Animals of Gor

Sardar Fair recently hosted an exhibition of Animals of Gor, representations created by The Menagerie. This one took some snapshots. The descriptive text is taken directly (with very minimal editing) from the exhibition materials. By the way, boy got a Bosk for the Castle, so our Master can have fresh milk for his blackwine.

Bosk

Bosk: There are fifteen varieties of bosk, a cattle like animal. These varieties include the brown bosk, red bosk, and milk bosk. They are commonly the long-haired wild ox of the plains. They have a thick, humped neck, a wide head, and tiny red eyes. They also have the temper of a sleen. With their two, long, wicked horns they can be quite deadly. The horns reach out and suddenly curve forward and may even reach the length of two spears. They are very important animals to the Wagon Peoples and also many others on Gor. Bosk meat and milk is available over much of Gor.

Sleen

Sleen: There are several varieties of this six-legged, long bodied carnivorous mammal. It is almost like a snake. Some can get as big as twenty feet long and up to twelve to fourteen hundred pounds. They have two rows of teeth in a wide and triangular head. Their paws have six claws. They smell like a weasel or ferret but only stronger. Sleens are very dirty animals. It is an efficient, tireless, almost infallible hunter. It is capable of pursuing a scent, days old, for hundreds of pasangs. Sleens in the wild are burrowing and nocturnal. They do not climb. Their preferred prey is the tabuk. They mate once a year in the spring. Their mating ritual is interesting. If a female has never mated before, she will flee and fight a male sleen. The male must finally take her by the throat and, belly to belly, mate with her. After mating once, a female never needs to be forced again. The mating season is usually confined to the spring. Their gestation period is six months and there are usually four young born. The young are commonly white furred and darken by the next spring. Young sleen are about eight feet long and adults are nineteen to twenty feet long. A young sleen’s attack is noisy, a whistling rush, a clumsy squealing charge. An adult sleen sometimes makes kills swiftly and silently. There is also a hunting frenzy underwent by some sleen that is a function in part of the secretions of certain glands. Most domestic sleen are bred as it is hard to tame a wild one and a wild sleen could revert. If young sleen are taken from their mother within the first two months of their life, there is a good chance they can be tamed. It may still revert though, especially in the spring, during the mating period. The specific verbal signals between a master and his trained sleen are private. Verbality is important as a sleen on the hunt may not look at his master. Sleen are used for herding verr and bosk, tracking tabuk and slaves, guarding and patrolling, and many other activities. In Thentis, sleen sniff out the smuggling of black wine beans. Assassins even sometimes use them. The Gray sleen is the best tracker. The forest sleen is large, and commonly either brown or black. Prairie sleen are smaller than forest sleen, usually only seven feet in length. They are domesticated as herd sleen and used as shepherds and sentries by the Wagon People. Aquatic sleen, or sea sleens, are common in the north. There are four varieties of sea sleen in the north including the black sleen, brown sleen, tusked sleen, and flat-nosed sleen. Many migrate though some remain largely dormant in the winter. Their principal prey are parsits and they follow their migrations. A medium-sized adult sea sleen is about eight feet long and weighs 300 to 400 pounds. There is a white snow sleen in the north as well. Sleen hunters, for luck when they kill one, eat its heart. The heart of the mountain larl brings the most luck. There are no sleen in the rainforests. The sleen is considered Gor’s most perfect hunter.

Tarn

Tarns: These are the giant riding birds of Gor, also called the Brothers of the Wind. They resemble a hawk but with a crest like a jay. They are surprisingly light for their size due to the hollowness of their bones. A tarn is an extremely powerful bird. It can fly from the ground with a spring and sudden wing flurry. Its tongue is thin, sharp and as long as a man’s arm. It has a curved beak, slit with narrow nostrils. They are not migratory birds and cannot live in the cold northern regions. Tarns are diurnal and carnivorous. They eat only what they catch themselves, usually antelopes and wild bull. If enough food is available, they will eat half their weight. But by Renegades of Gor, tarns are being trained to eat prepared meat. They are seldom more than half-tamed and it is not unknown for a tarn to attack its own rider. Their plumage varies and they are bred for color. The most common color is greenish-brown. Black tarns used for night raids, white for winter raids, and multi-colored for proud warriors who care not for camouflage. It is extremely difficult to fly a tarn from the sight of land. The jungle tarn is a rare bird, gloriously plumaged, from the tropical reaches of the Cartius. Tarns often are trained for specific functions. Draft tarn are used for transporting cargo while Saddle tarns are used for transport of people. War tarns are used by Tarnsmen in battle. Racing Tarns are made for entertainment like Earth horse racing. Racing tarns are different in size, strength, build, and tendencies from most other tarns. 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.

Tarsk

Tarsk: This is a six-tusked wild boar, with a bristly mane running down its spine. There is a giant tarsk that stands ten hands at the shoulder. There are several varieties of tarks in the rainforests, both large and small. They can be domesticated and the rencers keep some. They are best hunted from the back of kaiila with lances and the giant tarsk is often hunted on tarnback with lances. Tarsk meat tends to be salty.

Tharlarian

River Tharlarian

Sea Tharlarian

Tharlarion: There are numerous varieties of this reptile. One type is a species of saddle lizard, common on Gor especially in swamplands and deserts. They are used mostly by those who have not mastered tarns. Tharlarions have been bred for a thousand generations before the first tarn was tamed. Wild tharlarion have round, shining eyes, webbed feet, teeth ridges and a long brown tongue that curls around their prey. They are carnivorous creatures. High tharlarion are short-tempered creatures, that run on its two back feet. Its forelegs are tiny and near useless. They respond to voice signals though sometimes the butt of a lance is needed to move them, hitting them about the eye or ear openings. Those are the few sensitive areas on its body as they are almost impervious to pain, having a sluggish nervous system. Most of the larger varieties have a brain and a smaller brainlike organ, located near the base of the spine. They need far less water than tarns and their metabolism is slower than a tarn. When they move slowly, their stride is a proud, stalking movement. When going fast, they bound in leaps that can carry them twenty paces at a time. Its saddle is built to absorb shock, unlike the tarn saddle. Mounted warriors though still wear a leather belt around their waists. They also wear high, soft boots to protect against the abrasive hide of the creature. Draft tharlarion are four footed, slow moving animals. They are herbivorous and also known as Broad tharlarions. There are at least four species of draft tharlarion. Sea tharlarion, immune to the poison of Cosian wingfish, grow up to thirty feet and more in length and have a yellowish slatted belly. Rock tharlarion are the small lizards of the Tahari. There are tiny water tharlarion, about six inches long, that are little more than teeth and tail like piranha. Some live in the swamps. There are also marsh tharlarion and river tharlarion. River tharlarion are long necked, web-footed, and scaled. Some of them are herbivorous and can be domesticated. They may be used to tow barges on the Cartius River. Tharlarion are also used as cavalry and there are even racing tharlarions. Racing tharlarion are usually larger and more agile than saddle tharlarion but smaller than draft or war ones. The city of Venna is famed for its tharlarion races. Some select breeds of racing tharlarion include the Venetzia, Torarii and Thalonian.

Turmit

Turmit: This is a large flightless bird of the prairies with a hooked beak as long as a forearm. Wagon Peoples hunt these with bolas.

Urt, Forest

Urts: There are several varieties of this common rodent. It is usually fat, sleek and white. It has three rows of needlelike teeth, tusks that curve from its jaw, and two horns that protrude over its eyes. It also has a long hairless tail. Most are tiny enough to hold in palm of your hand but some can get as big as wolves or ponies. Certain varieties migrate twice a year though it is only dangerous if you are in the middle of their path. In the rainforests there are gliding, ground, leaf and tree urts. The canal urt is web footed and can be found in Port Kar’s canals. There are also brush urts and forest urts. Some large urts are domesticated and bred for attacking and killing. Most urts attack in a pack and are messy and noisy when attacking.

Verr

Verr: This is a mountain goat, indigenous to the Voltai Mountains. They are long-haired, spiral horned, and ill-tempered. There is a small, long-haired verr that is smaller and less belligerent than the wild verr. Some are domesticated and they are a source of wool and milk. The finest wool is sheared in the spring from the bellies of the hurt and verr.

Vulo

Vulos: These are domesticated, tawny-colored pigeons raised for eggs and meat. At least some of their meat is white.

Advertisement