Ua [1]
An inland (Schendi) word which means "Flower."
"Kamba, incidentally, is an inland word, not Gorean. It means rope. Similarly the word Nyoka means serpent. Ushindi means Victory. Thus Lake Ushindi might be thought of as Lake Victory or Victory Lake. It was named for some victory over two hundred years ago won on its shores. The name of the tiny kingdom or ubarate which had won the victory is no longer remembered. Lake Ngao, which was discovered by Shaba, and named by him, was named for a shield, because of its long, oval shape. The shields in this area tend to have that shape. It is also an inland word, of course. The Ua River is, literally, the Flower River." — Explorers of Gor, page 100.
Ua [2]
Large river which feeds Lake Ngao in the Ushindi region.
"The Ua River is, literally, the Flower River." — Explorers of Gor, page 100.
Ubar
Literal translation: "War Chief."
"In times of crisis, a war chief, or Ubar, is named, who rules without check and by decree until, in his judgement, the crisis is passed… Sometimes such a war chief, or Ubar, wins the hearts of his men, and they refuse to withdraw their allegiance." — Tarnsman of Gor, pages 42-43.
In your veins must flow the blood of your father, once Ubar, War Chieftain, now Administrator of Ko-ro-ba, this City of Cylinders." — Tarnsman of Gor, page 58.
"What is it, Ubar, that you hold dearest — your city or your title? Do you seek the welfare of Ar or your private glory?"
Marlenus leaped to his feet, hurling the yellow robes of the Afflicted from him, drawing his blade from its sheath with a metallic flash. "A Ubar," he cried, "answers such a question only with his sword!" — Tarnsman of Gor, page 172."It is hard to be Ubar." — Assassin of Gor, page 407.
Ubar of Beggars
In Schendi, beggars had organized themselves and chosen one among them to rule over them. Their numbers were stabilized, territories allotted. These beggars paid taxes and in doing such, were provided with shelter, medical insurance and other benefits.
"He was Ubar of the beggars of Schendi… He had been chosen by them to rule over them. Some said that he had been chosen to rule over them because only he was blind and thus could not see how repulsive they were. Before him the deformed and maimed, the disfigured and crippled, might stand as men, as subject before sovereign, to be heard with objectivity and obtain a dispassionate and honest justice, neither to be dismissed with contempt or demeaningly gratified by the indulgence of one who holds himself above them. But if there were truth in this I think there was, too, a higher truth involved. Kipofu, though avaricious and petty in many respects, had in him something of the sovereign. He was a highly intelligent man, and one who could, upon occasion, be wise as well as shrewd. He was a man of determination, and of iron will, and vision. It was he who had first effectively organized the beggars of Schendi, stabilizing their numbers and distributing and allotting their territories. None might now beg in Schendi without his permission and none might transgress the territory of another. And each, each week, paid his tax to Kipofu, the inevitable price of government. These taxes, though doubtless much went to the shrewd Kipofu, for monarchs expect to be well paid for bearing the burdens and tribulations of office, served to obtain benefits and insurances for the governed. No beggar now in Schendi was truly without shelter, or medical care or needed go hungry. Each tended to look out for the others, through the functioning of the system. It was said that even members of the merchant council occasionally took Kipofu into their confidence. One consequence of the organization of the beggars, incidentally, was that Schendi did not have many beggars. Obviously the fewer beggars there are the more alms there are for each one. Unwanted beggars had the choice of having their passage paid from Schendi or concluding their simple careers in the harbor… Kipofu, I knew, through the organization of the beggars, their covering of territories, and their reports, as well as his use of them as messengers and spies, was perhaps the most informed man in Schendi. He, like a clever spider in its web, was the center of an intelligence network that might have been the envy of many a Ubar. There were few tremors in Schendi which did not, sooner or later, reach Kipofu on his simple etem in the square." — Explorers of Gor, pages 138-139.
Ubar of the Skies
The name to which Tarl Cabot referred to his fabled war tarn.
"Still, the days in the tarn cot, gigantic though it was, must have been confining for that Ubar of the Skies, my tarn, and I knew he would relish flight, the chance to pit his wings once again against the fierce winds of Gor." — Tarnsman of Gor, page 190.
"It was truly a tarn of tarns, my Ubar of the Skies!" — Outlaw of Gor, page 127.
Ubara
The Free Companion of a Ubar.
"To be Ubara of Ar was the most glorious thing to which a woman might aspire. It meant that she would be the richest and most powerful woman on Gor, that armies and navies, and tarn cavalries, could move upon her very word, that the taxes of an empire the wealthiest on Gor could be laid at her feet, that the most precious of gems and jewelries might be hers, that she would be the most envied woman on the planet." — Hunters of Gor, pages 300-301.
Ubarate
The territory(s) governed by a Ubar; a suzerainty.
"Henrius Sevarius was said to be a mere boy, and his Ubarate one which was administered by his regent, Claudius, once of Tyros. Lysias had been client to the house of Sevarius, it was said, for five years, a period coterminous with the regency of Claudius, who had assumed the power of the house following the assassination of Henrius Sevarius the Fourth.
Many of the captains, incidentally, were client to one Ubar or another. I myself did not choose to apply for clienthood with a Ubar of Port Kar. I did not expect to need their might, nor did I wish to extend them my services." — Raiders of Gor, page 129."It is perhaps worth remarking, briefly, on the power of Port Kar, with it being understood that the forces of both Cos and Tyros, the other two significant maritime Ubarates in know Thassa, are quite comparable." — Raiders of Gor, page 133.
Ubar San
Meaning "One Chief." War chief chosen to be supreme commander of the four tribes of the Wagon Peoples.
"It is near Turia, in the spring, that the Omen Year is completed, when the omens are taken usually over several days by hundreds of haruspexes, mostly readers of bosk blood and verr livers, to determine if they are favorable for a choosing of a Ubar San, a One Ubar, a Ubar who would be High Ubar, a Ubar of all the Wagons, a Ubar of all the Peoples, one who could lead them as one people." — Nomads of Gor, pages 11-12.
Ubara Sana
The Free Companion of a Ubar San.
"This woman," said Kamchak of the Tuchuks, brusquely, his voice stern but almost breaking, "is called Aphris know her she is Ubara of the Tuchuks, she is Ubara Sana, of my heart Ubara Sana!" — Nomads of Gor, page 340.
Ubara's Gambit
A Kaissa move.
"The Ubara's Gambit!" called a man near me. — Beasts of Gor, page 88.
Ubar's Race
The final tarn race during the Love Feast.
"They will not win the great race," said Vancius, "the Ubar's Race." The Ubar's Race is the final and climactic race of the Love Feast. — Assassin of Gor, page 335.
Ubar's Scribe's Defense
A Kaissa move.
"Surely you recognize," asked Scormus, curiously, looking up at him, "the Two Spearman variation of the Ubar's Scribe's Defense, developed by Miles of Cos and first used the tournament at Tor held during the Second Passage Hand of the third year of the Administrator Heraklites?" — Assassin of Gor, pages 328-329.
Ubar's / Ubara's Builder
A Kaissa piece.
"Second Tarnsman," said he, "to Ubar's Builder Nine." — Assassin of Gor, page 35.
Ubar's / Ubara's Initiate
A Kaissa piece.
"The men ambled over to watch. I supposed they were interested in seeing what the Player's response would be to yellow's fourteenth move, a move on which authorities disagreed sharply, some favoring Ubar's Initiate to Scribe three, and others the withdrawal of Ubara's Spearman to cover the vulnerable Ubar's two." — Assassin of Gor, page 32.
Ubar's / Ubara's Physician
A Kaissa piece.
"Ubar's Rider of the High Tharlarion," said the Player, to Ubar's Physician Eight." — Assassin of Gor, page 35.
Ubar's / Ubara's Rider of the High Tharlarion
A Kaissa piece.
"Ubar's Rider of the High Tharlarion," said the Player, to Ubar's Physician Eight." — Assassin of Gor, page 35.
"Relentlessly the Vintner forced through again with his Second Spearman, this time capturing the Player's Ubara's Rider of the High tharlarion." — Assassin of Gor, page 35.
Ubar's / Ubara's Scribe
A Kaissa piece.
"Ubar's Scribe to Ubara's Scribe Six," said the Player." — Assassin of Gor, page 35.
Ubar's / Ubara's Spearman
A Kaissa piece.
"The men ambled over to watch. I supposed they were interested in seeing what the Player's response would be to yellow's fourteenth move, a move on which authorities disagreed sharply, some favoring Ubar's Initiate to Scribe three, and others the withdrawal of Ubara's Spearman to cover the vulnerable Ubar's two." — Assassin of Gor, page 32.
Ubar's / Ubara's Tarnsman
A Kaissa piece.
"Ubar's Tarnsman to Physician Seven," said the Vintner. — Assassin of Gor, page 32.
Ubar's / Ubara's Initiate's Spearman
A Kaissa piece.
"He turned again to regard the board. He pushed his Ubara's Initiate's Spearman to Ubara's Initiate's Spearman Four." — Assassin of Gor, page 87.
Ugly Acts
A term of the Sames, of the Waniyanpi, for sexual intercourse, especially heterosexual sex, because it is considered dangerous to the Teaching. See also: "The Teaching" and "Waniyanpi."
"I was born Waniyanpi, in one of the Waniyanpi enclosures of the Kailiauk," she said, "the product of a forced mating, between parents unknown even to themselves, parents selected and matched by the red masters, parents who, even though they were Sames, were forced to perform the Ugly Act, hooded and under whips, on the day of Waniyanpi breeding." — Savages of Gor, page 233.
Ul
A pterodactyl, sometimes referred to as the "Winged Tharlarion."
"Only one creature in the marshes dares to outline itself against the sky, the predatory Ul, the winged tharlarion." — Raiders of Gor, page 1.
Ulo
"Woman's Knife." The knife of the Innuit woman; used for slicing meat and sinew. I've incorrectly seen a ulo used in a wagon camp chat room; the ulo is indigenous to the Innuit.
"The ulo, or woman's knife, with its semicircular blade, customarily fixed in a wooden handle, is not well suited to carving. It is better at cutting meat and slicing sinew." — Beasts of Gor, page 262.
Umbrella bird
A variety of bird found in the rainforests of the Ushindi.
"In the lower portion of the canopies, too, can be found heavier birds, such as the ivory-billed woodpecker and the umbrella bird." — Explorers of Gor, page 311.
Umiak
Large skin-boat, made of the skins of sea sleen normally, but sometimes made of tabuk skin as well; used by the Innuit, often for whaling.
"Wood can be used for sleds, and tent frames and the frames of kayaks and umiaks, the large, broad vessels which can hold several individuals, sometimes used in whaling." — Beasts of Gor, page 176.
"Five men, besides myself, waited in the large skin boat, the umiak. It was some twenty feet in length and some five feet in its beam. The skins which were sewn over its frame, interestingly, were those of tabuk and not sea sleen. The skins were stretched over a framework, lashed together with sinew cord, of driftwood and long bows of bone… Usually such a boat is paddled by women, but no women were now within it… Many times the umiaks, or the light, one-man vessels, the kayaks, do not return." — Beasts of Gor, pages 257-258.
Unnamed Flowers of the Arctic Tundra
Small flowers, approximately 240 genres, generally perennials, which grow in the tundra of the arctic lands; none of which are thorny or poisonous.
"The tundra at this time of year belies its reputation for bleakness. In many places it bursts into bloom with small flowers. Almost all of the plants of this nature are perennials, as the growing season is too short to permit most annuals to complete their growing cycle. In the winter buds of many of these plants lie dormant in a fluffy sheath which protects them from cold. Some two hundred and forty different types of plants grow in the Gorean arctic within five hundred pasangs of the pole. None of these, interestingly, is poisonous, and none possesses thorns. During the summer plants and flowers will grow almost anywhere in the arctic except on or near the glacial ice." — Beasts of Gor, page 196.
Ur
Literal translation is "primitive." Used in combination with "gravitational", this is the Gorean expression for the gravitational primitive; "Ur" is Egyptian in derivation incidentally.
"… I find it difficult to understand or explain the drive save that it used the forces of gravity against themselves in such a way that the amount, if one may use so inept an expression, of gravitational Ur, which is the Gorean expression for the gravitational primitive, remains constant though redistributed, I do not think force, or charge, or any of the other expressions which occur to one's mind is a good translation for Ur, and I prefer to regard it as an expression best left untranslated, though perhaps on could say that Ur is whatever it was that satisfied the gravitational equations of Misk." — Priest-Kings of Gor, page 241.
Ur Disruptor
Banned weapon, even to the Priest-Kings, which were used during the Nest Wars, which caused gravitational (or Ur) disruptions all over the planet. The fall-back to this weapon, is that it would ultimately destroy the planet. See also: "Disruptor Cone."
Misk lifted his antennae meditatively. "There is the Ur disruptor I constructed in the War," came from his translator. — Priest-Kings of Gor, page 282-283.
"Gravitational disruptions," said Misk." It is forbidden even to Priest-Kings… Sarm could destroy the Nest… even the planet… Sarm is destroying the Ur bonding," said Misk. — Priest-Kings of Gor, page 243.
"I knew nothing of the armament of the ships of Sarm and I knew I had only the silver tube in my own craft, a weapon far outclassed in destructive potential by the gravitational disruptors mounted in the ships of Sarm." — Priest-Kings of Gor, page 245.
"I supposed there might be tidal waves in the distant Thassa… that mountains might be falling and new ones rising… that the Sa-Tarna fields might be broken apart…" — Priest-Kings of Gor, page 274.
Urt
The many varieties of rodents of Gor.
"… an urt, one of the small horned rodents of Gor…" — Outlaw of Gor, page 60.
Urt Hunters
Men of Port Kar that hunt canal urts using slave girls as bait. Urt hunters are vital to the community as they help keep the urt population under control.
"Urt hunters swim slave girls, ropes on their necks, beside their boats in the dark, cool water of the canals, as bait for urts, which, as they rise to attack the girl, are speared. Urt hunters help to keep the urt population in the canals manageable." — Explorers of Gor, page 32-33.
Urt People
They are rational beings, most probably a form of human being. They communicate with each other with signals such as hissing and clicking, but they can also speak Gorean.
Urt Shields
Small round plates which are fastened to a ship's mooring ropes to prevent urts from boarding the ship.
"The urt shields were still fastened to the mooring ropes, circular plates, preventing small port urts from boarding the ship." — Hunters of Gor, page 64.
Urt Soldiers
A warrior society of the Yellow Knives; the sign for them are painted prints on the flanks of their kaiila.
"The painted prints on the flanks of the kaiila of the Yellow Knives?" I asked.
"The sign of the Urt Soldiers," said Grunt, "a society of the Yellow Knives." — Savages of Gor, pages 314.
Use-Name
Many Goreans, especially those of the lower castes, have two names, a 'use-name' and a 'real-name.' It is thought that knowing the 'real name' over a person gives one power, aiding one to uses magic against another.
"The Goreans have a habit of not revealing names easily. For themselves, particularly among the Lower Castes, they often have a real name and what is called a use name. Often only the closest relatives know the real name. On the level of the First Knowledge, it is maintained that knowing the real name gives one power over a person, a capacity to use that name in spells and insidious magical practices. The second name, which would correspond to the use-name on Gor, is common property, a public sound not sacred or to be protected. At the level of the Second Knowledge, of course, the High Castes, at least in general, recognize the baseless superstition of the Lower Castes and use their own names comparatively freely, usually followed by the name of their city. The Lower Castes, incidentally, commonly believe that the names of the High Castes are actually use-names and that the High Castes conceal the real names." — Tarnsman of Gor, pages 58-59.
"Members of low castes often call themselves by a use-name, reserving the real name for intimates and friends, to protect it against capture by a sorcerer or worker of spells who might use it to do them harm." — Outlaw of Gor, page 30.
Ushindi [1]
An inland word which means "Victory."
Kamba, incidentally, is an inland word, not Gorean. It means rope. Similarly the word Nyoka means serpent. Ushindi means Victory." — Explorers of Gor, page 99-100.
Ushindi [2]
Large lake of the Schendi inland region; it's main tributary is the Cartius.
"Thus Lake Ushindi might be thought of as Lake Victory or Victory Lake. It was named for some victory over two hundred years ago won on its shores. The name of the tiny kingdom or ubarate which had won the victory is no longer remembered." — Explorers of Gor, page 100.
Ushindi [3]
The large equatorial interior of Gor.
"The dialects of the Ushindi region I will usually refer to as the inland dialects. To some extent, of course, this is a misnomer, as there are many languages which are spoken in the equatorial interior which would not be intelligible to a native speaker of the Ushindi area. It is useful, however, to have some convenient way of referring to the linguistic modalities of the Ushindi area. Gorean, incidentally, is spoken generally in Schendi. The word Schendi, as nearly as I can determine, has no obvious, direct meaning in itself. It is generally speculated, however, that it is a phonetic corruption of the inland word Ushindi, which, long ago, was apparently used to refer to this general area." — Explorers of Gor, page 100.
Ushindi Ost
A deadly cousin of the orange viper, it is red with black rings.
"The ost is usually an orange snake, but these were Ushindi osts, which are red with black stripes." — Explorers of Gor, page 239.
Utukufu
Inland (Schendi) word for "Glory."
He was sitting, cross-legged, on a flat, rectangular stone, broad and heavy, about a foot high, at the western edge of the large Utukufu, or Glory, square. The stone was his etem, or sitting place. He was Ubar of the beggars of Schendi." — Explorers of Gor, pages 137-138.
Special Note
Because of the differences in publishing the books, depending upon whether published in the U.S. or Europe, depending upon whether a first publishing or a Masquerade Books release, page numbers will often vary. All of my quotes are from original, first-printing U.S. publications (see The Books page for a listing of publishers and dates) with the exception of the following books:
- Tarnsman of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
- Outlaw of Gor (11th Printing, Balantine)
- Priest-Kings of Gor (2nd Printing, Balantine)
- Assassin of Gor (10th Printing, Balantine)
- Raiders of Gor (15th Printing, Balantine)
- Captive of Gor (3rd Printing, Balantine)
Disclaimer
These pages are not written for any specific home, but rather as informational pages for those not able to get ahold of the books and read them yourself. Opinions and commentaries are strictly my own personal views, therefore, if you don't like what you are reading — then don't. The information in these pages is realistic to what is found within the books. Many sites have added information, assuming the existences of certain products and practices, such as willowbark and agrimony for healing, and travel to earth and back for the collection of goods. I've explored the books, the flora, the fauna, and the beasts, and have compiled from those mentioned, the probabilities of certain practices, and what vegetation mentioned in the books is suitable for healing purposes, as well as given practicalities to other sorts of roleplaying assumptions.