GEOGRAPHY
Barrens Kaiila River Snake River Thentis Mountains
Climate Seasons Moons
Fort Haskins Kailiauk City
The People Language
Kaiila ( Isbu Casmu Isanna Napoktan Wismahi )
Dust Legs Fleer Kailiauk Sleen Yellow Knives Kinyanpi
Civil Chiefs War Chiefs Medicine Chiefs The Council
Villages Lodges Dance Lodge Sweat Lodge Bargain Place
Blood Brothers Clothes Body Paintings
Status Courting Wives FW and Work FW and Slaves Clothes Face Paint Hairdo
Children
General Work Clothes Collars Names Virginity Pole Dance
Marks Slave Sacks Leg-spreaders Punishment Slave Herds Secret Slavery
The Waniyampi (Sames)
Hunting Agriculture Leather Work Trade
The Memory Work Travelling Shadow Clock Summer Festival The Great Hunt Owned Stories Games Food
The War The Medicine World Wakanglisapa Kaiila Riders Stealing Kaiila Kaiila Bridle Counting coup
Scouts Scalps and Mutilation Refusing War Death Song Shields
Arrows Axes Small Bow Clubs Kaiila Lance Tarn Lance
Hand Signs Smoke Signs
Barrens
"I considered the Barrens. They are not, truly, as barren as the name would suggest. They are barren only in contrast, say, with the northern forests or the lush land in river valleys, or the peasant fields or meadows of the southern rain belts. They are, in fact, substantially, vast tracts of rolling grasslands, lying east of the Thentis Mountains. I have suspected that they are spoken of as the Barrens not so much in an attempt to appraise them with geographical accuracy as to discourage their penetration, exploration and settlement. The name, then, is perhaps not best regarded as an item of purely scientific nomenclature but rather as something else, perhaps a warning. Also, calling the area the Barrens gives men a good excuse, if they should desire such, for not entering upon them. To be sure, the expression 'Barrens' is not altogether a misnomer. They would be, on the whole, much less arable than much of the other land of known Gor. Their climate is significantly influenced by the Thentis Mountains and the absence of large bodies of water. Prevailing winds in the northern hemisphere of Gor are from the north and West. Accordingly a significant percentage of moisture-laden air borne by westerly winds is forced by the Thentis Mountains to cooler, less-heated air strata, where it precipitates, substantially on the eastern slopes of the mountains and the fringes of the Barrens. Similarly the absence of large bodies of water in the Barrens reduces rainfall which might be connected with large-scale evaporation and subsequent precipitation of this moisture over land areas, the moisture being carried inland on what are, in effect, sea breezes, flowing into low pressure areas caused by the warmer land surfaces, a given amount of radiant energy raising the temperature of soil or rock significantly more than it would raise the temperature of an equivalent extent of water.
The absence of large bodies of water adjacent to or within the Barrens also has another significant effect on their climate. It precludes the Barrens from experiencing the moderating effects of such bodies of water on atmospheric temperatures. Areas in the vicinity of large bodies of water, because of the differential heating ratios of land and water usually have warmer winters and cooler summers than areas, which are not so situated. The Barrens, accordingly, tend to be afflicted with great extremes of temperature, often experiencing bitterly cold winters and long, hot, dry summers. "
"Savages of Gor" page 64"At the edge of the Thentis Mountains, in the driest areas, the grass is short. As one moves in an easterly direction it becomes taller, ranging generally from ten to eighteen inches in height; as one moves even further east it can attain a height of several feet, reaching as high as the knees of a man riding a kaiila. On foot, it is easier to become lost in such grass than in the northern forests. No white man, incidentally, at least as far as I know, has ever penetrated to the eastern edge of the Barrens. Certainly, as far as I know, none has ever returned from that area. Their extent, accordingly, is not known.
"Savages of Gor" page 65"I looked up at the stars, and the three moons of Gor. It is difficult to convey the majesty of a Gorean night in the Barrens, because of the vastness of the sky and the depth of the blackness, and the contrasting brightness of the stars. The large extents of wilderness on the surface of Gor and the absence of large-scale artificial illuminations, of course, permit starlit nights, almost anywhere, to manifest themselves with a splendor that would be almost breath-taking to one accustomed to the drab, half-gray, polluted, semi -illuminated, dim, nocturnal atmospheres of Earth. In the Barrens, however, and in places such as the Tahari, probably because of the relative levelness of the terrain, horizon-to-horizon, these effects seem even more accentuated, even more stupendous, more spectacular, more unbelievable and astounding."
"Savages of Gor" page 168
Kaiila River
"First, understand that there exists the Kaiila River, flowing generally in a southwestward direction."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24"At a given point, high in the territory of the Kaiila tribe, it branches into two rivers, The Northers Kaiila and the Southern Kaiila."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24
Snake River
"The Snake, flowing in an almost southern direction, is a tributary of the Northern Kaiila."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24
Thentis Mountains
"I see," I said. The Boswell he had referred to, incidentally, was the same fellow for whom the Boswell Pass through the Thentis Mountains had been named. He was an early explorer in the Barrens. Others were such men, as Diaz, Hogarthe and Bento.
"It is an awesome and splendid sight," I said. "Let us ride closer."
"But let us be careful," said Cuwignaka. Then, with a cry of pleasure, kicking his heels back into the flanks of his kaiila, he urged his beast down the slope. Grunt and I looked at one another, and grinned. "He is still a boy," said Grunt."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 7"Of course," I said. In my own concerns, in my own purposes in the Barrens, to locate and warn Zarendargar of his danger. I had given too little thought to the obvious rold of the fierce Kurii in the military politics of the vast grasslands east of the Thentis mountains. Cuwignaka, as a matter of fact, did not even know of my true mission in the Barrens. He thought me one who merely dealt in trading, much like Grunt."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 272
Climate "Their climate is significantly influenced by the Thentis Mountains and the absence of large bodies of water. Prevailing winds in the northern hemisphere of Gor are from the north and West. Accordingly a significant percentage of moisture-laden air borne by westerly winds is forced by the Thentis Mountains to cooler, less-heated air strata, where it precipitates, substantially on the eastern slopes of the mountains and the fringes of the Barrens. Similarly the absence of large bodies of water in the Barrens reduces rainfall which might be connected with large-scale evaporation and subsequent precipitation of this moisture over land areas, the moisture being carried inland on what are, in effect, sea breezes, flowing into low pressure areas caused by the warmer land surfaces, a given amount of radiant energy raising the temperature of soil or rock significantly more than it would raise the temperature of an equivalent extent of water.
The absence of large bodies of water adjacent to or within the Barrens also has another significant effect on their climate. It precludes the Barrens from experiencing the moderating effects of such bodies of water on atmospheric temperatures. Areas in the vicinity of large bodies of water, because of the differential heating ratios of land and water usually have warmer winters and cooler summers than areas, which are not so situated. The Barrens, accordingly, tend to be afflicted with great extremes of temperature, often experiencing bitterly cold winters and long, hot, dry summers. "
"Savages of Gor" page 64"Tornadoes and booming, crashing thunder can characterize the Barrens. In the winter there can be blizzards, probably the worst on Gor, in which snows can drift as high as the mast of the light galley. The summers can be characterized by a searing sun and seemingly interminable droughts. It is common for many of the shallow, meandering rivers of the area to run dry in the summer. Rapid temperature shifts are not unusual. A pond may unexpectedly freeze in En'Kara late in Se'Var, a foot or two of snow may be melted in a matter of hours. Sudden storms, too, are not unprecedented. Sometimes as much as twelve inches of rain, borne by a southern wind, can be deposited in less than an hour. To be sure, this rain usually runs off rapidly, cutting crevices and gullies in the land. A dry river bed may, in a matter of minutes, become a raging torrent. Hail storms, too, are not infrequent. Occasionally the chunks of ice are larger than the eggs of vulos. Many times such storms have destroyed flights of migrating birds."
"Savages of Gor" page 65
Seasons "Two moons will be sufficient to return to Kailiauk," said Grunt, "If one does not stop for trading." The two moons he had in mind, as I later learned, were Canwapegiwi, the moon in which the leaves become brown, and the moon known variously as Wayuksapiwi, the Corn-Harvest Moon, or Canwapekasnawi, the moon when the wind shakes off the leaves. The autumnal equinox occurs in Canwapegiwi.
"What is important about Kantasawi?" I asked.
"It is the moon during which the Bento herd enters the country of the Kaiila. It is a time of the gathering of the Kaiila, of great hunts and dances."
"Savages of Gor" page 253"The wand before us was some seven or eight feet high. It is of this height, apparently, that it may be seen above the snow, during the winter moons, such as Waniyetuwi and Wanicokanwi. It was of peeled Ka-la-na wood and, from its top, there dangled two long, narrow, yellow, black-tipped feathers, from the tail of the taloned Herlit, a large, broad winged, carnivorous bird, sometimes in Gorean called the Sun Striker, or, more literally, though in clumsier English, Out-of-the-sun-it-strikes, presumably from its habit of making its descent and. strike on prey, like the tarn, with the sun above and behind it. Similar wands I could see some two hundred yards away, on either side, to the left and right. According to Grunt such wands line the perimeter, though usually not in such proximity to one another. They are spaced more closely together, naturally, nearer areas of white habitation."
"Savages of Gor" page 143"Grunt now turned back on his kaiila to look out, eastward over the broad grasses and low, rolling hills. The terrain beyond the wands did not appear much different from the terrain leading up to them. The hills, the grass, the arching blue sky, the white clouds, seemed much the same on both sides of the wands. The wands seemed an oddity, a geographical irrelevance. Surely, thrust in the earth, supple in the wind, with the rustling feathers, they could betoken nothing of significance. The wind was fresh. I shivered on the kaiila.
For those who might be interested in such things, we came to the wands in the early spring, early in Magaksicaagliwi, which is the Moon of the Returning Gants. The preceding moon was the Sore-Eye Moon, or Istawicayazanwi. Because of its uncertain weather, the possible freezes and storms, and its harsh winds, this month had been avoided by Grunt. The next moon was Wozupiwi, the Planting Moon, which term, in the context, I find extremely interesting. It seems to make clear that the folk of the area, at one time, were settled, agricultural peoples. "
"Savages of Gor" page 144
Moons Istawicayazanwi (Sore-Eye Moon)
It occurs at the time of the vernal equinox and it is the first month in the Gorean calendar used in the cities of Gor.Magaksicaagliwi (Moon of the Returning Gants)
Time of the early spring.Wozupiwi (Planting Moon)
Takiyuhawi or Canpasapawi (Moon in Which the Tabuk Rut)" or (Moon When the Chokecherries are Ripe)
Kantasawi (Moon in Which the Plums Become Red)
It occurs in the latter part of the summer, when the kailiauk arrive. Time of gathering, great hunts and dances.Canwapegiwi (Moon in Which the Leaves Become Brown)
Time of the autumnal equinox.Wayuksapiwi or Canwapekasnawi (Corn-Harvest Moon) or (Moon When the Wind Shakes Off the Leaves)
Waniyetuwi (Winter Moon)
Wanicokanwi (Mid-Winter Moon)
Witehi (Hard Moon)
Wicatawi (Urt Moon)
Fort Haskins
"This lay at the foot of the Boswell Pass. Originally it had been a trading post, maintained by the Haskins Company, a company of Merchants, primarily at Thentis. A military outpost, flying the banners of Thentis, garrisoned by mercenaries, was later established at the same point. The military and strategic importance of controlling the eastern termination of the Boswell Pass was clear. It was at this time that the place came to be known as Fort Haskins. A fort remains at this point but the name, generally, is now given to the town which grew up in the vicinity of the fort, primarily to the West and south. The fort itself, incidentally, was twice burned, once by soldiers from Port Olni, before that town joined the Salerian Confederation, and once by marauding DustLegs, a tribe of the red savages, from the interior of the Barrens. The military significance of the fort has declined with growth of population in the area and the development of tarn cavalries in Thentis. The fort now serves primarily as a trading post, maintained by the caste of merchants from Thentis, as interesting recollection of the origins of the area."
"Savages of Gor" page 76/7
Kailiauk City
"Kailiauk is the easternmost town at the foot of the Thentis Mountains. It lies almost at the edge of the Ihanke, or Boundary. From its outskirts one can see the markers, or feathers on their tall wands, which mark the beginning of the country of the red savages."
"Savages of Gor" page 77"I had heard the striking of the time bar, mounted on the roof of the administrator's store, as I approached the towns outskirts. In Kailiauk, as is not unusual in the towns of the perimeter, the Administrator is of the merchants. The major business in Kailiauk is the traffic of hides and kaiila. It serves a function as well, however, as do many such towns, as a social and commercial center for many outlying farms and ranches. It is a bustling town, but much of its population is itinerant. Among its permanent citizens I doubt that it numbers more than four or five hundred individuals. As would be expected it has several Inns and taverns aligned along its central street.
Its most notable feature, probably, is its hide sheds. Under the roofs of these open sheds, on platforms, tied in bundles, are thousands of hides. Elsewhere, here and there, about the town, are great heaps of bone and horn, often thirty or more feet in height. These deposits represent the results of the thinning of kailiauk herds by the red savages. A most common sight in Kailiauk is the coming and going of hide wagons, and wagons for the transport of horn and bones."
"Savages of Gor" page 93/4"The smell of the hide sheds, incidentally, gives a very special aroma to the atmosphere of Kailiauk. After one has been there a few hours, however, the odor of the hides, now familiar and pervasive, tends to be dismissed from consciousness."
"Savages of Gor" page 95
~
The People
"The Red Savages, as they are commonly called on Gor, are racially and culturally distinct from the Red Hunters of the north. They tend to be a more slender, longer-limbed people; their daughters menstruate earlier; and their babies are not born with a blue spot at the base of the spine, as in the case with most of the red hunters. Their culture tends to be nomadic, and is based on the herbivorous, lofty kaiila, substantially the same animal as is found in the Tahari, save for the wider footpads of the Tahari beast, suitable for negotiating deep sand, and the lumbering, gregarious, short-tempered, trident-homed kailiauk. To be sure, some tribes do not have the kaiila, never having mastered it, and certain tribes have mastered the tarn, which tribes are the most dangerous of all."
"Savages of Gor" page 35"Although there are numerous physical and cultural differences among these people they are usually collectively referred to as the red savages. This is presumably a function of so little being known about them, as a whole, and the cunning, ruthlessness and ferocity of so many of the tribes. They seem to live for hunting and internecine warfare, which seems to serve almost as a sport and a religion for them. Interestingly enough most of these tribes seem to be united only by a hatred of whites, which hatred, invariably, in a time of emergency or crisis, takes precedence over all customary conflicts and rivalries. To attack whites, intruding into their lands, once the war lance has been lifted, even long-term blood enemies will ride side by side. The gathering of tribes, friends and foes alike, for such a battle is said to be a splendid sight. These things are in virtue of what, among these peoples, is called the Memory."
"Savages of Gor" page 35"The expression ‘Pte’, literally stands for the kailiauk cow, as ‘Ta-tanka’ stands for the kailiauk bull, but it is commonly used colloquially, more generally, to stand for the kailiauk in general. In a sense, the “Pte” may be considered the mother of the tribes, as it is through her that their nomadic life, in its tichness and variety, becomes possible. More formally, of course, one speaks of the kailiauk. The expression ‘kailiauk’ is a Gorean word and, as far as I know, does not have an Earth origin."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 10"The red savages depend for their very lives on the kailiauk" said Kog. "He is the major source of their food and life.His meat and hide, his bones and sinew, sustain them. From him they derive not only food but clothing and shelter, tools and weapons."
"Savages of Gor" page 50"Further, they believe that if they are unworthy of the kailiauk, he will go away. And they believe that this once happened, long ago."
"Savages of Gor" page 50"So," said Kog, "they do not lie on the hide of the kailiauk. It would be the last place in the world that they would choose to lie. On the hide of the kailiauk one may paint only truth."
"Savages of Gor" page 50"These lads, and lads like them, were set to watch the herds, not to defend them. At the first sign of danger, such as the apperance of an enemy party, they were to bring the herds back to the village, sending one lad ahead to sound the alarm. Under no circumstances were they to engage the enemy. Red savages do not set boys to fight men. Too, the lads were in little danger. It would be very difficult for a mounted warrior, even if he wished to do so, to overtake a boy, lighter in weight than he, on a rested kaiila, by the time the lad could reach the lodges, usually no more than two or three pasangs away."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 123/4Language
"A bewildering complexity of tribal languages is spoken in the Barrens," I said,” most of them unintelligible to native speakers of the others."
"Savages of Gor" page 59"Dust Legs and Kaiila, as I have earlier indicated, are closely related languages. Kaiila is commonly, interestingly, regarded as a dialectical version of Dust Leg. Dust Leg and Fleer are also related, but much more distantly. Commonly Dust Legs and Fleer, when they meet in peace, communicate in the lingua franca of the plains, sign."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 463"Ho, Itancanka. Ho, Wicayuhe," she said.
"She speaks Dust Leg," he said. "She then will also be conversant with Kaiila. These are two closely related languages, or, better, two dialects of a single language. Fleer is also related to them, but more remotely."
"Savages of Gor" page 229"If I learn some Dust Leg, I should be able, to some extent, to communicate with Kaiila," I said.
"Very easily," said Grunt, "for they are much the same, and, too, you would be able to make yourself understood to the Kailiauk, and, to some extent, to the Fleer."
"I have heard little of the Kailiauk," I said.
"They are not well known west of the perimeter," he said. 'Their country lies to the south and east of that of the Kaiila."
"Savages of Gor" page 241"I was not certain that Grunt was wise in addressing him in the dialect of the Kaiila, for the Fleer and Kaiila are hereditary enemies. On the other hand, interestingly, the many affinities between their languages suggest a common ancestor. The distinction between dialects and languages, as the dialectical divergencies increase, can become, at times, almost arbitrary. Most people, for what it is worth, regard Fleer and Kaiila as different languages. Certainly the Fleer and Kaiila do, and few see much profit in arguing the point with them."
"Savages of Gor" page 257
DUST LEGS
FLEER
* Blue-Sky Riders (warrior society of the Fleer)
KAIILA (Cutthroat)
- Bands: Isbu (Little Stones), Casmu (Sand), Isanna (Little-Knife), Napoktan (Bracelets or Mazahuhu) and Wismahi (Arrow-Head).
* All Comrades - Fighting Hearts (warrior society of the Isbu Kaiila)
* Sleen Soldiers - (warrior society of the Isbu Kaiila) * Yellow-Kaiila Riders (warrior society of the Casmu Kaiila)KAILIAUK
SLEEN
* Sun Lances (warrior society of the Sleen)
YELLOW KNIVES
* Urt Soldiers (warrior society of the Yellow Knives)
KINYAMPI (Flighted Ones)
KAIILA
(Isbu, Casmu, Isanna, Napoktan and Wishami) "The Isbu, or Little-Stones band; the Casmu, or Sand band; the Isanna, the Little-Knife band; the Napoktan, or Bracelets band; and the Wismahi, or Arrowhead band, are the five bands which constitute the Kaiila tribe."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 10"The normal distributions, given food supply and such, of the bands of the Kaiila are usually rather as follows. First, understand that there exists the Kaiila River, flowing generally in a Southwestward direction. At a given point, high in the terriotory of the Kaiila tribe, it branches into two rivers, which are normally spoken of as the Northern Kaiila and the Southern Kaiila. The Snake, flowing in an almost southern direction, is a tributary to the Northern Kaiila. The land of the Napoktan, or the Bracelets band of the Kaiila, is east of the Snake, and north of the Northern Kaiila, and the Kaiila proper. The Wismahi, or Arrowhead and of the Kaiila, holds the more northern lands in and below, to some extent, the fork of the Kaiila. The Isbu's land are the more southern lands between the Northern and Southern branches of the Kaiila. The lands of the Casmu, or Sand Band of the Kaiila, lie to the west of the Isanna, and to the north and west of the Isbu, above the descending Northern branch of the Northern Kaiila."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24"The red horizontal bar, or bars, as the case is, is commonly associated with the Kaiila, the Cutthroat tribe. There were many coup marks, I noted, on the snout and forequarters of the fellow's kaiila."
"Savages of Gor" page 314
Isbu (Little Stones Band) "The Isbu was the largest band, containing between sixteen and seventeen hundred members."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25"The Isbu's land are the more southern lands between the Northern and Southern branches of the Kaiila."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24"The movement of this group of animals had been reported in the camp of the Isbu Kaiila, or the Little-Stones band of the Kaiila"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 8- All Comarades (Warrior Society of the Isbu Kaiila) "Two societies are represented among the Kaiila here," said Grunt. "Most belong to the All Comrades, and one belongs to the Yellow-Kaiila Riders.
"Savages of Gor" page 314"The sign for the All Comrades," I said, "is the heart and lance."
"Yes," said Grunt. "They are sometimes known, too, from the sign, as the Fighting Hearts. The society name, however, more strictly, translates as the All Comrades.'
"Savages of Gor" page 314- Sleen Soldiers (Warrior Society of the Isbu Kaiila) "It was Hci, with his fellows of the Sleen Soldiers, of the Isbu, the son of Mahpiyasapa, civil chieftain of the Isbu, who did it," said Cuwignaka.
"Savages of Gor" page 324"Scouts of the Sleen Soldiers, a warrior society of the Isbu, had been keeping track of the animlas since they had entered he country of the Kaiila more than two weeks ago. This was a moon in which the Sleen Soldiers held police powers in the camp, and so it was to their lot that numerous details, such as scouting and guarding, supervising the camp and settling minor disputs, now fell. Among their other duties, of course, would come the planning, organization and policing of the great Wanasapi, the hunt or chase."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 8
Casmu (Sand Band) "The lands of the Casmu, or Sand Band of the Kaiila, lie to the west of the Isanna, and to the north and west of the Isbu, above the descending Northern branch of the Northern Kaiila."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24"The Casmu numbered in the neighborhood of one thousand;"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25- Yellow-Kaiila Riders (Warrior Society of the Casmu Kaiila) "One other was with the party, too, an older, warrior, Kahintokapa, One-Who-Walks-Before, of the prestigious Yellow-Kaiila Riders. He was of the Casmu, or Sand, band."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 14"The fellow in the background, with his war shield in its case, is a member of the Yellow-Kaiila Riders. That may be told by the stylized yellow kaiila print, outlined in red, on the flanks of his beast, over the red horizontal bars."
"Savages of Gor" page 314
Isanna (Little Knife Band) "The Isanna was the Little-Knife Band of the Kaiila. They came from the countries around Council Rock, north of the northern fork of the Kaiila River and west of the Snake, a tributary to the Northern Kaiila."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24"The Isanna Kaiila number between some seven and eight hundred."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25"Three or four abreast, in long lines, led by their civil chief, Watonka, One-Who-Is-Rich, and subchiefs and high warriors, the Isanna entered the camp of the Isbu. They carried feathered lances, and war shields and medicine shields, in decorated cases. They carried bow cases and quivers. They were resplendent in finery and paint. Feathers, each one significant and meaningful, in the codes of the Kaiila, recounting their deeds and honors, adorned their hair. Necklaces and rude bracelets glinted in the sun. High-pommeled saddles were polished. Coins and beads hung from the reins. Exploit markings and lucksigns were painted on the flanks and forequarters of their animals, and ribbons and feathers were fixed in the braided, silken manes. Women, too, in thier shirtdresses and knee-length leggings, and beads, bracelets and armbands, and colorful blankets and capes, astride their kaiila, riding as red savages ride, participated in this barbaric parade."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25/6
Napoktan (Bracelet Band) "The land of the Napoktan, or the Bracelets band of the Kaiila, is east of the Snake, and north of the Northern Kaiila, and the Kaiila proper."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24"The Napoktan, which had arrived at the camp only yesterday, was the smallest of the bands of Kaiila numbering between some three and four hundred members."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25
Wimashi Band (Arrowhead) "...the Wismahi one of the smaller bands numbered about five or six hundred."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25"The Wismahi, or Arrowhead and of the Kaiila, holds the more northern lands in and below, to some extent, the fork of the Kaiila."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 24
DUST LEGS "This was a perimeter tribe, which, on the whole, was favorably disposed towards whites. Most trading was done with Dust Legs. Indeed, it was through the Dust Legs that most of the goods of the interior might reach civilization, the Dust Legs, in effect, acting as agents, and intermediaries."
"Savages of Gor" page 148"It is clean work," said Grunt, "the work of Dust Legs." This tribe I knew, in its various bands, was regarded as the most civilized of the tribes of the Barrens. In the eyes of some of the other tribes they were regarded as little better than white men."
"Savages of Gor" page 159
FLEER "He is Fleer," he added.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"The hair," said Grunt, "is won in the high pompadour, combed back." "Like Corn Stalks," I said. The fellow's hair came down his back, flowing even over the spine of the kaiila. He was riding bareback. He carried a long, feathered lance, and a small, round shield, a war shield, on which were inscribed medicine signs."
"Savages of Gor" page 256"The warrior who had spoken was Fleer. This could be told at a glance from the hair, which was worn in a high, combed-back pompadour. He carried a feather lance, with a long iron point, a trade point, socketed, fastened to the lance shaft with two rivets. His kaiila had a notched right ear. It bore various coup marks and exploited markings. Among these, on the flanks, on each flank, therewas a society marking, a flat black line, a semicircular, curved blue line above it, the line of the earth, the overarching blue dome of the sky above it. He was a member of the Blue-Sky Riders."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 463"Although the Fleer speak a language clearly akin to Kaiila and Dust Leg there had often been strife among them."
"Savages of Gor" page 240- Blue-Sky Riders "Our friend," said Grunt to me, "is a member of the Blue-Sky Riders, a warrior society of the Fleer."
"One should be careful of such fellows?" I asked.
"I would think so," smiled Grunt.
"You are gathering this membership from the marks on the kaiila's flanks?" I asked.
"Yes," said Grunt, "the dark line of the earth, the overarching dome of the blue sky."
"Savages of Gor" page 260"It bore various coup marks and exploited markings. Among these, on the flanks, on each flank, therewas a society marking, a flat black line, a semicircular, curved blue line above it, the line of the earth, the overarching blue dome of the sky above it. He was a member of the Blue-Sky Riders."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 463
KAILIAUK "She had been born in a Waniyanpi compound, one owned by the Kailiauk, a tribe federated with the Kaiila and speaking a closely related dialect."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 190
SLEEN "As it turned out Grunt and I, traversing the Barrens, had come on the lad and freed him. Shortly thereafter we were apprehended by a mixed group of unlikely allies, representatives of Sleen, Yellow Knives and Kaiila, who in virtue of the Memory, as it is called, had joined forces to attack the wagon train and soldiers."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 13
- Sun Lances "What were the yellow lances on the flanks of the kaiila of the Sleen?" I asked.
"The Sun Lances," said Grunt, "a warrior society of the Sleen."
"Savages of Gor" page 314
YELLOW KNIVES "The three men, arms folded, standing in the vicinity of Watonka, who stood on a bit of high ground, near the Isanna lodges, I did not doubt were Yellow Knives. It was not that there was anything in particular about them that seemed to differentiate them from the Kaiila, but rather that there seemed something as a whole about them which was different, doubtless the cumulative effect of many tiny details, perhpas in the beading of their clothing, the manner in which certain ornaments were carved, the notching of their sleeves, the manner of fringing leggings, the tugting at the base of the feathers in their hair, the cut and style of their moccasins. They were not Kaiila. They were something else. They seemed stolid and expressionless."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 198- Urt Soldiers "The painted prints on the flanks of the kaiila of the Yellow Knives?" I asked.
"The sign of the Urt Soldiers," said Grunt, "a society of the Yellow Knives."
"Savages of Gor" page 314
KINYANPI (Flighted Ones) “Mahpiyasapa has returned,” he said. “He and Kahintokapa, of the Yellow-Kaiila Riders, are commanding the defense. We fear only the return of the Kinyanpi, the Flighted Ones.”
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 230"I went forward and seized the guide-ropes, or reins, of the tarn, as the Kinyanpi fashion them, seen clearly to be based on the jaw ropes used generally in the Barrens by the red savages to control kaiila. This suggests that the Kinyanpi had probably domesticated kaiila before tarns and that their domestication of the tarn was achieved independently of white practice, as exemplified, say, by the tarnsmen of such cities as Thentis."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 341"As nearly as I could determine, few tribes in the Barrens had mastered the tarn. That there were Kinyanpi had almost been taken as a matter of myth by the Kaiila until their dramatic appearance at the summer camp. This suggested that such groups were rare. The Kinyanpi, I conjectured, occupied a position rather analogous to that of Earth tribes who might have been among the first, in the sixteen and seventeen hundreds, to master the horse. Due to lack of competition their battle skills, originally developed in connection with the kaiila, would presumably have declined."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 440
GOVERNMENT
"In the beliefs of the red savages the welfare of the whole, that of the tribe, takes precedence over the welfare of the individual. In the thinking of the red savages the right to diminish the community does not lie within the prerogatives of the individual."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 11
Civil Chiefs
"Among the red savages there are various sorts of chief. The primary types of chief are the war chief, the medicine chief and the civil chief. One may be, interestingly, only one sort of chief at a time. This, like the rotation of police powers among warrior societies, is a portion of the checks and balances, so to speak, which tend to characterize tribal governance. Other checks and balanced are such things as tradition and custom, the closeness of the governed and the governors, multiple-family inter-relatedness, the election of chiefs, the submission of significant matters to a council, and ultimately, the feasibility of simply leaving the group in greater or lesser numbers."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 18"Three or four abreast, in long lines, lead by their civil chief, Watonka, One-Who-Is-Rich, and subchiefs and high warriors, the Isanna entered the camp of the Isbu."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25"“How could one be more important among my people than to be a civil chieftain of a rich band?” asked Cuwignaka.
“To become, I suppose, a high chief of all the bands,” I said, “a chief of the tribe, as a whole.”
“But there are no first chiefs, no high chiefs, among Kaiila, except maybe, sometime, a war chief,” said Cuwignaka. “It is not our way.”
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 206
War Chiefs
"Most tribes had several warrior societies These societies had much influence within the tribes and on an alternating basis to preclude any one society from becoming predominant a good deal of power. Their members were expected to set an example in war and the hunt."
"Savages of Gor" page 260
"Warrior Societies in the tribes have many functions The are a significant component of tribal existence. Such societies on an alternating basis do such things as keep order in the camps and on the treks. They function too as guards and police. It is part of their function too to keep the tribes apprised as to the movements of kailiauk and to organize and police tribal hunts. Such societies too it might be noted are useful in various social ways. They provide institutions through which merit can be recognized and rewarded and tribal traditions freshened maintained and renewed. The preserve medicine bundles keep ceremonies and teach histories. It is common for them to give feasts and hold dances. Their rivalries provide an outlet for intertribal aggression and the attendant competitions supply an encouragement for effort and a stimulus to excellence. Within the society itself of course the members profit from the values of alliance and camaraderie and friendship. Needless to say each society will have too its own medicines and mysteries."
"Savages of Gor" page 261"The larger party has done its work and is returning to its home, presumably under the command of a Blotanhunka a war-party leader, usually a fellow of mature and experienced judgment. He exerts control; he commands restraint."
"Savages of Gor" page 249
Medicine Chiefs
'"Cancega seems to be a very important fellow," I said. "He is more important than you understand," said Cuwignaka. "At this time, during the festivals, he is in charge of the whole camp. We listen to him. We do what he says." "He is, then," I said, "at this time, in effect, the chief of all the Kaiila." "I do not think I would put it just that way," said Cuwignaka, somewhat defensively. "The civil chiefs, in deferring to him, are not really relinquishing their power." "I see the distinction," I said,"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 34
The Council "I turned about and looked again at the huge council lodge. The two guards were still a the threshold. Between them, various men were entering. Expected to attend such a council, of couse, on the part of the Kaiila, were not only the civil chieftains of the various bands of the Kaiila but their high men, as well, the councils of the various bands, and trusted warriors, and men of probity and wisdom. Such councils tend to be open to the noble, the proven and worth. In that lodge, this afternoon, would be gathered, for most pracitical purposes, the leadership and aristocracy of the Kaiila nation."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 197
Villages
"The Casmu numbered in the neighborhood of on thousand; the Wismahi one of the smaller bands numbered about five or six hundred. The Isbu was the largest band, containing between sixteen and seventeen hundred members. The Napoktan, which had arrived at the camp only yesterday, was the smallest of the bands of Kaiila numbering between some three and four hundred members. These bands, within their own territories, are often divided into separate villages or encampments. In a given encampment usually under a minor chief, there is seldom more than two or three hundred individuals. Indeed sometimes encampments contains only seven or eight families." "Blood Brothers of Gor" page 25"The Kaiila will usually camp near water but in the open, a pasang or so from timber. They seem unusually cognizant of the possibilities of ambush. The Fleer will usually camp in the open but near timber, probably for the convenience of firewood. Yellow Knives often camp in open timber. Sleen, interestingly, often make their camp in thick timber, and even in brush and thickets. What seems to one tribe to present a dangerous possibility of ambush may, to another, seem to provide cover and shelter.
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 50"The entire encampment of red savages, of course, may be swiftly moved. In less than twenty Ehn an entire camp can be struck packed and gone. This is a function of course, of the lodges involved. One woman working alone can put up one in fifteen Ehn and strike it in three."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 55"Too consider the deployment of archer in the corridors of aerial attack to protect your riders. Sharpened stakes can discourage talon attacks. Ropes stretched between lodges can interfere with low flight attacks and impede attempted landings. Cloths and covers even separated can provide protective concealment's, some serving to hid what is actually beneath them, particularly from high altitudes, others serving as patterns destructive to archers, patterns which make it difficult to target the objects they shelter, both with respect to their movements and locations."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 230 "A camp, at night, incidentally, is usually quite a noisy place. It would not form, for example, an ideal refuge for scholarship. The stereotype of the taciturn red savage is one based, usually, on encountering him in guarded situations, where he is uneasy, perhaps meeting strangers, or is, say, being careful, perhaps being involved in trading. In his villages he is outspoken, good-humored and animate. He likes wagers, practical jokes and telling stories. He is probably one of the worlds greatest visitors and too, one of the world's greatest hosts, one of his great pleasures in life being the giving of gifts and the feasting of friends."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 51"Cuwignaka remained outside. He had pegged down three hides and, one after the other, alternating his efforts, was scraping them. All about the camp hides such as these, pegged down, and meat racks, heavy with sheets of kailiauk meat, were in evidence. These are common sights in summer camps. The meat is left two or three days in the sun, this being sufficient for its preservation. It is taken in at night to protect it from the night air."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 71
Lodges
"They sheathed their knives and resumed their stance, arms folded before the threshold of the great lodge. Its poles were 50 feet in height and it was covered withmore than a hundred skins."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 196"I looked about the lodge. It was not untypical. The lodge poles were about twenty-five feet high. They were of temwood which dries evenly and is long-lasting. The bark is removed from the poles and they are trimmed to an even thickness for most of their length. They are usually about twelve inches around. The top yard or so of their length is tapered, to facilitate their clustering, and being tied in position. In setting up the lodge three or four poles are tied together and raised to a standing position, rather resembling, a tripod. The other poles, appropriately spaced, are laid against these. A long rawhide rope, then from the ground, wound about several times, fastens the primarily and secondary poles together. The end of this rope hangs near the lodge entrance where it may, on a moment's notice, be conveniently utilized. The cover of the lodge consists of several kailiauk hides sewn together. Depending on the size of the lodge and the size of the hides available, a lodge will usually require in the neighborhood of nineteen or twenty hides. Two long poles lighter than the lodge poles, are tied to the cover. By means of these lighter poles the cover is put in its place. The two poles hang near the lodge entrance. They are used not only to lift the cover into place, to adjust it, and remove it, but also in the regulation of the flaps at the apex of the lodge, altering or adjusting the smoke hole, in effect, dependent on temperature and wind conditions. Pegs or tent-pins fasten the cover down. In the winter a hide liner may be placed inside of the lodge. This will usually have a height of about five feet inside the lodge. A wall of brush, as a snow fence, in effect, may also be used. In the summer the walls of the lodge, as I have mentioned, may be rolled up, transforming it, in effect, into a sun canopy."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 49/50"The outsides of the lodge may be painted, as the occupant pleases. Hunting and war exploits are common themes. The lodge, thus, is a very personal dwelling."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 50 "Various tribes use different numbers of poles in setting up their lodges. The Fleer usually use twenty, the Sleen twenty-two and the Kaiila twenty-four."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 50"The hides used in the lodges are, of course, translucent. Thus, in the daylight, it is easy to see in the interior. Similarly, at night, one can see shadows within. The lodge at night, interestingly, illuminated from within by its fire, can be quite a lovely sight. This is even more impressive, of course with a number of lodges."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 51"The lodge has a diameter of some fifteen feet. This is actually quite spacious. A circular enclosure, of course, geometrically, contains more space, for a given perimeter, than any other figure. Such lodges are conveniently and comfortably inhabited by families from five to eight red savages. To be sure, much time, most of the year, is spent outdoors. Also, what might seem crowded to one with a particular acculturation may simply seem appropriate and right, even intimate and cozy, to one with a differing acculturation. Family and communal closeness, for better or for worse, are characteristics of the life of the red savage. I do not think he would want it any other way."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 51"To be sure, it is not unknown for a man to occasionally seek the lodge of his warrior society, where his children and women cannot follow him. In his club, so to speak, he might be able to find a bit of peace and quiet which seems to have eluded him at home. Too, of course, meditation and the seeking of visions and dreams are solitary activities. A man may indicate that he is meditating by as little as putting his blanket over his head, even in a crowded camp. He will then be left alone. Dreams and visions, on the other hand, are usually sought in the willderness."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 51"We sat behind the fire, in what, in a lodge of red savages, would be the place of honor."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 346
Dance Lodge
“How well things are going for us all!” said Cuwignaka. “A Yellow-Knife delegation is due in camp today. This is the time of the dances and feasts. Canka is happy. You may soon be free and I, Cuwignaka, Woman’s Dress, will enter tomorrow the great lodge of the dance.”
In the center of the camp a great circular brush lodge had been erected. Its high walls, some forty feet in height, built on poles, from platforms, and ceilinged with poles and branches, enclosed a dancing space, cleared, circular and packed down, of about fifty feet in diameter. In the center of this space was the pole which had been fromed, some days ago, from the tree which Winyela had felled. Fixed in the earth, buried to a depth of about seven or eight feet, and supported, too, with a circle of heavy stakes, to which it was bound, it was about twenty-two feet in height. Two forks had been left on the pole, one about ten feet from the ground and one about fifteen feet from the ground. In the lower fork, rolled in a bundle, were the jewelry and clothes Winyela had worn when she had cut down the tree. From the higher fork dangled two leather representations, one of a Kailiauk and the other of a male, with an exaggerated phallus. These representations were doubtless intended to be significant in the symbolism and medicine of the dance. This dance, to the red savage, is holy. It is sacred to him. It is a mystery medicine. I shall not, therefore, attempt to reduce it to simple terms or translate it into simplistic consepts. It does have to do, however, at least, obviously, with such things as luck, hunting and manhood."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 121/2"I leaped up and again hurried toward the lodge of Mahpiyasapa. I passed within a hundred yars of the great dance lodge, formed of towering walls of brush. Within would be the pole, the ropes and the skewers, and pained and bedecked, dancing, the young men."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 194
Sweat Lodge
"In the small confines of a sweat lodge, fasting, and with steam and hot stones, he would try to come to grips with these things which had happened. He might then go to some lonely place, to seek a dream vision, that he might know what to do."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 197"The stones for use in the sweat lodge are heated in a fire outside the lodge and, held on sticks, taken within, where water is poured upon them, creating the needed heat and steam. When a stone cools it is then reheated. This part of the work, heating the stones, bringing the water, reheating the stones, and so on, ideally, is not done by the individual or individuals within the sweat lodge. Ideally,it is done by an assistant or helper."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 197
Bargaining Place
"On the way back to my lodge I passed a bargaining place, an open area serving for trading and exchanges, not unusual in an intertribal camp. There I saw Seibar, who had once been Pumpkin, of the Waniyanpi, trading, in sign, with a Dust-Leg warrior. Seibar was offering a netted sack of maize. The Dust Leg was bidding sheaves of dried kailiauk meat."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 473
Blood Brothers
Cuwignaka's knife moved on his own forearm, and then on mine, and then on Hci's.
"You cannot be a member of the Sleen Soldiers of the All Comrades," had said Hci, "for you are not Kaiila, and you do not know our dances and mysteries, the contents of our medicine bundles."
"There is another thing," had said Cuwignaka, "which can be done."
"Do it," had said Hci.
Cuwignaka held his arm to mine, and then I held my arm to that of Hci, and then Hci, in turn, held his arm to that of Cuwignaka. Thus was the circle of blood closed.
"It is done," said Cuwignaka.
"Brothers," I said.
"Brothers," said Hci.
"Brothers," said Cuwignaka."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 475
Clothes
"The Red Savages, as you may not know," Said Grunt to me, though doubtless he was speaking primarily for the benefit of the Hobarts, "Are rather strict about the privilege of wearing the breechclout."
"Oh?" I said.
"Yes," Said Grunt. "It is not permitted to Women, even to their own women, nor, of course, is it permitted to slaves."
"I understand," I said. The breechclout of the Barrens, incidentally, consistes of a single piece of narrow material. This may be of tanned skin but, not unoften, is of soft cloth. It is held in place by a belt or cord. It commonly goes over the belt or cord in the back, and down and between the legs, and then comes up, drawn snuglytightm, over the belt or cord in the front. In cooler weather it is often worn with leggings and a shirt. In warmer weather, in camp, it is uually the only thing that a male will wear.
"For a slave, or a prisoner, to wear a breechclout might be regarded as pretentious or offensive," Said Grunt, "an oversight or indiscretion calling for Torture or, say, for being set upon by boys on Kaiila, with war clubs."
"Savages of Gor" pages 165/6"Look," said Grunt, pointing to the right.
A rider, a red savage, was approaching rapidly. He wore a breechclout and moccasins. About his neck was a string of Sleen claws. There were not reathers in his hair and neither he nor his animal wore paint. Too he did not carrry lance and shield. He was not on the business of war. He did have a bowcase and quiver, at the thong on his waist was a beaded sheath, from which protruded the hilt of a trade knife.
“It is Hci,” said Cuwingaka."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 9"Indeed, sometimes a young fellow will have his hair greased and braided, and will dress himself in finery and paint, and simply ride about camp, parading, in effect, before his fellow villagers, and, in particular, the maidens. This perhaps somewhat vain but surely splendid sight is not usual in a camp."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 19"I drew on my tunic and slipped into my moccasins."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 23"The breechclout does not make manhood, said Canka. It is only a sign of manhood. That is why we do not permit those to wear it who are not men."
"Savages of Gor" page 323"He looked very splendid in his paint and feathers, with the lance astride the kaiila. She pressed her lips to his moccasin then his ankle kissing him softly. Then she looked up at him an backed away, his stripped save for the beaded collar knotted at her throat."
"Savages of Gor" page 317"He wore breechclout and moccasins. About his neck was a necklace of sleen claws. His long hair was braided. He carried his bow, not yet strung, and a quiver of arrows , at his left hip. On his belt, that holding the breechclout, there was a knife, in a beaded sheath."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 52"But the young man clearly, the lance grasped in his hand, high on his lofty kaiila, in his breechclout and paint, was not moved."
"Savages of Gor" page 316"Toward noon," said Kog, slowly turning the hide, "we see that the weather has cleared. The wind has died down. The snow has stopped falling. The sun has emerged from the clouds. We may conjecture that the day is bright. A rise in temperature has apparently occured as well. We see that the man has opened his widely sleeved hunting coat and removed his cap of fur."
"Savages of Gor" page 41"Most Gorean males, and their slaves, incidentally, not merely the males of the red savages, commonly sleep naked. If the girl is permitted a sleeping garment it is commonly short, front-opening, and fastened with a single tie." Blood
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 49
Body Paintings
"On its nose were red lines, coup marks, matching those on the warrior's legs. Its eyes were outlined with wide circles of black paint. On its left forequarter was drawn a zigzag line, indicating lightning. On its right forequarter there were five inverted "U's." Its right ear bore a V-shaped notch. On its left flank there was an opaque red circle with a waving red line descending from it also on the left flank, and on the right flank, too, there was a black, horizontal line, with a semicircular, curved blue line above it. The coup marks and the inverted "U's" were exploit markings. The inverted "U's" indicated kaiila stolen from the enemy, the mark itself being a stylized convention whose heritage, I did not doubt, might be traced back to another animal, and another world and time. The circles painted about the eyes and the line of lightning on the left forequarter were signs in the medicine of war. The medicine use of the circles was to enable the beast to see clearly and far and that of the line to impart to its motion something of the same suddenness, the same swiftness and power, as attends the movement of lightning, that dread natural phenomenon, itself. The opaque circle with the wavy line descending from it was a wound mark, the location of the mark indicating a former wound site, the redness standing for blood, of course, and the descending line for bleeding. I did not know the meaning of the notched ear, if it had a meaning, or of the other marks on the animal's flanks."
"Savages of Gor" page 260
FREE WOMEN
"I did not know if Bloketu would be permitted into the council or not. Normally women are not permitted in such places. The red savages, though often listening with great attention to their free women, and according them great honor and respect, do not choose to relinquish the least bit of their sovereignty to them. They will make the decisions. They are the men. The women will obey."
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 199"Iwoso, for her part in the attack, would now be an important woman among the Yellow Knives. A woman of such importance, of course, should have her own maiden."
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 231
“If you wish to court Iwoso,” said Bloketu, “you may come to the lodge tonight and sit outside, cross-legged, playing the love flute. I will then decide whether or not I will permit my maiden to leave the lodge.” “You have not yet taken away her leggings, nor put her in a short dress and collar,” said Hci. “It is not necessary to follow Iwoso about like a panting sleen,” said Bloketu. “It is not for such a purpose that I follow her,” said Hci. “If I want her, I will come to your lodge. I will offer a kaiila for her and bring a rope.”
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 84
“Mahpiyasapa is not here,” said the woman, kneeling near his lodge, one of his wives. Her gnarled fingers held a bone scraper. She was sharpening the scraper on a stone in front of her. On the scraper there were six dots. It has been used for six years. Two of her fingers had been cut ff at the first joint. She had lost two sons."
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 194
"The Dust-Leg woman turned away from her and came over to where I sat behind the blanket. She beamed at me. The Dust Legs, on the whole, are an affable, openhearted and generous people. They tend to be friendly and outgoing.
"Hou," said the woman to me, kneeling before the blanket.
"Hou," said I to her.
It is difficult not to like them. Most trading is done with them. They tend to be the intermediaries and diplomats of the western Barrens.
The woman opened a rectangular hide envelope, a parfleche, slung on a strap over her shoulder. In it were various samples of beadwork and some small skins. She put some of these things on her edge of the blanket.
"Hopa," I said, admiringly. "Hopa."
She beamed, her teeth strong and white in her broad, reddish-brown face.
She pointed to a small mirror, with a red-metal rim. I handed it to her."
"Savages of Gor" page 213“Hurry, hurry, lazy slave!” I heard. I heard then the hiss of a switch and a girl, carrying two skins of water, cry out in pain. She was a white female slave. She was naked, collared, red-haired and large-bosomed. She belonged to Mahpiyasapa. One of Mahpiyasapa’s wives, with a switch in her gnarled, mutilated hand, the woman with whom I had once spoken outside of his lodge before the attack on the summer camp, was supervising her in her duties."
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 471"Many women of the red savages, in spite of the wishes of their men, do not approve of such soft, curvaceous, desirable trade goods being brought into the Barrens."
"Savages of Gor" page 213
"The red-haired girl cried out in pain and fear, struck from her knees back in the grass by the plump, scornful woman of the red savages, a sturdy-legged matron of the Dust Legs. She looked up at her in terror. Slave girls know that they have most to fear from free women."
"Savages of Gor" page 212"She had been very helpful. I did not think that I would have managed as well had I been a white female slave. Had I been such she might have put me to labors or kept me on my belly, in the dirt, my mouth filled with dirt, before her, for hours. Women of the red savages bear little affection towards the lovely white properties of thier men. White slave girls will often flee at the mere approach of a red female and will almost never meet the eyes of one."
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 194
"Women, too, in thier shirtdresses and knee-length leggings, and beads, bracelets and armbands, and colorful blankets and capes, astride their kaiila, riding as red savages ride, participated in this barbaric parade."
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 25/6"The standing girl, to whom Cuwignaka had spoken, had come with the Isanna. She had come walking at stirrup of the mounted girl. She wore a rather plain shirtdress, with knee-length leggings and moccasins. Her braided hair was tied with red cloth. There were glass beads about her neck. She was quite lovely. The girl on the kaiila, too, was very lovely, indeed, perhaps even more lovely than she afoot. but her beauty, in any event, was much enhanced by her finery. Her dress was a soft-tanned hide, almost white, fringed into which, about the breasts and shoulders, were worked intricate patterns of yellow and red beading. Her leggings and moccasins were similarly decorated. Her braided hair, glossy and long, was bound with silver string. Two golden bracelets adorned her left wrist. She wore two necklaces of beads, and another on which were threaded tiny, heavy tubes and pendants, spaced intermittently, of silver and gold. Across her forehead hung a tiny silver chain on which were tiny silver droplets."
"Blood Brothers of Gor Book" Page 28
"Usually, among the Kaiila, it is free women who are permitted face paint, and then, commonly only at times of great festivals. This paint is commonly applied by the woman's mate."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 118
"Her hair, sometimes braided, was now, as usual, unbraided. She, like most other girls, whether of the red savages or not, wore it long and loose. Among the red savages, of course, free women commonly braid their hair. The lack of braiding, thus, usually, draws an additional distraction between slaves and free women of the red savages. The most common distraction, of course, is skin color, the slaves almost always being white and the free persons almost invariably being red."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 69
"Some of these rode kaiila to which travois were attached. Some had cradles slung about the pommels of their saddles. These cradles, most of them, are essentially wooden frames on which are fixed leather, open-fronted enclosures, opened and closed by lacings, for the infant. The wooden frame projects both above and below the enclosure for the nfant. In particular it contains two sharpened projections at the top, like picket spikes, extending several inches above the point where the baby’s head will be located. This is to protect the infant’s head in the event the cradle falling, say, from the back of a running kaiila. Such a cradle will often, in such a case, literally stick upside down in the earth. The child, then, laced in the enclosure, protected and supported by it, is seldom injured.
Such cradles, too, vertically, are often hung from a lodge pole or in the brances of a tree. In the tree, of course, the wind, in is rocking motion, can lull the infant to sleep."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 26"Older children often ride on the skins stretched betwen travios poles. Sometimes their fathers or mothers carry them before them, on the kaiila. When a child is about six, if his family is well-fixed, he will commonly have his own kaiila. The red savage, particularly the males, will usually be a skilled rider by the age of seven."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 26"Children, too, I noted, those not in cradles, greased, their hair braided, their bodies and clothing ornamented, in splendid finery, likeminiature versions of the adults, some riding, some sitting on the skins stretched between travois poles, participated happily and proudly, or bewilderedly, in this handsome procession."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 26
General "Red savages often, like many men of the Tahari, tend to find a special attractiveness in large-breasted women."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 472"Canka, perhaps because company was present, or because he wished to further impress her slavery upon her, had fed Winyela. This is occasionally done witha slave. It helps to remind them that they are domestic animals, and that they are dependent for their food upon their master."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 148""That it seemed he had grown fond of me brought ridicule on him from his comrades," she said. "To this sort of thing, as you might not know, red savages, in their tribal groups, are extremely sensitive. To allay these charges he, in his anger, would berate me publicly, and even beat me in the presence of others. At last, to put an end to the matter, and perhaps fearing these charges might be true, he sold me to an older man, one from another village. After that I had many masters, and now I have yet another."
"Savages of Gor" page 238
Work "We helped her put the bull on its belly in the grass, pulling the legs out. Cows, which are lighter, are usually skinned on their sides, and then turned, sometimes by ropes tied to their legs, drawn by the kaiila.
Wasnapohdi thrust her knife in behind the neck, to make the first slash, from which the skin would begin to be folded back, to expose the forequarters on each side. Subsequently the hide, in the normal fashion, can be cut down from the middle.
The liver had already been removed from the animal, by the hunters. It is a great delicacy, and is commonly eaten raw."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 57"Wasnapohdi thrust eight or ten pounds of bloody meat into the willing hands of Winyela.
“Later,” said Wasnapohdi, “you will cut up that cow over there. I will show you how.”
“That will not be necessary,” said Winyela. “I have seen how it is done.”
Winyela then turned about and carried the meat to the travois."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 59"I looked about. From where we stood I could see at least a dozen fallen animals, their bulk, like dark mounds, dotting the plains. Too, here and there, we could see women, with their kaiila and travois, working, or moving about."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 59
"About her throat, narrow, sturdy and closely fitting, was a steel collar. I stepped back, that I might see her better. She wore a short, fringed, beaded shirtdress. This came high on her thighs. It was split to her waist, well revealing the sweetness and loveliness of her breasts. It was belted upon her with a doubly looped, tightly knotted rawhide string. Such a string is more than sufficient, in its length, and in its strength and toughness, to tie a woman in a number of ways. She was barefoot. About her left ankle there was, about two inches high, a beaded cuff, or anklet. Her garb was doubtless intended to suggest the distinctive, humiliating and scandalously brief garment in which red savages are sometimes pleased to place their white slaves. One difference, however, must surely be noted. The red savages do not use steel collars. They usually use high, beaded collars, tied together in the front by a rawhide string. Subtle differences in the styles of collars, and in the knots with which they are fastened on the girls' necks, differentiate the tribes. Within a given tribe the beading, in its arrangements and colors, identifies the particular master. This is a common way, incidentally, for warriors to identify various articles, which they own."
"Savages of Gor" page 102"(...) she wore a brief garment of fringed tanned skin, rent and stained, doubtless a cast off from some free womans shirtdress, shortened to slave length."
"Savages of Gor" page 214"'He is permitting her a dress of soft tabuk skin," said Cuwignaka, "creamy white and soft-tanned, though, to be sure, of slave length. Too, he has given her beads and moccasins. He has braided her hair. He has painted her face, for the time of the feasts."
"Marvelous," I said. It is not unusual for a master to care for a slave's hair. Too, they will, upon occasion, groom kaiila and tie streamers and ribbons in their long manes. That he had painted her face was also impressive. Usually, among the Kaiila, it is free women who are permitted face paint, and then, commonly only at times of great festivals. This paint is commonly applied by the woman's mate."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 118
"The red savages do not use steel collars. They use high, beaded collars, tied together in the front by a rawhide string. Subtle differences in the styles of collars, and in the knots with which they are fastened on the girls' necks, differentiate the tribes. Within a given tribe the beading, in its arrangements and colors, identifies the particular master. This is a common way, incidentally, for warriors to identify various articles which they own."
"Savages of Gor" page 102"The female slave of the Dust Legs, kneeling by the kaiila, wore a beaded collar, about an inch and a half in height. It was an attractive collar. It was laced closed, and tied snugly shut, in front of her throat. The patterns in the beading were interesting. They indicated her owner. Similar patterns are used by given individuals to identify their arrows or other personal belongings. It is particularly important to identify the arrows, for this can make a difference in the division of meat. It is death to a slave, incidentally, to remove such a collar without permission. Furthermore the collar is fastened by what is, in effect, a signature knot, a complex knot, within a given tribal style, whose tying is known only to the individual who has invented it. It is thus, for most practical purposes, impossible to remove and replace such a collar without the master, in his checking of the knot, by untying and retying it, being able to tell. Suffice it to say, the slaves of the red savages do not remove their collars. The girl kept her head down. She apparently was not being permitted to raise her eyes at the trading point. She might, thus, if the master wished, have come and gone from the trading point without having seen anything or recognized anything, unless perhaps the grass between her knees and the paws of her master's kaiila. Gorean slaves, incidentally, wherever they may be found, say, in the cities or in the Barrens, are generally kept under an iron discipline. It is the Gorean way."
"Savages of Gor" page 214"It was about an inch and a half high. It had a distinctive pattern of beading. The colors and design of the beading marked it as Canka's. It is common among red savages to use such designs, such devices, to mark their possessions. A collar of identical design, back in the village, was worn by the lovely, red-haired girl, the former Miss Millicent Aubrey-Welles, who had so taken the fancy of the young warrior. Both of our collars were tied shut. The knots on them had been retied personally by Canka after our arrival at his camp. This is done, in effect, with a signature knot, in a given tribal style, known only to the tier. This gives him a way of telling if the knot has been untied and retied in his absence. It is death, incidentally, for a slave to remove such a collar without permission. It can be understood then that slaves of the red savages do not tamper with their collars. They keep them on."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 15/6
Names
"I then began again to brush her hair. "Was it the lad who gave you the name Pimples?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "I was given the name at puberty and, for some reason, it was never changed. Red masters commonly give such names to their white slaves, trivial names that seem fitting for slaves. My first year as the slave of my young master I was not even given a name. I was referred to only as Wicincala, or 'Girl.' I was later called 'Wihinpaspa', which means lodge-pin or tent-pin, probably because I was little and thin. Then later, as I have mentioned, I was called 'Pimples', 'Wasnapohdi', which name, partly because of habit, and partly because it amused my masters, was kept on me."
"Savages of Gor" page 238
Virginity
"Her virginity will doubtless improve her price," I said.
"Not in the Barrens," he said.
"No?" I asked.
"No," said Grunt. "They take virginity seriously only in their own women."
"Savages of Gor" page 157
Pole Dance
Then, suddenly, the two men with the kaiila quirts struck her across the back and, before she could do more than cry out, she was, too, pulled to her feet and forward, on the two tethers.
She then stood, held by the tethers, wildly, before the pole.
Cancega pointed to the pole.
She looked at him, bewildered.
Then the quirts, again, struck her, and she cried out in pain.
Cancega again pointed to the pole.
Winyela then put her head down and took the pole in her small hands, and kissed it, humbly.
"Yes," said Cancega, encouraging her. "Yes."
Again Winyela kissed the pole.
"Yes," said Cancega.
Winyela then heard the rattles behind her, giving her her rhythm. These rattles were then joined by the fifing of whistles, shrill and high, formed from the wing bones of the taloned Herlit. A small drum, too, then began to sound. Its more accented beats, approached subtly but predictable, instructed the helpless, lovely dancer as to the placement and timing of the more dramatic of her demonstrations and motions.
"It is the Kaiila," chanted the men.
Winyela danced. There was dust upon her hair and on her body. On her cheeks were the three bars of greases that marked her as the property of the Kailla. Grease, too, had been smeared liberally upon her body. No longer was she a shining beauty. She was now only a filthy slave, an ignoble animal, something of no account, something worthless, obviously, but nonetheless permitted, in the kindness of the Kaiila, a woman of another people, to attempt to please the pole.
I smiled.
Was this not suitable? Was this not appropriate for her, a slave?
Winyela, kissing the pole, and caressing it, and moving about it, and rubbing her body against it, under the directions of Cancega, and guided sometimes by the tethers on her neck, continued to dance.
I whistled softly to myself.
"Ah," said Cuwignaka.
"It is the Kaiila!" chanted the men.
"I think the pole will be pleased," I said.
"I think a rock would be pleased," said Cuwignaka.
"I agree," I said.
Winyela, by the neck tethers, was pulled against the pole. She seized it, and writhed against it, and licked at it.
"It is the Kaiila!" chanted the men.
"It is the Kaiila!" shouted Cuwignaka.
A transformation seemed suddenly to come over Winyela. This was evinced in her dance.
"She is aroused," said Cuwignaka.
"Yes," I said.
She began, then, helplessly, to dance her servitude, her submission, her slavery. The dance, then, came helplessly from the depths of her. The tethers pulled her back from the pole and she reached forth for it. She struggled to reach it, writhing. Bit by bit she was permitted to near it, and then she embraced it. She climbed, then, upon the pole. There her dance, on her knees, her belly and back, squirming and clutching, continued. (...)
Winyela now knelt on the pole and bent backwards, until her hair fell about the wood, and then she slipped her legs down about the pole and lay back on it, her hands holding to the pole behind her head. She reared helplessly on the pole, and writhed upon it, almost as though she might have been chained to it, and then, she turned about and lay on the pole, on her stomach, her thighs gripping it, her hands pushing her body up, and away from the pole, and then, suddenly, moving down about the trunk, bringing her head and shoulder down. Her red hair hung about the smooth, white wood. Her lips, again and again, pressed down upon it, in helpless kisses. (...)
Winyela, helplessly, piteously, danced her obeisance to the great pole, and, in this, to her master, and to men. (...)
In her dance, of course, Winyela was understood to be dancing not only her personal slavery, which she surely was, but, from the point of view of the Kaiila, in the symbolism of the dance, in the medicine of the dance, that the women of enemies were fit to be no more than the slaves of the Kaiila. I did not doubt but what the Fleer and the Yellow Knives, and other peoples, too, might have similar ceremonies, in which, in one way or another, a similar profession might take place, there being danced or enacted also by a woman of another group, perhaps even, in those cases, by a maiden of the Kaiila. I, myself, saw the symbolism of the dance, and, I think, so, too, did Winyela, in a pattern far deeper than that of an ethnocentric idiosyncrasy. I saw the symbolism as being in accord with what is certainly one of the deepest and most pervasive themes of organic nature, that of dominance and submission. In the dance, as I chose to understand it, Winyela danced the glory of life and the natural order; in it she danced her submission to the might of men and the fulfillment of her own femaleness; in it she danced her desire to be owned, to feel passion, to give of herself, unstintingly, to surrender herself, rejoicing, to service and love.
"It is the Kaiila!" shouted the men.
"It is the Kaiila!" shouted Cuwignaka.
Winyela was dragged back, toward the bottom of the pole on its tripods. There she was knelt down. The two men holding her neck tethers slipped the rawhide, between their fist and the girl's neck, under their feet, the man on her left under his right foot, and the man on her right under his left foot. But already Winyela, of her own accord, breathing deeply from the exertions of her dance, and trembling, had put her head to the dirt, humbly, before the pole. Then the tension on the two tethers was increased, the rawhide on her neck being drawn tight under the feet of her keepers. I do not think Winyela desired to raise her head. But now, of course, she could not have done so had she wished. It was held in place. I think this is the way she would have wanted it. This is what she would have chosen, to be owned, to serve, to be deprived of choice.
The men about slapped their thighs and grunted their approval. The music stopped. The tethers were removed from Winyela's neck. She then, tentatively, lifted her head. It seemed now she was forgotten."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 39/43
Marks
"The girl’s captor dismounted and put his lance down. He then turned the girl to her back and, among the other bound women, threw her legs apart. She cried out, his will imposed upon her. He then threw her to her stomach and, with a short leather strap, bound her ankles together. He then turned her about, and jerked her to her knees, facing him. She was shuddering, and could scarcely utter articulate sounds. He then took a small leather sack from his belt and spit inot it. He dipped his finger into the sack and, pressing it firmly down in the sack, swirled it about. He then put the sack down. On his finger was black paint. The pigment is fixed in kailiauk grease. He held her steady with his left hand behind her shoulder and, with his finger, traced a mark on her left breast. He looked at it, and then wiped his finger on his thigh and replaced the sack in his belt. She looked down at the mark. It was the mark of her master. She was then, by the hair, thrown among the other women. The man retrieved his lance and then, swiftly, remounted his kaiila. In a moment he had left the place. The woman lay on her back, with the others, left behind. On her left breast, in black paint, was an identificatory mark. Most of the others there, too, wore such marks, but, in their cases, the marks were different. “Some of these women,” I said to Cuwignaka, “are red, doubtless former free women of the Kaiila.”
“Women are born to serve men,” said Cuwignaka.
Some of the women, though only a few, were marked not with paint, but with tags, divices of wire with an attached leather disk. The wire is thrust through an ear lobe or the septum and twisted shut, thus fastening the tag on the female."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 215/6
Slave Sacks
"We then slipped each girl, feet first, into a sack. These sacks, by design, are a relatively close fit for a girl. In them she can do little more than squirm. Each sack, further, has two sturdy leather handles which come up, high, quite high, one on either side of the occupnat’s head; if these handles are held together, or tied together, the closure between them will usually be twleve to eighteen inches over the girl’s head. By means of these handles, of course, the sack may be provided with a variety of means of transport.
We then, by means of eyelets at the top of the sack, and thongs, and looping the tongs about the necks of the girls and tying them through the eyelets, fastened each girl in her sack. It was now impossible for them to inch or squirm their way free. Hci, with evident pleasure, tied the thongs under Iwoso’s chin. there is also an interior edge, some twelve to eighteen inches in height, on each sack. This edge, however, we left folded in. By means of this edge, and its own eyelets, which are aligned with the lower eyelets, to make lacing in the lower position convenient, the sack may be, if one wishes, brought out to its full length and closed completely over the head of the girl. This, too, of course, makes it impossible for the occupant, then totally inclosed, to free herself."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 386"The sacks into which the girls had been inserted, naked and bound, were slave sacks. They were extremely stout, heavy sacks and heavily, and doubly, sewn. The intent of this is to make them sturdy leather prisons, containers from which a girl cannot escape and in which she is absolutely helpless. A consequence of the thickness of the material and the sturdiness of the construction, of course, is that the sack, almost inadvertently, affords the girl a great deal of protection. Neither Iwoso nor Bloketu would sustain skin or body damage as a result of what was being done to them. And certainly we would not have wanted them marked. Most men prefer soft smooth slaves. Indeed, in the cities, some slaves are even shaved or depilated."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 392" Thus we left the heads of both of the girls uncovered. This fitted in well, incidentally, with common practices among the red savages in dragging slaves about for, say, punishment or sport. The heads of the slaves are usually left free. Similarly they are seldom gagged. In these ways they provide greater amusment for the spectators. Their expressions may be the more easily seen and their cries for mercy, or promises of better service, or assurances of reformed behavior, or even of perfect behavior, may be the more clearly heard. Sometimes the young men organize races in which slave girls are dragged behind kaiila. When the young men set themselves to the developement of such plans small slave girls in a camp, particularly white ones, tend to become afraid, for they know that they are not much weight for a kaiila to pull."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 393
Leg-spreaders
"They wore single-position leg-spreaders. One ankle, by thongs threaded through a pierced end, is fastened tightly to one end of the sturdy spreader. The other ankle is then pulled to a corresponding position at the other end of the pole where, by means of another thong passed through another hole, drilled at that point in the spreader, it is fastened securely in place. More sophisticated spreaders have several positions. In the simplest case a series of holes is drilled in the pole and the girl's ankles are merely fastened on the pole at whatever separation the master desires. In more sophisticated devices, two, or even three, poles or boards are used, which can slide apart, and are fastened at given points by pegs or thongs. In this latter sort of device the girl's ankles, fastened at the far ends of the pole or board, need not be untied and retied. One may then, in accordance with one's moods, and at one's convenience, regulate the distance between them."
"Savages of Gor" page 162"These spreaders may be used in a variety of ways, of course. Sometimes they are used for the wrists, the pole or board then usually behind the girl's back. Too, they may be used in concert with other devices. In the lodges of Warrior Societies, for example, as a portion of the amusements accompanying a feast, a girl may be richly used in one, her hands tied behind the back of her neck, in the draw cords, looped once or twice about her neck, of the sack drawn over her head. In this way she fears all the men of the society for she does not know who it was who was the most cruel to her. Too, she regards all the men of the society with mixed feelings of sensual uneasiness, for she does not know which one among them it was who made her yield most ecstatically, most abjectly, as a slave. This is thought good by the men for the camaraderie of the society. To be sure, eventually she is usually awarded to one or another of the society members."
"Savages of Gor" page 162
Punishment
"She straightened her body, but remained on her knees, before us. “He beat me!” she said. She was naked, except for Canka’s collar. Her small wrists were bound before her body, with several tight loops of a rawhide thong. “Stand,” I said, “and turn, slowly.
She did.
“Kneel,” I said.
She knelt.
“Yes,” I said. “There is little doubt about it. You have been beaten.”
“It is not funny,” she said.
“Apparently with a kaiila quirt,” I said.
“Yes,” she said. Some of the braiding marks were still visible in her flesh. “I thought he liked me,” she said.
“You are still alive,” I pointed out.
“He took away my clothes, and tied me to a whipping stake, on my knees!” she said.
“That is not uncommon in camps of the red savages, for white female slaves,” I said. “Besides you would not want you clothes bloodied.”
She looked at me, angrily.
“Your hair was thrown forward,” I said.
“Yes,” she said.
“That is so it will not cushion the blows which might fall on your back,” I said.
“Doubtless,” she said.
“Too,” I said, “you would not want to get blood on your hair.”
“Of course not,” she said.
“Do you think that you are the first girl who has ever been whipped?” I asked. “No,” she said.
“Apparently you did not spend all of your time on your knees, your hair thrown forward, your head and belly down.”
“No,” she said. “I was struck from my knees by almost the first stroke. I twisted and cried out. I must have supplied much amusement to the women of the red savages who were watching.”
“They hate white slave girls,” I said. “They enjoy seeing them beaten.”
“Then I could cry out no more,” she said. “I must simply lie there—“
“And take your punishment--?”
“Yes, and take my punishment—“
“As a slave--?”
“Yes,” she said, “—as a slave.”"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 69/70“Please untie me, Cuwignaka!” begged Bloketu.
Cuwignaka, in fury, went to Bloketu and slapped her head, back and forth, in the neck bonds.
She regarded him, startled, blood at her mouth.
“How do you dare, without permission, to so place the name of a free man on your slave lips?” asked Cuwignaka."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" Page 409
Slave Herds
"“It is a fine herd,” I said. It was the third such herd I had looked at this morning.
“We think so,” said the first lad, proudly. “There is one with nice flanks,” he said, indicating a brunet with his whip.”
“Yes,” I said.
The girl, frightened, seeing our eyes upon her, tried to slip back, unobtrusively, among her fellow lovely beasts.
“I have used her myself,” said the first lad. “Do you wish to have us cut her out of the herd for you?”
“No,” I said.
“There is a pretty one,” said another lad, “the one with brown hair and the little turned up nose.”
“She is pretty,” I said. “What is her name?”
The lads laughed. “These are herd girls,” said one of them. “They have no names.”
“How many are here?” I asked. I had not bothered to count.
“Seventy-three,” said the first lad. “This is the larges of the Isanna girl herds.”
“And the best,” added another lad.
“They seem quiet,” I said.
“In the herds they are not permitted human speech,” said one of the boys.
“No more than she-kaiila,” laughed another.
“They may, however,” said the first, “indicate their needs by such things as moans and whimpers.”
“This helps in their control,” said another lad, “and helps them to keep in mind that they are only beasts.”
“Do you drive them sometimes to water?” I asked.
“Of course,” said one of the lads.
“We feed them on their knees,” said another lad.
“They supplement their diets by picking berries and digging wild turnips,” said the first lad.
“We make them chew carefully and watch closely to see that they swallow, bit by bit, in small swallows, sip roots, as well,” said another.
“We then examine their mouths, forcing them widely open, to determine that they have finished their entire allotment of the root,” said another.
I nodded. Sip roots are extremely bitter. Slave wine, incidentally, is made from sip roots. The slaves of the red savages, like slaves generally on Gor, would be crossed and bred only as, and precisely as, their masters might choose.
“Do you often have strays?” I asked.
“No,” laughed a lad, slapping his whip meaningfully into his palm.
“At night,” said another lad, “to make it harder to steal them, we put them in twist hobbles and tie them together by the neck, in strings, their hands tied behind their backs. These strings are then picketed near the village.”
“Do they ever try to escape?” I asked.
“No,” said one lad.
“Not more than once,” laughed another.
“That is true,” said the first lad. “No such beast ever tries to escape from the Isanna more than once.”
“Some who try to escape are killed by sleen on the prairie,” said one of the lads. “The others are trailed and brought back to the camp where they are tied down by our women and, over three days, taught that escape is not permitted.” “What is the penalty for a second attempt at escape?” I asked.
“Hamstringing,” said one of the lads, “and then being left behind when the camp moves.”
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 123/5
Secret Slavery
"A given individual may, for example, for one reason or another, not want others to know that a given woman is his slave. Accordingly, she may wear her collar only in his lodge.
This is analogous to the secret slaveries which sometimes exist on Earth, where a woman, returning home, kneels and waits to be collared."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 45/6
The Waniyampi
"Many of the tribes permit small agricultural communities to exist within their domains, she said. The individuals in these communities are bound to the soil and owned collectively by the tribes within whose lands they are permitted to live. They grow produce for their masters such as wagmeza and wagmu, maize or corn, and such things as pumpkins and squash. They are also to furnish labor when required and may be drawn upon at the whim of their masters, for individual slaves. When one is taken from the enclosure one ceases to be Waniyanpi and becomes a common slave, an ordinary slave one owned by an individual master."
"Savages of Gor" page 233/4Usually daughters are taken, for the red masters find them pleasing as slaves, but sometimes, too, young men are taken. The word 'Waniyanpi' itself means literally 'tame cattle'. It is an expression applied to the collectively owned slaves in these tiny agricultural communities. The Kailiauk is a tribe federated with the Kaiila. They speak closely related dialects."
"Do the parents come from within the same community?" I asked.
"No," she said. "For the day of breeding the men, hooded and in coffle, are marched between the small communities. On the day of breeding they are led to the selected women, already hooded, tied and awaiting them. The breeding takes place in the wagmeza fields, under the eyes of the masters."
"Savages of Gor" page 234"You spoke of an Ugly Act?" I said. I did not like the sound of that. It reminded me of a distant and sick world, the world of tittering, of embarrassment and dirty jokes. How much more honest are the whips and collars of Gor?
"The Sames," she said, "disapprove of all sexual relations between human beings, and particularly between those of different sexes, as being demeaning and dangerous."
"Savages of Gor" page 234"They are not regarded as being dangerous to health," she said, "but as being dangerous to the Teaching."
"What is the Teaching?" I asked.
"What is the Teaching?" I asked.
"That men and women are the same," she said. "That is the central tenet of the Waniyanpi."
"Do they believe it?" I asked.
"They pretend to," she said. "I do not know if they really believe it or not." "They believe men and women are the same," I marveled. "Except," she smiled, "that women are regarded as somewhat superior."
"Their beliefs then," I said, "seem not only to be obviously false but actually inconsistent."
"Before the Teaching one must surrender one's reason," she said. "To scrutinize it is a crime. To question it is blasphemy."
"It lies, I suppose," I said, "at the roots of Waniyanpi society."
"Yes," she said. "Without it Waniyanpi society would collapse."
"So?" I said.
“They do not take the disintegration of their society as lightly as you do," she smiled. "Too, you must understand the utility of such a view. It constitutes an excellent philosophy for slaves."
"I am not even sure of that," I said.
"It, at least," she said, "gives men an excuse not to be men."
"That seems true," I granted her.
"It helps them to remain Waniyanpi," she said. "They are thus less likely to attract the attention, or excite the anger, of their red masters."
"I understand," I said. "I think I also understand why, in such a society, the women are regarded as somewhat superior, as you put it."
"It is only that they are implicitly regarded as superior," she said. "Explicitly, of course, all subscribe to the thesis of sameness."
"But why are the women regarded, implicitly, as superior?" I asked.
"Because of the contempt felt for the men," she said, "who will not assert their natural rights. Also, if men refuse the mastery, someone must assume it." "Yes," I said.
"There are always masters," she said, "whether one pretends it is not so, or not."
"In the hands of women," I said, "the mastery becomes an empty mockery." "Mockery has no choice but to assert itself," she said, "when reality is foresworn."
I was silent.
"The Waniyanpi communities are sources of great amusement to the red masters," she said.
I thought of what is sometimes spoken of by the red savages as the Memory. "I understand," I said.
The red savages doubtless found their vengeance a sweet and fitting one. How almost incomprehensibly cruel it was, how horrifying, how brilliant and insidious.
"The Teachings of the Waniyanpi," I said, "were doubtless originally imposed on them by their red masters."
"Perhaps," she said. "I do not know. They may have been invented by the Waniyanpi themselves, to excuse to themselves their cowardice, their weakness and impotence."
"Perhaps," I admitted.
"If one is not strong it is natural to make a virtue of weakness."
"I suppose so," I said. I then speculated that I had perhaps judged the red savages too harshly. The Waniyanpi, it then seemed likely, may have betrayed themselves, and their children. In time, of course, such teachings, absurd though they might be, would come to be taken for granted. In time they would come to be sanctioned by tradition, one of humanity's most prized substitutes for thought.
"You, yourself," I said, "Do not seem much infected by the lunacy of the Waniyanpi."
"No," she said. "I am not. I have had red masters. From them I have learned new truths. Too, I was taken from the community at an early age."
"How old were you?" I asked.
"I was taken from the enclosure when I was eight years old," she said, "taken home by a Kaiila warrior as a pretty little white slave for his ten-year-old son. I learned early to please and placate men." "What happened?" I asked.
"There is little more to tell," she said. "For seven years I was the slave of my young master. He was kind to me, and protected me, muchly, from the other children. Although I was only his slave, I think he liked me. He did not put me in a leg stretcher until I was fifteen." She was then silent. "I have combed my hair," she said."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 156/7"'There were many vegetables in the stew," I said to Cuwignaka, pretending not to notice the intensity between Canka and Winyela. Indeed, we had had to eat much of the stew from small bowls, filled by Winyela with a kailiauk-bone ladle. Some larger pieces of vegetable and meat, we had, however, in in the information fastion of the Barrens, taken from the pot on our knives. (...)
"That is unusual, ist't it?" I asked.
"Yes," said Cuwignaka. "That is produce, for the most part, from the fields of the Waniyanpi."
"I had thought it might be," I said.
The Waniyanpi were substantially, agricultural slaves. They farmed and gardened, and did other work for their red masters."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 148/9"The five women sitting near the shelter, in their drab garments, all had sacks tied over their heads, knotted under their chins. For the day of Waniyanpi Breeding, male waniyanpi from one compound are marched, hooded, to the vicinity of some other compound. Near it they are led to hooded, stripped Waniyanpi women, selected for breeding, from the other compound, lying bound in a maize field. There, then, between hooded couples, under the whips of red masters, are fulfilled the offices of the day of Waniyanpi Breeding. This is supposedly the only physical contact, incidentally, which takes place between Waniyanpi men and women."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 156"But not all of us," said Pumpkin, "are as strong and good as Carrot and Cabbage."
"Savages of Gor" page 292"We are going to call her Turnip," said one of the Waniyanpi."
"Savages of Gor" page 291"“Strawberry remains Strawberry,” I said. “That name, at least at this time, is being kept upon her. He has not yet seen fit to change it.”
"Savages of Gor" page 351"Mira knelt near me, head down, her arms extended, proffering me a bowl of the Waniyanpi porridge.
The porridge had been removed by a hood from the rack and placed on another rack, to the side. The blond girl ahd brough out wooden bowls and spoons."
"Savages of Gor" page 352"The lodges of the Waniyanpi, as I have suggested, are communal lodges. The entire commuinty lives within them. One advantage of such lodges, and communal living, generally, is that it makes it easier to impose social controls on the members of the community. It is natural, accordingly, for certain sorts of authoritarioanisms to favor such arrangements. Where there is no place for difference it is natura that difference will have no place. The strongest chains are those a man does not know he wears."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 348"The community was now, in effect, a small freehold in the Barrens, and yet, strictly, in theletter or the law, stood to the Kaiila as a leased tenancy. Not a square hort would the Kaiila surrender, truly, of their tribal lands. Yet the rend for the tenancy had been set at one ear of maize per year, to be deliverd to the reigning chieftain of the Isbu Kaiila. Yesterday this ear of maize had been delivered, with suitable ceremonies, to Mahpiyasapa. The tenancy was subject to certain conditions, recorded suitably on two hides, each bearing the marks of the appropriate signatories. One of these hides remained with the Isbu; the other went to the leased tenancy. The two major conditions specified onthe hides were that the tenancy was subject to review, to be followed by revocation or renewal, every tenth winter, and that the numbers of individuals in the tenancy were to be strictly limited, and excess in population to be removed by emigration to the lands west of the Ihanke. The red savages did not wish to countenance increasing white populations within their territories. Thus, first, those who had been Waniyanpi were no longer slaves of the Kaiila and, second, they now maintained what amounted, for most practical purposes, to a small free state within the Barrens. These things were given to them as gifts by the Kaiila, in appreciation for the services rendered during the time of the war with the Yellow Knives and soldiers, for providing us with a tarn base within striking distance of Council Rock, and sheltering and supporting our men during the period of their training."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 473"The community of those who had been Waniyanpi, of course, was not identified with a particular area of land, and certainly not with a territory occupied under the conditions of a leased tenancy. It now, in the Gorean fashion, for the first time, tended to be identified with a Home Stone. The community could now, if it wished, the Home Stone moving, even migrate to new lands. In Gorean law allegiances to a Home Stone, and not physical structures and locations, tend to define communities.
Seibar had wished to call the small community New Ar, but had abandoned this proposal in the face of an unfavorable reception by his fellows. Ar was not as popular with some of his fellows as it was with him, and that redoubtable municipality, the largest city in the Gorean north was unfamiliar to many of them, even in hearsay. After much discussion it was decided to call the tiny community Seibar’s Holding, this being a manifestation of the respect and affection they bore their leader. The only reservations pertaining to this name seemed to be held by Seibar himself who, to the end, remained the stubborn champion of “New Ar.”
The red savages, themselves, incidentally, have their own names for the new, small community. In Kaiila it is called “Anpao” or, sometimes, “Anptaniya.” The expresion ‘Anpao’ means “Dawn” or “Daylight.” The expression ‘Anptaniya’ has a more complex meaning in translation. It means, rather literally, “the breath of day.” It is used to refer, for example, to the first, lovely glimmerings of morning. The expression is related, of course, to the vapors raised by the sun in the early morning, these perhaps, poetically and beautifully, as is often the case in the languages of the red svages, suggesting “the breat of day.” In both expressions, of course, the connotations are rather clear, that darkness is over, that a new day is at hand."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 473/4
ECONOMY
Hunting
"Their culture tends to be nomadic, and is based on the herbivorous, lofty kaiila, (...)
Although there are numerous physical and cultural differences among these people they are usually collectively referred to as the red savages. This is presumably a function of so little being known about them, as a whole, and the cunning, ruthlessness and ferocity of so many of the tribes. They seem to live for hunting and internecine warfare, which seems to serve as a sport and a religion for them."
"Savages of Gor" page 35"The red savages depend for their very lives on the kailiauk" said Kog. "He is the major source of their food and life.His meat and hide, his bones and sinew, sustain them. From him they derive not only food but clothing and shelter, tools and weapons."
"Savages of Gor" page 50"The number of kailiauk in the Barrens is prodigious, for it affords them a splendid environment with almost no natural enemies. Most kailiauk, I am sure, have never seen a man or a sleen.
The Barrens are traversed by a large number of herds. The four or five best-known herds, such as the Boswell herd, he for whom the Boswell Pass is named, and the Bento Herd and Hogarthe herd, named after the first white man that saw them, number, it is estimated, between two and three million beasts. The tremors in the earth from such a herd can be felt fifty pasangs away. It takes such a herd two to three days to ford a river. It has occasionally happened that enemy tribes have preyed on such a herd at different points and only afterwards, to their chagrin and amusement, realized their proximity to one another. Besides these, major herds there are several smaller, identifiable herds numbering in the hundreds of thousands of animals. Beyond these, as would be expected, there are many smaller herds, the very numbers of which are not even calculated by the red savages themselves, herds which often range from a few hundred to several thousand animals."
"Savages of Gor" page 94"The kailiauk is a migratory beast, thusly, but only in a rather special sense. It does not, for example, like certain flocks of birds, venture annually in roughly linear paths from the North to the South, and from the South to the North, covering thousands of pasangs in a series of orthogonal alternations. The kailiauk must feed as it moves, and its simply too slow for this type of migration. It could not cover the distances involved in the times that would be necessary. Accordingly the herds tend not so much to migrate with the season as to drift with them, the ovoid grazing patterns tending to bend northward in the summer and southward in the winter."
"Savages of Gor" page 95
Agriculture
"Many of the tribes permit small agricultural communities to exist within their domains, she said. The individuals in these communities are bound to the soil and owned collectively by the tribes within whose lands they are permitted to live. They grow produce for their masters such as wagmeza and wagmu, maize or corn, and such things as pumpkins and squash."
"Savages of Gor" page 233"'There were many vegetables in the stew," I said to Cuwignaka, pretending not to notice the intensity between Canka and Winyela. Indeed, we had had to eat much of the stew from small bowls, filled by Winyela with a kailiauk-bone ladle. Some larger pieces of vegetable and meat, we had, however, in in the information fastion of the Barrens, taken from the pot on our knives. (...)
"That is unusual, ist't it?" I asked.
"Yes," said Cuwignaka. "That is produce, for the most part, from the fields of the Waniyanpi."
"I had thought it might be," I said.
The Waniyanpi were substantially, agricultural slaves. They farmed and gardened, and did other work for their red masters."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 148/9
Leather Work
"From the long leather tube, Kog removed what appeared to be a large piece of closely rolled, soft-tanned hide. It was very light in color, almost white, and tied with a string. There was a slight smell of smoke about it, probably from the smoke of a turl bush. Such hides may be waterproofed by suspending them from, and wrapping them about, a small tripod of sticks, this set over a small fire on which, to produce the desired smoke, leaves and branches of the turl bush are heavily strewn.
Kog placed the roll of hide on the table. It was not rawhide, but soft-tanned hide, as I have suggested. In preparing rawhide the skin, suitable fleshed, is pegged down and dried in the wind and be used for such things as shields, cases and ropes. Soft tanning a hide, on the other hand, is a much more arduous task. In soft tanning, the fleshed hide must be saturated with fats, and with oils and grease, usually from the brains of animals. These are rubbed into the hide and worked into it, usually with a soft flat stone. The hide is then sprinkled with warm water and tightly rolled, after which it is put asideway from the sun and heat, for a few days. This gives the time necessary for the softening ingredients, such as the fats and oils, to fully penetrate the leather. The skin is then unrolled and by rubbing, kneading and stretching, hand-softened over a period of hours. The resulting product ranges from tan to creamy white, and may be worked and cut as easily as cloth."
"Savages of Gor" page 32"Bareback riding, incidentally, is common in war and the hunt. In trading and visiting, interestingly, saddles are commonly used. This is perhaps because they can decorate lavishly, adding to one’s apperance, and may serve, in virtue of the pommel, primarily, as a suppot for provisions, gifts and trade articles."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 26
Trade
"Many tribes, apparently, would not deal on a face-to-face basis with whites. This had to do with the hatred and suspicion fostered by that tradition called the Memory. Too, it was often difficult to control their young men. Although small trading groups were welcomed in the country of the Dust Legs, such groups seldom penetrated the more interior territories. Too many of them had failed to return."
"Savages of Gor" page 148"Grunt was unusual in having traded as far east as the country of the Fleer and the Yellow Knives. Too, he had entered, at least once, the country of the Sleen and the Kaiila. Some of these territories, apparently, had scarcely been penetrated since the days of the first white explorers of the Barrens, men such as Boswell, Diaz, Bento, Hastings and Hogarthe."
"Savages of Gor" page 148"This was a perimeter tribe, which, on the whole, was favorably disposed towards whites. Most trading was done with Dust Legs. Indeed, it was through the Dust Legs that most of the goods of the interior might reach civilization, the Dust Legs, in effect, acting as agents, and intermediaries."
"Savages of Gor" page 148"The woman opened a rectangular hide envelope, a parfleche, slung on a strap over her shoulder. In it were various samples of beadwork and some small skins. She put some of these things on her edge of the blanket.
"Hopa," I said, admiringly. "Hopa."
She beamed, her teeth strong and white in her broad, reddish-brown face.
She pointed to a small mirror, with a red-metal rim. I handed it to her. (...)
"Two," said the Dust-Leg woman, in Gorean, holding up two fingers. She indicated the mirror, now lying before her, and two beaded rectangles, drawn from her parfleche. This type of beadwork is popular in curio shops in certain Gorean cities, far from the perimeter; it may also be fashioned by leather workers into various crafted articles, such as purses, pouches, wallets, belt decorations; envelopes and sheaths. Interestingly this type of article is more popular away from the perimeter than near it. It is not merely that it is more common nearer the perimeter but, I think, that it serves as a reminder, near the perimeter, of the reality and proximity of the red nations, whereas these same nations, or tribes, far from the perimeter tend to be regarded not only as remote but as almost mythical peoples. The ear-splitting cry of a Kaiila warrior, for example, has seldom awakened a good burgher of Ar from his slumbers.
"Five," I suggested to the Dust-Leg woman. I recalled that Grunt had, two days ago, at another trading point, received five such rectangles for a similar mirror. I smiled when I made this suggestion to the Dust-Leg woman. In such trading, it is a good idea, on both sides, to smile, a great deal. This makes the entire exchange, if one takes place, a good deal more pleasant for both parties. Not only are tensions eased but vanities are less likely to become involved in the trading. It is easier, if one is smiling, to get a little less than one would like, or to give a bit more than one might otherwise choose to. Concessions, thus, for both sides, are less like defeats and more like favors bestowed on friends. In the long run, this increases the percentage of mutually satisfactory bargains, and the individual who has found dealing with you satisfactory, of course, is more likely to deal with you again. He becomes, in effect, a customer. It is better to make less profit on a customer and have him come back than make a higher profit and not see him again. These, at any rate, were the sentiments of Grunt, who seemed popular with the Dust Legs, and, as far as I can tell, they are substantially sound."
"Savages of Gor" page 213/5
The Memory "Interestingly enough most of these tribes seem to be united only by a hatred of whites, which hatred, invariably, in a time of emergency or crisis, takes precedence over all customary con- and rivalries. To attack whites, intruding into their lands, once the war lance has been lifted, even long-term blood enemies will ride side by side. The gathering of tribes, friends and foes alike, for such a battle is said to be a splendid sight. These things are in virtue of what, among these peoples, is called the Memory."
"Savages of Gor" page 35"Hand sign, I suspected was the key to the capacity of the tribes to unite and protect their territories against outside encroachment, that and what they called the Memory."
"Savages of Gor" page 148"Many tribes, apparently, would not deal on a face-to-face basis with whites. This had to do with the hatred and suspicion fostered by that tradition called the Memory. The Memory, as it is called, and their hatred for the white man, had taken priority, as it commonly did, over their bloody and almost continuous intertribal differences. The red savages, I speculated, if they wished, with their numbers, and their unity, conjoined with an approximate technological parity in weapons, should be able to hold the Barrens indefinitely against white intrusion."
"Savages of Gor" page 248"The Yellow Knives, in cooperating with white soldiers, had betrayed the Memory. In such a way, according to the Memory, an earlier tragedy, now almost lost in legends, had begun. The Barrens must be protected. Too, sacrilege had been performed, in the attack on a summer camp. Was this not to be avenged? Even more seriously Kinyanpi had come to the more western countries. Such alliances, those of Yellow Knives with forces such as those of the white soldiers and the Kinyanpi, threatened the delicat tribal balances in the Barrens. Such events might produce dislocations, interfering with the migrations of the Pte, the Kailiauk, and forcing tribes from ancestral hunting grounds."
"Blood Brothers" page 448
Work "Do you want any help?" I asked. "No," said Cuwignaka. "This is woman's work." I laughed. This response, a joke on Cuwignaka's part, is a commonplace among the red savages. The offer of a man to help with a woman's task is almost always refused. The man has his work, the woman hers. The gender of a task commonly has a plausible rationale. It seems to be the men, for example, who are best suited to be the warriors and the women who are best suited to be the lovely, desireable prizes of such warriors. Similarly it seems men, with their strength, agressiveness and size, would be better suited for the hunt, pursuing the swift, trident-horned, belligerent kailiauk at full speed than the slighter, softer women, and that the women, with their patience, their sense of color, with their small, nimble fingers, would be better suited to exacting fine tasks such as beadwork and sewing. Similarly, it is natural to expect that the general, sex-linked orientations and predispositions, statistically obvious, both male and female, or human beings, presumably functions of genetic and hormonal differences, would tend to be reflected, broadly, in the sorts of tasks which each sex tends to perform most efficiently and finds most congenial. Some tasks, of course, from the biological point of view, may be sex-neutral, so to speak. Whether sex-neutral tasks exist or not is an interesting question. Such a task would seem to be one in which the sexual nature of a human being, with all its attendant physiological and psychological consequences, was irrelevant. It seems likely that sex-neutral tasks, at least of an interesting nature, do not exist. We shall suppose, however, for the purposes of argument, that there do exist such tasks. Let us suppose, for example, that the cutting of leather for moccasins is such a task. Now among the red savages this task, supposedly sex-neutral, for the purposes of argument, is always, or almost always, performed by females. This call attention to an interesting anthropological datum. The performance of even tasks which may be 'sex-neutral," tasks that do not seem to have an obvious biological rationale with respect to gender, tends to be divided, in culture after culture, on a sexual basis. Similarly, interestingly, whether for historical reasons or not, these cultures tend to be in substancial agreement on the divisions. For example, in most all cultures, though not all, loom weaving is a female task. This tends to suggest that it is important in these cultures that sexual differences, in one way or another, be clearly marked."
"Blood Brothers" page 81/2
Travelling "No more then two kaiila are to be brought by any single white man into the Barrens. Too, no party of white men in the Barrens is permitted to bring in more than ten kaiila."
"These are the rules of the red savages, "he said.
"Then, " said I, "only small groups of white men could enter the Barrens, or else they would be on foot, at the mercy of the inhabitants of the area."
"Savages of Gor" page 137"“They are bringing their goods with them,” I said. The travois with them were heavily laden, with bundles, and lodge skins and poles. Indeed, the travois poles themselves, when untied and freed from teh kaiila, would be used as lodge poles.
“It is the way our peoples move,” said Cuwignaka. Goods would not be left behind, save occasionally in hidden caches."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 26
Shadow Clock "At the feet of Watonka there was a slim, upright stick. In the dirt, about the stick, were drawn two circles, a larger and a smaller. In the morning, when the sun ws high enough to cast a shadow, the shadow, I surmised, would have come to a point on the outer circle. At noon the sun, it seemed, in this latitude, casting its shortest shadow, would bring the shadow to or within the smaller of the two circles. When the shadow, again, began to lengthen, the sun would be past meridian. I looked up at the sun, and down to the stick and its shadow. It was, I conjectured, less than half of an Ahn before noon."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 198"Why would they not simply judge noon by the position of the sun?”
“The stick is more accurate,” said Cuwignaka. “Too, the shadow may be watched intently, as the sun may not be.”
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 205
Summer Festivals "This is a time of truce and peace. The celebrating tribe, during its own festival period, naturally refrains from belligerent activities. Similarly, interestingly, enemy tribes, during this period, perhaps in virtue of an implicit bargain, that their own festival times be respected, do not attack them, or raid them. For the red savages the festival times in the summer, whenever they are celebrated by the various tribes, are the one time in the year when they are territorially and politically secure. These are very happy times, on the whole, for the tribes. It is nice to know that one is, at such times, safe. More than one war party, it is recorded, penetrating deeply into enemy territory, and seeing the high brush walls of a dance lodge, and discovering that it was the enemy’s festival time, has politely withdrawn. This sort of thing is not historically unprecedented. For example, in ancient Greece the times of certain games, such as the Olympic games, constituted a truce period during which it was customary to suspend the internecine wars of competitive cities. Teams and fans from the combatant polies then could journey to and from the stadiums in safety. Two additional reasons militating against bellicosity and martial aggression during the summer festivals might be mentioned. First, the size of these gatherings, the enemy being massed, so to speak, tends to reduce the practicality of attacks. Bands of men are not well advised to launch themselves upon nations. Secondly, it is supposedly bad medicine to attack during the times of festivals."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 86"“I have seen many gifts being exchanged about the camp,” I said.
“It is a time for happiness and giveaways,” said Cuwignaka. “The kailiauk, even, came early this year.”
“That is true,” I said. I still did not understand the early arrival of the kailiauk. That, still, seemed strange to me.
“Did you enjoy the use of the beaded quirt?” asked Canka.
“Yes,” I said, “very much.” I recalled the blond girl from he herd. I had had a most enjoyable afternoon.
“You may retain it until after the holidays, after the dancing and feasts,” said Canka.
“Thank you,” I said."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 146"During the feasting times, those generally correlated with the coming of the kailiauk, the locations of the great camps of the various tribes were well known. This made feasible the delivery of produce, someting which would be correspondingly impractical most of the year, when the trives had separated into scattered bands, and sometimes even smaller units, with temporary, shifting camps."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 149
The Great Hunt "“Make ready your arrows!” I heard again. “Make ready your arrows! Sharpent your knives! Sharpen your knives! We are going to make meat! We are going to make meat!” Slowly, though the camp, in the darkness, now crowded with men and women, rode Agleskala, the crier of the Sleen Soldiers. Behind him, in line, coming from the vicinity of the lodge of the Sleen Soldiers, the society lodge, came several members of the Sleen-Soldiers Society. They were garbed and accountered much as had been Hci. Two, however, carried long, heavy, stout hunting lances, rather than bows and arrows. Following them, being careful not to precede them, were some of the first of the hunters."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 52"A few yards ahead of where we waited by the lodge there was a group of mounted kaiila riders. There was an older fellow there, a member of the Sleen Soldiers. He was addressing a cluster of some five or six young men, almost boys. It was the first hunt, I gathered, in which they would fully participate, not riding merely at the fringes, observing the older men, but entering among the beasts themselves. I walked up, to where I might hear what was going on. “Remember,” the older fellow was telling them, “you do not hunt for yourself today. You hunt for others. Doubtless there will be hunters who will not be successful today. You will hunt for them. And there are those in the camps who are weak and frail. You will hunt for them. For all of these, and others, those less fortunate than yourselves, you hunt today. But always, remember, you hunt not only for yourself. You never hunt only for yourself. You hunt for the Kaiila.” “Howe, howe,” acknowledged the boys.
“Good hunting,” said he to them. “Oglu waste! Good luck!”
They then turned their kaiila about, to take their places.
In a boy’s first hunt he gives his kill, or kills, to others. Only the first beast’s tongue, its most prized meat, will he have, it being awarded to him for his efficiency and valor. The purpose of this custom seems to be to encourage the young man, from the very beginning, to think of himself in terms of the gallantry and generosity of he warrior."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 54
Owned Stories "Many stories among the red savages are owned stories, stories which only one man has a ight to tell. If one would wish to hear the story on must ask its owner to tell it. It is a privilege to own a story. It can make one an important person, too, to own a story, to be he to whom one must come if one wishes to hear it. Sometimes they are told on special day, story-telling days, and many people will come to listen. Some men own little but their story, but owning a good story, in the opinion of the red savages, makes a man rich. Such stories, like other forms of personal property, can be given away or sold. They are however, seldom sold, for the red savages do not like to think that a story can have a price. They like to think of them as being too precious to sell. Thus, like all things precious, or priceless, they are either to be kept of given away, kept as treasures, or awarded, freely, as by a man whoe heart sings, as gifts. Sometimes a man bequeaths his story to his heirs; some stories, for example, have been in families for generations; sometimes, on the other hand, he will give it to someone who loves it, and whom he thinks, in turn, will tell it well."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 174"It is a good story," said a man. "Through the years it will bear much retelling." "And it is not an owned story," said a man. "We all may tell it." "Yes," said another. Many stories among the red savages are owned stories, stories which only one man has a right to tell. If one wishes to hear the story one must ask the owner to tell it.
"Blood Brothers of Gor" pages 173/4
Games "“Throw the hoop, throw the hoop, Tatankasa!” cried out a lad.
I took the hoop and, after two false starts, suddenly flung it to my left. The lad turned swiftly, seeing the movement with his peripheral vision, and fired a small arrow expertly through the rolling object.
“Eca! Well done!” I cried. I was truly amazed at the little devil’s expertise. “Again! Again, Tatankasa!” cried the little fellow. Such games, of course, have their role to play in honing skills and sharpening reflexes that may be of great importance in adulthood."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 23/4
Food
"'There were many vegetables in the stew," I said to Cuwignaka, pretending not to notice the intensity between Canka and Winyela. Indeed, we had had to eat much of the stew from small bowls, filled by Winyela with a kailiauk-bone ladle. Some larger pieces of vegetable and meat, we had, however, in in the information fastion of the Barrens, taken from the pot on our knives. (...)
"That is unusual, ist't it?" I asked.
"Yes," said Cuwignaka. "That is produce, for the most part, from the fields of the Waniyanpi."
"I had thought it might be," I said.
The Waniyanpi were substantially, agricultural slaves. They farmed and gardened, and did other work for their red masters."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 148/9"Wakapapi said Cuwignaka to me. This is the Kaiila word for pemmican. A soft cake of this substance was pressed into my hands. I crumbled it. In the winter, of course such cakes can be frozen solid. One then breaks them into smaller pieces, warms them in one's hands and mouth, and eats them bit by bit. I lifted the crumbled pemmican to my mouth and ate of it. There are varies ways in which pemmican maybe be prepared, depending primarily on what one adds into the mixture, in the way of herbs, seasonings and fruit. A common way of preparing it is as follows. Strips of kailiauk meat, thinly sliced and dried on poles in the sun, are pounded fine, almost a powder. Crushed fruit, usually chokecherries, is then added to the meat, the whole then is mixed with and fixed by, kailiauk fat, subsequently usually being divided into small flattish rounded cakes."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 46"We had been invited to the lodge of Canka this night for boiled meat, a way of preparing meat of which the red savages are fond.
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 146"They supplement their diets by picking berries and digging wild turnips, said the first lad."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 124
WARFARE
"The red savage does not take an industrial or arithmetical approach to warfare. He would rather rescue one comrade than slay ten of the enemy. This has to do with the fact that they are members of the same tribe and, usually, of the same warrior society. They will have known one another almost all of their lives; as children and boys they have played together and watched the kaiila herds in the summer camps together; they may even have shared in their first kailliauk hunt; now, as men, they have taken the warpath together; they are comrades, and friends; each is more precious to the other than even a thousand coups."
"Savages of Gor" page 47"in actual warfare itself large-scale conflicts almost never occur. The typical act of war is the raid, conducted usually by a small group of men, some ten to fifteen in number, which enters enemy country, strikes, usually at dawn, and makes away, almost at soon as it came, with scalps and loot, sometimes, too, a woman or two of the enemy is taken; men of most tribes are fond of owning a woman of the enemy; male prisoners are seldom taken; because of their camaraderie and the sporting aspect of their warfare a group of red savages will usually refuse to follow even a single enemy into rock or brush cover; it is simply too dangerous to do so; similarly the red savages will almost never engage in a standing fight if they are outnumbered; often, too, they will turn their backs on even an obvious victory if the costs of grasping it seem too high; sometimes, too, a large number of red savages will retreat before an unexpected attack of a small number of enemies; they prefer to fight on their own terms and at times of their own choosing; too, they may not have had time to make their war medicine."
"Savages of Gor" page 48"It is a belief of the red savages that if they are unworthy, or do not speak the truth, that their shield will not protect them, it will move aside or will not turn the arrows and lances of enemies. Many warriors claim to have seen this happen. The shields, too, are made of the hide of the kailiauk from the thick hide of the back of the neck, where the skin and musculature are thick, to support the weight of the trident and turn the blows of other tridents, especially in the spring buffetings, attendant upon which follows mate selection.
"Savages of Gor" page 50/1"Red savages are not wont to conduct their altercations in dignified silence. There is a purpose to such things, of course. They serve to heighten aggression and ventilate emotion. They may also have a role to play in the intimidation, and consequent inhibition, of the enemy, perhaps in virtue of making one seem a more fearsome or terrible foe. Most interestingly, such cries, particularly if unexpected, may freeze, or startle, the enemy, thus, for a brief, valuable moment, providing the aggressor with a relatively inactive, stationary target for a particular stab or thrust."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 233"Several times in the afternoon had the battle whistles formed from the wing bones of taloned Herlits, blasted in the air, and the feathered battle staffs raise and lowered, communicating their signals to the combatants, not only to the Kaiila but to the Yellow Knives, as well. I did not know the codes, nor, for the most part, did Cuwignaka, as he had not been trained in the whirling, shifting tactics of his people, but Hci, and others, knew them well, much as Gorean soldiers know the meaning and the beating of tarn drums. We followed their lead."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 238"I heard men about me. Some recounted their coups aloud to themselves. Some called upon their medicine helpers for assistance, usually birds and animals. Others sang their medicines of war. Still others spoke to their shields and weapons, telling them what would be expected of them. Many sang their death songs. “Though I die it is true the sun will blaze in the sky. Though I die it is true the grass will grow. Though I die it is true the kailiauk will come when the grass is high.”"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 239"Red savages, on the whole, prefer to avoid fighting in darkness. In the darkness it is difficult to be skillful and, in the absence of uniforms, friends my be too easily mistaken for foes. Some savages, too, prefer to avoid night combat for medicine reasons. There are many theories connected with such things. I shall mention two. One is that if an idividual is slain at night, he may, quite literally, have difficulty in the darkness in finding his way to the medicine world. Another is that the individual who is slain at night may find the portals of the medicine world closed against him. These beliefs, and others like them, it seems clear, serve to discourage night combat."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 251
Medicine World "“I do not believe in the medicine world,” I said. “I do not think it exists.” “I know the medicine world exists,” said Hci.
“How do you know that?” I asked.
“Once,” said he, “I grievously lied. Later, in battle, my shield betrayed me. It would not obey me. I could not control it. It refused to protect me. Of its own will it rose, exposing me to the lance of my enemy.”"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 373"The rider, tall on the kaiila, singing medicine, disdaining to lift his shield, rode past, below us.
“I recognize him,” said Cuwignaka. “He is one of the war chiefs who delt with Watonka,”"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 414"“Medicine drums,” said Hci.
“Soldiers are leaving the camp,” I said.
“Yes,” said Hci."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 434
Wakanglisapa “He fears that it could only have been the work of Wakanglisapa,” said Cuwignaka.
“Wakanglisapa?” I asked.
“Yes, Wakanglisapa, ‘Black Lightning,’ the Medicine Tar,” said Cuwignaka. “That is foolish, Hci, my friend,” I said.
“I do not think so,” he said. “While I crouched in the grass, awaiting the landing of the tarn, I found something. I would like to show it to you.” Neither Cuwignaka nor myself spoke. We watched Hci return to the place in the grass where he had waited, bow ready, for the landing of the tarn. In a moment or two he had returned to where we stood.
In his hands he carried a large feather.
“It is black,” said Cuwignaka.
“There are many black tarns,” I said.
“Consider its size, Tatnkasa, Mitakola,” said Cuwignaka, in awe.
“It is large,” I granted him. It was some five feet in length. It could only have come from a very large tarn.
“It is the feather of Wakanglisapa, the Medicine Tarn,” said Hci.
“There is no such beast,” I said.
“This is his feather,” said Hci.
I said nothing."
"Savages of Gor" page 344"“It is said that Wakanglisapa prizes his feathers and is jealous of them, for they contain powerful medicine.”"
"Savages of Gor" page 346
Kaiila Riders "To be sure, these folk are superb riders. A child is often put on kaiilaback, its tiny bands clutching the silken neck, before it can walk. Sometimes a strap dangles back for a few feet from the throat loop. This is to be seized by the warrior who may have been struck from his mount, either to recapture the beast or, using the strap, being pulled along, with the momentum of the racing steed, to vault again to its back. This strap, incidentally, is used more often in hunting than in warfare. It could be too easily grasped by an enemy on foot, with the result of perhaps impeding the movement of the kaiila or even causing it to twist and fall. Needless to say, it is extremely dangerous to fall from one's kaiila in hunting kailiauk, because one is often closely involved with numerous stampeding beasts, or the given beast one is pursuing may suddenly turn on one."
"Savages of Gor" page 47"The ear of his kaiila is notched," I said to Grunt. "Is that an eccentric mutilation or is it deliberate, perhaps meaningful?"
"It is meaningful," said Grunt. "It marks the kaiila as a prize animal, one especially trained for the hunt and war."
"Savages of Gor" page 261"Bareback riding, incidentally, is common in war and the hunt. In trading and visiting, interestingly, saddles are commonly used. This is perhaps because they can decorate lavishly, adding to one’s apperance, and may serve, in virtue of the pommel, primarily, as a suppot for provisions, gifts and trade articles."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 26
Stealing Kaiila
"first actual war parties, though common, are formed less often than parties for stealing kaiila; in this sport the object is to obtain as many kaiila as possible without, if possible, engaging the enemy at all; it is a splendid coup, for example, to cut a kaiila tether strap which is tied to the wrist of a sleeping enemy and make off with the animal before he awakens; killing a sleeping enemy is only a minor coup; besides, if he has been killed, how can he understand how cleverly he has been bested; imagine his anger and chagrin when he awakens; is that not more precious to the thief than his scalp;"
"Savages of Gor" page 47/8
Kaiila bridle
"The bridle used by the red savages, incidentally, usually differs from that used by the white men. The most common form is a strap, or braided leather tie, placed below the tongue and behind the which two reins, or a teeth, tied about the lower jaw, from single double rein, a single loop, comes back over the beast's neck. The jaw tie, serving as both bit and headstall, is usually formed of the same material as the reins, one long length of material being used for the entire bridle."
"Savages of Gor" page 163
Counting coup "The most highly regarded battle exploit among most tribes, for which the highest honors are accorded, is not to kill an armed enemy but to touch or strike one with the open hand. The more danger and risk that is involved in a deed, on the Whole, the greater is the concomitant glory of accomplishing it. Killing the enemy, thus, in the heraldry of the red savages, ranks far beneath the besting of the enemy, and in a way that supposedly demonstrates one's greater prowess and courage. It is thus understandable that touching an armed enemy with the open hand counts among most tribes as a first coup. The second and third man to accomplish such a deed would then receive second coup and third coup. Killing an enemy with a bow and arrow from ambush, on the other hand, might be counted as only a fifth or seventh coup."
"Needless to say, the counting of coup, which is reflected in the feathers and adornments to which one is entitled, is a matter of great importance to the red savages. Indeed, there are also, in many tribes, practical considerations, which also become involved in these matters. For example, it is unlikely that one can advance within a tribe, or become a leader or chieftain, unless one has frequently counted coup. Too, in many tribes, a man who has not counted coup is not permitted to mate. In other tribes, such a man, if he is over twenty-five, is permitted to mate, but he is not allowed to paint his mate's face. Thus will her shame before the other women be made clear."
"Savages of Gor" page 45"In most tribes, incidentally, a man who refuses to go on the warpath is put in women's clothes and given a woman's name. He must then live as a woman. Henceforth he is referred to in the female gender. Needless to say, she is never permitted to mate. Sometimes she must even serve the members of a warrior society, as a captive female."
"Savages of Gor" page 46"Interestingly enough, whites stand outside the coup structure. This is something that few of them will object to. It seems they are simply not regarded, on the whole, as being suitable foes, or foes worthy enough to stand within the coup structure. It is not that the red savages object to killing them. It is only that they do not take pride, commonly, in doing so. Similarly a man of the high cities would not expect to be publicly rewarded for having speared a tarsk or slain an urt, Accordingly the red savage will seldom go out of his way to slay a white person; he commonly sees little profit in doing so; in killing such a person, he is not entitled to count coup."
"Savages of Gor" page 46
Scouts
"It is seldom wise to silhouette oneself against the sky. A movement in such a plane is not difficult to detect. Similarly, before entering a terrain, it is sensible to subject it to some scrutiny. This work, whether done for tribal migrations or, war parties, is usually done by a scout or scouts. When a man travels alone, of course, he must be his own scout. Similarly it is common for lone travelers or small parties to avoid open spaces without cover, where this is possible, and where it is not possible, to cross them expeditiously. An occasional ruse used in crossing an open terrain, incidentally, is to throw a kailiauk robe over oneself and bend down over the back of one's kaiila. From a distance then, particularly if one holds in one's kaiila, one and one's mount may be mistaken for a single beast, a lone kailiauk."
"Savages of Gor" page 41/2"Scouts are sometimes called sleen by the red savages. The sleen is Gor's most efficient and tenacious tracker. They are often used to hunt slaves. Too, the scout, often, in most tribes, wears the pelt of a sleen. This pelt, like a garment, which is at one time both cowl and cape, covers both the head and back. It is perhaps felt that something of the sleen's acuity and tenacity is thus imparted to the scout. Some scouts believe that they become, when donning this pelt, a sleen. This has to do with their beliefs as to the mysterious relationships which are thought to obtain between the world of reality and the medicine world, that, at times, these two worlds impinge on one another, and become one. To be sure, from a practical point of view, the pelt makes an excellent camouflage. It is easy, for example, to mistake a scout, on all fours, spying over a rise, for a wild sleen. Such animals are not uncommon in the Barrens. Their most common prey is tabuk."
"Savages of Gor" page 42
Scalps and mutilation
"The tops of the skulls, and parts of the tops of the skulls, in the back, of several of the bodies were exposed. It was here that the scalp and hair, in such places, had been cut away. These things could be mounted on hoops, attached to poles, and used in dances. They could be hung, too from fringes, lodge poles, and parts of them, in twisted or dangling friges, could decorate numerous articles, such as shields and war shirts."
"Savages of Gor" page 160"I do not understand all the cutting," I said, "the slashing, the mutilation." "That sort of thing," said Grunt, "is cultural, with almost all of the tribes. The tradition is an ancient one, and is largely unquestioned. Its origins are doubtless lost in antiquity." "Why do you think it is done?" I asked. "There are various theories," said Grunt. "One is that it serves as a warning to possible enemies, an attestation of the terribleness of the victors as foes. Another is that the practice is connected with beliefs about the medicine world, that this is a way of precluding such individuals from seeking vengeance later, either because of inflicted impairments or because of terrorizing them against a second meeting."
"Savages of Gor" page 160
Death Song " Though I die it is true the sun will blaze in the sky. Though I die it is true the grass will grow. Though I die it is true the kailiauk will come when the grass is high."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 239
Shields
"It is a belief of the red savages that if they are unworthy, or do not speak the truth, that their shield will not protect them, it will move aside or will not turn the arrows and lances of enemies. Many warriors claim to have seen this happen. The shields, too, are made of the hide of the kailiauk from the thick hide of the back of the neck, where the skin and musculature are thick, to support the weight of the trident and turn the blows of other tridents, especially in the spring buffetings, attendant upon which follows mate selection."
"Savages of Gor" page 50/1"One's shield might betray one," said Cuwignaka.
I regarded Cuwignaka.
"Yes," said Cuwignaka. "It is a well known fact. One's shield may choose not to defend one, if one is a liar."
"Shields do not behave like that outside of the Barrens," I told Cuwignaka, smiling.
"You are skeptical, I see," said Cuwignaka. "Well, be assured, my friend, I am speaking of the shields of the peoples of the Barrens and within the Barrens. These are not your ordinary shields. These are made with the aid of spells. The medicines of war are important in their construction and designs. They are not merely equipment, not merely contraptions of metal or leather. They are holy. They are precious. They are friends and allies. Surely you have seen them suspended from tripods behind the lodges, being sunned?"
"Yes," I admitted.
"That is to soak up power from the sun."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 175/6"'Hci is a liar," I said. "No," said Akihoka. "Why not?" I asked. "He has sworn by his shield," said Aikhoka."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 187"'Hci swears it," said Aikhoka. "Hci swears falsely," I said. "Hci swears by his shield," said Aikhoka.
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 188"I swear that is is not," said Cuwignaka. "Had I a shield I would swear by it." Hci looked at him, startled. "That is a most hold and sacred oath," said one of the Sleen Soldiers, frightened. "Would you truly swear by a shield?" ask Hci. "Yes," said Cuwignaka. "And when one so swears, then one is to be believed, is one not?" "Yes," said Hci. "One is then to be believed." "No one would betray the shield oath," said a man."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 209"I noted that Hci's shield, almost as though it were alive, seemed to move. It seemed he had to hold it steady, close to him. I had never seen anything precisely like this before."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 229"'Did you see the movement of his shield before?" asked Cuwignaka. "Yes," I said. "I have never seen anything like that. It is eerie."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 232"I glanced over to Hci. I saw his shield move, as though by itself. Then he steadied it. I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck. I felt goose flesh. This movement of the shield had not been unnoticed by Mahpiyasapa. He rode to Hci. "What is wrong with your shield?" he asked. "Nothing," said Hci. "Fall back," said mahpiyasapa. "Do not fight." Then he rode from him."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 249"I saw Hci struggle for a moment to again control of his shield. Then, again, he had steadied it."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 252"'Beware", I cried. It was almost as though Hci did not see the man, almost as though he was looking through him, almost as though the very real man, and the physical poit of the lance, of sharp bronze, were little more than tokens or emblems of something he feared far more. Hci did not bring his kaiila about. He did not set himself to repel the charge. The Yelow Knife hesitated, frightened, puzzled. This inactivity, so unepxected, so unnatural, so eerie, unsettled him. Did he see a man before him or something else, perhaps a guest from the medicine world, something through which he might charge, touching nothing, something that might disappear like smoke behind him? The Hci cried out in anguish. His shield began to rise. It seemed, for a moment, that he tried to struggle with it, but, inexorably, as though with a will of its own, it rose. The Yellow Knive aligned his lance. Hci, resigned, no longer fighting, calmly, not moving, sat astride his kaiila, his arms lifted to the moons of Gor. "Look out!" I cried. The Yellow Knife's lance took him low in the left side, hurling him from the kaiila, and then the Yellow Knife, with a whoop of victory, whirled away. "His shield would not defend him," said Cuwignaka, in horror. "His shield betrayed him! I have heard of such things. I never saw it until now!"
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 266/7"I lied", said Hci.
He lay in the darkness, in Grunt's lodge. I had wished to return to this lodge. There were objects in it which remained of interest to me. In it, too were stocks of dried meat and wakapapi, pemmican.
"It was I who took the arrow of Canka," he said. "It was I who feigned an attack on Mahpiyasapa. It was I who accused Canka of attempting to kill him."
"That is known to us," said Cuwignaka. "I think, too, it is understood by Mahpiyasapa, and many others."
"I swore upon my shield," said Hci.
Cuwignaka did not respond.
"It knew," said Hci. "It fought me. Dishonored, it would not defend me."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 268/9"Once," said he, "I grievously lied. Later, in battle, my shield betrayed me. It would not obey me. I could not control it. It refused to protect me. Of its own will it rose, exposing me to the lance of my enemy."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 372"It was late afternoon. This would be the time for sunning of shields, hanging on the shield tripods behind the lodges, the entrance of the lodge facing east, the back of the lodge facing west."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 301"It is not uncommon for a warrior to keep his shield in it's case or cover when not fighting. It is removed from the case, or cover, also, of course, when it is sunned, set forth to draw in power and medicine from the yellow, life giving, blazing star of two worlds, Sol or Tor-Tu-Gor, Light Upon the Home Stone."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 302"I stood for a long time on that late-summer day, looking at the shield, hanging on the shield tripod. It turned, slightly , in the breeze, back and forth. I took care, in deference to the feelings of the red savages, not to let my shadow fall accross it, while it was being sunned. Similarly, one does not pass between a guest and the fire in a lodge without begging his pardon."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 302"Cugwignaka's upward thrust, however, was easily turned by the Yellow Knife's stout war shield, of rawhide thickened and hardened by shrinking over heated stones, from the neck, between the shoulders, or the humped back, behind the head, bearing the trident of the bull kailiauk."
"Blood Brothers" page 227
Refusing War "What is your name?" asked Grunt.
"Your people called me 'Urt,'' he said. "The Dust Legs called me 'Nitoske'." "Woman's Dress," said Grunt. "Quick, Lad, what do the Kaiila call you? We cannot call you 'Woman's Dress."'
“Cuwignaka,” said the lad.
Grunt spit disgustedly into the grass.
"What is wrong?" I asked.
"It means the same, only in Kaiila," said Grant. "Moreover, in both dialects, it is actually the word for a white woman's dress."
"Wonderful," I said. "What shall we call you?" I asked the lad.
"Cuwignaka," he said. "Woman's Dress."
"Very well," I said.
"It is my name," he said."
"Savages of Gor 309/310"He would not carry arms," said Canka. "He would not take the warpath."
"I had no quarrel with the Fleer," said Cuwignaka.
"We put him in the dress of a woman and called him Cuwignaka," said Canka.
"I had no quarrel with the Fleer," said Cuwignaka.
"You shamed the Isbu," said Canka.
"I had no quarrel with the Fleer," said Cuwignaka.
"When again we went against the Fleer we gave him the opportunity to join us, the right to wear the breechclout and be a man. Again he refused. We then bound him in his women's dress and sold him to the Dust Legs."
"I had no quarrel with the Fleer," said Cuwignaka.
'The Kaiila have a quarrel with the Fleer, and you are Kaiila'' said Canka.
"The Fleer have not injured me," said Cuwignaka.
"Your grandfather was killed by Fleer," said Canka.
"And we, too, killed Fleer," said Cuwignaka.
"Savages of Gor page 322"Do you think you are a man?" asked Canka.
"I am a man," said Cuwignaka.
"You do not wear the breechclout," said Canka.
"It is not permitted to me." said Cuwignaka.
"Because you are a woman," said Canka. "I am not a woman," said Cuwignaka.
"If you return to camp," said Canka, "you will live as a woman. You will wear the dress of a woman and do the work of a woman. You will scrape hides and cook. You will tend lodges. You will please warriors."
"I will not please warriors," said Cuwignaka.
"I think that I will give you as a female slave to Akihoka," said Canka.
"I will not please warriors," said Cuwignaka.
"That is the first duty of a woman," said Canka, "to obey men, and be pleasing to them."
"Savages of Gor" page 322/3
Arrows
"The hunting arrow, incidentally, has a long, tapering point, and this point is firmly fastened to the shaft. This makes it easier to withdraw the arrow from its target. The war arrow, on the other hand, uses an arrowhead whose base is either angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across, the result in both cases being to make the arrow difficult to extract from the wound. The head of the war arrow too, is fastened less securely to the shaft than is that of the hunting arrow. The point thus, by intent, if the shaft is pulled out, is likely to linger in the wound. Sometimes it is possible to thrust the arrow through the body, break off the point and then withdraw the shaft backwards. At other times, if the point becomes dislodged in the body, it is common to seek it with a bone or greenwood probe, and then, when one has found it, attempt to work it free with a knife. There are cases where men have survived this. Much depends, of course, on the location of the point."
"Savages of Gor" page 40/1"The heads of certain war arrows and hunting arrows differ, too, at least in the case of certain warriors, in an interesting way, with respect to the orientation of the plane of the point to the plane of the nock. In these war arrows, the plane of the point is perpendicular to the plane of the nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughly parallel to the ground. In these hunting arrows, on the other hand, the plane of the point is parallel to the plane of the nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughly perpendicular to the ground. The reason for these different orientations is particularly telling at close ranges, before the arrow begins to turn in the air. The ribs of the kailiauk are vertical to the ground; the ribs of the human are horizontal to the ground."
"Savages of Gor" page 40/1Axes
"At the left side of Hci's face, at the chin, there was an irregular, jagged scar, some two inches in length. (...) It had been given to him by a Yellow Knife in mounted combat, the result of a stroke by a long-handled, stone-bladed tomahawk, or canhpi."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 9"A long-handled, single-bladed ax was pressed into her hands. It was a trade ax. Its back was blunted, for the driving of pegs, stakes and wedges. "
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 35Small Bow
"The small bow has many advantages. High among these is the rapidity with which it may be fired. A skilled warrior, in the Gorean gravity, can fire ten arrows into the air, the last leaving the bow before the first has returned to the earth. No Gorean weapon can match it in its rate of fire. At close range it can be devastating. Two further advantages of the small bow that might be mentioned are its maneuverability and its capacity to be concealed, say beneath a robe. It can be easily swept from one side of the kaiila to the other. In this type of combat, incidentally, it is not unusual for the warrior to shield himself behind the body of his racing kaiila and circling the enemy, rise up suddenly to fire over the animals back or from beneath it's neck. A heel over the animals back and a fist in it's silken neck hair, or an arm thrust through a leather throat hoop, provide the leverage needed for these feats."
"Savages of Gor" page 46Clubs
"The other drew back a heavy club, the termination of which contained a heavy, wooden, ball-like knob. They were preparing, apparently, to dash out my brains."
"Savages of Gor" page 288"The knife blades and long nails are sometimes mounted into clubs. The blades, of course, may also be fitted into carved handles of wood and bone."
"Savages of Gor" page 145Kaiila lance
The kaiila lance is used in hunting kailiauk as well as in mounted warfare. It is called the kaiila lance because it is designed to be used from kaiilaback. It is to be distinguished in particular from the longer, heavier tharlarion lance, designed for use from tharlarionback, and often used with a lance rest, and the smaller, thicker stabbing lances used by certain groups of pedestrian nomads. The kaiila lance takes, on the whole, two forms, the hunting lance and the war lance. Hunting lances are commonly longer, heavier and thicker than war lances. Too, they are often undecorated, save perhaps for a knot of the feathers of the yellow, long-winged, sharp-billed prairie fleer, or, as it is sometimes called, the maize bird, or corn bird, considered by the red savages to be generally the first bird to find food.
The point of the hunting lance is usually longer and narrower than that of the war lance, a function of the depth into which one must strike in order to find the heart of the kailliauk. The shafts of the kaiila lances are black, supple and strong; they are made of tem wood, a wood much favored on Gor for this type of purpose. Staves for the lances are cut in the late winter, when the sap is down. Such wood, in the long process of smoking and drying over the lodge fire, which consumes several weeks, seasoning the wood and killing any insects which might remain in it, seldom splits or cracks. Similarly, old-growth wood, or second-growth wood, which is tougher, is preferred over the fresher, less dense first-growth, or new-growth, wood."
"Savages of Gor" page 42/3"I then handed him the lance from the grass. It was metal-bladed, with a long trade point, some nine inches in length. It was riveted in the haft at two places and reinforced with rawhide bindings. The nature of theses bindings and the three lateral red marks near the head of the shaft marked it as Kailla. The binding was traditional; the marks were an explicit convention, signifying the Kailla, the Cutthroat tribe. Other marks upon it, which might have signified an owner, had been scratched away, probably with the edge of an knife. No feathers were attached to the lance. Never as yet, it seemed, had it touched an enemy."
"Savages of Gor" page 333"These lances are used in a great variety of ways, but the most common method is to thrust one's wrist through the wrist loop, grasp the lance with the right hand, and anchor it beneath the right arm. This maximizes balance, control and impact. With the weight of a hurtling kaiila behind the thrust such a lance can be thrust through the body of a kailiauk. To be sure, the skillful hunter will strike no more deeply than is necessary, and his trained kaiila will slow its pace sufficiently to permit the kailiauk to draw its own body from the lance. This permits the lance to be used again and again in the same hunt."
"Savages of Gor" page 43
Turf Knife
"She placed the turf knife in the pit, through the hole which we had left as its entrance. The turf knife is a wooden-bladed, saw-edged, paddle like tool. It is used to cut and saw sod, and, when the handle is held in the right hand and the blade is supported with the left, it may be used, also, rather like a shovel, to move dirt."
"Blood Brothers of Gor" page 311
Tarn lance
"The tarn lance, it might be mentioned, as is used by the red savages who have mastered the tarn, is, in size and shape, very similar to the kaiila lance. It differs primarily in being longer and more slender."
"Savages of Gor" page 43
Hand Signs
"I can teach you hundreds of signs in a short time," said Grunt. "It is a very limited language, but in most situations it is quite adequate, and, because many of the signs seem so appropriate and natural, it can be easily learned. In four or five days you can learn most of what you would need of sign."
"Savages of Gor" page 241Grunt rubbed the back of his left hand from the wrist to the knuckle with his right index finger. "The general sign for a man is this," he said. He held his right hand in front of his chest, the index finger pointing up, and raised it in front of his face. He then repeated the sign for the red savage. "I am not clear on the specific rationale for the sign for the savage," he said. "You will note, however, that the same finger, the index finger, is used in the sign, as in the sign for man. The origins of some of these signs are obscure. Some think the sign for the red savage has a relation to the spreading of war paint. Others think that it means a man who goes straight or a man who is close to the earth, to nature. Doubtless there are other explanations, as well. This is the sign for friend." He then put his first two fingers together and raised them upward, beside his face. "It probably means two men growing up together."
"Savages of Gor" page 241- Man
"The general sign for a man is this," he said. He held his right hand in front of his chest, the index finger pointing up, and raised it in front of his face."- Red savage
"Grunt rubbed the back of his left hand from the wrist to the knuckle with his right index finger."- Friend
"This is the sign for friend." He then put his first two fingers together and raised them upward, beside his face."- White man
"What is this?" he asked, drawing his right index finger across his forehead, from left to right. "It is like the line of the brim of a hat, across the forehead," I said."- Wild sleen (Sleen tribe)
"I put the middle fingers of my right hand on my right thumb, extending the index and little finger. This suggests a pointed snout and ears."- Domestic sleen
He then spread the index finger and the second finger of his right hand and drew them from the left to the right, in front of his body.
"That is the sign for a domestic sleen," he said. "You see? It is like the spread poles of a travois, which might be drawn by such an animal."- Woman
"Good," he said, "And this?" With the fingers of both hands slightly curved, he made downward motions from the top of his head to the shoulders. It was as though he were combing hair."- White woman (female slave)
"He had traced a line with his right index across his forehead, from left to right, and had then opened his hand and moved it downward, toward his shoulder, in the combing motion. "What do you think this means?" he asked. He then made the combing motions with his hand, then lowered his head and looked at his left wrist, which he grasped firmly in his right hand, the left wrist, the weaker wrist, helpless in the grip of the stronger.
"I am not sure," I said.
"The second sign indicates bondage," he said. "A female slave?" I asked.
"Yes," said Grunt, "but, more generally, it is another sign which may stand for any white woman, and is often used in this way."
"The same sign then," I said, "that sign, stands for both white woman and female slave?'
"Yes," he said. "It is the most common way of referring to a white woman. You see, in the Barrens, all white women are regarded as being female slaves. Our friends of the plains divide white women into those who have already, properly, been imbonded, and those who, improperly, have not yet been imbonded.""Here is another way of designating a white woman or a female slave," he said. He then made the sign for woman, followed by a downward striking motion, as though holding a switch.
"Sometimes, too," he said, "when the context is clear, this sign alone may be used." He then spread the first and second fingers of his right hand and laid them over the index finger of his left hand. "You see?" he asked. "It is ankles bound on a leg stretcher."- Red Savage female slave
"Such a woman may be designated as follows," he said, "by use of the sign woman, followed by the sign for the red savages, followed by a bondage sign."- Kaiila
"What is this?" asked Grunt. He held his left hand with the palm in, before his chest, and placed the index and second finger of his right hand astride the edge of his left hand."
"A rider?" I asked.
"Kaiila," he said. "- To ride
"What is this?" asked Grunt. He held his left hand with the palm in, before his chest, and placed the index and second finger of his right hand astride the edge of his left hand. Then, holding his hands as he had, he rotated his hands in tiny circles, as though the kaiila were in motion. "That is to ride," he said."- Knife
"What is this?" he asked. He placed his left fist in front of his mouth and sliced between it and his face with the edge of his opened right hand.
"I do not know," I said.
"Knife," be said. "See? One holds the meat in one's hand and clenches it between the teeth, too. Then one cuts a bite from the meat, to eat it, thus the sign for knife."- Kaiila tribe
"Good," I said. "And what does this mean?" I drew an imaginary line across my throat with my right index finger. I had seen Corn Stalks make this sign in his talk with Grunt.
Grunt's eyes clouded. "It is the sign for the Kaiila," he said, "the Cutthroat Tribe."- Soldiers
"You may have seen this sign," said Grunt. "It is an interesting one." He then held his fists in front of his chest, his thumbs almost touching, and then spread his fingers out, horizontally.
"I have no idea what it means," I said.
"Does it remind you of nothing?" be asked. He repeated the sign.
Suddenly the hair on the back of my neck rose. "It is like men breaking out of columns," I said, "fanning out, to take up positions for battle."
"Yes," said Grunt. "It is the sign for soldiers." He then added to it the sign for riding, that of the kaiila in motion.
"Kaiila soldiers," I said. "Cavalry.".
"Yes," said Grunt, soberly."- Wagons
"He then held both fists close to his chest, with the backs of his hands down and the index fingers curved. He then made a forward, circular motion.
"Wheels?" I said. "Wagons."
"Yes," said Grunt."- Grass
"I held my hands near the ground, with my fingers curved upward and slightly apart. I then swung my hands out in a small, upward curve."- High grass (Summer)
I held my right hand, palm down, even with my shoulder, and lowered it, until it was about eighteen inches from the ground.
"Height," said Grunt. "High. High grass. Summer."- Day or Light
"I folded my arms, the right arm resting on top of the left. I then raised both hands until my fingers pointed skyward.
"The spreading of light," said Grunt. "Day. Light."
I repeated the gesture twice more.
"Three days," said Grunt. "Three days ago, we may suppose."- Many
"I raised my hands in front of my body, my fingers slightly curved. I then swept my hands together in a looping curve.
"Many," said Grunt. "Much. Plenty."- Fleer Tribe "I had smote my hands slowly together three times. It was like the beating of wings. It now stood, I saw, for the Fleer tribe. The fleer is a large, yellow, long-billed, gregarious, voracious bird of the Barrens. It is sometimes also called the Corn Bird or the Maize Bird."
- Yellow Knives Tribe
"The sign for the Yellow Knives had been the sign for knife, followed by the sign for fleer. I later learned the sign for knife alone would suffice for this tribe."- Kailiauk
"The sign for Kailiauk, as I had expected, was to hold up three fingers, suggesting the trident of horns adorning the shaggy head of this large, short-tempered, small-eyed, lumbering ruminant."- Fast (hurry)
"I held my hands in front of my body, with the palms facing one another, with the left hand a bit ahead of the right. I quickly brushed the right palm pass, the loft palm.
"Fast," said Grunt. "Quick. Hurry."- Kill (hit or strike)
"I held my left hand before my body, palm out, with my index and second fingers spread, forming a "V." I held my right band at my fight shoulder, the index finger pointing up. I then, quickly, brought my right index finger down, striking into the space between the index finger and second finger of my left hand.
"Kill," said Grunt, soberly. "Hit. Strike."- Fire (Flames)
"What is this sign?" I asked. I cupped my right hand close to the ground, my fingers partly closed. I then raised it a few inches from the ground, with a short, wavy motion.
"It is the sign for fire," said Grunt. "Flames."- Heart
"What does this mean?" I asked. I placed my right hand against my heart, with the thumb and fingers pointing down and slightly cupped.
"Heart," said Grunt."- Sad
"I then lowered my hand toward the ground. I had seen Corn Stalks do this, after his account of the battle, if battle it had been.
"The heart is on the ground," said Grunt "My heart is on the ground. I am sad."- Good "He held his right hand near his body, with the palm down and the thumb close to his left breast. Then, with his right arm horizontal, he swept his hand outward and a bit to the right This meant "good," that which is level with the heart."
- All
"He then pointed to the girls. He moved his fiat right hand in a horizontal circle, clockwise, as Earth clocks move, not Gorean clocks, in front of his chest. This meant "all," the circle being complete."- Yes "Grunt then lifted his right hand, the back of it near his right shoulder. His index finger pointed forward and the other fingers were closed, with his thumb resting on his middle finger. He then moved his hand a bit to the left and, at the same time, touching the thumb with the index finger, made a closed circle. "Yes," had said Grunt. He then made the sign for "all" and the sign for "good," in that order. "All is good," or "all right," he had said."
- Thank you
"He then extended his bands in a forward direction, the palms down, and lowered them. "Thank you," was the meaning of this sign."- Goodbye (Time or the future)
"He then held his hands at the level of his chest, with his index fingers pointing forward and the other fingers closed. He drew back his right hand, to the right, some inches, and then he brought it forward again, the index finger still extended, and moved it over his left hand. The first portion of this sign means "time," and the second portion indicates, presumably, the forward movement of time. Literally this sign, in both its portions, indicates "future," but it is used also for "good-bye," the rationale being perhaps similar to that in locutions such as 'I'll be seeing you' or 'Until we meet again'."- Past (Before) "The sign for past, incidentally, is also the sign for "before." The sign for "time," predictably, enters into the sign for "before," but, in this case, it is followed by the thrusting forth and drawing back of the right hand. This is perhaps to suggest moving backward in time."
- I (Me, Mine) "Too, I jerked my thumb toward my body. This, in sign, signifies "I," "Me," or "Mine," depending on the context."
"Savages of Gor" page 241/9
Smoke Signs
"You have seen the smoke?" I asked. I referred to the slow liftings of smoke, rising from low buttes, behind us and to our left, and before us, and to the right. The distance between the two fires was probably some ten to fifteen pasangs.
"Yes," said Grunt, "but its intent is not hostile, as I read it. It is, rather, informational. It is doing little more than marking our passage."
Such signals are common on the plains, but perhaps not so common as mirror signals. The code in mirror signals, conveyed by the pacing and number of flashes, is very similar to that of the smoke signals. The signals, incidentally, are not a substitution cipher, for the languages of the red savages, not being written languages, in any conventional sense, do not have a standardized alphabet or syllabary. The signals, of which there are some fifty or sixty, have conventionalized meanings, such as 'We are Kaiila', 'Who are you?',' Go back', 'we have counted coup' and 'we are returning to camp'. The common smoke signal is produced by placing greenery, such as branches, leaves or grass, on a fire. The smoke produced is then regulated in its ascent by the action of a robe or blanket, the manner of its releasing being a function of the conventions involved. At night such signals can be conveyed by the number and placement of fires, or by a single fire, alternately revealed and concealed by the action, again, of a robe or blanket. Other common signaling methods, incidentally, involve such things as the use of dust cast into the air, the movement of robes and the motions imparted to a kaiila."
"Savages of Gor" page 255
"The kailiauk in question, incidentally, is the kailiauk of the Barrens. It is a gigantic, dangerous beast, often standing from twenty to twenty-five hands at the shoulder and weighing as much as four thousand pounds. It is almost never hunted on foot except in deep snow, in which it is almost helpless. From kaiilaback, riding beside the stampeded animal, however, the skilled hunter can kill one with a- single arrow."
"Savages of Gor" page 142
Fleer
"The fleer is a large, yellow, long-billed, gregarious, voracious bird of the Barrens. It is sometimes also called the Corn Bird or the Maize Bird."
"Savages of Gor" page 246