| Gorean Weapons |
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Shields Combat Shield A shield is the basic means of defense for a warrior. Normally it is large and round, behind which a warrior could even crouch down. [ 1 ] They are built with seven concentric, [ 2 ] overlapping layers of hardened leather riveted together with iron [ 3 ] and bound with hoops of brass. They are also fitted with a double sling for carrying on the left arm in combat. [ 4 ] It is slung over the left shoulder when transported. [ 5 ] Goreans, being very proud of their home location, paint their shields boldly and have infixed in them a device for identifying the bearer’s city. [ 6 ] If the shield has no insignia one could easily be taken for an outlaw. [ 7 ] While, obviously, the shield is light enough to be used in combat carried on one arm, it is also nearly too heavy for a female to lift. [ 8 ] Yet even for the warrior to lift such a device for Ehn at a time, and receive blow after blow upon it, bearing up under them, in time makes the arm desperately tired and sore. [ 9 ] There are differences to the norm in both construction and shape. Turian shields are also large enough to crouch [ 10 ] behind but are oval in shape. [ 11 ] Those of the Vosk delta, use rence in making their shields. [ 12 ] Other shields are made of wood [ 13 ] or even wicker. [ 14 ] A Kur’s shield is huge, wide, round and made of iron, some four feet in diameter. [ 15 ] The askaris shields of the Ukungu area are made of leather [ 16 ] but are long, oval [ 17 ] narrow, and tufted. [ 18 ] The Red Savages have a great affinity for their shields and believe that if they are unworthy, or do not speak the truth, their shield will not protect them. It will move aside or will not turn the arrows and lances of enemies. [ 19 ] They make their shields with the aid of spells and to them the shield is holy and precious. [ 20 ] even to the point where they speak to their shields, telling them what will be expected. [ 21 ] Incidentally, Red Savages keep their shields in a case or cover when not fighting. [ 22 ] There are then other uses for the shield. When expressing emotion, instead of slapping the left shoulder, a warrior smites his shield with his spear or sword. [ 23 ] Shields are used as signal devices on ships. [ 24 ] Shields are also symbolic during a truce or surrender. This is signified by laying the shield at the feet of another for a truce or cutting the straps and laying it down when surrendering. [ 25 ] And shields are sometimes used in swearing an oath. [ 26 ] Buckler Bucklers are also used for defense, but are smaller than shields. For instance there are used with daggers or axes in arena combat, [ 27 ] or from the backs of animals. [ 28 ] In the Tahari, the primary defense is a small round buckler. [ 29 ] Swords Short Sword As the shield is the basic defensive armament, the short stabbing sword is the basic offensive weapon most communally used. It is double edged and approximately 20 to 22 inches in length. [ 30 ] The steel is wine-tempered [ 31 ] and honed so sharp that it will cut a piece of silk dropped upon it. [ 32 ] The blades, being of steel, are kept oiled to prevent rust. [ 33 ] Gorean men usually sharpen their own swords, trusting the edge to no one but themselves. [ 34 ] Some swords have richly jeweled hilts and engraved blades while others are plain and unfigured. [ 35 ] The hilts of at least some swords are wrapped with leather bindings. [ 36 ] The swords of tarnsmen have wrist straps attached to prevent loss in flight. [ 37 ] It might also be noted that some hilts conceal hidden compartments. [ 38 ] Swords are carried in leather [ 39 ] scabbards attached to belts. Most of these scabbards are not moisture proof, as this would entail either too close a fit for the blade or an impeding flap. In usual fashion it is slung over the left shoulder. In this way the scabbard, the blade once drawn, may be discarded, with its strap, which accouterments, otherwise, might constitute an encumbrance in combat. Then too, minimizing slippage, the belt is sometimes worn over the right shoulder and across the body. [ 40 ] Of course these belts can also be buckled around the waist. [ 41 ] Swords too weigh heavily in ceremony. A warrior’s sword is pledged to his city. [ 42 ] Swords are used in connections with oaths. [ 43 ] There is also such a thing as sword loyalty which is a bond sworn to a leader. [ 44 ] And, in ritual disgrace, one’s sword is broken. [ 45 ] Saber The saber is almost unknown on Gor. [ 46 ] Among the warriors of Gor generally, it is regarded as being too long and clumsy a weapon for close, sharp combat or effective from the back of a tarn or tharlarion. [ 47 ] However, these long swords are not completely unknown as those of Torvaldsland prefer a longer sword than those of the south. [ 48 ] Too, there is mentioned the Alar sword, a long, heavy, double-edged weapon, referred to as a spatha among their wagons, [ 49 ] even though they also make use of a short stabbing sword known as the sacramasax. [ 50 ] Scimitar The wickedly curved [ 51 ] and razor-sharp [ 52 ] scimitars are known primarily in the Tahari. This blade, as the short sword, is also kept so sharp as to part silk dropped upon it. [ 53 ] One description mentions it as being a great, long, curved sword. [ 54 ] And in another place as being a longer weapon, a two-handed scimitar. The two-handed scimitarus being useful for reaching other riders on tharlarion. [ 55 ] Spears Combat Spear The typical Gorean spear has a shaft of from six to over seven feet in length and from an inch and a half to two inches thick. The head of the weapon, including its socket and penetrating rivets, can be upwards of eighteen to twenty inches in length. The killing edges of the blade begin about two inches from the bottom of the socket, which reinforce the blade, tapering with the blade, double-edged, to within eight inches of its point. The blades are bronze, broad at the bottom and tapering to a point. [ 56 ] It is a terrible weapon and, when cast with considerable force, can pierce a shield at close quarters or bury its head a foot deep in solid wood. [ 57 ] Indeed, the Gorean spear is such that many warriors scorn lesser missile weapons, such as the longbow or crossbow. [ 58 ] Even though primarily an infantry weapon, it is also carried by tarnsmen. [ 59 ] At one point spears are described as large, with curved bronze heads. [ 60 ] There are also mentioned the short, long-bladed stabbing spears of Ukungu. [ 61 ] Small leather strips customarily sheath the blades of these spears. [ 62 ] The Panther Girls of the northern forests carry light spears. [ 63 ] The rence growers of the Vosk Delta make use of a two-or three pronged marsh spear. [ 64 ] However these spears of rence are no match for those of the mainland. [ 65 ] And, for comparison, the Kur spear is around twelve feet in length with a shaft of some three inches in diameter. The bronze head alone might weigh twenty pounds. [ 66 ] Lance The tharlarion lances are the longest and heaviest of the lances, being designed for use from tharlarionback. They are often used with a lance post [ 67 ] and are carried in a saddle sheath when not being used. [ 68 ] There is the slender lance of the Wagon Peoples. [ 69 ] Some of these have a rider hook under the point to dismount opponents. [ 70 ] The lances of the Wagon Peoples are not couched. They are carried in the right fist, easily, and are flexible and light, used for thrusting, not a battering-ram effect. They can be almost as swift and delicate in their address as a saber. The lances are black, cut from the poles of young tem trees. They may be bent almost double, like finely tempered steel, before they break. A loose loop of boskhide, wound twice about the right fist, helps to retain the weapon in hand-to-hand combat. It is seldom thrown. [ 71 ] A Tahari kaiila lance is long and slim, eight to nine [ 72 ] feet in length, terminating in an extremely narrow point of razored steel, some eleven inches long [ 73 ] which is bound in the shaft by four rivets. [ 74 ] Red Savages have two types of lance, one for hunting and the other for war. Hunting lances are commonly longer, heavier and thicker than war lances. Too, they are often undecorated, save perhaps for a knot of feathers. The point of the hunting lance is usually longer and narrower than that of the war lance. They both have heads of metal, bone or stone which are attached with sinew or rawhide, and also sometimes with metal trade rivets. The Red Savages who have mastered the tarn use a lance which is longer and more slender than the other two. [ 75 ] One other type of lance mentioned is a smaller, thicker stabbing lance used by certain groups of pedestrian nomads. [ 76 ] Harpoon The harpoon of the far north is some eight feet in length with a shaft some two and a half inches in diameter. Most of the shaft is wood, but it has a foreshaft of bone. In this foreshaft is 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, is passed a rawhide line. When in use, this line is laid coiled in the bottom of a boat. Due to the way the hole is drilled, when the line snaps taut it will turn the head of the harpoon in the wound, anchoring it. [ 77 ] Interestingly, the harpoon is not throw by itself but instead a notched throwing board is used. Snapping the throwing board forward and downward, speeds the harpoon toward the intended target. [ 78 ] Trident The trident is used primarily as a weapon in arena combat and in conjunction with a net. [ 79 ] Also used by fishermen as their traditional weapon. [ 80 ] Pike Pikes, while not described in detail, are used by Counsel Guardsmen [ 81 ] and the infantry, which, with staggered lines and the butts of pikes anchored in the earth, can usually turn an attack of light cavalry. [ 82 ] Sailors also use pikes for repelling boarders. These pikes are often greased near the blade end, making it harder for boarders to grasp them in order to wrench them away. [ 83 ] Knife Quiva Actually in a class by itself, the quiva is the almost legendary, balanced saddle knife of the Wagon Peoples. They are normally kept in sets of seven. The quiva is so important that it is said a youth of the Wagon Peoples was taught the bow, the quiva and the lance before their parents would consent to give him a name [ 84 ] It is about a foot in length, double edged, tapers to a daggerlike point [ 85 ] and is balanced for throwing. [ 86 ] The quiva need not be thrown hard due to its sharpness and weight doing the work. [ 87 ] Therefore the quiva is regarded, on the whole, as more of a missile weapon than a hand knife. [ 88 ] Knives Sleen Knife The sleen knife is worn in a belt sheath and carried primarily by the men [ 89 ] and women [ 90 ] of the northern forests, although once it is mentioned being used by a Peasant who, perhaps coincidently, also raised sleen. [ 91 ] However no direct connection is mentioned as to why this knife is referred to as it is. At one point a sleen knife is described as being short and balanced. [ 92 ] It is unclear if this means they vary in length or if all sleen knives are relatively short. The fact that it is balanced may mean it is double edged but this is not clearly defined. Other than this it is spoken of as having a hilt. [ 93 ] Hook Knife One of the small knives, [ 94 ] the hook knife is a small, thick, curved blade knife of Ar, used sheathed in the sport of that name. [ 95 ] When the razor-sharp [ 96 ] blade is sheathed during sport, the edges of the sheath are coated with a bluish pigment to indicate scores. [ 97 ] When carried it is buckled in a sheath, the strap passing over the hilt. [ 98 ] Tarn Knife Tarnsmen [ 99 ] and Tarn Keepers, carry a small throwing dagger which is smaller than the quiva and tapered on just one side. [ 100 ] Evidently one variation of this knife is well-balanced [ 101 ] and has an inscribed hilt, its primary purpose being a killing knife. [ 102 ] Turian Dagger The Turian dagger is mentioned only twice, once as hanging from a man’s belt [ 103 ] and described only once, as having an ornamented, twisted blade. [ 104 ] Rence Knife Used by those of the Vosk delta, this small, curved, two-inch knife is used to harvest the rence. [ 105 ] Panga The machete-like [ 106 ] panga is used in the tropical rain forests. It is heavy, two feet long and has a curved blade. [ 107 ] With its keen blade, one is able to part thick vines. [ 108 ] By comparison, the Kur’s panga is so heavy that a grown man needs both hands to wield it. [ 109 ] Butcher Knife The butcher knife is usually ground down into a narrow, concave shape. Since it does not have the sturdiness for combat, it is instead generally used for the swift acquisition of bloody trophies. [ 110 ] Utility Knife A few different utility knives are described throughout the books. While not necessarily weapons, they are mention here for reference. Those who dwell in the far north are fond of carvings. They use a fourteen inch, wooden handled knife with a three inch blade for this purpose. [ 111 ] The ulo or woman’s knife, of the same region, while not well suited to carving due its semicircular blade, customarily fixed in a wooden handle, is better suited to cutting meat and slicing sinew. [ 112 ] These same people also use a large, curved, saw-toothed knife made of bone to cut snow. [ 113 ] Way south, on the great plains, a turf knife is used to cut sod. This knife is a wooden-bladed and, saw-edged and is actually more of a paddlelike tool than a knife. In fact it can also be used as a shovel. [ 114 ] Miscellaneous Knives A few other miscellaneous knives are described briefly or mentioned only by name. One man is said to have a large, triangular-bladed knife carried in a beaded sheath. [ 115 ] There is a jagged-edged fisherman’s knife, [ 116 ] a ship’s knife, [ 117 ] a trade knife [ 118 ] and one that is referred to as a slave knife. [ 119 ] Most all free men, especially warriors, [ 120 ] certainly all men of Torvaldsland [ 121 ] and certain women [ 122 ] carry some type of knife. Knife blades are mounted into clubs, making them more lethal. [ 123 ] Lastly, a straight-bladed shaving knife is mentioned several times. [ 124 ] Knife Lock A knife lock, when tampered with, releases a blade, or several of them, with great force, sometimes from behind the individual at the lock. [ 125 ] Whip Knife As much a whip as it is a knife, and vise-versa, the whip knife, is all but unique to Port Kar. It is a delicate weapon and can be used with elegance and finesse. [ 126 ] But, it can cut from twelve feet away due to the last eighteen inches being set with four sets of twenty thin, narrow knives. If this was not enough, some even have a double-edged blade of about seven or eight inches at the tip. [ 127 ] Axes Axes as weapons are common across Gor and mentioned throughout the books. From the axes used in arena fighting, with either buckler or net [ 128 ] to just the ax itself. [ 129 ] The men of Torvaldsland favor the ax as a weapon. All of these have curved blades. Some are larger and double-bladed [ 130 ] while most are single-bladed with hammer like backs. [ 131 ] They are normally carried slung over the shoulder and held by a broad leather loop, which holds the head of the ax higher than the handle. [ 132 ] While being very sharp, it still takes more than one blow to cut a body in two. [ 133 ] Chieftains and Jarls carry axes inlaid with gold. [ 134 ] The other most described as favoring the ax are the Alars. A typical Alar ax has a long-handle and a single edged heavy iron blade. [ 135 ] In fact, this ax is shown to be too heavy for a woman to wield. [ 136 ] Canhpi Among the Red Savages, there is what is known as the canhpi, which can be like a long-handled, stone-bladed tomahawk [ 137 ] or could end in a heavy knob of wood. [ 138 ] The Red Savages also use a long-handled single bladed ax which has a blunted back suitable for driving pegs, stakes and wedges. [ 139 ] And they use axes as trade items [ 140 ] and a means of currency. [ 141 ] Another ax mentioned is the broad, doubled headed wood ax. [ 142 ] And some axes have a gap for use in drawing out nails. [ 143 ] Lastly, the great Kur ax is some seven or eight feet in height. The handle is some four inches in diameter and the double blade, from tip to tip, is around two feet in width. [ 144 ] Bows First, it might be noted that the most powerful devices of war are the crossbow and lance. [ 145 ] But not everyone prefers the bow. In fact, many warriors do not care for them, regarding them as secondary weapons almost unworthy for the hand of a warrior. [ 146 ] As common as the crossbow or longbow is, it seems many warriors still favor the Gorean spear. [ 147 ] Crossbow Although primarily an infantry weapon, [ 148 ] the crossbow is used from tarnsmen [ 149 ] to those defending a city from attack. [ 150 ] The quarrels are of iron [ 151 ] and the initial velocity is the better part of a pasang per second. With that force it can pass completely through a human, [ 152 ] pierce a solid wood door [ 153 ] or gouge out a cupful of masonry from a brick wall. [ 154 ] It takes at least eleven or twelve seconds to have a crossbow ready to fire again, [ 155 ] the crossbowmen winding the string tight for a new quarrel. [ 156 ] Of course it is necessary to keep the mechanisms oiled from time to time. [ 157 ] The crossbow’s major disadvantage is its slowness in rate of fire. 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. [ 158 ] Horn Bow This is the powerful bow of the Wagon Peoples and accompanied by a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows, [ 159 ] which are barbed. [ 160 ] This bow is excellent for use from kaiila back or from within a wagon. [ 161 ] It is small, double-curved, about four feet in length, built up of layers of bosk horn, bound and reinforced with metal and leather. It is also banded with metal at seven points, including the grip. Lacking the range of the longbow or crossbow, at close range it is still a devastating weapon. [ 162 ] The horn bow is known for its rapid fire capability, being able to launch twenty arrows in half an Ehn. [ 163 ] While at close range it is a fearsome weapon, [ 164 ] interestingly, it has never been used among tarnsmen. [ 165 ] This might be due to it being formed of pieces of split tabuk horn, bound with sinew, it is not effective beyond some thirty yards. [ 166 ] The horn bow is also spoken of as being used by the natives of the polar basin, [ 167 ] and the Red Savages. The Red Savages keep their bows in fringed, beaded bow cases. [ 168 ] Ship Bow The ship bow, is mentioned as being used on the ships of the Vosk River [ 169 ] and by those of Torvaldsland. With its short, heavy arrows, heavily headed, it lacks the range and power of the larger bows, but has to its advantage that it is more manageable in close quarters of ships. [ 170 ] Short Bow The small bow has many advantages. High among these is the rapidity with which it may be drawn and fired. A skilled warrior, in the Gorean gravity, can fire ten arrows into the air, the last leaving the bow before the first has returned to the earth. No Gorean weapon can match it in its rate of fire. At close range it can be devastating. Two further advantages of the small bow that might be mentioned are its maneuverability and its capacity to be concealed. [ 171 ] Even women can use this bow. [ 172 ] Quite possibly this is the bow used also by the Panther Girls [ 173 ] with their smaller arrows. [ 174 ] Long Bow The long bow is a far more devastating weapon than its rival, the crossbow; but few men have the strength to use it well. [ 175 ] A skilled bowman can fire nineteen arrows in a Gorean Ehn, some eighty Earth seconds. Within an Ehn he is expected to be able to put these nineteen arrows into a man-sized target, consecutively, each a mortal hit, at some two hundred and fifty yards. [ 176 ] This is the only bow described where the bowman uses a leather bracer fastened about his left forearm, that the arm not be lacerated by the string, and the small tab for the first and second fingers of his right hand, that in drawing the string the flesh might not be cut to the bone. [ 177 ] While the bow is not commonly favored by Gorean warriors, all must respect it. It is made from the supple yellow Ka-la-na wood and tipped with notched bosk horn at each end. 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. [ 178 ] 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 gull, [ 179 ] attached with thread and glue. [ 180 ] Nine of these arrows can be fired aloft before the first falls again to the earth. At point-blank range one can be fired completely through a four-inch beam, at two hundred yards it can pin a man to a wall and at four hundred yards it can kill the huge, shambling bosk. [ 181 ] Straight Bow Small straight bows, of course, not the powerful long bow, are, on the other hand, reasonably common on Gor, and these are often used for hunting light game, such as the brush-maned, three-toed Qualae, the yellow-pelted, single-horned Tabuk, and runaway slaves. [ 182 ] Bola A triple-weighted throwing weapon of the Tuchuks, the bola consists of three long straps of leather, each about five feet in length, each terminating in a leather sack which contains, sewn inside, a heavy, round, metal weight. Probably developed for hunting, the Wagon Peoples use it also, and well, as a weapon of war. The bola’s approximate ten-foot sweep is almost impossible to evade. As soon as resistance is met after striking the victim, the weighted balls whip around, tangling and tightening the straps. Thrown at different levels, sometimes legs are broken. Thrown higher it can lock a man’s arms to his sides. If thrown to the throat it can strangle him or if thrown to the head, the whipping weights can crush a skull. [ 183 ] There is also a bladed bola. [ 184 ] Drugs and Poisons Tassa Powder Tassa powder is a traceless, [ 185 ] reddish but tasteless, effective drug normally concealed in wine. [ 186 ] It is used to render the unsuspecting one [ 187 ] who drinks it unconscious. [ 188 ] Paralysis Drug Sullius Maximus invented such a drug. He tested it, by pin pricks, on the limbs of a captured enemy, paralyzing him from the neck down. [ 189 ] Ost Venom Death by ost venom is among the most hideous of deaths, [ 190 ] with the flesh turning orange like colored paper and peeling, as though lit and burned from the inside along with drops of blood and sweat on it. [ 191 ] It can be transported in powder form [ 192 ] or, as is one case, a Turian affectation, held in hollow teeth awaiting the deadly bite. [ 193 ] Kanda Kanda is a lethal poison extracted from one of Gor’s desert shrubs. It can be used on a large scale from poisoning a water supply, [ 194 ] to, in a white paste form, coated on weapons [ 195 ] or even needles. [ 196 ] One piece of jewelry mentioned is a ring which, when a tiny switch is pressed, a hollow steel fang springs up containing this deadly toxin. [ 197 ] Poison Locks The poison lock, because of the crevices and grillwork common to the heavy, ornate Gorean locks, allows tiny, extremely small pins, coated with kanda, to emerge, killing the would be intruder. [ 198 ] Poison Pins Many free women conceal poisoned needles or pins within their robes or in their hair. [ 199 ] Poison Girl There are also chemically prepared poison girls whose bite is lethal. [ 200 ] Miscellaneous Staff There is the great staff used by the Peasants. It is some six feet in length, some two inches in width and in the hands of a skilled user, a formidable weapon in its own right. [ 201 ] Throwing Stick Mostly used by women of the Vosk Delta, the curved throwing stick is used primarily for hunting birds. It is not a boomerang, which would be largely useless among the sedges and rushes, but it would, of course, float, and might be recovered and used indefinitely. Some are quite skilled with this light weapon. [ 202 ] Vart The vart, a bat-like creature, some the size of small dogs, from the caves of Tyros, are trained as weapons. [ 203 ] Sling Mentioned briefly as one of the lighter arms. [ 204 ] Javelin While not described in detail, the javelin is used by infantrymen [ 205 ] and for ship-to-ship warfare as well. Usually tarred and set afire, they can be launched in sets from springals. [ 206 ] Springals, Catapults and Onagers Usually mounted on ships, on leather-cushioned, swivel mounts [ 207 ] these devices are used to launch javelins, burning pitch, and fiery rocks. [ 208 ] But then there are the much larger catapults mounted on wheeled platforms which can heave huge boulders, tubs of burning pitch and flaming naphtha, and siege javelins. [ 209 ] Grapnels Not only are there the small grapnels used by one man or groups of men to scale walls, but there are also huge siege grapnels. These are hurled by an engine and then, either with the second arm of the engine, or by the same arm reversed and drawn back with great force. This can rip away the crests of walls or tear off roofs. The derrick grapnel is much what the name suggests. It is used from walls, dangled down, and then drawn up with a winch. If the wall is a harbor wall it can capsize a ship. If the wall is a land wall, it can, with luck, topple a siege tower. [ 210 ] Burning Oil Burning oil is kept boiling in a cauldron. Buckets on long handles can be dipped into this, the oil fired, and then poured on attackers. The oil tends to hold the fire on the object when poured about the floor, down a ladderways or over a wall and onto attackers. [ 211 ] Oil Bombs What is obviously a Molotov Cocktail, oil bombs are mentioned as being used against ships where the tarnsmen light the oily rags one by one, in the clay flasks of tharlarion oil and hurl them, from the heights of the sky, down onto the decks of ships of Cos and Tyros. [ 212 ] Nets Rich in war uses, nets can thwart scalers and grapnel crews. They can block passages. From behind them one may conveniently thrust pikes and discharge missiles. In the field they may serve as foundations for camouflage. At sea they are used in the repulsion of boarders. [ 213 ] Tarn Wire Mostly used to prevent from tarnsmen flying in by having literally hundreds of thousands of slender, almost invisible wires stretched in a protective net across the city. [ 214 ] Tarn wire can also be used more offensively in loops to snare foes either trapping or cutting them. [ 215 ] Garrote The garrote, a piece of wire fastened to two handles, is used to loop around the neck of a foe. While it can be defeated, [ 216 ] it will usually, and easily cut the throat. Therefore the similar weapon used to capture slave girls has, instead of wire, a length og light chain. [ 217 ] Clubs Clubs are mentioned in various places as just that, a club. But some clubs are made more lethal with the addition of knife blades or long nails. [ 218 ] Goad The typical slave goad used mainly for the control, direction and discipline of slaves, has several settings of intensity. At the highest setting, it can be lethal and is shown as being used as a weapon. [ 219 ] Blubber Hammer An interesting miscellaneous item is something called a blubber hammer. While this is normally used for pounding blubber to loosen the oil in the blubber, which is used in the flat, oval lamps of the far north, as seen in the booktext reference, it can also be a weapon. [ 220 ] Cestae and Gauntlets In what amounts to a very wicked set of gloves, the cruel cestae [ 221 ] and gauntlets are described as being spiked, [ 222 ] incorporating four-bladed daggers, having hatchets, [ 223 ] or knives, [ 224 ] and would indeed be a formidable weapon. Spiked Yoke Yokes, heavy beams going behind the head to which the hands are fastened at each end, are then fitted with steel horns, eighteen inches in length and pointed like nails. This precludes any use of the hands in combat. [ 225 ] Spiked Leather, Steel Claws and Whips Contests are also fought with spiked leather, [ 226 ] steel claws fastened to the fingers, [ 227 ] and whips. [ 228 ] Rope Even rope can be interpreted as a weapon. [ 229 ] Various Sometimes what ever is handy is the only weapon to use, be it a piece of chain, sharpened pole, sticks, switches, flails, forks, [ 230 ] boat hooks, shovels, [ 231] flails, great scythes, hoes [ 232 ] or iron bars. [ 233 ] And, if nothing else is handy, the branches of trees and the stones of the forest will work. [ 234 ] Chain Mail and Armor Chain mail, and armor in general, is added here not for its description but simply to point out that these things are forbidden by the Priest-Kings. [ 235 ] Helmets However, it should be noted that helmets are used and some of these do indeed have a draping of linked chain. Specifically, some of the helmets of those of the Wagon Peoples. [ 236 ] Completely covering and protecting the face, this chain, with holes for the eyes is all but a mask. [ 237 ] But not all of their helmets are so fashioned. [ 238 ] And, commonly, from some helmets of Torvaldsland, which can also have a movable nose piece, hangs a mantle of linked chain. Some, though have solid sides and, as you might expect, horns. [ 239 ] Then there are other helmets mentioned. The most common Gorean helmet is nearly solid metal but has a slotted "Y" shaped opening for the eyes and mouth. [ 240 ] It is cushioned with rolls of leather [ 241 ] since it is heavy [ 242 ] and is buckled under the chin with straps. [ 243 ] When not being worn it is usually carried over the left shoulder, [ 244 ] slung from a spear [ 246 ] or strapped to a saddle. [ 246 ] Those with prestige even have someone else carry their helmet. [ 247 ] Helmets are usually adorned with an insignia of some sort, perhaps of the company to which the wearer belongs, [ 248 ] for if the crest plate is empty, the bearer could be taken for an outlaw or mercenary. [ 249 ] The material from which a helmet is made can be bronze, [ 250 ] iron [ 251 ] or steel. [ 252 ] Helmets can also be different colors. Some are colored to identify the Caste of the one who wears it. Such is the case of the Assassin, which wears a black helmet. [ 253 ] Some are colored to match the city, as in the case of the blue helmets of Tharna. [ 254 ] There are also mentioned helmets which are gray, [ 255 ] yellow, [ 256 ] purple [ 257 ] and golden. [ 258 ] The rank and file of armies will polish their helmets. [ 259 ] Certain helmets have other identifying marks on them. A messenger within the Caste of Assassins will affix a golden slash to the left temple of his helmet. [ 260 ] At one time, the palace guards of Tharna each had a tiny silver mask on the temple of their helmets. [ 261 ] The Taurentian helmet is laced with gold as one of the Ubar’s guard. [ 262 ] An officer in the ranks of Port Kar has a golden slash [ 263 ] or slashes [ 264 ] across the temples of his helmet. Captains of Port Kar are identified by the crest of sleen hair atop their helmets. [ 265 ] However, this crest of sleen hair is not just indicative of the captains in Port Kar for it is shown to also adorn the helmet of a Camp Commander. [ 266 ] Other helmets, too, are spoken of as having plumes of hair [ 267 ] or have the rim trimmed in fur. [ 268 ] Plus, it seems, a tarnsman might wear a helmet which has a crest of sleen hair or larl hair. [ 269 ] One golden helmet is described as having a golden plume. [ 270 ] Fighting helmets can have a curving steel crest. [ 271 ] Other fighting helmets actually have covers to blind the wearer and are locked into place. Thus to enthrall the crowds of the arenas. [ 272 ] Helmets serve other purposes too. Some will make an oath by their helmet. [ 273 ] They are used to drink from, [ 274 ] hold wash water, [ 275 ] used as a form of measure, [ 276 ] a container, [ 277 ] a way to bail water from a boat [ 278 ] or simply to mark one's spot. [ 279 ] |