Lovers of Gor: December 2008

What is known and can be deducted: Talunas of Gor

Now this is equatorial gor..it is the rainforests…sometimes dense…dark below the canopy of trees…the place where the Kurii and their agents venture, where the invisibility ring was found. North of Schendi it is..the river Cartius, is located here, the large lake Ushindi, meaning “victory” the lake Ngao, meaning “Shield”, lake Shaba which is located high up in the mountains, named after the famous Scribe and Cartographer, who was the first civilized man to circumnavigate Lake Ushindi.

The Kamba- river, meaning ‘rope’ that flows leisurely into the Thassa, the Nvoka river that forms the natural harbour of the city of Schendi, a non fortified port and the only larger settlement in the tropics with daily storms and incredible rainfalls.

To the west of Lake Ushindi are floodlands, marshes and bogs. The people who live here are mostly black and they do rarely speak gorean. They have their own dialects, they have the drum- system to communicate and they are loosely governed by the mighty black Ubar, Bila Huruma. The land is not fertile, despite its lush vegetation crops do not grow well for the heavy rainfalls. So there are no permanent settlements except the port, Schendi. People live in villages and the Urbarate of Bila Huruma is a loose network. The rainforest is always dripping wet and steaming with heat and humidity.

there are about 1500 types of palm trees growing here and birds, snakes, monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, arachnids, insects, tarsiers, jit monkeys, black squirrels, leaf urts, jungle varts, giani, armored gatch, slees, ground urts, tarsk, six varieties of anteater, twenty kinds of small, single-horned tabuk, jungle larls, jungle panthers, many smaller catlike predators, and zeders. Sleens do not exist here.

“Bila Huruma, the black Ubar united the six ubarates of the southern shore of Lake Ushindi. He also collects tribute from the confederacy of a hundred villages on the northern shores of the lake. The tribute is primarily in kailiauk tusks and women. His control over the northern shores region is substantial but not total. Bila is a brilliant leader, a man of vision. His Ubarate is well organized, with districts and governors, courts, spies and messengers. He also has a well organized army that is well trained and disciplined. On a personal basis, Bila also has over two hundred companions and twice that many slaves.”

That depicts the environment. It is hot, humid, dangerous, the vegetation so dense in some parts that it is nearly impenetrable, in other parts it is dark below the canopy of leaves in the jungles.

Also, Mamba people live here, cannibals, filing their teeth, also pygmies…not bigger than five feet.

It is here, that Tarl Cabot sees the Talunas. Let me quote from the scrolls: “She was slender-legged and dark-haired. She wore brief skins. She ran down to the edge of the water. Her hands were not bound together but, from each wrist, there hung a knotted rope…. It was as though she had been bound and, somehow, had been freed. "Please save me!" she cried. "Help me!"
I examined the condition of the skins she wore. I noted, also, that she wore a golden armlet and, on her neck, a necklace of claws. She also had, about her waist, a belt, with a dagger sheath, though the sheath was now empty. "Save me, please, noble sirs!" she wept. She waded out a few feet in the water. She extended her hands to us piteously. She was quite beautiful. I considered the forest behind her. The trees were thick, the brush, near the river, heavy. …
"Please, please help me!" we heard the girl cry. Then we left her behind.
"Master," sobbed Janice.
"Be silent, Slave Girl," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Look!" cried Alice. "There is another!"
Now, on the shore, standing at a post, chains about her body, we saw a blond girl. "Please help me!" she cried, straining against the chains. She, like the first, was dressed in brief skins and, like the first, was ornamented, with an armlet and necklace. Too, about her left ankle, there was a golden bangle. We removed the paddles from the water. …
"I think we have lingered here long enough," said Kisu, looking about. "This is a dangerous place."
"Agreed," I said.
"Do not leave without her, please, noble masters," begged Janice. "Please, Master," begged Alice. "Please, Master," begged Tende.
"What little fools you all are, said Kisu. "Can you not see that it is a trap?" …
"They speak Gorean," I pointed out. "Thus they are not originally of the jungle. The color of their skins alone, white, should make that clear to you. ((Explorers of Gor))

So we learnt they wore golden ornaments. Every item of metal will soon be dull or corrode easily if worn in the rainforests every day. We can conclude it must be gold. Also, they do not speak the local dialects, they are fair skinned. I agree with Tarl, they cannot be descendants of the people who live here.

But we know more from the scrolls:

“Moonlight filtered in through the thatched roof and between the sticks which formed the sides of the hut. She was sleeping within, in her brief skins. Her weapons were at the side of the hut. She lay on a woven mat, her blond hair loose about her head. I examined her thighs, moving back the skins she wore. They had never been branded. She turned, restlessly. She was the girl who had feigned being chained at the post, to lure us into a trap. She was, I was sure, the leader of the talunas. She had given commands in our pursuit. She did not share her hut with another girl. She threw her arm restlessly over her head. I saw her hips move. I smiled. She was a woman in need. She moaned. I waited until her arms were again at her sides, and she lay upon her back. I saw her lift her haunches in her sleep. She was starved for a man’s touch.”

So now learnt that they aren t branded, so they are no escaped slaves. And they do not live there because they dislike men…

let me quote some more for you now:

"I am, too, made comfortable by the thickness of the brush and trees in these areas, both before and now. They seem fit to conceal the numbers of an ambuscade." …
As our canoe moved away we looked back. "After them!" cried the girl. She slipped from her chains and bent to the grass beside her, seizing up a light spear. From the bush about her appeared numbers of girls similarly clad and armed. We saw canoes being thrust into the water. "Perhaps now you will paddle with a better will," I said.
"Yes, Master!" said Janice.

This quote tells us they use light spears and they hunt for slaves in bands of about 40. A large band to capture only 6 people!

Here is another quote from Tarl’s scrolls:

this quote tells us they came TOGETHER. We already learnt they do not come from this area. Their willingness to accept the collar tells us they long to be back in gorean society.

Now with all that we learnt, let me give you MY interpretation of this rare phenomenon: White skinned, sometimes blond girls, alienated in the jungles, talking a different language than the natives of the jungles. They own gold, but they do not own any dresses they may have worn where they fled from, they survive in the jungles, they use spears, but they are homesick and may have a strong inner urge to be back and pick up a normal gorean life.

A band of forty, aquainted to wielding spears and to fight, not poor and from FAR away: It is unlikely that a band of this size wanders over a large portion of gorean lands unnoticed and finally settles in the jungles. my personal conclusion is that they came by boat or ship. Women on Gor are not really known to be sailors, except the women in the far north who are of course growing up in the presence of longboats and sailing as fishing is part of daily life. You will maybe counter that women in harbours should know that too, however the Ports of Gor are Cities, and a large sailing vessel is guarded and it is not easy to sail and needs professional seamen. Also, these girls were NOT Freewomen of the Cities of Gor, at times forbidden to even leave their dwellings without male protection. These girls wer ABLE, they survive in the jungles, they can sail a boat. This supports my theory that they come from the far north.

Despite my quotes, all of this may be a far shot for you, but it is the reason why a longboat, run aground on a reef in the Thassa next to a tropical island is a typical place where Talunas may dwell, other than those that Tarl Cabot met and later enslaved. *smiles*

Now why should they band together and flee at all, if they re so unhappy with their newfound life as refugees in these murderous jungles?

"I, and Fina, and the others," she said, "fled undesired companionships."

A good reason, I believe. and she did NOT say they were not content with their life as Freewomen. Then why are they so many? Gor is in war, it is an archaic society, it may well be that there are less men available than women, due to deaths in war. UNdesired can therefore mean many things. A pity that Tarl did not insist and ask them where they are from.

Now what about their kajirae? They OWN girls, that much is clear from the scrolls of Tarl “I took two pairs of slave bracelets from the loot of the taluna camp. Girls such as talunas keep such things about in case slave girls should fall into their hands. They are extremely cruel to slave girls, whom they regard as having betrayed their sex by surrendering as slaves to men.”

*smiles* poor girls…we will talk about kajirae owned by women on another gorean fireplace…

/me ruffles her girls’ hair fondly and lovingly…

"There are the mighty talunas," I said. — Explorers of Gor, pages 397-398.

"I never trust a man until I know what he eats." (Explorers of Gor, p.383)

Explorers of Gor, book #13, details the exploration of the jungles of Gor. Several geographical features are discovered and named during the events of this novel. The novel also depicts another plot of the Kurii and their agents. We see the return of the "invisibility ring" that first surfaced during the events of Tribesman of Gor. The jungles of this book resemble the Africa of Earth in many ways. Undoubtedly, the inland dialects, the languages of the jungles, resemble the Earth Bantu or Swahili languages of Africa. It is a fascinating book of exploration and this scroll shall describe much about those jungles. Unfortunately, many details about the jungles were also omitted from the books.

The jungles of Gor are located in the equatorial region of Gor, just north of Schendi. Several important waterways lead into this region. The Cartius is a subequatorial river that gnerally flows west by northwest, entering the jungle region and emptying into Lake Ushindi. It was once thought that the Cartius was a tributary of the Vosk River but it is not. The subequatorial Cartius is a different waterway from the Thassa Cartius. The explorer, Ramus, discovered this difference. The earlier Gor novels, most specifically Nomads of Gor, fails to differentiate between these two rivers. They state that the Cartius does flow into the Vosk, which is not true. In these novels, you should substitute the Thassa Cartius for the Cartius. The Thassa Cartius is the actual tributary of the Vosk. This is important when you are discussing Ar as that city claims the land between the Vosk and the Cartius. In actuality, they claim the land down to the Thassa Cartius and not the actual Cartius.

Lake Ushindi is a large lake in the jungles. "Ushindi" is a word in the inland dialect, not in Gorean, and it means "victory." It received its name for some victory, over two hundred years ago, on its shores. The name of the tiny kingdom or ubarate that won that victory is unknown. This lake is drained by two rivers, the Kamba and Nyoka. To the west of Lake Ushindi are floodlands, marshes and bogs. Much of their water drains into this lake. Further east, past the marshes and bogs, is Lake Ngao. Shaba, a Scribe and Cartographer, was the first civilized man to circumnavigate Lake Ushindi. In certain areas of Lake Ushindi that are frequented by vicious tharlarion there are high poles without platforms. Certain criminals may be rowed out to these poles and left there, clinging to them for their very lives. The black Ubar, Bila Huruma, uses these poles to decrease crime within his ubarate.

The Kamba River is a wide, leisurely river that flows from Lake Ushindi and exits into Thassa. "Kamba" is a word in the inland dialect, not in Gorean, and it means "rope." The Nyoka River is also a wide, leisurely river that flows from Lake Ushindi but it exits into Schendi harbor and thus into Thassa. "Nyoka" is a word in the inland dialect, not in Gorean, and it means "serpent." The Nyoka travels for about two hundred pasangs from Ushindi to Schendi. For many villages along these rivers and the shores of Lake Ushindi, fishing is their major source of livelihood. Very little of this fish is ever exported from Schendi.

Lake Ngao is as large as Lake Ushindi, if not even bigger. "Ngao" is a word in the inland dialect, not in Gorean, and it means "shield." It was named by Shaba because its shape resembles the normal shields wielded by those of the jungles. These shields are long and oval shaped. Shaba was the first civilized person to circumnavigate this lake. The Ngao is fed by a major river, located at its eastern extremity, called the Ua River. The Ua River was discovered and named by Shaba as well. "Ua" is a word in the inland dialect, not in Gorean, and it means "flower." The Ua is at least as large as the Vosk River. It has many falls and cataracts that make it very difficult to cross. Shaba named these the "falls and cataracts of Bila Huruma." The source of the river is Lake Shaba.

Lake Shaba was unknown by civilized men until the events of Explorers of Gor. It is a huge lake, bigger than either Ngao or Ushindi. It is located thousands of Gorean feet above sea level so it is evident that when ascending the Ua, you are climbing higher and higher. It was discovered by Shaba who at first named it Lake Bila Huruma, after the black Ubar, Shaba's friend. But, when Shaba dies at the end of Explorers of Gor, Bila chooses to rename it Lake Shaba in memory of his friend. The lake contains a number of large stone figures. They are the torsos and heads of black men, with shields on their arms and spears in their hands. The stone is weathered and covered with the signs of age. Lichen and mosses are growing in patches on the figures. The figures stand about thirty to forty feet out of the water. At the eastern edge of the lake is a landing that is about four hundred yards wide and a hundred yards deep. The landing leads to a flight of steps and into a vast, ruined city. Most of the walls and columns are crumbling and covered in vines. There are more statues as well. There is one chamber that once might have been for the enslavement and training of women. The walls are covered in mosaics of slave captures, slavery scenes, slave dancing, sex, and more. No one knows much about the civilization that once lived here and it must have vanished many years ago.

The jungles have attracted a number of explorers, much as Africa did during the nineteenth century. Ramani is a black Geographer from Anango. Ramani first suggested that the Cartius and the Thassa Cartius were not the same rivers given their respective elevations. He was the teacher of Shaba. Upon Shaba's death, he was sent the journals and maps of Shaba's explorations. Ramus is an explorer from Tabor. He located the source of the Thassa Cartius about five years after Shaba circled Lake Ushindi. Ramus led a small expedition into the jungles. Over a period of nine months, he battled and traded his way through the jungles until he reached the Ven highlands, the source of the Thassa Cartius.

Like his teacher, Shaba was also a Geographer from Anango, one of the foremost explorers on Gor. He accumulated an impressive list of achievements. He was the first civilized man to circumnavigate Lake Ushindi. He discovered that the Cartius enters this lake but that only the Kamba and Nyoka Rivers exit it. He was the first civilized man to circumnavigate Lake Ngao. He named that Lake, discovered and named the Ua River, and discovered Lake Shaba. He was a close friend of Bila Huruma. He was also an agent of the Priest-Kings. Shaba was a large and tall man. He had long thin hands with delicate fingers. His face appeared refined but the eyes were hard and piercing. His cheekbones had tribal tattooing. It was thought that he knew how to use a sword. While in the jungles, he wore a robe of green and brown with slashes of black. This would likely be effective camouflage within the vegetation of the jungle. He also wore a fang ring on the first finger of his left hand.

During Explorers of Gor, Shaba was given the Kur invisibility ring to deliver to the Sardar but he did not do so. Tarl Cabot went after Shaba to retrieve the ring. Tarl thought that Shaba might be working for the Kurii. Shaba took the ring so he could more easily explore the jungles and find the source of the Ua River. The invisibility would seem like magic to most of the tribes within the jungles. It would also be an effective escape route. Shaba simply believed that the ring would do more good than simply sitting within the Sardar. Shaba does discover the source of the Ua River but soon after he is murdered by an agent of the Kurii. The Kurii agent though retrieves a false invisbility ring, one that would trigger a powerful explosion when activated. Tarl was able to retrieve the authentic ring.

A jungle is a land covered by dense tropical vegetation. The area north of Schendi certainly qualifies as this. The jungle is not generally an impenetrable area though there are some such sections. This area is also a rainforest. A rainforest is simply a jungle with a high annual rainfall, commonly at least one hundred inches per year. In this Gorean area, there are usually two heavy rain during each day, one in the late afternoon and one late at night, commonly an Ahn or so before midnight. The rains are often accompanied by violent winds ranging from 110-120 pasangs an Ahn. Due to its location on the equator, the rainforest does not experience a winter. Instead, it has a dry season, a time of lesser rains than the rest of the year. There are thought to be two dry seasons and two rainy seasons each year.

The farmers in the rainforest must do their primary planting at the start of the dry season because of the lesser rains. During the rainy season, any seeds they planted would likely be washed away by the constant downpours. Because of these heavy rains, farmers must move their fields every two to three seasons as the land will quickly get depleted of minerals and nutriments by the constant rains. Entire villages must move due to this situation. Farmers in this region are more like gardeners than actual farmers. The infertility of the land is a primary reason why large population centers have not developed in the interior regions. The land will not support a large permanent settlement for any substantial length of time. Thus, small villages are the norm.

The rainforest generally steams with humidity and it is often difficult to make a fire. At night, the rainforest is cooler and more bearable. There is an incredible variety of trees and vegetation within the rainforest. There are more than fifteen hundred types of palm trees alone. There are some palm trees that have leaves that are twenty feet long. The fan palm, which is more than twenty feet high, spreads its leaves like an opened fan. The leaves then catch rainwater at the base of each leaf. A leaf can hold up to a liter of water. The liana vine and carpet plants are also sources of water in the jungles. The vine of the liana might hold a liter of water. The carpet plant has tendrils that can be used as a water source. The pod tree has an inner bark that is used by some people to make bark cloth. There are many colorful and fragrant flowers within the jungle as well.

There are three separate ecological zones within the rainforest, differentiated by their height from the ground. One zone is the "emergents" which is the highest level occupying a region from about one hundred twenty-five Gorean feet to two hundred Gorean feet. It is primarily occupied by birds but there may also be some monkeys, tree urts, snakes and insects living there. Another zone is the "canopy" which is the green cover that makes the main "ceiling" of the jungle. This region ranges from about sixty to one hundred twenty-five Gorean feet. This area is occupied by many birds and also such animals as snakes, monkeys, gliding urts, leaf urts, squirrels, long-tailed porcupines, lizards, sloths, arachnids and insects. The last zone is the "ground zone" which spans from the ground up to sixty Gorean feet. There are many birds here as well as such animals as tarsiers, jit monkeys, black squirrels, leaf urts, jungle varts, giani, armored gatch, slees, ground urts, several varieties of tarsk, six varieties of anteater, twenty kinds of small, single-horned tabuk, jungle larls, jungle panthers, many smaller catlike predators, and zeders. Sleen though do not exist within the rainforest. For further information concerning the animals of the rainforest, see my scroll, Animals of Gor.

There are numerous villages within the jungles and the greatest union of villages is controlled by Bila Huruma, the black Ubar. Bila united the six ubarates of the southern shore of Lake Ushindi. He also collects tribute from the confederacy of a hundred villages on the northern shores of the lake. The tribute is primarily in kailiauk tusks and women. His control over the northern shores region is substantial but not total. Bila is a brilliant leader, a man of vision. His Ubarate is well organized, with districts and governors, courts, spies and messengers. He also has a well organized army that is well trained and disciplined. On a personal basis, Bila also has over two hundred companions and twice that many slaves.

He uses an efficient drum system for long distance communication. Many villages in the jungles use similar systems. It is not difficult to read if you are fluent in the inland languages. The inland dialect refers generally to the language of the Ushindi region though many other different dialects and languages exist in the jungles. Some of those languages are very different than that in Ushindi. These languages are very different than Gorean. Only about five to eight percent of the population of Schendi can speak the inland language. The analogues to the major vowel sounds are found in the drum notes, which differ depending on where the hollowed, grooved log is struck. The rhythm of the drum messages is also the rhythm of the inland speech. A drum relay can give an effective long distance communication. A message can be conveyed over hundreds of pasangs in less than an Ahn.

Bila is an extremely large man with long arms. His cheeks and across the bridge of his nose are a swirling path of tribal tattooes. He is adorned in gold armlets, bracelets and anklets. He wears the pelts of a yellow panther around his loins. He has a necklace of panther teeth. He often wears a gigantic cloak of yellow and red feathers from the crested lit and the fruit tindel. It can take up to a hundred years to make such a cloak. This cloak is only worn by a Ubar. On his head, he wears an elaborate headress, made mostly of long, white curling feathers of the Ushindi fisher. It resembles the common headress of the askari and symbolizes that the Ubar is also an askari. "Askari" is a word in the inland dialect that means "warrior" or "soldier." The phrase "askari hodari" means "brave soldier or warrior."

At this court, Bila will sit upon a royal stool of black laquered wood mounted on the horms of a kailiauk. The men of his court are mostly black. Many wear ornate headdresses and animal skins. Most also have facial tattooing. This tattooing helps to differentiate tribes, villages and districts within the jungles. Some of the men even have brass plugs in their lips. The court area itself is a large round room, about one hundred feet wide. It has a high conical ceiling of interwoven branches and grass that is about seventy feet high. Bila will sit at court and mediate and judge disputes from his subjects. His wazir, second in command, was Msaliti. But, Msaliti was an agent of the Kurii. He would later perish, eaten by a pack of carnivrous fish.

Bila Huruma has a grand plan to construct a canal that would join Lake Ushindi and Ngao. He wanted to open the Ua River to Thassa. But, the lakes are separated by more than four hundred pasangs so this is a massive undertaking. The plan of his engineers called for the placement of two low, parallel walls, maybe some five to six feet high and about two hundred yards apart. The area within the waters was to be drained and readied, using draft tharlarion and large scoops, for the digging of the main channel. Bila also wants to drain the marshes and bogs between the two lakes to make the land fit for farming. Most of the men who have been working on the canal were actually not slaves. Most are debtors and criminals or men given over in the work levies. Thousands of these men have died working on the canal from the heat, hostile tribes, insects, and tharlarion. Shaba had helped Bila by exploring this region to determine its potential.

Bila had demanded levies of men from all of the villages under his control. He had even demanded a levy from the city of Schendi. Schendi initially refused to comply with the levy and tried to bolster its meager defenses against the army of Bila. But, Schendi is not a fortified city and its military forces are few. It knew that if Bila and his army attacked, the city would fall. Thus, Schendi eventually relented and supplied some men to Bila. But, after the events of Explorers of Gor, Bila decided to no longer assess a levy against Schendi. Bila realized the importance of the port city for his future plans and decided that more friendly dealings might be advantageous.

One matter that may have helped to change Bila's mind in this respect was the appointment of his new wazir, Ayari. Ayari was a thief in Schendi and ended up on working on Bila's canal, a victim of the work levy of Schendi. Ayari's father used to live in the village of Nyuki, on the northern shore of Lake Ushindi. Nyuki is noted for its honey. His father was accused of stealing melon's from the village chief and he fled to Schendi. Five years later, he returned to Nyuki and bought Ayari's mother. They moved to Schendi where Ayari was raised. Ayari learned both Gorean and some of the inland dialects. He escapes from the canal with Tarl Cabot and aids him in his journey through the jungles. Bila decides to make Ayari his wazir, realizing Ayari's usefulness in a number of aspects.

The Ukungu region lies to the northeast on the coast of Lake Ngao. It is an area coastal villages that speak the same or similar dialects. The language of Ukungu is closely related to that of Ushindi. The vocabulary is very similar but the pronounciations are often different. The central village of the Ukungu region is Nyundo. When you enter a village in this area, you always enter on the right. This leaves your side open toward another's blade and thus shows your peaceful intentions. Kisu used to be the Mfalme, or chief, of the Ukungu. Mfalmes generally do not speak to commoners. Kisu opposed Bila Huruma so Bila bought off the other chieftains of the region and they deposed Kisu. Aibu became the new Mfalme and he was loyal to Bila though he would more realistically be a district administrator than an actual chief. Kisu left the area with two hundred loyal askaris and continued his resistance to Bila. Mwoga became Aibu's wazir and his ambassdor to Bila's court. Aibu sent Tende, his daughter, to become a companion to Bila.

Kisu would eventually be captured and placed to work on the canal. He would escape the canal with Ayari and Tarl. After the events at Lake Shaba, Kisu would return to Nyundo. Mwoga now claims to be chieftain as he poisoned Aibu. Kisu challenges him and they battle with spears. Small leather strips usually sheath the blades of spears of most askaris. On their shields, there is commonly a tuft of feathers at one point of the oval shield. If the tuft is at the top of the shield, it signifies that the warrior is hunting humans. If it is at the bottom, the warrior is hunting animals. Kisu kills him quickly. Bila now recognizes Kisu as the Mflame of Ukungu and allows the region to remain free and not under the hegemony of Bila. He also gives Tende to Kisu to keep as a slave.

There are a few unique peoples within the jungles. These include:

Mamba People: "Mamba" is an inland dialect word that means "tharlarion." It generally refers to the predatory river tharlarion in the region. The Mamba people resemble tharlarion as they are cannibals who file their teeth. These may be the only known cannibals on Gor.

Pygmies: These people are no taller than five feel tall and weigh no more than eighty pounds. Though their features are negroid their skin color is more coppery than dark brown or black. They wear loincloths with vine belts. From the loops on their belts they hang hand knives and small implements. They carry spears and nets, fish, hunt and make cloth. They speak their own langauge. Tarl Cabot encounters one group of pygmies and it is unclear if other bands of pygmies exist elsewhere in the jungles. These pygmies were the slaves of a band of talunas and had been taught Gorean by them. Due to their small size, the talunas had overpowered them. Tarl showed the pygmies how they could earn their freedom and enslave the talunas. The pygmies were successful.

Talunas: These are white-skinned girls who chose to live in the jungles. They come from various cities to the south of the jungles, some free women, some escaped slaves. They bear some similarities to the panther girls of the northern forests. The word "taluna" is never translated in the books so we cannot say that "taluna" means "panther." Talunas wear brief animal skins, necklaces of claws, and sometimes gold adornments. They live in small thatched huts in small bands. They are not known to have dancing circles like the panther girls. Talunas despise slave girls and this one band that Tarl encountered had enslaved a group of pygmies. There is little indication of how many taluna bands exist and what differences may exist between them.

Here are a few additional tidbits concerning the jungles of Gor.

filimbi: This is a word in the inland dialect that means "flute."

knife branding: Some tribes on the Ua river practice this form of branding. They use a small curved knife and cut a girl's thigh in a small design. They then apply an orange powder onto the wound to color the scar.

collars: Instead of normal collars, many in the jungles use neck belts. Each belt has a disk to mark the identity of the owner.

silk: Silk is unknown within the jungles.

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...Lightly I dropped down within the stockade of the talunas. It contained several small, thatched huts. It was not difficult to see in the light of the three moons.
I made my way quietly, crawling, stopping upon occasion to listen, toward the more central huts. In one of the huts, one with a door tied shut from the outside, I heard a rustle of chain.
I picked that hut which seemed the largest and most impressive, one in the center of the camp. On my belly, quietly, I entered it. Moonlight filtered in through the thatched roof and between the sticks which formed the sides of the hut. She was sleeping within, in her brief skins. Her weapons were at the side of the hut. She lay on a woven mat, her blond hair loose about her head. I examined her thighs, moving back the skins she wore. They had never been branded. She turned, restlessly. She was the girl who had feigned being chained at the post, to lure us into a trap. She was, I was sure, the leader of the talunas. She had given commands in our pursuit. She did not share her hut with another girl. She threw her arm restlessly over her head. I saw her hips move. I smiled. She was a woman in need. She moaned. I waited until her arms were again at her sides, and she lay upon her back. I saw her lift her haunches in her sleep. She was starved for a man’s touch. Such women, in their waking hours, are often tense and restless; it is not unusual, too, for them to be irritable; and many times they are hostile toward men; many times they are not even fully aware of the underlying causes of their uncomfortable conscious states; how horrified they might be if they were told that they were women, and desired a master; yet must they not, on some level, be aware of this; would not their hostility toward the male who does not understand their needs or is too cowardly or weak to satisfy them not be otherwise inexplicable; what other hurt could the uncooperative male be inflicting upon them; the more he tries to please them the more they demand; the more he tries to do what they claim to wish the more he finds himself disparaged and despised; can he not see that what they really want is to be thrown to his feet and subjected, totally, to his will? They wish to be women, that is all. But how can they be women if men will not be men? How cruel a man is to deny to a woman the deepest need of her womanhood. Can they not care for them? Can they not see how beautiful they are, and how marvelous? But I steeled myself against thoughts of mercy for the blond beauty. She was an enemy....
Book 13: Explorers of Gor.

Talunas: Feral Free Women of the Jungles

Talunas, are sisters-in-kind of the panther girls. However, these bands of white women live in the rainforests of Schendi, and are as extremely fierce as their northern counterparts. Tarl Cabot helped free a tribe of pygmie males that had fallen captive to these women and enslaved in Explorers of Gor. Tarl notes in many of the following quotes, that the talunas are fierce as they are because they are frustrated, starved for the touch of a man.

"The chief says the river is dangerous beyond this point. He says there are hostile tribes, dangerous waters, great animals, monsters and talunas, white-skinned jungle girls." He indicated the blond-haired barbarian, kneeling, her hands tied behind her back, her neck-rope in the hands of Alice, who, in lovely repose, stood beside her. "He thought she might be one," he said. "I told him she was only an ordinary slave." — Explorers of Gor, page 303.

She was slender-legged and dark-haired. She wore brief skins. She ran down to the edge of the water. Her hands were not bound together but, from each wrist, there hung a knotted rope. It was as though she had been bound and, somehow, had been freed. "Please save me!" she cried. "Help me!"
I examined the condition of the skins she wore. I noted, also, that she wore a golden armlet and, on her neck, a necklace of claws. She also had, about her waist, a belt, with a dagger sheath, though the sheath was now empty. "Save me, please, noble sirs!" she wept. She waded out a few feet in the water. She extended her hands to us piteously. She was quite beautiful. I considered the forest behind her. The trees were thick, the brush, near the river, heavy. …
"Please, please help me!" we heard the girl cry. Then we left her behind.
"Master," sobbed Janice.
"Be silent, Slave Girl," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Look!" cried Alice. "There is another!"
Now, on the shore, standing at a post, chains about her body, we saw a blond girl. "Please help me!" she cried, straining against the chains. She, like the first, was dressed in brief skins and, like the first, was ornamented, with an armlet and necklace. Too, about her left ankle, there was a golden bangle. We removed the paddles from the water. …
"I think we have lingered here long enough," said Kisu, looking about. "This is a dangerous place."
"Agreed," I said.
"Do not leave without her, please, noble masters," begged Janice. "Please, Master," begged Alice. "Please, Master," begged Tende.
"What little fools you all are, said Kisu. "Can you not see that it is a trap?" …
"They speak Gorean," I pointed out. "Thus they are not originally of the jungle. The color of their skins alone, white, should make that clear to you. Consider the first girl. The lengths of rope dangling from her wrists seemed rather long for any usual form of binding. Eighteen inches of rope is quite sufficient for tying a girl's hands either before her body or behind. Too, it is common to loop a wrist binding, and use a single knot, rather than tie each wrist separately."
"Perhaps she was tied about a tree," said Janice.
"Perhaps," I said. "But, too, the rope was cut, not frayed. How would it have been cut?"
"I do not know, Master," she said.
"Consider also," I said, "that she retained her belt and dagger sheath. A normal captor would surely have discarded these. What need a captured woman for such accouterments?"
"I do not know, Master," she said.
"Too," I said, "she, like the girl at the post, there on the shore, wore clothing and ornaments. One of the first things a captor commonly does with a woman is to take away her clothing. She is not to be permitted to conceal weapons. Also, it helps her to understand that she is a captive. Also, of course, a captor commonly wishes to look upon the beauty of his capture. This pleases him. Also, of course, he may wish to form a conjecture as to its market value or the amount of pleasure he will force it to yield to him. At the very least it seems reasonable that her ornaments, and in particular those of gold, would be removed from her. One does not expect to find rich ornaments of gold on the body of a captured woman. Surely such things belong rather in the loot sack of her captor. She might, of course, wear them later, as her master's property, he using them then to decorate his slave. Consider, too, the nature and condition of their garments. The garments are not ripped or torn. They show no signs of a struggle or of the abuse of their owner. Too, they are skins, of the sort which might be worn by free women, huntresses, not rep-cloth or bark cloth, not rags, of the sort which might be worn by slaves."
"Their bodies, too," said Kisu, "showed no signs of lashings or bruises. Presumably, then, they were not fresh captures." I nodded. Sometimes a free woman must be taught that she is now subject to discipline. Some women refuse to believe it until the whip is on them.
"Other clues, too," I said, "suggest that they are not what they seem. Consider the girl at the post. Her hands are not fastened over her head, which would lift and accentuate the beauty of her breasts. You must understand that a post is often used to display a girl, not merely to secure her. As it is, we do not even know if her hands are truly fastened behind her or not. We simply cannot see. Too, captors in the forests, natives of these jungles, would not be likely to have chains to secure their captures." …
"How long have you been at the post?" I called to her.
"For two days," she wept. "Take pity on me! Help me, please!"
"Have you any doubts now?" I asked. "Consider her condition. It is prime. Does she truly seem to have been at the post for two days?"
"No, Master,' said Janice.
"Too," I said, "had she been at the post overnight it is not likely that tharlarion would have discovered her and eaten her from the chains?"
"Yes, Master," said Janice.
"I am, too, made comfortable by the thickness of the brush and trees in these areas, both before and now. They seem fit to conceal the numbers of an ambuscade." …
As our canoe moved away we looked back. "After them!" cried the girl. She slipped from her chains and bent to the grass beside her, seizing up a light spear. From the bush about her appeared numbers of girls similarly clad and armed. We saw canoes being thrust into the water. "Perhaps now you will paddle with a better will," I said.
"Yes, Master!" said Janice.
There were now some eight canoes behind us. In each canoe there were five or six girls. In the prow of the first canoe was the blond girl who had seemed to be chained at the post. In the prow of the second was the slender-legged, dark-haired girl whom we had seen earlier. She still had the dangling ropes knotted on her wrists.
"Will they overtake us?" cried Alice.
"It is unlikely," I said. "In no canoe there are there more than six paddlers. In this canoe, too, there are six paddlers, and three of these are men." In less than a quarter of an Ahn we had considerably lengthened our lead on our pursuers. "Do you not recall, Janice," I asked, "in one of the villages long ago, one of the men inquired if you were a taluna?"
"Yes," she said.
"Those behind us," I said, "are talunas." — Explorers of Gor, pages 385-388.

They spoke quickly among themselves. It was not in Gorean.
"We are the slaves of the talunas," said one of the men, their leader.
I nodded. I had thought so, from their behavior. It was from the talunas, too, doubtless, that they had learned their Gorean.
"We fish and hunt for them, and make cloth, and serve them," said one of the men.
"Men should not be the slaves of women," I said. "Women should be the slaves of men."
"We are small," said a man. "The talunas are too large and strong for us."
"They may be taken, and made slaves, as any women," I said.
"Help us to rid ourselves of the talunas," said the leader. — Explorers of Gor, page 393.

On my belly, quietly, I entered it. Moonlight filtered in through the thatched roof and between the sticks which formed the sides of the hut. She was sleeping within, in her brief skins. Her weapons were at the side of the hut. She lay on a woven mat, her blond hair loose about her head. I examined her thighs, moving back the skins she wore. They had never been branded. She turned, restlessly. She was the girl who had feigned being chained at the post, to lure us into a trap. She was, I was sure, the leader of the talunas. She had given commands in out pursuit. She did not share her hut with another girl. She threw her arm restlessly over her head. I saw her hips move. I smiled. She was a woman in need. She moaned. I waited until her arms were again at her sides, and she lay upon her back. I saw her lift her haunches in her sleep. She was starved for a man's touch. Such women, in their waking hours, are often tense and restless; it is not unusual, too, for them to be irritable; and many times they are hostile toward men; many times they are not even fully aware of the underlying causes of their uncomfortable conscious states; how horrified they might be if they were told that they were women, and desired a master; yet must they not, on some level, be aware of this; would not their hostility toward the male who does not understand their needs or is too cowardly or weak to satisfy them not be otherwise inexplicable; what other hurt could the uncooperative male be inflicting upon them; the more he tries to please them the more they demand; the more he tries to do what they claim to wish the more he finds himself disparaged and despised; can he not see that what they really want is to be thrown to his feet and subjected, totally, to his will? They wish to be women, that is all. But how can they be women if men will not be men? How cruel a man is to deny to a woman the deepest need of her womanhood. Can they not care for them? Can they not see how beautiful they are, and how marvelous?
Swiftly I knelt across her body, pinning her down, pinning her arms to her sides. Almost instantly, frightened, she wakened. The trapped girl's first impulse is to scream. This may be depended upon. As her mouth opened I, with my thumb, thrust the rolled-cloth wadding deep into it. In a moment I had lashed it in place. I then threw her to her stomach and tied her hands behind her back. I then put her again on her back. Her eyes were wild, terrified, over the gag. With my knife I cut the skins from her. "You will not be needing these," I told her. I regarded her. Such women bring high prices. I took her in my arms. Her eyes were frightened. She shook her head fiercely, negatively. But her body, as though in sudden relief, desperately clasped me. She twisted her head to the side, and then, again, looked at me. She shook her head, negatively. But her body thrust itself against me, asking no quarter, piteously and helplessly soliciting its full impalement. "Very well," I told her, "but your body says �Yes.'" Her hips and thighs then began to move. She put back her head in misery on the mat. Then, in a moment, there were tears in her eyes, and she tried to lift her head and gagged mouth to touch me. When later I crouched over her she sat up, shuddering, and out her cheek to my left shoulder. I felt the lashings of the gag against my shoulder. — Explorers of Gor, pages 395-396.

I plunged through brush, dragging the bound, gagged blond girl, running and stumbling, bent over, by the hair at my side. The talunas, more than forty of them, plunged after us, brandishing their weapons, in hot pursuit. I turned when I heard their sudden cries of surprise, and then of rage, and then of fear. I tied the blond girl by her hair to a slender palm and strode back to the nets.
Some of the talunas lay upon the ground, tangled in nets, the spear blades of the small men at their throats and bellies. More than twenty of them struggled, impeding one another's movement, in a long vine net about them. The first girl I pulled from a net was the slender-legged, dark-haired girl. I cuffed her, and then threw her on her belly and bound her hand and foot. I then drew forth another girl and treated her similarly. Then, in a row, lying on the jungle floor, there were forty-two captives. I then released the blond girl from the palm tree and, tying her ankles, threw her with the rest. I did not bother to ungag her. "Release us," said the dark-haired girl, squirming in her bonds.
"Be silent," said the leader of the little men, jabbing his spear blade below her left shoulder blade. The girl gritted her teeth, frightened, and was quiet.
"Remove their clothing and ornaments," I told the little men.
This was done. The little men then tied a vine collar on the throat of each girl and, by the arms, dragged them, one by one, to a long-trunked, fallen tree. About this tree, encircling it, were a number of vine loopings. The little men then knelt each girl at one of the vine loopings. Pushing down their heads, they then, with pieces of vine rope, fastened both under the vine collars on the girls, tied down their heads, close to the trunk. The forty-three girls then knelt, naked, hands tied behind them, their heads tied down over it. They could not slide themselves free sideways, moving the vine loopings, because of the roots of the tree at one end and its spreading branches at the other. They were well secured in place, their heads over the tree trunk. One of the little men then, with a heavy, rusted panga, probably obtained in a trade long ago, walked up and down near them. They shuddered. They knew that, if the little men wished, their heads might be swiftly cut from them.
"There are the mighty talunas," I said. — Explorers of Gor, pages 397-398.

The Taluna and Their Relationships with Slave Girls

I took two pairs of slave bracelets from the loot of the taluna camp. Girls such as talunas keep such things about in case slave girls should fall into their hands. They are extremely cruel to slave girls, whom they regard as having betrayed their sex by surrendering as slaves to men. Actually, of course, it seems likely that their hatred of slave girls, which tends to be unreasoning and vicious, is due less to lofty sentiments than to their own intense jealousy of the joy and fulfillment of their imbonded sisters. The joyful slave girl, obedient to her master's wishes, is an affront and, more frighteningly, an unanswerable and dreadful threat to their most cherished illusions. Perhaps they wish to be themselves slaves. Why else should they hate them so? — Explorers of Gor, page 407.

How a Taluna Came to Be

"How came you to the rain forests?" I asked.
"I, and Fina, and the others," she said, "fled undesired companionships."
"But now you have fallen slave," I said.
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Your entire band," I said, "will doubtless know no nobler fate."
"Yes, Master," she said. She shuddered. "We now, all of us, belong to men."
"Yes," I said.
"You left our vine collars on," she said. "You knew, did you not, that we would beg slavery?"
"Yes," I said.
"But how could you know?" she asked.
"Though you and the others have fought your femininity," I said, "yet you and they are both beautiful and feminine."
"You knew that we were natural slaves?" she said.
"Of course," I said.
"I will no longer be permitted to fight my femininity, will I?" she asked.
"No," I said. "You are now a slave girl. You will yield to it, and fully."
"I'm frightened," she said.
"That is natural," I said.
"It will make me so loving and helpless," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"Can I dare, too, now," she asked. "to be sensuous?"
"If you are not fully pleasing in all the modalities of the slave girl, sensuous and otherwise," I said, "you will be severely punished."
"Yes, Master," she said.
"Or slain," I said.
"Yes, Master," she whispered.
The canoe moved into the center of the river. "I do not know how to be a slave girl," she suddenly wept. I thrust her head down. "You will begin," I said, "by learning to be docile and submissive." I then rewound the wadding and, dragging her head up briefly, by the hair, from behind, pushed it into her mouth and lashed it in place. I then again thrust her head down. "Also," I said, "you will consider whether or not, at a given time, your master wishes to hear you speak. If you are in doubt, you may ask his permission to speak, which may then be granted or denied, as he pleases."
She nodded, piteously signifying her slave's assent. — Explorers of Gor, pages 411-412.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Talunas: Feral Free Women of the Jungles

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

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