Swift and Deadly

The weapons of the Wagon Peoples are simple, but quite deadly. A much more comprehensive look is done of the weapons of Gor on the main Weapons page. Please refer to that page for such detailed information and pictures.

Bola
The favored weapon of the Warriors of Wagon People. The bola consists of three long leather straps, each about five (5) feet in length, terminating in a leather sack which contains, a heavy rounded metal weight. It was probably developed for hunting the tumit, a huge, flightless carnivorous bird of the plains,Peruvian Bola 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, strike the victim and the weighted balls, whip about the victim's legs, entangling and tightening the straps. Thrown high it can pin a man's arms to his sides; thrown at the throat it can strangle him; thrown at the head the whipping weights can crush his skull. Once a victim is entangled with the bola, the victim is easily captured or dispatched by the warrior. Also, the warrior can aim to strap arms to sides, or to crush the windpipe, or to wrap the head, using the stones in the last instance to strike the victim's skull, therefore ending his life.

"Also called Bolas (Spanish: "balls"; from boleadoras), South American Indian weapon, primarily used for hunting, consisting of stone balls, usually in a group of three, attached to long, slender ropes. In hunting rhea, guanaco, and other animals in open country, the bola is whirled like a sling, then thrown parallel to the ground to entwine the quarry's legs. Bolas were also used by the gauchos of Argentina and Uruguay to catch cattle. " — Encyclopaedia Britannica © 2004-2006

"Indeed she did, but in an instant I saw the leather flash of the bola, with its vicious, beautiful almost ten-foot sweep, streak toward the girl's ankles, and I saw her fall." — Nomads of Gor, page 71.

"On the saddle there also hung, on one side, a coiled rope of braided boskhide and, on the other, a long, three-weigthed bola of the sort used in hunting tumits and men…" — Nomads of Gor, pages 10-11.

"Slowly, singing in a gutteral 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 entagles the victim with the bola, leaps from one's mount and with the quiva cuts his throat." — Nomads of Gor, pages 24-25.

"In the hour that followed I rejoiced that I had spent much of the last several months, when not riding with Kamchak in the care of his bosk, in the pleasant and, to a warrior, satisfying activity of learning Tuchuk weaponry, both of the hunt and war. 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." — Nomads of Gor, page 66.

Helmet
The helmet of the Wagon Peoples is cone-shaped steel, often fitted with a nasal guard of narrow flat construction. Such helmets may be trimmed with a ring of fur or fabric which encircles the brow, or with either a cloth covering (helmet veil) or a net of colored chains at the back of the helm, that covers the neck. These helmets are closely fitted to the wearer's head, padded with a thick cloth cap.

"I could see he carried a small, round, leather shield, glossy, black, lacquered; 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. He wore a quilted jacket and under this a leather jerkin; the jacket was trimmed with fur and had a fur collar; his boots were made of hide and also trimmed with fur; he had a wide, five-buckled belt. I could not see his face because of the net of chain that hung before it. I also noted, about his throat, now lowered, there was a soft leather wind scarf which might, when the helmet veil was lifted be drawn over the mouth and nose, against the wind and dust of his ride." — Nomads of Gor, page 10.

Horn Bow
The Wagon Peoples are skilled with a small, powerful bow made of bosk-horn, and reinforced with strips of bosk leather.

"He was very erect in the saddle. His lance remained on his back, but he carried in his right hand the small, powerful horn bow of the Wagon Peoples and attached to his saddle was a lacquered, narrow, rectangular quiver containing as many as forty arrows." — Nomads of Gor, page 11.

"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, pages 66-67.

Lance
A long slender spear, eight to ten feet long, designed to be used from the saddle of a rider on kaiila-back. These lances are carried in the right fist, and are flexible and light. They are used primarily for thrusting. They are black, made from the poles of young tem-wood trees, and so flexible that they may be bent almost double before they break. A loose loop of bosk hide, wound twice about the right fist, helps the user to retain the weapon in mounted combat. It is seldom, if ever, thrown.

"The lances of the Wagon Peoples are not pouched. They are carried in the right fist, easily, and are flexible and light, used for thrusting, not the battering-ram effect of the heavy lances of Europe's High Middle Ages. Needless to say, 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." — Nomads of Gor, page 15.

And then I saw the first of the outriders, moving toward me, swiftly yet not seeming to hurry. I saw the slender line of his light lance against the sky, strapped across his back." — Nomads of Gor, page 10.

"The warrior of the Wagon Peoples does not use the short sword, probably because such a weapon could not be optimally used froth the saddle of the kaiila; the saber, incidentally, which would be somewhat more effective from kaiila-back, is almost unknown on Gor; its role, I gather, is more than fulfilled by the lance, which may be used with a delicacy and address comparable to that of a blade, supplemented by the seven quiva, or saddle knives…" — Nomads of Gor, pages 123-124.

Quiva
The quivas are balanced throwing knives, coming seven to a set. The kaiila saddles of the Tuchuks have seven sheaths for the carrying of these knives. The foot-long blades are double-edged and tapered, honed to a razor sharpness and mounted in handles of bosk horn or bone. The Tuchuks do no metalworking of their own and most of their blades are forged in the smithies of Ar. It is important to note that each of the Tribes uses quivas with their own standard embossed on the hilt. No Warrior of the Wagon Peoples would consider using any other. A quiva can be thrown with deadly accuracy, but it can also be used as a hand-held weapon for slitting, thrusting and piercing.

"On the saddle there also hung, on one side, a coiled rope of braided boskhide and, on the other, a long, three-weigthed bola of the sort used in hunting tumits and men; in the saddle itself on the right side, indicating the rider must be right-handed, were the seven sheaths for the almost legendary quivas, the balanced saddleknives of the prairie." — Nomads of Gor, page 11.

I was most fond, perhaps, of the balanced saddle knife, the quiva; it is about a foot in length, double edged; it tapers to a daggerlike point. I acquired, I think, skill in its use. At forty feet I could strike a thrown tospit; at one hundred feet I could strike a layered boskhide disk, about four inches in width, fastened to a lance thrust in the turf." — Nomads of Gor, page 67.

"The warrior of the Wagon Peoples does not use the short sword, probably because such a weapon could not be optimally used froth the saddle of the kaiila; the saber, incidentally, which would be somewhat more effective from kaiila-back, is almost unknown on Gor; its role, I gather, is more than fulfilled by the lance, which may be used with a delicacy and address comparable to that of a blade, supplemented by the seven quiva, or saddle knives…" — Nomads of Gor, pages 123-124.

Rope
Your standard everyday rope used for lassoing and tying slaves and bosk.

"I learned as well the rope and bow." — Nomads of Gor, page 66.

"On the saddle there also hung, on one side, a coiled rope of braided boskhide…" — Nomads of Gor, page 11.

Shield
The shield of the Wagon Peoples is a circular shaped shield; made of several layers of bosk's hide generally seven to nine layers thick stretched over a lightweight framework of wood or horn, generally about twenty-four to thirty-six inches in diameter. The shield is often banded with strips of iron to further strengthen it. The shield, thought seemingly small, is sufficient in size to protect the areas where a fatal blow may be struck, yet it may also be used as a covering in sever weather. It is worn upon the user's non-weapon bearing arm, usually the left one, and is carried slung across the back while traveling. The shield is usually painted with the color of each tribal faction (i.e., Tuchuks paint theirs black, Kataii paint theirs yellow, et al).

"I could see he carried a small, round, leather shield, glossy, black, lacquered…" — Nomads of Gor, page 10.

Barbed Tuchuk War Arrow
Favored arrow of the Tuchuks; also called a broad-headed arrow which carries barbs; the barbs prevent it from being withdrawn from a wound and must be pushed through to exit and is therefore more difficult to recover during combat. Being that the Tuchuks use the short bow on kaiila-back, the shafts used most likely were flight arrows (see quotes following). Turkish horsemen were famous for their deadly barbed flight arrows.

As all devotees of flight shooting are aware, the distance records established by the Turks centuries ago remain unsurpassed. This, in spite of recent advances in the technology of bow construction. The maximum flight record set by Turkish archers, shooting in the conventional manner, seems to have been at least 874 yards, and may have exceeded 950 yards. The greatest distance thus far attained by modern flight archers, likewise shooting conventionally, is about 850 yards.

Two groups of flight arrows were studied, one composed of eighteen arrows known to be Turkish and very old, but otherwise unidentified; the other comprising thirty-seven arrows from the Stone Collection, dating perhaps from the 1700's. The latter group are those illustrated in Fig. 2. All the arrows examined were barrelled — that is, tapering from the approximate middle toward both ends; were very straight, markedly resilient, and seemed to be made of a conifer wood.

Payne-Gallwey has this to say about Turkish flight arrows:

"Length: 25 1/2 to 25 3/4 inches.
Weight: 7 drs. avoirdupois (191 grains).
Balance Point: 12 inches from end of nock.
Shape: Barrelled, and much tapered from balancing-point to its ends; its sharp ivory point being only 1/8 inch in diameter (where it is fitted to the shaft) and 1/4 inch in length. The part of the shaft to which the feathers are attached is 3/16 inch in diameter, and the centre of the shaft, 5/16 inch.
      "Though I have carefully measured and weighed about two hundred eighteenth-century Turkish flight arrows, I have scarce found a half-a-dozen that were 1/8 inch more or less than from 25 1/2 to 25 3/4 inches in length, or that varied by even as little as 1/2 dr. (13.7 grains)from 7 dr. (191 grains) in weight. In regard to their balancing-point, these arrows are equally exact, as this part is invariably from 11 1/2 to 12 1/2 inches from the nock.

It is evident that the old Turkish flight arrow was made to a standard pattern that experience showed was the best for long distance shooting. The light and elegantly shaped wooden nock of an old Turkish arrow is quite unlike the clumsy horn nock of the modern (about 1907) European one. The latter cannot withstand the recoil of the Turkish bow and soon splits apart. The shape of the Turkish nock — with its narrow entrance that springs apart to admit the bow-string and then closes again — enables an archer, even on horseback, to carry an arrow ready for use on the string of his bow. The feathers (3) of a Turkish flight arrow, though stiff, are thin as paper, and are 2 1/2 inches long and 1/4 inch high near the nock. They were often made of parchment. (A footnote states that parchment feathering increases the range of a flight arrow by at least thirty yards.) Sinew, after being soaked in hot glue, was wound to a thickness of about 1/32 inch all over the nock, and it thus held the halves of the latter securely to the shaft. When dry, the wrapping of sinew was cut out where it crossed the opening for the bow-string. It nevertheless gave a great increase of strength to the thin projecting halves of the nock, as it covered them on their outer surfaces with a sheathing that was very tough and elastic, and as smooth as glass to the touch. The wrapping was, of course, applied before the feathers were glued on.

So careful were the Turks in the construction of their arrows, that even the halves of their nocks were made from wood with a natural curve to suit the finished outline. It is possible, of course, they would not otherwise have withstood the violent shock of the released bowstring. It may be said that every inch in length of a Turkish bow or arrow was named in a manner that could be recognised or referred to. In a general way the parts of an arrow were known as follows: The enlarged centre, the 'stomach', from centre to point, the 'trowser', from centre to nock, the 'neck'. — Journal of the Society of Archer-Antiquaries, volume 4, 1961.

"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, pages 66-67.

"The cavalries of the Tuchuks, however, managed to maintain a reasonably effective blockade of land routes to Turia. Four times masses of tharlarion cavalry had charged forth from the city but each time the Hundreds withdrew before them until the charge had been enveloped in the swirling kaiila, and then its riders were brought down swiftly by the flashing arrows of the Tuchuks, riding in closely, almost to lance range and firing again and again until striking home." — Nomads of Gor, page 181.

"Then I heard the twang of the small horn bows of Tuchuks. … I could hear in three or four places the clash of arms, the hiss of the bolts of crossbows, the answering featherswift flight of the barbed Tuchuk war arrows." — Nomads of Gor, page 247.

"Had I used a broad-headed arrow, or the Tuchuk barbed arrow, one would, in removing it, commonly thrust the arrow completely through the wound, drawing it out feathers last. One is, accordingly, in such cases, less likely to lose the point in the body." — Raiders of Gor, page 79.

"The hunting arrow, incidentally, has a long, tapering point, and this point is firmly fastened to the shaft. This makes it easier to withdraw the arrow from its target. The war arrow, on the other hand, uses an arrowhead whose base is either angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across, the result in both cases being to make the arrow difficult to extract from a wound. The head of the war arrow, too, is fastened less securely to the shaft than is that of the hunting arrow. The point thus, by intent, if the shaft is pulled out, is likely to linger in the wound. Sometimes it is possible to thrust the arrow through the body, break off the point and then withdraw the shaft backwards. At other times, if the point becomes dislodged in the body, it is common to seek it with a bone or greenwood probe, and then, when one has found it, attempt to work it free with a knife. There are cases where men have survived this. Much depends, of course, on the location of the point.
       "The heads of certain war arrows and hunting arrows differ, too, at least in the case of certain warriors, in an interesting way, with respect to the orientation of the plane of the point to the plane of the nock. In these war arrows, the plane of the point is perpendicular to the plane of the nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughly parallel to the ground. In these hunting arrows, on the other hand, the plane of the point is parallel to the plane of the nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughly perpendicular to the ground. The reason for these different orientations is particularly telling at close range, before the arrow begins to turn in the air. The ribs of the kailiauk are vertical to the ground; the ribs of the human are horizontal to the ground." — Savages of Gor, pages 40-41.

 

 

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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.