The Wagon Peoples

There are several cultures on Gor outside of the cities. These include the Red Savages of the Barrens, the tribesmen of the Tahari, the natives of the jungles near Schendi and others. These cultures are considered by the Goreans of the citys to be barbarians. The focus of this scroll shall be one of those allegedly barbaric cultures, the Wagon Peoples. The Wagon Peoples share a number of characteristics with the Mongols of Earth.      The Wagon Peoples claim the southern prairies near the city of Turia in the southern hemisphere. These prairies extend from the coast of Thassa to the southern foothills of the Voltai Range. The Wagon People also claim the lands to the north, up to the banks of the Cartius River, a tributary of the Vosk River. These prairie lands may be called the Plains of Turia or the Land of the Wagon Peoples, depending on who is speaking. The great city of Turia sits in the midst of these lands and must continually deal with the threat of the Wagon Peoples. The Wagon Peoples consist of four separate tribes: the Paravaci, Kataii, Kassars and Tuchuks.      The Paravaci are the "Rich People", the wealthiest of the tribes. During the time of Nomads of Gor, their Ubar was Tolnus. But, he betrayed the Wagon Peoples and was later killed. It is unknown who is the current Ubar of the Paravaci. Their standard is a boskhead-shaped banner made of jewels strung on gold wire. The Paravaci sometimes wear jeweled belts on their necks to incite envy in others and accrue enemies. The purpose is to encourage attacks so the wearer can test his skills and need not tire himself seeking foes. Their brand is an inverted isosceles triangle surmounted by a semicircle, representing the head of a bosk. Like all of the Peoples, they use the same brand for their slaves and bosk. A slave brand though is only about an inch high and a bosk brand forms a six-inch square.      The Kataii are blacks and their Ubar is Hakimba. Their standard is a yellow bow bound across a black lance. They also carry yellow shields. Their brand is a bow facing to the left.      The Kassars are the "Blood People" and their Ubar is Conrad. Their standard is a scarlet bola hanging from a lance. Their brands symbolically represen this with three circles joined at the center by lines. They also carry red shields.      The Tuchuks are known as the "Wily Ones" and their Ubar is Kamchak. The Tuchuks are the primary tribe discussed in Nomads of Gor. Their standard is four bosk horns. They also carry black shields. Their brand is four bosk horns, resembling the letter "H." It is said that it is hard to outwit a Tuchuk in a bargain. They hate to be fooled or made the butt of a joke.      The Peoples are primarily herders of bosk, living off their meat and milk. They will not grow any food and will not eat anything of the earth. They have no manufacturing and thus must often either buy, trade or raid for what they need. They trade with Turia, usually acquiring highly prized metal and cloth items for bosk horn and hides. They also trade items they obtain from raiding. The only two things they won't trade to Turia are a living bosk and a girl who once came from Turia. As no caravans, and few merchants, travel to the Wagon Peoples, they must often journey to Turia to seek needed goods.      They speak a dialect of Gorean so can be understood by most city dwellers. They are very proud and generally regard city dwellers as vermin living in holes. It is said the Wagon People are killers and that they slay strangers. This is mostly true. A few merchants are permitted to trade with them but for that priviliege they must receive a tiny brand on their forearm. The brand is in the form of spreading bosk horns. This guarantees safe passage for the merchant but only during certain seasons. Some entertainers can also receive the brand. But, to acquire the brand, you must first present yourself to the Peoples. If they do not like your merchandise or are not pleased with your entertaining, they will deny you a brand and simply slay you. The brand does carries some shame as it suggests that you are a slave.      They do not have normal castes like most Goreans. Every male is expected to be a warrior though there is no Red Caste among the Peoples. This is true of most of the barbaric cultures of Gor. All males must also be able to ride, hunt, and care for the bosk. After the primary duties of war, hunting and herding, there are certain clans that specialize in other duties. These clans include healers, torturers, leather workers, salt hunters, camp singers, year keepers, scarers, and more. These clans are still warriors but also have added duties.      They are the only Gorean culture to have a group of professional torturers. The torturers are very well trained in the arts of detaining life, detection and persuasion. They can be effective interrogators. They always wears hoods unless their victim has received a sentence of death. Only the victim will then see their face. They hire out to other cities, mainly to Ubars and Initiates, and a few others similarly interested in their skills.      The Wagon People do not trust important matters to paper because paper can be too easily destroyed. Most of the People have excellent memories and have been trained since birth for such retention. Because of this, few can actually read. Many of them use signs to signify their names and they also place them on the collars of their slaves. They do have a large, complex oral literature. This is passed down through the generations by word of mouth and memorized anew by each new generation. These works may be recited by the clan of Camp Singers, also known as skalds.      The Peoples use two different systems to mark time. The free women keep a calendar based on the phases of Gor's largest moon. It lists fifteen moons, named for the fifteen varieties of bosk. This calendar functions independently of their other calendar that tallies years between each Season of Snows. Their years are not numbered but are instead given names. They are named toward their end, based on something that happened to distinguish that year. Year Keepers are the clan that memorizes the names of the years and some can recite several thousand consecutive years.      The bosk is said to be the Mother of the Wagon Peoples and they revere it. The bosk is a huge, ox-like animal, with a temper to match that of a sleen. It is a shaggy beast with a thick, humped neck. It has a wide head and tiny red eyes. It possesses two long, wicked horns that reach out from its head and suddenly curve forward to terminate in fearful points. Some of these horns, measured from tip to tip, exceed the length of two spears. There are fifteen varieties of bosk including the brown bosk, red bosk, and milk bosk. It is indigenous to the plains near Turia though it is also raised by people all over Gor.      The bosk herds form the vanguard and rampart for the advance of the wagons. The herds are branded and composed of smaller herds watched over by their own riders. The Peoples use basically every part of the bosk. They eat its meat and drink its milk. They use their hides to cover their wagons. Their tanned skins also are used for clothing. The leather of its hump is used for their shields. Their sinews form their thread. Their bones and horn are made into many different implements such as awls, punches, spoons, drinking flagons, and weapon tips. The hooves are used for glues including a waterproof glue. Their oils are used to grease the bodies of the Peoples against the cold. Even their dung is used, dried, for fuel. Someone who kills a bosk foolishly is either strangled to death or suffocated in the hide of the animal he killed. If you kill a bosk cow with unborn young, then you are staked out alive in the path of the herd.      The Peoples use domesticated prairie sleen, as shepherds and sentinels. They herd the bosk and also help to protect their camps and track down errant slaves. These sleen move raidly and silently. They will attack any trespassers without provocation. They will respond only to the voice of its master. When the master dies, the sleen is then slain and eaten.      Male youths must learn to wield the bow, quiva and lance before their parents will consent to give them a name. This is because names are very precious to them and they do not wish to waste a name on someone who is likely to die. Until a male is considered worthy, he is known only by the number of son he is. Thus he will be referred to as first son or second son of such a father.      The Wagon People are a warlike people and often war among themselves. Many years ago, the Kaiila Wars were fought among the different tribes of the Wagon Peoples. The primary object of the Wars was the acquisition of kaiila, the common mount of these peoples. The capture and acquisition of slaves was almost an afterthought. But, the Wagon People soon realized the benefits of having such women as slaves and the idea became much more prevalent.      The Wagon People value courage above all else and this is reflected in their Scar Codes. The scars are worked into the skin by needles, knives, pigments and bosk dung over a period of several days. Some men have even died in the fixing of such scars. Each scar has a specific meaning and all the Peoples can read the scars. Most of the scars are set in pairs, moving diagonally down from the side of the head toward the nose and chin. The Courage Scar is a bright red scar and is always the highest scar on your face. It is a prerequisite for all other scars. Without this scar, you cannot pay court to a free woman, own a wagon, or own more than five bosk or three kailla. Not all wear their Courage Scar visibly though, depending on the circumstances though it would be very rare. They also have facial tattoos but little is said if they possess meaning or not. Kamchak had seven scars: red, yellow, blue, black, two more yellow, and one more black. The books do not explain the meaning of these other scars.      The military organization of the Peoples is simple. They are broken down into three different sized groups. These are the Oralu, Orlu and the Or. This translates respectively into the Thousand, Hundred and the Ten. In respect for the leader of each group, the Peoples will smote their lances on their shield. They do it once for the commander of a Ten, twice for a Hundred, three times for a Thousand. The commander of a Thousand is the next level under the Ubar. Each warrior knows his place within his group so each group works very well together.      During the day, the movement of these groups is dictated by drums, the bosk horn and movements of the standard. By night, it is done with drums, bosk horns and war lanterns slung on high poles carried by certain riders. The lanterns come in different colors such as red, yellow, green, and blue. When the bosk horns blow, as an attack occurs, the women cover the fires and prepare the men's weapons, bringing forth arrows, bows and lances. The women are also able to read the signals of the war lanterns. But, the women do not fight. If the Peoples conquer a city, they usually destroy it completely. They kill or enslave everyone, poison the wells, salt the earth, etc. It is said that some cities still lay in ruins that were conquered hundreds of years ago.      A thousand years ago, united Wagon Peoples carried their devastation to the walls of Ar and Ko-ro-ba. Luckily, both cities were able to stop and push back the Peoples. During the events of Nomads of Gor, the Tuchuks conquer the city of Turia that had never been conquered before. But, Kamchak, Ubar of the Tuchuks, decides to return to its Home Stone to the Turians. This is done obstensibly so the Wagon Peoples would always have an enemy but may also have been done in part because Kamchak's mother was Turian.      Nowadays though, after the reunification of the Peoples under Kamchak, as the Ubar San of the Wagon People, some matters have changed. The Wagon Peoples rarely enslave their own anymore. They raid others for slaves and have allegedly travelled as far north as Venna and even the Sardar. It is said that a woman is not safe within a thousand pasangs of the wagons. A strike against the cities of Ar and Koroba could occur again one day. This poses some interesting story ideas for cross-city role-play.      The Wagon People use a variety of weapons in war and hunting. These include the lance, horn bow, quiva, rope and bola. They rarely use swords. Defensively, they wear conical helmets that are often fur rimmed and may have a net of colored chains over the face with holes only for the eyes. They also use small, round leather shields that are lacquered to a glossy finish. The color of the lacquer depends on your specific tribe.      The three-weighted bola consists of three long straps of leather, about five feet long each, terminating in a leather sack which contains a heavy, round metal weight. If it is thrown low, with its about ten-foot sweep, it is almost impossible to evade. It can entangle legs or even break legs. Thrown higher it can lock your arms to your body. Thrown even higher, it can strangle a man around the neck. A difficult cast to the head can even crush a skull. A Wagon Person commonly entangles a foe and then kills him with the quiva. It is also used to hunt tumits and men. A tumit is a large flightless bird of the prairies with a hooked beak as long as a forearm.      The Wagon People use a horn bow, primarily from the saddle. It is a small, double-curved bow about four feet long. It is built of layers of bosk horn, bound and reinforced with metal and leather. It is banded with metal at seven points including at the grip. A Wagon Person can commonly fire twenty arrows in half an Ehn. The horn bow though lacks the range and power of a longbow or crossbow. But at close range, it is a fearsome weapon.      The People use a Kaiila lance often when they are mounted. They are black, cut from the poles of young tem wood trees. They are so flexible that they may be bent almost double before they break. They are not couched but are rather carried in the right fist. They are used for thrusting not the battering ram effect of European lances. They can be almost as delicate and swift as a saber. A loose loop of boskhide, wound twice about the right wrist, helps them retain the weapon. It is rarely thrown in battle. Some lances have a rider hook under the point to help dismount their opponents.      The quiva is the almost legendary, balanced saddle knife of the Wagon Peoples of the prairies. It is about a foot in length, double edged, and tapers to a daggerlike point. The quiva is used more as a missile weapon than a hand-to-hand weapon. It is not necessary to throw it hard as its sharpness and weight do the work for you. Most quivas are made in Ar and sold in sets of seven, as there are seven sheaths in the kaiila saddles of the Wagon Peoples. The quivas are almost always in the saddle sheaths. The quivas are made differently for each tribe of the Wagon Peoples. Despite the fact that they are manufactured in Ar, the quiva is almost exclusively a weapon of the Wagon People. In the novels, Tarl Cabot is the only non-Wagon Person who ever used a quiva. Tarl even creates a carnival act out of the use of the mysterious quivas, a weapon known to few.      Their mount is the kaiila and their children are taught to ride before they can walk. The Southern kaiila are different in some ways from the desert kaiila or the kaiila of the red savages. The Southern kaiila is a lofty, graceful and very agile animal. It can easily outmaneuver a high tharlarion. It is carnivorous but requires less food than a tarn. Once a kaiila eats its fill, it won't eat for several days. It normally stands about twenty to twenty-two hands at the shoulder. They are fast creatures and can cover as much as six hundred pasangs a day, about 420 miles. They are commonly tawny-colored but some are also black. They are trained to avoid the thrown spear and until it is proficient in this skill it is not allowed to breed. Those who cannot learn are killed. A kaiila saddle is big enough to hold a bound slave across it.      The free women of the Peoples are generally a dour lot. They wear long leather dresses, their hair in braids and are unveiled. Slaves must always keep their hair unbound. The free women do not receive scars. They cannot wear silk as it is for slaves only. It is said that any women who loves the feel of silk is a slave at heart. They tend to do many chores around the camps such as cooking. They hate and envy female slaves. The free women also do not fight in battle. Their function is to prepare the weapons of the men and help read the war lanterns. All women wear nose rings, free and slave. The bosk also wear nose rings though their rings are heavy and gold unlike the tiny gold rings worn by the women. The Peoples regard ear piercing as barbaric.      The Peoples are nomadic but settle on occasion in large camps for a time. This becomes a City of Harriga, or Bosk Wagons. There are sufficient wagons so it almost seems like a real city with streets and such. Their wagons are brightly colored and most are square, each the size of a large room. They are drawn by a double team of bosk, four in a team. The wagon box stands almost six feet from the ground. It is formed of black, lacquered planks of tem-wood. Inside the wagon box is fixed a rounded, tentlike frame, covered with painted and varnished bosk hides. The wagons compete to look the boldest and most exciting. The wagons are guided by a eight straps, two for each of the four lead animals. The wagons are commonly tied in tandem fashion, in long columns and thus only the lead wagons need to be guided.      In the Wagon Peoples, their slaves are commonly clad in a style called Kajir. For slave girls, this means she wears four articles of clothing, two red and two black. These include the Chatka, Curla, Kalmak and Koora. The Curla is a red cord that is tied about the girl's waist. The Chatka, a long narrow strip of black leather, fits over this cord in the front, passes between the girl's legs and passes over the cord in the back. The Chatka is drawn tight. Th Kalmak is a short, open, sleeveless vest of black leather and is worn donned after the first two items. Lastly, the Koora is placed on. It is a strip of red cloth, matching the Curla, and worn as a head band. Slaves cannot braid or dress their hair so the Koora is the best they can do. For a male slave to be clad Kajir means only that they must wear the Kes, a short, sleeveless work tunic of black leather. They have few male slaves except for some on work chains.      The Wagon Peoples enjoy paga and fermented milk curds. That is an alcoholic drink made from bosk milk and drank exclusively by the Wagon Peoples. The Peoples also have public slave wagons that are a combination paga tavern and slave market. There is nothing else like it on Gor. Girls can be bought, sold and rented there. They may also set up a curtained enclosure for dancing girls. This idea would make an interesting story-line, having a group of Wagon Peoples decide to travel all over Gor with such a wagon.      The Wagon People revere the Priest-Kings but they do not worship them. They worship the sky and beseech the "Spirit of the Sky." In their myths, the rains came out of the sky and formed the earth, bosk and the Peoples. The Wagon Peoples pray only when mounted and with weapons at hand. They pray to the sky as a warrior to an Ubar. Free women are not permitted to pray. The Peoples also hold bosks and the skill at arms as holy items. The Peoples are fascinated with the future and its signs. Although they may claim not to place store in them, they actually give them great consideration. They often practice omen reading. Slaves were once sacrificed by all of the tribes but now only the Paravaci do so. The hearts and liver of slaves are now generally considered untrustworthy in judging omens. Their haruspexes also sell amulets, talismans, philters, potions, spell papers, wonder working sleen teeth, powdered kailiauk horns, colored magic strings and other such things. Like most Low Castes of the cities, they believe in magic.      Though the Wagon Peoples war among themselves, every ten years they all gather together during what is called the Omen Year. It is actually a season that occupies part of two of their regular years. The Omen Year lasts several months and consists of three separate phases. First is the Passing of Turia that takes place in the fall. During this time, the Peoples gather and move toward their winter pastures. Second is the Wintering that occurs north of Turia and south of the Cartius, the site of their pastures. Lastly is the Return to Turia that occurs in the spring, or as the People call it the Season of Little Grass. It is a time of truce, a time for trading.      It is near Turia in the spring when the Omen Year is completed. The omens are then taken, usually over several days by hundreds of haruspexes. They are trying to determine if the omens are favorable for the choosing of a Ubar San, a One Ubar, a Ubar of all the Wagons, all the Peoples. There had not been a Ubar San in more than one hundred years before Nomads of Gor. The Omen Year was instituted more than one thousand years ago.      The sacrifices are performed in the Omen valley and the animals will later be used as food. The chief haruspex of each tribe presides at the central altar. There are hundreds of smaller altars in the grassy valley where other haruspexes perform. The sacrifices last for several days and consume hundreds of animals. A tally is kept from day to day. The first Omen taken is always to see if the Omens are propitious to take Omens. At the completion of the sacrifices, a final tally is taken to see if a Ubar san will be chosen. At the end of the events in Nomads of Gor, Kamchak of the Tuchuks is chosen to be Ubar San. He frees his slave Aphris who then becomes his Ubara Sana.      The People love to gamble on almost anything. It is a great honor for a woman to be a stake in such gambling. In spear or lance gambling, the weapon is placed in the ground, point first, and you wait to see in what direction it falls. The winner is the one the weapon falls toward.      They also enjoy a variety of games. In one such game, a lance is placed about four hundred yards away. A slave girl is placed into a circle made by a bosk whip. The girl must run to the lance, trying to avoid capture. Time is judged by the heartbeat of a standing kaiila. The girl receives a headstart of fifteen heart beats which will normally take her about halfway to the lance. A man on a kaiila rider must then ride after her and use a bola to capture her. He also has a binding thong to bind the girl when he captures her. He must capture the girl, secure her and return her in as little time as possible back to the circle. Some girls are specially trained to evade the bola.      Another game is the lance and tospit with the living wand. This is a very dangerous game where a slave holds a tospit in her mouth. The object is for a rider to hit the fruit with his lance withoiut striking the girl. The girl may either stand sideways or facing the lance. The Peoples even have spitting contests, seeing who can spit the farthest. Some People play a game with Turian slaves. They release them in sight of the city and let them run for the walls. The People then chase them down using bolas.      Every spring the games of Love War are held between the Wagon Peoples and Turia. The institution of the Love War is an ancient one. It is held on the Plains of a Thousand Stakes located some pasangs from Turia. Judges and craftsmen come from Ar to officiate at the games. They are guaranteed safe passage across the plains and are very well compensated. Their fee is sufficient to support a man for a year in Ar. The stakes, flat-topped, are about six and a half feet high and seven to eight inches in diameter. They stand in two lines facing one another in pairs, separated by about fifty feet. Each stake in a line is separated by about thirty feet and the lines extend for over four pasangs. The stakes are painted colorfully, trimmed and decorated. Retaining rings are bolted on the stakes. In between each pair of stakes is a circle of about twenty-four feet in diameter. The grass is removed from the circle and the ground is sanded and raked.      About two hundred from each of the four Wagon People tribes attend the games. Only the best warriors can compete and only the most beautiful women can be used as prizes. Essentially, the Wagon People and Turians battle for their women. A Turian woman and Wagon Person women are tied on opposite stakes. The two men fight and the winner gets the other's woman. Though the Turian women wear robes and veils, they may be face stripped at the request of any of the Peoples. When men of the same side wish to fight for the same staked woman, it is determined by rank and prowess. In alternate years, each side gets to choose the weapon that will be used in combat. You can withdraw after the choice of weapon and before your name is officially entered in the lists. Each year, the overall winner varies. The overall winner is determined by which side won more of the other side's women.      Remember the proper place of the Wagon Peoples and other such cultures. They primarily exist in their natural surroundings. A few do travel to other parts of Gor but not entire tribes. The Peoples do not accept strangers easily into their lands. The few that are accepted are generally those that get branded, the merchants and entertainers. Tarl Cabot is a major exception in this regard and in many regards in the books. The Peoples act very differently from city dwellers. Above all else, have fun.