"I met many Goreans, other than Torm, in these weeks — free Goreans, mostly of the Caste of Scribes and the Caste of Warriors. The scribes, of course, are the scholars and clerks of Gor, and there divisions and rankings within the group, from simple copiers to the savants of the city." — Tarnsman of Gor, page 44

Second of the High Castes

The Scribes, second in rank of the five High Castes, are the scholars, the clerks, the writers and the historians, the geographers and cartographers, and the attorneys, as well as many other subdivisions within the caste. In their scrolls are the accounting, records keeping, and writings on Gor. They tend to be studious and serious, with an attention to detail and a passion for knowledge. Their Caste color is blue.

"Ho!" cried Torm, that most improbable member of the Caste of Scribes, throwing his blue robes over his head as though he could not bear to see the light of day. — Tarnsman of Gor, page 36.

Scribe Branches and Divisions

As previously stated, the Caste of Scribes holds many subdivisions, or subcastes, such as:

  • Attorneys: the legal savants.
  • Cartographers: the map makers
  • Clerks: responsible for correspondence, records, and accounts and perform general office work
  • Criers: responsible for making the public announcements within a city
  • Geographers: specialists in the geography of the planet
  • Historians: responsible for keeping the history of Gor
  • Scholars: those of the Caste with extensive learning, likely to be teachers
  • Writers: authors, perhaps of history teachings and so forth

"The scribes, of course, are the scholars and clerks of Gor, and there divisions and rankings within the group, from simple copiers to the savants of the city." — Tarnsman of Gor, page 44.

"Geographers and cartographers, of course, are members of the Scribes." — Explorers Gor, page 213.

One disappointment to me in trekking through the streets of Turia was that a crier advanced before us, calling to the women of the city to conceal themselves, even the female slaves. — Nomads of Gor, page 88.

"Many castes, incidentally, have branches and divisions." — Assassins of Gor, page 208.

Tools of the Craft

Scribes are afforded the usual work tools and supplies as one would deem appropriate for their occupations — namely, pens, paper, ink, scissors, et al. Scrolls being large and cumbersome, are set up on a reading device consisting of a metal frame with rollers at the top and bottom. Scrolls are stored generally in racks.

"His desk, a vast wooden table, was piled with papers and pots of ink, and pens and scissors and leather fasteners and binders. There was no square foot of the chamber that did not contain racks of scrolls, and others, hundreds perhaps, were piled like cord wood here and there." — Tarnsman of Gor, page 37.

With annoyance, Torm poked through one of the enormous piles of scrolls and at last, on his hands and knees, fished out one skimpy scroll, set it in the reading device — a metal frame with rollers at the top and bottom — and, pushing a button, spun the scroll to its opening mark, a single sign. — Tarnsman of Gor, page 38.

In addition to typical tools of writing, Scribes were also afforded some rather highly technologically advanced tools, such as the Translator. This translation device can be set for various languages.

"One of the most interesting was the Translator, which could be set for various languages. Whereas there was a main common tongue on Gor, with apparently several related dialects or sublanguages, some of the Gorean languages bore in sound little resemblance to anything I had heard before, at least as languages; they resembled rather the cries of birds and the growls of animals; they were sounds I knew could not have been produced by a human throat. Although the machines could be set for various languages, one term of the translation symmetry, at least in the machines I saw, was always Gorean. If I set the machine to, say, Language A and spoke Gorean into it, it would, after a fraction of a second, emit a succession of noises, which was the translation of my Gorean sentences into A. On the other hand, a new succession of noises in A would be received by the machine and emitted as a message in Gorean.
      "My father, to my delight, had taped one of these translation devices with English, and accordingly it was a most useful tool in working out equivalent phrases. Also, of course, he and Torm worked intensively with me. The machine, however, particularly to Torm's relief, allowed me to practice on my own. These translation machines are a marvel of miniaturization, each of them, about the size of a portable typewriter, being programmed for four none-Gorean languages. The translations, of course, are rather literal, and the vocabulary is limited to recognition's of only about 25,000 equivalencies for each language. Accordingly, for subtle communication or the fullest expression of thought, the machine was inferior to a skilled linguist. The machine, however, according to my father, retained the advantage that its mistakes would not be intentional, and that its translations, even if inadequate, would be honest." — Tarnsman of Gor, pages 39-40.

Caste Codes

Each caste has a set of ethical teachings, or Caste Codes, which constitute, in simplicity, a list of rules of conduct to which all caste members are held. Some of these teachings are in the form of sayings, profound or otherwise; some mere riddles. Though not stated as laws, in the Gorean world most of what is ethically correct is also legally correct. Naturally there would be those predicaments where the discussion of ethical and legal are quite diverse, as in the case (third quote) of the rape of two slave women. Often, caste codes have more to do with a man's personal honor and integrity. In simpler terms, each set of codes of a caste determine a behavior with a particular interest the specialty of its caste members.

The fairs of the Sardar offer a place for members of castes to meet and disseminate information and clear up disputes, all within their caste codes, thus keeping the castes updated, but within their mandates.

"Further, members of castes such as the Physicians and Builders use the fairs for the dissemination of information and techniques among Caste Brothers, as is prescribed in their codes in spite of the fact that their respective cities may be hostile. And as might be expected members of the Caste of Scribes gather here to enter into dispute and examine and trade manuscripts." — Priest Kings, page 9.

 

 

*



Special Note

Because of the differences in publishing the books, depending upon whether published in the U.S. or Europe, depending upon whether a first publishing or a Masquerade Books release, page numbers will often vary. All of my quotes are from original, first-printing U.S. publications (see The Books page for a listing of publishers and dates) with the exception of the following books:

  • Tarnsman of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
  • Outlaw of Gor (11th Printing, Balantine)
  • Priest-Kings of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
  • Assassin of Gor (10th Printing, Balantine)
  • Raiders of Gor (15th Printing, Balantine)
  • Captive of Gor (3rd Printing, Balantine)

Disclaimer

These pages are not written for any specific home, but rather as informational pages for those not able to get ahold of the books and read them yourself. Opinions and commentaries are strictly my own personal views, therefore, if you don't like what you are reading — then don't. The information in these pages is realistic to what is found within the books. Many sites have added information, assuming the existences of certain products and practices, such as willowbark and agrimony for healing, and travel to earth and back for the collection of goods. I've explored the books, the flora, the fauna, and the beasts, and have compiled from those mentioned, the probabilities of certain practices, and what vegetation mentioned in the books is suitable for healing purposes, as well as given practicalities to other sorts of roleplaying assumptions.