Savages of Gor coc-17 Read online

  The ribs of the kailiauk are vertical to the ground; the ribs of the human arehorizontal to the ground.

  The differing orientations may be done, of course, as much for reasons of feltpropriety, or for medicine purposes, as for reasons of improving the efficiencyof the missile. They may have some effect, of course, as I have suggested, atextremely close range. In this respect, however, it should be noted that mostwarriors use the parallel orientation with respect to both their war and huntingpoints. It is felt that this orientation improves sighting. This seems to me,too, to be the case. The parallel orientation, of course, would be moreeffective with kailiauk, which are usually shot at extremely close range,indeed, from so close that one might almost reach out and touch the beast. Also,of course, in close combat with humans, if one wishes, the perpendicularalignment may be simply produced; one need only turn the small bow.

  "Toward noon," said Kog, slowly turning the hide, "we see that the weather hascleared. The wind has died down. The snow has stopped falling. The sun hasemerged from Clouds. We may conjecture that the day is bright. A rise intemperature has apparently occurred as well. We see that the man has opened hiswidely sleeved hunting coat and removed his cap of fur."

  "I had not hitherto, before seeing this skin," said Samos "realized that thesavages wore such things.

  "They do," said Kog. "The winters in the Barrens are severe, and one does nothunt in a robe."

  "Here," said Samos, "the man is lying down."

  "He is surmounting a rise," said Kog. "Surmounting it with care."

  I nodded. It is seldom wise to silhouette oneself against the sky. A movement insuch a plane is not difficult to detect. Similarly, before entering a terrain,it is sensible to subject it to some scrutiny. This work, whether done fortribal migrations or, war parties, is usually done by a scout or scouts. When aman travels alone, of course, he must be his own scout. Similarly it is commonfor lone travelers or small parties to avoid open spaces without cover, wherethis is possible, and where it is not possible, to cross them expeditiously. Anoccasional ruse used in crossing an open terrain, incidentally, is to throw akailiauk robe over oneself and bend down over the back of one's kaiila. From adistance then, particularly if one holds in one's kaiila, one and one's mountmay be mistaken for a single beast, a lone kailiauk.

  Scouts are sometimes called sleen by the red savages. The sleen is Gor's mostefficient and tenacious tracker. They are often used to hunt slaves. Too, thescout, often, in most tribes, wears the pelt of a sleen. This pelt, like agarment, which is at one time both cowl and cape, covers both the head and back.

  It is perhaps felt that something of the sleen's acuity and tenacity is thusimparted to the scout. Some scouts believe that they become, when donning thispelt, a sleen. This has to do with their beliefs as to the mysteriousrelationships which are thought to obtain between the world of reality and themedicine world, that, at times, these two worlds impinge on one another, andbecome one. To be sure, from a practical point of view, the pelt makes anexcellent camouflage. It is easy, for example, to mistake a scout, on all fours,spying over a rise, for a wild sleen. Such animals are not uncommon in theBarrens. Their most common prey is tabuk.

  "And this, you see," said Kog, turning the hide, "is what he saw on that brightand thawing morning."

  "It is what he said he saw," said Samos.

  In the declivity below the rise there lay a slain kailiauk, dark in the snow.

  There could be no mistaking what, alert, huge, catlike, like a larl, crouchedbehind the kailiauk.

  "You see?" asked Kog.

  "The dark guest," said Samos.

  "Clearly delineated," said Samos.

  "Yes," said Kog, "seen clearly now, in its own form."

  I could not speak.

  "Surely this is only the product of the imagination of the artist," said Samos.

  "Too, there are five riders of the kaiila, with kaiila lances, between thekailiauk and the dark guest, and the man."

  "These are the other hunters, those whose tracks were found, those who had alsobeen following the kailiauk," said Samos.

  "Yes," said Kog.

  The kaiila lance is used in hunting kailiauk as well as in mounted warfare. Itis called the kaiila lance because it is designed to be used from kaiilaback. Itis to be distinguished in particular from the longer, heavier tharlarion lance,designed for use from tharlarionback, and often used with a lance rest, and thesmaller, thicker stabbing lances used by certain groups of pedestrian nomads.

  The kaiila lance takes, on the whole, two forms, the hunting lance and the warlance. Hunting lances are commonly longer, heavier and thicker than war lances.

  Too, they are often undecorated, save perhaps for a knot of the feathers of theyellow, 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 thefirst bird to find food.

  The point of the hunting lance is usually longer and narrower than that of thewar lance, a function of the depth into which one must strike in order to findthe heart of the kailliauk. The shafts of the kaiila lances are black, suppleand strong; they are made of tem wood, a wood much favored on Gor for this typeof purpose. Staves for the lances are cut in the late winter, when the sap isdown. Such wood, in the long process of smoking and drying over the lodge fire,which consumes several weeks, seasoning the wood and killing any insects whichmight remain in it, seldom splits or cracks. Similarly, old- growth wood, orsecond-growth wood, which is tougher, is preferred over the fresher, less densefirst-growth, or new-growth, wood.

  After drying the shafts are rubbed with grease and straightened over the beat ofa fire. Detailed trimming and shaping is accomplished with a small knife. Arubbing with sandstone supplies a smooth finish. The head, of metal, or of boneor stone, with sinew or rawhide, and also sometimes with metal trade rivets, isthen mounted on the lance. Lastly, grips, and loops, and decorations, ifdesired, are added. The sinew and rawhide, before being bound on the lance, aresoaked with hot water. The heated water releases a natural the water itself, ofcourse, produces a natural shrinking and contraction in drying. The mounting,thus, is extremely solid and secure. The tarn lance, it might be mentioned, asis used by the red savages who have mastered the tarn, is, in size and shape,very similar to the kaiila lance. It differs primarily in being longer and moreslender. These lances are used in a great variety of ways, but the most commonmethod is to thrust one's wrist through the wrist loop, grasp the lance with theright hand, and anchor it beneath the right arm. This maximizes balance, controland impact. With the weight of a hurtling kaiila behind the thrust such a lancecan be thrust through the body of a kailiauk. To be sure, the skillful hunterwill strike no more deeply than is necessary, and his trained kaiila will slowits pace sufficiently to permit the kailiauk to draw its own body from thelance. This permits the lance to be used again and again in the same hunt.

  "Notice the manner in which the lances are held by the mounted hunters," saidKog.

  "The first one," said Samos, "has his lance in the attack position."

  "He, then, will be the first to die," I said.

  "Of course," said Kog.

  One of the other mounted hunters held his lance in his right hand, its buttresting on his thigh. From this position he could rapidly bring the lance to theattack position. He was, accordingly, the second fellow with whom the man mustdeal. A third mounted hunter held the lance across his body, it resting in thecrook of his left arm. He was the third fellow to reckon with. The other twomounted hunters still wore their lances in their shoulder loops, slung acrosstheir back. They might be saved to last.

  "The man removes his bow from the fringed, beaded bow case," said Kog. "Hestrings the bow." The bow, of course, is left unstrung until it is ready to beused. This conserves the resilience of the wood and the tightness and strengthof the sinew string. "From his quiver," said Kog, "he extracts six arrows. Threehe holds, with the bow, in his left hand. One he fits to the string. Two heholds in his mouth
."

  "The first mounted hunter is prepared to attack," said Samos.

  "The man, on his snowshoes, descends the slope between himself and his enemies," said Kog, "his arrow to the string."

  The range and striking power of the small bow, while not negligible, do notcompare with that of the peasant bow, or long bow. The red savage, accordingly,whenever possible, attempts to maximize the possibilities of an effective hit bydecreasing the distance between himself and the target. This fits in,incidentally, with his glorification of close combat.

  The most highly regarded battle exploit among most tribes, for which the highesthonors are accorded, is not to kill an armed enemy but to touch or strike onewith the open hand. The more danger and risk that is involved in a deed, on theWhole, the greater is the concomitant glory of accomplishing it. Killing theenemy, thus, in the heraldry of the red savages, ranks far beneath the bestingof the enemy, and in a way that supposedly demonstrates one's greater prowessand courage. It is thus understandable that touching an armed enemy with theopen hand counts among most tribes as a first coup. The second and third man toaccomplish such a deed would then receive second coup and third coup. Killing anenemy with a bow and arrow from ambush, on the other hand, might be counted asonly a fifth or seventh coup.

  Needless to say, the counting of coup, which is reflected in the feathers andadornments to which one is entitled, is a matter of great importance to the redsavages. Indeed, there are also, in many tribes, practical considerations, whichalso become involved in these matters. For example, it is unlikely that one canadvance within a tribe, or become a leader or chieftain, unless one hasfrequently counted coup. Too, in many tribes many tribes, a man who has notcounted coup is not permitted to mate. In other tribes, such a man, if he isover twenty-five, is permitted to mate, but he is not allowed to paint hismate's face. Thus will her shame before the other women be made clear.

  The institution of counting, or tallying, coup has several obvious effects onthe structure and nature of the society of the red savages. In particular, ittends, on the whole, to arrange social hierarchies in such a way that thesociety is oriented toward aggressiveness and warfare, features, which tend toprotect and preserve, in an almost natural harmony and balance, delicaterelationships between food supplies, territories and populations. Viewed in thismanner tribal warfare may be seen as an example of intraspecific aggression,with its attendant consequences in decentralizing and refining diversepopulations. Too, if one regards these things as of any interest, the countingof coup and intertribal warfare lends color, excitement and zest to the lives ofthe red savages. They live in a world in which danger is not unknown. Surelythey could live otherwise, but they have not chosen to do so. They live with thestars and the, winds, and the kaiila and kailiauk. They have not chosen torevere the fat-bellied, beer-drinking gods of more sedentary peoples. Too, ofcourse, it should he noted that the counting of coup tends, statistically, toensure that it is the stronger and healthier, the more alert, the moreintelligent and sharper-sensed who will repro- duce themselves. This is inmarked contrast to certain societies where it is the healthiest and finest whoare sent off to war while the inferior and defective remain behind in safety,making money and multiplying themselves.

  In most tribes, incidentally, a man who refuses to go on the warpath is put inwomen's clothes and given a woman's name. He must then live as a woman.

  Henceforth he is referred to in the female gender. Needless to say, she is neverpermitted to mate. Sometimes she must even serve the members of a warriorsociety, as a captive female.

  Interestingly enough, whites stand outside the coup structure. This is somethingthat few of them will object to. It seems they are simply not regarded, on thewhole, as being suitable foes, or foes worthy enough to stand within the coupstructure. It is not that the red savages object to killing them. It is onlythat they do not take pride, commonly, in doing so.

  Similarly a man of the high cities would not expect to be publicly rewarded forhaving speared a tarsk or slain an urt, Accordingly the red savage will seldomgo out of his way to slay a white person; he commonly sees little profit indoing so; in killing such a person, he is not entitled to count coup.

  "The man, now," said Kog, "is not fifty feet from the mounted hunters. In thesoft snow he has descended the slope silently."

  "Surely the dark guest, as we may call him, that crouching behind the kailiauk,has seen him."

  "Of course," said Kog, "but he has given no sign."

  "No sign," I said, "which was read by the mounted hunters.

  "Yes," said Kog. His lips drew back, over his fangs. There are always signs. Itis only a question of their delectability. They are as small, sometimes, as thedilation of a pupil.

  "The bow is drawn," said Kog.

  The small bow has many advantages. High among these is the rapidity with whichit may be drawn and fired. A skilled warrior, in the Gorean gravity, can fireten arrows into the air, the last leaving the bow before the first has returnedto the earth. No Gorean weapon can match it in its rate of fire. At close rangeit can be devastating. Two further advantages of the small bow that might bementioned are its maneuverability and its capacity to be concealed, say beneatha robe. It can be easily swept from one side of the kaiila to the other. In thistype of combat, incidentally, it is not unusual for the warrior to shieldhimself behind the body of his racing kaiila, and, circling the enemy, rise up,suddenly, to fire over the animal's back or, sometimes, from beneath its neck: Aheel over the animal's back and a fist in its silken neck hair, or an arm thrustthrough a leather throat loop, provide the leverage needed for these feats.

  To be sure, these folk are superb riders. A child is often put on kaiilaback,its tiny bands clutching the silken neck, before it can walk. Sometimes a strapdangles back for a few feet from the throat loop. This is to be seized by thewarrior who may have been struck from his mount, either to recapture the beastor, using the strap, being pulled along, with the momentum of the racing steed,to vault again to its back. This strap, incidentally, is used more often inhunting than in warfare. It could be too easily grasped by an enemy on foot,with the result of perhaps impeding the movement of the kaiila or even causingit to twist and fall. Needless to say, it is extremely dangerous to fall fromone's kaiila in hunting kailiauk, because one is often closely involved withnumerous stampeding beasts, or the given beast one is pursuing may suddenly turnon one.

  In hunting kailiauk the hunters usually scatter about, each selecting his ownanimals. Accordingly, one's fellows are seldom close at hand to rescue one. Thisis quite different from mounted warfare, where one's fellows are usually quiteclose and ready, in an instant, to sweep one up or help one to regain one'smount. The red savage does not take an industrial or arithmetical approach towarfare. He would rather rescue one comrade than slay ten of the enemy. This hasto do with the fact that they are members of the same tribe and, usually, of thesame warrior society. They will have known one another almost all of theirlives; as children and boys they have played together and watched the kaiilaherds in the summer camps together; they may even have shared in their firstkailliauk hunt; now, as men, they have taken the warpath together; they arecomrades, and friends; each is more precious to the other than even a thousandcoups.

  This explains some of the eccentricities of tribal warfare; first actual warparties, though common, are formed less often than parties for stealing kaiila;in this sport the object is to obtain as many kaiila as possible without, ifpossible, engaging the enemy at all; it is a splendid coup, for example, to cuta kaiila tether strap which is tied to the wrist of a sleeping enemy and makeoff with the animal before he awakens; killing a sleeping enemy is only a minorcoup; besides, if he has been killed, how can he understand how cleverly he hasbeen bested; imagine his anger and chagrin when he awakens; is that not moreprecious to the thief than his scalp; in actual warfare itself large-scaleconflicts almost never occur. The typical act of war is the raid, conductedusually by a small group of men, some ten to fifteen in number, whic
h entersenemy country, strikes, usually at dawn, and makes away, almost at soon as itcame, with scalps and loot, sometimes, too, a woman or two of the enemy istaken; men of most tribes are fond of owning a woman of the enemy; maleprisoners are seldom taken; because of their camaraderie and the sporting aspectof their warfare a group of red savages will usually refuse to follow even asingle enemy into rock or brush cover; it is simply too dangerous to do so;similarly the red savages will almost never engage in a standing fight if theyare outnumbered; often, too, they will turn their backs on even an obviousvictory if the costs of grasping it seem too high; sometimes, too, a largenumber of red savages will retreat before an unexpected attack of a small numberof enemies; they prefer to fight on their own terms and at times of their ownchoosing; too, they may not have had time to make their war medicine.

  "Even with the small bow," said Samos, "surely he cannot expect to best fivemen."

  "It does not seem likely," I admitted.

  "He conceives himself to be in the presence of the medicine helper," said Kog.

  "He is undaunted."

  "Turn the hide," I said.

  The creature rotated the hide on the heavy table, in the light of theunshuttered dark lantern.

  "The first of the mounted hunters is dead," said Kog, "he who had had the lancein the attack position. The kailla of the others, however, have bolted."

  I nodded. I had feared this. The lofty, silken kaiila is an extremely alert,high-strung beast.

  "The second mounted hunter, he who had held the lance ready, is thrown from thekaiila to the snow. The man must, thus, in the instant, change his aim to thethird mounted rider, he who held the lance across his body. He fells him. Thedark guest acts. He leaps across the body of the slain kailiauk. He seizes theman who had fallen to the snow."

  I did not care to look at that picture.

  "We may conjecture that the hunter in the snow has screamed," said Kog. "The twoother hunters, with their lances across their backs, bolt away. In the distancethey turn to regard the kailiauk, the dark guest, the man. The dark guest leapsto the carcass of the kailiauk, its blood red in the snow. Nearby, in the snow,lies he who had been the second mounted hunter. His lance is broken. His bodyhas been half bitten through. The dark guest throws back his head, scratches athis chest, lifts his clawed hands, challenges the other two mounted hunters. Theblood of the second hunter is red about his jaws and on the matted fur of hischest. The other two hunters take their leave. Now the dark guest and the manare alone, with the kailiauk, with three riderless kaiila. The dark guest againcrouches behind the kailiauk. The man puts away his bow and arrows. The darkguest invites him to the feast."