The Tarn
The Goreans believe, incredibly enough that the capacity to master a Tarn is innate and that some men possess this characteristic and that some do not. One does not learn to master a Tarn. It is a matter of blood and spirit, of beast and man, of a relationship between two beings which must be immediate, intuitive, spontaneous. It is said that a tarn knows who is a Tarnsman and who is not, and that those who are not die in this first meeting.
My first impression was that of a rush of wind and a great snapping sound, as if a giant might be snapping and enormous towel or scarf; then I was cowering, awestricken, in a great winged shadow, and an immense Tarn, his talons extended like gigantic steel hooks, his wings sputtering fiercely in the air, hung above me, motionless except for the beating of his wings.
'Stand clear of the wings,' shouted the older Tarl. I needed no urging. I darted from under the bird. One stroke of those wings would hurl me yards from the top of the cylinder. The tarn dropped to the roof of the cylinder and regarded us with his bright black eyes.
Though the Tarn, like most birds, is surpisingly light for it's size, this primarily having to do with comparative hollowness of the bones, it is an extremely powerful bird, powerful even beyond what one would expect from such a monster. Whereas large Earth birds, such as the eagle, must, when taking flight from the ground, begin with a running start, the Tarn, with it's incredible musculature, aided undoubtedly by the somewhat lighter gravity of Gor, can with a spring and a sudden flurry of it's giant wings lift both himself and his rider into the air. In Gorean, these birds are sometimes spoken of as Brothers of the Wind.
The plumage of Tarns is various, they are bred for their colors as well as their strength and intelligence. Black tarns are used for night raids, white Tarns in winter campaigns, and multicolored, resplendent Tarns are bred for warriors who wish to ride proudly, regardless of the lack of camouflage. The most common Tarn, however, is greenish brown, Disregarding the disproportion in size, the Earth bird which the tarn most closely resembles is the hawk, with the exception that it has a crest somewhat of the nature of a jay's. |
