Reptiles

Hith: This is the huge, many-banded python of Gor. The great banded, horned hith is the most feared constrictor but is only native to certain areas of the great forests. The golden hith is a rare snake. Its body would be difficult for a grown man to encircle with his arms. Mamba: This is a large, predatory river tharlarion from the rainforests. It has a long, log-like body with short powerful legs. It has a long snout and tail. It is similar to a crocodile. Moccasin: Known as the marsh moccasin, this reptile is a rare, poisonous, triangular-headed snake found in the waters of the Vosk marsh. It is described as dark and five feet in length. Ost: This is a venomous, brilliantly orange snake that is a bit longer than a foot. Its bite causes an excruciating death within seconds. A powder prepared from its venom can be put into wine. The osts of the rainforests are red with black stripes. The banded ost is yellowish orange and marked with black rings. This is considered the Gorean version of an asp. Python: The Gorean python is called a hith. Salamander: In the salt mines, salamanders are tiny, white and blind. They are long-bodied with long, stem-like legs. They have fern-like filaments at the sides of their heads that are feather gills, an external gill system. They have a slow metabolism and are capable of long periods of dormancy. Snakes: Besides the ost and hith, there are other snakes on Gor, such as the adder and marsh moccasin. Tharlarion: There are numerous varieties of this reptile. One type is a species of saddle lizard common on Gor, especially in swamplands and deserts. They are used mostly by those who have not mastered tarns. Tharlarions had been bred for a thousand generations before the first tarn was tamed. Wild tharlarion have round, shining eyes, webbed feet, teeth ridges and a long, brown tongue that curls around their prey. They are carnivorous creatures. High tharlarion are short-tempered creatures that run on the two back feet. Its forelegs are tiny and near useless. They respond to voice signals, but sometimes the butt of a lance is needed to move them by striking about the eye or ear openings. Those are the two of the few sensitive areas on its body. They are almost impervious to pain, having a sluggish nervous system. Most of the larger varieties have a brain and a smaller brain-like organ located near the base of the spine. They need far less water than tarns and their metabolism is slower than a tarn. When they move slowly, their stride is a proud, stalking movement. When going fast, they bound in leaps that can carry them twenty paces at a time. Its saddle is built to absorb shock, unlike the tarn saddle. Mounted warriors wear a leather belt around their waists. They also wear high, soft boots to protect against the abrasive hide. Draft tharlarion are four-footed, slow-moving animals. They are herbivorous, also known as broad tharlarions. There are at least four species of draft tharlarion. Sea tharlarion, immune to the poison of Cosian wingfish, grow up to thirty feet and more in length and have a yellowish, slatted belly. Rock tharlarion are the small lizards of the Tahari. There are tiny water tharlarion, about six inches long, that are little more than teeth and tail, like piranha. Some live in the swamps. There are also marsh tharlarion and river tharlarion. River tharlarion are long necked, web-footed, and scaled. Some of them are herbivorous and can be domesticated. They may be used to tow barges on the Cartius River. Tharlarion are also used as cavalry and there are even racing tharlarions. Racing tharlarion are usually larger and more agile than saddle tharlarion but smaller than draft or war ones. The city of Venna is famed for its tharlarion races. Some select breeds of racing tharlarion include the Venetzia, Torarii and Thalonian. Turtle: There is a variety of Vosk turtle, a hook-beaked creature that can grow to be gigantic. It is a persistent carnivore that is almost impossible to kill. The marsh turtle is another variety of turtle on Gor. Ul: This is a silent, giant pterodactyl-like creature that is native to the swamps of the Vosk Delta. It is a predatory winged tharlarion. It has a wing span of twenty-five to thirty Gorean feet. It has a small head with long, narrow toothed jaws with a narrow extension of bone and skin in the back. Its long snake-like tail ends in a spade-like structure. It has a clawed hand with a very long fourth digit. There are several smaller varieties, some as small as a jard. The larger ones are isolated and territorial. They will not attack a tarn as a tarn could easily tear them to pieces. Water Lizard: Small lizards of marsh and swamp that feed off carcasses of dead animals. They inhabit the swamps near Ar.