Glossary

Glossary of Terms

Aretai - major tribe of the Tahari. the vassal tribes of the Aretai include the Arani, Luraz, Raviri, Tashid, Ti and Zevar. The high tribe of the Aretai are led by Suleiman, the Ubar of the Oasis of Nine Wells, master of a thousand lances, and high pasha of the Aretai. - Note: Ubar is used more like it is used by the wagon peoples-it is a title that denotes leadership, not a title that indicates the Aretai have a warrior caste.

Badlands-Sharp and forbidding, the badlands are laced with steep ravines and eroded canyons that are still being carved by erratic downpours of rain and can be become quickly flooded

Barren - A rocky terrain not dominated by any particular land feature, a barren is arid and rough. Some light vegetation may exist, but it is typically insufficient for a grazing herd to live on.

Bey - a Turkish word for "chieftain," was traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups and has also been a general title of respect used by Turkish peoples since ancient times. It was later used by the Ottomans to denote a provincial ruler. The title eventually became hereditary. In Tribesman of Gor, we basically only have one example of a bey, Administrator Shiraz who was also the Bey of Tor. Which tells us little about Gorean usage of that term.

Brushland- land that has been overgrown with brush and vines

Desert, Open - Open tracts of sand which in general contain shifting sands and a variety of small dunes.

Grassland, Seasonal - this kind of grassland is barren most of the year, but during seasonal rais becomes alive with wildflower and grasses.

Hammam - Turkish Bath House, with origins in based on Roman Thermae or hot baths.

Hammam Ritual- A typical Hammam has three interconnecting rooms. To start you would enter the entrance hall called the camekan or warm room. Here you would undress and prepare for your experience.

Then the tellak or masseur will escort you to the main hot room or hararet. This room typically has a dome with small windows to create half-light. The göbek taşı, or belly stone, is a raised platform built entirely from marble. The marble is warm and the room is hot and steamy. The tellak will tell you to lie down on the belly stone.

You will soon start sweating and the pores of your skin will open up in anticipation of the great cleanse. After a while the tellak will come in and massage and wash you vigorously with a traditional soap with olive paste and often a thin cloth. The suds and dead skin cells are washed away with bowls of clean water.

At this point you move to the side of the room where the water basins are . You will now receive an intensive scrub with a rough mitten called a kese. Another extensive rinse follows after which you’re ready to towel dry and enter the soğukluk, or cool room, where you will receive a drink and where you can lie down on a bed to relax a little more.

Harem - Arabic word also known as Zenana which refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house and are inaccessible to adult males except for close relations. The Imperial Harem of the Ottoman Empire consists of wives, servants female slaves and eunuchs) and concubines. It was the ultimate symbol of the Sultan's power. As the term Sultan is not used in "Tribesmen of Gor", the harem is the property of the Pasha and is symbolic of his wealth, power and prowess. Please note: most of the women in the harem of the Sultan's household were educated and then married off to create political alliances. As a consequence, very few of the women kept in the Sultan's harem engaged in sexual relations with the Sultan. In keeping with this tradition, slaves of the Pasha's harem, will be gifted to his closest allies, and to form political alliances.

Kasbah - a fortress in the Tahari. The walls are commonly several feet thick, formed of stones and mud brick. The walls are then covered with a sheen of whitish-pink plaster. The plaster will eventually flake off due to the heat and sun. A number of these kasbahs can be quite opulent. At most oases, there are numerous buildings of red-clay, which should last for many years. The floors of the more opulent of these structures are often covered with expensive rugs. Because of this, to prevent undue wear, the rooms are seldom crossed directly. There will be runners on the edges of the room which are used by the normal residents to cross the room unless guests are present.

Kasra - This is a river port on the Lower Fayeen. It is downriver from Kurtzal and west of Tor. It is famed on Gor for its production of red salt. The salt is brought in from secret pits and mines in heavy cylinders on pack kaiila.

Kavar - Major tribe of the Tahari. The Vassal tribe of the Kavar include the Bakah, Char, Kashani and Ta'kara

Klima - One of the major sites within the Tahari for obtaining salt are the brine pits of Klima. Klima is hidden deep within the dune country and its location is closely guarded. It is located roughly southeast of the Oasis of the Battle of Red Rock and the Salt Ubar's kasbah. Similar pits exist in other parts of the dune country and their location is equally as secret. "At Klima, and other such areas, salt is an industry. Thousands serve there, held captive by the desert." (Tribesman of Gor p.238) Slaves are taken to the mines on foot, hooded and chained. The salt crusts are white and the glare from them can blind men. The march is made in the sun so that only the strong will survive the difficult journey. On route, the slaves are given little to eat but plenty of water for even the strongest men will die without water. The marches are not made in the summer as that intense heat would destroy even the strongest of men. "To be a salt slave, it is said, one must be strong. Only the strong, it is said, reach Klima." (Tribesman of Gor p.220)

Kurtzal- This village is north of Tor. It is little more than a loading and shipping point on the Lower Fayeen.

Lower Fayeen River - This is a tributary of the Cartius, located west of Tor

Oasis- A place where natural surface water exists in a permanent waterhole. Vegetation surrounding an oasis is lush, andplants that could not otherwise survive in the desert thrive there.

Oasis of the Battle of Red Rock - a large shelf of reddish sandstone which is considered to be a major oasis of the Tahari. it borders the dune country. The Pasha of this Oasis is Turem a'Din. It flies two flags, the Aretai and Tashids. h sandstone located behind the oasis, north by northeast from its lowest point and center. The battle that gave the oasis its name occurred here in 10051 C.A. in the sixth year of the reign of Ba'Arub Pasha, the Tashid leader, when Aretai attacked. The cause of the war is long forgotten but its deeds are still talked about to the current day.

Oasis of Farad - Little is mentioned about this oasis. We do know that Zad, a caravan master, comes from this oasis.

Oasis of the Four Palms - Little is mentioned about this oasis. It is a Kavar outpost located far south of Red Rock and it is farther from Klima than Red Rock

Oasis of the Nine Wells -  This is a major oasis, held by Sulieman of the Aretai, one of the largest in the Tahari. About 20,000 people live there, mostly small farmers, craftsmen and their families. It has an inn with stables, two public baths, and a public well located near the chamber of justice. Sulieman's palace is a lavish structure with lush Pleasure Gardens. In its great room, the entry portal is carved and turret-shaped, while the floor is composed of red tiles and there are great arched windows. Little else is known about this oasis.

Oasis of the Sand Sleen - Little is mentioned about this oasis except that it is a Kavar oasis.

Oasis of the Stones of Silver -  Little is mentioned about this oasis. We do know it is under the hegemony of the Char, vassals of the Kavar. The oasis received its name centuries ago when a group of thirsty men came upon it at night. The next morning, the dew on the rocks made them seem to be made of silver.

Oasis of Two Scimitars - Little is mentioned about this oasis. We do know that it is an isolated and obscure oasis, far from the established trade routes, that is under the control of the Bakahs who were once a vassal tribe of the Kavars. Its ruler is Hasaad Pasha.

Pasha - Pasha, a Turkish word, was once used as a title for military and civil officers, especially in Turkey and northern Africa. It was given under the Ottoman Empire most notably to ministers, provincial governors, and army officers. he pashas in Tribesman of Gor are mainly the leaders, the sovereigns, of oases. It may also indicate the leader of a tribe. Some men may be referred to as both Ubar and Pasha.

Quicksand - fine powdery sand that gathers in depressions, posing a hazard to those who may stumble upon it unaware.

Salt- One of the most important exports of the Tahari. Various types of salt exist on Gor including white, red and yellow varieties. There are areas on Gor where salt is used as currency. The most extensive and richest deposits of salt are in the Tahari region. Its deposits account for about 20% of all salt and salt-related products on Gor, such as medicines, antiseptics, preservatives, cleansers, bleaches, bottle glass, and tanning chemicals. The greatest protection of the Tahari salt industry lies in its remoteness, the long caravan journeys required to transport it and the difficulty of obtaining it without much knowledge of the desert. The most famous of the Tahari salt is the red salt of Kasra, red due to the ferrous oxide in its composition. "The red salt of Kasra, so called from its port of embarkation, was famed on Gor. It was brought from secret pits and mines, actually deep in the interior, bound in heavy cylinders on the backs of pack kaiila. Each cylinder, roped to others, weighed in the neighborhood of ten stone, or some forty pounds, a Gorean "Weight." A strong kaiila could carry sixteen such cylinders, but the normal load was ten. Even numbers are carried, of course, that the load is balanced. A poorly loaded Kaiila can carry far less weight than one on whom the burden is intelligently distributed." (Tribesman of Gor p.20)

Salt flat - a salt flat is an evaporated lake that forms a level, smooth, featureless expanse. Travel across this flat terrain is easy, except with the midday temperatures are extreme.

Salt Ubar - One of the most powerful men in the Tahari, also known as the "Guard of the Dunes." The Salt Ubar administered and controlled the salt districts primarily by regulating access to the districts, checking the papers and credentials of merchants, inspecting caravans, keeping records of the commerce, etc. "There are those who say, and I do not doubt it true, that it is he, and not the merchants, who controls the salt of the Tahari." (Tribesman of Gor p.209) He was nominally a sheriff of the merchants and within his territories he held the right of law and execution. Many salt caravans traveled only between the districts and local oases, while others traveled from the oases to distant points, like Kasra and Tor, usually accompanied by the Salt Ubar's men. The Salt Ubar's men were customarily veiled, in red veils, as their allegiance was supposed to be to no tribe but only to the protection of the salt.

Seraglio - Turkish or ottoman word which refers to the living quarters used by the wives and concubines of an Ottoman Household. Please refer to Harem above. The Seraglio is owned by the Pasha and the slaves that dwell within it belong to the city of Teehra.

Sheik - also spelled as Shaikh, Shaykh, and Sheikh, is an Arabic term that generally refers to an elder or revered old man. It may also refer to a religious official, a leader of an Arab family or village, or the traditional title of a Bedouin tribal leader. Baram, who is also the vizier of Haroun, is referred to as the Sheik of Bezhad. This could mean that is the leader of a village named Bezhad. It also shows one can have multiple titles, such as Sheik and Vizier.

Tahari - Desert region consisting of a roughly trapezoid shaped area with eastword leaning sides. At its northwestern corner lay Tor, West of Tor, on the Lower Fayeen, a sluggish, meandering tributary, like the Upper Fayeen, to the Cartius, lay the river Port of Kasra, known for its export of salt." (Tribesmen of Gor)

The Gorean expression for this area simply means the Wastes, or the Emptiness. It is a vast area, and generally rocky, and hilly, save in the dune country. It is almost constantly windblown and almost waterless. In areas it has been centuries between rains. Its oases are fed from underground rivers flowing southeastward from the Voltai slopes....iurnal air temperatures in the shade are commonly in the range of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Surface temperature, diurnally, is, of course, much higher in the dune country, by day, if one were so unwise as to go barefoot, the bright sand would quickly cripple a man, abraiding and burning the flesh from his feet in a matter of hours." (Tribesmen of Gor)

Tajuk - are not a vassal tribe. They ride with the Aretai. The Tajuks are a culturally united, but mixed-race, tribe.

Tor - A major trading city of the Tahari

Trails and roads - outside the cities and civilized areas there are no roads to speak of. The desert is unforgiving to paved or permanent roads. Smple paths, trod by travelers and caravans are common. Trails are little more then dirt paths kept clear by frequent use. Caravan trails cross the desert marking the passage of men and mounts. Trails can be extremely wide.

Upper Fayeen River - This is a tributary of the Cartius.

Vizier, which may also be spelled wazir, or vazier - is an Arabic term for a high-ranking religious or political advisor. In Tribesman of Gor, we basically only have one example of a vizier, Baram, who is the vizier of Haroun, high pasha of the Kavars. Baram is apparently an advisor to Haroun.

Voltai Mountain Range - commonly called the Red Mountains because of their dull reddish color cause by deposits of iron oxide. These mountains border the Tahari Desert

Wadi - seasonal watercourse that floods but once or twice a year and is otherwise dry and solid. Many caravan trails follow the course of wadis, since the ground is relatively firm and even.

Well - water from a well must be broughtup from below ground to the surface. Locations of wells are often kept secret, known only to nomads. To destroy a well is a nearly inconceivable crime in the Tahari.

Well, Artesian - water from the underground rises to the surface to create a natural fountain. Like Oasis, artesian wells may host a rich diversity of vegetation.