The great Tarns of Gor

THENTIS: CITY OF TARNS

Thentis, as the City of Tarns, has hundreds of tarncots. This is a description of one of the larger ones - written by a visitor who had been shown around the buildings.....

"The cot was a huge room beneath the roof of the cylinder, taking up what normally would be four floors of the cylinder. The perches were actually a gigantic curving framework of tem-wood four stories high, and following the circular wall of the cylinder.

Many of the perches were empty, but there were more than a hundred birds in the room; each was now chained to it's area of the perch; but each, I knew, at least once in very two days, was exercised; sometimes, when men do not wander freely in the cot, and the portals of the cot, opening to the sky, are closed, some of the birds are permitted the freedom of the cot; water for the birds is fed from tubes in cannisters mounted on triangular platforms near the perches, but there is also, in the center of the cot, in the floor, a cistern which may be used when the birds are free.

Food for the tarns, which is meat, for that is their diet, is thrust on hooks and hauled by chain and windlass to the various perches; it might be of interest to note that, when any of the birds are free, meat is never placed on the hooks or on the floor below; tarns are valuable birds and the Tarn keepers do not wish to have them destroy one another fighting over a verr thigh.

As soon as we entered the tarncot the Tarn Keeper took up a tarn goad and handed one to me. I accepted it; few dare to walk in a tarncot without a tarn goad. Indeed, it is foolish to do so.

The Tarn Keeper, receiving and acknowledging the salutations of his men, made his rounds. With an agility that could come only from years in the cots he clambered about the tem-wood beams, sometimes forty feet from the floor, checking this bird and that, and I followed him.

At last we came to one of the four great round portals which give access to the open air from the tarncot. I could see the large, beam-like tarn perch extending from the portal, out over the street far below. I looked over the City, down to the street far below me, and stepped back inside".


THE MAGNIFICENT TARN


The tarn, like most birds, is surprisingly light for its size, this primarily having to do with the hollowness of the bones. It is an extremely powerful bird, powerful even beyond what one would expect from such a monster.

Whereas large Urth birds, such as the eagle, must, when taking flights from the ground, begin with a running start, the tarn, with its incredible musculature, aided undoubtedly by the somewhat lighter gravity of Gor, can with a spring and a sudden flurry of its giant wings, lift both himself and his rider into the air. In Gorean, these birds are sometimes spoken of as "Brothers of the Wind".

The plumage of tarns is various, and they are bred for their colours as well as their strength and intelligence. Black tarns are used for night raids, white tarns in winter campaigns, and multicoloured, resplendent tarns are bred for warriors who wish to ride proudly, regardless of the lack of camouflage. The most common tarn, however, is greenish brown.

Disregarding the disproportion in size, the Earth bird which the tarn most closely resembles is the hawk, with the exception that it has a crest somewhat of the nature of a jay's.

There are three types of tarns...common, war and racing tarns; each very different from the other, not simply in the training, which does differ, but in the size, strength, build and tendencies of the bird.

Some tarns are bred primarily for strength and are used in transporting wares by carrying basket. Usually these birds fly more slowly and are less vicious than the war tarns or racing tarns.

The war tarns, of course, are bred for both strength and speed, but also for agility, swiftness of reflex, and combative instincts. War tarns, whose talons are shod with steel, tend to be extremely dangerous birds, even more so than other tarns, none of whom could be regarded as fully domesticated.

The racing tarn, interestingly, is an extremely light bird; two men can lift one; even it's beak is narrower and lighter than the beak of a common tarn or war tarn; it's wings are commonly broader and shorter than those of the other tarns, permitting a swifter take-off and providing a capacity for extremely abrupt turns and shifts in flight; they cannot carry a great deal of weight and the riders, as might be expected, are small men, usually of low caste, pugnacious and aggressive.

Racing tarns are not used by tarnsmen in war because they lack the weight and power of war tarns; meeting a war tarn in flight, a racing tarn would be torn to pieces in moments; further, the racing tarns, though marvellous in their particular ways, lack the stamina of the common tarn or the war tarn; their short wings, after a flight of perhaps only fifty pasangs, would begin to fail; in a short distance dash, of course, the racing tarn would commonly be superior to the war tarn.


TRAINING TARNS


The Goreans believe, incredibly enough, that the capacity to master a tarn is innate and that some men possess this characteristic and that some do not. One does not learn to master a tarn. It is a matter of blood and spirit, of beast and man, of a relation between two beings which must be immediate, intuitive, spontaneous. It is said that a tarn knows who is a tarnsman and who is not, and that those who are not die in this first meeting.

Tarns, who are vicious things, are seldom more than half tamed and, like their diminutive counterparts the hawks, are carnivorous. It is not unknown for a tarn to attack and devour his own rider. They fear nothing but the tarn-goad. They are trained by men of the Caste of Tarn Keepers to respond to it while still young, when they can be fastened by wires to the training perches.

Whenever a young bird soars away or refuses obedience in some fashion, he is dragged back to the perch and beaten with the tarn-goad. Rings, comparable to those which are fastened on the legs of the young birds, are worn by the adult birds to reinforce the memory of the hobbling wire and the tarn-goad. Later, of course, the adult birds are not fastened, but the conditioning given them in their youth usually holds except when they become abnormally disturbed or have not been able to obtain food.

The spirit of the tarn must not be broken, not that of a war tarn. He is trained to the point where it is necessary for a strong master to decide whether he shall serve him or slay him. You will come to know your tarn, and he will come to know you. You will be as one in the sky, the tarn the body, you the mind and will. You will live in an armed truce with the tarn. If you become weak or helpless, he will kill you. As long as you remain strong, his master, he will serve you, respect you, obey you.'


TARNSMAN APPAREL


Clothing of a Warrior Tarnsman consists of, leather pants, tunic and high leather boots, made from the finest bosk hide. This apparel is worn to protect the skin of the warrior against the ruff feathers of the tarn, which can wear away the hide of the toughest warrior.

Wrist straps of leather or beaten silver, may also be worn to give added strength to the wrists as well as protection. Into each boot is slipped a quiva, a sharp double sided throwing knife.

Helmet and breast plate, may be worn when going into battle.


WEAPONS CARRIED BY TARNSMEN


"My shield and spear were secured by saddle straps; my sword was slung over my shoulder. On each side of the saddle hung a missile weapon, a crossbow with a quiver of a dozen quarrels, or bolts, on the left, a longbow with a quiver of thirty arrows on the right. The saddle pack contained the light gear carried by raiding tarnsmen-in particular, rations, a compass, maps, binding fibre, and extra bowstrings".


TARN GOADS


A tarn goad is a metal rod about two feet long, with a leather loop attached. It had a switch in the handle, which can be set in two positions, on and off, like a simple torch. It is used to control the tarn; not used as a weapon. It has a leather loop, which is fastened around your wrist.

If You strike a tarn with it set to the 'on' position the goad will shower sparks in a sudden cascade of yellow light; on impact it feels like a sudden, severe electric charge, like the striking of a snake ...but leaves no wound.

The tarn-goad also is occasionally used in guiding the bird. One strikes the bird in the direction opposite to which one wishes to go, and the bird, withdrawing from the goad, moves in that direction.

There is very little precision in this method, however, because the reactions of the bird are merely instinctive, and he may not withdraw in the exact tangent desired. Moreover, there is danger in using the goad excessively. It tends to become less effective is often used, and the rider is then at the mercy of the tarn.


TARN WHISTLES


Each tarn is trained to respond to one particular whistle, one note, and the whistle is always sold on with the bird if it changes hands.

The whistle is used to call the bird to the rider.


TARN SADDLE


Climbing up the five-rung leather mounting ladder which hangs on the left side of the saddle and is pulled up in flight. He fastened himself in the saddle with a broad purple strap.


THE REINS


The tarn is guided by virtue of a throat strap, to which are attached, normally, six leather streamers, or reins, which are fixed in a metal ring on the forward portion of the saddle. The reins are of different colours, but one learns them by ring position and not colour. Each of the reins attaches to a small ring on the throat strap, and the rings are spaced evenly. Accordingly, the mechanics are simple. One draws on the streamer, or rein, which is attached to the ring most nearly approximating the direction one wishes to go. For example, to land or lose altitude, one uses the four-strap which exerts pressure on the four-ring, which is located beneath the throat of the tarn. To rise into flight, or gain altitude, one draws on the one-strap, which exerts pressure on the one-ring, which is located on the back of the tarn's neck. The throat-strap rings, corresponding to the position of the reins on the main saddle ring, are numbered in a clockwise fashion.


RACING HARNESS


The racing harness, like the common tarn harness, works with two rings, the throat ring and the main saddle ring, and six straps. The major difference is the tautness of the reins between the two rings; the racing saddle, on the other hand, is only a slip of leather compared to the common tarn saddle, which is rather large, with saddle packs, weapon sheaths and paired slave rings.

On the racing saddle there are two small straps, rather than the one large strap on the common saddle; both straps fasten about the rider and to the saddle, in a sense each duplicating the work of the other; the theory is that though smaller straps can break more easily the probability of both straps breaking at the same time is extremely small; further the two straps tend to divide strain between them, thereby considerably lessening the possibility of either breaking; some saving in weight, of course, is obtained with the two smaller straps; further, the broad strap would be a bit large to fasten to the small saddle; even beyond this, of course, since races take place largely and most often over a net there is normally not as much danger in a fall as there would be in common tarn flight; the main purpose of the straps is simply to keep the rider in the saddle, for the purpose of his race, not primarily to protect his life.