Useful Information For Those Learning

The Ways Of Gor

Warriors Codes:

Be strong and do as you will. The swords of others will set you your limits.

Within the circle of each man's sword, therein is each man a Ubar.

Steel is the coinage of the warrior, with it he purchases what pleases him.

Warriors Stride:
It is nothing for a warrior to cover 90 pasangs on foot in a day. This is usually done by alternating the warriors pace with the warrior stride, and allowing for brief periods of rest. Few that have been invested in the scarlet of the warriors cannot match this accomplishment.

Torvaldsland Duels:
The duel is a device by which many disputes, legal and personal, are settled in Torvaldsland. There are two general types, the formal and the free duel. The free duel permits all weapons, there are no restrictions on tactics or field. It is usually done on an isolated small island, the two in dispute are left there and a boat returns at sunset to pick up the survivor. The Formal duel is quite complex. Two men meet and are allowed shield bearers, the combatants strike at each other, and the blows are fended off by the shield bearer. Three shields are allowed for each man, when these are hacked to pieces or rendered useless, the bearer retires and the warrior must defend himself as best he can. Swords are restricted by size. The duel is fought on a pegged down 10ft By 10ft cloak. When first blood is shed on the cloak, the match maybe terminated at agreement of the combatants or at the direction of the referees. When the match is done a price of 3 silver tarn disk is paid to the winner by the loser. The winner commonly makes a sacrifice after the match.

Oar-Dance:
It is not actually a dance, of course, but it is an athletic feat of no little stature requiring a superb eye, fantastic balance, and incredible coordination. The individual leaps from moving oar to moving oar, proceeding from the oars nearest the stem on the port side to the stern, then leaping back onto the deck on the stern quarter and leaping again on the oars this time on the starboard side, and proceeding on the oars nearest the stern to that nearest the stem. This is done as the serpent is rode to the dock for the amusement and pleasure of those onshore.

Slaves:

Untrained comely but ordinary girls of low caste sell for 5 to 30 Tarn disks (silver)
Untrained beautiful girls of high caste go for 50 Tarn disks (silver)

Trained High caste and beautiful girls sell for 30 to 50 Tarn Disks (Gold)
Trained Lower caster and lovely girls sell for 15 to 25 Tarn Disks (Gold)

The highest price paid at auction for a slave was 1000 golden Tarn disk by Samos of Port Kar in the great Curulean in Ar. He bought a set of 3 girls for 3000 GTD.

Slave Auctions:

It is traditional for the slave block to be round and made of wood and sprinkled with sawdust. Female slaves are always sold barefoot. It is said "It is good for a girl to feel wood and sawdust beneath her feet."

Slave Collars/Silks:
Have 6 pins or disks in the lock one for each letter of kajira.
Green silks are worn by the slaves of huntsmen, those that live in the great northern forest.

Slave Manners:
A slave does not touch with her lips the rim of a cup that has been touched with the lips of her Master.

Branding Slaves:
Masters seldom brand their own slaves. To brand a girl well demands a sure hand, and usually, experience. In training a man to use the iron, slavers always give him poorer quality women at first, sometimes having him mark them more than once, until he becomes proficient. Usually by the 15th or 20th kajira, the man is capable of marking them deeply, precisely and cleanly.

Put To The Oar:
In the punishment, the girl, clothed or unclothed, is bound tightly to an oar, hands behind her, her head down, towards the blade. When the oar lifts from the water she gasps for breath, only in another moment to be submerged again. A recalcitrant girl may be kept on the oar for hours. There's also, however, some danger in this, for sea-sleen and the white sharks of the north occasionally attempt to tear such a girl from the oar. When food is low it not unknown for the men of Torvaldsland to use a bond-maid, if one is available on the ship, for bait in such a manner. The least pleasing girl is always used. This practice, of course, encourages bond-maids to vie vigorously to please their Masters.

The Market Place:

There are no fixed prices in a Gorean market, the glorious explatives and superlatives insults traded between buyer and seller with imcomprable style and gusto. Indeed, upon occasion, in markets, a buyer who has succeeded in winning the haggling would bestow five times as many coins on the seller as he has agreed to pay, humiliating him with a smug, "because I wish to pay you what it is worth." Then, if the seller is sufficiantly outraged, he might give back the buyer the coins, including most of those that he had agreed to pay, saying, with mock contrition, "I do not wish to cheat you." Another round of insults occurs, and, eventualy, both parties satisfied, some comprimise having been reached, the transaction is concluded. Buyer and seller part, each convinced that he has had by far the best of the bargain.

Trading:
Goreans have a universal gesture for trading...this is normally used when the distance is too great for the parties to hear each other. An individual gestures as though he is taking something from you and then giving something back in return.

Standard Greeting and Farewell of the Wagon People:

How are the bosk doing?
A: As well as might be expected.
Are the quivas sharp?
A: One tries to keep them that way.
It is important to keep the axles of the wagons greased!
A: I think that is true.

Standard Greeting and Farewell in the Tahari Region:

You take a persons right hand and bow twice then brush the palm of your hand against theirs twice. Saying.......
"May your waterbags never be empty."
"May you have always water."

Customs On Gor:

In a dining and feasting situation, it is common courtsey to permit the guest to grant the feeding permission of the slaves present.

Blowing A Kiss:

The Gorean fashion for blowing a kiss is to place two fingers from your right hand to the right side of your mouth, almost vertical, then, with the kiss, brushing gently towards the kajira

Traditions On Gor:

In Ar on the first day of the waiting hand, the portals are painted white, and in many low caste homes the portals are sealed with pitch, not to be opened until the first day of En'Kara. Almost all portals have nailed to them brances of the Brack bush. It is thought that the pitch and the Brack branches discourage the entry of bad luck into the houses of the citizens. During the days of the waiting hand the streets are almost deserted, and in the houses there is much fasting, and little conversation, and no song. At dawn, on the first day on En'Kara in the name of the city, the administrator, greets the sun, welcoming it to the city on the first day of the New Year. The doors of the city burst open and the citizens crowd out into the streets and bridges. The doors are painted green and the pitch washed away. The branches of the Brack bush are burned in a small ceremony on the threshold.

Sailing Ceremony:

When a ship of Por Kar begins its journey upon the waters the captain performs a short ceremony. He gathers wine oil and salt and just before they cast of he says Ta-Sardor-Gor, Ta-Thassa. "To the Priest-Kings and to the sea" he then slowly pours the wine and oil and salt into the waters.

Disownment Ceremony:

A parent, who is of warrior caste places his had on the hilt of his sword, the other hand is placed on the symbol of the city or homestone of the familyand says the words.."This person is disowned and no longer a member of our family or caste." The person named is then without family or caste.

Funeral Ceremony:

The common ceremony of a warrior is one where a pyre is built by his friends and caste members of ka-la-na wood, which are trimmed and squared. The pyre takes the form of a structured, tiered, truncated pyramid. Free women then carry jars of perfumed oils and sprinkle it on the pyre. The body of the Warrior is borne on the shoulders of 4 Warriors, on crossed spears, lashed together. The body is wrapped in scarlet leather. The funeral procession follows, they do not chant, or sing, or carry the boughs of ka-la-na nor play an musical instrument. At such times Goreans do not sing or speak, they are silent, for at such times words mean nothing, and would demean or insult. For Goreans there is onlt silence, memory and fire. The pyre is lit by a family menber or one who was close to the person.

Chrism Of Temporary Permission:
A ritual act performed by initiates. It is the use of a thickened chrism that is placed on the forehead of an individual in the sign of the Priest-Kings, a circle of eternity. This act allows one not consecrated to enter the sanctuary area of the temple. It was first used at roadside shrines, to permit civil authorities to enter and slay fugitives who had taken sanctuary at the alters. It is also used for workmen and artists, who may work in the alter area in their crafts.

Rune Stones in Torvaldsland:
Rune stones are normally quite colorful, and can be seen at great distances. Each year their paint is freshened, commonly on the vigil of the vernal equinox which marks the Northern New Year. Religious runes are repainted By the rune-priests on the vigil of the feast-season of Odin, which takes place in the fall. All others are usually tended by the farmers in who's field they lie or by the people of the villages in those locals.

Looking Into The Blood a Gorean Ritual

After killing a foe or beast the victor drinks a mouthful of the victims blood then.....
"One looks into the blood in one's cupped hands. It is said that if one sees
one's visage black and wasted one will die of disease, if one sees oneself torn and scarlet one will die in battle, if one sees oneself old and white haired, one will die in peace and leave children."

Words Spoken By A Master During A Submission Ceremony Of Tharna

Weep, Free Maiden.
Remember your pride and weep.
Remember your laughter and weep.
Remember you are my enemy and weep.
Now your my helpless captive.
Remember you stood against me.
Now you lie at my feet.
I have bound you with yellow cords.
I have placed you on the scarlet rug.
Thus by the laws of Tharna do I claim you.
Remember you were free.
Know now you are my slave.
Weep, Slave Girl.

Friendship Ritual of Torvaldsland:

The two men shake hands, greeting each other as Friend and then taste the salt from the back of each others hand.

Free Companions:

Normally the female will wear a crown of Talander flowers in her hair during the ceremony. The male and female declare their intentions then share the companionship wine. Free Companionship must be repledged each year and the tasting of the wine together must take place, for it to remain valid by Goren Law. If either of the couple is enslaved the companionship is null and void. Since a slave cannot be a free companion.

Moons Of Gor:

Gor has three moon that orbit it. One large and two smaller ones. One of the smaller moons is refered to as the prision moon.

Rune Stones in Torvaldsland:
Rune stones are normally quite colorful, and can be seen at great distances. Each year their paint is freshened, commonly on the vigil of the vernal equinox which marks the Northern New Year. Religious runes are repainted By the rune-priests on the vigil of the feast-season of Odin, which takes place in the fall. All others are usually tended by the farmers in who's field they lie or by the people of the villages in those locals.

Gorean Sayings and Proverbs:

"Scavengers come to feast on the bodies of wounded Tarnsmen!"
A Proverb A reference to those with no honor

"Tonight let us drink wine!"
A fatalistic maxim: events are cast into the laps of the Priest-Kings

"Share my kettle!"
A blunt low caste invitation to dinner

"A man returning to his city is not to be detained."
Gorean Proverb

"The laws of a city extend no farther than it's wall's."
Gorean Proverb

"We are of the same chain"
Gorean saying meaning we are brothers in a common cause

"The desert is my Mother and my Father"

Tahari saying, indicating that the individual speaking knows the ways of the desert.