-=Welcome to Tuchuk Wagon Camp=-

The wagons of the Wagon Peoples are, in their hundreds and thousands, in their brilliant, variegated colors, a glorious sight. Surprisingly the wagons are almost square, each the size of a large room. Which is drawn by a double team of bosk, four in a team, with each team linked to its wagon tongue, the tongues being joined by "tem-wood crossbars. The two axles of the wagon are also of "tem-wood, which perhaps, because of its flexibility, joined with the general flatness of the southern Gorean plains, permits the width of the wagon. The wagon box, which stands almost six feet from the ground, is formed of black, lacquered planks of "temwood. Inside the wagon box, which is square, there is fixed a rounded, tent like frame, covered with the taut, painted, varnished hides of basks. These hides are richly colored, and often worked with fantastic designs, each wagon competing with its neighbor to be the boldest and most exciting. The rounded frame is 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, for the small horn bow of the Wagon Peoples can be used to advantage not only from the back of a kaiila but, like the crossbow, from such cramped quarters. One of the most striking features of these wagons is 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 bask, 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 bask 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 tharlarion 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 tent like frame, a hole which is shut when the wagons move.


The Tuchuk, the fiercest of the four tribes of the Wagon Peoples. Tuchuk philosophies and personality are personified by it's secret Ubar, Kamchak. A proud, cunning, lusty, brawling, exceptionally skilled warrior who disguises his considerable intellect and deadly, aggressive spirit beneath with an a broadly sketched, 'who me?' befuddlement. These nomads have encampments of thousands of gaily painted wagons, their herds of the reverenced bosk, oftern numbering into the millions, surrounding them. Throughout the day, the camps are teeming with scarred warriors, kaiila, clad Kajir slaves, dour free women, haruspices and domesticated sleen. All Tuchuk men are expected to defend their encampment, so there are no castes as such but clans, such as healers, leather workers and salt seekers exist, including the clan of the torturers. The Tuchuk warrior prays to the "Spirit of the Sky" on kaiila-back with his weapons at hand, demanding victory and luck for themselves, defeat and misery for their enemies, primarily Turia'...chief of the things before which the proud Tuchuk stands ready to remove his helmet is the sky, the simple, vast beautiful sky, from which falls the rain that, in his myths, formed the earth, the bosks, and the Tuchuks."

"I was looking on the faces of our men, warriors for the Wagon Peoples. On the face of each there were, almost like corded chevrons, brightly colored scars. The vivid coloring and intensity of these scars, their prominence, remind me of the hideous marking on the faces of Mandrills; But there disfigurements, I soon recognized, were cultural, not congenital, and bespoke not of natural innocence of the work of genes but of glories, and status, the arrogance the prides, of their bearers. The scars had been worked into the faces, with needles and knives and pigments and the dung of bosk over the period of days and nights. Men had died in the fixing of such scars. Most scars were set in pairs, moving diagonally down from the side of the head toward the nose and chin, the man facing me had seven such scars ceremonially worked into the tissue of his countenance, the highest being red, the next yellow, the next blue, and the fourth black, then two yellow then black again. The face of the men I saw were all scarred differently, but each was scarred. The effect of the scars, ugly, startling, terrible, perhaps in part calculated to terrify enemies, had even prompted me, for a wild moment to conjecture that what I face on the plains of Turia were not men, but perhaps aliens of some sort, brought to Gor long ago from remoter worlds to serve some now discarded or forgotten purpose of the Priest Kings; but now I knew better' now I could see them as men; as now more significantly, I recalled what I had hear whispered of once before, in a tavern of Ar, the terrible Scar Codes of the Wagon Peoples, for each of the hideous marks on the face of these men had meaning, a significance that could be read by the Paravici, the Kassars, the Kataii, the Tuchuks as clearly as you or I might read a sign in a window or a sentence in a book. At that time I could read only the one scar, the red, bright, fierce cordlike scar that was the courage Scar. It is always the highest scar on the face. Indeed, without that scar, no other scar can be granted. The wagon people value courage above all else"

"He grinned a Tuchuk grin. 'How are the Bosk?' He asked. 'As well as may be expected, 'said Kamchak  'Are the Quivas sharp?' 'One tried to keep them so,' said Kamchak. 'It is important to keep the axles of the wagons greased,' observed Kutaituchik. 'Yes,' said Kamchak, "I believe so.' Kutaituchik suddenly reached out and he and Kamchak, laughing clasped hands."

I went to him and set the point of the Gorean short sword at his heart. He did not flinch. "I am Tarl Cabot," I said. "I come in peace." I thrust the blade back in the scabbard. For a moment the Tuchuk seemed stunned. He stared at me, disbelievingly, and then, suddenly, he threw back his head and laughed until tears streamed down his face. He doubled over and pounding on his knees with his fist. Then he straightened up and wiped his face with the back of his hand. I shrugged. suddenly the Tuchuk bent to the soil and picked up a handful of dirt and grass, the land on which the bosk graze, the land which is the land of the Tuchuks, and this dirt and this grass he thrust in my hands and I held it. The warrior grinned and put his hands over mine so that our hands together held the dirt and the grass, and were together clasped on it. "Yes," said the warrior, "come in peace to the Land of the Wagon Peoples.

The wagon people are known for slaying strangers. They are amongst the most isolated people on Gor. Especially the Tuchuks are known for for their Clan of Torturers "The Wagon Peoples, it is said, slay strangers. The words for stranger and enemy in Gorean are the same.