The Voice of Gor

A memorial for Teal Razor took place in Olni. Many Goreans gathered and showed her their respect. [Memorial Teal Razor chatlog]

Mildrheimr of Skjern, Torvaldsland.

Impressions from the Sardar Fair 10171 Contasta Ar.

An exchange point near Helmutsport….

“Runaway women who live in the forest without free men, taking as slave any man who enters their domain and eventually selling him. Those of the northern forests dress in the teeth and skins of forest panthers which they slay with their spears and bows.”

“Panther girls are arrogant. They live by themselves in the northern forests, by hunting, and slaving and outlawry. They have little respect for anyone, or anything, saving themselves and, undeniably, the beasts they hunt, the tawny forest panthers, the swift, sinuous sleen.”

“The panther girl, Sheera, who was leader of this band, sat down in the warm sand.
“Let us bargain,” she said.
She sat cross-legged, like a man. Her girls formed a semi-circle behind her.
Sheera was a strong, black-haired wench, with a necklace of claws and golden chains wrapped about her neck. There were twisted golden armiets on her bronzed arms. About her left ankle, threaded, was an anklet of shells. At her belt she wore a knife sheath. The knife was in her hand, and, as she spoke, she played with it, and drew in the sand.”

“Male and female outlaws do not much bother one another at the exchange points. They keep their own markets. I cannot recall a case of females being enslaved at an exchange point, as they bargained with their wares, nor of males being enslaved at their exchange points, when displaying and merchandising their captures. If the exchange points became unsafe for either male or female outlaws, because of the others, the system of exchange points would be largely valueless. The permanency of the point, and its security, seems essential to the trade.”

Torvaldslanders attacking Olni in Saleria!

Kasra’s winery now sells Ka-La-Na. The winery is located in the northeastern suburbs of Kasra/Fayeen on the river Cartius.

[14:08] Wakur Hamid (wakurhamid) had been alerted by one of his man that there is a caravan approaching, so he and his guard have taken position on one of the large rocks to watch them. Some of his men are hiding nearby, ready to attack if needed. Once they are close enough, he shouts: “Halt! Who dares to approach the oasis of Klima?” (…)

[14:19] Wakur Hamid (wakurhamid): “Ibn Saran…” he repeats. “We have not heard from him in a long time. And you have come to see the Salt Ubar? Well, I am sorry to let you know that he and some of his men decided to…” he smiles and points to the half buried sceleton in the sand. “.. leave the oasis. But of course you are welcome to come in and refresh yourselves.” (…)

[14:32] Wakur Hamid (wakurhamid): A strikingly beautiful slavegirl rushes inside and starts to serve everyone a cup of tea. “you too, have a seat.” he turns to Rarius. “Things will change in Klima. The former leader has not done his duty, he did not take care of the oasis as he should have.” he pauses, almost dramatically. “Klima will stay a member of the Southern Trade Alliance. We will again start to deliver salt to Kasra and in return, we hope to get food delivered by your caravans. My people are starving.” (…)

[14:39] Wakur Hamid (wakurhamid) nods briefly and looks from one to the other and finally nods to angel’s statement. “I agree. The oasis has been corrupted, but things will return to normal. Yes, the slaves are… working again.” he clarifies. From somewhere one can hear another man screaming in agony. “Most of them.” he smiles, pulls down his sandveil and drinks.

^{Gorean Tarn rider}

[Taken from the VOICE OF GOR Seventh volume (year), issue No. 326]

by Oisin, head Physician of Kasra – Fayeen

Torvaldslanders did not speak Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or any other Scandic language – they only spoke Gorean

It is also believed that the Pani spoke Japanese – not only is that NOT in the books, it actually says (in Swordsmen of Gor) that anyone who did use Japanese was killed by blue flame: “We must learn their language or be destroyed,” said Lord Nishida. “Some recalcitrants and zealots were consumed by fire, streaming from the sky.” Again (apart from titles used, which wouldn’t exist in Gorean, no Japanese words were used – they also ONLY used ‘Tal’ to greet.

Apart from people living in the far north, Goreans did not wear trousers but robes or tunics with sandals – they certainly didn’t have cargo pants and combat boots. Generally caste colours were worn (they liked colourful outfits). The only people who would dress in black would be assassins. Obviously, tarnsmen (which is not a caste or even a sub-caste and is anyone flying a tarn and not restricted to warriors) would have protective clothing while flying as would anyone riding a tharlarion (they wore thigh high boots as protection). When not fluing or riding, they weore normal Gorean clothes. Pirates did NOT run round with tricorne hats, eye patches or wooden legs – they dressed like ordinary Goreans (and didn’t talk like bad Johnny Depp impersonators either).

Not all Goreans ran round carrying weapons. Warriors carried a short sword, similar to the Roman gladius. There was a longer sword (similar to the Roman calalry spatha) used by riders of the high tharlarion. Apart from the Pani, they did not use a ka ta na (and were very unlikely to acquire one). As far as SL goes, all swords cause equal damage and are equal in range, so why do people run round with some extremely strange looking weapons? As far as bows are concerned, thew ONLY time a warrior would use one would be while flying a tarn (and it would be a crossbow and not a longbow). Guardsman (who were NOT members of the warrior caste – only their officers were) would have crossbows (it is easier to lean to point and squeeze than it is to use a sword or a longbow). They also did NOT wear armour:
“…I would have supposed that armor, or chain mail perhaps, would have been a desirable addition to the accouterments (sic) of the Gorean warrior, but it had been forbidden by the Priest-Kings….”
“…Incidentally, speaking of the crossbow and longbow, I did receive some instruction in them, but not much. The Older Tarl, my redoubtable instructor in arms, did not care for them, regarding them as secondary weapons almost unworthy for the hand of a warrior….” Later on it’s stated that the only armour was a Greek style helmet and a shield – no greaves, breastplates, backplates, caudrons or anything else. Goreans were not Roman warriors.

Goreans were xenophobic – remember that the word for ‘stranger’ was also the word for ‘enemy’. Additionally, Gor was a very big place. It took Tarl weeks to travel to places like Schendi, the Barrens, Turia, etc. People didn’t waltz down on an overnight trip and companion one of the locals. They were more likely to end up dead or collared in a mine, never mind having children who visited relatives at the opposite ends of Gor on a day trip. The strangestone is people who claim to be ‘Mamba’. Mamba isn’t a race or a tribe – it’s the Ushindi word for a cannibal. Anyone who thinks one of their parents is a Mamba is sadly delusional – they would have had the other parent for dinner instead of having their offpring.

Regarding place names. While I can see the point in some non-Gorean placenames, using something just ‘because it’s in the book’ isn’t really a good idea. A couple of examples would be ‘Lar Torvis’ – that’s the Sun and nobody lives there. ‘Axe Fiord’ – Axe is a glacier and nobody in their right mind is going to found a village on a sheet of moving ice. Using names like ‘Pembe’ or ‘Iskander’ is odd – those were PEOPLE and not places. There are plenty of names in the books that seem to be unused, so why invent ones?

Gorean ships were closer in appeance to 15/16th century galleys with lateen (triangular) sails and oar banks with a ram at the prow. They were NOT 17th century square riggers.