Castes

--This page is still under construction to include pertinent quotes and information even on the lower castes--

The Gorean society is broken up into a a system of Castes, Two main castes High and Low.
Each caste has its own set of codes that they live by, though some in the books are spoken of further in depth of others. A child is born into the caste of their Father. Even a woman can be born into the 'red caste' which, yes is the warriors caste, but a woman of the red caste is -not- considered a warrior. It is also not unheard of for a person to change castes for one reason or another as seen by these following quotes.

"The caste structure," said my father patiently, with perhaps the trace of a smile on his
face, "is relatively immobile, but not frozen, and depends on more than birth. For example,
if a child in his schooling shows that he can raise caste, as the expression is, he is
permitted to do so. But similarly, if a child does not show the aptitude expected of his
caste, whether it be, say, that of a physician or warrior, he is lowered in caste."
"I see," I said, not much reassured.
"The High Castes in a given city," said my father, "elect an administrator and council for
stated terms. In times of crisis, a war chief, or Ubar, is named, who rules without check
and by decree until, in his judgment, the crisis is passed."
-Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 42

I had seen few women, but knew that they, when free, were promoted or demoted within the
caste system according to the same standards and criteria as the men, although this varied,
I was told, considerably from city to city.
-Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 44

But it must be remembered as well that a person to change their caste must have the approval of the High Caste Council of their Homestone or was considered a outlaw and could very well be impaled as seen in this quote.

There were only three statuses conceivable to the Gorean mind outside the caste system:
slave, outlaw, and Priest-King. A man who refused to practice his livelihood or strove to
alter status without the consent of the Council of High Castes was, by definition, an outlaw
and subject to impalement.
--Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 46

* Name*	*colors*	*general information*
Caste of Initiates	White	First of the High Castes, the Initiates are said to believe in many things among them immortality and to be representative of the Priest kings themselves. Quotes regarding the Caste of Initiates
Caste of Scribes	Blue	Second of the High castes, the scribes are the scholars, writers, and Historians of the Gorean society, studious with great attention to detail, they deal with record keeping and accounting, sub castes include caste of mapmakers and magistrates to name a couple Quotes regarding the Caste of Scribes
Caste of Builders	Yellow	Third of the High castes, they deal with the engineering and physical building on Gor, some of the sub castes include masons and inventors and draftsmen and engineers Quotes regarding the Caste of Builders
Caste of Physicians	Green	Fourth of the High castes, deal with medical and healing in all forms, medical researchers and non-combative in battles Quotes regarding the Caste of Physicians
Caste of Warriors	Scarlet/Red	Fifth of the High Castes, they make up the Tarnsmen and Calvary of Gor in the different forms. Having the strictest of codes to follow of all castes Quotes on Caste of Warriors

Caste of Animal Handlers
The Caste of Artisans
Caste of Assassins	Black
Caste of Bakers
Caste of Brewers
Caste of Butchers
Caste of Charcoal Makers	Black and Grey
Caste of Clothiers
Caste of Dress Makers
Caste of Drovers
Caste of Entertainers
Caste of Fishermen
Caste of Goat-Keepers
Caste of Lamplighters
Caste of Leather Workers
Caste of Merchants	White and Gold
Caste of Metal Workers	Grey
Caste of Moneylenders
Caste of Musicians
Caste of Oil Makers
Caste of Peasants	Brown
Caste of Perfumers
Caste of Poets	Aqua and Red
Caste of Pot Makers	Brown and Green
Caste of Rence-Growers
Caste of Ropemakers
Caste of Saddle Makers	Tan
Caste of Sailors
Caste of Singers	Aqua and Red
Caste of Slavers	Blue and Yellow
Caste of Sleen Trainers
Caste of Tarn Keepers	Grey and Green
Caste of Thieves
Clan of Torturers	Black and Red
Caste of Vart Trainers
Caste of Waste Collectors
Caste of Weavers
Caste of Winemakers
Caste of Wood Carriers
Caste of Woodsmen	Grey
Guardsmen

The commonly seen -Caste of Players- is not actually a caste in the books of John Norman

The Players are not a caste, nor a clan, but they tend to be a group apart, living their own lives. They are made up of men from various castes who often have little in common but the game, but that is more than enough. They are men who commonly have an extraordinary aptitude for the game but beyond this men who have become drunk on it, men lost in the subtle, abstract liquors of variation, pattern and victory, men who live for the game, who want it and need it as other men might want gold, or others power and women, or others the rolled, narcotic strings of toxic kanda.
There are competitions of Players, with purses provided by amateur organizations, and sometimes by the city itself, and these purses are, upon occasion, enough to enrich a man, but most Players earn a miserable living by hawking their wares, a contest with a master, in the street. The odds are usually one to forty, one copper tarn disk against a forty-piece, sometimes against an eighty-piece, and sometimes the amateur who would play the master insists on further limitations, such as the option to three consecutive moves at a point in the game of his choice, or that the master must remove from the board, before the game begins, his two tarnsmen, or his Riders of the High Tharlarion. Further, in order to gain Players, the master, if wise, occasionally loses a game, which is expensive at the normal odds; and the game must be lost subtly, that the amateur must believe he has won. I had once known a Warrior in Ko-ro-ba, a dull, watery-eyed fellow, who boasted of having beaten Quintus of Tor in a Paga Tavern in Thentis. Those who play the game for money have a hard lot, for the market is a buyer's market, and commonly men will play with them only on terms much to their satisfaction. I myself, when Centius of Cos was in Ko-ro-ba, might have played him on the bridge near the Cylinder of Warriors for only a pair of copper tarn disks. It seemed sad to me, that I, who knew so little of the game, could have so cheaply purchased the privilege of sitting across the board from such a master. It seemed to me that men should pay a tarn disk of gold just to be permitted to watch such a master play, but such were not the economic realities of the game.
In spite of having the respect, even to some degree the adulation, of almost all Goreans, the Players lived poorly. On the Street of Coins they found it difficult even to arrange loans. They were not popular with innkeepers, who would not shelter them unless they paid in advance. Many were the nights a master would be found rolled in robes in a Paga tavern, where, for a bit of tarsk meat and a pot of paga, and an evening's free play with customers, he would be permitted to sleep. Many of the Players dreamed of the day they might be nominated for intercity competitions at the Fairs of the Sardar, for a victor in the Sardar Fairs earns enough to keep himself, and well, for years, which he then would devote to the deeper study of the game There is also some money for the masters in the annotation of games, printed on large boards near the Central Cylinder, in the preparation or editing of scrolls on the game, and in the providing of instruction for those who would improve their skills.. On the whole, however, the Players live extremely poorly. Further, there is a harsh competition among themselves, for positions in certain streets and on certain bridges. The most favorable locations for play are, of course, the higher bridges in the vicinity of the richer cylinders, the most expensive Paga taverns, and so on. These positions, or territories, are allotted by the outcome of games among the Players themselves In Ar, the high bridge near the Central Cylinder, housing the palace of the Ubar and the meeting place of the city's High Council, was held, and had been for four years, by the young and brilliant, fiery Scormus of Ar.
-Assassin of Gor, pg. 27-29