by John Norman
"You are familiar, are you not," asked Kog, with one known as Zarendargar?"
"Who is Zarendargar?" asked Samos.
"Let us not waste one another's time, said Kog.
Samos turned white.
I was pleased that, outside, on the platform of this anterior building of thetarn complex, there were several guards. They were armed with crossbows. Theiron bolts of these devices, weighing about a pound apiece, were capable ofsinking some four inches into solid wood at a range of some twenty yards. To besure, by the time the guards might be summoned into the building Samos and Imight be half eaten.
Kog looked closely at Samos.
"Zarendargar," said Samos, "is a well-known commander of the steel worlds, a wargeneral. He perished in the destruction of a supply complex in the arctic."
"Zarendargar is alive," said Kog.
I was startled by this pronouncement. This seemed to me impossible. Thedestruction of the complex had been complete. I had witnessed this from pasangsacross the ice in the arctic night. The complex would have been transformed intoa radioactive inferno. Even the icy seas about it, in moments, had churned andboiled.
"Zarendargar cannot be alive," I said. It was the first time I had spoken to thebeasts. Perhaps I should not have but I had been in the vicinity of the event inquestion. I had seen the explosion. I had, even from afar, been half blinded bythe light, and, moments later, half staggered by the sound, the blast and heat.
The shape, height and awesomeness of that towering, expanding cloud was notsomething I would ever forget. "Nothing could have lived in that blast," I said.
"Nor in the seas about it."
Kog looked at me.
"I was there," I said.
"We know," said Kog.
"Zarendargar is dead," I said.
Kog then unrolled the hide on the table. He arranged it so that Samos and Icould easily see it. The hair rose up on the back of my neck.
"Are you familiar with this sort of thing?" asked Kog of Samos.
"No," said Samos.
"I have seen things like it," I said, "but only far away, on another world. Ihave seen things like it in places called museums. Such things are no longerdone."
"Does the skin seem to you old," asked Kog, "faded, brittle, cracked, worn,thin, fragile?"
"No," I said.
"Consider the colors," said Kog. "Do they seem old to you? Do they seem faded toyou?"
"No," I said. "They are bright, and fresh."
"Analysis, in virtue of desiccation index and molecular: disarrangement,suggests that this material, and its applied I pigments, are less than two yearsold. This hypothesis is corroborated by correlation data, in which this skin wascompared to samples whose dating is known and independent historical evidence,the nature of which should be readily apparent."
"Yes," I said. I knew that such beasts, on the steel worlds, possessed anadvanced technology. I had little doubt but what their physical and chemicaltechniques were quite adequate to supply the dating in question to the skin andits paints. Too, of course, the nature of their historical evidence would bequite clear. To be sure, it would be historical data at their disposal, and notmine. I had no way of knowing the pertinent facts. That such beasts, on thisworld, carried primitive weapons was a tribute to their fear of Priest-Kings.
Carrying such weapons they might be mistaken for beasts of their race who now,for all practical purposes, were native to Gor, beasts descended fromindividuals perhaps long ago marooned or stranded on the planet. Priest- Kings,on the, whole, tend to ignore such beasts. They are permitted to live, as theywill, where they may, on Gor, following even their ancient laws and customs,providing these do not violate the Weapons Laws and Technology Restrictions. Tobe sure, such beasts usually, once separated from the discipline of the ships,in a generation or two, lapsed into barbarism. On the: whole they tended tooccupy portions of Gor not inhabited by human beings. The Priest-Kings care fortheir world, but their primary interest is in its subsurface, not its surface.
For most practical purposes life goes on on Gor much as though they did notexist. To be sure, they are concerned to maintain the natural ecosystems of theplanet. They are wise, but even they hesitate to tamper with precise and subtlesystems, which have taken over four billion years to develop. Who knows whatcourse a dislodged molecule may take in a thousand years?
I looked at Kog and Sardak. Such creatures, perhaps thousands of years ago, had,it seemed, destroyed their own world. They now wanted another. The Priest-Kings,lofty and golden, remote, inoffensive and tolerant, were all, for most practicalpurposes, that stood between the Kogs and Sardaks, and the Earth and Gor.
"This is," said Kog, to Samos, "a story skin."
"I understand," said Samos.
"It is an artifact of the red savages," said Kog, "from one of the tribes in theBarrens."
"Yes," said Samos.
The Red Savages, as they are commonly called on Gor, are racially and culturallydistinct from the Red Hunters of the north. They tend to be a more slender,longer-limbed people; their daughters menstruate earlier; and their babies arenot born with a blue spot at the base of the spine, as in the case with most ofthe red hunters. Their culture tends to be nomadic, and is based on theherbivorous, lofty kaiila, substantially the same animal as is found in theTahari, save for the wider footpads of the Tahari beast, suitable fornegotiating deep sand, and the lumbering, gregarious, short-tempered,trident-homed kailiauk. To be sure, some tribes do not have the kaiila, neverhaving mastered it, and certain tribes have mastered the tam, which tribes arethe most dangerous of all.
Although there are numerous physical and cultural differences among these peoplethey are usually collectively referred to as the red savages. This is presumablya function of so little being known about them, as a whole, and the cunning,ruthlessness and ferocity of so many of the tribes. They seem to live forhunting and internecine warfare, which seems to serve almost as a sport and areligion for them. Interestingly enough most of these tribes seem to be unitedonly by a hatred of whites, which hatred, invariably, in a time of emergency orcrisis, takes precedence over all customary con- and rivalries. To attackwhites, intruding into their lands, once the war lance has been lifted, evenlong-term blood enemies will ride side by side. The gathering of tribes, friendsand foes alike, for such a battle is said to be a splendid sight. These thingsare in virtue of what, among these peoples, is called the Memory.
"The story begins here," said Kog, indicating the center of the skin. From thispoint there was initiated, in a slow spiral, to be followed by turning the skin,a series of drawings and pictographs. As the skin is turned each marking on itis at the center of attention, first, of course, of the artist, and, later, hefollows the trail, of the viewer. The story, then, unanticipated, each event asreal as any other, unfolds as it was lived.
"In many respects," said Kog, "this story is not untypical. These signs indicatea tribal camp. Because of the small number of lodges, this is a winter camp. Wecan also tell this from these dots, which represent snow."
I looked at the drawings. They were exactly, and colorfully done. They were, onthe whole, small, and precise and delicate, like miniatures. The man who hadapplied the pigment to that hide canvas had been both patient and skillful. Too,he had been very careful. This care is often a feature of such works. To speakthe truth is very important to the red savages.
"This jagged line," said Kog, "indicates that there is hung in the camp, thesawing feeling in the stomach. This man, whom we take to be the artist, and whomwe shall call Two Feathers, because of the two feathers drawn near him, puts onsnowshoes and leaves the camp. He takes with him a bow and arrows."
I watched Kog slowly turn the skin. The drawings are first traced on the skinwith a sharp stick. Many of them are then outlined in black. The interior areas,thusly blocked out, may then be colored in. The primary pigments used wereyellows, reds, browns and blacks. These are primarily obtained from powderedearths, clays and boiled roots. Blues can be obtained from
blue mud, gantdroppings and boiled rotten wood. Greens can be obtained from a variety ofsources, in- earths, boiled rotten wood, copper ores and pond algae. Thepigments, commonly mixed with hot water or glue, are usually applied by a chewedstick or a small brush, or pen, of porous bone, usually cut from the edge of thekailliauk's shoulder blade or the end of its hip bone. Both of these bonescontain honeycombed structures useful in the smooth application of paint.
"This man travels for two days," said Kog, pointing to two yellow suns in thesky of the hide. "On the third day he finds the track of a kailiauk. He followsthis. He drinks melted snow, held in his mouth until it is warm. He eats driedmeat. On the third day be builds no fire. We may gather from this he is now inthe country of enemies. Toward the evening of the fourth day be sees moretracks. There are other hunters, mounted on kaiila, who, too, are following thekailiauk. It is difficult to determine their number, for they ride single file,that the prints of one beast may obscure and obliterate those of another. Hisheart is now heavy. Should he turn back? He does not know what to do. He mustdream on the matter."
"Surely," said Samos, "it could be only a coincidence."
"I do not think so," said Kog.
"This hide," said Samos, "could be nothing but the product of the crazedimagination of an ignorant savage. It might, too, be nothing more than theaccount of a strange dream."
"The organization and clarity of the account suggests rationality," said Kog.
"It is only the story of a dream," said Samos.
"Perhaps," said Kog.
"Such people do not distinguish clearly between dreams and reality," said Samos.
"They distinguish clearly between them," said Kog. "It is only that they regardboth as real."
"Please, continue," I said.
"Here, in the dream," said Kog, indicating a series of pictographs whichfollowed a small spiral line, "we see that the kailiauk invites the man to afeast. This is presumably a favorable sign. At the feast, however, in the lodgeof the kailliauk there is a dark guest. His lineaments are obscure, as you cansee. The man is afraid. He senses great power in this dark guest. The kailiauk,however, tells the man not to be afraid. The man takes meat from the hands ofthe dark guest. It will be his ally and protector, the kailiauk tells him. Hemay take it for his medicine. The man awakens. He is very frightened. He isafraid of this strange medicine. The dream is strong, however, and he knows itcannot be repudiated. Henceforth he knows his medicine helper is the mysteriousdark guest."
"From where," asked Samos, "does this man think he obtained this medicinehelper?"
"Surely the man will think he obtained it from the medicine world," said Kog.
"It seems an interesting anticipatory dream," I said.
"Surely the dream is ambiguous," said Samos. "See? The lineaments of the darkguest are unclear."
"True," I said. "Yet something of its size, and of its awesomeness, and force,particularly within a lodge, as evident."
"You will also notice," said Kog, "that it sits behind fire. That is the placeof honor."
"It could all be a coincidence," said Samos.
"That is quite true," I said. "Yet the matter is of interest.
"The man may once have seen such things, or heard of them, and forgotten them."
"That seems to me quite likely," I said.
"But why, in the dream, in this dream," asked Samos, "should the dark guestappear?"
"Possibly," I said, "because of the man's plight and need. In such a situation apowerful helper might be desired. The dream, accordingly, might have producedone."
"Of course," said Samos.
"Considering the events of the next day," said Kog "I think certain alternativeexplanations might be more likely. This is not, of course, to rule out that theman, in his quandary, and desperate straits, might not have welcomed a powerfulally."
"What do you suggest?" I asked.
"That be, earlier, during the day, saw sign of the medicine helper, but only inthe dream interpreted it."
"I see," I said.
"Even more plausibly, and interestingly," said Kog, "I suspect that the darkguest, in that moonlit snow, actually appeared to the man. The man, hungry,exhausted, striving for the dream, betwixt sleeping and waking, not being fullyaware of what was transpiring, saw it. He then incorporated, it into his dream,comprehending it within his own conceptual framework."
"That is an interesting idea," I said.
"But it is surely improbable that the paths of the man and the helper shouldcross in the vast, trackless wastes of the snowbound Barrens," said Samos.
"Not if both were following the kailiauk," said Kog.
"Why would the helper not have eaten the man?" I asked.
"Perhaps," said Kog, "because it was bunting the kailiauk, not the man. Perhapsbecause if it killed a man, it was apprehensive that other men would follow it,to kill it in turn."
"I see," I said.
"Also," said Kog, "kailiauk is better than man I know. I have eaten both."
"I see," I said.
"If the helper had visited the man," said Samos, "Would there not have beenprints in the snow?"
"Doubtless," said Kog.
"Were there prints?" asked Samos.
"No," said Kog.
"Then it was all a dream," said Samos.
"Me absence of prints would be taken by the man as evidence that the helper camefrom the medicine world," said Kog.
"Naturally," said Samos.
"Accordingly the man would not look for them," said Kog.
"It is your hypothesis, however," conjectured Samos, "that such prints existed."
"Of course," said Kog, "which then, in the vicinity of the camp, were dustedaway."
"From the point of view of the man, then," said Samos, "the dark guest wouldhave come and gone with all the silence and mystery of a guest from the medicineworld."
"Yes," said Kog.
"Interesting," said Samos.
"What is perfectly clear," said Kog, "is how the man viewed the situation,whether he was correct or not. Similarly clear, and undeniably so, are theevents of the next day. These are unmistakably and unambiguously delineated."
Kog then, with his dexterous, six- jointed, long digits, rotated the skin aquarter of a turn, continuing the story.
"In the morning," said Kog, "the man, inspired by his dream, resumed his hunt. Asnow began to fall." I noted the dots between the flat plane of the earth andthe semicircle of the sky. "The tracks, with the snow, and the wind, becameobscured. Still the man pressed on, knowing the direction of the kailiauk andfollowing the natural geodesics of the land, such as might be followed by aslow-moving beast, pawing under the snow for roots or grass. He did not fear tolose the trail. Because of his dream he was undaunted. On snowshoes, of course,he could move faster through drifted snow than the kailiauk. Indeed, over longdistances, in such snow, he could match the speed of the wading kaiila. Too, asyou know, the kailiauk seldom moves at night."
The kailiauk in question, incidentally, is the kailiauk of the Barrens. It is agigantic, dangerous beast, often standing from twenty to twenty- five hands atthe shoulder and weighing as much as four thousand pounds. It is almost neverhunted on foot except in deep snow, in which it is almost helpless. Fromkaiilaback, riding beside the stampeded animal, however, the skilled hunter cankill one with a- single arrow. He rides close to the animal, not a yard from itsside, just outside the hooking range of the trident, to supplement the strikingpower of his small bow. At this range the arrow can sink in to the feathers.
Ideally it strikes into the intestinal cavity behind the last rib, producinglarge-scale internal hemorrhaging he closely behind the left shoulder blade,thence piercing the eight-valved heart.
The hunting arrow, incidentally, has a long, tapering point, and this point isfirmly fastened to the shaft. This makes it easier to withdraw the arrow fromits target. The war arrow, on the other hand, uses an arrowhead whose base, iseither angled backwards, forming barbs, or cut straight across, the resul
t inboth cases being to make the arrow difficult to extract from a wound. The headof the war arrow, too, is fastened less securely to the shaft than is that ofthe hunting arrow. The point thus, by intent, if the shaft is pulled out islikely to linger in the wound. Sometimes it is possible to thrust the arrowthrough the body, break off the point and then withdraw the shaft backwards. Atother times if the point becomes dislodged in the body, it is common to seek itwith a bone or greenwood probe, and then, when one has found it, attempt to workit free with a knife. There are cases where men have survived this. Muchdepends, of course, on the location of the point.
The heads of certain war arrows and hunting arrows differ, too, at least in thecase of certain warriors, in an interesting way, with respect to the orientationof the plane of the point to the plane of the nock. In these war arrows, thePlane of the point is perpendicular to the plane of the nock. In level shooting,then, the plane of the point is roughly parallel to the ground. In these huntingarrows, on the other hand, the plane of the point is parallel to the plane ofthe nock. In level shooting, then, the plane of the point is roughlyperpendicular to the ground. The reason for these different orientations isparticularly telling at close range, before the arrow begins to turn in the air.