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23 Renegades of Gor


Renegades of Gor
John Norman
Chronicles of Counter-Earth Volume 23

1 The Road; The Slave
(pg.7) In a sudden flash of lightning, showing the driving rain, the wagons, the
crowd on the road, I saw ahead, above me, and to my left, about a half of a pasang
forward, on its stony plateau, the inn of the Crooked Tarn.
тАЬThere is less than a pasang to go,тАЭ said a man near me.
тАЬThey will have no places left,тАЭ said another.
тАЬYou could not afford them, if they did,тАЭ said the first man.
тАЬWe will camp on the lee side,тАЭ said another, тАЬand water the beasts in the moat.тАЭ
тАЬWagons will already be circled there,тАЭ said another.
When groups are traveling together the wagons are often arranged in a circle, end
to end, tongues inward, narrowing gaps between the тАЬsectionsтАЭ of the improvised
rampart, and chained together, the front axle of the next, the camp, and the draft
animals, and any accompanying livestock, within the circle. This forms a wagon
fort or laager. The circle contains more interior space than any other geometrical
figure, so the camp is thus as large as possible, given the number of wagons. Too,
as every point on the circumference is normally visible from, and equidistant
from, the center, this facilitates defense, for example, the prompt and pertinent
deployment of reserves. This arrangement, incidentally, is not common with the
southern wagon peoples, such as Tuchuks, if only because of the vast numbers
(pg. 8) of wagons. There the wagons congregate almost to form wagon cities. It is
fairly typical, however, with some of the less numerous wagon peoples of the
north, such as the tribes of the Alars, particularly when separated from one
another on the march, though there one might note the circle is often very large
and as many as four or five wagons deep.
There was another flash of lightning, and an earsplitting crash of thunder.
Ahead, and on the plateau of the inn, I saw the large wooden sign, on its chains,
jerked in the wind, striking about, pelted with rain. It was in the form of a
malformed tarn, its neck crooked, almost vulturelike, the right leg, with its talons,
much larger than the left, and outstretched, grasping. Such signs are not untypical

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 23 Renegades of Gor


of Gorean hostelries, as many Goreans, particularly those of the lower castes,
cannot read.
Then again it seemed the world was plunged into darkness and there was little
except driving rain and the creaking of wagons.
I had put my cloak over my head. The wagon I was walking beside was to my left.
It kept to the left side of the road, as it was moving north on what, in this latitude,
was usually called the Vosk Road, but farther south was generally knows as the
Vitkel Aria. My cloak hung down from my head about my shoulders, and thence
fell to my waist. I had shortened the straps of the sword sheath, hitching it high,