The City Tarn Cots house the giant beast as the cylinders rise high into the la'torvis lit skies of Lydius.

"Brothers of the Wind"

The perches were gigantic curving frameworks of tem-wood four stories high and following the circular wall of the cylinder.  The room housed hundreds of birds, each chained to it's own perch.

The Tarn Keeper, receiving and acknowledging the salutations of his men, made his rounds.  With an agility that could come only from en'vars in the cots he clambered about the tem-wood beams, sometimes forty feet from the floor, inspecting the various birds.  Each taken daily for the rotation of the Tarnsmen Prides as they patrol the vast city, surrounding lands and the Northern Forest that borders the Laurius River.  The magnificent birds also rotated for duty to assigned ships as the Lydius Fleet while on maneuvers, patrols and escorting merchant ships always maintain Tarnsmen aboard, the sailing vessels fully equipped to house the birds above and below deck.

The apparel of the Warrior Tarnsmen consists of, leather pants, tunic and high leather boots, made from the finest bosk hide.  This apparel is worn to protect the skin of the warrior against the ruff feathers of the tarn, which can wear away the hide of the toughest warrior.  Wrist straps of leather or beaten silver may also be worn to give added strength to the wrists as well as protection. Into each boot is slipped a quiva, a sharp double-sided throwing knife.  Helmet and breastplate, may be worn when going into battle.

Weapons carried by the Tarnsmen are shield and spear and are secured by saddle straps; swords slung over the shoulder. On each side of the saddle hung a missile weapon, a crossbow with a quiver of a dozen quarrels, or bolts, on the left, a longbow with a quiver of thirty arrows on the right. The saddle pack contained the light gear carried by raiding tarnsmen, in particular, rations, compass, maps, binding fiber, and extra bowstrings.

The Tarn Whistles used to call the birds to their rider is sold with the giant birds if the bird changes hands.  As each tarn is trained to respond to one particular whistle.  The Tarn Saddle is reached by climbing up a five-rung leather-mounting ladder, which hangs on the left side of the saddle and is pulled up in flight.  The Reins the tarn is guided by are virtue of a throat strap, to which are attached, normally, six leather streamers, or reins, which are fixed in a metal ring on the forward portion of the saddle.  The reins or straps are of different colors, but one learns them by ring position and not color. Each of the reins attaches to a small ring on the throat strap, and the rings are spaced evenly.

Accordingly, the mechanics are simple. One draws on the strap, or rein, which is attached to the ring most nearly approximating the direction one wishes to go. For example, to land or lose altitude, one uses the four-strap, which exerts pressure on the four-ring, which is located beneath the throat of the tarn. To rise into flight,  or gain altitude, one draws on the one-strap, which exerts pressure on the one-ring, which is located on the back of the tarn's neck. The throat-strap rings, corresponding to the position of the reins on the main saddle ring, are numbered in a clockwise fashion.

"One does not learn to master a tarn.  It is a matter of blood and spirit, of beast and man, of a relation between two beings which must be immediate, intuitive, spontaneous.  It is said that a tarn knows who is a tarnsman and who is not, and that those who are not die in this first meeting." (Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 51)

"The plumage of tarns is various, they are bred for their colors as well as their strength and intelligence. Black tarns are used for night raids, white tarns in winter campaigns, and multicolored, resplendent tarns are bred for warriors who wish to ride proudly, regardless of the lack of camouflage.  The most common tarn, however, is greenish brown." (Tarnsman of Gor, pgs. 51-52)

"Disregarding the disproportion in size, the Earth bird which the tarn most closely resembles is the hawk, with the exception that it has a crest somewhat of the nature of a jay's" (Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 52)

"Almost immediately from somewhere, perhaps from a ledge out of sight, rose a fantastic object, another giant tarn, even larger than the first, a glossy sable tarn which circled the cylinder once and then wheeled toward me, landing a few feet away, his talons striking on the roof with a sound like hurling gauntlets.  His talons were shod with steel--a war tarn." (Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 53)

"It was a War Tarn, bred for courage, for endurance, for combat in the skies of Gor."
(Outlaw of Gor, pg. 120)

"The tarns were, of course, racing tarns, a bird in many ways quite different from the common tarns of Gor, or the war tarns.  The differences among these tarns are not simply in the training, which does differ, but in the size, strength, build and tendencies of the bird.  Some tarns are bred primarily for strength and are used in transporting wares by carrying basket.  Usually these birds fly more slowly and are less vicious than the war tarns or racing tarns.  The war tarns, of course, are bred for both strength and speed, but also for agility, swiftness of reflex, and combative instincts." (Assassins of Gor, pg. 142)

"War tarns, whose talons are shod with steel, tend to be extremely dangerous birds, even more so than other tarns, none of whom could be regarded as fully domesticated.  The racing tarn, interestingly, is an extremely light bird; two men can lift one; even its beak is narrower and lighter than the beak of a common tarn or a war tarn; it's wings are commonly broader and shorter than those of the other tarns, permitting a swifter take off and providing a capacity for extremely abrupt turns and shifts in flight; they cannot carry a great deal of weight and the riders, as might be expected, are small men, usually of low caste, pugnacious and aggressive."  (Assassins of Gor, pgs. 143-144)

"Racing tarns are not used by tarnsmen in war because they lack the weight and power of war tarns; meeting a war tarn in flight, a racing tarn would be torn to pieces in moments; further, the racing tarns, though marvelous in their particular ways, lack the stamina of the common tarn or the war tarn; their short wings, after a flight of perhaps only fifty pasangs, would being to fail; in a short distance dash, of course, the racing tarn would commonly be superior to the war tarn." (Assassins of Gor, pg. 144)

"To the crowd's astonishment, but not to mine, he wheeled his tarn, a rare, gloriously plumaged jungle tarn from the tropical reaches of the Cartius, to black the first of the right center rings." (Assassins of Gor, pg. 368)

"I would learn it was indeed a large bird, one called a "tarn."  And, I would later learn, it was not even a warrior's mount, bred for swiftness and aggressiveness, a war tarn, but a mere draft tarn. (Dancers of Gor, pg. 148)

Mastering the Tarn

The Goreans believe, incredibly enough, that the capacity to master a tarn is innate and that some men possess this characteristic and that some do not. One does not learn to master a tarn. It is a matter of blood and spirit, of beast and man, of a relation between two beings which must be immediate, intuitive, spontaneous. It is said that a tarn knows who is a tarnsman and who is not, and that those who are not die in this first meeting. My first impression vas that of a rush of wind and a great snapping sound, as if a giant might be snapping an enormous towel or scarf; then I was cowering, awe stricken, in a great winged shadow, and an immense tarn, his talons extended like gigantic steel hooks, his wings puttering fiercely in the air, hung above me, motionless except for the beating of his wings. "Stand clear of the wings," shouted the Older Tarl. I needed no urging. I darted from under the bird. One stroke of those wings would hurl me yards from the top of the cylinder. The tarn dropped to the roof of the cylinder and regarded us with his bright black eyes.

Housing, Watering & Feeding of Tarns

"During the day I freed my tarn, to allow him to feed as he would.  They are diurnal hunters and eat only what they catch themselves, usually one of the fleet Gorean antelopes or a wild bull, taken on the run and lifted in the monstrous talons to a high place, where it is torn to pieces and devoured."  (Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 73)

"At the entrance to the compound was a gigantic, temporary wire cage, a tarn cot.  I tossed a silver tarn disk to the tarn keeper and ordered him to care for the bird, to groom and feed it and see that it was ready on a instant's notice." (Tarnsman of Gor, pg. 165)

"In several cases tarns have devoured their own masters, and it is not unusual for them, when loosed for feeding, to attack human being with the same predatory zest they bestow on the yellow antelope, the tabuk, their favorite kill, or the ill-tempered, cumbersome bosk, a shaggy, long-haired wild ox of the Gorean plains."  (Outlaw of Gor, pg. 125)

"The cry of "Tabuk!" is used by the tarnsman on long flights when time is precious, and he does not wish to dismount and free the bird to find prey.  When he spots a tabuk in the fields below, he may cry "Tabuk!" and this is the signal that the tarn may hunt.  It makes its kill, devours it, and the flight resumes, the tarnsman never leaving the saddle."
(Outlaw of Gor, pg. 126)

"The cot was a huge room beneath the roof of the cylinder, taking up what normally would be four floors of the cylinder.  The perches were actually a gigantic, curving framework of tem-wood four stories high, and following the circular wall of the cylinder." (Assassins of Gor, pg. 169)

"He then entered the cot, to ready the bird.  I went about the shed and cot, and crossed the yard, moving between buildings.  I wanted to make certain that the gate was indeed open.  It was.  It had not been opened to facilitate my departure, of course, but, as a matter of course, during the day, for the convenience of new arrivals.  The two parts, or leaves, of the gate, within their supporting framework, of course, opened inward.  They were now fastened back.  In opening, they swung back across the landing platform, which was a foot or two above the level of the height of the palisade.  An extension of this platform, retractable when the gate was closed, and probably braced with hinged, diagonal drop supports, would extend beyond the palisade.  There was a ramp leading up to the platform on the inside, on the right.  The leaves of the gate were very large, each being some thirty feet in height and some twenty five feet in width.  They are light, however, for their size, as they consist mostly of frames supporting wire.  Whereas these dimensions permit ordinary saddle tarns, war tarns, and such, as entry in flight, the landing platform is generally used.  It is always used, of course, by draft tarns carrying tarn baskets.  The draft tarn makes a hovering landing.  As soon as it senses the basket touch the ground it alights to one side.  The sloping ramp, of course, makes it easy to take the tarn basket, on its leather runners, no longer harnessed to the tarn, down to the yard.  It is also convenient for discharging passengers, handling baggage, and such." (Renegades of Gor, pgs. 119-120) 

"I looked into the tarn cot.  The tarn was finished feeding now, and was being watered.  The bone which had been within the meat lay to one side, with a tatter of rope, amidst straw.  It was deeply scratched and furrowed.  The bird thrust its beak into a tall narrow vessel.  It would draw water into that dreadful recess.  It would then put its head back.  Then, shaking its head, it would hasten the water down its throat."  (Renegades of Gor, pg. 127)

"Beyond the compound of Haakon of Skjern I could see the compound of his tarns, where hobbled, the great birds beat their wings, threw back their heads and screamed, and tore at the great pieces of bosk thrown before them.  Sometimes they tore at their hobbles and struck at their keepers with their great yellowish, scimitar like beaks.  The wind driven by their pounding, snapping wings, with hurricanes of dust and small stones, could hurl a man from his feet.  Those great rending beaks and pressing, ripping talons could tear him in two as easily as the great thighs of bosk on which they fed"  (Captives of Gor, pg. 91)