I have stayed at my wagon for most of the crushing various herbs and flowers. My thoughts are drawn to my friend Ari, I have had dreams of her lately, I feel that much unhappiness has befallen her not that I am surprised I had warned her when she visited that if she mated this man she was with that it would not go well, I had even told her if she did it without my blessing upon it that he would show his true colors only after blinding her with his false charm and smooth words.. I can never tell anyone what to do, even those who are like a sister to me. I knew she would not heed my words just as I knew that he would slink off in the night like a dweller coward. To me he was not trustworthy. This had been later confirmed outside Turia when I was speaking with her and he rode up like some charging rabid tharlarion. Garyx was not impressed with him and was less than pleased with how he treated those around him. It was the first time I had gotten in trouble with Garyx for my mouth, but in truth it was worth it. The man is a fake , deceitful ost and my thoughts will never change for he has proven them to be true. I suspect that she has rid herself of him, but I do not for sure I can only catch glimmers.
Ari is one of my oldest and dearest friends, she was the only one that had ever been nice to me in Treve, the only one to prove my trust was well placed, she never judged me and she never stopped being a friend no matter what. She is the only female outside of Chayleene that knows my darkest deepest secrets, the ones that cause great pain,sorrow and shame. And yet they also have shared in some of my greatest joys.
I remember her asking when I was in my late teens about our wagons, she wanted to know what they looked like.. While there is much of our people I will not speak of because they are not tuchuk, there was no harm in describing the wagons. I still see the image in my mind and the awe on her face as I told the story of our wagons.
The wagons of the tuchuk are magnificent, they are almost square and each the size of a very large room, they are drawn by a double team of bosk, four in a team.
The wagon box itself stands six feet from the ground, it is formed of black lacquered planks of tem wood. Inside the square wagon box, there is fixed a rounded, tentlike frame, covered with the taut, painted, varnished hides of bosks. These hides are brilliant and rich in color, within them are worked intricate, detailed beautiful and phenomenal fantastic designs. Each wagon competes with is neighboring wagon to be the boldest, the most exciting and the most unusual . The rounded frame is fixed somewhat within the square of the wagon box, so that a walkway, almost like a ship's bridge, surrounds the frame. The sides of the wagon box, incidentally, are, here and there, perforated for arrow ports, so that the small horn bow can be used as an advantage like a crossbow.
The one thing that is most striking about the wagons are the wheels, which are huge, the back wheels having a diameter of about ten feet; the front wheels are, like those of the Conestoga wagon, slightly smaller, in this case, about eight feet in diameter; the larger rear wheels are more difficult to mire; the smaller front wheels, nearer the pulling power of the bosk, permit a somewhat easier turning of the wagon. These wheels are carved wood and, like the wagon hides, are richly painted. Thick strips of bosk hide form the wheel rims, which are replaced three to four times a year. The wagon is guided by a series of eight straps, two each for the four lead animals. Normally, however, the wagons are tied in tandem fashion, in numerous long columns, and only the lead wagons are guided, the others simply following, thongs running from the rear of one wagon to the nose rings of the bosk following, sometimes as much as thirty yards behind, with the next wagon; also, too, a wagon is often guided by a woman or boy who walks beside the lead animals with a sharp stick.
"The interiors of the wagons, lashed shut, protected from the dust of the march, are often rich, marvelously carpeted and hung, filled with chests and silks, and booty from looted caravans, lit by hanging thalarion oil lamps , the golden light of which falls on the silken cushions, the ankle-deep, intricately wrought carpets. In the center of the wagon there is a small shallow fire bowl, formed of copper, with a raised brass grating. Some cooking is done here, though the bowl is largely to furnish heat. The smoke escapes by a smoke hole at the dome of the tentlike frame, a hole which is shut when the wagons move."
From Nomads of Gor pp. 30-31
I can still see her trying to visualize the wagons, it was not until she visited that she saw their true beauty , I think of how recently I have seen some make steel rims, I have never seen that before, and I am not sure what I think of it, I do know that it has never been our way to use them. I do not say much on it, for I am no wagon builder, but I will keep mine as they are. Perhaps I am too old, and I hold to the ways of our people, the leatherworker's will always have work from me. I cannot see me changing at this age. I am pretty set in my ways I think. I am not sure this is a good thing or a bad thing.
Ari is one of my oldest and dearest friends, she was the only one that had ever been nice to me in Treve, the only one to prove my trust was well placed, she never judged me and she never stopped being a friend no matter what. She is the only female outside of Chayleene that knows my darkest deepest secrets, the ones that cause great pain,sorrow and shame. And yet they also have shared in some of my greatest joys.
I remember her asking when I was in my late teens about our wagons, she wanted to know what they looked like.. While there is much of our people I will not speak of because they are not tuchuk, there was no harm in describing the wagons. I still see the image in my mind and the awe on her face as I told the story of our wagons.
The wagons of the tuchuk are magnificent, they are almost square and each the size of a very large room, they are drawn by a double team of bosk, four in a team.
The wagon box itself stands six feet from the ground, it is formed of black lacquered planks of tem wood. Inside the square wagon box, there is fixed a rounded, tentlike frame, covered with the taut, painted, varnished hides of bosks. These hides are brilliant and rich in color, within them are worked intricate, detailed beautiful and phenomenal fantastic designs. Each wagon competes with is neighboring wagon to be the boldest, the most exciting and the most unusual . The rounded frame is fixed somewhat within the square of the wagon box, so that a walkway, almost like a ship's bridge, surrounds the frame. The sides of the wagon box, incidentally, are, here and there, perforated for arrow ports, so that the small horn bow can be used as an advantage like a crossbow.
The one thing that is most striking about the wagons are the wheels, which are huge, the back wheels having a diameter of about ten feet; the front wheels are, like those of the Conestoga wagon, slightly smaller, in this case, about eight feet in diameter; the larger rear wheels are more difficult to mire; the smaller front wheels, nearer the pulling power of the bosk, permit a somewhat easier turning of the wagon. These wheels are carved wood and, like the wagon hides, are richly painted. Thick strips of bosk hide form the wheel rims, which are replaced three to four times a year. The wagon is guided by a series of eight straps, two each for the four lead animals. Normally, however, the wagons are tied in tandem fashion, in numerous long columns, and only the lead wagons are guided, the others simply following, thongs running from the rear of one wagon to the nose rings of the bosk following, sometimes as much as thirty yards behind, with the next wagon; also, too, a wagon is often guided by a woman or boy who walks beside the lead animals with a sharp stick.
"The interiors of the wagons, lashed shut, protected from the dust of the march, are often rich, marvelously carpeted and hung, filled with chests and silks, and booty from looted caravans, lit by hanging thalarion oil lamps , the golden light of which falls on the silken cushions, the ankle-deep, intricately wrought carpets. In the center of the wagon there is a small shallow fire bowl, formed of copper, with a raised brass grating. Some cooking is done here, though the bowl is largely to furnish heat. The smoke escapes by a smoke hole at the dome of the tentlike frame, a hole which is shut when the wagons move."
From Nomads of Gor pp. 30-31
I can still see her trying to visualize the wagons, it was not until she visited that she saw their true beauty , I think of how recently I have seen some make steel rims, I have never seen that before, and I am not sure what I think of it, I do know that it has never been our way to use them. I do not say much on it, for I am no wagon builder, but I will keep mine as they are. Perhaps I am too old, and I hold to the ways of our people, the leatherworker's will always have work from me. I cannot see me changing at this age. I am pretty set in my ways I think. I am not sure this is a good thing or a bad thing.
