Bosk

 

"The bosk, without which the Wagon Peoples could not live, is an oxlike creature. It is a huge, shambling animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy hair."

~Nomads of Gor~

BOSK are described as 'yak-like' in the chronicles. They are large, shambling animals with long and shaggy hair, who have thick, humped necks, wide heads and tiny red eyes.

They are also said to have the temper of a sleen. Their two long, wicked horns can be rather deadly, in fact, and in the larger bosk from tip to tip might measure two spears in length!

There are some fifteen different varieties of bosk, and they are useful in providing food, leather and many other things. The males are refered to as bulls and the females as cows.

Common bosk are dark brown in color, however there are some other species such as the BLACK BOSK, and the WHITE SNOW BOSK - which is often used by the Initiates in ritual sacrifices.

WAGON PEOPLES

Bosks are commonly kept on ranches for the aforementioned purposes by peasants in the city cultures of Gor, even as far north as Torvaldsland - though they are herded most famously on the southern plains, where the Wagon People reside.

They are called 'The Mother of the Wagon Peoples', who are reliant on its flesh and milk for sustenance, on shelter and clothing from its hides and weapons, tools and implements from its leather, bone and horns.

The hooves are used to make glue and the oils of the bosk are used to grease their bodies to protect themselves against the cold. Even its dung is dried and used for fuel by the Wagon Peoples, due to the lack of good woodland on the plains.

The bosk themselves are also used as draft animals, to pull the wagons of these nomadic people. The Alars also use them for this purpose.

The herds themselves are branded and divided into sub-herds, and are the means by which the Wagon People themselves migrate. The bosk are sometimes goaded along with pointed sticks, by boys who work the herds.

These people are reliant on the bosk in the same way we have discussed the Red Hunters reliance on the tabuk, and the Red Savages reliance on the kailiauk. Like the Red Savages and their kailiauk, the bosk is revered and almost worshipped by the Wagon Peoples. 

The man who kills a bosk foolishly is strangled in thongs or suffocated in the hide of the beast he slew. If a man should kill a bosk cow with unborn young, he is then staked out alive in the path of the herd to be trampled to death.

IN ROLEPLAY

So how do these animals effect our everyday roleplay ...

Bosk meat is a common part of the Gorean diet and can be served roasted, broiled, dried, stewed and many other ways ... use your imagination!

Take any recipe that would require beef and substitute bosk. Anything from stews, loafs and burgers to steaks and roasts.

Bosk milk or cream can go into blackwine, and is described as sweet tasting. It can also be churned into butter or pressed into cheese. Bosk cheese is often melted over suls as part of a common Gorean meal.

Too, there is the dung! This can be used as a fertiliser.