches play for each foot; much used in the Tahari collar, lock: a hinged collar easily removed by the use of a key. most often made of flat stock 1-1/2 to 2 inches high, it is usually worn by trained slaves. the lock has one pin for each of the letters in the word 'kajira'. collar, plate: a collar of flat stock which is hammered about a slave's neck, it is usually worn by untrained slaves. collar, Turian: a slave collar of cylindrical stock, rather than the normal flat stock of northern lock collars. fitting more loosely than a lock collar, it can turn around the wearer's neck. collaring (capture) feast: a private feast for a young tarnsman and his family and friends, held to celebrate the capture of his first slavegirl. during the feast the girl formally submits to him as his slave, then proceeds to serve him at the Feast and afterwards in his quarters. companionship price: the gift, in money or goods, given by a man to the father of the woman he wishes to take in free companionship. con: from contasta (lit. 'from the founding of'): means of determining chronology; equivalent to the Urth term AD (Anno Domini}. cur-lon fiber: fiber spun by the Swamp Spiders (Spider People) and used in the textile mills of Ar. da: here dar: holy; priest dar-kosis (lit. 'holy disease'): an incurable, wasting disease akin to the Urth disease of leprosy. degradation stripe: a 2 inches-wide band shaved into the hair of men captured by talunas, or panther girls; it runs from the forehead to the nape of the neck. display slave: a slavegirl whose primary purpose is for the display of her beauty to reflect the affluence of her master. often chained in coffle with other display slaves behind the palanquin or other transport of her Master. double knowledge: the two most common forms of information provided on Gor. the simpler knowledge is taught to the lower castes (see: first knowledge), the more honest knowledge is taught to the higher castes (see: second knowledge). en: first energy bulb: similar to an Urth light bulb. face-strip: to remove the veil(s) worn by a free woman. to do so usually means that she is to be enslaved. fire-maker: a small device consisting of a small reservoir of tharlarion oil, a wick, a thumb-activated, ratcheted steel wheel, and a splinter of flint; not unlike an old-fashioned cigarette lighter of Urth. Savages of Gor, page 15 first knowledge: the education available to the lower castes, such as the Peasants; it is practical, if occasionally deliberately erroneous (i.e. it purports that Gor is a flat disk). flame death: a form of capital punishment imposed by the Priest-Kings and triggered from the Sardar; in it, the victim seems to spontaneously erupt in blue flames. fora: chain; pl. fori - chains frame of humiliation: wooden frame to which the condemned person is tied before it is set adrift in the Vosk River, so that he may die of exposure and/or dehydration, if he is not eaten by tharlarion or other carnivorous reptiles first. free companionship: similar to marriage on Urth, free companions have a contract with another free person, usually of the opposite sex, for a period of one year. if not re-avowed and renewed on it's anniversary, the contract is dissolved. considering the life span of a gorean is measure in centuries, not years, this is very practical. free companionships are automatically dissolved if either is enslaved. free Men: free men fall in categories according to their skills and profession, these categories are otherwise known as castes. free woman: free women are viewed by most goreans as priceless. slaves are not used for breeding, except to create additional slaves, therefore only a free woman can bear children that create family. if a slave gets pregnant, most Goreans would either enslave the child, or give it away. in rare cases, the slave was freed long enough to have the child. even rarer is the case where the mother is allowed to remain free, some men becoming very sentimental about women that present them with children. the rights of free women vary by city, caste, and wealth as might be expected, with wealthy high caste women having a great deal of freedom of action. free women are often seen managing shops in the cities, since it is generally dangerous for women to travel without an escort. in such cases, the men do the leg work and the women manage the business. many members of the Caste of Scribes are woman, and generally these women are as honored for their work as their male counterparts. an unescorted free woman is in constant danger as it is not uncommon for young tarnsmen to rope women off the high bridges of a city just for sport and capture. of course, with the robes of concealment hiding the features of a free woman as they do, slave girls make much better prey, if only because the tarnsman can see the value of what he is capturing. this is why the robes of concealment are so much a part of the free woman's life, including the veil. On Gor a free woman would rather be totally stripped of the rest of her clothing than to lose her veil. a woman without a veil is naked, while those without clothing are merely undressed. gieron: a drug, an allergen, which causes a yellowing of the whites of the eyes; in combination with sajel, it reproduces the symptoms of the Bazi plague. girl-yoke: a narrow piece of wood c. 5' long with holes drilled in the middle and at each end; to secure a girl in this yoke, a thong is tied around one wrist, the end of the thong then being passed through the hole in one end of the yoke; the thong is then passed through the middle hole of the yoke, wrapped around the girl's neck 5 times, then passed back out through the same hole, after which it is passed through the hole at the other end of the yoke, so that her other wrist may be tied to the yoke; shorter (2 1/2' long) versions are sometimes used while the girl is serving her Master's pleasure; used mostly among the Red Savages of the Barrens. Glass of the Builders: an Urth telescope. Gor: Home Stone gray silk slave: the silk color of a state owned slave gur: thin, white honey-like liquid secreted in the Nest by a large, grey domesticated arthropod which feeds on Sim plants; when fermented in the social stomachs of somnolent Priest-Kings, ritually fed to the Mother of the Nest on the Feast of Tola. gur carriers: mutated muls (see: mul) which can climb walls and who gather the fermented gur for the Feast of Tola. harl ring: form of slave chain which consists of an ankle ring with a welded ring in back and a chain in front; the chains terminate in a locking device which can be attached to another Harl ring, around a post, or to itself in order to secure a slave. named for its inventor. har-ta! (command): faster! haruspex: soothsayer; omen-taker Hersius: the planet Jupiter; named for a legendary hero of Ar Home Stone:1) a stone, often circular and flat, that is sacred to each dwelling, and is to be defended ferociously by even the meanest peasant; 2) a similar stone that represents the soul of a city; to be without a Home Stone is to lack citizenship I ask your favor: Gorean phrase equivalent to 'Please' I wish you well: Gorean phrase of farewell initiatory whipping: the beating, usually of about 10 strokes, which a slavegirl receives upon being brought into a new household, to remind her that she is a slave and under discipline. iron pens: the subterranean retention facilities in a Slaver's house where slaves are kept for training and prior to sale. jarl: the title for a leader of warriors in Torvaldsland; also, the title by which all free men of Torvaldsland are addressed by slaves Kaissa (lit. 'the game'): a boardgame much favored on Gor; the board is marked with 100 squares, colored alternately red and yellow; there are 20 pieces per side, which represent Ubar and Ubara, Initiates, Riders of the High Tharlarion, Tarnsmen, Scribes, Builders, Spearmen or Spear Slaves, and the Home Stone; it is played much like chess, the object being to capture one's opponent's Home Stone; in Torvaldsland, the Ubar, Ubara, tarnsman, Initiate, and Scribes are replaced by the Jarl, Jarl's Woman, Ax, Rune-Priest, and Singer, respectively. kajira: slavegirl; pl. kajirae. There are many types of slaves to be found, however, the most common in the tavern is the common kajira, a multipurpose personal slave, and the female tavern slave. These slaves are referred to as kettle and mat slaves. In other words, they do everything from serve as scullery, to cooking, serving, and warm Master's furs at night. kajirus: male slave; pl. kajiri (see kajira) kanda: a shrub of the Gorean desert; a lethal poison can be extracted from its roots, while chewing the leaves has an addictive narcotic effect kan-lara: slave brand kara: turning kef: a letter of the Gorean alphabet, analogous with the Urth letter 'K'; the first letter of the Gorean words for male and female slaves, and hence often used as a brand kennel: a small, concrete room, usu. 3'x3'x4', having an iron grill for a door, in which a slavegirl may be confined at night kettle-and-mat girl: a slavegirl whose function is divided between household tasks and sexual servitude ki: no, not; also indicates a negative (ex. 'la ki kajira' - I am not a slavegirl) ko-lar: slave collar ko-ro-ba: a village market kosis: disease kurdah: a small, light, semi-circular tent, c. 3' in diameter and 4' high, carried by a pack kaiila, in which women (slave or free) may ride; the frame is of tem-wood and is covered with layers of white repcloth; used mainly in the Tahari kurt: the five-bladed slave whip la (phrase; fem): I am; you are lar: central Lar-Torvis: the sun. Lar(central) Torvis(fire). leg-spreader: devices of various complexity designed to keep a slavegirl's legs spread while being used sexually by her master(s); sometimes used on male captives as an indication of humiliation; used mostly among the Red Savages of the Barrens. lo (masc.): I am; you are long ship: a swift, maneuverable ship having 2 rudders, 1 removable lateen-rigged mast, and a keel-to-beam ratio of 8:1; often used in military actions; some are fitted as ram-ships. love furs: soft furs spread thickly on the floor at the foot of a master's sleeping couch, on which a slavegirl is most often ravashed. luck girl: a slavegirl who acts as mascot onboard ship; her use is usually reserved for the captain of the ship, but she may be shared with the crew, usually as a disciplinary measure. |
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