Caste of Warriors

"A man could do worse then live by such a code."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 41

"Indeed, there is a saying on Gor, a saying whose origin is lost in the past of this strange planet, that one who speak of Home Stones should stand, for matters of honor are here involved, and honor is respected in the barbaric codes of Gor."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 27

--Tarl Cabot--
"The Code of the Warrior is, in general, characterized by a rudimentary chivalry, emphasizing loyalty to Pride Chiefs and the Home Stone. It was harsh, but with a certain gallantry, a sense of honor that I could respect. A man could do worse then live by such a code."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 41

"I would have supposed that armor, or chain mail perhaps, would have been a desirable addition to the accoutrements of the Gorean warrior, but it had been forbidden by the Priest-Kings. A possible hypothesis to explain this is that the Priest-Kings may have wished war to be a biologically selective process in which the weaker and slower perish and fail to reproduce themselves. This might account for the relatively primitive weapons allowed to the Men Below the Mountains. On Gor it was not the case that a cavern-chested toothpick could close a switch and devastate an army. Also, the primitive weapons guaranteed that what selection went on would proceed with sufficient slowness to establish its direction, and alter it, if necessary."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 48

"The tarn is one of the two most common mounts of a Gorean warrior; the other is the high tharlarion, a species of saddle-lizard, used mostly by clans who have never mastered tarns. No one in the City of Cylinders, as far as I knew, maintained tharlarions, though they were supposedly quite common on Gor, particularly in the lower areas in swampland and on the deserts."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 52

"In the center of the amphitheater was a throne of office, and on this throne, in his robe of state a plain brown garment, the humblest cloth in the hall sat my father, Administrator of Ko-ro-ba, once Ubar, War Chieftain of the city. At his feet lay a helmet, shield, spear, and sword.
'Come forward, Tarl Cabot,' said my father, and I stood before this throne of office. Behind me stood the Older Tarl. The Older Tarl was speaking. 'I, Tarl, Swordsman of Ko-ro-ba, give my word that this man is fit to become a member of the High Caste of Warriors.'
My father answered him, speaking in ritual phrases. 'No tower in Ko-ro-ba is stronger than the word of Tarl, this Swordsman of our city. I, Matthew Cabot of Ko-ro-ba, accept his word.'
Then beginning with the lowest tier, each member of the Council spoke in succession, giving his name and pronouncing that he, too, accepted the word of the blond swordsman. When they had finished, my father invested me with the arms which had lain before the throne. About my shoulder he slung the steel sword, fastened on my left arm the round shield, placed in my right hand the spear, and slowly lowered the helmet on my head.
'Will you keep the Code of the Warrior?' asked my father.
'Yes,' I said, 'I will keep the Code.'
'What is your Home Stone?' asked my father.
I replied, 'My Home Stone is the Home Stone of Ko-ro-ba.'
'Is it to that city that you pledge your life, your honor, and your sword?' asked my father.
'Yes,' I said.
'Then,' said my father, placing his hands solemnly on my shoulders, 'in virtue of my authority as Administrator of this city and in the presence of the Council of High Castes, I declare you to be a Warrior of Ko-ro-ba.'
Aside from candidates for the status of Warrior, none of my caste was permitted to enter the Council armed my caste brothers would have struck their spear blades on their shields. As it was, they smote their shoulders in the civilian manner, more exuberantly perhaps than was compatible with the decorum of that weighty chamber."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, pages 62 - 63

"...Warriors, was accorded the least status, if I had my will, the warriors would not have been a High Caste. On the other hand, I objected to the Initiates being in the place of honor, as it seemed to me that they, even more than the Warriors, were nonproductive members of society. For the Warriors, at least, one could say that they afforded protections to the city, but for the Initiates one could say very little, perhaps only that they provided some comfort for ills and plagues largely of their own manufacture."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 63 ~才

"In Ar, for example, early in the day, a member of the Builders will go to the roof on which the Home Stone is kept and place the primitive symbol of his trade, a metal angle square, before the Stone, praying to the Priest-Kings for the prosperity of his caste in the coming year; later in the day a Warrior will, similarly, place his arms before the Stone, to be followed by other representatives of each caste. Most significantly, while these members of the High Castes perform their portions of the ritual, the Guards of the Home Stone temporarily withdraw to the interior of the cylinder, leaving the celebrant, it is said, alone with the Priest-Kings."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 68

"'My father,' she said, 'and my brothers will reward you.'
'No,' I said.
'If you wish, they are bound in honor to grant me to you, without bride price.'
'The ride to Thentis will be long,' I said.
She replied proudly, 'My bride price would be a hundred tarns.'
I whistled to myself - my exslave would have come high. On a Warrior's allowance I would not have been able to afford her.
'If you wish to land,' said Sana, apparently determined to see me compensated in some fashion, 'I will serve your pleasure.'
It occured to me that there was at least one reply which she, bred in the honor codes of Gor, should understand, one reply that should silence her. 'Would you diminish the worth of my gift to you?' I asked, feigning anger.
She thought for a moment then gently kissed me on the lips. 'No, Tarl Cabot of Ko-ro-ba,' she said, 'but you well know that I could do nothing that worth of your gift to me. Tarl Cabot, I care for you.'
I realized that she had spoken to me as a free woman, using my name."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, pages 73 - 74 ~才

"Once a warrior without a helmet flew near, drunk, and challenged me for the perch, a wild tarnsman of low rank, spoiling for a fight. If I had yielded the perch, it would have aroused suspicion immediately, for on Gor the only honorable reply to a challenge is to accept it promptly."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 78

"Then, to my astonishment, the daughter of the Ubar Marlenus, daughter of the Ubar of Ar, knelt before me, a simple warrior of Ko-ro-ba, and lowered her head, lifting and extending her arms, wrists crossed. It was... the submission of the captive female. Without raising her eyes from the ground, the daughter of the Ubar said in a clear, distinct voice: "I submit myself."
...I was speechless for a moment, but then, remembering that harsh Gorean custom required me either to accept the submission or slay the captive, I took her wrists in my hands and said, 'I accept your submission.' "

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, pages 93 - 94

" 'I can force you to take me,' she said.
'How?' I asked.
'Like this,' she responded, kneeling before me, lowering her head and lifting her arms, the wrists crossed. She laughed.
'Now you must take me with you or slay me.'
I cursed her, for she took unfair advantage of the Warrior Codes of Gor."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 109

"On Gor, as in my native England, one keeps to the left side of the road. This practice, as once in England, is more than a simple matter of convention. When one keeps to the left side of the road, one's sword arm faces the passing stranger."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 113

" 'Yield her' he snapped.
'You know the codes,' I said evenly. 'If you want her you must challenge for her and meet me with the weapon of my choice.' "

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 117

" 'Do not harm him,' said Kazrak. 'He is my sword brother, Tarl of Bristol.' Kazrak's remark was in accord with the strange warrior codes of Gor, codes which were as natural to him as the air he breathed, and codes which I, in the Chamber of the Council of Ko-ro-ba, had sworn to uphold. One who has shed your blood, or whose blood you have shed, becomes your sword brother, unless you formally repudiate the blood upon your weapons. It is a part of the kinship of Gorean warriors regardless of what city it is to which they owe their allegiance. It is a matter of caste, an expression of respect, having nothing to do with cities or Home Stones."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 119

"the first thing a Gorean warrior is likely to do to the stranger in his tent is kill him, the second is to find out who he is."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 167

"Perhaps it is true, as they say, that you [Tarl Cabot] are that warrior brought every thousand years to Gor brought by the Priest-Kings to change a world."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 174

"The Supreme Initiate, as he called himself, raised a shield and then set it at his feet. He then raised a spear and set it, like the shield, at his feet. This gesture is a military convention employed by commanders of Gor when calling for a parley or conference. It signifies a truce, literally the temporary putting aside of weapons. In surrender, on the other hand, the shield straps and the shaft of the spear are broken, indicating that the vanquished has disarmed himself and places himself at the mercy of the conqueror.--- In a short time Pa-Kur appeared on the first wall, opposite the Supreme Initiate, and performed the same gestures."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, page 187

"In affairs of the sword, there is a place for outguessing the opponent, but there is no place for anxious speculation; it paralyses, puts you on the defensive. He had toyed with me. Now I determined not to allow him to control the exchanges. If I was defeated, I determined that it would be a man that would defeat me, not a reputation."

Book 1, Tarnsman of Gor, pages 209 - 210

"I opened the leather bundle. In it I found the scarlet tunic, sandals and cloak which constitute the normal garb of a member of the Caste of Warriors. This was as it should be, as I was of that caste, and had been since that morning, some seven years ago, when in the Chamber of the Council of High Castes I had accepted weapons from the hands of my father, Matthew Cabot, Administrator of Ko-ro-ba, and had taken the Home Stone of that city as my own."

Book 2, Outlaw of Gor, pages 21 - 22

" 'I mean you and you Home Stone no harm,' I said. 'I have no money and cannot pay you, but I am hungry.'
'A warrior takes what he wishes,' said the man. "

Book 2, Outlaw of Gor, page 28

" 'I have peas and turnips, garlic and onions in my hut,' said the man, his bundle like a giant's hump on his back.
'The Priest-Kings themselves,' I said, 'could not ask for more.'
'Then, Warrior,' said the man, issuing Gor's blunt invitation to a low caste dinner, 'share my kettle.'
'I am honored,' I said, and I was.
Whereas I was of high caste and he of low, yet in his own hut he would be, by the laws of Gor, a prince and sovereign, for then he would be in the place of his own Home Stone. Indeed, a cringing whelp of a man, who would never think of lifting his eyes from the ground in the presence of a member of one of the high castes, a crushed and spiritless churl, an untrustworthy villain or coward, an avaricious and obsequious peddler often becomes, in the place of his own Home Stone, a veritable lion among his fellows, proud and splendid, generous and bestowing, a king be it only in his own den."

Book 2, Outlaw of Gor, page 29

"Indeed, frequent enough were the stories where even a warrior was overcome by an angry peasant into whose hut he had intruded himself, for in the vicinity of their Home Stones men fight with all the courage, savagery and resourcefulness of the mountain larl. More than one are the peasant fields of Gor which have been freshened with the blood of foolish warriors. "

Book 2, Outlaw of Gor, page 29

Book 3, Priest Kings of Gor, page 14 ~才

"Could it be that I had, as the Codes of my Caste recommended, not even considered her, but merely regarded her as a rightless animal, no more than a subject beast, an abject instrument to my interests and pleasures, a slave?"

Book 3, Priest Kings of Gor, page 48 ~才

" 'Until you find Talena,' he said, 'your companion is peril and steel.'
It was an old Warrior saying."

Book 3, Priest Kings of Gor, page 307 ~才

"If it turned out badly, what I did, I would have no defense other than I did what I did for my friend-for him- and for his brave kind, once hated enemies, whom I had now learned to know and respect.
There is no loss of honor in failing to achieve such a task, I told myself. It is worthy of a warrior of the caste of Warriors, a swordsman of the high city of Ko-ro-ba, the Towers of the Morning."

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 8 ~才

" 'I am a warrior,' said the young man proudly.
Kamchak signaled the archers and they came forward, their arrows trained on the young man.
He then threw, one after another, a dozen bags of gold to the floor.
'Save your gold, Tuchuk sleen,' said the young man. 'I am a warrior and I know my codes.' "

Book 4, Nomads of Gor, page 315 ~才

"Gorean warriors, generally drawn from the cities, are warriors by blood, by caste; moreover, they are High Caste;..."

Book 6, Raiders of Gor, page 3

" 'We anticipated,' said Samos, 'that your humanity would assert itself, that faced with a meaningless, ignominious death in the marshes, you would grovel and whine for your life.' In my heart I wept. 'I did,' I said. 'You chose,' said Samos, 'as warriors have it, ignominious bondage over the freedom of honorable death.' There were tears in my eyes. 'I dishonored my sword, my city. I betrayed my codes.' "

Book 6, Raiders of Gor, page 310

"Some of the warriors smote their shields with the blades of their spears."

Book 7, Captive of Gor, page 283 ~才

"There was a shout of pleasure from the men and girls about I heard hands striking the left shoulder in Gorean applause. Among the warriors, the flat of sword blades and the blades of spears rang on shields. I closed my eyes, shuddering."

Book 7, Captive of Gor, page 284 ~才

"Gold had been nothing to Rim. I suspected, then, he might once have been of the warriors. "

Book 8, Hunters of Gor, page 17 ~才

"Goreans care for their world. They love the sky, the plains, the sea, the rain in the summer, the snow in the winter. They will sometimes stand and watch clouds. The movement of grass in the wind is very beautiful to them. More than one Gorean poet has sung of the leaf of a Tur tree. I have known warriors who cared for the beauty of small flowers. "

Book 8, Hunters of Gor, page 119 ~才

" 'How many men do you have?' I asked.
'Fifty-five,' he said.
'I was not always of the merchants,' I told him.
'I do not understand,' said Sarus.
'Once,' I said, 'long ago, I was of the Warriors.'
'There are fifty-five of us,' said Sarus.
'My city,' I said, 'was the city of Ko-ro-ba. It is sometimes called the Towers of the Morning.' 'Surrender,' whispered Sarus.
'Long ago,' I said, 'I dishonored my caste, my Home Stone, my blade. Long ago, I fell from the warriors.
Long ago, I lost my honor.'
Sarus slowly drew his blade, as did those behind him.
'But once,' I said, 'I was of the city of Ko-ro-ba. That must not be forgotten. That cannot be taken from me.'
'He is mad,' said one of the men of Tyros.
'Yes, I said, 'once long ago, in the delta of the Vosk, I lost my honor. I know that never can I find it again. That honor, which was to me my most precious possession, was lost. It is gone, and gone forever. It is like a tarn with wings of gold, that sits but once upon a warrior's helm, and when it departs, it returns no more. It is gone, and gone forever."' I looked at them, and looked, too, upward at the stars of the Gorean night. They were beautiful, like points of fire, marking the camps of the armies of the night. 'Yes,' I said, again regarding the men of Tyros, 'I have lost my honor, but you must not understand by that that I have forgotten it. On some nights, on such a night as this, sometimes, I recollect it.'
'We are fifty-five men!' screamed Sarus...
He turned to face me, wildly. He saw that my blade was now drawn.
'You are not of Ar!' he cried.
'It would be better for you,' said I, 'if I were.' "

Book 8, Hunters of Gor, pages 275 - 276 ~才

" 'Within the circle of each man's sword,' say the codes of the warrior, "'therein is each man a Ubar' 'Steel is the coinage of the warrior,' say the codes, 'With it he purchases what pleases him.'"

Book 9, Marauders of Gor, page 9

"In the codes of the warriors, there is a saying; 'Be strong, and do as you will. The swords of others will set you your limits.'

Book 9, Marauders of Gor, page 10

" 'I would not have thought Sarus of Tyros would have used poisoned steel,' I said.
Such a device, like the poisoned arrow, was not only against the codes of the warriors, but, generally, was regarded as unworthy of men. Poison was regarded as a woman's weapon."

Book 9, Marauders of Gor, page 18

"Within the circle of each mans sword, therein lies an Ubar."

Book 10, Tribesmen of Gor, page 9

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

Book 10, Tribesmen of Gor, page 9

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

Book 10, Tribesmen of Gor, page 9

"I looked about myself, from time to time, as a warrior does. Seldom does he move any great distance without turning to see what is behind him."

Book 10, Tribesmen of Gor, page 46 ~才

" 'You are of the Warriors,' said he. 'You have their stupidity, their grit, their courage.' "

Book 10, Tribesmen of Gor, page 227 ~才

"I could not believe it. He seemed elated. He was pleased with the prospect of war. How terrible he was! How proud, how magnificient he seemed! I thought I knew then with horror, the nature of men."

Book 11, Slave Girl of Gor, page 22

" 'What is it, Bran Loort, that separates men from sleen and larls?' asked Thurnus.
'I do not know,' said Bran Loort.
'It is the codes,' said Thurnus.
'The codes are meaningless noises, taught to boys,' said Bran Loort.
'The codes are the wall,' said Thurnus.
'I do not understand,' said Bran Loort.
'It is the codes which separate men from sleen and larls,' said Thurnus. 'They are the difference. They are the wall.' "

Book 11, Slave Girl of Gor, pages 226 - 227

" 'You are a monster, Captain,' he laughed.
'I am of the warriors,' I said.
'I know your sort,' he said. 'It is the fight you relish. What a wicked sort you are, and yet how useful!'
I shrugged.
'You see a fight you want, you take it,' he said, 'You see a woman you like, you take her.'
'Perhaps if she pleased me,' I said.
'You would do as you wished,' he said.
'Of course,' I said.
'Warrior!' said he.
'Yes, Warrior,' I said."

Book 12, Beasts of Gor, page 33 ~才

" 'Let us flee, Master,' wept Arlene.
'I am of the Warriors,' I told her.
'But such things,' she said, control even the forces of nature.'
'Perhaps so, perhaps not,' I said. 'I do not know.'
'Flee!' she said.
'I am of the Warriors,' I said.
'But you may die,' she said.
'That is acknowledged in the codes,' I said.
'What are the codes?' she asked.
'They are nothing and, and everything,' I said. 'They are a bit of noise, and the steel of the heart. They are meaningless, and all significant. They are the difference. Without the codes men would be Kurii.'
'Kurii?' she asked.
'Beasts, such as ice beasts, and worse,' I said. 'Beasts such as the face you saw in the sky.'
'You need not keep the codes," she said.
'I once betrayed my codes,' I said. 'It is not my intention to do so again.' I looked at her. 'One does not know, truly what it is to stand, until one has fallen. Once one has fallen, then one knows, you see, what it is to stand.'
'None would know if you betrayed the codes,' she said.
'I would know,' I said, 'and I am of the Warriors.'
'What is it to be a warrior?' she asked.
'It is to keep the codes,' I said. 'You may think that to be a warrior is to be large, or strong, and to be skilled with weapons, to have a blade at your hip, to know the grasp of the spear, to wear the scarlet, to know the fitting of the iron helm upon one's countenance, but these are things are not truly needful; they are not, truely what makes one man a warrior and another not. Many men are strong, and large, and skilled with weapons. Any man might, if he dared, don the scarlet and gird himself with weapons. Any man might place upon his brow the helm of iron. But it is not the scarlet, not the steel, not the helm which makes a warrior.'
She looked at me.
'It is the codes,' I said.
'Abandon your codes,' she said.
'One does not speak to slaves of the codes,' I said."

Book 12, Beasts of Gor, page 340 ~才

" 'I am of the Warriors,' I said. 'I will take by the sword what women please me.'"

Book 12, Beasts of Gor, page 348 ~才

" 'But you are of the Assassins,' I said.
'We are tenacious fellows,' he smiled.
'I have heard that,' I said.
'Do you think that only Warriors are men?' he asked.
'No,' I said. 'I have never been of that opinion.'
'Let us proceed,' he said.
'I thought you were too weak to be an Assassin,' I said.
'I was once strong enough to defy the dictates of my caste,' he said. 'I was once strong enough to spare my friend, though i Feared that in doing this I would myself be killed.'
'Perhaps you are the strongest of the dark caste,' I said.
He shrugged.
'Let us see who can fight better,' I said.
'Our training is superior to yours,' he said.
'I doubt that,' I said. 'But we do not get much training dropping poison into people's drinks.'
'Assassins are not permitted poison,' he said proudly.
'I know,' I said.
'The Assassin,' he said, 'is like a musician, a surgeion. The Warrior is like a butcher. He is a ravaging, bloodthirsty lout.'
'There is much to what you say,' I granted him. 'But Assassins are such arid fellows. Warriors are more genial, more enthusiastic.'
'An Assassin goes in and does his job, and comes out quiety,' he said. 'Warriors storm buildings and burn towers.'
'It is true that I would rather clean up after an Assassin than a Warrior,' I said.
'You are not a bad fellow for a Warrior,' he said.
'I have known worse Assassins than yourself,' I said."

Book 12, Beasts of Gor, pages 412 - 413 ~才

"Also, it might be noted that most Gorean warfare is carried out largely by relatively small groups of professional soldiers, seldom more than a few thousand in the field at a given time, trained men, who have their own caste. Total warfare, with its arming of millions of men, and its broadcast slaughter of hundreds of populations, is Gorean neither in concept nor in practice. Goreans, often castigated for their cruelty, would find such monstrosities unthinkable. Cruelty on Gor, though it exists, is usually purposeful, as in attempting to bring, through discipline and privation, a young man to manhood, or in teaching a female that she is a slave."

Book 14, Fighting Slave of Gor, page 145 ~才

" 'I know that you have been disgraced,' I said. 'I know that the scarlet has been taken from you.'
'No one,' said he, 'can take the scarlet from me, once it is granted, unless it be by the sword.'
He tore open the tunic he wore, revealing beneath it, dark, blackish in appearance, in the moonlight, the scarlet.
'This,' said he, 'can be taken from me only by the sword. Let him dare to do so who will.'
'You are finished,' I said. 'Drink.'
He looked dismally, angrily, at the bottle clutched in his right hand.
'You have forgotten the name of the warrior,' I said, 'who was once of Port Cos. He is no more. Drink.'
The man then held the bottle near the neck, with both hands. For a long moment he looked at it. His shoulders then hunched forward, and he moaned in pain. Then, slowly, he straightened his body. He lifted his head to the Gorean moons and, in the dark street, in anguish uttered a wild cry. It began as a cry of anguish, and pain, and ended as a howl of rage. He turned about and, with two hands, broke the bottle suddenly into a thousand fragments against the stone. In the darkness he was cut with glass and soiled with scattered paga.
'I remember him,' he said.
'What was his name?' I asked.
'Callimachus,' he said. 'His name is Callimachus, of Port Cos.'
'Is he gone?' I asked.
Then the man, with two fists, struck against the wall. 'No,' he said, with a terrible ferocity. There was blood on his hands, dark, running between the fingers.
'Where is he?' I asked.
Slowly the man turned to face me. 'He is here,' he said. 'I am he.'
'I am pleased to hear it,' I said. I reached down and picked up the fallen blade. I handed it to him.
'This,' I said, 'is yours.'"

Book 15, Rogue of Gor, page 182

"'Tears are not unbecoming to the soldier,' said Callimachus. 'The soldier is a man of deep passions, and emotion. Many men cannot even understand his depths. Do not fear your currents and your powers. In the soldier are flowers and storms. Each is a part of him, and each is real. Accept both. Deny neither.'"

Book 16, Guardsman of Gor, page 238 ~才

"Even warriors long sometimes for the sight of their own flags, atop friendly walls, for the courtyards of their keeps, for the hearths of their halls. Thus admit the Codes."

Book 18, Blood Brothers of Gor, page 306

"I have fought, but so, too, might a tarn fly and a kailla run."

Book 23, Renegades of Gor, page 343

"Warriors, it is said in the codes, have a common Home Stone. Its name is battle."

Book 23, Renegades of Gor, page 343

"I myself, like many warriors, terribly enough, I suppose, tend to see war more as the most perilous and exhilarating of sports, a game of warriors and Ubars."

Book 24, Vagabonds of Gor, page 18

" 'You risked so much for a mere point of honor?' she asked.
'There are no mere points of honor,' I told her."

Book 24, Vagabonds of Gor, page 63

"It was lonely here.
Yet such times are good in the life of a Warrior, times to be alone, to think.
He who cannot think is not a man, so saith the codes. Yet neither, too, they continue, is he who can only think."

Book 24, Vagabonds of Gor, page 65

" Are you of the Warriors?' asked Labenius.
'Yes,' I said.
'Hear,' said Labenius to his men. 'He is of the Warriors.'
'He says he is,' said a fellow, glumly.
'What is the 97th Aphorism in the Codes?' inquired Labenius.
'My scrolls may not be those of Ar,' I said. To be sure, the scrolls should be, at least among the high cities, in virtue of conventions held at the Sardar Fairs, particularly the Fair of En'Kara, much in agreement.
'Will you speak?' asked Labenius.
'Remove the female,' I said.
'He is a Warrior,' said one of the men.
One of the men lifted the bound Ina in his arms, one hand behind the back of her knees, and the other behind her back, and carried her from where we were gathered. In a few moments he returned.
'The female is now out of earshot?' inquired Labenius, staring ahead.
'Yes,' said the fellow, 'and she will stay where I left her, on her back, as I tied her hair about the base of a stout shrub.'
'The 97th Aphorism in the Codes I was taught,' I said, 'is in the form of a riddle: "What is invisible but more beautiful than diamonds?" '
'And the answer?' inquired Labenius.
'That which is silent but deafens thunder.'
The men regarded one another.
'And what is that?' asked Labenius.
'The same,' said I, 'as that which depresses no scale but is weightier than gold.'
'And what is that?' asked Labenius.
'Honor,' I said.
'He is of the Warriors,' said a man."

Book 24, Vagabonds of Gor, pages 304 - 305

"I had been so much a fool as to be sad. That is not the mood in which to enter battle, even the battle which one knows one cannot win, even the ultimate battle in which knows one is doomed to defeat. Do not be sad. Better to take the field with laughter, with a joke, with a light heart, with a buoyant heart, or to go forward with sterness, or in fury, or with hatred, or defiance, or calculation, but never with self pity, never with sadness. Never such things, never them! The warrior does not kill himself or aid others in the doing of it. It is not in the codes."

Book 24, Vagabonds of Gor, page 446

" 'No,' he said. 'I do not keep you because of the gold. I am of the scarlet caste. I am of the warriors. I could cast the gold away, as a gesture.' "

Book 24, Vagabonds of Gor, page 490

" 'You have drawn a weapon against me,' I said.
'You are of the warriors?' said the fellow. He wavered. He, too, knew the codes.
'Yes,' I said.
'And he?' asked the fellow.
'He, too,' I said.
'You are not in the scarlet,' he said.
'True,' I said. Did he think that the color of a fellow's garments was what made him a warrior? Surely he must realize that one not of the warriors might affect the scarlet, and that one who wore the grimed gray of a peasant, one barefoot, and armed only with the great staff, might be of the scarlet caste. It is not the uniform which makes the warrior, the soldier."

Book 25, Magicians of Gor, page 129