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Animals of Gor ... |
| As diverse if not
far more exotic than the animals of earth, the animals of
Gor lend to an exotic and dangerous world where man is quite
often the prey. On this page we offer descriptions of
mammals, reptiles, birds, insects and the aquatic creatures
of Gor. |
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Birds |
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Finch,
Whistling
Insectivorous flighted bird inhabiting the ground
level of the rainforest.
“… and
on the ground itself, are certain birds, some
flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys
largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the
insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted,
like the grub borer and lang gim.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Fisher,
Ushindi
A long
legged water-bird inhabiting the rainforests near
Schendi
“His head was surmounted by an elaborate headdress,
formed largely from the long,
white, curling feathers of the Ushindi fisher, a
long-legged, wading bird.”
Explorers of Gor page 236
“Along the river, of course, many other species of
birds may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted
fishers and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Fleer
Large hook-billed bird which hunts at
night.
“From through the trees, on the other side of
the camp, came what I took to be the sound of a
bird, the hook-billed, night-crying fleer, which
preys on nocturnal forest urts.”
Slave Girl of Gor
Fleer,
Long-Billed
A bird
found in the emergent level of the Scendi
rainforest.
“In the level of the emergents there live
primarily birds, in particular parrots, long-billed
fleers, and needle-tailed lits.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Fleer, Prairie
Large yellow bird with a
sharp bill and long wings; sometimes called the
\'maize bird\' or \'corn bird\' from the belief that
it is usually the first bird to find food.
“Too,
they are often undecorated, save perhaps for a knot
of the feathers of the yellow, long-winged,
sharp-billed prairie fleer, or, as it is sometimes
called, the maize bird, or corn bird, considered by
the red savages to be generally the first bird to
find food.”
Savages of Gor
“The fleer is a large, yellow, long-billed,
gregarious, voracious bird of the Barrens. It is
sometimes also called the Corn Bird or the Maize
Bird.”
Savages of Gor
Fruit
Tindel
A bird found in the canopy
zone of the Schendi rainforests.
“Behind and about him had swirled a gigantic
cloak of yellow and red feathers, from the crested
lit and the fruit tindel, brightly plumaged birds of
the rain forest.”
Explorers of Gor page 236
“Warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit and the
common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim,
tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Gant, Arctic
Migratory
bird found on the Hrimgar Mountains, the southern
border of the polar north, where it nests on the
cliffs. When frozen, their eggs are eaten like
apples.
“I stepped aside to let a young girl pass, who
carried two baskets of eggs, those of the migratory
arctic gant. They nest in the mountain of the
Hrimgar and in steep, rocky outcroppings, called
bird cliffs, found here and there jutting out of the
tundra.”
Beasts of Gor
Gant,
Jungle
A relative of
the marsh gant, this bird can be founding the river
in rainforests inland of Schendi.
“Along
the river, of course, many other species of birds
may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers
and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Gant,
Marsh
A
small long-legged horned bird; broad-billed and
broad-winged; hunted by marsh girls It's cry is
imitated by the rence people as as a surreptitious
means of communication.
“I heard a bird some forth or fifty yards to my
right; it sounded like a marsh gant, a small,
horned, web-footed aquatic fowl, broad-billed and
broad-winged.”
Raiders of Gor page 3
Gim, Horned
A
small purplish bird resembling an owl, with tufts
over eyes (4 ozs. in weight) which inhabits the
forests of northern Gor.
“There was only the laughter of the girls, the
bubbling of the stream, the work, the blue sky and
white clouds, the wind and the bending grass, clean
air and, somewhere, the call of a tiny horned gim,
the tiny purplish owl.”
Captive of Gor page 97
Gim,
Lang
An
insectivorous bird found in the ground level of
rainforests inland of Schendi.
“In
the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are
certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed
gort, which preys largely on rodents, such as ground
urts, and the insectivorous whistling finch, and
some unflighted, like the grub borer and lang gim.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Gim,
Yellow
A bird
related to the horned gim which inhabits the second
level of rainforests inland of Schendi.
“In
the second level, that of the canopies, is found an
incredible variety of birds, Warblers, finches,
mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the
fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some
varieties of parrot, and many more.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Gort
A
carnivorous hook-billed hunting bird preying on
ground urts in Schendi's rainforests
“In the ground zone, and on the ground itself,
are certain birds, some flighted, like the
hook-billed gort, which preys largely on rodents,
such as ground urts, and the insectivorous whistling
finch, and some unflighted, like the grub borer and
lang gim.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Grub
Borer
An
insectivorous bird which inhabits the ground level
of the Schendi rainforests.
“In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be
found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed
woodpecker and the umbrella bird. Guernon monkeys,
too, usually inhabit this level. In the ground zone,
and on the ground itself, are certain birds, some
flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys
largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and the
insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted,
like the grub borer and lang gim.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Gull,
Coasting
Found in Torvaldsland,
broad winged bird, its wings and tail feathers
having black tips. Similar to the Vosk gull. It's
feathers are used on the war arrows of Torvaldsland.
“Its feathers were five inches long, set in the
shaft on three sides, feathers of the black-tipped
coasting gull, a broad-winged bird, with black tips
on its wings and tail feathers, similar to the Vosk
gull.”
Marauders of Gor page 235
Gull,
Schendi
Inhabiting the area around Schendi on the Thassa,
they nest on land at night.
“Those
are Schendi gulls,” said Ulafi, pointing to birds
which circled about the mainmast. “They nest on land
at night.”
Explorers of Gor page 99
Herlit
This Gorean eagle of The
Barrens has wingspan of 6-8 feet. It is carnivorous
and has yellow feathers tipped with black. Also
called \'Sun-Striker\' or
\'out-of-the-sun-it-strikes\' for its habit of
striking with the sun above and behind it.
“It was
of peeled Ka-la-na wood and, from its top, there
dangled two long, narrow, yellow, black-tipped
feathers, from the tail of the taloned Herlit, a
large, broad winged, carnivorous bird, sometimes in
Gorean called the Sun Striker, or, more literally,
though in clumsier English,
Out-of-the-sun-it-strikes, presumably from its habit
of making its descent and. strike on prey, like the
tarn, with the sun above and behind it.”
Savages of Gor
Hermit,
Yellow-Breasted
A bird of the Northern
Forest, resembling an Earthen woodpecker, it beats
with a sharp beak against trees to hunt for larvae.
“Somewhere, far off, but carrying through the
forest, was the rapid, staccato slap of the sharp
beak of the yellow-breasted hermit bird, pounding
into the reddish bark of the tur tree, hunting for
larvae.”
Hunters of Gor
Hook-Billed Gort
A carnivorous hunting bird
of the Schendi rainforests; preys on ground urts.
“In the ground zone, and
on the ground itself, are certain birds, some
flighted, like the hook-billed gort, which preys
largely on rodents, such as ground urts,…”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Jard
A small scavenger bird
that flies in large flocks. A flock can strip the
meat from a tabuk in seconds. Found near Lydius.
“The jard is
a small scavenger. It flies in large flocks. A
flock, like flies, can strip the meat from a tabuk
in minutes.”
Beasts of Gor
Kite
Gorean bird
“Overhead a
wild Gorean kite, shrilling, beat its lonely way
from this place, seemingly no different from a
thousand other places on these broad grasslands of
the south.” Nomads of Gor page 4
“The first southern migrations of meadow kites,”
he said, “have already taken place. The migrations
of the forest herlit and the horned aim do not take
place until later in the spring. This is the time
that the Vosk gulls fly.”
Nomads of Gor page 138
Lit,
Crested
A
brightly plumaged bird found in the second level of
Schendi rainforests.
“In the
second level, that of the canopies, is found an
incredible variety of birds, Warblers, finches,
mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the
fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some
varieties of parrot, and many more.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Lit,
Needle-Tailed
A bird found in the
emergent (highest level) of the Schendi rainforests.
“We may
perhaps, somewhat loosely, speak of this first zone
as the “floor,” or, better, “ground zone,” of the
rain forest. In the level of the emergents there
live primarily birds, in particular parrots,
long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Mindar
A yellow and
red bird of the Schendi rainforests, it has short
wings and a sharp bill which it uses to drill into
the bark of flower trees for larvae and grubs.
“Kisu pointed
overhead. “See the mindar,” he said.
We looked up and saw a brightly plumaged,
short-winged, sharp-billed bird. It was yellow and
red.
“That is a forest bird,” said Kisu. "The mindar is
adapted for short, rapid flights, almost spurts, its
wings beating in sudden flurries,: hurrying it from
branch to branch, for camouflage in flower trees,
and for drilling the bark of such trees for larvae
and grubs.”
Explorers of Gor page 282
Needle-Tailed Lit
A bird found
in the highest level of the Schendi rainforest.
“We
may perhaps, somewhat loosely, speak of this first
zone as the “floor,” or, better, “ground zone,” of
the rain forest. In the level of the emergents there
live primarily birds, in particular parrots,
long-billed fleers, and needle-tailed lits.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Parrot
A bird found in the emergent level of the
rainforest; certain varieties can also be found in
the Canopy level.
“In the second level, that
of the canopies, is found an incredible variety of
birds, Warblers, finches, mindars, the crested lit
and the common lit, the fruit tindel, the yellow gim,
tanagers, some varieties of parrot, and many more.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Ring-Necked Waders
Bird found along the river of the Schendi
rainforest; ground level
“Along the river, of
course, many other species of birds may be found,
such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and ring-necked
and yellow-legged waders.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Tarn
Crested hawk-like bird
large enough to be saddled and flown, it is used in
battle and in racing and is bred for swiftness and
aggressiveness.
“My
first impression was that of a rush of wind and a
great snapping sound, as if a giant might be
snapping an enormous towel or scarf; then I was
cowering, awe-stricken, in a great winged shadow,
and an immense tarn, his talons extended like
gigantic steel hooks, his wings sputtering fiercely
in the air, hung above me, motionless except for the
beating of his wings.”
Tarnsman of Gor
“The plumage of tarns is various, and they are bred
for their colors as well as their strength and
intelligence. Black tarns are used for night raids,
white tarns in winter campaigns, and multicolored,
resplendent tarns are bred for warriors who wish to
ride proudly, regardless of the lack of camouflage.
The most common tarn, however, is greenish brown.
Disregarding the disproportion in size, the Earth
bird which the tarn most closely resembles is the
hawk, with the exception that it has a crest
somewhat of the nature of a jay's.”
Tarnsman of Gor
Tarntauros
A legendary creature
which is half man and half tarn. May be compared to
the mythical centaur of Earth.
“There
is even the legend of the tarntauros, or creature
half man, and half tarn, which in Gorean myth, plays
a similar, one might even say, equivalent, role to
that of the centaur in the myths of Earth.”
Renegades of Gor page 138
Tibit
Small, stick-legged birds
“I heard the cry of sea
birds, broad-winged gulls and the small,
stick-legged tibits, pecking in the sand for tiny
mollusks. There was a salt smell in the air, swift
and bright in the wind. Thassa was beautiful.”
Hunters of Gor page 247
Tindel,
Fruit
Brightly
plumaged bird living in the second level of the
rainforest near Schendi.
“Behind and
about him had swirled a gigantic cloak of yellow and
red feathers, from the crested lit and the fruit
tindel, brightly plumaged birds of the rain forest.”
Explorers of Gor page 236
“In the second level, that of the canopies, is found
an incredible variety of birds, Warblers, finches,
mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the
fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some
varieties of parrot, and many more.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Tufted
Fisher
A water bird
which inhabits the rivers of the rainforests inland
of Schendi.
“Along the
river, of course, many other species of birds may be
found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers and
ring-necked and yellow-legged waders.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Tumit
Large
flightless bird about the size of an ostrich having
an 18'-long hooked beak; carnivorous.
“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.”
Nomads of Gor
Umbrella
Bird
Bird
that lives in the lower canopies of rainforest near
Schendi.
“In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can
be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed
woodpecker and the umbrella bird.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Veminium Bird
A bird with a beautiful
song not otherwise described.
“’He has given performances in the Central
Cylinder,’ I continued, ‘readings, and such. Perhaps
in one of those times, due to no fault of Mistress
he was charmed by her voice, as by the songs of the
venminium bird, or again, by her grace and manner,
the consequences of a thousand generations of
elegance and breeding, or again, once more through
no possible fault of Mistress, perhaps in a moment
of inadvertent disarray he as so unfortunate as to
glimpse a portion of her briefly unveiled features,
or note a width of slender wrist betwixt cuff and
glove, or even, beneath the hem of her robes,
fearful to contemplate, the turn of an ankle?’”
Magicians of Gor page 363
Vosk
Gull
A gull of the Vosk Delta
and Vosk River, it apparently has a loud or
insistent cry, which is imitated by the rence people
as a means of surreptitious communication at night.
It's feathers are used on sheaf arrows. It winters
on the prairies of the Wagon Peoples and flies north
in the spring, when the ice breaks up.
“We then waited about a
minute, and I saw several birds river gulls flying
north. "Those are Vosk gulls," said Kamchak, "In the
spring, when the ice breaks in the Vosk, they fly
north."
Nomads of Gor page 137
Vulo
A
tawny-colored poultry bird similar to a pigeon which
also exists in the wild; used for meat and eggs.
“She had been
carrying a wicker basket containing vulos,
domesticated pigeons raised for eggs and meat.”
Nomads of Gor page 1
Wader,
Ring-Necked
A variety of
water bird which inhabits the rivers of the
rainforests inland of Schendi.
“Along
the river, of course, many other species of birds
may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers
and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Wader,
Yellow-Legged
A variety of water bird
which inhabits the rivers of the rainforests inland
of Schendi.
“Along
the river, of course, many other species of birds
may be found, such as jungle gants, tufted fishers
and ring-necked and yellow-legged waders.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Warblers
Songbirds
found in the rain forests.
“In the second level, that of the canopies, is found
an incredible variety of birds, Warblers, finches,
mindars, the crested lit and the common lit, the
fruit tindel, the yellow gim, tanagers, some
varieties of parrot, and many more.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Woodpecker, Ivory-Billed
Bird found in the lower
canopies of the rainforests near Schendi
“In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can
be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed
woodpecker and the umbrella bird.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Zad
A large
broad-winged black and white bird with a long,
narrow, yellowish, hooked beak found in the Tahari;
they scavenge on carrion.
heard,
a short time later, wings, the alighting of one or
more large birds. Such birds, broad-winged, black
and white, from afar, follow the marches to Klima;
their beaks, yellowish, narrow, are long and
slightly hooked at the end, useful for probing and
tearing.
The birds scattered, squawking, as a Kaiila sped
past. The birds are called zads.
Tribesmen of Gor,
page 232
The birds scattered, squawking, as a Kaiila sped
past. The birds are called zads.”
Tribesmen of Gor
Zad,
Jungle
A less aggressive cousin
of the Tahari zad; small, yellow-winged, scavenging
birds with long, yellowish, slightly curved beaks;
found in the rainforest inland of Schendi.
“One was attacked even by zads, clinging to it
and tearing at it with their long, yellowish,
slightly curved beaks. These were jungle zads. They
are less to be feared than desert zads, I believe,
being less aggressive. They do, however, share one
ugly habit with the desert zad, that of tearing out
the eyes of weakened victims.”
Explorers of Gor page 415
Zadit
A small, tawny-feathered,
sharp- billed bird of the Tahari. It is
insectivorous, feeding on sand flies and other
similar insects. They often land on kaiila and spend
long periods hunting the sand flies that infest the
host animal.
“The zadit is a small, tawny-feathered,
sharp-billed bird. It feeds on insects. When sand
files and other insects, emergent after rains,
infest kaiila, they frequently alight on the
animals, and remain on them for some hours, hunting
insects.”
Tribesmen of Gor
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Insects |
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Ant,
Marcher
Known in the jungles of Schendi as
\'The Marchers\' are these carnivorous insects, very
aggressive. Each ant measures about 2 inches long
having a shiny black exoskeleton and two antennae.
Their name is derived from their, apparently
seasonal, marches through the jungle. They march in
a single column, yards wide and pasangs in length.
They number possibly in the millions, their path's
widening to as much as 500 feet when they overtake,
swarm over, and devour all flesh, living or dead, in
their path. Their bite is extremely painful, but not
poisonous. Their victims die from being weakened
from relentless attack. Tarl Cabot and the small
men, led a column of Marchers baiting them with
fresh meat and weaving like a whispering black snake
through the jungle the ants overran an encampment of
the Mamba people, Cabot's intended target.
“The marchers,” said the leader of the small
men, pointing.
The hair on the back of my neck rose.
I saw now that the sound was the sound of millions
upon millions of tiny feet, treading upon the leaves
and fallen debris of the jungle floor. Too, there
may have been, mixed in that sound, the almost
infinitesimal sound, audible only in its cumulative
effect, of the rubbings and clickings of the joints
of tiny limbs and the shiftings and adjustments of
tiny, black, shiny exoskeletons, those stiff casings
of the segments of their tiny bodies.”
Explorers of Gor page 47
Arthropod
A creature found in the
tunnels of the Nest of the Priest-Kings. It is 8
feet long and a yard high with a multi-segmented
body and 8 legs its two eyes waving on long stalks
“At that moment to my horror a
large, perhaps eight feet long and a yard high,
multilegged, segmented arthropod scuttled near, its
eyes weaving on stalks.”
Priest Kings of Gor
Beetle
Found in the canopy
level of the rainforests of Schendi.
“Here, too, may be found
snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts,
squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines,
lizards, sloths, and the usual varieties of insects,
ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles and flies, and
so on.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Centipede
Found in the canopy level of the
Schendi rainforest.
“Here, too, may be
found snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts,
squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines,
lizards, sloths, and the usual varieties of insects,
ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles and flies, and
so on.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Flies
Found in the rainforests of Schendi.
“Here, too, may be found snakes and monkeys,
gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing,
long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the
usual varieties of insects, ants, centipedes,
scorpions, beetles and flies, and so on.”
Explorers of Gor page 313
Gitch
A biting insect
“We watched a
large, oblong, flat-bodied black object, about ah
half hort in length, with long feelers, hurry toward
a crack at the base of the wall. "That is a roach,"
he said. "They are harmless, not like the gitches
whose bites are rather painful. Some of them are big
fellows, too. But there aren't many of them around.
The frevets see to it. Achiates prides himself on a
clean house.”
Mercenaries of Gor page 277
Golden
Beetle
An insect
approximately the size of a rhinoceros, inhabits the
caverns below the Nest of the Priest-Kings in the
Sardar Mountains where it preys on Priest Kings
themselves. It releases an aroma and exudate which
is so compelling to a Priest-King that to die by
that method is referred to as succumbing to the
Pleasures of the Golden Beetle
“The Golden Beetle was not nearly as tall as a
Priest-King, but it was probably considerably
heavier. It was about the size of a rhinoceros and
the first thing I noticed after the glowing eyes
were two multiply hooked, tubular, hollow,
pincher-like extensions that met at the tips perhaps
a yard beyond its body. They seemed clearly some
aberrant mutation of its jaws. Its antennae, unlike
those of Priest-Kings, were very short. They curved
and were tipped with a fluff of golden hair. Most
strangely perhaps were several long, golden strands,
almost a mane, which extended from the creature’s
head over its domed, golden back and fell almost to
the floor behind it. The back itself seemed divided
into two thick casings which might once, ages
before, have been horny wings, but now the tissues
had, at the points of touching together, fused in
such a way as to form what was for all practical
purposes a thick, immobile golden shell. The
creature’s head was even now withdrawn beneath the
shell but its eyes were clearly visible and of
course the extensions of its jaws.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 180
Grasshopper
A small red insect
“A grasshopper, red, the
size of a horned gim, a small, owllike bird, some
four ounces in weight, common in the northern
latitudes, had leaped near the fire, and disappeared
into the brush.”
Explorers of Gor page 293
Leech,
Salt
Another
variety of leech, mentioned but once in the Books
“I flicked a salt leach
from the side of my light rush craft with the corner
of the tem-wood paddle.”
Raiders of Gor page 5
Leech, Marsh
Described as rubbery about 4 inches long; it
attaches itself to plants in the marsh or float free
in the water, waiting for warm blooded animals. They
fasten themselves to their victim to suck blood
until, satiated, they detach. They can be removed
with fire or salt. They are edible.
Vagabonds of Gor, page 236
Lice,
Tarn
Marble sized parasites that infest wild tarns.
“I withdrew some of the lice, the
size of marbles, which tend to infest the wild
tarns, and slapped them roughly into the mouth of
the tarn, wiping them off on his tongue.” Tarnsman
of Gor
Needle Fly
Also
known as sting flies, these originate in the delta
and similar places. Its sting is extremely painful
but it is not dangerous unless inflicted in great
numbers.
Vagabonds of Gor page 161
Rennels
Poisonous,
crab-like desert insects.
“...that once an army of a
thousand wagons turned aside because a swarm of
rennels, poisonous, crablike desert insects, did not
defend its broken nest.”
Nomads of Gor page 27
Rock
Spider
An
inhabitant of the lower level of the Schendi
rainforests, this brown or black spider camouflages
itself by tucking legs under its body to look like a
rock hence its name; it is approximately one foot in
diameter and will catch small rodents or birds in
its web.
“I looked down. The web
was now trembling. Approaching her now, moving
swiftly across the web, was a gigantic rock spider.
It was globular, hairy, brown and black, some eight
feet in thickness. It had pearly eyes and black,
side-hinged jaws.”
Explorers of Gor page 390 – 391
“This afternoon, late, when we had come inland,
almost in the dusk, she had become entangled in the
web of a rock spider, a large one. They are called
rock spiders because of their habit of holding their
legs folded beneath them. This habit, and their size
and coloration, usually brown and black, suggests a
rock, and hence the name.”
Explorers of Gor page 294
Salamander
An inhabitant of the brine pits of
the salt mines of the Tahari, they are white and
blind with long stemlike legs with fern-like
filaments which are feather gills.
“Among the lefts, too, were, here and
there, tiny salamanders, they, too, white and blind.
Like the lefts, They were, for their size,
long-bodied, were capable of long periods of
dormancy and possessed a slow metabolism, useful in
an environment in which food is not plentiful.
Unlike the lefts they had long, stemlike legs. At
first I had taken them for lelts, skittering about
the rafts, even to the fernlike filaments at the
sides of their head, but these filaments, in the
case of the salamanders, interestingly, are not
vibration receptors but feather gills, an external
gill system.”
Tribesmen of Gor
Sand Flies
“Following such rains, great clouds of sand
flies appear, wakened from dormancy. These feast on
kaiila and men. Normally, flying insects are found
only in the vicinity of the oases.”
Tribesmen of Gor page 152
Scorpion
Found in the canopy level of the
rainforest.
“Here, too, may be found
snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts,
squirrels, climbing, long-tailed porcupines,
lizards, sloths, and the usual varieties of insects,
ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles and flies, and
so on.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Slime Worm
A long slow blind worm
which inhabits the caverns below the Nest in the
Sardar; scavenges the remains of the Golden Beetles
kills
“What
approached was not another Golden Beetle, though I
supposed there might have been several in those
tunnels, but another inhabitant of those dismal
passages, the whitish, long, slow, blind Slime
Worm.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 186
Snail
Much like the snails on
Earth these are small slug-like creatures living
inside of thin shells in the waters. often they are
trapped with water inside the bilge of a ship.
“Once the
Forkbeard went to her and taught her to check the
scoop, with her left hand, for snails, that they not
be thrown overboard. Returning to Me, He held one of
the snails, whose shell He crushed between His
fingers, and sucked out the animal, chewing and
swallowing it. He then threw the shell fragments
overboard. “They are edible,” He said, “and We use
them for fish bait.”
Marauders of Gor pg 62
Sting Flies (Needle Flies)
Originate in the delta and similar places. It's
sting is extremely painful but it is usually not
dangerous unless inflicted in great numbers.
Swamp Spiders
Man-sized arachnids (Spider People) found in the
swampland near Ar; they can communicate in human
speech via the mechanical translators they wear
around their abdomens; they spin Curlon Fiber which
is used in the textile mills of Ar
“My flesh adhered to the adhesive substance of the
broad strands. Approaching me, stepping daintily for
all its bulk, prancing over the strands, came one of
the Swamp Spiders of Gor. I fastened my eyes on the
blue sky, wanting it to be the last thing I looked
upon. I shuddered as the beast paused near me, and I
felt the light stroke of its forelegs, felt the
tactile investigation of the sensory hairs on its
appendages. I looked at it, and it peered down, with
its four pairs of pearly eyes - quizzically, I
thought.”
Tarnsman of Gor
Termite (white ant)
An insect found in the rainforests of
Schendi
“It lived on the white ants, or termites, of the
vicinity.” Explorers of Gor page 293
“Termites, incidentally, are extremely important to
the ecology of the forest. In their feeding they
break down and destroy the branches and trunks of
fallen trees. The termite “dust,” thereafter, by the
action of bacteria, is reduced to humus, and the
humus to nitrogen and mineral materials.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Vint
Tiny,
sand-colored insects found in the Tahari Desert.
“Vints, insects, tiny,
sand-colored, covered them: On the same rinds,
taking and eating vints, were two small cell
spiders.”
Tribesmen of Gor
Zarlit
Large, harmless, purple
insect about two feet long with 4 long, translucent
wings, with a span of about a yard. It is able to
walk on top of water because of it's padlike feet
and feeds on small insects.
“I did see a
large, harmless zarlit fly, purple, about two feet
long with four translucent wings, spanning about a
yard, humming over the surface of the water then
alighting and, on it's padlike feet, daintily
picking its way across the surface.”
Raiders of Gor
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Reptiles |
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Hith, Golden
A rare Gorean python,
large enough for it to be difficult for a man to
encircle it's body with his arms.
“In
another case, somnolent and swollen, I saw a rare
golden hith, a Gorean python whose body, even when
unfed, it would be difficult for a full-grown man to
encircle with his arms.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 191
Lizard,
water
Small lizards found in the
Swamps of Ar, capable of picking a body clean of
flesh within ehn's, much like Earthen piranha
“I realised the small
water lizards of the swamp forest were engaged in
their grisly work.”
Tarnsman of Gor page 85
“As the water lizards had fed, the carcass,
lightened, had shifted position, rolling in the
water. Now, in a matter of minutes, the skeleton was
visible, picked almost clean, the bones gleaming
except where small lizards skittered about on them,
seeking a last particle of flesh.”
Tarnsman of Gor page 86
Mamba
Large predatory variety of
river tharlarion which inhabits the rivers of the
rainforests inland of Schendi. It is believed the
cannibalistic Mamba People take their name from this
flesh eating animal.
“The word ‘Mamba’ in most of the river dialects
does not refer to a venomous reptile as might be
expected, given its meaning in English, but,
interestingly, is applied rather generally to most
types of predatory river tharlarion.”
Explorers of Gor page 393
Marine
Saurian, Reptilian
Reptilian-like scavengers found in the Thassa, more
than 20 ft in length, it has a long neck and small
head with rows of small teeth. Its appendages are
like broad paddles.
“I had seen, yesterday, the long neck of a
marine saurian lift from the waters of gleaming
Thassa, It had a small head, and rows of small
teeth. Its appendages were like broad paddles. Then
it had lowered its head and disappeared. Such
beasts, in spite of their frightening appearance,
are apparently harmless to men.”
Slave Girl of Gor
Marine Saurian
Fish-like predator
with long, toothed snouts that are silent and
aggressive; sailors fear them as they do the
long-bodied sharks.
“Far
more common, and dangerous, are certain fishlike
marine saurians, with long, toothed snouts; they are
silent and aggressive, and sailors fear them as they
do the long-bodied sharks.”
Slave Girl of Gor
Marsh
Moccasin
Dark, poisonous snake
about five feet long with a small triangular head.
It inhabits the waters of the Vosk Delta.
Ost
Tiny bright orange snake, about 12
inches long; its venom causes extremely painful
death within seconds. It is the most venomous snake
on Gor.
“As I tore the thing from
my leg, glad that the sting had not been that of the
venomous ost, the three hurtling moons of Gor broke
from the dark cover of the clouds.”
Outlaw of Gor
Ost,
Rainforest
A snake of the Schendi
rainforest: this variety is red with black stripes.
“The ost is usually an
orange snake, but these were Ushindi osts, which are
red with black stripes. Anatomically, and with
respect to toxin, I am told they are almost
identical to the common ost.”
Explorers of Gor page 239
Tharlarion
One of several types of
large reptiles, some of which have been
domesticated, it's fat is rendered to provide lamp
oil; see also mamba and Ul.
“He lit the small hanging tent lamp, a wick set in a
copper bowl of tharlarion oil, and in its flickering
light turned to the sleeping mat.”
Tarnsman of Gor
“Through the trees I could see tent canvas, a
tharlarion wagon, the strap-masters unharnessing a
brace of low tharlarions, the huge, herbivorous
draft lizards of Gor.”
Outlaw of Gor
Tharlarion, Broad
Sluggish tharlarion
used as draft animals; herbivorous.
“It was drawn by a single
tharlarion, a broad tharlarion, one of Gor's
quadrupled draft lizards.”
Kajira of Gor
Tharlarion, High
Agile tharlarion used as a mount for riding. Their
forelegs are very short, almost useless;
carnivorous.
“The tarn is one of the
two most common mounts of a Gorean warrior; the
other is the high tharlarion, a species of saddle-lizrd,
used mostly by clans who have never mastered tarns.”
Tarnsman of Gor
“The high tharlarions, unlike their draught
brethren, the slow-moving, four-footed broad
tharlarion, were carnivorous. However, their
metabolism was slower than that of a tarn, whose
mind never seemed far from food and, if it was
available, could consume half its weight in a single
day. Moreover, they needed far less water than
tarns.” Tarnsman of Gor
Tharlarion, Land
Land
dwelling tharlarion used for towing. The land
tharlarion can swim, though not as efficiently as
the river tharlarion.
“Those
approaching were drawn by land tharlarion, plodding
on log roads along the edges of the river. The land
tharlarion can swim barges across the river, but he
is not as efficient as the vast river tharlarion.”
Captive of Gor page 81
Tharlarion, Marsh
Inhabitants of the marshes
that comprise the delta of the Vosk; similar to
crocodile.
"You
will be thrown bound to the marsh tharlarion, of
course," said Ho-Hak.”
Raiders of Gor page 21
“We saw one rencer screaming in the water, caught in
the jaws of a marsh tharlarion.”
Raiders of Gor page 53
“My leg was out of the water, but now the water
seemed yellow with the flashing bodies of tiny
tharlarion, and beyond them, I heard the hoarse
grunting of the great marsh tharlarion, some of
which grow to be more than thirty feet in length,
weighing more than half a hundred men.”
Raiders of Gor page 57
Tharlarion, Racing
These high tharlarions are
bred and registered for racing. Unlike the animals
used as cavalry, these are chosen from \'medium
class\' tharlarion, being smaller and lighter.
Famous bloodlines include Venetzia, Toraii, and
Thalonian.
“Although our mounts were such, they are not to be
confused with the high tharlarion commonly used by
Gorean shock cavalry, swift, enormous beasts the
charge of which can be so devastating to unformed
infantry. If one may use terminology reminiscent of
the sea, these were medium-class tharlarion,
comparatively light beasts, at least compared to
their brethren of the contact cavalries, such
cavalries being opposed to the sorts commonly
employed in missions such as foraging, scouting,
skirmishing and screening troop movements. Rather
our mounts were typical of the breeds from which are
extracted racing tharlarion, of the sort used, for
example, in the Vennan races. To be sure, it is only
select varieties of such breeds, such as the
Venetzia, Torarii and Thalonian, which are commonly
used for the racers. As one might suppose, the blood
lines of the racers are carefully kept and
registered, as are, incidentally, those of many
other sorts of expensive bred animals, such as
tarsks, sleen and verr.” Magicians of Gor page 289
Tharlarion, River (1)
Extremely large,
herbivorous, web-footed lizards used by bargemen of
the Cartius River to pull barges.
“These
barges, constructed of layered timbers of Ka-la-na
wood, are towed by teams of river tharlarion,
domesticated, vast,herbivorous, web-footed lizards
raised and driven by the Cartius bargemen, fathers
and sons, interrelated clans, claiming the status of
a caste for themselves.”
Nomads of Gor pages 3 - 4
Tharlarion, River (2)
Crocodile-type animal;
implied to be carnivorous and very similar to the
marsh tharlarion.
“Remember,” she said, “that I was forced to do this,
that I not be hurled to the waiting jaws of
crocodiles, beasts much like river tharlarion. That
I not suffer so horrible a fate I knew that I must
please him well, and as the slave which I had now
been proven to be.”
Explorers of Gor page 328
“The word ‘Mamba’ in most of the river dialects does
not refer to a venomous reptile as might be
expected, given its meaning in English, but,
interestingly, is applied rather generally to most
types of predatory river tharlarion. The Mamba
people were, so to speak, the Tharlarion people. The
Mamba people ate human flesh. So, too, does the
tharlarion. It Is thus, doubtless, that the people
obtained their name.”
Explorers of Gor pages 393 - 394
Tharlarion, Rock
A small, six-toed reptile
of the south.
“I looked at the tiny lamp
on the shelf near the door. It smoked, and burned
oil, probably from tiny rock tharlarions, abundant
south of Tor in the spring.”
Tribesmen of Gor
“…or are pursued by small pet sleen, kept there for
that purpose, or with the tiny, six-toed rock
tharlarion of southern Torvaldsland, favored for
their legs and tails, which are speared by
children.”
Marauders of Gor
Tharlarion, Water (sea-tharlarion)
Described as not much more
than \'teeth and tail\', this tiny scavenger follows
in the wake of the larger water tharlarion and is
not more than 6 inches long. It inhabits the marshes
“Nothing had yet broken
the surface. It would probably be a sea-tharlarion,
or perhaps several such; sometimes the smaller sea-tharlarion,
seemingly not much more than teeth and tail,
puttering in packs beneath the waves, are even more
to be feared than their larger brethren, some of
whom in whose jaws an entire galley can be raised
from the surface of the sea and snapped in two like
a handful of dried reeds of the rence plant.”
Nomads of Gor
“Immediately following I saw the water seem to
glitter for a moment, a rain of yellowish streaks
beneath the surface, in the wake of water tharlarion,
doubtless its swarm of scavengers, tiny water
tharlarion, about six inches long, little more than
teeth and tail.”
Raiders of Gor page 1
Ul
Winged predatory
tharlarion, found flying over the deltas surrounding
Port Kar. This reptile has a 25 foot wing span and a
long, snakelike tail, terminating with a flat spade
like structure.
“A brightly plumaged bird sprang from the rushes
to my left, screaming and beating its sudden way
into the blue sky. In a moment it had darted again
downward to be lost in the rushes, the waving spore
stalks, the seed pods of various growths of the
Gorean tidal marshes. Only one creature in the
marshes dares to outline itself against the sky, the
predatory Ul, the winged tharlarion.”
Raiders of Gor page 1
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Mammals |
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Anteater
Over six varieties inhabit
the Schendi rainforests. The great spined anteater grows
to 20 ft in length and feeds on white ants or termites
using their mighty claws to break apart their towering
nests of toughened clay, then darting it's 4 foot saliva
coated tongue, drawing thousands into it's narrow
tube-like mouth.
“A great spined
anteater, more than twenty feet in length, shuffled
about the edges of the camp. We saw its long, thin
tongue dart in and out of its mouth.”
Explorers of Gor page 29
“More than six varieties of anteater are also found
here, and more than twenty kinds of small, fleet,
single-horned tabuk.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Armored Gatch
A
marsupial mammal found in the Schendi rainforests
“On the floor itself are also found
several varieties of animal life, in particular
marsupials, such as the armored gatch, and rodents, such
as slees and ground urts.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Bosk
A
large shambling animal, its neck is thick and humped,
with long, shaggy hair. It has a wide head and tiny red
eyes, two long horns curving from its head, and a
fearful temper. The horns, from tip to tip can measure
two spears in length. It is for good reason the bosk is
called \'The Mother of the Wagon Peoples\'. It's flesh
and milk furnish food and drink, its hides provide
shelter, its tanned and sewn skin provides clothing.
Weapons are made from the leather of it's hump, tools
and implements from it's bone and horns, and the dung is
dried and used for fuel. The bosk is revereed and
slaughtering it without reason carries sever penalties.
“In several cases tarns have
devoured their own masters, and it is not unusual for
them, when loosed for feeding, to attack a human being
with the same predatory zest they bestow on the yellow
antelope, the tabuk, their favorite kill, or the ill-
tempered, cumbersome bosk, a shaggy, long-haired wild ox
of the Gorean plains.”
Outlaw of Gor
“The bosk, without which the Wagon Peoples could not
live, is an oxlike creature. It is a huge, shambling
animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy hair.
It has a wide head and tiny red eyes, a temper to match
that of a sleen, and two long, wicked horns that reach
out from its head and suddenly curve forward to
terminate in fearful points. Some of these horns, on the
larger animals, measured from tip to tip, exceed the
length of two spears.”
Nomads of Gor pages 4-5
Deer
Common name for certain
hoofed, artiodactyl mammals, usually characterized by
bony, often branching antlers that are shed and
regenerated annually.
"Perhaps,"
suggested Gorm, "it is diseased or injured, and can no
longer hunt the swift deer of the north ?"
Marauders of Gor page 108
Frevet
Small mammal, very quick, kept in some homes for insect
control.
“The small animal skittered backward, with a sound
of claws on the boards. Its eyes gleamed in the
reflected light of the lamp. "Generally, too, they do
not come this high," said the proprietor. "That is a
frevet." The frevet is a small, quick, mammalian
insectivore. "We have several in the house," he said.
"They control the insects, the beetles and lice, and
such."
Mercenaries of Gor page 276
Giani
Tiny panther, approximately the size of an Earthen cat,
of solitary habits which inhabits the low branches of
ground level in rainforests inland of Schendi.
“In the lower branches of the
“ground zone” may be found, also, small animals, such as
tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels,
four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling,
solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous
to man.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Guernon Monkey
Found in the jungle along the Ua river; recognized by
their chattering sound.
“Trees surrounded us. Overhead
bright jungle birds flew. We could hear the chattering
of guernon monkeys about.”
Explorers of Gor page 307
“Guernon monkeys, too, usually inhabit this level…”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Hurt
A
domesticated marsupial raised on fenced in ranches in
several of Gor's northern cities. It is a two legged
animal and has black wool which is sheared by slaves. It
is herded by domesticated sleen.
“Cernus of Ar wore a coarse black robe, woven
probably from the wool of the bounding, two-legged Hurt,
a domesticated marsupial raised in large numbers in the
environs of several of Gor's northern cities. The Hurt,
raised on large, fenced ranches, herded by domesticated
sleen and sheared by chained slaves, replaces its wool
four times a year.” Assassin of Gor page 39
Jit Monkey
A nocturnal simian mammal which
inhabits the Schendi rainforests.
“In the lower branches of the
“ground zone” may be found, also, small animals, such as
tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels,
four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling,
solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous
to man.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Kaiila, Desert
Also known as sand kaiila; relative of the southern
Kailla this omnivorous animal is similar in most aspects
barring pelt color and rearing of young; pelt color is
tawny or black and young are suckled for a length of
time. The men of the Tahari Desert use this mount.
“The sand kaiila, or desert kaiila, is a
kaiila, and handles similarly, but it is not identically
the same animal which is indigenous, domestic and wild,
in the middle latitudes of Gor's southern hemisphere;
that animal, used as a mount by the Wagon Peoples, is
not found in the northern hemisphere of Gor; there is
obviously a phylogenetic affinity between the two
varieties, or species; I conjecture, though I do not
know, that the sand kaiila is a desert-adapted mutation
of the subequatorial stock; both animals are lofty,
proud, silken creatures, long-necked and smooth-gaited;
both are triply lidded, the third lid being a
transparent membrane, of great utility in the blasts of
the dry storms of the southern plains or the Tahari;
both creatures are comparable in size, ranging from some
twenty to twenty-two hands at the shoulder; both are
swift; both have incredible stamina; under ideal
conditions both can range six hundred pasangs in a day;
in the dune country, of course, in the heavy, sliding
sands, a march of fifty pasangs is considered good;
both, too, I might mention, are high-strung,
vicious-tempered animals; in pelt the southern kaiila
ranges from a rich gold to black; the sand kaiila, on
the other hand, are almost all tawny, though I have seen
black sand Kaiila…”
Tribesmen of Gor
Kaiila, Southern
Large (20-22 hands) carnivorous mammal with long neck
and silky fur; its eyes have 3 lids; is viviparous has
incredible stamina (capable of covering 600 in a day) in
spite of its vicious temper it can be trained for
riding. It has a rich gold to black colored fur. The
kaiila is a mammal, but there is no suckling of the
young, who begin hunt within hours of birth. These are
the mounts of the Wagon Peoples.
“The mount of the Wagon
Peoples, unknown in the northern hemisphere of Gor, is
the terrifying but beautiful kaiila. It is a silken,
carnivorous, lofty creature, graceful, long-necked,
smooth-gaited. It is viviparous and undoubtedly
mammalian, though there is no suckling of the young. The
young are born vicious and by instinct, as soon as they
can struggle to their feet, they hunt.”
Nomads of Gor page 13
Kailiauk,
Barrens, Herds Of
Gigantic, dangerous beast
that stands 20-25 hands at the shoulder and weighing as
much as 4,000 lbs, they migrate across the Barrens in
massive herds, hunted by Red Savages and those who trade
in their hides. They have a trident horn.
“Their culture tends to be nomadic, and is based on
the herbivorous, lofty kaiila, substantially the same
animal as is found in the Tahari, save for the wider
footpads of the Tahari beast, suitable for negotiating
deep sand, and the lumbering, gregarious,
short-tempered, trident-homed kailiauk.”
Savages of Gor
Kailiauk,
Forest
Four-legged wide-headed, lumbering,
stocky ruminants, described as short-trunked and tawny.
The males have 3 trident-like horns, with brown and
reddish bars on the haunches. The males are 400 to 500
Gorean stone (1600-2000lbs) and are 10 hands at the
shoulder. The females are 8 hands and weigh 300 - 400
Gorean stone (1200-1600 lbs). Their horns and tooled
hides are major exports of the port of Schendi.
”Kailiauk are four-legged,
wide-headed, lumbering, stocky ruminants. Their herds
are usually found in the savannahs and plains north and
south of the rain forests, but some herds frequent the
forests as well. These animals are short-trunked and
tawny. They commonly have brown and reddish bars on the
haunches. The males, tridentlike, have three horns.
These horns bristle from their foreheads. The males are
usually about ten hands at the shoulders and the females
about eight hands. The males average about four hundred
to five hundred Gorean stone in weight, some sixteen
hundred to two thousand pounds, and the females average
about three to four hundred Gorean stone in weight, some
twelve hundred to sixteen hundred pounds.”
Explorers of Gor page 93
Kailiauk,
Prairie
Short-trunked, stocky,
awkward ruminant of the plains. Tawny in color with red
and brown bars on their haunches. Their wide heads bear
a trident horn. They instinctively circle when resting,
their she's and young protected within.
“Even past me there thundered a lumbering herd of
startled, short-bunked kailiauk, a stocky, awkward
ruminant of the plains, tawny, wild, heavy, their
haunches marked in red and brown bars, their wide heads
bristling with a trident of horns; they had not stood
and formed their circle, she's and young within the
circle of tridents..”
Nomads of Gor page 2
Kur
A large
(8-9') furred 4 legged mammal which can stand upright or
on all fours; each paw has 6 multiple-jointed digits
with retractable claws and an opposing thumb. It has 2
rows of teeth. They are extremely strong and ferocious
regarding humans as food. The Kur are members of an
alien race, the Kurii.
“The thing, its head lifted, surveyed the
assembly of free men. The pupils of its eyes, in the
sunlight, were extremely small and black. They were like
points in the yellowish green cornea. I knew that, in
darkness, they could swell, like dark moons, to fill
almost the entire optic orifice, some three or four
inches in width. Evolution, on some distant, perhaps
vanished world, had adapted this life form for both
diurnial and nocturnal hunting. Doubtless, like the cat,
it hunted when hungry, and its efficient visual
capacities, like those of the cats, meant that there was
no time of the day or night when it might not be feared.
Its head was approximately the width of the chest of a
large man. It had a flat snout, with wide nostrils. Its
ears were large, and pointed. They lifted from the side
of its head, listening, and then lay back against the
furred sides ofthe head. Kurii, I had been told,
usually, in meeting men, laid the ears back against the
sides of their heads, to increase their resemblance to
humans. The ears are often laid back, also,
incidentally, in hostility or anger, and, always, in its
attacks. It is apparently physiologically im-possible
for a Kur to attack without its shoulders hunching, its
claws emerging, and its ears lying back against the
head. The nostrils of the beast drank in what
information it wished, as they, like its eyes, surveyed
the throng. The trail-ing capacities of the Kurii are
not as superb as those of the sleen, but they were
reputed to be the equal of those of larls. The hearing,
similarly, is acute. Again it is equated with that of
the larl, and not the sharply-sensed sleen. There was
little doubt that the day vision of the Kurii was
equivalent to that of men, if not superior, and the
night vision, of course, was infinitely superior; their
sense of smell, too, of course, was inccmparably
superior to that of men, and their sense of hearing as
well. Moreover, they, like men, were rational. Like men,
they were a single-brained organism, limited by a spinal
column.”
Marauders of Gor page 169
Larl
A
large (7 ft. at shoulder) feline cat like pupils and a
broad viper shaped head; carnivorous; similar to a lion;
the females of the species tends to be smaller.
“The larl is a predator, clawed and
fanged, quite large, often standing seven feet at the
shoulder. I think it would be fair to say that it is
substantially feline; at any rate its grace and sinuous
power remind me of the smaller but similarly fearsome
jungle cats of my old world.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 18
“The larl’s head is broad, sometimes more than two feet
across, and shaped roughly like a triangle, giving its
skull something of the cast of a viper’s save that of
course it is furred and the pupils of the eyes like the
cat’s and unlike the viper’s, can range from knifelike
slits in the broad daylight to dark, inquisitive moons
in the night.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 18
Larl,
Black
Predominately nocturnal larl which is sable coated and
maned both male and female.
“The black larl, which is predominantly
nocturnal, is manned, both male and female.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 18
Larl,
Red
Predominately day hunting larl which is tawny-red coated
and has no mane in either male or female.
“The red larl, which hunts whenever hungry,
regardless of the hour, and is the more common variety,
possesses no mane. Females of both varieties tend
generally to be slightly smaller than the males, but are
quite as aggressive and sometimes even more dangerous,
particularly in the late fall and winter of the year
when they are likely to be hunting for their cubs.”
Priest Kings of Gor pages 18 - 19
Larl, White
Seen only in the icy mountains of the
Sardar they are the largest of the big cats
approximately 8 feet standing; upper canines extending
below their jaws very similar to saber-toothed tiger;
long tails are tufted at the ends.
“There was a sudden startled
rattle of chains and I saw two huge, white larls frozen
in the momentary paralysis of registering my presence,
and then with but an instant’s fleeting passage both
beasts turned upon me and hurled themselves enraged to
the lengths of their chains.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 22
“They were gigantic beasts, superb specimens, perhaps
eight feet at the shoulder. Their upper canine fangs,
like daggers mounted in their jaws, must have been at
least a foot in length and extended well below their
jaws in the manner of ancient sabre-toothed tigers. The
four nostril slits of each animal were flared and their
great chests lifted and fell with the intensity of their
excitement. Their tails, long and tufted at the end,
lashed back and forth.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 22
Lart,
Snow
A
small mammal, about 10 inches high, weighing between 8
and 12 pounds having 4 legs. The snow lart has two
stomachs and hunts in summer, filling the second stomach
in the fall to last the animal through winter. It's pelt
is snowy white and thick. It is considered valuable,
selling in Ar for half a silver tarsk. They are found in
the Polar North.
"I had them both for the pelt of a snow
lart and the pelts of four leems," said Imnak, rather
pleased with himself.”
Beasts of Gor
Leem
A small arctic rodent some
five to ten ounces in weight which hybernates in the
winter. Its furs are sold by the Red Hunters.
“It is mammalian,
and has four legs. It eats bird’s eggs and preys on the
leem, a small arctic rodent, some five to ten ounces in
weight, which hibernates during the winter.” Beasts of
Gor
Panther, Jungle
Less dangerous to man than the northern variety: found
in the Schendi rainforest.
“On the jungle floor, as well, are found
jungle larls and jungle panthers, of diverse kinds, and
many smaller catlike predators. These, on the whole,
however, avoid men. They are less dangerous in the rain
forest, generally, than in the northern latitudes.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Porcupine, Long-Tailed
Animal of the canopy level of the rainforest.
“Here, too, may be found snakes and monkeys, gliding
urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing, long-tailed
porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the usual varieties of
insects, ants, centipedes, scorpions, beetles and flies,
and so on.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Quala
(pl. qualae) Tiny,
three-toed mammal, dun-colored with a stiff, brushy mane
of black hair.
“Near one of the green stretches I saw what I first
thought was a shadow, but as the tarn passed, it
scattered into a scampering flock of tiny creatures,
probably the small, three-toed mammals called qualae,
dun-coloured and with a stiff brushy mane of black
hair.”
Tarnsman of Gor
Slee
A rodent found on the ground
zone of the Schendi rainforests.
“On the floor
itself are also found several varieties of animal life,
in particular marsupials, such as the armored gatch, and
rodents, such as slees and ground urts.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Sleen,
Forest
Lizard like mammal, up to 20 feet
long, sinuous, black or brown in color. It is furred. In
its attack frenzy it is one of the most dangerous
animals on Gor.
“The animal was some twenty
feet in length, some eleven hundred pounds in weight, a
forest sleen, domesticated. It was double fanged and
six-legged. It crouched down and inched forward. Its
belly fur must have touched the tiles. It wore a leather
sleen collar but there was no leash on the leash loop.”
Beasts of Gor
Sleen, Gray
Said to be Gor's finest tracker, this six legged sleen
is a furred mammal with silver gray fur. It has an
agile, sinuous body, thick as a drum and is 14-15 feet
long. The gray sleen has a broad triangular head and a
huge jaw with two rows of fangs and a dark tongue. It's
widely set eyes have slit-like pupils. As is true for
all sleens, it has six legs. This breed is relentless
and tenacious. It can follow a scent that is weeks old
for a thousand pasangs.
“"Keep you legs apart," he
said. "It is a gray sleen. I raised it from a whelp. Ah,
greetings, Borko! How are you, old fellow?”
Dancer of Gor page 160
Sleen, Hunting
The hunting sleen is a
hunter of men. It is 20 feet in length and weighs eleven
hundred pounds. This domesticated forest sleen is
double-fanged and six-footed. It's tail tends to switch
back and forth, getting rigid, as it hunts, it's ears
flatten against it's head just prior to it's final
\'charge\' attack on it's prey.
“Hunting sleen are trained to scent out and destroy
escaped slaves. Their senses are unusually keen. Tuchuks,
in the south, as I recalled, had also used sleen to hunt
slaves, and, of course, to protect their herds.”
Raiders of Gor page 105
Sleen, Prairie
The prairie sleen is tawny in color, smaller than the
forest sleen, but just as unpredictable and vicious.
Domesticated prairie sleen are used for hunting and
nocturnal herd sleen are used as shepherds and
sentinels. They are released from their cages with the
falling of darkness, responding only to the voice of
their master.
“..farther to one side I saw a pair of
prairie sleen, smaller than the forest sleen but quite
as unpredictable and vicious, each about seven feet in
length, furred, six-legged, mammalian, moving in their
undulating gait with their viper's heads moving from
side to side, continually testing the wind..”
Nomads of Gor page 2
Sleen, Snow
Inhabits the northern regions. Always white in color.
‘In Lydius,’ said he, ‘we encounter often
the furs of snow sleen, fresh and handsome and warm.”
Beasts of Gor
“Two sorts of beasts are kept in domestication in the
north; the first sort of beast is the snow sleen; the
second is the white-skinned woman.”
Beasts of Gor
Sloth
A
slow-moving arboreal edentate mammal they hang from
branches back downward and feed on leaves and fruits
“Here, too, may be found snakes and
monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, climbing,
long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and the usual
varieties of insects, ants, centipedes, scorpions,
beetles and flies, and so on.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Squirrels, Black
Animal of the ground zone of the rain forest.
“In the lower branches of the
“ground zone” may be found, also, small animals, such as
tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels,
four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling,
solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous
to man.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Tabuk, Common
Resembles an antelope, yellow in color with a single
horn, found in many area's of Gor. It travels in fleet
footed herds and haunts the ka-la-na thickets of the
planet occasionally venturing into the meadows in search
of berries and salt. It's meat is used as food by men
(often as tabuk steak) and animals. It is a favorite
prey of Tarns.
“The tabuk is the most common Gorean
antelope, a small graceful animal, one-horned and
yellow, that haunts the Ka- la-na thickets of the planet
and occasionally ventures daintily into its meadows in
search of berries and salt. It is also one of the
favorite kills of a tarn.”
Outlaw of Gor
Tabuk, Northern
Much larger than the smaller southern variety, tawny and
swift, standing ten hands at the shoulders. They have a
single spiraling ivory horn, which can be 2 1/2 inches
in diameter at the base and over a yard in length. The
Red Hunters are irrevocably tied to the tabuk for
sustenance and the devices of daily living much like the
Wagon Peoples and the bosk, and the Red Savages and the
kailiauk.
“They were northern tabuk, massive, tawny
and swift, many of them ten hands at the shoulder, a
quite different animal from the small, yellow-pelted,
antelopelike quadruped of the south. On the other hand,
they, too, were distinguished by the single horn of the
tabuk. On these animals, however, that object, in
swirling ivory, was often, at its base, some two and
one-hall inches in diameter, and better than a yard in
length.”
Beasts of Gor
Tabuk, Prairie
Described as tawny and gazelle-like with a single horn,
it responds to threat by scurrying away or lying down.
Presumably this reponse is useful because of the high
grass of the Barrens as most predators depend on vision
to detect and locate it's prey.
“Once a tabuk, a prairie tabuk,
tawny in the Barrens, single horned, gazellelike, had
grazed nearby. It had browsed within feet of us.” Blood
Brothers of Gor page 316
Tarsiers
An
undescribed animal of the rainforests.
“In the lower branches of the “ground
zone” may be found, also, small animals, such as
tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels,
four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling,
solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous
to man.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Tarsk
Fat, brindled short-legged quadraped; hoofed, flat-snouted,
having a bristly mane which runs down its spine to the
base of the tail. In the wild, it is viciously
aggressive. A common source of meat, and is often
roasted whole. Market of Semris is famed for it's tarsk
markets.
“The tarsk, a small one, no
more than forty pounds, tasked, snorting, bits of leaf
scattering behind it, charged. It swerved, slashing with
its curved tusks, and I only man. aged to turn it aside
with the point of the raider’s spear I carried, one of
four such weapons we had had since our brief skirmish
with raiders, that in which we had obtained our canoe,
that which had occurred in the marsh east of Ushindi. It
had twisted hack on me with incredible swiftness.
Suddenly it turned its short wide head, with that
bristling mane running down its back to its tail. “Get
behind me!” I called to the girl. It put down its head,
mounted on that short, thick neck, and, scrambling,
charged at the blond-haired barbarian. She stumbled
back, screaming, and, the animal at her legs, fell. But
in that moment, from the side, I thrust the animal from
her. It, immediately, turned again. I thrust it again to
the side. This time, suddenly, before it could turn
again, I, with a clear stroke, thrust the spear through
its thick-set body, behind the right foreleg.”
Explorers of Gor pages 345 - 346
Tarsk, Giant
Presumably similar to the common tarsk, however it
stands 10 hands at the shoulder and is hunted with
lances from tarnback.
“The giant tarsk, which can stand ten
hands at the shoulder, is even hunted with lances from
tarnback.”
Explorers of Gor page 345
Urt,
Canal
Rapid moving water mammal living along canals;
particularly found in Port Kar.
“Behind the man, in the stern, lay the
bloody, white-furred bodies of two canal urts. One would
have weighed about sixty pounds, and the other, I
speculate, about seventy-five or eighty pounds.”
Savages of Gor
Urt,
Giant
Fat, sleek, and white, it has 3 rows of needle-like
white teeth and 4 horns.
“It was a giant urt, fat, sleek and
white; it bared its three rows of needlelike white teeth
at me and squealed in anger; two horns, tusks like flat
crescents curved from its jaw; another two horns,
similar to the first, modifications of the bony tissue
forming the upper ridge of the eye socket, protruded
over those gleaming eyes that seemed to feast themselves
upon me, as if waiting the permission of the keeper to
hurl itself on its feeding trough.”
Outlaw of Gor
Urt,
Forest
Nocturnal animal living in the forests, hunted by the
hook-billed night crying fleer.
“From through the trees, on
the other side of the camp, came what I took to be the
sound of a bird, the hook-billed, night-crying fleer,
which preys on nocturnal forest urts.” Slave Girl of Gor
Urt,
Gliding
Animal living in the canopies of the rainforests inland
of Schendi.
“Here, too, may be found
snakes and monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels,
climbing, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, and
the usual varieties of insects, ants, centipedes,
scorpions, beetles and flies, and so on.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Urt,
Ground
A
small animal which inhabits the floor of the rainforests
inland of Schendi.
“In the ground zone, and on the ground itself, are
certain birds, some flighted, like the hook-billed gort,
which preys largely on rodents, such as ground urts, and
the insectivorous whistling finch, and some unflighted,
like the grub borer and lang gim.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Urt,
Leaf
A
small tree-dwelling rodent having 4 toes which inhabits
the rainforests inland of Schendi.
“In the lower branches of the “ground
zone” may be found, also, small animals, such as
tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels,
four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling,
solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous
to man.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Urt,
Tree
A
small tree-climbing rodent found in the rainforests
inland of Schendi
“Monkeys and tree urts, and snakes and
insects, however, can also be found in this highest
level.”
Explorers of Gor page 311
Vart
Carnivorous; a small, sharp-toothed mammal that flies in
flocks.
“The Vart is a small, sharp-toothed
winged mammal, carnivorous, which commonly flies in
flocks.”
Explorers of Gor page 36
Vart,
Brown
Small carnivorous mammals that cling upside down to
branches
“I could, however, recognize a row of
brown varts, clinging upside down like large matted
fists of teeth and fur and leather on the heavy, bare,
scarred branch in their case. I saw bones, perhaps human
bones, in the bottom of their case.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 191
Vart,
Jungle
A
relative of the Northern Vart. Inhabits Schendi
rainforests
“In the lower branches of the “ground
zone” may be found, also, small animals, such as
tarsiers, nocturnal jit monkeys, black squirrels,
four-toed leaf urts, jungle varts and the prowling,
solitary giani, tiny, cat-sized panthers, not dangerous
to man.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
Verr
A
mountain goat indigenous to the Voltai Mountains; wild,
agile, ill-tempered with long hair and spiraling horns;
source of a form of wool; it', milk is potable as well
as being used for cheese.
“The verr was a mountain goat
indigenous to the Voltai. It was a wild, agile,
ill-tempered beast, long-haired and spiral-horned. Among
the Voltai crags it would be worth one’s life to come
within twenty yards of one.”
Priest Kings of Gor page 63
Zeder
A
small, sleen-like, carnivorous mammal which inhabits the
rainforests inland of Schendi especially along the Ua
River. It grows to about 2 feet in length, and weighs
8-10 lbs. It is diurnal, can swim very well, and builds
a stick and mud nest in the branches of a tree where it
spends the night.
“There is, however, a sleenlike animal, though much
smaller, about two feet in length and some eight to ten
pounds in weight, the zeder, which frequents the Ua and
her tributaries. It knifes through the water by day and,
at night, returns to its nest, built from sticks and mud
in the branches of a tree overlooking the water.”
Explorers of Gor page 312
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Marine Life |
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Bint
A carnivorous freshwater marsh eel,
fanged, found in the rivers of the rainforests inland
of Schendi; a large school of bints can strip a
carcass in minutes.
“Ayari nodded, shuddering. Such blood
might attract the bint, a fanged, carnivorous marsh
eel...”
Explorers of Gor page 267
Crayfish, white
Small and blind, found in the brine
pits at Klima
“These, in turn, become food
for various flatworms and numerous tiny-segmented
creatures, such as isopods, which, in turn, serve as
food for small, blind, white crayfish, felts and
salamanders.”
Tribesmen of Gor
Eel
A ravenous animal capable
of maiming or killing a slave in moments. Some
varieties are edible and considered a gorean delicacy.
Varieties include: river eel, black eel, and spotted
eel.
“Not only must
they fear the marsh sharks and the carnivorous eels
which frequent the lower delta..”
Raiders of Gor page 6
“Many estates, particularly country homes, have pools
in which fish are kept. Some of these pools contains
voracious eels, of various sorts, river eels, black
eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean
delicacies.”
Magicians of Gor page 428
Eel, Dock
A black freshwater fish 4 feet long,
weighing 8-10 lbs.; carnivorous and aggressive, they
inhabit the shallow waters around the dock and wharves
of river ports.
“The dock eels, black, about
four feet long, are tenacious creatures. They had not
relinquished their hold on the flesh in their jaws
when they had been forcibly struck away from the leg,
back into the water.”
Rogue of Gor page 155
“I was only dimly conscious of the wetness of my back.
Then something wet and heavy, slithering; leapt upward
out of the water, and splashed back. My leg felt
stinging. It had not been able to fasten its jaws on
me. I looked downward. Two more heads, tapering,
menacing, solid, were emerged from the water, looking
up at me. Then, streaking from under the water,
suddenly breaking its surface, another body, some four
feet in length, about eight or ten pounds in weight,
leapt upward...I knew that the fastening of those
jaws, in a fair bite, could gouge ounces of flesh from
a man's body.”
Rogue of Gor page 130
Gint
A freshwater fish, about 6
inches, which inhabits the rivers of the rainforests
inland of Schendi; it has bulbous eyes and
flipper-like fins; having both lungs and gills; is
capable of walking on its pectoral fins; often found
in the company of tharlarion feeding off the scraps of
their kills.
“I recalled,
sunning themselves on exposed roots near the river,
tiny fish. They were bulbous eyed and about six inches
long, with tiny flipperlike lateral fins. They had
both lungs and gills. Their capacity to leave the
water, in certain small streams, during dry seasons,
enables them to seek other streams, still flowing, or
pools. This property also, of course, makes it
possible for them to elude marine predators and, on
the land, to return to the water in case of danger.
Normally they remain quite close to the water.
Sometimes they even sun themselves on the backs of
resting or napping tharlarion. Should the tharlarion
submerge the tiny fish often submerges with it,
staying close to it, but away from its jaws. Its
proximity to the tharlarion affords it, interestingly,
an effective protection against most of its natural
predators, in particular the black eel, which will not
approach the sinuous reptiles. Similarly the tiny fish
can thrive on the scraps from the ravaging jaws of the
feeding tharlarion. They will even drive one another
away from their local tharlarion, fighting in contests
of intraspecific aggression, over the plated territory
of the monster’s back. The remora fish and the shark
have what seem to be, in some respects, a similar
relationship. These tiny fish, incidentally, are
called gints.”
Explorers of Gor pages 299 - 300
Gint,
Giant
A large cousin of
the gint found in western Gor similar in appearance
but with a 4-spined dorsal fin; is also amphibious and
capable of walking on its pectoral fins.
“The creature which had
surfaced near us, perhaps ten feet in length, and a
thousand pounds in weight, was scaled and had large,
bulging eyes. It had gills, but it, too, gulped air,
as it had regarded us. It was similar to the tiny lung
fish I had seen earlier on the river, those little
creatures clinging to the half-submerged roots of
shore trees, and, as often as not, sunning themselves
on the backs of tharlarion, those tiny fish called
gints. Its pectoral fins were large and fleshy.”
Explorers of Gor page 384
“I saw the large fish, one of the bulging-eyed fish we
had seen earlier, a gigantic gint, or like a gigantic
gint, it now having slipped over the channel’s sill,
disappear under the water. “Hurry!” I called to her.
Wildly she was splashing toward the shore. She looked
back once. She screamed again. Its four-spined dorsal
fin could be seen now, the fish skimming beneath the
water, cutting rapidly towards her.”
Explorers of Gor page 389
Grunt
A large carnivorous
salt-water fish which inhabits Thassa; is attracted by
blood
“.....a large
game fish that haunts the plankton banks to feed on
parsit fish.”
Marauders of Gor page 59
Grunt, Blue
A small carnivorous
freshwater fish related to the Thassa grunt; also
attracted by blood like its larger cousin.
“Ayari nodded,
shuddering. Such blood might attract the bint, a
fanged, carnivorous marsh eel, or the predatory,
voracious blue grunt, a small, fresh-water variety of
the much larger and familiar salt-water grunt of
Thassa.”
Explorers of Gor page 267
Grunt,
Great Speckled
A fish inhabiting the
Thassa and caught as food for sailors.
“Half out of
the water, then returning to it, I saw a great
speckled grunt, four-gilled. It dove, and swirled
away.”
Slave Girl of Gor
Grunt, White-Bellied
A large game fish found
among the plankton beds in the Polar North, feeds on
parsit fish. It's eggs are considered a rare delicacy.
“Three other
men of the Forkbeard attended to fishing, two with a
net, sweeping it along the side of the serpent, for
parsit fish, and the third, near the stem, with a hook
and line, baited with vulo liver, for the
white-bellied grunt, a large game fish which haunts
the plankton banks to feed on parsit fish.”
Marauders of Gor page 59
Lelt
A small (5-7
inches) blind fish with fernlike filaments at either
side of the head which it uses for sense; white with
long fins it swims slowly and is the main food of the
salt shark; inhabits the brine pits such as those at
Klima in the Tahari.
“The lelt is commonly five
to seven inches in length. It is white, and
long-finned. It swims slowly and smoothly, its fins
moving the water very little, which apparently
contributes to its own concealment in a blind
environment and makes it easier to detect the
vibrations of its prey, any of several varieties of
tiny segmented creatures, predominantly isopods.”
Tribesmen of Gor
Lung Fish
Also called gints;
small fish found near half-submerged roots of shore
trees or sunning on the back of tharlarion.
“It was similar to the tiny lung fish I had seen
earlier on the river, those little creatures clinging
to the half-submerged roots of shore trees, and, as
often as not, sunning themselves on the backs of
tharlarion, those tiny fish called gints.”
Explorers of Gor page 384
Marine
Saurian, Reptilian
Reptilian-like scavengers
found in the Thassa, more than 20 ft in length, it has
a long neck and small head with rows of small teeth.
Its appendages are like broad paddles.
“I had seen,
yesterday, the long neck of a marine saurian lift from
the waters of gleaming Thassa, It had a small head,
and rows of small teeth. Its appendages were like
broad paddles. Then it had lowered its head and
disappeared. Such beasts, in spite of their
frightening appearance, are apparently harmless to
men.”
Slave Girl of Gor
Marine
Saurian
Fish-like predator with long, toothed snouts that are
silent and aggressive; sailors fear them as they do
the long-bodied sharks.
“Far more common, and dangerous, are
certain fishlike marine saurians, with long, toothed
snouts; they are silent and aggressive, and sailors
fear them as they do the long-bodied sharks.”
Slave Girl of Gor
Marsh Shark
Long bodied, almost eel-like
nine-gilled inhabitant of the rence island areas of
the marsh.
“Beyond them would be the almost eel-like,
long-bodied, nine-gilled Gorean marsh sharks.”
Raiders of Gor
Oysters
From the Vosk delta.
“Other girls had
prepared the repast, which, for the war camp, was
sumptuous indeed, containing even oysters from the
delta of the Vosk, a portion of the plunder of a tarn
caravan of Ar, such delicacies having been intended
for the very table of Marlenus, the Ubar of that great
city itself.”
Captive of Gor page 301
Parsit Fish
A silvery fish with brown stripes, they
follow the \'parsit current\' in the polar basin. In
Torvaldsland, it is smoked and dried, stored in
barrels, and used in trade to the south.
“The slender striped parsit
fish has vast plankton banks north of the town, and
may there, particularly in the spring and the fall, be
taken in great numbers. The smell of the fish-drying
sheds of Kassau carries far out to sea.”
Marauders of Gor page 27
River
Shark
A narrow black
carnivorous fish; vicious, with a triangular dorsal
fin found in the rivers of Gor.
“Something, with a twist of
its great spine, had suddenly darted from the waters
under the pier and entered the current of the Laurius.
I saw the flash of a triangular, black dorsal fin. I
screamed. Lana looked out, pointing after it. "A river
shark," she cried, excitedly. Several of the girls
looked after it, the fin cutting the waters and
disappearing in the fog on the surface.”
Captive of Gor page 79
Salt Shark
A long-bodied (12' or
more) fish; carnivorous, having gills situated under
the jaw several rows of triangular teeth a sickle-like
tail and a sail-like dorsal fin; inhabits brine pits
such as those of the Tahari.
“At the top of
the food chain in the pits, a descendant,
dark-adapted, of the terrors of the ancient seas,
stood the long-bodied, nine-gilled salt shark.”
Tribesmen of Gor
Sea Sleen
Aquatic mammal that
inhabits the polar seas, following the parsit current
in search of their main food source, the parsit fish.
There are four main types: black sleen, brown sleen,
tusked sleen, flat-nosed sleen. Some remain under the
ice year round, mostly dormant but rising every
quarter of an Ahn or so to breathe through cracks in
the ice.
“The red hunters
lived as nomads, dependent on the migrations of
various types of animals, in particular the northern
tabuk and four varieties of sea sleen. Their fishing
and hunting were seasonal, and depended on the
animals.”
Beasts of Gor
“The four main types of sea sleen found in the polar
seas are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked
sleen and the flat-nosed sleen. There is a time of
year for the arrival of each, depending on the waves
of the parsit migrations. Not all members of a species
of sleen migrate.”
Beasts of Gor
Sea Sleen, Black
One of the four main types of sea sleen
found in the polar North.
“Her cloak, of black fur,
from the black sea sleen, glossy and deep, swirled to
her ankles.”
Marauders of Gor
Sea
Sleen, Brown
One of the four main types
of sea sleen found in the polar North.
“The
four main types of sea sleen found in the polar seas
are the black sleen, the brown sleen, the tusked sleen
and the flat-nosed sleen. There is a time of year for
the arrival of each, depending on the waves of the
parsit migrations. Not all members of a species of
sleen migrate.”
Beasts of Gor
Sea Sleen,
Flat-Nosed
One of the four
main types of sea sleen found in the polar North.
“The four main types of sea
sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the
brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen.
There is a time of year for the arrival of each,
depending on the waves of the parsit migrations. Not
all members of a species of sleen migrate.”
Beasts of Gor
Sea Sleen,
Rogue
Rare variety of sea
sleen found in the Polar North, broader headed more
dangerous.
"That, I think, is a rogue sleen," said Imnak. "It
is a broad-head, and they are rare in these waters in
the fall. Too, see the gray on the muzzle and the
scarring on the right side of the head, where the fur
is gone?" "Yes," I said. "I think it is a rogue," he
said. "Also, see the way he is watching you."
Beasts of Gor
Sea Sleen,
Tusked
One of the
four main types of sea sleen found in the polar North.
“The four main types of sea
sleen found in the polar seas are the black sleen, the
brown sleen, the tusked sleen and the flat-nosed sleen.
There is a time of year for the arrival of each,
depending on the waves of the parsit migrations. Not
all members of a species of sleen migrate.”
Beasts of Gor
Sea Sleen, White-Spotted
Its rich fur is used for
cloaks.
“And behind
them, in a rich swirling cloak of the fur of the
white, spotted sea sleen, sword in hand, looking
wildly about, was another man, one I did not know.”
Raiders of Gor page 299
Shark,
River
A narrow black vicious
carnivorous fish with a triangular dorsal fin which
inhabits the rivers of Gor.
“Following in the wake of the Tesephone, to pick
up litter or garbage thrown overboard, were
long-bodied river sharks, their bodies sinuous in the
half-clear water, about a foot below the surface.”
Hunters of Gor
“He turned and
fled to the water. I watched. Luck was not with him. I
saw the distant churning in the water, and saw, far
off, the narrow head of a river shark, lifting itself,
water falling from it, and the dorsal fins, black and
triangular, of four others.”
Hunters of Gor
Sorp
A shellfish common esp. in the Vosk
river similar to an oyster; like an oyster it
manufactures pearls
“Ho-Hak once again sat down on the curved shell of
the great Vosk sorp, that shell that served him as a
throne in this domain, an island of rence in the delta
of the Vosk.” Raiders of Gor page 20
Vosk
Turtle
Can grow to be
gigantic, these animals are carnivorous, aggressive
and persistent. Can be difficult to kill.
“It might, too, be a Vosk turtle. Some of them are
gigantic, almost impossible to kill, persistent,
carnivorous. Yet, if it had been a tharlarion or a
Vosk turtle, it might well have broken the surface for
air.” Nomads of Gor page 204
Whale,
Baleen
Bluish
white spotted whale with a blunt fin, hunted by the
Red Hunters.
“Sometimes they managed to secure the
northern shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer
whale or the less common Karl whale, which was a
four-fluked, baleen whale. But their life, at best,
was a precarious one.”
Beasts of Gor
Whale, Hunjer
Toothed whale hunted by the Red
Hunters.
“Sometimes they managed to secure the northern
shark, sometimes even the toothed Hunjer whale or the
less common Karl whale, which was a four-fluked,
baleen whale. But their life, at best, was a
precarious one.” Beasts of Gor
Wing fish,
Cosian
Also known as song fish
due to its whistling mating song; a tiny blue
salt-water fish with 4 poisonous spines on its dorsal
fin; found in the waters off Port Kar; its liver is
considered a delicacy in Turia.
"Now this,"
Saphrar the merchant was telling me, "is the braised
liver of the blue, four-spired Cosian wing fish." This
fish is a tiny, delicate fish, blue, about the size of
a tarn disk when curled in one's hand; it has three or
four slender spines in its dorsal fin, which are
poisonous; it is capable of hurling itself from the
water and, for brief distances, on its stiff pectoral
fins, gliding through the air, usually to evade the
smaller sea-tharlarions, which seem to be immune to
the poison of the spines. This fish is also some times
referred to as the song fish because, as a portion of
its courtship rituals, the males and females thrust
their heads from the water and utter a sort of
whistling sound.”
Nomads of Gor pages 84 - 85
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