Gorean Bow

Gorean Bow

The Priest-Kings have enforced certain Weapon Laws on
Gor. These laws limit the type of arms and armor that Goreans may use or
invent. Except for the shield and helmet, no other forms of armor are permitted.
There is no chain mail, plate armor or even leather armor on Gor. The leathers
worn by tarnsmen and others is not a form of armor. It is more akin to heavy
clothing than actual armor and is meant to protect your body from your mount.
No weapon more powerful than the lance and crossbow is permitted. Firearms,
gunpowder, tasers, stun guns and similar technological weapons are forbidden
on Gor.

Most helmets also have a crest plate on the front to
affix your crest or symbol. A strike to the head with a sword or other weapon
is often fatal. A helmet protects this very vulnerable area and makes the
combatants rely more on skill than simply a lucky blow to the head. This
is also the same reason why many gladiators in the days of ancient Rome were
permitted helmets though often little other armor. The Romans wanted the
battles to be tests of skill, not just luck. The Priest-Kings also want Gorean
matters to be decided more by skill than luck.

Many of the less civilized lands do not use helmets or have helmets of different
styles. The men of Torvaldsland have helmets that are commonly conical with
a nose guard that can slip up and down. At the neck and sides, attached by
rings, usually hangs a mantle of linked chain. Some of their helmets may
also be horned. The Wagon People have conical, fur-rimmed helmets with a
net of colored chains over the face. There are only holes in the chains for
their eyes.

(Similar to a warrior's
helmet, but black)

The common Gorean helmet is also like an ancient Greek
helmet. It is made of a nearly solid metal, with a "Y" shaped slot for eyes,
nose and mouth. Many helmets are cushioned with leather. They may be crested
with sleen hair.

"Above the shield was a suspended helmet, again reminiscent of a Greek helmet,
perhaps of the Homeric period. It had a somewhat 'Y'-shaped slot for the
eyes, nose, and mouth in the nearly solid metal." Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 22

"...he wore a conical, fur-rimmed iron helmet, a
net of colored chains depending from the helmet protecting his face, leaving
only holes for the eyes." Nomads of Gor, pg. 10

A pair of leather gauntlets, upon which are mounted knife
blades. Sometimes used by gladiators in arena combats. These are seldom used
as weapons of war.

"Sometimes men wrestle to the death or use the spiked gauntlets." Assassin
of Gor, pg.

Some of the lands of Gor carry shields of different styles.
The Wagon People use small, round leather shields that are commonly glossy
and lacquered whereas the Turian and Alars shields tend to be oval shaped.
Rencers use small shields of rence wicker and the shields of the natives
of the jungles near Schendi tend to be long and oval. In the Ukungu region
of the jungle, there is commonly a tuft of feathers fastened to one point
of the shield. If it is placed at the bottom of the shield it means that
you hunt animals. If it is placed at the top, then it means that you hunt
humans. The shields of the Red Savages are small, round shields made of the
hide of the kailiauk. They are inscribed with medicine signs. It is believed
that if they are unworthy or lie, their shields will fail to protect them.
The shields of Torvaldsland are circular and wooden.

A small oval shield about 16 to 18 inches. While this
shield was made of steel on earth, on Gor it is, like all other shields made
of leather.

"Incidentally, Turian warriors, in order to have the opportunity to slay
a foe, as well as acquire his woman, customarily choose as the weapon of
combat in these encounters, buckler and dagger, ax and buckler, dagger and
whip, ax and net, or the two daggers, with the reservation that the quiva,
if used, not be thrown. Kamrak, however, appeared adamant on the point. "The
sword," he repeated." Nomads of Gor, pg. 124

The most common Gorean shield is a round shield like
those used by the ancient Greeks. The shield is made of concentric, generally
about 24 to 36 inches in diameter, overlapping layers, usually seven, of
hardened leather riveted together and bound with hoops of brass. It is fitted
with a double sling for carrying on the left arm. It is usually painted boldly
with a device to identify your city. Only exiles and outlaws have no shield
markings. A shield requires skill to use it properly and this is likely one
reason why the Priest-Kings permit their use.

"The round shield, concentric overlapping layers of hardened leather riveted
together and bound with hoops of brass, fitted with the double sling for
carrying on the left arm, was similarly unmarked. Normally the Gorean shield
is painted boldly and has infixed in it some device for identifying the bearer's
city." Outlaw of Gor, pg. 21

An oval shield about 24 inches by 36 inches, this shield
is also constructed of hide like it's round cousin.

" The morning sun flashed from their helmets, their long tharlarion lances,
the metal embossments on their oval shields, unlike the rounded shields of
most Gorean cities." Nomads of Gor, pg. 113

This weapon is described as a single-bladed axe of steel,
with a blade of anywhere from 8 to 14 inches in width, and is mounted on
a thick wooden handle usually has a wrist thong attached to the end the handle,
which enables it to be more easily retained during combat.

This weapon first appears in the series in book #8, Marauders of Gor.

A favorite weapon of the Wagon People. Fighting mainly
from the backs of their kaiila, they become very proficient with the use
of this weapon. used for both hunting and battle .

"Slowly, singing in a guttural chant, a Tuchuk warrior song, he began to
swing the bola. It consists of three long straps of leather, each about five
feet long, each terminating in a leather sack, which contains, sewn inside,
a heavy, round metal weight. It was probably developed for hunting the tumit,
a huge, flightless carnivorous bird of the plains, but the Wagon Peoples
use it also, and well, as a weapon of war. Thrown low the long straps, with
their approximate ten-foot sweep, almost impossible to evade, strike the
victim and the weighted balls, as soon as resistance is met, whip about the
victim, tangling and tightening the straps. Sometimes legs are broken. It
is often difficult to release the straps, so snarled do they become. Thrown
high the Gorean bola can lock a man's arms to his sides; thrown to the throat
it can strangle him; thrown to the head, a difficult cast, the whipping weights
can crush a skull. One entangles the victim with the bola, leaps from one's
mount and with the quiva cuts his throat." Nomads of Gor, pg. 24

A standard infantry weapon of Gor. It consists of a heavy,
flexible bow of tempered steel, 18" across (when drawn), mounted on a heavy
wooden stock about two feet long, with a trigger mechanism built into the
shaped handle. It can use several types arrows (quarrels) of spiked, smooth
tipped or broad bladed quarrels, striking with enough force to penetrate
wooden walls, doors or human bodies with relative ease. It has an effective
range of approximately 150 yards. Slow to reload, it is commonly redrawn
through use of a "goat's-foot" hook or a cranequin (bow crank). Quarrels,
or "bolts," are carried by the user in a belt-case or quiver.

First appears in book #1, Tarnsman of Gor, and is afterwards seen often
throughout the series.

Much like the larger crossbow, instead of possessing
a metal bow, it has a much lighter bow of wood or horn. Slightly smaller
in size, it is still a powerful weapon. It is equipped with a metal stirrup
at the firing end, allowing it to be more quickly restrung while on the back
of a tarn or kaiila

"The cavalry crossbow does have an iron stirrup in which the rider, without
dismounting, may insert his foot, thus gaining the leverage necessary for
drawing the cable back with both hands. If the rider is right handed he usually
inserts his right foot in the stirrup and leans to the right in drawing the
cable; this procedure is reversed, of course, usually, if the rider is left
handed. While this procedure permits the rider to reload without dismounting
and tends to improve, at some cost to striking power, the bow's rate of fire,
it still provides, in my opinion, no adequate compensation for the loss of
rapidity of fire. I think it not unlikely that the red savage could discharge
three to five shafts in the time a single quarrel could be set in the clumsier
weapon. In my opinion, if the crossbow, of the lighter, more quickly loading
type, had proved to be a superior missile weapon in the typical combats practiced
in the Barrens the red savages would have had recourse either to it, or to
something analogous to it. But they have not." Savage of Gor, pg. 96

A standard weapon of Gor. It consists of a heavy, flexible
bow of tempered steel, 18" across mounted on a heavy wooden stock about two
feet long, with a trigger mechanism at the bottom. Striking with enough force
to penetrate wooden walls, doors or human bodies with relative ease. It has
an effective range of approximately 150 yards. Slow to reload, it is commonly
redrawn through use of a goat's-foot hook or a crank.

"The crossbow is the assassin's weapon, par excellence; further, it might
be mentioned that, although it takes longer to set the crossbow, a weaker
man, with, say, his belt claw or his winding gear, can certainly manage to
do so; accordingly, for every man capable of drawing a warrior's long bow
there will be an indefinite number who can use the crossbow; lastly, at shorter
distances, the crossbow requires much less skill for accuracy than the long
bow." Raiders of Gor, pg. 2

A non - recurved long bow made from the wood of the ka-la-na
tree or sometimes of temwood. Unstrung it is over six feet in length, and
can require a pull of up to 120 lbs. The bowstring itself is usually made
of hemp or sinew lashed with silk thread. The arrows of the bow are temwood,
and fletched with the feathers of the vosk gull. Each such arrow is approximately
three feet in length, and can be tipped with several different types of
arrowheads; of these, the flight tip (a long narrow three-sided metal spike
designed for extreme penetration) and the sheaf tip (a wide double or triple
edged blade designed to inflict maximum tissue damage upon impact) are the
most common. It is commonly carried slung or strapped over the shoulder of
the archer when not in use, and is accompanied by a belt or shoulder quiver
containing forty (or more) arrows. Its use requires the archer to wear a
bracer of thick leather upon the forearm of his bow arm, and to use an archer's
glove or leather finger tab to protect his hands and arm from the string
when fired.

The bow is not commonly favored by Gorean warriors, but all must respect
it. It is the height of a tall man; its back, away from the bowman, is flat;
its belly, facing the bowman, is half-rounded; it is something like an inch
and a half wide and an inch and a quarter thick at the center; it has
considerable force and requires considerable strength to draw; many men,
incidentally, even some warriors, cannot draw the bow; nine of its arrows
can be fired aloft before the first falls again to the earth; at point-blank
range it can be fired completely through a four-inch beam; at two hundred
yards it can pin a man to a wall; at four hundred yards it can kill the huge,
shambling bosk; its rate of fire is nineteen arrows in a Gorean Ehn, about
eighty Earth seconds; and a skilled bowman, but not an extraordinary one,
is expected to be able to place these nineteen arrows in one Ehn into a target,
the size of a man, each a hit, at a range of some two hundred and fifty yards.
Yet, as a weapon, it has serious disadvantages, and on Gor the crossbow,
inferior in accuracy, range and rate of fire, with its heavy cable and its
leaves of steel, tends to be generally favored. The long bow cannot well
be used except in a standing, or at least kneeling, position, thus making
more of a target of the archer; the long bow is difficult to use from the
saddle; it is impractical in close quarters, as in defensive warfare or in
fighting from room to room; and it cannot be kept set, loaded like a firearm,
as can the crossbow;... Raiders of Gor, pg. 2

About four feet long there are a number of varieties of
this bow on Gor. The best known, most popular is of course the horn bow of
the Wagon People. The Red savages use one made of layered wood banded together
as do the northern peoples, these are often called ship bows. While not as powerful
as the long bow or cross bow they have a big advantage over the long bow
in their ability to be used in tight places. Their rate of fire is much faster
than the crossbow. A Wagon Person can fire twenty arrows in half an Ehn.
The Red Savages use a small bow and there is no other bow that can match
its rate of fire. It is very maneuverable and can be easily concealed.

"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." Nomads
of Gor, pp. 66-67

"The Gorean sheaf arrow is slightly over a yard long,
the flight arrow is about forty inches in length. Both are metal piled and
fletched with three half-feathers, from the wings of the Vosk gulls.

Mixed in with the arrows were the leather tab, with its two openings for
the right forefinger and the middle finger, and the leather bracer, to shield
the left forearm from the flashing string." Raiders of Gor, page 68

While not truly weapons, the tarn goad can stun. The slave
goad on the other hand can kill.

"He entered my apartment, carrying a metal rod about two feet long, with
a leather loop attached. It had a switch on the handle, which could be set
for two positions, on and off, like a simple torch. `What is it?' I asked.
'A tarn-goad,' he replied. He snapped the switch in the barrel to the "on"
position and struck the table. It showered sparks in a sudden cascade of
yellow light, but left the table unmarked. He turned off the goad and extended
it to me. As I reached for it, he snapped it on and slapped it in my palm.
A billion tiny yellow sparks, like pieces of fiery needles, seemed to explode
in my hand. I cried out in shock. I thrust my hand to my mouth. It had been
like a sudden, severe electric charge, like the striking of a snake in my
hand. I examined my hand; it was unhurt. 'Be careful of a tarn-goad,' said
the Older Tarl. 'It is not for children." Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 50

"He scrambled to His feet, his face a mask of hate, looked about, saw the slave
goad, ran to it and whipped it from the wall. I did not pursue him, not wanting
to kill him. He turned and I saw, in almost one motion of his finger, the
goad switch go to on, the dial rotate to the kill point. Then crouching,
the goad blazing in his hand, he approached me warily." Assassin of Gor, pg.
260

A spear fitted with a barbed head and used with line
attached to assist in retrieval.

"I grasped the long harpoon. It was some eight feet in length, some two and
a half inches in diameter. Its major shaft was of wood, but it had a foreshaft
of bone. In this foreshaft was set the head of the harpoon, of bone, drilled,
with a point of sharpened slate. Through the drilled hole in the bone, some
four inches below the slate point and some four inches above the base of
the head, was passed a rawhide line, which lay coiled in the bottom of the
boat. As the hole is drilled the line, when it snaps taut, will turn the
head of the harpoon in the wound, anchoring it. Beasts of Gor, pg.

The Hook knife, with its small, thick curved blade, is
used in some gladiatorial combats. The Sleen knife is a common weapon of the
panther girls. There is a type of throwing knife, used in Ar, which is tapered
on one side. It is designed for killing. All Tarn Keepers carry such a knife.
The panga is a two-foot long, heavy, curve-bladed bush knife. The whip knife
is a delicate weapon, unique to Port Kar. It is a whip but set into its final
eighteen inches, arranged in sets of four, are twenty thin, narrow blades.
Their tips vary. Some have a double-edged blade of seven to eight inches
at the tip while others have a stunning lead. Other similar weapons include
the curved dagger of Schendi and the Turian dagger. Some people use a sheath
to hide a dagger in their sleeve.

The hook knife is very similar to the utility knife found
on earth. A short, wide blade, narrowing to a downward curve, ending in a
sharp point. When used in recreational spars, the knife remains sheathed
so as not to injure the opponent. The knife is seldom used for other than
stadium fighting, weather sheathed or not.

"Both were stripped to the waist. The hair of both was bound back with a
band of cloth. Each carried, sheathed, a hook knife. The edges of the sheath
were coated with a bluish pigment." Assassin of Gor, pg. 86

A throwing knife, used by the Caste of Assassins. It
is much smaller than the quiva, approximately six to eight inches in length,
and its blade is tapered on only one side. Sometimes used in conjunction
with poison, though trained Assassins typically disdain the use of poison.
It is rarely used in hand-to-hand combat, designed primarily to be thrown
at the body of an unsuspecting victim.

"It was a throwing knife, of a sort used in Ar, much smaller than the southern
quiva, and tapered on only one side. It was a knife designed for killing.
Mixed with the blood and fluids of the body there was a smear of white at
the end of the steel, the softened residue of a glaze of kanda paste, now
melted by body heat, which had coated the tip of the blade. On the hilt of
the dagger, curling about it, was the legend, 'I have sought him. I have
found him.' It was a killing knife. 'The Caste of Assassins?' I
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