Weapons, Shields and Helmets

SWORDS

Shortsword / Gladius

Approximately 20 to 24 inches in length from hilt tip to blade tip and 3 to 4 inches wide, descending to a pointed tip. The grip is generally either of polished wood or leather. This is the basic weapon of the warrior in Gor, it is generally carried, in a sheath slung over the shoulder,or worn at the hip.

Longsword

The longsword is used mostly by those of Torvaldsland. It's blade is approximately 30 to 36 inches in length. It is carried in a belt scabbard or strapped across its user's back. The blade is forged in the Damascus manner, steel, both hard and soft are beaten together under heat and folded within itself and beaten flat again. This creates a blade that is both flexible and virtually unbreakable.

Scimitar

The sword of choice in the Tahari, This razor sharp, curved blade is generally about 30 to 36 inches long. The back 3-8 inches has a false edge that can be sharpened for back slashes. Like the longsword it has better reach, which can be an advantage when mounted upon the kailla. Slower to draw and slower to wield than the shortsword it is still a deadly weapon.

KNIVES

Quiva

Usually part of a set of seven such weapons, it has a narrow double edged blade 9 to 12 inches in length with a handle of wood, bone, or horn. Its razor sharp blade tapers to a needle point. Designed for use primarily as a missile weapon, the quiva is also used as a hand weapon and general utility knife. The steel used in making the quiva comes from the foundries of Ar. Also known as the Tuchuk Saddle Knife, the quiva is a dagger favored by the Wagon People, but carried by most FreeWomen and many Warriors, sheathed and hung on the side of a warrior's saddle.

Killing knife

A small dagger with a blade from 4 to 6 inches long. Unlike the quiva it is tapered only on one side and not double edged. Carried by many due to its small size.

Hook knife

The hook knife is very similar to the utility knife found on earth. A short, wide blade, narrowing to a downward curve, ending in a sharp point. When used in recreational spars, the knife remains sheathed so as not to injure the opponent. The knife is seldom used for other than stadium fighting, weather sheathed or not.

Sleen knife

This is a broad bladed, flat, double edged utility knife equipped with a simple stubby crossguard and unadorned grip . Rather than tapering down to a needle like point like the quiva it's point is more rounded.

Tarn knife

This is a short bladed, single edged utility knife typically used by tarnsmen and generally included among their saddle equipment. Some knives are designed so that the blade folds into the handle for safety when not in use. Often equipped with a lanyard so that it may be lashed to the tarnsman's saddle or belt.

BOWS

Great Bow / Long Bow

The bow is not commonly favored by Gorean warriors, but all must respect it. It is the height of a tall man; its back, away from the bowman, is flat; its belly, facing the bowman, is half-rounded; it is something like an inch and a half wide and an inch and a quarter thick at the center; it has considerable force and requires considerable strength to draw; many men, incidentally, even some warriors, cannot draw the bow; nine of its arrows can be fired aloft before the first falls again to the earth; at point-blank range it can be fired completely through a four-inch beam; at two hundred yards it can pin a man to a wall; at four hundred yards it can kill the huge, shambling bosk; its rate of fire is nineteen arrows in a Gorean Ehn, about eighty Earth seconds; and a skilled bowman, but not an extraordinary one, is expected to be able to place these nineteen arrows in one Ehn into a target, the size of a man, each a hit, at a range of some two hundred and fifty yards. Yet, as a weapon, it has serious disadvantages, and on Gor the crossbow, inferior in accuracy, range and rate of fire, with its heavy cable and its leaves of steel, tends to be generally favored. The long bow cannot well be used except in a standing, or at least kneeling, position, thus making more of a target of the archer; the long bow is difficult to use from the saddle; it is impractical in close quarters, as in defensive warfare or in fighting from room to room; and it cannot be kept set, loaded like a firearm, as can the crossbow;...

Horn bow / Short bow

About four feet long there are a number of varities of this bow on Gor. the best known, most popular is of course the horn bow of the Wagon People, The Red savages use one made of layered wood banded together as do the northern peoples, these often called ship bows. While not as powerful as the long bow or cross bow they have a big advantage over the long bow in their ability to be used in tight places, their rate of fire is much faster than the crossbow. A Wagon Person can fire twenty arrows in half an Ehn. The Red Savages use a small bow and there is no other bow that can match its rate of fire. It is very maneuverable and can be easily concealed.

Crossbow, standard

A standard weapon of Gor. It consists of a heavy, flexible bow of tempered steel, 18" across mounted on a heavy wooden stock about two feet long, with a trigger mechanism at the bottom. Striking with enough force to penetrate wooden walls, doors or human bodies with relative ease. It has an effective range of approximately 150 yards. Slow to reload, it is commonly redrawn through use of a goat's-foot hook or a crank.

Calvary crossbow

Much like the larger crossbow, instead of possessing a metal bow, it has a much lighter bow of wood or horn. Slightly smaller in size, it is still a powerful weapon. It is equipped with a metal stirrup at the firing end, allowing it to be more quickly restrung while on the back of a tarn or kaiila.

SPEARS AND LANCES

War spear

One of the most common weapons on Gor, its versatility makes it a very popular weapon, used for fighting and hunting.

Kaiili lance

The lances of both the wagons people and the red savages are much the same. The red savages tend to decorate and carve theirs more than the wagon people.

Tharlarion lance

More a spear than a true lance, it is usually fashioned of ka-la-na or needle wood. About ten to fourteen feet long. It has a lanceolate metal tip that is about four inches in width and is often fluted. Carried couched beneath the right arm of the user, often supported by a lance rest which is either attached to the saddle or worn strapped to the user's chest. Can also be thrown, though not designed for it.

Trident

Three pronged spearing fork used by fishermen of Gor. The trident can be used as both a thrusting weapon and as a weapon to be thrown. often used with the net, it is about seven feet in length, with 3 prongs 12 to 16 inches long. Often used with a line attached, for retrieval should it be thrown

Harpoon

A spear fitted with a barbed head and used with line attached to assist in retrieval.

AXES

Great Axe

Similar to the Torvaldslander Battle Axe, but much larger, with a handle up to four feet in length. The axe blade is also much larger. This axe must be used two handed as it is too big to be weilded effectivly with one.

WHIPS

Bosk Whip

Much like an earth bull whip. Made of Bosk hide plaited together. This whip can be anywhere from 8 to 12 feet long.

Kurt Whip

A slave whip with five broad, pliant straps. Each strap is about two and a half feet long and one and a half inches wide. The handle is eighteen inches long. Though it may leave a welt, it doesn't permanently mark a victim.

Snake Whip

A single-bladed whip, weighted, of leather. It is about eight feet long and half an inch to one inch thick. It is sometimes set with tiny particles of metal. It is a deadly whip and can easily strip flesh from the body. It can kill a Man.

Whip Knife

The whip knife, unique to Port Kar, is a delicate weapon. It is a whip, but set into its final 18 inches, on 5 tassels or strips of hide, arranged in sets of four, are twenty thin, narrow blades. Their tips vary. Some have a double-edged blade of seven to eight inches at the tip while others have a stunning lead.

MISC. WEAPONS

Knife Gauntlet

A pair of leather gauntlets, upon which are mounted knife blades. Sometimes used by gladiators in arena combats. These are seldom used as weapons of war.

Goad, tarn or slave

While not truly weapons,the tarn goad can stun. The slave goad on the other hand can kill.

Bola

A favorite weapon of the Wagon People . fighting mainly from the backs of their kaiila, they become very proficient with the use of this weapon. used for both hunting and battle .

War Club

A carved, shaped club of wood or bone, often mounted with stone or metal projections such as sharp pieces of flint, nails or knife blades driven into the wood . This weapon is about two or three feet in length. Used mostly by the Red Savages.

Rope

SHIELDS

Common Shield

A round shield; generally about 24 to 36 inches in diameter, the shield is sufficient in size to cover the main part of the torso. The shield is made of 7-9 layers of bosk hide stretched over a lightweight framework of wood, iron or horn. It has two straps on the inside that one's arm would slide through, holding it at the forarm and wrist. This is the most common type of shield on Gor .

Turian Shield

An oval shield about 24 inches by 36 inches, this shield is also constructed of hide like it's round cousin.

Buckler

A small oval shield about 16 to 18 inches. While this shield was made of steel on earth, on Gor it is, like all other shields made of leather.

HELMETS

Common Helmet

Above the shield was a suspended helmet, again reminiscent of a Greek helmet, perhaps of the Homeric period. It had a somewhat 'Y'-shaped slot for the eyes, nose, and mouth in the nearly solid metal.

Northern Helmet

The helmets of the north are commonly conical, with a nose-guard, that can slip up and down. At the neck and sides, attached by rings, usually hangs a mantle of linked chain. The helmet of Thorgard himself, however, covered his neck and the sides of his face. It was horned.

Helmet of the Wagon Peoples

A conical, fur-rimmed iron helmet, a net of colored chains depending from the helmet protecting his face, leaving only holes for the eyes.

Captain's Helmet

Carved in wood, high on the chair, was the helmet with crest of sleen-fur, the mark of the captain.

Assassin's Helmet

On the left temple of the black helmet was the golden slash of the messenge