Below are some interesting tidbits about the Wagon Peoples.
All information here is taken from John Norman's Nomads of Gor, book 4 of his The Chronicles of Counter-Earth series.
The Wagon Peoples of Gor were based on the Mongol Tribes of Asia and the Guachos of South America. Many confuse this culture with the Native American buffalo tibes such as the Sioux. John Norman used those Indian tribe cultures to create the Red Savage people in later books in the series.
Gor's Southern Hemisphere
<-- Map of John Norman's World of Gor
©Sajan
“The Wagon Peoples claimed the southern prairies of Gor, from the gleaming Thassa and the mountains of Ta-Thassa to the southern foothills of the Voltai Range itself, that reared in the crust of Gor like the backbone of the planet. On the north they claimed lands even to the rush-grown banks of the Cartius, a broad, swift flowing tributary feeding into the incompatible Vosk. The land between the Cartius and the Vosk had once been within the borders of the claimed empire of Ar, but not even Marlenus, Ubar of Ubars, when master of luxurious, glorious Ar, had flown his tarnsmen south of the Cartius.” (Nomads of Gor, p. 2)
This is the land on which the bosk graze, the land which is the land of the Tuchuks." (Nomads of Gor, p.26)
The Bosk
"The Wagon Peoples grow no food, nor do they have manufacturing as we know it. They are herders and it is said, killers. They eat nothing that has touched the dirt. They live on the meat and milk of the bosk. They are among the proudest peoples of Gor, regarding the dwellers of the cities of Gor as vermin in holes, cowards who must fly behind walls, wretches who fear to live beneath the broad sky, who dare not dispute with them the open, windswept plains of their world. The bosk, without which the Wagon Peoples could not live, is an oxlike creature. It is a huge, shambling animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy hair. It has a wide head and tiny red eyes, a temper to match that of a sleen, and two long, wicked horns that reach out from its head and suddenly curve forward to terminate in fearful points. Some of these horns, on the larger animals, measured from tip to tip, exceed the length of two spears. Not only does the flesh of the bosk and the milk of its cows furnish the Wagon Peoples with food and drink, but its hides cover the domelike wagons in which they dwell; its tanned and sewn skins cover their bodies; the leather of its hump is used for their shields; its sinews forms their thread; its bones and horns are split and tooled into implements of a hundred sorts, from awls, punches and spoons to drinking flagons and weapon tips; its hoofs are used for glues; its oils are used to grease their bodies against the cold. Even the dung of the bosk finds its uses on the treeless prairies, being dried and used for fuel. The bosk is said to be the Mother of the Wagon Peoples, and they reverence it as such. The man who kills one foolishly is strangled in thongs or suffocated in the hide of the animal he slew; if for any reason, the man should kill a bosk cow with unborn young he is staked out, alive, in the path of the herd, and the march of the Wagon Peoples takes its way over him." (Nomads of Gor, p. 4-5)
Clans
"When I speak of Year Keepers and Singers it must be understood that these are not, for the Wagon Peoples, castes, but more like roles, subsidiary to their main functions, which are those of the war, herding and the hunt.They do have, however, certain clans, not castes, which specialize in certain matters, for example, the clan of healers, leather workers, salt hunters, and so on. I have already mentioned the clan of torturers. The members of these clans, however, like the Year Keepers and Singers, are all expected, first and foremost, to be, as it is said, of the wagons namely to follow, tend and protect the bosk, to be superb in the saddle, and to be skilled with the weapons of both the hunt and war."(Nomads of Gor p. 12)
Haruspexes**
“I heard a haruspex singing between the wagons; for a piece of meat he would read the wind and the grass; for a cup of wine the stars and the flight of birds; for a fat-bellied dinner the liver of a sleen or slave." (Nomads of Gor, p. 27)
"The Tuchuks and the other Wagon Peoples reverence Priest-Kings, but unlike the Goreans of the cities, with their castes of Initiates, they do not extend to them the dignities of worship. I suppose the Tuchuks worship nothing, in the common sense of that word, but it is true they hold many things holy, among them the bosk and the skills of arms, but chief of the things before which the proud Tuchuk stands ready to remove his helmet is the sky, the simple, vast beautiful sky, from which falls the rain that, in his myths, formed the earth, and the bosks, and the Tuchuks. It is to the sky that the Tuchuks pray when they pray, demanding victory and luck for themselves, defeat and misery for their enemies. The Tuchuk, incidentally, like others of the Wagon Peoples, prays only when mounted, only when in the saddle and with weapons at hand; he prays to the sky not as a slave to a master, nor a servant to a god, but as warrior to a Ubar; the women of the Wagon Peoples, it might be mentioned, are not permitted to pray; many of them, however, do patronize the haruspexes, who, besides foretelling the future with a greater or lesser degree of accuracy for generally reasonable fees, provide an incredible assemblage of amulets, talismans, trinkets, philters, potions, spell papers, wonder-working sleen teeth, marvelous powdered kailiauk horns, and colored, magic strings that, depending on the purpose, may be knotted in various ways and worn about the neck." (Nomads of Gor, p. 28)
"There were a large number of tethered animals about the outer edge of the circle, and, beside them, stood many haruspexes. Indeed, I supposed there must be one haruspex at least for each of the many altars in the field. Among the animals I saw many verrs; some domestic tarsks, their tusks sheathed; cages of flapping vulos, some sleen, some kaiila, even some bosk; by the Paravaci haruspexes I saw manacled male slaves, if such were to be permitted; commonly, I understood from Kamchak, the Tuchuks, Kassars and Kataii rule out the sacrifice of slaves because their hearts and livers are thought to be, fortunately for the slaves, untrustworthy in registering portents; after all, as Kamchak pointed out, who would trust a Turian slave in the kes with a matter so important as the election of a Ubar San; it seemed to me good logic and, of course, I am sure the slaves, too, were taken with the cogency of the argument. The animals sacrificed, incidentally, are later used for food, so the Omen Taking, far from being a waste of animals, is actually a time of feasting and plenty for the Wagon Peoples, who regard the Omen Taking, provided it results that no Ubar San is to be chosen, as an occasion for gaiety and festival." (Nomads of Gor p. 171)
Healers
There is no information given concerning the medicinal practices of the Clan of Healers. In fact, this Clan is only referred to once in a footnote when listing clans. Given that only two quotes mention medical treatment at all and neither by members of the clan, the assumption is the Healers focus on perhaps making tonics and powders, basic healing and child birth:
"When Kamchak had finished he held out his right hand and a man, not a Tuchuk, who wore the green robes of the Caste of Physicians, thrust in his hand a goblet of bosk horn; it contained some yellow fluid. Angrily, not concealing his distaste, Kutaituchik drained the goblet and hurled it from him." (Nomads of Gor, p. 44)
“Free women, and even some Turian slave girls, went to and fro, bringing water, and, here and there, where there was point in it, binding wounds" (Nomads of Gor, p. 263)
Salt Hunters*
Salt Hunters travel the plains seeking those precious salt mineral deposits to keep the tribe rich in this much needed dietary additive.
“They do have, however, certain clans, not castes, which specialize in certain matters, for example the clan of healers, leather workers, salt hunters, and so on.”
(Nomads of Gor p. 12)
Iron Masters*
Though unclear if an actual clan, they are responsible for the nose piercing of the women; free & slave of the tribe as well as the bosk. They are also responsible for the branding of bosks and slaves.
"I supposed that on the morrow Kamchak would call for the Tuchuk Iron Master, to brand what he called his little barbarian." (Nomads of Gor, p. 62)
"The Iron Master affixed the Turian collar. He bent to his tools, taking up a tiny, open ring, a heated metal awl, a pair of pliers. I turned away. I heard her scream." (Nomads of Gor, p. 173
Leather Workers
This clan works with the hides of the bosk and other animals hunted on the plains, tanning them and scraping them in order to make the clothing the Tribe wears, the covers for the wagons, and the saddles of the kaiila, along with a host of other leather items not listed.
"He did not buy a kaiila near the wagon of Yachi of the Leather Workers..." (Nomads of Gor, p. 170)
Kaiila Handlers*
The men who breed and train the kaiila the Wagon People's depend on as mounts.
Musicians
"To one side, across a clearing from the fire, a bit in the background, was a group of nine musicians. They were not as yet playing, though one of them was absently tapping a rhythm on a small hand drum, the kaska; two others, with stringed instruments, were tuning them, putting their ears to the instruments. One of the instruments was an eight-stringed czehar, rather like a large flat oblong box; it is held across the lap when sitting cross-legged and is played with a horn pick; the other was the kalika, a six-stringed instrument; it, like the czehar, is flat bridged and its strings are adjusted by means of small wooden cranks; on the other hand, it less resembles a low, flat box and suggests affinities to the banjo or guitar, though the sound box is hemispheric and the neck is rather long; it, too, of course, like the czehar, is plucked; I have never seen a bowed instrument on Gor; also, I might mention, I have never seen on Gor any written music; I do not know if a notion exists; melodies are passed on from father to son, from musician to apprentice. There was another kalika player, as well, but he was sitting there holding his instrument, watching the slave girls in the audience. The three flutists were polishing their instruments and talking together...There was also a second drummer, also with a kaska, and another fellow, a younger one, who sat very seriously before what appeared to me to be a pile of objects; among them was a notched stick, played by sliding a polished tem-wood stick along its notched surface; cymbals of various sorts; what was obviously a tambourine; and several other instruments of a percussion variety, bits of metal on wires, gourds filled with pebbles, slave bells mounted on hand rings, and such. These various things, from time to time, would be used not only by himself but by others in the group, probably the second kaska player and the third flutist. Among Gorean musicians, incidentally, czehar players have the most prestige; there was only one in this group, I noted, and he was their leader; next follow the flutists and then the players of the kalika; the players of the drum come next; and the farthest fellow down the list is the man who keeps the bag of miscellaneous instruments, playing them and parceling them out to others as needed." (Nomads of Gor, 153-154).
Scarers*
“When I have time,’ said Harold, ‘I will call one from the clan of Scarers and have the scar affixed. It will make me even more handsome.” (Nomads, p. 274)
Singers*
The Wagon Peoples do not trust important matters, such as year names, to paper or parchment, subject to theft, insect and rodent damage, deterioration, etc. Most of those of the Wagon Peoples have excellent memories, trained from birth. Few can read, though some can, perhaps having acquired the skill far from the wagons, perhaps from merchants or tradesmen. The Wagon Peoples, as might be expected, have a large and complex oral literature. This is kept by and occasionally, in parts, recited by the Camp Singers. (Nomads of Gor p. 12)
Sleen Keepers*
If I were found on the plains near the camps or the bosk herds I knew I would be scented out and slain by the domesticated, nocturnal herd sleen, used as shepherds and sentinels by the Wagon Peoples, released from their cages with the falling of darkness. These animals, trained prairie sleen, move rapidly and silently, attacking upon no other provocation than trespass on what they have decided is their territory. They respond only to the voice of their master, and when he is killed or dies, his animals are slain and eaten. (Nomads of Gor p. 9)
The trailing would undoubtedly be done by trained herd sleen.
(Nomads of Gor p. 145)
"Go back with your men!" cried Saphrar, backing away from us a step. "I will shatter the golden sphere!" Slowly Kamchak, and Harold and I, and the sleen keeper, dragging the two sleen, walked backwards. The animals raged against the chain leashes, maddened as they were drawn farther from Saphrar, their prey. (Nomads of Gor p. 317)
The Tuchuks stood about, in their black leather. The sleen keeper stood nearby, the chain leashes loose in his hands. (Nomads of Gor p. 320)
Torturers*
“The Wagon Peoples, of all those on Gor that I know, are the only ones that have a clan of torturers, trained as carefully as scribes or physicians, in the arts of detaining life. Some of these men have achieved fortune and fame in various Gorean cities, for their services to Initiates and Ubars, and others of interest in the arts of detection and persuasion. For some reason they have all worn hoods. It is said they remove the hood only when the sentence is death, so that it is only condemned men who have seen whatever it is that lies beneath the hood.” (p. 9-10)
Year Keepers*
"A consequence of the chronical conventions of the Wagon Peoples, of course, is that their years tend to vary in length, but this fact, which might bother us, does not bother them, any more than the fact that some men and some animals live longer than others; the woman of the Wagon Peoples, incidentally, keep a calendar based on the phases of Gor’s largest moon, but this calendar of fifteen moons, named for the fifteen varieties of bosk, and functions independently of the tallying of years by snows; for example the Moon of the Brown Bosk may at one time occur in the winter, at another time, years later, in the summer; this calendar is kept by a set of colored pegs set in the sides of some wagons, on one of which depending on the moon, a round, wooden plate bearing the image of a bosk is fixed. The years, incidentally, are not numbered by the Wagon Peoples, but given names, toward their end, based on something or other which has occurred to distinguish the year. The year names are kept in living memory by the Year Keepers, some of whom can recall the names of several thousand consecutive years." (Nomads of Gor p. 12)
* Only men belong to these clans.
** Women were banned from praying, hence common sense rules that they would not be allowed to read omens, or any other aspect or job of a Haruspex. If your character was part of the original group and a Haruspex, we welcome you, however NO new women who join will be allowed in this clan.
Wagons
"The wagons are said to be countless, the animals without number. Both of these claims are, of course, mistaken, and the Ubars of the Wagon Peoples know well each wagon and the number of branded beasts in the various herds; each herd is, incidentally, composed of several smaller herds, each watched over by its own riders." (Nomads of Gor, p. 21)
"The wagons of the Wagon Peoples are, in their hundreds and thousands, in their brilliant, variegated colors, a glorious sight. Surprisingly the wagons are almost square, each the size of a large room. Which is drawn by a double team of bosk, four in a team, with each team linked to its wagon tongue, the tongues being joined by temwood crossbars. The two axles of the wagon are also of tem-wood, which perhaps, because of its flexibility, joined with the general flatness of the southern Gorean plains, permits the width of the wagon. The wagon box, which stands almost six feet from the ground, is formed of black, lacquered planks of tem-wood. Inside the wagon box, which is square, there is fixed a rounded, tent-like frame, covered with the taut, painted, varnished hides of bosks. These hides are richly colored, and often worked with fantastic designs, each wagon competing with its neighbor to be the boldest and most exciting. The rounded frame is fixed somewhat within the square of the wagon box, so that a walkway, almost like a ship’s bridge, surrounds the frame. The sides of the wagon box, incidentally, are, here and there, perforated for arrow ports, for the small horn bow of the Wagon Peoples can be used to advantage not only from the back of a kaiila but, like the crossbow, from such cramped quarters. One of the most striking features of these wagons is the wheels, which are huge, the back wheels having a diameter of about ten feet; the front wheels are, like those of the Conestoga wagon, slightly smaller, in this case, about eight feet in diameter; the larger rear wheels are more difficult to mire; the smaller front wheels, nearer the pulling power of the bosk, permit a somewhat easier turning of the wagon. These wheels are carved wood and, like the wagon hides, are richly painted. Thick strips of boskhide form the wheel rims, which are replaced three to four times a year. The wagon is guided by a series of eight straps, two each for the four lead animals. Normally, however, the wagons are tied in tandem fashion, in numerous long columns, and only the lead wagons are guided, the others simply following, thongs running from the rear of one wagon to the nose rings of the bosk following, sometimes as much as thirty yards behind, with the next wagon; also, too, a wagon is often guided by a woman or boy who walks beside the lead animals with a sharp stick. The interiors of the wagons, lashed shut, protected from the dust of the march, are often rich, marvelously carpeted and hung, filled with chests and silks, and booty from looted caravans, lit by hanging tharlarion oil lamps, the golden light of which falls on the silken cushions, the ankle-deep, intricately wrought carpets. In the center of the wagon there is a small, shallow fire bowl, formed of copper, with a raised brass grating. Some cooking is done here, though the bowl is largely to furnish heat. The smoke escapes by a smoke hole at the dome of the tent-like frame, a hole which is shut when the wagons move." (Nomads of Gor, p. 30-31)
"...among the wagons by the masters of the public slave wagons, who buy, sell and rent girls, providing warriors and slavers with a sort of clearing house and market for their feminine merchandise. The public slave wagons, incidentally, also provide Paga. They are a kind of combination Paga tavern and slave market. I know of nothing else precisely like them on Gor" (Nomads of Gor, p. 118)
Scars
"On the face of each there were, almost like corded chevrons, brightly colored scars. The vivid coloring and intensity of these scars, their prominence, reminded me of the hideous markings on the faces of mandrills; but these disfigurements, as I soon recognized, were cultural not genetic. They bespoke not the natural innocence of the work of genes but the glories and status, the arrogance and prides, of their bearers. The scars had been worked into the faces, with needles and knives and pigments and the dung of bosks over a period of days and nights. Men had died in the fixing of such scars. Most of the scars were set in pairs, moving diagonally down from the side of the head toward the nose and chin. The man facing me had seven such scars ceremonially worked into the tissue of his countenance, the highest being red, the next yellow, the next blue, the fourth black, then two yellow, then black again. The faces of the men I saw were all scarred differently, but each was scarred. The effect of the scars, ugly, startling, terrible, perhaps in part calculated to terrify enemies, had even prompted me, for a wild moment, to conjecture that what I faced on the Plains of Turia were not men, but perhaps aliens of some sort, brought to Gor long ago from remote worlds to serve some now discharged or forgotten purpose of Priest-Kings; but now I knew better; now I could see them as men; and now, more significantly, I recalled what I had heard whispered of once before, in a tavern in Ar, the terrible Scar Codes of the Wagon Peoples, for each of the hideous marks on the face of these men had a meaning, a significance that could be read by the Paravaci, the Kassars, the Kataii, the Tuchuks as clearly as you or I might read a sign in a window or a sentence in a book. At that time, I could read only the top scar, the red, bright, fierce cord-like scar that was the Courage Scar. It is always the highest scar on the face. Indeed, without that scar, no other scar can be granted. The Wagon Peoples value courage above all else. Each of the men facing me wore that scar." (Nomads of Gor, p. 15-16)
"It might be mentioned, incidentally, that without the Courage Scar one may not, among the Tuchuks, pay court to a free woman, own a wagon, or own more than five bosk and three kaiila. The Courage Scar thus has its social and economic, as well as its martial, import." (Nomads of Gor, p. 118)
Scars: Red - Courage
Yellow - Weapons Master
Black - Brotherhood
Blue - Hunter
(Scar color per the old AOL guidelines)
Freewomen
"Tuchuk women, unveiled, in their long leather dresses, long hair bound in braids, tended cooking pots hung on temwood tripods over dung fires. These women were unscarred, but like the bosk themselves, each wore a nose ring. That of the animals is heavy and of gold, that of the women also of gold but tiny and fine, not unlike the wedding rings of my old world." (Nomads of Gor, p. 27)
"I espied a girl, young, astonishingly beautiful, vital, angry, pulling at the control straps of the animal. She was not as the other women of the Wagon Peoples I had seen, the dour, thin women with braided hair, bending over the cooking pots. She wore a brief leather skirt, slit on the right side to allow her the saddle of the kaiila; her leather blouse was sleeveless; attached to her shoulders was a crimson cape; and her wild black hair was bound back by a band of scarlet cloth. Like the other women of the Wagons she wore no veil and, like them, fixed in her nose was the tiny, fine ring that proclaimed her people…’She seemed much different than the other Tuchuk women,’ I said. Kamchak laughed, the colored scars wrinkling on his broad face. ‘Of course,’ said Kamchak, ‘she has been raised to be a fit prize in the games of Love War.” (Nomads of Gor, p.32-33)
"When the bosk horns sound the women cover the fires and prepare the men's weapons, bringing forth arrows and bows, and lances. The quivas are always in the saddle sheaths. The bosk are hitched up and slaves, who might otherwise take advantage of the tumult, are chained.
Then the women climb to the top of the high sides on the wagons and watch the war lanterns in the distance, reading them as well as the men. Seeing if the wagons must move, and in what direction."(Nomads of Gor, p. 175-176)
"It was like a flood of kaiila and riders, weapons flourishing, that broke and piled against the wagons, the rear ranks pressing forward on those before them. Some of the rear ranks actually climbed fallen and struggling comrades and leaped over the wagons to the other side, where they were cut down by archers and dragged from their kaiila to be flung beneath the knives of free Tuchuk women." (Nomads of Gor, p. 262)
slaves
“Among the Wagon Peoples, to be clad Kajir means, for a girl, to wear four articles, two red, two black; a red cord the Curla, is tied about the waist; the Chatka, or long, narrow strip of black leather, fits over this cord in the front, passes under, then back again, from the inside, passes over the cord in the back; the Chatka is drawn tight; the Kalmak is then donned; it is a short, open, sleeveless vest of black leather; lastly the Koora, is placed on, a strip of red cloth, matching the Curla, is wound about the head, to hold the hair back, for slave women, among the Wagon Peoples, are not permitted to braid, or otherwise dress their hair; it must be save for the Koora, worn loose. For a male slave, or Kajirus, of the Wagon Peoples, and there are few, save for work chains, to be clad kajir means to wear the Kes, a short sleeveless work tunic of black leather.” (Nomads of Gor, p. 30)
“I saw several girls, here and there, clad kajir; they were magnificent; they walked with the true brazen insolence of the slave girl, the wench who knows that she is owned, whom men have found beautiful enough, and exciting enough, to collar. The dour women of the Wagon Peoples, I saw, looked on them with envy and hatred, sometimes striking them with sticks if they should approach to closely the cooking pots and attempt to steal a piece of meat.” (Nomads of Gor, p. 30)
"The Wagon Peoples, though enemies of Turia, needed and wanted her goods, in particular materials of metal and cloth, which are highly prized among the Wagons. Indeed, even the chains and collars of slave girls, worn often by captive Turian girls themselves, are of Turian origin. The Turians, on the other hand, take factor or trade in trade for their goods obtained by men with other cities principally the horn and hide of the bosk, which naturally the Wagon Peoples, who live on the bosk, have in plenty. The Turians also, I note, receive other goods from the Wagon Peoples, who tend to be fond of the raid, goods looted from caravans perhaps a thousand pasangs from the herds, indeed some of them even on the way to and from Turia itself. From these raids the Wagon Peoples obtain a miscellany of goods which they are willing to barter to the Turians, jewels, precious metals, spices, colored table salts, harnesses and saddles for the ponderous tharlarion, furs of small river animals, tools for the field, scholarly scrolls, inks and papers, root vegetables, dried fish, powdered medicines, ointments, perfume and women, customarily plainer ones they do not wish to keep for themselves; prettier wenches, to their dismay, are usually kept with the wagons; some of the plainer women are sold for as little as a brass cup; a really beautiful girl, particularly if of free birth and high caste, might bring as much as forty pieces of gold; such are, however, seldom sold; the Wagon Peoples enjoy being served by civilized slaves of great beauty and high station; during the day, in the heat and dust, such girls will care for the wagon bosk and gather fuel for the dung fires; at night they will please their masters. The Wagon Peoples sometimes are also willing to barter silks to the Turians, but commonly they keep these for their own slave girls, who wear them in the secrecy of the wagons; free women, incidentally, among the Wagon Peoples are not permitted to wear silk; it is claimed by those of the Wagons, delightfully I think, that any woman who loves the feel of silk on her body is, in the secrecy of her heart and blood, a slave girl, whether or not some master has yet forced her to don the collar. It might be added that there are two items which the Wagon Peoples will not sell or trade to Turia, one is a living bosk and the other is a girl from the city itself, though the latter are sometimes, for the sport of the young men, allowed, as it is said, to run for the city. They are then hunted from the back of the kaiila with bola and thongs." (Nomads of Gor, p. 57)
"Dance," ordered Aphris. The trembling girl before her did not move. "Dance!" screamed Aphris, rising to her feet. "What shall I do?" begged the kneeling girl of Kamchak. She looked not too unlike Hereena, and was perhaps a similar sort of girl, raised and trained much the same. Like Hereena, of course, she wore the tiny golden nose ring. Kamchak spoke to her, very gently. "You are slave," he said. "Dance for your masters." The girl looked at him gratefully and she, with the others, rose to her feet and to the astounding barbarity of the music performed the savage love dances of the Kassars, the Paravaci, the Kataii, the Tuchuks. They were magnificent. One girl, the leader of the dancers, she who had spoken to Kamchak, was a Tuchuk girl, and was particularly startling, vital, uncontrollable, wild. It was then clear to me why the Turian men so hungered for the wenches of the Wagon Peoples. At the height of one of her dances, called the Dance of the Tuchuk Slave Girl, Kamchak turned to Aphris of Turia, who was watching the dance, eyes bright, as astounded as I at the savage spectacle. "I will see to it," said Kamchak, "when you are my slave, that you are taught that dance." (Nomads of Go, p. 98)
"There are bosk to be groomed,’ he informed her, ‘and their horns and hoofs must be polished-there is fodder to be fetched and dung to be gathered-the wagon must be wiped and the wheels greased-and there is water to be brought from the stream some four pasangs away and meat to hammer and cook for supper-hurry-hurry, Lazy Girl!’ Then he leaned back and laughed his Tuchuk laugh, slapping his thighs." (Nomads of Gor, p. 135)
Misc.
"I had learned to my surprise that the Ubars of the Kassars, Kataii and Paravaci were, respectfully, Conrad, Hakimba and Tolnus, the very three I had first encountered with Kamchak on the plains of Turia when I first came to the Wagon Peoples. What I had taken to be merely a group of four outriders had actually been a gathering of Ubars of the Wagon Peoples. I should have known that no four common warriors of the four peoples would have ridden together. Further, the Kassars, the Kataii and the Paravaci did not reveal their true Ubars with any greater willingness than the Tuchuks had. Each people, as the Tuchuks had, had its false Ubar, its decoy to protect the true Ubar from danger or assassination. But, Kamchak had assured me, Conrad, Hakimba and Tolnus were indeed the true Ubars of their peoples."(Nomads of Gor, p. 256-257)
"Indeed it was true, for the next level beneath a Ubar among the Wagon Peoples is that of the Commander of a thousand." (Nomads of Gor, p. 251)
"Outside, as Kamchak and I bounded down the steps of the slave wagon, the darkness was filled with hurrying men, some with torches, and running kaiila, already with their riders. War lanterns, green and blue and yellow, were already burning on poles in the darkness, signaling the rallying grounds of the Orlus, the Hundreds, and the Oralus, the Thousands. Each warrior of the Wagon Peoples, and that means each able-bodied man, is a member of an Or, or a Ten; each ten is a member of an Orlus, or Hundred; each Orlus is a member of an Oralus, a thousand. Those who are unfamiliar with the Wagon Peoples, or who know them only from the swift raid, sometimes think them devoid of organization, sometimes conceive of them as mad hordes or aggregates of wild warriors, but such is not the case. Each man knows his position in his Ten, and the position of his Ten in the Hundred, and of the Hundred in the Thousand. During the day the rapid movements of these individually maneuverable units are dictated by bosk horn and movements of the standards; at night by the bosk horns and the war lanterns slung on high poles carried by riders." (Nomads of Gor, p. 175)
"I was astonished when, at the gate to the palace of Phanius Turmus, the four Tuchuk guards smote their lances three times on their leather shields. The lance strikes the shield once for the commander of a Ten; twice for the commander of a Hundred; three times for the commander of a Thousand. "Pass, Commanders," said the chief of the four guards, and they stepped aside." (Nomads of Gor, p. 250)
"But it is the wagon of a commander,’ said Harold, as though puzzled, ‘so anyone could tell you where it is’…It was a large wagon, drawn by eight black bosk. There were two Tuchuk guards outside. Beside it, fixed in the earth, on a pole, there was a standard of four bosk horns. The pole had been painted red, which is the color of commanders."(Nomads of Gor, p. 276)
"The Wintering was not unpleasant, although, even so far north, the days and nights were often quite chilly; the Wagon Peoples and their slaves as well, wore boskhide and furs during this time; both male and female, slave or free, wore furred boots and trousers, coats and the flopping, ear-flapped caps that tied under the chin; in this time there was often no way to mark the distinction between the free woman and the slave girl, save that the hair of the latter must needs be unbound; in some cases, of course, the Turian collar was visible, if worn on the outside of the coat, usually under the furred collar; the men, too, free and slave, were dressed similarly, save that the Kajirii, or he-slaves, wore shackles, usually with a run of about a foot of chain." (Nomads of Gor, p. 59)
"Soon, to my dismay, a large number of Tuchuks, male and female, and their male or female slaves, began to gather near the worn lane on the turf. The terms of the wager were soon well known. In the crowd, as well as Tuchuks and those of the Tuchuks, there were some Kassars, a Paravaci or two, even one of the Kataii. The slave girls in the crowd seemed particularly excited. I could hear bets being taken. The Tuchuks, not too unlike Goreans generally, are fond of gambling. Indeed, it is not unknown that a Tuchuk will bet his entire stock of bosk on the outcome of a single kaiila race; as many as a dozen slave girls may change hands on something as small as the direction that a bird will fly or the number of seeds in a topsit." (Nomads of Gor, p. 66)
"In the hour that followed I rejoiced that I had spent much of the last several months, when not riding with Kamchak in the care of his bosk, in the pleasant and, to a warrior, satisfying activity of learning Tuchuk weaponry, both of the hunt and war. Kamchak was a skilled instructor in these matters and, freely, hours at a time, until it grew too dark to see, supervised my practice with such fierce tools as the lance, the quiva and bola. I learned as well the rope and bow. The bow, of course, small, for use from the saddle, lacks the range and power of the Gorean longbow or crossbow; still, at close range, with considerable force, firing rapidly, arrow after arrow, it is a fearsome weapon. I was most fond, perhaps, of the balanced saddle knife, the quiva; it is about a foot in length, double edged; it tapers to a dagger-like point." (Nomads of Gor, p. 66)
"Suddenly the eyes of Kamchak gleamed. ‘Would you see me shamed?’ he asked. I looked at him, ‘Better, my friend,’ I said, ‘that than death.’ ‘No,’ said Kamchak, and his eyes were like steel, ‘better death than shame.’ I stepped back. He was Tuchuk. I would sorely miss my friend, the ribald, hard-drinking, stomping, dancing Kamchak of the Tuchuks." (Nomads of Gor, p. 126)
Sharing Dirt & Grass
"Suddenly the Tuchuk bent to the soil and picked up a handful of dirt and grass, the land on which the bosk graze, the land which is the land of the Tuchuks, and this dirt and this grass he thrust in my hands and I held it. The warrior grinned and put his hands over mine so that our hands, together held the dirt and grass, and were together clasped upon it. 'Yes,' said the warrior, 'come in peace to the Land of the Wagon Peoples." (Nomads of Gor, p. 26)
Omen Year
“It is an Omen Year,’ had said Kamchak of the Tuchuks. The herds would circle Turia. For this was the portion of the Omen Year called the Passing of Turia, in which the Wagon Peoples gather and begin to move toward their winter pastures; the second portion of the Omen Year is the Wintering, which takes place far north of Turia, the equator being approached in this hemisphere, of course, from the south; the third and final portion of the Omen Year is the Return to Turia, which takes place in the spring, or as the Wagon Peoples have it, in the Season of Little Grass. It is in the spring that the omens are taken, regarding the possible election of the Ubar San, the One Ubar, he who would by Ubar of all the Wagons, of all the Peoples…There had not been I knew, a Ubar San in more than a hundred years. It did not seem likely, either, that one would be elected in the spring. Even in the time I had been with the Wagons I gathered that it was only the implicit truce of the Omen Year which kept these four fierce warring peoples from lunging at one another’s throats, or more exactly put, at one another’s bosk…Yet, each ten years, the omens are taken…the Omen Year provides an institutionalized possibility for the uniting of the Wagon Peoples in a time of crisis, should they be divided and threatened. I think that those of the Wagon Peoples who instituted the Omen Year, more than a thousand years ago, were wise men.” (Nomads of Gor, p. 56)
Games
The Wagon People, similar to many Goreans, love to gamble on almost anything. Stakes will vary, from money to possessions, including slaves. They might wager as many as twelve slaves on something as simple as the direction a bird might fly or the number of seeds in a tospit. When wagering on a kaiila race, they might even bet all of the bosk they own. It is considered to be a great honor for a woman, free or slave, to be made a stake in such gambling. In spear or lance gambling, the weapon is placed in the ground, point facing up. The tribesmen then walk with their mounts around it, ready to catch the spear or lance when it falls. The winner is the one who catches the weapon when it falls.
In another wagering game, a black lance is placed in the ground about four hundred yards away. A slave girl is placed into a circle, about eight to ten feet in diameter, formed by a bosk whip. The girl must run to the lance, trying to avoid capture, though most are not expected to actually reach it. Time is judged by the heartbeat of a standing kaiila with a man holding his hand on the side of the kaiila. The kaiila is near the whip circle. The kaiila rider will tell the slave to "run" and she receives a head start of fifteen heartbeats, which will normally take her about halfway to the lance. This count is done aloud. The count starts over from one when the first 15 heartbeats are over. At that point, a kaiila rider must then ride after the girl and use a bola to capture her and a binding thong to restrain her. He must return with her in as little time as possible back to the circle. 25 beats is considered a remarkable time. Commonly, during the initial head start, at about the count of ten, the kaiila rider will begin to slowly spin the bola, reaching maximum rate of revolution when he is later at full gallop, almost on the quarry. Some girls are specially trained to evade the bola and thus are often used in this wagering. If multiple men are to race on a side, then the first rider has the priority of honor though all of the riders score points in the same manner. The first rider is usually considered the more skillful rider.
Still another game is the lance and tospit. A wooden wand is fixed in the earth and a dried tospit is placed atop it. A kaiila rider will then charge toward the tospit and try to impale it on his lance. You earn points for how well you impale the tospit. If your lance strikes the tospit, but only knocks it off the wand instead of impaling it, that is worth only one point. If you impale the tospit but your strike is too hard and the tospit travels down the shaft of your lance, that is worth only two points. But, if you can just nip the tospit, the lance barely passing into it, then it is worth three points.
A deadlier variation of the lance and tospit is the living wand. Save for armed combat, this is considered the most dangerous of the games. In this variation, a slave, usually standing sideways, must hold the tospit in her mouth. The object is for a rider to hit the fruit with his lance without striking the girl. She will be killed if she moves or withdraws from the lance. Injuries to slaves are not that unusual. There is also a more difficult variation where the girl must stand facing the lance. This requires a delicate lance maneuver not to injure the girl, striking the center of the fruit.
The tribes even have spitting contests, seeing who can spit the farthest. Some will play a game with their Turian slaves. They will release the slave in sight of the city and let them run for the walls. Then they will chase them down using bolas. Even their children play a variety of games. For example, some children play a game with a cork ball and quiva, trying to strike the thrown ball. Most of these games help hone necessary skills and abilities in the hunt or war. Thus they serve a dual purpose. (Nomads of Gor p. 68-78)
Love War
“Judges and craftsmen from Ar, hundreds of pasangs away, across the Cartius, were already at the stakes, inspecting them and preparing the ground between them. These men, as in every year, I learned, had been guaranteed safe passage across the southern plains for this event…I do not know if there are, by count, a thousand stakes or not on the Plains of a Thousand Stakes, but I would suppose there are that many or more. The stakes, flat-topped, each about six and a half feet high and about seven or eight inches in diameter, stand in two long lines facing one another in pairs. The two lines are separated by about fifty feet and each stake in a line is separated from the stake on its left and right by about ten yards. The two lines of stakes extended for more than four pasangs across the prairie. One of these lines is closest to the city and the other to the prairies beyond. The stakes had recently been, I observed, brightly painted, each differently, in a delightful array of colors; further each was trimmed and decorated variously, depending on the whim of the workman, sometimes simply, sometimes fancifully, sometimes ornately. The entire aspect was one of color, good cheer, lightheartedness and gaiety. I noted some of the workmen still affixing small retaining rings to some of the stakes, bolting them one on a side, usually about five feet to five and a half feet from the ground. A workman sprang a pair shut, and then opened them with a key, which he subsequently hung from a tiny hook near the top of the stake…The space between the two lines of stakes, for each pair of facing stakes, there is a circle of roughly eight yards in diameter. This circle, the grass having been removed, was sanded and raked. The institution of Love War is an ancient one among the Turians and the Wagon Peoples, according to the Year Keepers antedating even the Omen Year. The games of Love War, of course, are celebrated every spring between, so to speak, the city and the plains, whereas the Omen Years occurs only every tenth year. The games of Love War, in themselves, do not constitute a gathering of Wagon Peoples, for normally the herds and the free women of the peoples do not approach one another at these times; only certain delegations of warriors, usually about two hundred from a people, are sent in the spring to the Plains of a Thousand Stakes…Judges were now circulating, each with lists, among the Wagon Peoples and the Turians. As I knew, not just any girl, any more than just any warrior, could participate in the games of Love War. Only the most beautiful were eligible, and only the most beautiful of these could be chosen. The selection of girls, incidentally, is determined by judges in their city, or of their own people, in Turia by members of the Caste of Physicians who have served in the great slave houses of Ar; among the wagons by the masters of the public slave wagons, who buy, sell and rent girls, providing warriors and slavers with a sort of clearing house and market for their feminine merchandise…When more than one wish to fight for a given woman, incidentally, the Turians decide this by rank and prowess, the Wagons Peoples by scars and prowess.” (Nomads of Gor, p. 105-118)