Some quotes on the Wagons
"The
wagons of the Wagon Peoples are, in their hundreds and
thousands, in their brilliant, variegated colors, a
glorious sight. Surprisingly, the wagons are almost
square, each the size of a large room. Each is drawn by a
double team of bosk, four in a team, with each team
linked to its wagon tongue, the tongues being joined by
tem-wood crossbars. The two axles of the wagon are also
of tem-wood, which perhaps, because of its flexibility,
joined with the general flatness of the southern Gorean
plains, permits the width of the wagons. The wagon box,
which stands almost six feet from the ground, is formed
of black, lacquered planks of tem-wood. Inside the wagon
box, which is square, there is fixed a rounded, tentlike
frame, covered with the taut, painted, varnished hides of
bosks. These hides are richly colored, and often worked
with fantastic designs, each wagon competing with its
neighbor to be the boldest and most exciting. The rounded
fame is fixed somewhat within the square of the wagon
box, so that a walkway, almost like a ships bridge,
surrounds the frame. The sides of the wagon box,
incidentally, are, here and there, perforated for arrow
ports, for the small horn bow of the Wagon Peoples can be
used to advantage not only from the back of a kaiila but,
like the crossbow, from such cramped quarters. One of the
most striking features of these wagons is the wheels,
which are huge, the back wheels having a diameter of
about ten feet."
From Nomads of Gor, pgs
30-31
"The
interiors of the wagons, lashed shut, protected from the
dust of the march, are often rich, marvelously carpeted
and hung, filled with chests and silks, and booty from
looted caravans, lit by hanging tharlarion oil lamps, the
golden light of which falls on the silken cushions, the
ankle-deep, intricately wrought carpets."
From Nomads of Gor, pg
31
The
wagon of Kutaituchik, called Ubar of the Tuchuks, was
drawn up on a large, flat-topped grassy hill, the highest
land in the camp. Beside the wagon, on a great pole fixed
in the earth, stood the Tuchuk standard of the four bosk
horns. The hundred, rather than eight, bosk that drew his
wagon had been unyoked; they were huge, red bosk; their
horns had been polished and their coats glistened from
the comb and oils; their golden nose rings were set with
jewels; necklaces of precious stones hung from the
polished horns. The wagon itself was the largest in the
camp, and the largest wagon I had conceived possible;
actually it was a vast platform, set on numerous wheeled
frames; through at the edges of the platform, on each
side, there were a dozen of the large wheels such as are
found on the much smaller wagons; these latter wheels
turned as the wagon moved and supported weight, but could
not of themselves have supported the entire weight of
that fantastic, wheeled palace of hide. The hides that
formed the dome were of a thousand colors, and the smoke
hole at the top must have stood more than a hundred feet
from the flooring of that vast platform. I could well
conjecture the riches, the loot and the furnishings that
would dazzle the interior of such a magnificent dwelling.
From Nomads of Gor, pg.
41
Somewhat
confusingly, the First Wagon of the Ubar is not the only
wagon in the encampment known as the First Wagon. In
fact, there may be a hundred wagons bearing that
designation, but only one of them is the huge supreme
wagon of the Ubar, with its raised dais and its standard
of four bosk-horns. The other wagons of his household are
smaller, and house many of noble blood who are generally
not related directly to the Ubar. To be "of the
First Wagon" means that one is an influential member
of Tuchuk society, one who has been singled out, such as
a girl who is being trained to be a fitting prize in the
games of Love War.
From Nomads of Gor, p.
42