Weapons2

Weapons 2

BLUDGEONING WEAPONS

Without a doubt there as many truncheons, maces and
clubs in use on Gor as there are men to use them.
However, few are described with any detail in the
series.

War Club (Red savages):

A carved, shaped club of wood or bone, often mounted
with a stone or metal head of some sort. This weapon is
probably approximately two to three feet in length.
This weapon is mentioned in Blood Brothers of Gor

Missle Weapons

Quiva:

A balanced saddle knife, usually part of a set of seven
such weapons. It consists of a narrow double-edged
blade of between 9 and 12 inches in length mounted on
a shaped handle of wood, bone, or horn. It is honed to
razor sharpness, and its blade tapers to a needle point.
Designed for use primarily as a missile weapon, the
quiva is also perfectly functional as a hand weapon and
general utility knife. It is mostly used by the nomadic
Wagon Peoples of the southern hemisphere, who will
carry matched sets of seven in special sheaths attached
to their kailla saddles. The best examples of these
weapon are produced in the city of Ar. Once made,
they are shipped to the Wagon Peoples via traders,
where they are sharpened and fitted with distinctive
handles. First described in Nomads of Gor.

Hornbow of the Wagon People:

A small bow built of layered pieces of bosk horn bound and reinforced with metal and leather, banded with metal at seven points, including the grip. It is a weapon of the Wagon People, native of Gor's Southern Plains.

Great (Peasant) Bow:

A long bow typically made from the wood of the
ka-la-na tree or sometimes of temwood. Unstrung it is
over six feet in length, and can require a pull of up to
120 lbs, depending upon the strength of the user. The
bowstring itself is usually made of hemp or sinew
lashed with silk thread. Armed with such a weapon, a
highly skilled archer can accurately strike a target the
size of a man's head at distances of up to 100 yards,
and by arcing his line of fire upward to allow for
gravity can fire a shaft into a ten foot diameter circle
at up to 300 yards. The arrows of such a bow are
temwood, metal-piled and fletched with the feathers of
the vosk gull. Each such arrow is approximately three
feet in length, and can be tipped with several different
types of arrowheads; of these, the flight tip (a long
narrow three-sided metal spike designed for extreme
penetration) and the sheaf tip (a wide double or triple
edged blade designed to inflict maximum tissue
damage upon impact) are the most common. Special
arrowheads such as ones fitted with whistles or
noisemakers for signalling or reservoirs for
inflammable liquids are not unknown. It is commonly
carried slung or strapped over the shoulder of the
archer when not in use, and is accompanied by a belt
or shoulder quiver containing forty (or more) shafts. Its
use requires the archer to wear a bracer of thick
leather upon the forearm of his bowarm, and to utilize
a special archer's glove or leather finger tab to protect
his hands and arm from friction caused by the motion
of the string when fired. It is a difficult weapon to
master, though despite that fact it is widely used by
both many members of the Caste of Peasants, and the
rencers of the Vosk Delta. This weapon makes its first
appearance in Tarnsman of Gor, and appears regularly
thereafter.

Crossbow:

The standard infantry missle weapon of Gor. It
consists of a heavy, flexible bow of tempered steel,
perhaps 18" across (when bent), mounted on a heavy
wooden stock about two feet long, with a trigger
mechanism built into the shaped handle. It can fire
several types of spiked, smooth tipped or broad bladed
quarrels, with enough force to penetrate wooden walls,
doors or human bodies with relative ease. It has an
effective range of approximately 150 meters for aimed
fire, and can strike a target at up to 200 meters when
fired into a press of bodies. Slow to reload, it is
commonly redrawn through use of a "goat's-foot"
hook or a cranequin (bow crank).Quarrels, or "bolts,"
are carried by the user in a belt-case or quiver.
Common throughout all of the Gorean city-states, and
the preferred weapon of the Caste of Assassins. First
appears in Tarnsman of Gor, and is afterwards seen
often throughout the series.

Crossbow (Cavalry):

Similar in most respects to the larger crossbow, though
instead of possessing a heavy metal bow, it has a much
lighter bow of layered wood and horn. It is slightly
smaller in overall size than its heavy cousin, and is
equipped with a metal stirrup at the firing end,
enabling it to be more quickly restrung and drawn
from kailla or tarnback. Though it is originally
mentioned quite early in the series as a "light
crossbow" or "sporting crossbow," it is finally
described (somewhat) in Savages of Gor.

Short (Bone) Bow:

This weapon is heavily used upon Gor for hunting,
sport and warfare. Among its adherents are the
warriors of the Wagon Peoples, the panther girls (or
Talunas), the Red Hunters and the Red Savages. It is
much smaller in size than the great bow, and is better
suited for use from the back of a kailla, tharlarion or
tarn. It is often carved from a single, flexible piece of
tem wood or ka-la-na wood, though such peoples as the
Wagon Peoples and the Red Savages can craft
shortbows of layered wood and horn, which gives such
bows much greater strength and durability. Among the
Red Hunters, it is a common practice to treat such
bows against inclement weather by smearing them with
liquified blubber taken from the carcass of the Hunjer
whale. The shortbow can fire as many different types
of arrowheads as can its larger cousin, though with
substantially less range and penetrating power. The
arrows used by the shortbow are also much shorter
than those employed by the great bow, due to the
shorter range of the weapon's "pull." These bows come
in all shapes and sizes, and are found throughout Gor.
First mentioned in Tarnsman of Gor, further described
in books #4 (called the Bone Bow made from the bones
of bosk) and #7, and seen throughout the series
afterward.

Bola:

It consists of three long straps of leather, each about
five feet long, each terminating in a leather sack which
contains, sewn inside, a heavy round metal weight.
Developed for hunting fleet-footed and flighted game
it is also used as a weapon of war. Thrown low the long
straps, with their approximate ten-foot sweep, strike
the victim and the weighted balls, as soon as resistance
is met, whip about the victim's legs, tangling and
tightening the straps. Thrown high it can pin a man's
arms to his sides; thrown at the throat it can strangle
him; thrown at the head the whipping weights can
crush his skull. Once a victim is entangled with the
bola, typically another weapon, usually a quiva, is then
utilized to dispatch the victim if he or she still lives.
This weapon first appears in Nomads of Gor.

SHIELDS AND HELMETS

Shields:

Several different types of shield are described in the
series. Typically they are round in shape, though they
range in size from the huge shield used by the
Gor-bound Kurii to the small bucklers wielded by
gladiators in the Stadium of Blades in Ar. The most
common shield in use upon Gor is the standard
warrior's shield of the civilized cities. This is a largish
round shield comprised of many concentric
overlapping layers of dried shaped leather, probably
stretched over a wooden or metal frame, and banded
for extra strength with brass or iron bands. It is fitted
with a pair of straps whereby it can be worn upon the
user's arm, typically the left one, and is worn slung
across the back for ease of movement while its user in
travelling from place to place. Among the civilized
armies of Gor such shields are normally painted boldly
and have infixed in them some device for identifying
the bearer's city. The Warriors of the southern city of
Turia are known for their usage of distinctive shields
which are oval, rather than circular, in shape. Shields
appear in every book of the series.

Helmets:

There are various types of helmets in use by soldiers
and warriors upon Gor. The most commonly used is the
standard Gorean war helmet, popularized and
manufactured in the larger city-states by the
thousands. It is described by Tarl Cabot as being a
close-faced helmet which encloses the entire head, with
a distinctive "Y" shaped opening in the faceplate to
admit air and to allow breathing. This style of helmet
seems to be based on the Barbuta style helmets which
date from classical antiquity on Earth, perfected and
much in use during the heyday of the Athenian
city-states of Greece. Typically mounted atop each
example of this type of helmet is a crest plate, upon
which can be displayed the symbol of a city or
organization. The crests themselves adorn the top of
the helmet either crosswise, from one side of the neck
to the other, or lengthwise from the back of the neck to
the upper forehead like half-fans, and can be fitted
with any number of accoutrements, from sleen fur to
tarn feathers and the like; in addition, the helmet itself
can be painted or lacquered in any color, to represent a
grouping, city or caste. As described in the books they
are hammered and riveted together in several pieces,
though the pierced faceplate itself is depicted as "a
single piece of iron." Due to the highly developed
metal-working capabilities of modern Goreans,
however, it is a safe assumption that they are actually
of tempered steel, which is lighter and stronger, and
that Cabot's reference to them as iron is merely a
fanciful allusion on the part of the author.
Additionally such helmets can be hammered from
bronze, also an inferior metal, though such examples
are probably symbolic of some cultural significance and
not intended to be used in actual combat. According to
Cabot each such helmet is fitted with removable
padding of rolls of leather, stuffed with softer material
and laced into the helmet to insure a superior fit. These
helmets are often stripped of their crests and padding
to be used as crude cooking vessels by soldiers on the
march. This type of helmet is first described in
Tarnsman of Gor, and appears regularly in laterbooks.
Another example of a Gorean helmet is that often worn
by the desert tribesmen and denizens of such southern
cities as Turia and Tor, as well as by the nomadic
warriors of the Wagon Peoples. This helmet is similar
in design to the mongol/saracen battle helmet of Earth
and is a cone-shaped steel defense worn atop the head,
often fitted with a nasal guard of narrow flat
construction. Such helmets may be adorned with a ring
of fur or fabric which encircles the browband area,
and can also be found mantled with either a cloth
covering or a camail of linked chain. These helmets are
closely fitted to the wearer's head, padded with a thick
cloth cap which laces into it, and are often fitted with a
leather or cord chinstrap to secure the device in place.
This helmet type first appears in Nomads of Gor.
A final example of Gorean helmetry is the
Spangenhelm worn by northern warriors, which is in
effect a steel or iron bowl constructed from heavy metal
strapping. A single metal browband encircles the head,
with two or more curved metal straps attached to it in
the pattern of an "X", covering much of the wearer's
skull. Curved plates are riveted in place to fill the gaps
between the strapping, resulting in a layered metal cap
with covers the entire head. These helmets are often
fitted with cheek and neck guards, chainmail camails
or even metal faceplates which conceal the face or
portions of it like a metal mask. The horns of animals
or metal spikes may be attached to the helmet as
decoration or to add some measure of protection to the
apparatus, though this usually makes them rather
bulky and difficult to wear in combat. These helmets
are padded with leather or lined with thick fur, and
can also be fitted with a leather or cord chinstrap to
insure a reliable fit. This type of helmet makes its first
appearance in Marauders of Gor.
I conjecture that upon Gor, as on Earth, there are as
many different types of helmet in use as there are
people to cr eate them. No doubt different military
uses and terrain types encourage such variations... I
therefore draw a parallel to the the Roman Legions of
Earth, who at any one time had within their ranks
soldiers who wore literally dozens of helmet-styles as
dictated by their rank and the particular needs of their
divisions in battle. An archer, for example, is not likely
to wear the same type of helmet as a heavy infantry
field commander.
Add to this the different types of metal obtainable, use
of leather and alternate materials in areas where such
metal is scarce, variation in available smithing
techniques, and even the changing dictates of the
whims of fashion, and it is understandable why a
comprehensive listing of Gorean protective headgear is
virtually impossible.

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