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The Tahari is
described as being a trapezoid. Page 32.
The Tahari is
bounded on the north by the Barrens and on the west by the northern
plains. What borders the Tahari to the east and to the south is not
specified yet is known, at least to some degree. The bordering lands
are hospitable compared to the dune country that comprises most of
the Tahari. Turia maintains Turmas, which is a fort and trading
station, at the southeastern corner of the Tahari. Caravans
occasionally travel from Tor or from Kasra, in the northwest corner,
to Turmas, in the southeast corner, but they do not cross the Tahari
to do so. Instead, they skirt the desert, either by traversing first
the northern border heading east and then the eastern border heading
south, or by traversing first the western border heading south and
then the southern border heading east. Page
179.
The perimeter of
the Tahari is arguably better known than its
interior.
The northwestern
corner of the Tahari is the stopping place for the Voltai Mountains,
as the Voltai proper ends slightly north of the city of Tor. South
of the Tahari, a range of smaller peaks descending into the middle
latitudes of the southern prairies defines the eastern limit of the
vast southern prairies. This southern section is considered to be
the southern foothills of the Voltai, and so at least in popular
opinion is classified as a continuation of the Voltai. The Tahari is
therefore an interruption in the Voltai chain. Book 4, Page
2.
The Tahari
is said to be hundreds of pasangs deep and thousands long. Page
33.
It is said to be
almost a continent in size. Page 36.
This means that
most of its immensity has to be accounted for by its length from
east to west. This explains why those who live in the Tahari hope
for wind that blows from the north, which would be from the Barrens,
or from the northwest, which would be down from the Voltai, as these
winds would be much cooler than winds blowing from the east or the
west. Easterly and westerly winds are feared in the Tahari. Page 71.
This also explains
two phrases used by Tarl Cabot in thought to say that the entire
Tahari could become engulfed in war. The picture of the tribes from
one end of the desert to the other being at war was conveyed by
Cabot observing that the Tahari would, from east to west, flame with
war. Page 47.
Cabot later had
the thought that desert men would be outraged from Tor to Turmas.
Page 153.
Terrain in the
Tahari varies between areas of rocky hills, which comprise most of
the region and lie mostly in the western portion, and areas of
seemingly endless sand dunes, with oases and salt pits periodically
dotting its forbidding surface. Page 38.
Scrub brush and
patches of verr grass eke out an existence in the rocky hill country
amid the rocks, gravel, and dust. Page 71.
The Tahari has
seasons, each with varying temperatures and wind directions. By the
late spring, daytime air temperatures in the Tahari shade can reach
120 degrees F. and can reach 150 degrees F. in the open the surface,
with surface temperatures in the salt districts, which are in the
dune country, reaching 160 degrees and air temperatures reaching 140
degrees. Pages 33, 208, 220, 231.
The wind blows
almost continually, coming usually from the north or northwest, but
during the spring the wind often shifts and blows from the west
toward the east, and in the fall it often shifts and blows from the
east toward the west. Dry sandstorms are a danger. Pages 70, 71,
271, 272, 285.
West of the Tahari
proper, the fertile Teehra District to the southwest and the Fayeen
River system areas to the northwest are commercially related to the
Tahari. The distinctive purple Veminium is grown somewhere at the
edge of the Tahari. Pages 44, 50, 51.
Tor, at the
northwest edge of the Tahari, is the only major gateway city to the
desert. Tor itself is a city built around an oasis just inside the
Tahari. Book 8, Page 43.
Oasis communities
tend to be hundreds of pasangs apart in the rocky areas, and closer
to two hundred pasangs apart in the dune areas. If one enters the
dune region from the Battle of Red Rock oasis, the nearest community
will be some two thousand pasangs away to the east. The salt mine of
Klima has no neighboring oasis community for a thousand pasangs in
any direction. Pages 36, 37, 125, 179.
To be of the
Tahari is to love the magnificence of Tahari nights. One can sit
beside a crackling scrub brush fire and watch orange and yellow
sparks dance wildly upward to be scattered against the blackness.
The sky is solid black on moonless nights, a deep black, a majestic
limitless black showing off its stars like glittering jewels. The
stars blaze in the coldness of the night, stretching from one end of
the horizon to the other, brilliantly showing the directions to all
who gaze upon them. To be of the Tahari is to find comfort in the
communication between the land and the sky and the people. To be of
the Tahari is to draw strength from solitude. To be of the Tahari is
to be awed daily and nightly by ceaseless
beauty.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Some online
confusion has apparently existed as to whether the Tahari is north
or south of the rainforests, primarily due to an underappreciation
of the size of the rainforests.
Book 13 locates
the equator within the rainforests.
locates the
equator within the rainforests. The discussion concerning kaiila on
Pages 70, 71 clearly places the Tahari in the northern
hemisphere.
Some online
confusion also exists regarding the placement of the Tahari with
respect to the Voltai range. The Voltai range bulges westward in its
middle. If you leave Ar and follow the Voltai going southeastward,
the only possible destination if you maintain that course is the
Tahari. Page 18.
That route holds
to the Voltai and crosses that range to the south of the Voltai,
which shows that the Voltai range is interrupted at that point, and
then one can continue eastward into the Tahari and soon be east of
the Voltai and its eastern foothills.
Page
27.
The Upper and
Lower Fayeen Rivers are west of the Tahari and appear to be fed by
the western side of the Voltai. The Tahari oases, on the other hand,
are fed by the eastern side of the Voltai via underground seepage.
Clearly, the entirety of the Tahari is south and east of the Voltai,
with the western border portions being the only exceptions. An early
map, which has been reproduced popularly on the internet, shows a
highly compact Tahari nestling in a supposed eastward crook of the
Voltai Mountains. That image has no basis within the content of the
Books.
Pages 32, 33.
The mountain chain
north and south of the Tahari is likely part of the same geologic
upheaval and is further evidence of tectonic plate activity. The
Voltai is similar to the Urals and the Himalayas in that it marks
the collision of two plates, in this case, the Eastern and Western
Plates. The Eastern Plate consists of the Barrens, the Tahari, and
the lands south of the Tahari and east of the southern part of the
Voltai range. Like the Urals, the Voltai becomes a long backbone
across the surface of a planet. Like the Himalayas, it reaches truly
magnificent altitudes. The crashing plates not only resulted in the
Voltai but also created uplifts radiating both westward and eastward
from that range. These uplifts give the Western Plate its westward
drainage from the subequatorial Cartius River system in the southern
plains, to the Ven Highlands and the Ua River and the Shaba, Ngao,
and Ushindi lake drainage systems in the rainforests, to the Vosk
River Basin and its Upper and Lower Fayeen, Thassa Cartius, Issus,
Verl, and Olni tributary systems, and the Laurius River system in
the northern latitudes. The Barrens has its own eastern uplifts
which give the Kaiila and Snake River systems a southern and
southwestern flow, yet significantly, the rivers in the Barrens are
turned southward by the Voltai uplifts and do not reach those
mountains. The Voltai uplifts make possible the slow underground
southeastward seepage that provides the water in the oases in the
western part of the Tahari. The water from the Voltai flows slowly,
but the enormous quantity of water and the fact that the process is
ongoing make the flows into underground rivers. Page
33.
The salt
districts, which appear as one travels eastward within the Tahari,
provide the final clues to the geologic past of the Tahari. In
discussing the salt districts, Norman makes specific mention of the
tectonic plate history of Gor. He affirms continental drift and
associated earthquake activity. It is not known whether or not the
Tahari was once an arm of Thassa, and in this case, one would think
as easily of Thassa as being the eastern ocean of the supercontinent
as well as being the western ocean. The Tahari might have been an
inland sea or the remains of several inland seas. The source of the
underground water in the salt districts is not the Voltai. Instead,
the underground rivers in the salt districts are remnants of oceans
that long ago characterized the planet. Water in these districts is
found in both fresh and salty form, depending on the geologic strata
containing it. Pages 238, 239, 240.
The image of the
Tahari as the remains of a vast inland sea leads to envisioning it
as an enormous bowl or depression with its higher elevations being
at its boundaries. The relatively lower elevation of its interior
speaks to its extreme temperatures in a way reminiscent of Death
Valley, yet on a far grander scale. Having its western boundary
being at the same elevation as the Western Pate relates as well to
the effects of the plate collision.
One area of
disagreement in interpretation of the description of the Tahari
remains. The sides of the trapezoidal shape slope to the east, but
whether is meant or is meant is not made
clear.
THE GREATEST CRIME
IN THE TAHARI IS TO DESTROY A WELL
Cities/Oases/Geographic
Tor
lies at the northwest corner of the Tahari. Supply point for
Oases
Teehra district southwest of Tor Page
36
Kasra River port at the junction of the
Upper and Lower Fayeen (exports red salt) page
238
Turia South of the Tahari - Sweet Turian
wines, and silks
Oasis of
Nine Wells (Aretai) Ubar - Sulieman- Master of 1000 lances.
High Pasha of the Aretai Page 44,82
Oasis of
Farad page 55
Oasis of Lame
Kaiila page 136
Oasis of Two
Scimitars (Bakah) page 151, 152, 213
Oasis of the Sand
Sleen page 153, 179
Turmas Turian outpost and trading
station page 172
Oasis of the
Battle of Red Rock(Tashid) page 189
Kasbah of Tarna
page 207
Kasbah
of the Guard of the Dunes Kasbah of the Salt Ubar page
227
Ibn
Saran(Abdul)
Klima Salt Mines/Brine
Pits
Oasis of Four Palms (Kavar)
Tribes
ARETAI
War Cry "Aretai Victorious" Page
47,307
Vassal Tribes
Page 187
Arani Page 160
Luraz
Page 93
Ravei Page 153,301
Tajuks Page 170, 175, 211
Tahsid
Page343
Zevar
Ti
KAVAR (mark is a blue scimitar facing
outward from the body on the left forearm) Page
50,51,209
War Cry "Kavar's Supreme"
Vassal Tribes Page 93
Ta`Kara page 153,301
Bakahs page
170,175,211
Char
Kashnari
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Imports to
Oases
soap
rep-cloth
embroided
cloths
rugs
silver
gold
jewelleries
mirrors
kailliauk
tusk
perfumes
hides
skins
feathers
precious
woods
tools
needles
leather goods
salt (red salt
from Kasra)
nuts
spices
jungle birds
(pets)
weapons
rough woods
sheets of
tin/copper
Bazi tea
wool from the Hurt
beaded
whips
female slaves
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46
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
21,37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
37
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Weapons
Sleeve dagger
Scimitar
Customs (FreePersons) Brush right
palm against right palm of another twice, saying "May your water
bags never be empty May you always have water" Then bow. Entering or
Leaving .Right hand is the Scimitar hand, and is the only hand used
to eat with, as it is the hand used for wielding steel and taking
blood
Sharing of salt
"Let there be salt
between Us" Salt is placed on the back of ones wrist and is offered
to another who takes it off with his tongue. This gesture is the
reciprocated"We have shared salt" is then said and echoed (obscure
but assume this is the Tahari equivalent of becoming blood
brothers)
Sharing of
Water
Whether taken or given makes one a guest
SAYINGS OF THE
TAHARI
"May your eye be keen, your steel swift"
"More real
than the law, is the heart"
"The desert is my mother and my
father" pages 21,34,35,23,60,184,143,267
Clothing
Head
scarf/Wrapped Turban wound around the head, repcloth worn by
lower class males, acts as a cushion for carrying burdens on the
head
Djellaba (Men) Striped,hooded loose robe
page 36
Burnoose (Men) page 44
sleeveless,hooded desert
cloaks, Preferred by those wielding scimitars page
50,109,138
Kaffiyeh &
Agal (Men) page 87,301
Gowns
(FreeWomen) pages 41,46,64
Cloak &
Veils (FreeWomen) page 44
Haik
(FreeWomen/slaves) Black, covers a woman from head to toe.At the
eyes there is a tiny bit of black lace so that she may see. Soft
black, non-heeled slippers with curled toes decorated with a line of
silver thread are worn on the feet.Slaves are naked beneath a haik
save for their collar & brand pages
135,137,50,88,105,157,310,69,70,88,72
Skirts (FreeWomen) Skirts,
Blouse, Jacket, Slippers (slave) page 45
Chalwar(slaves) diaphanous trousers
gathered at the ankles worn with a sash and a silk vest showing a
bare midriff, a slave veil is also worn pages
45,138,88,89
Slave Veils
Slave djellaba made of rep-cloth, cut high
on the thighs, used for sleeping page 215
Exports
from Oases
dates
pressed date bricks
Foods grown in Oases
Brown
Sa-Tarna
beans
melons
Katch (leaf
vegetable)
turnips
radish
carrots
kort (similar to
squash)
rep (for
cloth)
tospits
larma
apricots
pomegrantes
Flowers
Desert
Veminium
purplish flower gathered in shallow baskets and
distilled into oil. The residual perfumed water is used to rinse the
eating hand
Nomads provide
meat
(verr)
hides
animal-hair cloth
Verr Milk
Kailla Milk
-reddish,strong salty
Meals
Verr meat cut into chunks threaded on
metal rods with slices of peppers & larma then roasted
Vulo
stew with raisins,nuts, onions & honey
Kort with melted
cheese & nutmeg
Transportation
Sand
Kaiila: a desert mutation of equitorial stock. Lofty,
Proud, silken, long- necked, smooth gaited, triple lidded20-22hands
at the shoulder
Kurdah: Open
fronted, half globe, frame structure made of tem-wood and curtained.
Carried by pack kaiila for transport of women, free & slave
Accessories
Walking
chain (FreeWomen & slaves) used to measure stride (a
measured gait is considered attractive in the Tahari)
Virgin Bell worn around the ankle of Free Girls to
signal their availability as Companions
Ear Rings
(slave)
Bangles (slave)
Dancing
Chains (slave)
Miscellaneous
Hakim of Tor =
Tarl Cabot
Shelter
Trench: 5' deep 18" wide used to take shelter from
desert storms & heat
Tents:
are pitched with the opening to the east so that the morning sun may
warm them, they contain various rugs for comfort and a "submission
mat" which is a very coarse matting
Musical
Instruments: Drum, Kaska & Flute finger cymbals are
worn by dance slaves
Language:
is Gorean however the Taharic alphabet is used
Marine creatures: (Klima brine pits)
lelts, salamanders and "Old One" a dorsal finned creature,
presumably a shark
Cooking: "boards of metal" are
placed over rocks, 2' in length and exposed to the sun. Are used by
nomad women for frying
Mats:
used for sitting on or as screens
Slave kennels are called
Seraglio
Games: Zar is a
strategy game played with pebbles
Birds: Zad & Zadit
The Tahari Ring: given to Hakim by
a Kur provides invisibility, gold with a silver square in the
center. Too large for a man's finger
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