WATERWAYS

And then the dawn came and, over the buildings of Port Kar, beyond them, and beyond the shallow, muddy Tamber, where the Vosk empties, we saw, I for the first time, gleaming Thassa, the sea.
---Raiders of Gor, 9:124

THASSA -- Simply means, the sea. Gleaming Thassa is how Goreans refer to the only charted Sea of Gor, bordering the entire West edge of what is to date the only known continent of the Counter Earth.

THE STREAM OF TORVALD -- A broad 'warm' current many pasangs wide by which the Northern area known as Torvaldsland receives water. The warmer quality of this current gives a respite in soil temperature which makes it possible to grow a number of crops on this otherwise harsh cold land.

The stream of Torvald is a current, as a broad river in the sea, pasangs wide, whose temperature is greater than that of the surrounding water. Without it, much of Torvaldsland, bleak as it is, would only be a frozen waste. Torvaldsland is a cruel, harsh, rocky land. It contains many cliffs, inlets and mountains. Its arable soil is thin, and found in patches. The size of the average farm is very small. Good soil is rare and highly prized. Communication between farms is often by sea, in small boats. Without the stream of Torvald it would probably be impossible to raise cereal crops in sufficient quantity to feed even its relatively sparse population.... The stream of Torvald is regarded by the men of Torvaldsland as a gift of Thor, bestowed upon Torvald, the legendary founder and hero of the land, in exchange for a ring of gold.
---Marauders of Gor, 4:55-56

THE LAURIUS -- A broad, winding river which flows into Thassa, located further North than the Vosk and seems to belt the Northern forest.

The most important reason for not finding a guide, of course, even among the eastern rence growers, is that the delta is claimed by Port Kar, which lies within it, some hundred pasangs from its northwestern edge, bordering on the shallow Tamber gulf, beyond which is gleaming Thassa, the Sea.
---Raiders of Gor, 1:6

THE VOSK -- a large river, 40 pasangs wide, which flows westward across the mapped areas of Gor, from the northern area of the Voltai toward the Tamber Gulf and into Thassa.

The Vosk is a mighty river which flows westward, emptying into a vast rence delta, finding its way eventually to Thassa, the sea....
---Slave Girl of Gor, 10:248

VOSK LEAGUE -- an alliance of 19 towns (Fina, Forest Port, Hammerfest, Iskander, Jasmine, Jort's Ferry, Point Alfred, Port Cos, Ragnar's Hamlet, Sais, Siba, Sulport, Tafa, Tancred's Landing, Tetrapoli, Turmus, Ven, Victoria and White Water) formed to keep the Vosk River clear of pirates and promote trade.

THASSA CARTIUS -- A river which flows into the Vosk river. The Thassa Cartius is located far South of Ar and feeds from the Ven Highlands through six cataracts.

...I had heard it sung some two years ago by the bargemen on the Cartius, a tributary of the Vosk, far to the south and west of Ar.
---Assassin of Gor, 15:207

The actual source of the tributary to the Vosk, now called the Thassa Cartius, as you know, was found five years later by the explorer, Ramus of Tabor, who, with a small expedition, over a period of nine months, fought and bartered his way through the river tribes, beyond the six cataracts, to the Ven highlands. The Thassa Cartius, with its own tributaries, drains the highlands and the descending plains.
---Explorers of Gor, 1:16

THE OLNI -- A large tributary of the Vosk river located at its northeast. The Olni river then, flows southwesterly into the Vosk.

SALERIAN CONFEDERATION -- alliance of 4 cities--Ti, Port Olni, Lara, and Vonda--formed to rid the Olni River of pirates and protect inland shipping.

The expression 'Saleria', doubtless owing its origin to the meadow of Salerius, is used broadly, incidentally, to refer to the fertile basin territories both north and south of the Olni, the lands over which the confederation professes to maintain a hegemony. The meadow of Salerius, thus, lies on the northern bank of the Olni, between Port Olni and Vonda; the area called Saleria, on the other hand, is, in effect, the lands controlled by the confederation. Ti, Port Olni and Vonda lie on the northern bank of the Olni; Lara lies between the Olni and the Vosk, at their confluence. It is regarded as being of great strategic importance. It could, if it wished, prevent Olni shipping from reaching the markets of the Vosk towns, and, similarly, if it wished, prevent shipping from these same towns from reaching the Olni markets. Overland shipping in this area, as is generally the case on Gor, is time consuming and costly; also, it is often dangerous. It is interesting to note that the control of piracy on the Olni was largely a function of the incorporation of Lara in the confederation. This made it difficult for the pirate fleets, following their raids, to descend the Olni and escape into the Vosk....
---Fighting Slave of Gor, 13:171-172

...Tabuk's Ford receives its name from the fact that field Tabuk were once accustomed, in their annual migrations, to ford the Verl tributary of the Vosk in its vicinity. The Verl flows northwestward into the Vosk. We had crossed the Vosk, on barges, two weeks ago....
---Slave Girl of Gor, 6:135

THE ISSUS -- Tributary of the Vosk River which flows northwest into it. It is located southwest of Corcyrus, between Corcyrus and Argentum.

...Two aqueducts now brought fresh water to Torcadino from more than a hundred pasangs away, one from the Issus, a northwestwardly flowing tributary of the Vosk, and the other from the springs in the Hills of Eteocles, southwest of Corcyrus....
---Mercenaries of Gor, 9:101

THE KAIILA -- A river which flows through the Barrens southwesterly and splits into a north and south branch along which most tribal territories are located.

...First, understand that there exists the Kaiila River, flowing generally in a southwestward direction. At a given point, high in the territory of the Kaiila tribe, it branches into two rivers, which are normally spoken of as the Northern Kaiila and the Southern Kaiila....
---Blood Brothers of Gor, 2:24

In moments we, with the others, were splashing across a narrow, shallow stream. I could see pebbles in the bottom of this stream. The Southern, or Lower, Kaiila, like the other larger rivers in the Barrens, however, bearing witness to the accumulation of silts, would be brown and muddy.
---Blood Brothers of Gor, 3:35

...The Snake, flowing in an almost southern direction, is a tributary to the Northern Kaiila....
---Blood Brothers of Gor, 2:24

THE SUBEQUATORIAL CARTIUS -- At one time called Cartius proper, this river is an important subequatorial waterway which flows west by northwest, entering the rain forests and emptying into Lake Ushindi.

"Tell me what you know of the Cartius," he said.
"It is an important subequatorial waterway," I said. "It flows west by northwest, entering the rain forests and emptying into Lake Ushindi, which lake is drained by the Kamba and the Nyoka rivers....
---Explorers of Gor, 1:16

LAKE USHINDI -- The first and furthest west of the great sub-equatorial lakes, its name is the Schendi word for victory. Lake Ushindi is filled by the waters of the Cartius proper and drains into Thassa via rivers Kamba and Nyoka. The South shores of Ushindi are home to the 6 villages which were merged to form the beginings of the Ubarate of Bila Huruma. Villages also line the North shore of Ushindi, while the West is said to be home to swamps and marshes. The East shore of Ushindi is the site of the entry to the Canal of Bila Huruma, the man who made a passage through the jungle marshes, built to unite lakes Ushindi and Ngao.

"Calculations performed by the black geographer, Ramani, of the island of Anango, suggested that given the elevations involved the two rivers could not be the same. His pupil, Shaba, was the first civilized man to circumnavigate Lake Ushindi. He discovered that the Cartius, as was known, enters Lake Ushindi, but that only two rivers flow out of Ushindi, the Kamba and Nyoka....
---Explorers of Gor, 1:16

THE KAMBA -- The word Kamba meaning 'rope', it is likely that this river flows in a line rather than the more serpentine fashion. The Kamba is one of the two rivers which drain Lake Ushindi into Thassa. It is located further North than the Nyoka.

THE NYOKA -- The word Nyoka means 'serpent', in Schendi dialect. This may be a descriptive name for which this river was named. The Nyoka river, South of the Kamba river, flows westward out of Lake Ushindi into Schendi Harbor, 200 pasangs upriver from Schendi point.

I now regarded again the brownish stains in the water. Still we could not see land. Yet I knew that land must be nigh. Already, though we were still perhaps thirty or forty pasangs at sea, one could see clearly in the water the traces of inland sediments. These would have been washed out to sea from the Kamba and Nyoka rivers. These stains extend for pasangs into Thassa. Closer to shore one could mark clearly the traces of the Kamba to the north and the Nyoka to the south, but, given our present position, we were in the fans of these washes. The Kamba, as I may have mentioned, empties directly into Thassa; the Nyoka, on the other hand, empties into Schendi harbor, which is the harbor of the port of Schendi, its waters only then moving thence to Thassa.
---Explorers of Gor, 6:99

CANAL OF BILA HURUMA -- Man-made canal which connects Lakes Ushindi and Ngao.

...The intent of the engineers of Bila Huruma was to set in place two parallel walls, low walls, some five or six feet high, placed about two hundred yards apart. The area between these walls, the marsh waters diverted on either side, was then to be drained and readied for the digging of the main channel. In this work draft tharlarion and great scoops, brought from the north, as well as gigantic work crews, would be used. In the event that the central channel, when completed, would not prove sufficient to handle the overflow of Ngao, as seemed likely, conducting it geometrically to Ushindi, side channels were contemplated. The eventual intent of Bila Huruma was not only to open the rain forests of the deep interior, and whatever might lie within the system of the Ua and her tributaries, to commercial exploitation and military expansion, but to drain the marshes between the two mighty lakes, Ushindi and Ngao, that that land, then reclaimed, thousands of square pasangs, might eventually be made available for agriculture. It was the intent of Bila Huruma not only to consolidate a ubarate but found a civilization.
---Explorers of Gor, 16:220-221

LAKE NGAO -- Second of the great equatorial lakes, lake Ngao, named for its oval shield-like shape (the word Ngao is native Schendi dialect for shield), is said to be as large as lake Ushindi. It is fed by a single river, the Ua, at its eastern edge, and drains into swamps and marshes which border its western shores and fill the 400 pasangs that separate it from lake Ushindi.

Then the marsh reeds parted and I saw, before us, sparkling in the sun, broad and shining, the waters of Lake Ngao.
"How beautiful it is," breathed the blond-haired barbarian, in English.
It had taken us fifteen days to reach the sill.
We had lived by spear fishing, and drinking the fresh water of the marsh.
The sun shone on the wide, placid waters.
---Explorers of Gor, 25:277

THE UA -- The flower river (Ua is the Schendi dialect word for flower) said to be as large as the mighty Vosk itself which flows from Lake Shaba into lake Ngao. The Ua falls and cataracts (at least 2 mentioned, the first of which are the falls of Bila Huruma, 100 pasangs from the entry to lake Ngao) are said to be of enormous proportion.

"And it was there that he discovered that Lake Ngao was fed, incredibly enough, by only one major river, as its eastern extremity, a river vast enough to challenge even the Vosk in its breadth and might, a river which he called the Ua."
"Yes," said Samos.
"It is impassable," I said, "because of various falls and cataracts."
"The extent of these obstacles, and the availability of portages, the possibility of roads, the possibility of side canals, are not known," said Samos.
"Shaba himself, with his men and boats, pursued the river for only a hundred pasangs," I said, "when they were turned back by some falls and cataracts."
"The falls and cataracts of Bila Huruma, as he named them," said Samos.
---Explorers of Gor, 1:19

LAKE SHABA -- The third and largest of the equatorial lakes, furthest to the east, which is fed by numerous streams and rivers and drains westward into the Ua.

"It is so vast," said Ayari.
"It is larger than Ushindi or Ngao," said Turgus.
We guided our canoe over the shining, placid waters of a broad lake.
"It is, I am confident," I said, "the source of the Ua."
"Into it must flow a thousand streams," said Kisu.
Two weeks ago we had come to another high falls, even higher than that from which we had, long ago, caught sight of the following forces of Bila Huruma, pasangs behind in the distance. We must be thousands of feet Gorean, given the length of the river, the numerous plunging cataracts, and the plateaus and levels we had ascended, above sea level, above the entrance points, west of Ngao and Ushindi, of the brown Kamba and Nyoka into the green waters of Thassa. From the falls at the edge of this unnamed lake we had been able to see far behind us. The river had been clear.
---Explorers of Gor, 50:417

THE UPPER AND LOWER FAYEEN -- North and west of Tor, tributaries of the Cartius which flow through the Tahari desert.

...West of Tor, on the Lower Fayeen, a sluggish, meandering tributary, like the Upper Fayeen, to the Cartius, lay the river port of Kasra, known for its export of salt....
---Tribesmen of Gor, 1:32-33

In the cafes I had feasted well. I had had verr meat, cut in chunks and threaded on a metal rod, with slices of peppers and larma, and roasted; vulo stew with raisins, nuts, onions and honey; a kort with melted cheese and nutmeg; hot Bazi tea, sugared and later, Turian wine.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 48

Ale ...
Made from grains and hops that were brought to Gor during the acquisition voyages,
Gorean Ale is closer to a honey lager than to an Earth ale or beer. Its color is deep and golden. Traditionally kept in a cask or a keg and served in a tankard.

The Forkbeard himself now, from a wooden keg, poured a great tankard of ale, which must have been of the measure of five gallons. Over this he then closed his fist. It was the sign of the hammer, the sign of Thor. The tankard then, with two great bronze handles, was passed from hands to hands among the rowers. The men threw back their heads and, the liquid spilling down their bodies, drank ale. It was the victory ale.
---Marauders of Gor, p 82

The Forkbeard greets you! shouted Ivar. I blinked. The hall was light. I had not understood it to be so large. At the tables, lifting ale and knives to the Forkbeard were more than a thousand men.
---Marauders of Gor, p 194

Mead ...
A dark amber drink of the Northern parts of Gor, brewed from honey and water.

In the north generally, mead, a drink made with fermented honey and water, and often spices and such, tends to be favored over paga.
---Vagabonds of Gor, p 16

'Here Jarl, said Thyri, again handing me the horn. It was filled with the mead of Torvaldsland, brewed from fermented, honey, thick and sweet.
---Marauders of Gor, p 90

Bera went to the next man, to fill his cup with the mead, from the heavy hot tankard, gripped with cloth, which she carried.
---Marauders of Gor, p 78

This last quote would seem to indicate that mead is served warmed, one would suppose it is kept in a heating vessel over the fires and then poured into the mentioned tankards for carrying and serving.

Rence beer ...
Brewed from the pith of the rence plant, it is a drink of the rence growers of the Delta of the Vosk.

At such times there is drinking of rence beer, steeped, boiled and fermented from the crushed seeds and the whitish pith of the plant.
---Raiders of Gor, p 18

Bazi tea ...
There is no specific reference as to what exactly Bazi tea compares to. It is made in a small copper pot, using two measured ounces of the precious leaves. Note that Bazi tea is expensive and handled as such. Once brewed, the pot will be set to a silver tray with three small glass cups, It will be poured into the cups at the guest's feet.

Tea is extremely important to the nomads. It is served hot and highly sugared. It gives strength then, in virtue of the sugar, and cools them, by making them sweat, as well as stimulating them. It is drunk three small cups at a time, carefully measured.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 38

The service of tea

Is it ready? I asked. I looked at the tiny copper kettle on the small stand. A tiny kaiila dung fire burned under it. A small, heavy, curved glass was nearby, on a flat box, which would hold some two ounces of the tea. Bazi tea is drunk in tiny glasses, usually three at a time, carefully measured. She did not make herself tea, of course... She lifted the kettle from the fire and, carefully, poured me a tiny glass of tea.
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 139

Blackwine ...
Made from beans brought back to Gor during the early acquisition voyages and grown in the mountain of Thentis, Blackwine is Gor's equivalent of earth's coffee in its most potent form, perhaps only Espresso comes close to the strong taste described.

I had heard of black wine, but had never had any. It is drunk in Thentis, but I had never heard of it being much drunk in other Gorean cities...Then I picked up one of the thick, heavy clay bowls...It was extremely strong, and bitter, but it was hot, and, unmistakably, it was coffee.
---Assassins of Gor, p 106

Typically, it will be brewed on a tiny brazier, and poured into tiny cup. Sugars, white and yellow, bosk and verr creams are stirred in with a tiny spoon. At times, the milk may be found in powder form.

Too, I had brought up a small bowl of powdered bosk milk. We had finished the creams last night and, in any event, it was unlikely they would have lasted the night. If I had wanted creams I would have had to have gone to the market.
---Guardsman of Gor, p 295

Traditionally, one would add 4 tiny spoonfuls of white sugar and 6 tiny spoonfuls of yellow sugar.

"second slave"

There is much confusion about the request for "blackwine, first slave or second slave"
Many insist that the first slave command means the blackwine is to be sweetened and creamed, whereas the second slave command indicates the blackwine is to be served black. Then again, many insist it is to be the other way around. Truth is few would dare to drink this brew without adding anything to it. With the potency and strength of the Gorean blackwine, the rush might be an interesting one.

What then, of the different interpretations ?

The readers finds, on various occasions, blackwine served by two slaves with different roles. Let us look at a few.

From one side a slave girl, barefoot, bangled, in sashed, diaphanous, trousered chalwar, gathered at the ankles, in tight, red silk vest, with bare midriff, fled to Him, with the tall, graceful, silvered pot containing the black wine. She was veiled. She knelt, replenishing the drink. Beneath the veil I saw the metal of her collar.
I had not thought to have such fortune. She did not look at me. She returned to her place with the pot of black wine.

Ibn Saran lifted another finger. From the side there hastened to him another girl, a fair skinned, red haired girl. She, too, wore veil, vest, chalwar, bangles, collar. She carried a tray, on which were various spoons and sugars. She knelt, placing her tray on the table. With a tiny spoon, its tip no more than a tenth of hort in diameter, she placed four measures of white sugar, and six of yellow, in the cup; with two stirring spoons, one for the white sugar, another for the yellow, she stirred the beverage after each measure. She then held the cup to the side of her cheek, testing its temperature; Ibn Saran glanced at her; she, looking at him, timidly kissed the side of the cup and placed it before him. Then, her head down, she withdrew.
---Tribesmen of Gor, pp 88 and 89

The serve on p 105 of the same book shows again the first slave pouring the black wine and the second one bringing the sugars and creams. Why then....would one use the term "second slave" to describe the absence of cream and sugars? That second slave clearly brought the sugars and creams.

The answer and explanation to the source of the dual interpretation lies in the later books of John Norman's Chronicles of the Counter Earth.

Blackwine, from the early days of Tarl Cabot's journeys into the counter earth, was said to be a rare, expensive and rather exclusive product of well guarded fields on the slopes of Thentis. It was said that only in Thentis could one find this delicacy and that the only way another City could serve it was by acquiring the beans from thieves. As time passes and the reader is carried across the pasangs to the various lands and Cities, he will note blackwine seems to become part of the Gorean way in even the remotest areas. And so if the earlier writings seem to point to the use of two slaves of which the second carried the creams and sugars, reading onto the later books allows us to see how the "second slave" command was introduced.

'Second slave,' I told her, which, among the river towns, and in certain cities, particularly in the north, is a way of indicating that I would take the black wine without creams or sugars, and as it came from the pouring vessel, which, of course, in these areas, is handled by the "second slave," the first slave being the girl who puts down the cups, takes the orders and sees that the beverage is prepared according to the preferences of the one who is being served.

The expression "second slave," incidentally, serves to indicate that one does not wish creams or sugars with one's black wine, even if only one girl is serving.
---Guardsman of Gor, pp 244-245

Note that although in the earlier books the reader is shown a service of blackwine by two slaves in which the first slave brings the blackwine, never is this service refered to as "fisrt slave" or "second slave". There is then no two ways to serve "second slave" blackwine, since only one of these ways is actually called "second slave". Also, note that nowhere is there reference to anything actually called "fist slave serve".

Chocolate ...
Creamy and warm, from cocoa beans grown in the tropic

This is warmed chocolate," I said, pleased. It was very rich and creamy. "Yes, Mistress," said the girl. "It is very good," I said. "Thank you, Mistress," she said. "Is it from Earth?" I asked. "Not directly," she said. "Many things here, of course, ultimately have an Earth origin. It is not improbable that the beans from which the first cacao trees on this world were grown were brought from Earth." "Do the trees grow near here?" I asked. "No Mistress," she said, "we obtain the beans from which the chocolate is made, from Cosian merchants, who in turn, obtain them in the tropics.
---Kajira of Gor, p 61

Pleasure

Sa-Paga ...
The words Pagar-Sa-Tarna ( Sa-Paga) mean "pleasure of the life-daughter". Paga, the symbol of physical love, is an undistilled amber colored alcoholic beverage made from the golden sa-tarna grain. Its taste is often described as "hot" and "firey".

a strong, fermented drink brewed from the yellow grains of Gor's staple crop, Sa-Tarna
---Outlaw of Gor, p 74

The service of Paga

Stored in vats, verr skin botas, bottles or bronze vessels ...

In most taverns no bottle is brought to the table but the paga is brought to the table, by the paga slave, a cup at a time, the cups normally being filled from a vat behind the counter.
---Explorers of Gor, p 158

He leaned over and tossed me a skin bag of Paga
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 78

... to the proprietor of the paga tavern, and took in return one of the huge bottles of paga, of the sort you put in a pouring sling...
---Raiders of Gor, p 111

Paga! called the standing man. Paga! A blonde girl, nude, with a string of pearls wound about her steel collar, ran to the table and, from the bronze vessel, on its strap, about her shoulder, poured paga into the goblet before the seated man.
---Rogue of Gor, p 78

Drunk directly from the bota, or poured as shown below, into goblets, pots, cups, glasses or kantharos (footed bowls) ...

Many civilians, I believe, do not know why certain warriors, by habit, request their paga in metal goblets when dining in public houses."
---Renegades of Gor, p 77

I decided, if worse came to worst, that I could always go to a simple Paga Tavern where, if those of Tharna resembled those of Ko-ro-ba and AR, one might, curled in a rug behind the low tables, unobtrusively spend the night for the price of a pot of Paga, a strong, fermented drink brewed from the yellow grains of Gor's staple crop, Sa-Tarna, or Life-Daughter.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 74

Samos put down a cup of paga.
---Raiders of Gor, p 306

The beast returned from the cabinet with two glasses and a bottle.
---Beasts of Gor, p 371

She knelt near the table... and put the paga, in a small kantharos
---Renegades of Gor, p 71

NOTE on kantharos (refered to through most of John Norman's writings simply as a 'footed bowl' and much used for the drinking of Paga and wine) : Also spelled Cantharos, drinking cup in Attic Greek pottery from the period of the red-figure and black-figure styles. The kantharos is in the form of a deep cup, with loop-shaped handles arising from the bottom of the body and extending high above the brim. Designed for the drinking of wine, this shape was extremely popular in Etruria and was exported to areas around the Mediterranean in the late 7th and 6th centuries B.C. Usually made of clay or a more expensive metal. Etruscan graves have yielded hundreds of kantheroi, along with many other ceramic vessels intended for eating and drinking, as part of funeral feasts or as tomb offerings.
ref; Encyclopaedia Britannica

It is often served warm, even hot...

`Your paga,' said the nude slave girl, who served me, her wrists chained. `It is warmed as you wished.' I took it from her, not even glancing upon her, and drained the goblet... I liked paga warm. One felt is so much the sooner that way.
---Raiders of Gor, p 100

The girls filled their vessels, which, like the hydria, or water vessel, are high-handled, for dipping, in a large kettle hung simmering over a fire near the entrance to the enclosure. Warm paga makes one drunk quicker, it is thought... Some Cosians tend to be fond of hot paga.
---Vagabonds of Gor, p 16

NOTE: This last quote has value to the reader in more than the fact that it tells her about the different temperatures Paga is served at, it also, describes the manner in which Paga is warmed. In tis particular establishment, the girls used deep high handled vessels which they dipped into the large kettles to fill.

Sul- Paga ...
Made from the golden vine borne vegetable called "sul" (resembles an earth potato), Sul-Paga is a distilled, clear alcoholic beverage. It is typically drunk by peasants and seldom available outside their villages.

Sul paga is, when distilled, though the sul itself is yellow, is as clear as water
---Slave Girl of Gor, p 134

Sul paga, as anyone knew, is seldom available outside of a peasant village, where it is brewed. Sul paga would slow a thalarion. To stay on your feet after a mouthful of Sul paga it is said one must be of the peasants, and then for several generations. And even then, it is said, it is difficult to manage. There is a joke about the baby of a peasant father being born drunk nine months later.
---Slave Girl of Gor, p 414

Liqueurs ...

The liqueurs of Turia are usually regarded as the best, but I think this is largely a matter of taste. Those of Cos and Ar, and of certain other cities, are surely very fine.
---Kajira of Gor, p 406

First from the kitchen, bearing her tray, came the voluptuous slave of Aemilianuus. Behind her, too with her tray, came the little dark-haired slave. In a moment both were deferentially serving. The collared softness of the dark-haired girl well set off the the metal of the tray, and the small multicolored glasses and bottles upon it.
---Guardsman of Gor, p 254

fermented milk curds ...

Drunk by Tuchuks, made from bosk milk and very potent. it would be served in a bowl. No actual description is found in the books, simply mention of it.

By one fire I could see a squat Tuchuk, hands on his hips, dancing and stamping about by himself, drunk on fermented milk curds, dancing, according to Kamchak, to please the sky.
---Nomads of Gor, p 28

The Gorean Cellar

Falarian ...
Not specifically described, this wine is mentioned but once or twice, as a rare and expensive wine.

Among these petitioners came one fellow bringing with him the promise of a gift of wine, a wine supposedly secret, the rare Falarian, a wine only rumored among collectors to exist, a wine supposedly so rare and precious that its cost might purchase a city.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 15:158

"There will be delicacies from as far away as Bazi and Anango," she said, "and we shall open vessels of Falarian from the private stores of the Ubar."
---Magicians of Gor, 9:

Ka-la-na ...
Made from the fruit of the Ka-la-na tree, Ka-la-na is a dry red wine stored in bottles that bear the wax seal of the City it came from. As with most wines of Earth, Ka-la-na had various levels of quality, a few of which are specifically mentioned, the best Ka-la-na is said to be from Ar, Gor's prime source of this wine.

'A small bottle,' I said, 'of the Slave Gardens of Anesidemus.'
'I have heard that it is a marvellous ka-la-na.' said the free woman, her eyes alight.
'So too, have I,' I said.
'It is very expensive,' said the woman.
'Are you familiar with it?' I asked.
'Oh,' she said lightly, 'I have had it a few times.'

... 'Oh, it is marvellous ka-la-na,' she purred. I gathered that she had never before had such ka-la-na. True, it might run the buyer as much as three copper tarsks, a price for which some women can be purchased.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 25:345

Do you know the wine? I asked.
No, she said.
I turned the bottle so that she might read the label. It was a small bottle of Boleto's Nectar of the Public Slave Gardens. Boleto is a well-known winegrower from the vicinity of Ar. He is famous for the production of a large number of reasonably good medium-grade ka-la-nas. This was one of the major wines, and perhaps the best, served in Ar's public slave gardens: indeed, it had originally been comissioned for that market: hence the name.
---Mercenaries of Gor, 25:360

It is also said to have 'warming' effects on females.

The guards had liked us, muchly, and had apparently expected that they would for, to our delight, they had purchased a small bottle of Ka-la-na wine, in a wicker basket, which they had permitted us, swallow by swallow, to share. I had never tasted so rich and delicate a wine on Earth, and yet here, on this world, it cost only a copper tarn disk and was so cheap, and plentiful, that it might be given even to a female slave. I remembered each of the four swallows which I had had. I tasted them even still, with the meat and bread which I had eaten. It was the first Gorean fermented beverage which I had tasted. It is said that Ka-la-na has an unusual effect on a female. I think it is true.
---Captive of Gor, 8:

Considered to be the symbol of romantic love, Ka-la-na is served hot, cold, or warm.
Like wines of earth, Ka-la-na is served in a goblet, warmed Ka-la-na however is seen served in the Gorean enameled trimmed clay bowl also called crater.

I turned and, among the furnishings of the tent, found a bottle of Ka-la-na, of good vintage, from the vineyards of Ar, the loot of a caravan raid. I then took the wine, with a small copper bowl, and a black, red-rimmed wine crater, to the side of the fire.
---Captive of Gor. p 331

Tne quote below might lead one to believe indeed some Ka-la-na was white, although the word incandescent could very well refer to a quality in the clarity of the wine rather than its actual color.

After the meal I tasted the drink, which might not inappropriately be described as an almost incandescent wine, bright, dry, and powerful. I learned later it was called ka-la-na
---Tarnsman of Gor. p 22-23

The fact remains that quote after quote after quote describes Ka-la-na as red.

...and drops of a red, winelike drink made from the fruit of the Ka-la-na tree.
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 68

I went to his locker near the mat and got out his Ka-la-na flask, taking a long draught myself and then shoving it into his hands. He drained the flask in one drink and wiped his hand across his beard, stained with the red juice of the fermented drink.
---Tarnsman of Gor, p 168

"But that sort of thing is behind me now," she said to me, throwing back her head and quaffing deeply of the ruby-red Ka-la-na in her cup.
---Rogue of Gor, 20:

It has been said by many that a misunderstanding occurred from the frequent reference to "golden ka-lana" in the books, when the author speaks of the Ka-la-na tree. This golden color then refers only to the color of the wood or trees.

The Ka-la-na thicket was yellow in the distance...
---Slave Girl of Gor, p 250

Kal-da ...
A mixture of usually cheap Ka-la-na, mulling spices and citrus juice.
Heated in a brewing pot over the fires, Kal-da is ladled into pots or bowls.

Kal-da is a hot drink, almost scalding, made of diluted Ka-la-na wine, mixed with citrus juices and stinging spices. I did not care much for this mouth-burning concoction, but it was popular with some of the lower castes, particularly those who performed strenuous manual labor.

I expected its popularity was due more to its capacity to warm a man and stick to his ribs, and to its cheapness (a poor grade of Ka-la-na wine being used in its brewing) than to any gustatory excellence. Moreover, where there was Kal-da there should be bread and meat. I thought of the yellow Gorean bread, baked in the shape of round, flat loaves, fresh and hot; My mouth watered for a tabuk steak or, perhaps, if I were lucky, a slice of roast tarsk, the formidable six tusked wild boar of Gor`s temperate forests.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 76

Even the proprietor slept, his head across his folded arms on the counter, behind which stood the great Kal-da brewing pots, at last empty and cold.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 80

Other girls now appeared among the tables, clad only in a camisk and a silver collar, and suddenly, silently, began to serve the Kal-da which Kron had ordered. Each carried a heavy pot of the foul, boiling brew and, cup by cup, replenished the cups of the men.
---Outlaw of Gor, p 226

Palm wine ...
Is mentioned in Explorers of Gor as being one of the exports of Schendi, no description given other than the fact it is quite tasty.

"One of her most delicious exports is palm wine."
---Explorers of Gor, p115

Slavewine ...
The terms slavewine, breading wone and second wine, are used in reference to mixtures used in birth control. There are two mixtures of slave wine. The first type, is meant to prevent pregnancy whereas the second type is called "breeding wine" and is given to a girl to counteract the effect the slavewine, when her Master wishes to breed her.

Ta-wine ...
A dry wine made from the ta-grapes grown primarily on the Isle of Cos.

One girl held our head back, and others, from goblets, gave us of wines, Turian wine, sweet and thick, Ta wine, from the famed Ta grapes, from the terraces of Cos, wines even, Ka-la-nas, sweets and dry, from distant Ar
---Tribesmen of Gor, p 213

Turian wine ...
A thick syrupy wine so sweet and thick that is it said one can see a thumbprint on its surface.

I did not much care for the sweet, syrupy wines of Turia, flavored and sugared to the point where one could almost leave one's fingerprint on their surface.
---Nomads of Gor, p 84

White wine ...
Light in color and taste, note that it is not referred to as Ka-la-na, simply wine.

In the hall was a open circle of small tables, at which a handful of guests, on cushions and mats, reclined. There were four men and two women at these tables, other than the Lady Florence, the hostess, and her guest of the past several days, the Lady Metpomene. The tables were covered with cloths of glistening white and a service of gold. Before each guest there were tiny slices of tospit and larma, small pastries, and in a tiny golden cup, with a small golden spoon, the clustered, black, tiny eggs of the white grunt. The first wine, a light white wine, was being deferentially served by Pamela and Bonnie.
---Fighting Slave of Gor, pp 275-276

Recap...

What a search through the writings of Norman teach the reader is that although botas are commonly used to store drinking supplies in times of travel, so are gourds and flagons. In everyday use thought, most brews come in kegs, other beverages come in bottles, and are stored in these bottles until ready to serve or warm, if appropriate, in brewing pots for mixing (such as for Kal-da) or simply large kettles for heating (as for Paga or Mead). Wine it would seem, is heated in single servings, at the time of the request for it. The serving of heated wine is explicitly in the "serving" page.

Serving of brewed or heated drinks, is done by either filling the vessel from the brewing pot or kettle directly, by sinking the serving vessel to the pot or ladling... or carried to masters in a serving tankard.

Serving of wine or other unheated drinks, would also be done by filling single vessels or bringing the bottle itself, in a sling type carrier, to the tables.

The vessels used for the different drinks are not quite as specific as some would like to think. Norman shows Ale served in tankards, Mead in horns, wine in goblets... and Paga served in about any possible vessel available, from drinking it directly from the bota to the use of stone encrusted goblets. There seems to be consistency in the fact that hot drinks are served in bowls however, with the exception of course, of blackwine, tea and hot chocolate... for those, cups are mentioned.

Gorean Waterways

Last changed: October 31, 2001