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| Weapons of Gor (cont.) |
| Quiva: The quiva is a balanced saddle knife of the Wagon Peoples of the prairies. It is about a foot in length, double edged, and tapers to a dagger like 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 kept in their saddle sheaths. The quivas are also made differently for each tribe of the Wagon Peoples. Rope: The rope is a weapon commonly used by Gorean warriors. Its primary use is in the capture of slaves and other peoples. These ropes are usually braided leather. The Tuchuks are skilled with the use of the rope. Cestus: These are spiked leather gauntlets, used primarily in gladiatorial combat. There are also knife gauntlets, which are a bit more deadly, such as the four-bladed dagger cestus of Anango. There is also the hatchet gauntlet of eastern Skjern. Bola: This is a primary weapon of the Wagon Peoples. It 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 ten foot sweep, it is almost impossible to evade. It can entangle or even break one's legs. If it is thrown higher it can lock your arms to your body. Thrown even higher, it can strangle a man around his neck. The most difficult cast is to the head but a successful hit could crush someone's skull. The Wagon Peoples usually entangle a foe and then kill him with a quiva. Bolas are also used to hunt tumits. There is also a bladed bola used more to kill than to capture. Staff: This is also primarily a peasant weapon. It is commonly about six feet long and two inches wide. A skilled combatant with a staff can hold his own against most warriors with a sword. Such a staff can be quite agile and nimble in skilled hands. The staff also has practical uses such as an aid in traversing unsteady terrain or to carry suspended baskets. Thus a peasant will often have this weapon handy. Net and trident: This combination of weapons is the traditional weapon of fishermen of the western shore and islands. The trident may be two or three pronged and is also known as a marsh spear. These are also common weapons in gladiatorial combat. During the days of ancient Rome, these were also common used in their gladiatorial combats. Red Savages: They use two weapons not common elsewhere on Gor. One is the canphi, a long-handled, stone-bladed tomahawk. The other is the war club, which may have nails or blades in it. Garrote: This is usually armed with wire to cut a throat. There are two wooden handles at the ends so you can hold it safely. There is also a version without the wire that can be used to capture people without injuring them. One such variety is the girl-capture chain. It has a narrow golden chain that will choke someone without cutting their throat. You can adjust the chain by spinning one of the wooden handles. Poison: Poison is prohibited by the Warrior and Assassin Codes. It is most commonly a woman's weapon. Ost venom and kanda paste are two of the most commonly used poisons. Ost venom can be made into a powder to poison a drink. Kanda paste can be applied to a weapon. It can also be added to liquids and has been used to poison reservoirs. Gorean poisons are quite deadly and little is said in the novels about antidotes or preventative measures. For example, the bite of an ost leads to death within seconds. That gives one little time to prevent one's death. It is likely that the potency of the poison is lessened to some degree when it is removed from the ost and used as a powder or in a fang ring. You are likely getting a smaller dose of the poison or a more diluted form than from an actual bite. Antidotes could potentially exist though they are not explicit in the books. Some methods of holding poison include fang rings and poison teeth. With a fang ring, you fold your hand into a fist and use your thumb to press a switch. That activates a fang of hollow steel to spring up, the fang holding some type of poison. The teeth are most common in Turia and usually contains ost venom. Free women often conceal poisoned daggers or needles in their clothing. This can make it dangerous to try to collar a free woman. Animals Certain Gorean animals are trained to hunt or attack. The sleen and tarn are two of the more common such animals. There are two less commonly used animals as well, the urt and the vart, similar to the rat and bat of Earth. Urt: There are several varieties of the rodent. The typical urt is sleek and white with three rows of needlelike teeth. They also have tusks that curve up form their jaws and two horns that stick out over their eyes. Most urts are small and could be held in the palm of your hand. Others can range as large as a pony. Some of the varieties include the gliding, ground, leaf, tree, brush, canal and forest urts. Some of the larger urts can be trained to attack and kill. Vart: A blind, bat-like flying rodent. They are generally small but some get as large as a small dog. They are carnivorous and can strip a carcass in minutes. Another potential danger is that some varts are rabid. On the island of Tyros, there are numerous caves inhabited by varts. The men of Tyros have trained some of these varts to be used as weapons. This appears to be restricted to this island. Practice Sheathes: Leather practice sheathes, that cover swords, are often used for nonlethal combat and practice. Obviously, these weapons will cause bruises when they hit but they will not cut your skin. Gunni: These are normally training devices though they may be used in some gladiatorial contests. They are curved weights of lead, weighing several pounds, with handles. They are cushioned with cloth. They are capable of breaking through walls or bending iron. They are like boxing gloves filled with lead. The gunnis help to strengthen the muscles of the shoulders, back and arms. When you fight without them, your fists seem to move with blinding speed. Harpoon: This is a hunting weapon used primarily by the Red Hunters. It is commonly about eight feet long and two and a half inches in diameter. Though most of the shaft is wood the foreshaft is made of bone. The head is set in the foreshaft, drilled by a point of sharpened slate. It is used to hunt sea creatures such as see sleen and whales. Pike: This pole-arm is sometimes used as a weapon aboard ships. Whip: Whips are generally not used as weapons but more often as a form of punishment. The normal five-bladed Gorean whip is most often used on female slaves as it has the advantage of leaving a girl's body unmarked. The snake is a more dangerous whip. It is a single-bladed whip of braided leather. It is about eight feet long and half an inch to one inch thick. It may sometimes be set with tiny particles of metal. Such a whip can easily strip the flesh from one's back and could kill its victim. The previously mentioned whip knife of Port Kar is the primary whip used as a weapon. |
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