GOREAN GLOSSARY

People
A

All Comrades; warrior society of the Kaiila tribe of Red Savages, nee the Fighting Hearts.

Arani; a minor tribe of the Tahari, vassals of the Aretai.

Aretai; a major tribe of the Tahari; their vassal tribes are the Arani, Luraz, Raviri, Tajuks, Tashid, Ti, and Zevar.

Arian; citizen of Ar.

Aristocracy; Highest social class among the Inlanders.

Assassins; caste of hired killers, base in the City of Ar. Caste color is black.

B

Bakah; a minor tribe of the Tahari, vassals of the Kavars.

Barbarian; City Gorean term for Terrans, can be applied to other non-city folk.

Bazian; citizen of Bazi.

Blue-Sky Rider; warrior society of the Fleer tribe of Red Savages.

Bond-maid; Torvaldsland name for a slave girl.

C

Casmu Band; sub-group of the Yellow-Kaiila Riders

City Gorean; City-State dwellers, so-called civilized Goreans as opposed to planet's inhabitants who build communities outside city walls.

Commoner: Social class among the Inlanders equal to the Peasant Caste.

Council of Captains; ruling body of Port Kar.

D

Dust Legs; tribe of Red Savages of the Barrens.

F

Fighting Hearts; warrior society of the Kaiila tribe of Red Savages nee All Comrades.

G

Gorean; Person of the planet Gor.

H

Hersius; Ancient Arian hero, also Gorean name for Jupiter.

Humanity; Sentient bi-pedal species, imported to Gor from Earth by the Sardar.

K

Kailiauk; Red Savage tribe.

Kajira; slave girl.

Kajirus; male slave.

Kashani; a vassal tribe of the Tahari Kavars.

Kassars; one of the 4 tribes of the Wagon Peoples nee the Blood People, their standard is a scarlet bola.

Kataii; one of the 4 tribes of the Wagon Peoples, members are Negroid, their standard is a yellow bow.

Kavars; a major tribe of the Tahari; their vassal tribes are the Ta'Kara, Bakahs, Char, and Kashani.

Kimwitu/Inlander; the Rainforest dwellers
 * see Kimwitu/Inlander People main article

Kisu; Mfalme/Ubar of the Ukunga Region of Lake Ushindi.

Kurri; Large, fierce, shaggy furred sentient species intent on conquering Gor and Earth. Ancestral enemy of the Sardar. Consider Humans prey items.

L

League of Black Slavers, The; The most successful, feared, and ruthless fleet of pirates on Gor. Their unacknowledged home port is the City of Schendi.

Luraz; a vassal tribe of the Tahari Aretai

M

Mamba People; the Rainforest dwellers, Cannibals who file their teeth. Named after the fearsome mamba amphibian.

Merchants; a city-Gorean caste.

Mul; Sardar term for Human slave.

N

Nobility; Social class among the Inlanders, below the Aristocracy and above the Commoner.

O

Outlaws; Criminals without Home Stones roaming where they will, many form bandit bands in the Northern Forests.

P

Panther Girls; Northern Forest dwellers. Outlaws. Separatist, generally man-hating tribes of female outlaw bands inhabiting the Northern Forest. Man enslavers and man-rapists. They will trade with outsiders under controlled circumstances. Sometimes called Panther Sluts by outsiders.

Paravaci; one of the 4 tribes of the Wagon Peoples nee the Rich People, their standard is a boskhead-shaped banner made of jewels strung on gold wire.

Peasants; more numerous caste on Gor and the most maligned.

Physicians; a city-Gorean high caste.

Player; a city-Gorean caste, devoted to Kaissa, the Game.

Priest-Kings; see Sardar

Pygmy People; the Rainforest dwellers little people. Distrustful of outsiders but with trade with those friendly to them.

R

Rarius; a city-Gorean caste, warrior.

Raviri; a vassal tribe of the Aretai.

Red Hunter; the Tundra dwellers. People of the far North.

Red Savage; the Barrens dwellers. Plains folk of Native American heritage.

Rencer; the Rence Marsh dwellers. Xenophobic people of the marshes beyond Port Kat, harvesters of rence which is made into paper.

S

Sardar; Creators of the Gorean globe. Highly technologically evolved species. Also known as the Priest-kings. Considered gods by some Goreans, although they themselves do not think of themselves as such. They consider Humanity of being at the level of cattle.

Scribes; a city-Gorean high caste.

She-urts; Free women, dressed in skimpy clothing, who make a living as scavengers and prostitutes of port city waterways.

Slave; a non-person in bondage, considered property under the law with no rights at all.

Slavers; a city-Gorean caste.

Sleen; Red Savage Tribe.

Sun Lances; a warrior society of the Sleen tribe of Red Savages.

Spider People; Sentient pacifist giant spiders of the Arian Swamps. Traders of Cur-lon.

T

Tajuks; a vassal tribe of the Aretai.

Takaras; a vassal tribe of the Kavars.

Thieves, Caste of; a Port Kar caste.

Talunas; Equatorial Rainforest dwellers. Outlaws. Separatists females of majority Terran European/North American stock. Not to be confused with Panther Girls.

Treven; citizen of Treve.

Tuchuk; one of the four tribes of the Wagon Peoples; their standard is a representation of 4 bosk horns.

Turian; citizen of Turia.

U

Ubar; Dictator, high ruler, mfalme.

Ubara; Wife or female child of a ubar.

Ubar San; Overlord, ruler of minor ubars.

Urt People; Slight of stature sentient species which travel with packs of urts.

W

Wagon People; the Southern Plains dwellers. A diverse nomadic community of folk who travel about in great wagons and expert kaiila riders.

Places
A

Ar; Largest city in the Northern Hemisphere. Comparable to Earth's Classical-Age Rome.

B

Bazi; Equatorial port famous for its teas and the Plague.

G

Gor; Planet kept one-hundred eighty degrees in opposition to Earth in solar-orbit. Also referred to as Counter-Earth. Word translates as Home Stone.

Great Marsh, The; Extensive wetlands between the great lakes of Ngao and Ushindi.

I

Island of Kailiauk [non-canon]; Home of Mfalme Prometheus.

K

Kasra; city in the Tahari, exporter of red salt.

Ko-ro-ba; a tower city in North Gor. Situated in a valley and known for its beautiful towers. Once destoyed by the Sardar and its very stones scattered, then rebuilt.

Kurtzal; Tahari village north of Tor.

L

Lake Ngao [Shield]; one of three Gorean equatorial great lakes, nee Mto Ngao.Separated by more than four hundred pasangs from Lake Ushindi.

Lake Shaba [Copper]; one of three Gorean equatorial great lakes, nee Mto Shaba.

Lake Ushindi [Victory]; one of three Gorean equatorial great lakes, nee Mto Ushindi. Separated by more than four hundred pasangs from Lake Ngao.

Larger Moon; one of three satellites in orbit of Gor.

N

Nest, The; see Sardar.

Nyuki; A village on the northern shore of Lake Ushindi, noted for its honey. Home of Bila Huruma's Grand Vizar Ayari's parents.

Nyunda; a village of the Ukunga Region at Lake Ngao.

P

Palace of Grass; Kraal of Bila Huruma.

Port Kar; Considered the most wicked city on Gor. Safe home port of pirates.

Prison Moon; Artificial body in Gor-orbit, created by the Sardar as a prison.

S

Sardar; Domicile of the Priest-Kings.

Sardar Fair Grounds; Location of the four annual world fairs.

Sardar Range; A mountain chain of dark rock, usually snow-capped. Nest of the Priest-Kings.

Schendi; Largest city of the Equatorial Belt. A fabulous, rich, and cosmopolitan merchant's free port. Unacknowledged home-port of the infamous League of Black Slavers freebooters.

Stones of Turmas; a Turian Merchant outpost, within territory Ar claims.

T

Tahari; ...A dry vastness, almost a continent of rock and heat and wind and sand. Comparable to Earth's Sahara Region.

Thassa; the Gorean ocean-sea.

Thentis; Large remote city of the Thentis Mountain Range.

Third Moon; Unnamed satellite of Gor, companion of Prison Moon and Larger Moon. The trio comprising the Three Sisters, the hurling moons of Gor.

Tor; a city of the Tahari, considered opulent.

Turia; Largest city in the Southern Hemisphere. One of splendor and considered a decadent city by most other city-Goreans. Sets the fashions for much of the 'civilized' world.

Turmas; Tahari outpost.

U

Ukunga Region; an indepent group of villages around Lake Ngao, which include Nyunda within the conquered territory of the Ubar San Bila Huruma, the ubarate of Kisu.

Animals
BIRDS--

Ushindi Fisher; A tufted waterbird with long white feathers and long legs.

Finch

Fleer; Nocturnal long hook-billed bird.

Fruit Tindel; Brightly plumaged bird.

Gant; Gorean duck.

Hook-billed Gort; Preys largely on rodents.

Grub Borer; an insectivorous bird.

Gull

Yellow Gim

Owl; makes a throaty warbling.

Jard; A small, yellow-winged scavenger bird.

Lit; There are several varieties of this bird including the Common Lit,Crested Lit, Crested Lit is brightly plumaged with red and yellow feathers. and the Needle-tailed Lit.

Mindar: Hummingbird.

Parrot Tanager: A brightly plumaged bird.

Tibit: a small, thin-legged bird that lives on tiny mollusks on the shores of Thassa.

Tropical Tarn; The jungle tarn is a rare bird, gloriously plumaged, from the tropical reaches of the Cartius. They are extremely light so that two men could lift one. Its wings are broader and shorter permitting a swifter take off and a capacity for extremely abrupt turns and shifts in flight. They lack the stamina of most other tarns and cannot carry heavy weight but are fast and excellent for racing.

Umbrella bird Wader: There are at least two varieties, the Ring-necked Wader and the Yellow-legged Wader.

Jungle Zad: This is a large, broad winged, black and white bird with a long, narrow, yellowish, hooked beak. Perfers to tear out the eyes of weakened victims.

FISH--

Bint; River piranha, or fanged, carnivorous marsh eel

Crayfish

Eel

Giant Gint: A four-spined dorsal fin, ten feet long, thousand pounds lungfish.

River Shark.

INSECTS--

Ant; also called Tiny Marchers, bite is extremely painful but not poisonous.

Honey Bee; domesticated honey producer.

Beetle,

Centipede,

Flies,

Jungle Grasshopper: Red and weighs about four ounces in weight.

Leech

Lice: Lice vary in size from very tiny to the size of marbles. The larger variety infest tarns so tarnsman must remove them. When they remove them, they might feed them to the tarn. Lice can be dangerous though as they transmit the pox.

Rock Spider; They are usually brown or black and when they fold their legs beneath them, they look almost like a rock. Can be grow to upwards of eight feet thick.

Roach: commonly an oblong, flat-bodied black creature about half a hort long. It has long feelers and is basically harmless.

Snails,

Termites; also called White Ants.

Zarlit fly; Gorean Dragon-fly, it is large, harmless, purple insect about two feet long with four translucent wings spanning a yard across. It is insectivorous. It hums over water and alights on the water with its padlike feet daintily walking across the surface.

MAMMALS--

A

Anteater, Jungle; There are six varieties of anteaters in the rainforests near Schendi. One type is the great spined anteater. It is about twenty feet long and has heavy clawed forefeet. These claws are generally used to break into termite nests, its primary prey. They are also strong enough to eviscerate a larl. The anteater's four-foot long tongue is coated with an adhesive saliva that it uses to collect them. It also commonly makes a whistling sound.

B 

Baleen Whale

Bosk: Gorean bison. There are fifteen breeds of bosk. They have a thick, humped neck, a wide head, and tiny red eyes. Bad tempered with their two, long, wicked horns that reach out and curve forward. Bosk meat and milk are staples of the Wagon Peoples diet, also consumed by many other Goreans.

D

Deer: The swift deer inhabits the northern temperate zone.

Frevet; Small, quick, and friendly mammalian insectivores. They sometimes live in insulae in the cities and eat pests. As they cannot eat through walls, then they do not harm the insulae.

Gatch, armored; Marsupial.

Giani; Solitary, prowling, tiny cat-sized panthers, not dangerous to man.

H

Hurt; a two-legged, domesticated marsupial that bounds like a kangaroo. Raised on ranches in several northern cities, herded by sleen and sheared for their white wool. Hurts replace their wool four times a year. The finest wool is sheared in the spring from the bellies of hurts and verr.

K

Kaiila: There are two breeds of Kaiila, the Southern and the Desert/Sand kaiila.

The Southern Kaiila is a silken, lofty, and graceful animal, long necked, smooth gaited, and carnivorous. It has a long, triangular tongue, long ears and four rows of fangs. Its head bears two large eyes, one on each side, and the eyes are triply-lidded so it can travel in adverse weather like storms. Commonly stands about twenty to twenty-two hands at the shoulder and come in a variety of colors. A mammal that doesn't suckle its young. The young are born vicious and can hunt as soon as they struggle to their feet. The mother's instinct is to deliver the young near game. Once a kaiila feeds, it won't eat for several days. They are extremely agile and can easily outmaneuver a high tharlarion, used by the Wagon Peoples as mounts. They can cover as much as six hundred pasangs a day. It is most dangerous at these times and often hunts then.

The Sand/Desert Kailla is a mount animal of the Tahari. Commonly all tawny colored although there are some black ones.This breed does suckle their young. Kailla milk is reddish and has a strong salty taste. It is an omnivorous and feeds more frequently than the Southern Kailla. Its paws are much broader than the southern, the digits being webbed with leathery fibers and heavily padded. Its hair is never sheared though it is gathered when it sheds. The most prized hair is found on its belly. Such hairs are commonly used to make cloth. The long outer hairs are coarser and used for ropes and tent cloth.

Kailiauk;...'''Kailiauk are four-legged, wide-headed, lumbering, stocky ruminants. Their herds are usually found in the savannahs and plains north and south of the rain forests, but some herds frequent the forests as well. These animals are short-trunked and tawny. They commonly have brown and reddish bars on the haunches. The males, tridentlike, have three horns. These horns bristle from their foreheads. The males are usually about ten hands at the shoulders and the females about eight hands. The males average about four hundred to five hundred Gorean stone in weight, some sixteen hundred to two thousand pounds, and the females average about three to four hundred Gorean stone in weight, some twelve hundred to sixteen hundred pounds...--'''From Explorers fo Gor

There are several varieties including the Yellow Kailiauk.

L

Larl; Gorean Mountain Lion or Puma. There are several breeds of this tawny big cat. It stands six to eight feet at the shoulder. Its head is broad, sometimes more than two feet across, and shaped roughly like a triangle.Their heads are in constant motion. It has an unobtrusive bony ridge which runs from its four nasal slits to the start of its backbone. The ridge can be penetrated by a spear but an imperfect cast would glance off the bone. It has an eight-valved heart in the center of its breast. When it hunts alone, it is silent until it roars preceding its charge. When hunting with others, they emit hunting cries, cries to drive their prey toward a certain direction, into the path of quiet larls of the same pride. Cannot be domesticated. To eat the hear of a larl brings good luck.

Leopard; spotted and striped.

M 

Monkeys: The Guenon, Tarsiers, and the nocturnal Jit monkeys.

Panther

Long-tailed Porcupine,

Slee: a rodent of the rainforest.

Tabuk; There are twenty varieties of tabuk in the rainforests.

Tropical Sleen; smaller than the Northern type.

Jungle Tarsk; There are several varieties of tarsks in the rainforest, both large and small. They can be domesticated. Tarsk meat tends to be salty.

Urt; In the rainforests there are Gliding, Ground, Leaf and Tree urts. Jungle Vart; Gorean bat.

Zeder; a small, sleen-like carnivore from the rainforests. It frequents the Ua River and its tributaries. It grows to two feet and weighs eight to ten pounds. It is diurnal, can swim well, and builds a stick and mud nest in tree branches where it sleeps at night.

REPTILES--

Hith; large, many banded python of Gor. The Great Banded Horned hith is the most feared constrictor but is only native to certain areas of the Great Forests. The Golden hith is a rare snake. Its body would be difficult for a grown man to encircle with his arms.

Mamba; A large long, log-like body with short powerful legs. It has a long snout and tail.

Ost: The osts of the rainforests are red with black stripes. Its bite causes an excruciating death within seconds.

Tharlarion; of the crocodilia familiy

UNCLASSIFIED LIFE-FORM

Yellow pool monster: A passive but deadly predator. A gelatinous animal which devours its prey by solidifying around it and digesting it with highly corrosive acids.

Things
B

Bark Cloth; texile derived from the inner-bark of the pod tree, rendered into a soft supple cloth which holds dyes well and is confortable wearing.

Bazi Tea; Any of a variety of superior teas grown in the regions surrounding the City of Bazi.

Black Wine; Gorean coffee.

C

Collar; see Ko-lar

D

Drum, Communication; a specialized hollow, grooved log played with sticks and used to send messages. Also called a talking drum.

...capacity to read the drums, though, I am told, this is not difficult for anyone who can speak the inland speech fluently. Analogues to the major vowel sounds of the inland speech are found in certain of the drum notes, which differ, depending on where the hollowed, grooved log is struck. The rhythm of the drum message, of course, is the rhythm of the inland speech. Thus, on the drum it is possible to duplicate, in effect, the vowels and intonation contours of inland sentences. When one adds to this certain additional drum signals corresponding, in effect, to keys to the message or to certain consonantal ciphers, one has, in effect, a direct, effective, ingenious device at one's disposal, given the drum relays, for long-distance communication. A message may be conveyed by means of drum stations for hundreds of pasangs in less than an Abn.Needless to say Bila Huruma had adopted and improved this device and it had played, and continued to play, its role in the effectiveness of his military machine and in the efficiency of the administration of his ubarate. As a communication device it was clearly superior to the smoke and beacon ciphers of the north. There was, as far as I knew, nothing on Gor to compare with it except, of course, the advanced technological equipment at the disposal of the Priest-Kings and Kurii... from Explorers of Gor

Drum, Dancing; The small Tabor variety.

Drum, Talking; see Drum, Communication.

H

Home Stone; a sacred stone representing the spirit of a particular home or community.

I

Iron Pens; facility area of a domicile containing slave pens, supplies, and equipment.

K

Ko-lar; Gorean spelling of collar.

M

P

Palm Wine; an export of Schendi.