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There are a wide variety of animals on Gor,
some which were originally transported from Earth to Gor, others which are
native to Gor and some which have come from other planets. The following
is a list of many of the animals mentioned in the Gor series but does not
include all of the animals that do exist on Gor. It has been divided into
4 sections and they are as follows
Not all Earth animals exist on Gor. Most
specifically, the horse and dog are not known on Gor except in legend and
myth. There are no canine type animals, such as wolves or coyotes, known
to be on Gor. There are Gorean animals that are similar to some Earth animals
but are native to Gor. The theory of convergent evolution states that there
are certain optimum configurations for animals that would be similar on similar
planets. This explains why larls and Earth cats are similar. On Gor, the
larl is the optimum configuration for a land predator while on Earth it is
the Bengal tiger.
It is unknown whether some men evolved from
Gor or all were originally brought from Earth. There are some anthropoidal
fossils on Gor though which may indicate that at least some men may have
independently evolved on Gor. There are no mention of any other types of
fossils so it is largely unknown what other creatures may have existed in
Gor's past or may exist in isolated wilds. Dinosaurs may have also once walked
the world of Gor millennia ago.
This list is alphabetical and some entries
may not have a lot of description as the books did not provide much description.
This list will help though understand much about the animals of Gor.
Land Animals of Gor
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There are six varieties of anteaters in the rainforests near Schendi. One
type is the great spined anteater. It is about twenty feet long and has heavy
clawed forefeet. These claws are generally used to break into termite nests,
its primary prey. They are also strong enough to eviscerate a larl. The
anteater's four-foot long tongue is coated with an adhesive saliva that it
uses to collect them. It also commonly makes a whistling sound.
"More than six varieties inhabit the rainforests of Schendi. The great
spined anteater grows to 20 ft in length and feeds on white ants or termites
breaking apart their towering nests of toughened clay with mighty claws then
darting it's 4 foot saliva coated tongue, drawing thousands into it's narrow
tubelike mouth." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 293 and 35)
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Bosk
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There are fifteen varieties of bosk, a cattle like animal. These varieties
include the brown bosk, red bosk, and milk bosk. They are commonly the
long-haired wild ox of the plains. They have a thick, humped neck, a wide
head, and tiny red eyes. They also have the temper of a sleen. With their
two, long, wicked horns they can be quite deadly. The horns reach out and
suddenly curve forward and may even reach the length of two spears. They
are very important animals to the Wagon Peoples and also many others on Gor.
Bosk meat and milk is available over much of Gor.
A huge, shambling animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy
hair. It has a wide head and tiny red eyes, a fearful temper, and two long,
wicked, curved and pointed horns. The horns, from tip to tip may measure
two spears in length. It is for good reason the bosk is called 'The Mother
of the Wagon Peoples'. (Priest-Kings of Gor, pg. 45)
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Deer
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A swift type of deer lives in the north areas.
In the distance, near the yellowish thicket, I saw a small, yellowish
animal moving, delicately. It was far off and I could not see it well. I
thought it might be a deer or gazelle. It disappeared into the thicket.
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Frevet
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These are small, quick, and friendly mammalian insectivores. They sometimes
live in insulae in the cities and eat pests. As they cannot eat through walls,
then they do not harm the insulae.
"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, pg. 276)
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Gatch, Armored
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This is a marsupial that lives in the rainforests near Schendi.
"I watched the black, segmented bodies of some fifteen or twenty ants,
some two hundred yards in advance of the column, approach the meat. Their
antennae were lifted. They had seemed tense, excited. They were some two
inches in length. Their bite, and that of their fellows, is vicious and extremely
painful, but it is not poisonous." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 401)
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Giani
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These are solitary, prowling, tiny cat-sized panthers. They live in the
rainforests near Schendi and are not dangerous to man.
"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, pg. 31)
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Goat
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Similar to on earth
The verr was a mountain goat indigenous to the Voltai. It was a wild,
agile, ill-tempered beast, longhaired and spiral-horned. Among the Voltai
crags it would be worth one's life to come within twenty yards of one.
(PriestKings of Gor)
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Hurt
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This is a two-legged, domesticated marsupial that bounds like a kangaroo.
It is raised on ranches in several northern cities, herded by sleen and sheared
for their white wool. Hurts replace their wool four times a year. The finest
wool is sheared in the spring from the bellies of hurts and verr.
"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, pg. 39)
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Kaiila
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There are two varieties of kaiila, the southern kaiila and the desert or
sand kaiila. The earlier books stated that kaiila did not exist in the northern
hemisphere but this was later changed as the Red Savage in the Barrens have
kaiila. The two varieties are very similar.
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The southern kaiila are used by the Wagon Peoples as mounts. It is a silken,
lofty, and graceful animal. It is long necked, smooth gaited, and carnivorous.
It is mammalian but doesn't suckle its young. The young are born vicious
and can hunt as soon as they struggle to their feet. The mother's instinct
is to deliver the young near game. Once a kaiila eats its fill, it won't
eat for several days. They are extremely agile and can easily outmaneuver
a high tharlarion. They require less food than a tarn. They normally stands
about twenty to twenty-two hands at the shoulder. They can cover as much
as six hundred pasangs a day. Its head bears two large eyes, one on each
side, and the eyes are triply lidded so it can travel in adverse weather
like storms. It is most dangerous at these times and often hunts then. Some
are colored black. They also have long, triangular tongues, long ears and
four rows of fangs. They are trained to avoid the thrown spear. Until it
is proficient in this skill, it is not allowed to breed.
"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, pg. 13);
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The sand or desert kailla is used as a mount in the Tahari. They are almost
all tawny colored though there are some black ones. This variety does suckle
their young. Kailla milk is reddish and has a strong salty taste. This is
an omnivorous creature and must feed more frequently than the southern kailla.
Its paws are much broader, the digits being webbed with leathery fibers and
heavily padded. Its hair is never sheared though it is gathered when it sheds.
The most prized hair is found on its belly. Such hairs are commonly used
to make cloth. The long outer hairs are coarser and used for ropes and tent
cloth.
"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.
(Tribesmen of Gor, pg. 71)
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Either the Southern kaiila or the Desert Kaiila can be referred to as a war
kaiila if they are trained and outfitted for combat.
"The war kaiila, rearing on its hind legs, its claws, however, sheathed,
lunged at the other animal, its clawed back feet thrusting with an explosion
of sand away from the ground; the long neck darted forward, the long, graceful
head, its fanged jaws bound shut with leather, struck at the man astride
the other beast. He thrust the jaws away with the buckler, and, rearing in
the stirrups of his high saddle , slashed at me with the leather-sheathed,
curved blade. The kaiila, both of them, with the swiftness, the agility of
cats, spun, half crouching, squealing in frustration, and again lunged toward
one another." (Tribesman of Gor, pg. 59)
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Kailauk
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This is a short-trunked, stocky, awkward ruminant of the plains. There are
several varieties including the Yellow Kailiauk.
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The yellow variety are tawny and their haunches are marked in red and brown
bars. The males have a trident of horns and usually stand about ten hands
at the shoulder. Females only stand about eight. The males weigh about sixteen
hundred to two thousand pounds and the females only weigh twelve hundred
to sixteen hundred pounds. They are located in the savannahs and plains north
and south of the rain forests. Some herds even frequent the forests.
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The kailiauk of the Barrens is the larger type, standing twenty to twenty-five
hands, and weighing up to four thousand pounds. Their numbers in the Barrens
are enormous and most have never seen a man or sleen. They have nearly no
natural enemies. They are migratory creatures and drift with the seasons,
bending northward in the summer and southward in the winter. They generally
follow a gigantic oval pattern that crosses the lands of many tribes so a
tribe need not leave its own territory to hunt them. The known kailiauk in
the Barrens travel in herds that have often been named. Some famous herds
include the Boswell, Bento and Hogarthe herds. The four or five best known
herds number between two and three million animals. The tremors from any
of those herds can be felt fifty pasangs away. There are several smaller
herds numbering in the hundreds of thousands, and there are even smaller
herds of hundreds to thousands. They are rarely hunted on foot except in
snow. They are commonly hunted by kaiilaback. They have four stomachs and
eight-valved heart. A red savage can kill one with a single arrow by striking
into the intestinal cavity behind the last rib causing large internal bleeding
or by a shot behind the left shoulder blade into the heart.
"It is a gigantic, dangerous beast, often standing from twenty to twenty-five
hands at the shoulder and weighing as much as four thousand pounds. It is
almost never hunted on foot except in deep snow, in which it is almost helpless.
(Savages of Gor, pg. 40)
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Kur
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Large animal that eats humans. Also called "the Others."
They are at war with the Priest Kings for control of Earth and Gor.
"The beast stood there, blinking, bent over the body. Its fir was sable,
mottled with white. Its ears, large, pointed and wide, were laid back flat
against its head. It was perhaps seven feet tall and weighed four or five
hundred pounds. Its snout was wide, leathery. There were two nostrils, slit-like.
Its tongue was dark. It had two rows of fangs, four of which were particularly
prominent, those in the first row of fangs, above and below, in the position
of canines; of these, the upper two were particularly long, and curved. Its
arms were longer and larger than its legs; it held the body it was devouring
in clawed, paw-like hands, yet six-digited, extra-jointed, almost like tentacles.
It hissed, and howled and, eyes blazing, fangs bared, threatened us.
"This is a small Kur," said the Forkbeard." (Marauders of Gor, pg. 109)
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Larl
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There are several varieties of this tawny leopard-like beast that is indigenous
to the Voltai and other ranges. It is six to eight foot tall at the shoulder.
Its head is broad, sometimes more than two feet across, and shaped roughly
like a triangle. This makes its head viper-like. Their heads are in constant
motion. It has an unobtrusive bony ridge which runs from its four nasal slits
to the start of its backbone. The ridge can be penetrated by a spear but
an imperfect cast would glance off the bone. It has an eight-valved heart
in the center of its breast. They sometimes visit the civilized plains. When
it hunts alone, it is silent until it roars preceding its charge. When hunting
with others, they emit hunting cries, cries to drive their prey toward a
certain direction, into the path of quiet larls of the same pride. A larl
prefers to ruin a hunt, even with a number of other quarry, if it means that
one might escape. No one had ever tamed a larl. Even when raised from a cub,
a larl will go wild at sometime and run away. They are hunted with spears.
They usually only attack men when provoked or no other prey is available.
Hunters of larls use the Gorean spear. They go in single file. When they
see a larl, the first man in the line casts his spear and then drops to the
ground, covering himself with his shield. If the larl is not dead, the next
man in line will cast his spear. The last spear must stand his ground if
the larl is not dead and face it with his sword alone so the others can escape.
The First Spear is usually the best spearsman and Last the worst. Its pelt
is normally a tawny red or sable black.
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The black larl is predominately nocturnal and both male and female are maned.
Females are smaller but are quite as aggressive and sometimes even more dangerous
particularly when they are hunting for their cubs during the late fall and
winter.
"The black larl, which is predominantly nocturnal, is maned, both male
and female. (Priest Kings of Gor, pg. 18)
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The red larl, the more common type, hunts whenever hungry and has no mane.
Females are smaller but are quite as aggressive and sometimes even more dangerous
particularly when they are hunting for their cubs during the late fall and
winter.
"The red larl, which hunts whenever it is hungry, regardless of the hour,
and is the more common variety, possesses no mane. (Priest Kings of Gor,
pg. 18)
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The white larls have upper canine fangs that are a foot in length and extend
down like a saber tooth tiger. There tails are long and tufted at the end.
"I was struck with wonder, though I was careful to keep beyond the range
of their chains, for I had never seen white larls before. They were gigantic
beasts, superb specimens, perhaps eight feet at the shoulder. (Priest Kings
of Gor, pg. 22)
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Snow Larl
This is a four-legged mammal whose winter fur is snowy white. It has two
stomachs and the food in its second stomach can be held almost indefinitely.
It hunts in the sun, eating bird's eggs and leems. It is about ten inches
high and weighs eight to twelve pounds. A good pelt could sell in Ar for
maybe half a silver tarsk
"A small 4-legged mammal, about 10 inches high, weighing between 8 and
5 pounds. The snow larl 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." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 74)
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There are also larls in the jungles near Schendi.
"On the jungle floor, as well, are found jungle larls and jungle panthers,
of diverse kinds, and many smaller catlike predators. (Explorer or Gor, pg.
312)
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The heart of the mountain larl allegedly brings great luck, even more luck
than that of the sleen.
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There is even a larl hunter dance that is performed by men. They dance in
a file, dancing the stalking of the beast including the confrontation and
the kill. Return to Top
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Monkey
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Several varieties of monkeys lives in the rainforest such as the Guernon
monkeys, tarsiers and the nocturnal jit monkeys.
"Found in the jungle along the Ua river; recognized by their chattering
sound. (Explorers of Gor, pg. 307)
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Panther
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There are several varieties of these cats. They include jungle panthers,
yellow panthers, and forest panthers. The forest panther is a proud beast
that does not care to be distracted when it is hunting. They hunt largely
at night but are not invariably nocturnal. They will hunt when hungry or
irritable. Panthers will usually only attack men if they are provoked or
if no other prey is available. Panthers are able to climb but they normally
take a hunting scent from the ground.
"On the jungle floor, as well, are found jungle larls and jungle panthers,
of diverse kinds, and many smaller catlike predators." (Explorers of Gor,
pg.35)
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Porcupine
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A long-tailed variety lives in the rainforests.
"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." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 311)
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Prairie Simian
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No real description
"In spite of the shortness of the legs the Kur can, when it wishes, by
utilizing its upper appendages, in the manner of a prairie simian, like the
baboon, move with great rapidity." (Marauders of Gor, pg. 171)
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Quala
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This is a small, three-toed mammal. It is dun colored with a stiff brushy
mane of black hair. It travels in a scampering flock. The plural form for
them is qualae.
"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-colored and with
a stiff brushy mane of black hair." (Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 141)
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Sleen
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There are several varieties of this six-legged, long bodied carnivorous mammal.
It is almost like a snake. Some can get as big as twenty feet long and up
to twelve to fourteen hundred pounds. They have two rows of teeth in a wide
and triangular head. Their paws have six claws. They smell like a weasel
or ferret but only stronger. Sleens are very dirty animals. It is an efficient,
tireless, almost infallible hunter. It is capable of pursuing a scent, days
old, for hundreds of pasangs. Sleens in the wild are burrowing and nocturnal.
They do not climb. Their preferred prey is the tabuk.
They mate once a year in the spring. Their mating ritual is interesting.
If a female has never mated before, she will flee and fight a male sleen.
The male must finally take her by the throat and, belly to belly, mate with
her. After mating once, a female never needs to be forced again. The mating
season is usually confined to the spring. Their gestation period is six months
and there are usually four young born. The young are commonly white furred
and darken by the next spring.
Young sleen are about eight feet long and adults are nineteen to twenty feet
long. A young sleen's attack is noisy, a whistling rush, a clumsy squealing
charge. An adult sleen sometimes makes kills swiftly and silently. There
is also a hunting frenzy underwent by some sleen that is a function in part
of the secretions of certain glands. Most domestic sleen are bred as it is
hard to tame a wild one and a wild sleen could revert. If young sleen are
taken from their mother within the first two months of their life, there
is a good chance they can be tamed. It may still revert though, especially
in the spring, during the mating period. The specific verbal signals between
a master and his trained sleen are private. Verbality is important as a sleen
on the hunt may not look at his master. Sleen are used for herding verr and
bosk, tracking tabuk and slaves, guarding and patrolling, and many other
activities. In Thentis, sleen sniff out the smuggling of black wine beans.
Assassins even sometimes use them.
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The Gray sleen is the best tracker.
"The sleen," he said, "and especially the gray sleen, is Gor's finest
tracker. It is a relentless, tenacious tracker. It can follow a scent that
is weeks old, for a thousand pasangs. (Dancer of Gor, pg.161);
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The forest sleen is large, and commonly either brown or black.
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)
"On the floor itself are also found several varieties of animal life,
in particular marsupials, such as the armored gatch, and rodents, such as
sleens and ground urts. Several varieties of tarsk, large and small, also
inhabit this zone. More than six varieties of anteater are also found here,
and more than twenty kinds of small, fleet, single-horned tabuk.
(13:32:312)
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Prairie sleen are smaller than forest sleen, usually only seven feet in length.
They are domesticated as herd sleen and used as shepherds and sentries by
the Wagon People.
The two most common sorts of trained sleen are the smaller, tawny prairie
sleen, and the large, brown or black forest sleen, sometimes attaining a
length of twenty feet. (Slave Girl of Gor)
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Aquatic sleen, or sea sleens, are common in the north. There are four varieties
of sea sleen in the north including the black sleen, brown sleen, tusked
sleen, and flat-nosed sleen. Many migrate though some remain largely dormant
in the winter. Their principal prey are parsits and they follow their migrations.
A medium-sized adult sea sleen is about eight feet long and weighs 300 to
400 pounds.
Once he thrust away one of the white sharks of the northern waters, The
second of the sea sleen it had been which, with its sharp teeth, making a
strike, but falling short, had torn away her green velvet gown on the right
side from the hip to the hemline; a long strip of it, like a ribbon, was
in its teeth as it darted away. (Marauders of Gor)
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There is a white snow sleen in the north as well.
I thought a snow sleen, one of those long, vicious animals, would surely
be puzzled to find itself attached to a sled where there was no snow. " (Beasts
of Gor, pg. 215)
Sleen hunters, for luck when they kill one, eat its heart. The heart of the
mountain larl brings the most luck. There are no sleen in the rainforests.
The sleen is considered Gor's most perfect hunter.
"I thought, seeing it, holding itself closely to the ground, but yet free
of the ground, that it might be a long-bodied lizard. Then, as moonlight
fell through the tree branches in a pattern across its snout and neck, I
saw not scales, but rippled fur, long and thick. Its eyes caught the light
and flashed like burning copper. It snarled. I gasped. It had six legs. It
was perhaps twenty feet in length, perhaps eleven hundred pounds in weight.
It approached sinuously, hissing. (Slave Girl of Gor, pg, 39-40)
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Sloth
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No description found in the books
"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." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 311)
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Squirrel, Black
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No description found in the books
"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." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 312)
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Tabuk
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There are several varieties of this one horned, yellow antelope.
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The common type frequents Ka-la-na thickets. It is small, graceful and eats
berries and salt. Young tabuk rarely leave the thickets. Their hide is a
mottled yellow and brown. It has a single horn of ivory, a deadly weapon.
It is a yard or so long and two and a half inches at the base.
"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, pg.
56)
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Northern tabuk are massive, tawny, and swift. Many stand ten hands at the
shoulder. Northern tabuk hairs are hollow and give its fur an excellent
insulative quality. It has a single horn of ivory, a deadly weapon. It is
a yard or so long and two and a half inches at the base. The herd of Tancred
is a gigantic herd of northern tabuk, one of several. This herd winters in
the rims of the northern forests, south and east of Torvaldsland. In the
springtime, short-haired and hungry, they migrate northward, following the
shore of Thassa until they reach the tundra of the polar basin for their
summer grazing. When winter comes, long-haired and fat, they return south.
"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. (12:9:152)
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The prairie tabuk reside in the Barrens. They are tawny, single-horned, and
travel in herds. Some varieties lie down when sensing danger. They can attain
short-term speeds of eighty to ninety pasangs an Ahn. Their evasive leaps
can cover thirty to forty feet in length and heights of ten to fifteen feet.
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There are twenty varieties of tabuk in the rainforests.
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Tarsiers
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No description found in the books
"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, pg. 312)
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Tarsk
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This is a six-tusked wild boar, with a bristly mane running down its spine.
There is a giant tarsk that stands ten hands at the shoulder. There are several
varieties of tarks in the rainforests, both large and small. They can be
domesticated and the rencers keep some. They are best hunted from the back
of kaiila with lances and the giant tarsk is often hunted on tarnback with
lances. Tarsk meat tends to be salty.
"The tarsk, a small one, no more than forty pounds, tasked, snorting,
bits of leaf scattering behind it, charged. Such animals are best hunted
from the back of kaiila with lances, in the open. They are cunning, persistent
and swift. The giant tarsk, which can stand ten hands at the shoulder, is
even hunted with lances from tarnback." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 345)
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Urt
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There are several varieties of this common rodent. It is usually fat, sleek
and white. It has three rows of needlelike teeth, tusks that curve from its
jaw, and two horns that protrude over its eyes. It also has a long hairless
tail. Most are tiny enough to hold in palm of your hand but some can get
as big as wolves or ponies. Certain varieties migrate twice a year though
it is only dangerous if you are in the middle of their path.
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In the rainforests there are gliding, ground, leaf and tree urts.
"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." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 312);
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The canal urt is web footed and can be found in Port Kar's canals.
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There are also brush urts and forest urts.
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Some large urts are domesticated and bred for attacking and killing. Most
urts attack in a pack and are messy and noisy when attacking.
"It was a giant urt, fat, sleek & 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."
(Outlaw of Gor, pg. 86)
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Vart
-
These are blind, batlike flying rodents. They can grow to the size of a small
dog. They can strip a carcass in minutes. Some are rabid and they hang upside
down like bats. There are jungle varts in the rainforests. Varts on Tyros
are trained as weapons.
"Perhaps most I dreaded those nights filled with the shrieks of the vart
pack, a blind, batlike swarm of flying rodents, each the size of a small
dog." (Outlaw of Gor, pg. 26)
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Verr
-
This is a mountain goat, indigenous to the Voltai Mountains. They are
long-haired, spiral horned, and ill-tempered. There is a small, long-haired
verr that is smaller and less belligerent than the wild verr. Some are
domesticated and they are a source of wool and milk. The finest wool is sheared
in the spring from the bellies of the hurt and verr.
"The verr was a mountain goat indigenous to the Voltai. It was a wild,
agile, ill-tempered beast, longhaired 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, pg. 63)
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Zeder
-
This is a small, sleen-like carnivore from the rainforests. It frequents
the Ua River and its tributaries. It grows to two feet and weighs eight to
ten pounds. It is diurnal, can swim well, and builds a stick and mud nest
in tree branches where it sleeps at 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 requents
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 35)
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Bugs and Reptiles of Gor
-
Adder
-
No description found in the book, similar to Earth
"Another was slain when an adder forced into his mouth tore its way free
through the side of his face" (Marauders of Gor, pg. 26)
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Ant
-
There is a particular variety of ants that inhabit the rainforests near Schendi.
They are referred to as the "marchers." Essentially, this is a huge mass
of black ants that move through the jungles. The ants usually form a column
that is about a yard wide but that could be pasangs in length. The column
widens only when food is found. It may then spread up to five hundred feet
wide. To cross small streams, the ants will make a bridge of themselves.
During a rain, they will separate and seek shelter, reforming after the rains
stop. A knowledgeable individual could guide the marchers on a specific path.
The bite of these ants is extremely painful but not poisonous.
"I watched the black, segmented bodies of some fifteen or twenty ants,
some two hundred yards in advance of the column, approach the meat. Their
antennae were lifted. They had seemed tense, excited. They were some two
inches in length. Their bite, and that of their fellows, is vicious and extremely
painful, but it is not poisonous." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 401)
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Arthropod
-
A large, perhaps eight feet long and a yard high, multilegged, segmented
arthropod scuttled near, its eyes weaving on stalks
I did not know at the time but Gur is a product originally secreted by
large, grey, domesticated, hemispheric arthropods which are, in the morning,
taken out to pasture where they feed on special Sim plants, extensive, rambling,
tangled vine-like plants with huge, rolling leaves raised under square energy
lamps fixed in the ceilings of the broad pasture chambers, and at night are
returned to their stable cells where they are milked by Muls. The special
Gur used on the Feast of Tola is, in the ancient fashion, kept for weeks
in the social stomachs of specially chosen Priest-Kings to mellow and reach
the exact flavour and consistency desired, which Priest-Kings are then spoken
of as retaining Gur.(Priest-Kings of Gor, pg. 158)
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Bee
-
Honeybees are domestically raised for their honey. Though the books only
depicted an instance of such breeding in Torvaldsland, the wide availability
of honey throughout Gor seems to support bee keeping in many other regions.
I saw small fruit trees, and hives, where honey bees were raised; and
there were small sheds, here and there, with sloping roofs of boards; in
some such sheds might craftsmen work; in others fish might be dried or butter
made. (Marauders of Gor )
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Beetle
-
One variety of beetle known to exist on Gor is the marsh 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, pincerlike 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. (Priest-Kings of Gor, pg. 180)
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Centipede
-
Similar to earth
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." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 311)
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Flies
-
There are many types of Gor including sand flies, arctic flies, and sting
flies. Sand flies live in the Tahari and appear after the rains. The flies
in the arctic are black and long-winged. Sting flies, also known as needle
flies in the southern regions, usually live in deltas and similar wet areas.
They generally lay their eggs on the stems of rence plants. They tend to
be attracted to eyes and cause a painful sting. Several stings can cause
nausea and a swelling that will go away after a few Ahn. But, in great numbers
they can kill. The hatching time is the most dangerous period and last for
four to five days. Luckily, that season is predictable so can be easily avoided.
"Following such rains great clouds of sand flies appear wakened from dormancy.
These feast on kaiila and men." (Tribesmen of Gor, pg. 152)
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Gitches
-
These are insects that cause a painful bite. Some can grow quite large.
"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 around. The frevets see to it. Achiates prides himself on a clean house."
(Mercenaries of Gor, pg. 277)
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Golden Beetle
-
One of the most unique and dangerous creatures in the Nest is the Golden
Beetle, that lives in the unlit caverns beneath the Sardar caves of the
Priest-Kings. This is an insect the size of a rhinoceros. Its back seems
divided into two thick casings which once long ago might have been horny
wings but which have fused into a thick, immobile golden shell. It has glowing
eyes and its head can almost withdraw beneath the shell. It can still use
its jaws when its head is beneath the shell. It has two multiply-hooked,
hollow, pincerlike extensions that meet at the tips about a yard beyond its
body. These suck a creature's fluids out. Its antennae are very short, curved
and topped with a fluff of golden hair. There are also several long, golden
strands that extend from its head over its domed back and fall almost to
the floor behind it. Its bite has a paralytic venom. It hisses and can move
fast but only for a brief time. Its greatest weapon is that it exudes an
odor, somewhat oppressive, that induces sleep in people nearby. This is even
effective on Priest-Kings. Its primary food is Priest-Kings. It lays its
eggs, each about the size of a fist, in a host. The egg has leathery shell
and the baby is the size of a child's turtle. The host will not die if the
eggs are removed before they hatch.
'It is dying now,' said Misk. 'One by one we succumb to the Pleasures
of the Golden Beetle. We grow old and there is little left for us. (Priest
Kings of Gor)
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Grasshopper
-
In the rainforests, there is a red grasshopper that weighs about four ounces
in weight.
"A grasshopper, red, the size of a horned gym, a small, owl like bird,
some four ounces in weight, common in the northern latitudes, had leaped
near the fire, and disappeared into the brush." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 293)
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Hinti
-
These are small, flea like insects though they are not parasites.
'Hale' is Kaiila for the Gorean hint, which are small active insects.
They resemble fleas but are not parasitic. (Blood Brothers of Gor,
pg. 220)
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Hith
-
This is the huge, many banded python of Gor. The great banded, horned hath
is the most feared constrictor but is only native to certain areas of the
Great Forests. The golden hath is a rare snake. Its body would be difficult
for a grown man to encircle with his arms.
"In another cage, somnolent and swollen, I saw a rare golden hath, 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, pg. 191)
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Leech
-
A salt leech is one type of known leech. A marsh leech is another. A marsh
leech is about four inches long and half an inch thick. If a leech is stuck
on you, burning it or placing salt on it will cause it to let go.
"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, pg. 96-97, 99-100, 102 and 236)
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Leem
-
This is a small arctic rodent, five to ten ounces in weight. It hibernates
in the winter and their summer coats are brown.
"...leem, a small arctic rodent, some five to ten ounces in weight, which
hibernates during the winter." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 74)
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Lice
-
Lice vary in size from very tiny to the size of marbles. The larger variety
infest tarns so tarnsman must remove them. When they remove them, they might
feed them to the tarn. Lice can be dangerous though as they transmit the
pox.
"I withdrew some of the lice, the size of marbles, which tend to infest
wild tarns, and slapped them roughly into the mouth of the tarn, wiping them
off on his tongue." (Tarnsman of Gor, pg.42)
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Marsh Moccasin
-
poisonous snake
"Narrow dark, poisonous snake about five feet long with a small triangular
head. It inhabits the waters of the Vosk Delta. (Vagabonds of Gor,
pg. 267)"
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Ost
-
This is a venomous, brilliantly orange snake that is little more than a foot
long. Its bite causes an excruciating death within seconds. A powder prepared
from its venom can be put into wine. The osts of the rainforests are red
with black stripes. The banded ost is yellowish orange and marked with black
rings.
"Vancius laughed. "As I have great respect for the banded ost," said he.
I smiled. The banded ost is a variety of ost, a small, customarily brilliantly
orange Gorean reptile. It is exceedingly poisonous. The banded ost is yellowish
orange and is marked with black rings." (Assassin of Gor, pg.335); "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." (Beasts of Gor, pg. 239)
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Rennels
-
These are crablike desert insects with a poisonous bite though it is not
too lethal. They leave little red bites.
I was told by Kamchak 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, crushed by the wheel of the lead wagon." (Nomads
of Gor, pg. 27)
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Roach
-
This is commonly an oblong, flat-bodied black creature about half a hort
long. It has long feelers and is basically harmless.
"We watched a large, oblong, flat-bodied black object, about a 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. (Mercenaries of Gor, pg. 276)
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Salamanders
-
In the salt mines, salamanders are tiny, white and blind. They are long bodied
with long, stemlike legs. They have fernlike filaments at the sides of their
heads that are feather gills, an external gill system. They have a slow
metabolism and are capable of long periods of dormancy.
"Among the lelts, 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;
they had long, stemlike legs." (Tribesman of Gor, pg. 247)
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Scorpions
-
Similar to Earth
"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)
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Silk Worms
-
Similar to Earth
Originally, doubtless beans were brought from Earth, I said,
much as certain other seeds, and silk worms and such, but I doubt very
much that the ship I saw last night had in its cargo anything as trivial
as the beans for black wine. (Assassins of Gor)
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Slime Worm
-
This is a long, whitish, wormlike animal that resides in the Sardar. It is
eyeless and has a small, red mouth on the underside of its body. It inches
its way along, hugging the angle between the wall and floor. It once functioned
as a sewerage device but it has not done so for thousands of years. It now
scavenges on the kills of the Golden Beetle.
I told myself, she, like the Slime Worm, would have been forced to scavenge
on the previous kills of the Beetle but I found this hard to believe, for
the condition of her body did not suggest an ugly, protracted, degrading
battle with the worms of starvation. (Priest Kings of Gor)
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Snails
-
Similar to Earth
"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)
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Snakes
-
Besides the ost and hith mentioned before, other snakes also exist on Gor.
Some other snakes include the adder and marsh moccasin.
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Spiders
-
One unique type of spider on Gor is the rock spider. They are usually brown
or black and when they fold their legs beneath them, they look almost like
a rock. Rock spiders can be huge, almost eight feet thick. They live in the
rainforests. Cell spiders are tiny creatures.
"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. It is a very nice piece
of natural camouflage. A thing line runs from the web to the spider. When
something strikes the web the tremor is transmitted by means of this line
to the spider." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 294)
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Termites
-
They are also called white ants.
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Tharlarion
-
There are numerous varieties of this reptile. Tharlarions have been bred
for a thousand generations before the first tarn was tamed
-
One type is a species of saddle lizard, common on Gor especially in swamplands
and deserts. They are used mostly by those who have not mastered tarns.
-
Wild tharlarion have round, shining eyes, webbed feet, teeth ridges and a
long brown tongue that curls around their prey. They are carnivorous creatures.
-
High tharlarion are short-tempered creatures, that run on its two back feet.
Its forelegs are tiny and near useless. They respond to voice signals though
sometimes the butt of a lance is needed to move them, hitting them about
the eye or ear openings. Those are the few sensitive areas on its body as
they are almost impervious to pain, having a sluggish nervous system.
"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. To me, the most puzzling thing about
the domesticated tharlarions, and the way in which they differed most obviously
from wild tharlarions and the lizards of my native planet, was their stamina,
their capacity for sustained movement. When moving slowly, its stride is
best described as a proud, stalking movement, each great clawed foot striking
the earth with a measured rhythm. When urged to speed, however, the high
tharlarion bounds in great leaping movements that carry it twenty paces a
time." (Tarnnsman of Gor, pg. 125)
-
Draft tharlarion are four footed, slow moving animals. They are herbivorous
and also known as Broad tharlarions. There are at least four species of draft
tharlarion.
-
Sea tharlarion, immune to the poison of Cosian wingfish, grow up to thirty
feet and more in length and have a yellowish slatted belly.
"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, pg. 81)
-
Rock tharlarion are the small lizards of the Tahari.
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, pg. 222)
-
There are tiny water tharlarion, about six inches long, that are little more
than teeth and tail like piranha. Some live in the swamps.
-
There are also marsh tharlarion and river tharlarion. River tharlarion are
long necked, web-footed, and scaled. Some of them are herbivorous and can
be domesticated. They may be used to tow barges on the Cartius River.
Most of the larger varieties have a brain and a smaller brainlike organ,
located near the base of the spine. They need far less water than tarns and
their metabolism is slower than a tarn. When they move slowly, their stride
is a proud, stalking movement. When going fast, they bound in leaps that
can carry them twenty paces at a time. Its saddle is built to absorb shock,
unlike the tarn saddle. Mounted warriors though still wear a leather belt
around their waists. They also wear high, soft boots to protect against the
abrasive hide of the creature. Tharlarion are also used as cavalry and there
are even racing tharlarions. Racing tharlarion are usually larger and more
agile than saddle tharlarion but smaller than draft or war ones. The city
of Venna is famed for its tharlarion races. Some select breeds of racing
tharlarion include the Venetzia, Torarii and Thalonian.
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Vints
-
These are tiny, sand-colored insects.
"I detected the odor of kort rinds, matted, drying, on the stones, where
they had been scattered from my supper the evening before. Vints, insects,
tiny, sand-colored, covered them: On the same rinds, taking and eating vints,
were two small cell spiders. " (Tribesmen of Gor, pg. 115)
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Zarlit Fly
-
This is a large, harmless, purple insect about two feet long with four
translucent wings spanning a yard across. It is insectivorous. It hums over
water and alights on the water with its padlike feet daintily walking across
the surface.
"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 its padlike feet, daintily picking its
way across the surface." (Raiders of Gor, pg. 5)
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Water Animals of Gor
-
Bint
-
There are two types of bints. One is a small, carnivorous freshwater fish
like a piranha that inhabits the rivers of the rainforests. A large school
of these bints can strip a carcass bare in minutes. The other type is a fanged,
carnivorous marsh eel.
"Such blood might attract the bind, 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,
pg. 267)
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Carp (Vosk Carp)
-
No description in the books
"To my right, some two or three feet under the water, I saw the sudden,
rolling yellowish flash of the slatted belly of a water tharlarion, turning
as it made its swift strike, probably a Vosk carp or marsh turtle." (Raiders
of Gor, pg, 1)
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Clam (Tamber Clam)
-
Their polished shells are generally used in making cheap jewelry though certain
shells can be quite valuable.
"I said, "amber droplets, the pearls of the Vosk sorp, the polished shell
of the Tamber clam, glass colored and cut in Ar for trade with ignorant southern
Peoples." (Nomads of Gor, pg. 20)
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Crayfish
-
White crayfish
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. These latter, however, do not stand
at the top of the food chain. Sometimes one picks up the lelts and salamanders
in the cones. It was not these that had excited the interest of the men.
(Tribesmen of Gor)
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Cuttlefish
-
No description given
and a preparation formed from a disease calculus scraped from the intestines
of the rare Hunjer Long Whale, the result of the inadequate digestion of
cuttlefish.
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Eels
-
There are several varieties of eels
-
The dock eel is a black freshwater fish, commonly about four feet long and
weighing eight to ten pounds. They are carnivorous, living in the shallow
waters around the docks of most river ports.
"I looked downward. Two or more heads, tapering, menacing, solid, were
emerged from the water, looking up at me. Then, striking 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 felt the jaws snap and scratch
against the shearing blade. Then it fell twisting back in the water. It was
the blood which excited them." (Guardsman of Gor, pg. 130)
-
River eels
"Many estates, particularly country estates, have pools in which fish
are kept. Some of these pools contain voracious eels, of various sorts, river
eels, black eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean delicacies.
Needless to say a bound slave, cast into such a pool, will be eaten alive."
(Magicians of Gor, pg. 428)
-
Black eels
"Many estates, particularly country estates, have pools in which fish
are kept. Some of these pools contain voracious eels, of various sorts, river
eels, black eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean delicacies.
Needless to say a bound slave, cast into such a pool, will be eaten alive."
(Magicians of Gor, pg. 428)
-
spotted eels
"Many estates, particularly country estates, have pools in which fish
are kept. Some of these pools contain voracious eels, of various sorts, river
eels, black eels, the spotted eel, and such, which are Gorean delicacies.
Needless to say a bound slave, cast into such a pool, will be eaten alive."
(Magicians of Gor, pg. 428)
-
Carnivorous eels
Not only must they fear the marsh sharks and the carnivorous eels which
frequent the lower delta, not to mention the various species of aggressive
water tharlarion and the winged, monstrous, hissing, predatory Ul, but they
must fear, perhaps most of all, men, and of these, most of all, the men of
Port Kar. (Raiders of Gor)
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Fisher (Ushindi Fisher)
-
A tufted water bird of the rainforests near Schendi. It has long white feathers
and long legs.
"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.
Also in the ground zone are varieties of snake, such as the ost and hith,
and numerous species of insects." (Explorer of Gor, pg, 311); "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. (Explorer
of Gor, pg, 236)
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Gint
-
There are two types of gints.
-
One is a tiny, six-inch freshwater fish inhabiting the rainforests. It has
bulbous eyes and flipper-like fins. It is amphibious and capable of walking
on its pectorals. It is often found feeding off the scraps of tharlarion
kills. It is similar to the Earth lungfish. They sun themselves on exposed
roots near the river, remaining close to the water. They may even rest on
the backs of resting or sleeping tharlarion.
"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." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 299)
-
There is also a giant gint in the rainforests that is about ten feet long,
weighs a thousand pounds. and has a four-spined dorsal fin
"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, pg. 384)
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Grunt
-
There are a few different types of this fish.
-
One type is a large, carnivorous salt-water fish that inhabits Thassa. It
is often attracted to the scent of blood like a shark.
"I saw a great speckled grunt, four-gilled." (Slave Girl of Gor, pg.
360)
-
The blue grunt is a small, voracious, carnivorous freshwater fish also attracted
to blood. It is particularly dangerous during the daylight hours preceding
its mating periods. During its mating period, they are harmless. They are
also more of a threat when they school and not when a solitary individual
is encountered.
"Such blood might attract the bind, 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. The blue grunt is
particularly dangerous during the daylight hours preceding its mating periods,
when it schools. Its mating periods are synchronized with the phases of Gor's
major moon, the full moon reflecting on the surface of the water somehow
triggering the mating instinct. During the daylight hours preceding such
a moon, as the restless grunts school, they will tear anything edible to
pieces which crosses their path." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 267)
-
The white-bellied grunt is a large game fish which feeds on parsit fish.
"Before each guest there were tiny slices of tospit and larma, small pastries,
and, in a tiny golden cup, with a small golden spoon, the clustered, black,
tiny eggs of the white grunt." (Fighting Slave of Gor, pg. 276)
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Lelt
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This is a small, five to seven inches long, blindfish. It has fernlike filaments
at either side of the head which are its sensory organs. It is white with
long fins and swims slowly. It inhabits the brine pits and is the main food
of the salt shark.
"Lelts are often attracted to the salt rafts, largely by the vibrations
in the water, picked up by their abnormally developed lateral-line protrusions,
and their fernlike craneal vibration receptors, from the cones and poles.
Too, though they are blind, I think either the light, or the heat, perhaps,
from our lamps, draws them." (Tribesmen of Gor, pg. 247)
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Lizard (Water Lizard)
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no description given
"Idly, with repulsion, I watched the body of the tharlarion in the swamp.
As the water lizards fed, the carcus, lightened, had shifted, rolling in
the water. Now, in a matter of moments, the skeleton was visible, picked
almost clean, the bones glistening, except where small lizards skittered
about on them, seeking the last particles of flesh." (Tarnsman of Gor, pg.
86)
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Lung
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no description given
"Also called gints; small fish found near half-submerged roots of shore
trees or sunning on the back of tharlarion." (Explorers of Gor, pg. 384)
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Mamba
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This is a large, predatory river tharlarion from the rainforests. It has
a long, log-like body with short powerful legs. It has a long snout and tail.
It is similar to a crocodile.
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. (Explorer of Gor)
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Mollusks
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no description given
I could hear the cry of sea birds, broad winged gulls, and the small,
stick-legged tibits, pecking in the sand for tiny mollusks." (Hunters of
Gor, pg. 247)
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Oysters
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no description given
"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, pg. 301)
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Parsit Fish
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There are several types of this slender, silvery fish with brown stripes.
They are migratory fish and the principal prey of sea sleen.
"A silvery fish having 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." (Marauders of Gor, pages 28, 56, and
63-64)
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Pike
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This is a carnivorous fish about fifteen inches long.
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Marine Saurian
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no description given
"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 are like broad paddles. Then it had lowered its head and
disappeared. Such beasts, in spite of their frightening appearance, are
apparently harmless to men. They can take only bits of garbage and small
fish. (Slave Girl of Gor, pg. 360)
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Sea Sleen
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no description given
"The sea sleen, vicious, fanged aquatic mammals, apparently related to
the land forms of sleen, are the swiftest predators to be found in Thassa;
further, they are generally conceded to be the most dangerous; they tend,
however, to frequent northern waters. Occasionally they have been found as
far south, however, as the shores of Cos and the deep inlets of Tyros." (Slave
Girl of Gor, pg. 360)
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Sharks
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There are several varieties of sharks on Gor, saltwater and freshwater.
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The common shark is nine-gilled and its skin is very rough and abrasive.
"We saw the broad, blunt head, eyeless, white. Then it submerged, with
a twist of the long spine and tail. The waters were still. 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, pg. 251)
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River sharks
"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." (Captive of Gor, pg. 79
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Salt shark
The salt shark is commonly over twelve feet long, with a sickle-like tail.
It has several rows of triangular teeth and a sail-like dorsal fin. It inhabits
brine pits such as those of the Tahari region. (Raiders of Gor)
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Marsh shark
"Beyond them would be the almost eel-like, long-bodied, nine-gilled Gorean
marsh sharks." (Raiders of Gor, page 58)
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White sharks of the north
"There is also, however, some danger in this, for sea sleen and the white
sharks of the north occasionally attempt to tear such a girl off the oar."
(Marauders of Gor, pg. 66)
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Sorp (Vosk Sorp)
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This is giant-shelled mollusk that creates pearls like an oyster. Its blood
is used for dye. Its shell could even be used as a chair.
"There were poorly webbed, small tapestries; amulets and talismans; knotted
prayer strings; papers containing praises of Priest-Kings which might be
carried on one's person; numerous ornaments of glass and cheap metal; the
strung pearls of the Vosk sorp..." (Assassin of Gor, pg, 156)
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Toos
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This is a crablike creature, covered with overlapping plating, that resides
in the Sardar. It lives on discarded fungus spores.
I swung the transportation disk in a graceful arc to one side of
the tunnel to avoid running into a crablike organ- ism covered with overlapping
plating and then swung the disk back in another sweeping arc to avoid slicing
into a stalking Priest-King who lifted his antennae quizzically as we shot
past." (Priest Kings of Gor, pg. 142)
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Turtles
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There is a variety of Vosk turtle, a hook-beaked creature, that can grow
to be gigantic. It is a persistent carnivore that is almost impossible to
kill. The marsh turtle is another variety of turtle on Gor.
"Indeed, it was unlikely that my body would reach the delta at all. It
was far more likely that one of the water lizards of the Vosk or one of the
great hook-beaked turtles of the river would seize my body and drag it and
the frame under the water, destroying me in the mud below." (Tarnsman of
Gor, pg. 138)
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Whales
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There are several varieties of whales on Gor
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Karl whale
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. Little was known
of them. (Beasts of Gor)
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Baleen whale
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. Little was known
of them. (Beasts of Gor)
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Hunjer Long Whale, a rare toothed black whale which eats cuttlefish.
"That scent, I knew, a distillation of a hundred flowers, nurtured like
a priceless wine, was a secret guarded by the perfumers of Ar. It contained
as well the separated oil of the Thentis needle tree; an extract from the
glands of the Cartius river urt; and a preparation formed from a disease
calculus scraped from the intestines of the rare Hunjer Long Whale, (Marauders
of Gor, pg. 114)
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- Wingfish (Cosian Wingfish)
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This is a tiny, delicate fish, about the size of a tarn disk when curled
in one's hand. It is blue in color and has three or four slender spines in
its dorsal fin that are poisonous. It can hurl itself from the water and
glide through the air for brief distances on its stiff pectoral fins. It
does this to evade sea-tharlarions who are immune to their poison. It is
sometimes called the songfish because of the whistling sound they make in
courting rituals. The fish thrust their heads out of the water to whistle.
The blue, four-spined variety is only found in Cosian waters. Larger varieties
are found farther out to sea. It is a great delicacy, especially its liver.
"Now this," Saphrar the merchant was telling me, "is the braised liver
of the blue, four-spined Cosian wingfish." 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 it stiff
pectoral fins, gliding through the air, usually to evade smaller sea-tharlarians,
which seem to be immune to the poison of the spines. This fish is also at
times referred to as the songfish because as a portion of it's courtship
rituals, the males and females thrust their heads from the water and utter
a short whistling sound. The blue, four spined wingfish is found only in
the waters of Cos. Larger varieties are found further out to sea. The samll
blue is regarded a great delicacy, and it's liver a delicacy of delicacies."
(Nomads of Gor, pg. 84-85)
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Yellow Pool Monster
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This was a bizarre creature so far unique to the city of Turia. Its origins
are unknown. It makes its appearance in Nomads of Gor. The merchant, Saphrar,
has this creature in an indoor pool area. This pool area is a spacious chamber
decorated with numerous exotic floral designs representing the vegetation
of a tropical river. The room is hot and steamy. This may mean that this
creature comes form the jungles near Schendi. The creature occupied an entire
in ground pool area. At first glance, it looks like a pool of yellow water
that sparkles as though filled with gems. But, it is much more. It apparently
breathes by releasing gases or steam. It also contains filamentous strands
and spheres of color. The creature can thicken and gel around someone within
it. A victim's flesh will tingle and burn due to the corrosive elements within
the creature. Saphrar would place men into the pool and the victims would
find themselves unable to escape the creature and they would slowly be killed.
It might take hours for a victim to be fully digested by this beast. A few
men have lived as long as three hours. Slashing or cutting it generally does
no harm to it. But, it has a collection of threads and granules in a transparent
bag, imbedded in a darkish yellow jelly. This is walled off by a translucent
membrane. This area is vulnerable to attack and it reacts violently when
this area is threatened. It may then solidify and push out someone irritating
until you are standing on its now hard outer shell. Tarl Cabot was fed to
this creature but learned how to irritate it. Once he found he could not
escape its clutches, he swam within it towards its center. He attacked the
darkish bag and it reacted by expelling him. The creature would then later
be killed by being burnt to death once the Tuchuks had taken the city.
We came together to the brink of the Yellow Pool of Turia. At its marbled
edge, hissing and quivering with rage, throwing their heads now and again
upward and howling in frustrated fury were the two, tawny hunting sleen,
their maddened round eyes blazing on the pathetic figure of Saphrar of Turia,
(Nomads of Gor)
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