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The Major Roads of Gor
| Quick simplified reminder of the major roads: |
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1. Pilgrim's road: links Torcadino and the Sardar Fair
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Indeed, one of the apparent anomalies of Gor is the quality and
linearity of certain roads, which are carefully kept in repair, roads
which often, seemingly paradoxically, pass through sparsely populated
territories.
Ar's Triumph Ar's Station, incidentally, did not exist at the time of the
massing of the horde of Pa-Kur. It was established four years afterward,
as an outpost and trading station on the south bank of the Vosk. It
also commands, in effect, the northern terminus of one of the great
roads, the Viktel Aria, or Ar's Triumph, leading toward Ar. Argentum Road "I am not sure what would be the best way to approach Ar.
We might reach the Argentum Road and take it east to the Viktel Aria.
We would then trek south to Ar." Eastern Road / Way or Treasure Road "I think, however," I said, "we shall take the
most direct civilized route from here to Ar." "That is the Treasure Road," I said, indicating a narrow
road in the distance. "At its end lies Ar." Genesian Road Torcodino, on the flats of Serpeto, is a crossroads city. It is
located at the intersection of various routes, the Genesian, connecting
Brundisium and other coastal cities with the south, the Northern Salt
Line and the Northern Silk Road, leading respectively west and north
from the east and south, the Pilgrim's Road, leading to the Sardar
, and the Eastern Way, sometimes called the Treasure Road, which links
the western cities with Ar. Supposedly Torcodino, with its strategic
location, was an ally of Ar. Road of Clearchus In the old days the road of Clearchus was often referred to as
the "west road." This designation became less useful after
the recent opening of the road of Cyprianus. It is not unusual, now,
to refer to the road of Clearchus as the "old west road"
and that of Cyprianus as the "new west road." Neither of
these roads, incidentally, are "great roads," in the sense
of being mounted in the earth several feet deep, built of stone like
a sunken wall, the sort of roads which are often intended to last
a thousand years, the sort of roads which, typically, are found in
the vicinity of large cities or are intended to be military roads,
speeding directly to traditionally disputed territories or linking
strategic points. These roads are both secondary roads, so to speak,
generally graveled and rutted; occasionally they are paved with such
materials as logs and plated stone; they can be almost impassable
in rainy weather and in dry, warm weather, they are often dusty. Tertiary
roads, so to speak, are often little more than unfrequented twisting
trails. There is often talk of improving the secondary roads, and
sometimes something is done, but generally little is accomplished.
The major consideration, of course, is money. Too, many roads, for
great portions of their length are not clearly within the jurisdiction
of given states. Power in Gorean cities tends to vary with the power
of the Home Stones, which tends to fluctuate with the military and
economic fortunes of the city. The notion of the fixed and absolute
border is not a typical Gorean notion. Road of Cyprianus Some two years ago the merchants and builders had opened the
road of Cyprianus, named for the engineer in charge of the project,
which led to the fairs rather from the southwest. This had considerably
reduced the traffic on the road of Clearchus, now to its north, which
had approached the fairs in such a way as to favor the traffic from
the northwest, with the result that several of the establishments
on the road of Clearchus had been abandoned or relocated. One advantage
of the more southern route is that it passes through less rough terrain,
terrain which provides less cover for highwaymen. In particular, it
does not pass, for several pasangs, though the woods of Clearchus. Northern Silk Road Torcodino, on the flats of Serpeto, is a crossroads city. It is
located at the intersection of various routes, the Genesian, connecting
Brundisium and other coastal cities with the south, the Northern Salt
Line and the Northern Silk Road, leading respectively west and north
from the east and south, the Pilgrim's Road, leading to the Sardar,
and the Eastern Way, sometimes called the Treasure Road, which links
the western cities with Ar. Supposedly Torcodino, with its strategic
location, was an ally of Ar. Pilgram's Road Torcodino, on the flats of Serpeto, is a crossroads city. It is
located at the intersection of various routes, the Genesian, connecting
Brundisium and other coastal cities with the south, the Northern Salt
Line and the Northern Silk Road, leading respectively west and north
from the east and south, the Pilgrim's Road, leading to the Sardar,
and the Eastern Way, sometimes called the Treasure Road, which links
the western cities with Ar. Supposedly Torcodino, with its strategic
location, was an ally of Ar. Viktel Aria Ar's Station, incidentally, did not exist at the time of the
massing of the horde of Pa-Kur. It was established four years afterward,
as an outpost and trading station on the south bank of the Vosk. It
also commands, in effect, the northern terminus of one of the great
roads, the Viktel Aria, or Ar's Triumph, leading toward Ar. When the men of Ar moved, for example, and whenever possible they
would do so on the great military roads, such as the Viktel Aria,
they used a measured pace, often kept by a drum, and including rests,
would each day cover a calculable distance, usually forty pasangs.
Vosk Road The Vosk road was the road used many years ago by the horde of
Pa-Kur, in its approach to the city of Ar. We had traveled the Vosk
road after crossing the Vosk on barges. It is wide, and built like
a great wall, sunk in the earth. It is marked with pasang stones.
It is, I suppose, given its nature, a military road leading to the
north, broad enough to accommodate war tharlarion, treading abreast,
and the passage, two or three, side by side, of thousands of supply
wagons and siege engines, without unduly, for more than several pasangs,
extending and exposing the lines of the march. Such roads permit the
swift movement of thousands of men, useful either in the defense of
borders, the meeting of armies, or in the expansions of imperialism,
the conquests of the weak. |






