Results

"priest" "kings"

Book 1. (70 results) Tarnsman of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
2	192	My father then explained to me something of the legends of the priest-kings, and I gathered that they seemed to be true to this degree at least—that the priest-kings could destroy or control whatever they wished, that they were, in effec...	7
13	67	The disease is named that because it is regarded as being holy to the priest-kings, and those who suffer from it are regarded as consecrated to the priest-kings.	7
2	147	Then, after a long moment, not looking at me, he said, "It is rumored there is such a stone, but it lies in the Sacred Place and is the source of the priest-kings' power".	7
2	148	"Who are the priest-kings?" I asked.	7
2	151	"Yes," said my father at last, "I must speak to you of priest-kings".	7
2	158	There was a sect among the people that worshipped the sun, I later learned, but it was insignificant both in numbers and power when compared with the worship of the priest-kings, who, whatever they were, were accorded the honors of divinity.	7
2	159	Theirs, it seems, was the honor of being enshrined as the most ancient gods of Gor, and in time of danger a prayer to the priest-kings might escape the lips of even the bravest men.	7
2	160	"The priest-kings," said my father, "are immortal, or so most here believe".	7
2	169	"My speculation, however," said my father, "is that the priest-kings are indeed men—men much as we, or humanoid organisms of some type—who possess a science and technology as far beyond our normal ken as that of our own twentieth century would be to the alch...	7
2	172	"The priest-kings," said my father, "maintain the Sacred Place in the Sardar Mountains, a wild vastness into which no man penetrates.	7
2	187	"Some think that such men in time become priest-kings themselves.	7
2	188	My own speculation, which I judge as likely or unlikely to be true as the more popular superstitious stories, is that it is death to learn the secret of the priest-kings".	7
2	198	"There is at least one area, however," said my father, "in which the priest-kings do take a most active interest in this world, and that is the area of technology.	7
2	204	"You wonder," he said, "why the numerous, rather obvious deficits in our technology have not been repaired—in spite of the priest-kings.	7
2	216	"Surely that is a marvelous example of your technology?" "Not of our technology, but of that of the priest-kings," he said.	7
2	218	"By priest-kings?" I asked.	7
2	226	He said, from what he could learn from the Initiates, who claimed to serve as the intermediaries of priest-kings to men, that the planet Gor had originally been a satellite of a distant sun, in one of the fantastically remote Blue Galaxies.	7
2	227	It was moved by the science of the priest-kings several times in its history, seeking again and again a new star.	7
2	241	One can't hide a planet the size of the Earth in our own solar system! It's impossible!" "You underestimate the priest-kings and their science," said my father, smiling.	7
2	242	"Any power that is capable of moving a planet—and I believe the priest-kings possess this power—is capable of effecting adjustments in the motion of the planet, such adjustments as might allow it to use the sun indefinitely as a concealing shield".	7
2	246	"It is my belief," he said, "that the priest-kings can control the forces of gravity, at least in localized areas, and, indeed, that they do so.	7
2	250	The priest-kings might gravitationally warp the space in their vicinity, causing light or radio waves to be diffused, curved, or deflected in such a way as not to expose their world".	7
2	254	"Of course, I only propose hypotheses, for what the priest-kings do and how it is done is known only to them".	7
2	271	In fact, there is so little probability that this tale will be believed that the priest-kings of Sardar, the Keepers of the Sacred Place, have apparently granted that it may be recorded.	7
2	274	Why have the priest-kings been so lenient in this case—those who control this second earth? I think the answer is simple.	7
2	277	After all, suppose you should accept this tale, should learn of the Counter-Earth and of the Voyages of Acquisition, what could you do? You could do nothing, you with your rudimentary technology of which you are so proud—you could do nothing at least for a thousand years, and by that time, if...	7
3	56	Oddly enough, there was little religious instruction, other than to encourage awe of the priest-kings, and what there was, Torm refused to administer, insisting it was the province of the Initiates.	7
3	58	I was given some prayers to the priest-kings to memorize, but they were in Old Gorean, a language cultivated by the Initiates but not spoken generally on the planet, and I never bothered to learn them.	7
3	74	I would guess that there is a Third Knowledge, that reserved to the priest-kings.	7
3	194	I would have supposed that armor, or chain mail perhaps, would have been a desirable addition to the accouterments of the Gorean warrior, but it had been forbidden by the priest-kings.	7
3	195	A possible hypothesis to explain this is that the priest-kings may have wished war to be a biologically selective process in which the weaker and slower perish and fail to reproduce themselves.	7
3	200	It may be, of course, that the priest-kings controlled weapons as they did simply because they feared for their own safety.	7
4	57	"By the beards of the priest-kings," roared the Older Tarl as he brought his bird to the roof, "that is a tarn of tarns!" The tarns, released, winged their way back to the tarn cots, and the Older Tarl and I descended to my apartment.	7
4	134	The tier nearest the floor, which denoted some preferential status, the white tier, was occupied by Initiates, Interpreters of the Will of the priest-kings.	7
5	47	Any attempt on the Home Stone was regarded by the citizens of a city as sacrilege of the most heinous variety and punishable by the most painful of deaths, but, paradoxically, it was regarded as the greatest of glories to purloin the Home Stone of another city, and the warrior who managed this was a...	7
5	53	In Ar, for example, early in the day, a member of the Builders will go to the roof on which the Home Stone is kept and place the primitive symbol of his trade, a metal angle square, before the Stone, praying to the priest-kings for the prosperity of his caste in the comin...	7
5	54	Most significantly, while these members of the High Castes perform their portions of the ritual, the Guards of the Home Stone temporarily withdraw to the interior of the cylinder, leaving the celebrant, it is said, alone with the priest-kings.	7
5	56	The member of the Ubar's family then prays to the priest-kings for an abundant harvest and returns to the interior of the cylinder, at which point the Guards of the Home Stone resume their vigil.	7
5	148	I kept my course by the luminescent dial of my Gor compass, the needle of which pointed always to the Sardar Mountain Range, home of the priest-kings.	7
6	11	"May the priest-kings blast your bones," I shouted, as cheerfully as I could, adding, for good measure, "and may you thrive upon the excrement of tharlarions!" The latter recommendation, with its allusion to the loathed riding lizards used by many of the primitive clans o...	7
8	30	"They have decreed a sacrifice to the priest-kings to ask them to have mercy and to restore the Home Stone".	7
8	32	The real purpose of the "sacrifice to the priest-kings" was probably to remove possible claimants to the throne of Ar and thereby strengthen their own political position.	7
9	133	Only the priest-kings know".	7
10	104	"Let the priest-kings blast me if she didn't do it," said Kazrak with admiration, "A true she-tharlarion".	7
10	162	"By the priest-kings," laughed Kazrak, "I believe you care for the she-tharlarion".	7
11	40	It was a Gorean expression, a fatalistic maxim in which the events of the morrow were cast into the laps of the priest-kings.	7
12	64	Of one thing I was certain—there would be no human assistance or even pity, for the poor wretches on the frames are none but villains, betrayers, and blasphemers against the priest-kings, and it is a sacrilegious act even to consider terminating their sufferings.	7
13	73	Oddly enough, casuistically, stoning the Afflicted is not regarded as a violation of the priest-kings' supposed injunction against shedding their blood.	7
14	58	"By the priest-kings," he said, "I think I have lost the exchange".	7
15	79	"By the priest-kings!" he cried.	7
15	102	"You are one of destiny and luck," he said, "raised by the priest-kings to do great deeds".	7
15	177	The Initiates can only mumble prayers to the priest-kings, arrange the details of their meaningless, innumerable sacrifices.	7
15	220	"In large matters, as the pieces are now set," he said, "the girl is unimportant, but only the priest-kings can foresee all possible variations.	7
15	245	"May the priest-kings favor you," he said, and, inside the folds of the hood, I knew he was chuckling.	7
15	249	"Perhaps it is true, as they say, that you are that warrior brought every thousand years to Gor—brought by the priest-kings to change a world".	7
16	24	The men of Ar remained within their walls, under their tarn wire, waiting for the attacks to come, while the Initiates of the city sacrificed to the priest-kings.	7
17	32	This man claimed to be the Supreme Initiate of all Initiates on Gor and to take his appointment from the priest-kings themselves.	7
18	60	The areas of jurisdiction of these two types of courts are not well defined; the Initiates claim ultimate jurisdiction in all matters, in virtue of their supposed relation to the priest-kings, but this claim is challenged by civil jurists.	7
19	84	"Who will challenge the will of the priest-kings?" he demanded.	7
19	91	"If it is the will of the priest-kings," I said, "to bring about the death of an innocent girl, then I challenge their will".	7
19	96	I had heard of the Flame Death from my father and from the Older Tarl—that legendary fate which overtook those who had transgressed the will of the priest-kings.	7
19	97	I knew almost nothing of the fabled priest-kings, but I did know that something of the sort must exist, for I had been brought to Gor by an advanced technology, and I knew that some force or power lay in the mysterious Sardar Mountains.	7
19	98	I did not believe that the priest-kings were divine, but I did believe that they lived and that they were aware of what occurred on Gor and that from time to time they made known their will.	7
19	103	"Perhaps no man knows the will of the priest-kings," I said.	7
19	108	He wobbled hysterically, his eyes mad, his mouth slobbering, his faith in the priest-kings shattered, and with it his mind.	7
20	9	I had served the priest-kings.	7
20	12	Perhaps the priest-kings, whoever or whatever they might be, reasoned that such a man was dangerous, that such a man might in time raise his own banner of dominion; perhaps they realized that I, of all on Gor, did not revere them, would not turn and bow my head in the dir...	7
20	70	Two or three times a year I have returned to the mountains of New Hampshire, to look again on that great flat rock, to spend a night there, in case I might see once again that silver disk in the sky, in case once again I might be summoned by the priest-kings to that other...	7
20	72	Who or what are the priest-kings that they should so determine the lives of others, that they should rule a planet, terrorize the cities of a world, commit men to the Flame Death, tear lovers from each other's arms? No matter how fearful their power, they must be challeng...	7
20	73	If I should once again walk the green fields of Gor, I know that I should attempt to solve the riddle of the priest-kings, that I should enter the Sardar Mountains and confront them, whoever or whatever they might be.	7

Book 2. (73 results) Outlaw of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
5	43	It was common, of course, for Initiates to claim to speak for the priest-kings; indeed, it was presumably the calling of their caste to interpret the will of the priest-kings to men.	7
5	65	"Did I not serve the priest-kings," I asked, "at the siege of Ar?" "The priest-kings used you for their ends, as it pleased them to do".	7
5	71	Was it on my account that a city had perished? Was it I who had brought disaster to its people, to my father, to my friends and Talena? Had I been too foolish to understand that I was nothing before the power of the priest-kings? Was I now to wander the forlorn roads and ...	7
19	153	It is said that as we are to the amoeba and the paramecium so are the priest-kings to us, that the highest and most lyric flights of our intellect are, when compared to the thought of the priest-kings, but the chemical tropisms of the unicellul...	7
20	92	What of the interminable prayers of the Initiates, the sacrifices, the observances, the rituals, the innumerable shrines, altars and temples to the priest-kings? Could it be that the smoke of the burning sacrifices, the fragrance of the incense, the mumblings of the Initi...	7
26	107	But I go to the Sardar for more than truth; foremost in my brain there burns, like an imperative of steel, the cry for blood-vengeance, mine by sword-right, mine by the affinities of blood and caste and city, mine for I am one pledged to avenge a vanished people, fallen walls and towers, a city frow...	7
26	120	Could priest-kings, with their knowledge and power, have need of such a man? But priest-kings need nothing from men, and once more my thoughts grow foolish.	7
1	101	"It means," laughed Cabot, a mirthless laugh, "—to the priest-kings of Gor!" He rose unsteadily.	7
1	195	Perhaps, as Tarl Cabot once remarked, "The agents of the priest-kings are among us".	7
2	3	I rose slowly to my feet, my fibers alive in the wind, my hair torn by its blasts, my muscles each aching and rejoicing in their first movements in perhaps weeks, for I had again entered that silver disk in the White Mountains which was the ship of the priest-kings, used ...	7
2	14	So standing, the sun upon me, without thinking I raised my arms as in pagan prayer to acknowledge the power of the priest-kings, which had once again brought me from Earth to this world, the power which once before had torn me from Gor when they were finished with me, tak...	7
2	15	There was no love in my heart for the priest-kings, those mysterious denizens of the Sardar Mountains, whoever or whatever they might be, but there was gratitude in my heart, either to them or to the strange forces that moved them.	7
2	17	The priest-kings, Keepers of the Holy Place in the Sardar Mountains, seeming knowers of all that occurred on Gor, masters of the hideous Flame Death that could with consuming fire destroy whatever they wished, whenever they might please, were not so crudely motivated as m...	7
2	19	It was rumored they used men as one might use pieces in a game, and when the piece had played its role it might be discarded, or perhaps, as in my case, removed from the board until it pleased the priest-kings to try yet another game.	7
2	66	I wondered why, and knew only that the priest-kings had intended it so.	7
3	79	"The priest-kings themselves," I said, "could not ask for more".	7
3	137	"May the priest-kings forgive me!" he cried.	7
4	71	The thought crossed my mind that it was a sign from the priest-kings that I should turn back.	7
5	19	"You have been touched by the priest-kings," said a voice behind me.	7
5	21	In the next flash of lightning I saw the white robes of an Initiate, the shaven head and the sad eyes of one of the Blessed Caste, servants it is said of the priest-kings themselves.	7
5	40	"Do you speak for the priest-kings?" I asked.	7
5	47	"I am one who conveys the will of the priest-kings to mortals," said the man, not choosing to answer my question.	7
5	55	"It was the will of the priest-kings," said the man.	7
5	56	"But why was it the will of the priest-kings?" I shouted.	7
5	57	"Because it was," said the man, "and there is nothing higher in virtue of which the will of the priest-kings may be determined or questioned".	7
5	75	He seemed to be struggling with himself, as though he wanted to speak his own words and not those of the priest-kings.	7
5	82	"Would that not frustrate the will of the priest-kings?" I asked.	7
5	113	He had told me to throw myself upon it, to avoid my shame, to frustrate for once the will of the mighty priest-kings of Gor.	7
5	116	Nor shall I grovel to the priest-kings nor live the life of shame they have allotted to me".	7
5	120	Like every man of Gor I knew the direction of the Sardar Mountains, home of the priest-kings, a forbidden vastness which no man below the mountains, no mortal, may penetrate.	7
5	121	It was said that the Supreme Home Stone of all Gor lay within those mountains and was the source of the priest-kings' power.	7
6	2	Whereas the Men Below the Mountains, as the mortals are called, seldom enter the mountains, and do not return when they do, many often venture to their brink, if only to stand within the shadows of those cliffs that hide the secrets of the priest-kings.	7
6	63	It would be to invite the Flame Death of the priest-kings for one or the other, perhaps both of us.	7
6	64	I had seen a man die the Flame Death, the High Initiate of Ar on the summit of Ar's Cylinder of Justice, consumed in the sudden burst of blue fire that bespoke the displeasure of the priest-kings.	7
6	65	Slim though her chances might be to escape wild beasts or slavers, they would be greater than the chance of escaping the wrath of the priest-kings.	7
7	76	"You are cursed by the priest-kings".	7
7	115	I take this girl and leave you to the priest-kings".	7
8	64	I determined that I should try to secure a tarn and proceed as quickly as possible to the Sardar Mountains, to keep my appointment with the priest-kings.	7
8	84	That I had business with the priest-kings was not his concern.	7
12	79	The priest-kings of Gor, who served as the divinities of this rude planet, inspired little but awe, and occasionally fear.	7
12	80	Men lived in a truce with the priest-kings, keeping their laws and festivals, making the required sacrifices and libations, but, on the whole, forgetting about them as much as possible.	7
17	66	I was far from the Sardar Mountains, far from the priest-kings of Gor.	7
17	69	The riddle of the priest-kings, of their cruel, incomprehensible will, would not be solved.	7
19	91	"Is this the will of the priest-kings?" asked a voice.	7
19	92	"If it is the will of the priest-kings," I said, "let it be done".	7
19	96	And it seemed strange to me that this rebellion, this willingness to pursue the right as they saw it, independently of the will of the priest-kings, had come not first from the proud Warriors of Gor, nor the Scribes, nor the Builders nor Physicians, nor any of the high ca...	7
19	117	"I have business with the priest-kings," I said.	7
19	141	"The priest-kings," he said, "will be expecting you".	7
19	152	The power and knowledge of the priest-kings is perhaps beyond the comprehension of mortal men, or, as it is said on Gor, of the Men Below the Mountains.	7
19	155	I had seen the power of the priest-kings at work—in the mountains of New Hampshire years ago when it was so delicately exercised as to affect the needle of a compass, in the Valley of Ko-ro-ba where I had found a city devastated as casually as one might crush a hil...	7
19	158	The words of the man of Ar, he who had worn the robes of the Initiates, he who had brought me the message of the priest-kings on the road to Ko-ro-ba that violent night months before, rang in my ears, "Throw yourself upon your sword, Tarl of Ko-ro-ba!" But I knew then tha...	7
19	159	I knew then as I knew now that I would go instead to the Sardar Mountains, that I would enter them and seek the priest-kings themselves.	7
20	67	Chronology in Ar is figured, happily enough, not from its Administrator Lists, but from its mythical founding by the first man on Gor, a hero whom the priest-kings are said to have formed from the mud of the earth and the blood of tarns.	7
20	73	Had I possessed a Gorean compass, its needle would have pointed invariably to those mountains, as though to indicate the home of the priest-kings.	7
20	90	I took the tarn as high as I could, until his wings beat frantically against the thin air, but could see nothing in the Sardar Mountains that might be the habitation of priest-kings.	7
20	115	What had happened would have been regarded by the untrained Gorean mind, particularly that of a low-caste individual, as evidence of some supernatural force, as some magical effect of the will of the priest-kings.	7
20	119	In spite of myself I admired the priest-kings.	7
23	22	Yet though I could not repress my admiration of this girl and the transformation which had been wrought in her from the cold Tatrix of Tharna to the humiliated slave to the glorious creature who now stood beside me my thoughts were mostly in the Sardar, for I knew that I had not yet kept my appointm...	7
23	31	She knew as well as I, perhaps better, the fearful power of the priest-kings.	7
23	40	Though the full force of my will drove me to the mountains, though in the mountains the priest-kings waited for me, I could not yet go.	7
23	44	"The priest-kings must wait," I said.	7
24	34	It might have been to them food from the tables of the priest-kings themselves.	7
24	130	At the head of that splendid, ragged procession five marched; Kron, chief of the rebels; Andreas, a poet; his woman, Linna of Tharna, unveiled; I, a warrior of a city devastated and cursed of the priest-kings; and a girl with golden hair, a girl who wore no mask, who had ...	7
25	161	Indeed, I myself had business to attend to—an account to settle—only my affairs would lead me to the Sardar Mountains, for the business to which I must attend was with the priest-kings of Gor.	7
26	7	From that point whether or not it survives will depend like so many other things in this barbaric world I have come to love—on the inscrutable will of the priest-kings.	7
26	12	Many have entered the mountains and so many must have learned the secret of the priest-kings, though none has returned to tell it.	7
26	106	I have wondered about the priest-kings and their power, their ships and agents, their plans for their world and mine; but most importantly I must learn why my city was destroyed and its people scattered, why it is that no stone may stand upon another stone; and I must lea...	7
26	108	I speak as though my frail arm might avail against the power of priest-kings.	7
26	110	Yet I, Tarl Cabot, shall go to the Sardar; I shall meet with priest-kings, and of them, though they be the gods of Gor, I shall demand an accounting.	7
26	116	And I have wondered sometimes, and the thought awes and frightens me, if my city might not have been destroyed only to bring me to the mountains of the priest-kings, for they would surely know that I would come to challenge them, that I would come to the Sardar, that I wo...	7
26	118	But even so I tell myself that it is still I who move myself, and not priest-kings, even though I might move in their patterns; if it is their intention that I should demand an accounting, it is my intention as well; if it is their game, it is also mine.	7
26	119	But why would priest-kings desire Tarl Cabot to come to their mountains? He is nothing to them, nothing to any man; he is only a warrior, a man with no city to call his own, thus an outlaw.	7
26	129	That not even the priest-kings of Gor can change.	7

Book 3. (286 results) Priest-Kings of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
2	77	I then understood that the larl I had heard must be a larl of priest-kings, for no animal and no man enters or exists in the Sardar without the consent of priest-kings, and if it was fed it must be at the hand of priest-king...	7
33	125	I had intended to make use of that moment myself, pretending to have come with a message from priest-kings, to encourage man to live as I wished him to live, to respect himself and others, to be kind and to be worthy of the heritage of a rational animal, and yet of what w...	7
1	64	Such contests, in which life is lost, used to be popular at Ar, for example, being sponsored in that city by the Caste of Initiates, who regard themselves as being intermediaries between priest-kings and men, though I suspect that, at least on the whole, they know as litt...	7
2	19	Sometimes these individuals are young idealists, rebels and champions of lost causes, who wish to protest to priest-kings; sometimes they are individuals who are old or diseased and are tired of life and wish to die; sometimes they are piteous or cunning or frightened wre...	7
5	143	"Yes," she continued, "I, armed with my beauty, would come to the Sardar and wrest the riches and power of the priest-kings from them, for men had always sought to serve me, to give me what I wanted, and were the priest-kings not men?" People h...	7
5	173	Perhaps Parp was the last of the priest-kings? Surely it seemed likely that such massive structures as the Hall of priest-kings must have been the product of more than one being.	7
8	37	"The priest-kings see and the priest-kings hear!" I cried.	7
10	2	What in the passageways I had taken to be the scent of priest-kings had actually been the residue of odor-signals which priest-kings, like certain social insects of our world, use in communicating with one another.	7
10	30	Similarly in the language of the priest-kings, the seventy-three "phonemes" or basic scents are used to form the meaning units of the language, and a single morpheme of priest-kings may consist of a complex set of odors.	7
10	33	I was told, incidentally, that the language of the priest-kings does possess more morphemes than English but I do not know if the report is truthful or not, for priest-kings tend to be somewhat touchy on the matter of any comparisons, particula...	7
13	4	If the scent-dots were themselves not scented one might be tempted to think of them as graphemes in the language of the priest-kings, but since they themselves are scented they are best construed as analogous to uttered phonemes or phoneme combinations, direct expressions...	7
17	13	"It is near the Feast of Tola," said Sarm, "and it is a time of pleasure and hospitality in the Nest of priest-kings, a time in which priest-kings are well disposed to all living things, whatever be their order".	7
17	112	I, in the very Nest of priest-kings, was more free than he who walked the stones of some road in the bright sun, somewhere beyond the palisade, far from the mountains of priest-kings yet still in the shadow of the Sardar.	7
20	144	Should I kill the innocent attendants, merely Muls who were performing the tasks allotted to them by priest-kings? Would I then have to slay Mul-Al-Ka and Mul-Ba-Ta as well? And what would I do with the girl in the Nest of priest-kings? And wha...	7
21	56	While the creatures remaining on the floor continued their mournful paean, their fellow creatures on the walls and ceiling, still carrying their torches, and scattering wild shadows of their own bodies and those of swollen priest-kings against the ceiling, began to fill t...	7
27	68	There were perhaps a thousand priest-kings in the Nest, and I supposed that this might be almost all the priest-kings in the Nest, save perhaps those that might be essentially placed at a few minimum posts, such as the guard at the steel barric...	7
27	104	The special Gur used on the Feast of Tola is, in the ancient fashion, kept for weeks in the social stomachs of specially chosen priest-kings to mellow and reach the exact flavor and consistency desired, which priest-kings are then spoken of as ...	7
27	109	I was already familiar with the astounding patience of priest-kings and so I was not surprised at the almost total lack of movement in the lines of that golden pattern, formed of priest-kings, which radiated out from the Platform of the Mother.	7
27	119	The rows of the priest-kings separated forming an aisle down the middle of the chamber and the priest-kings now stood facing this aisle, and down the aisle together came Sarm and Misk.	7
27	316	"I wanted to be," said the brown, dying creature, "the only Mother of priest-kings, and I listened to my First Born who wanted to be the only First Born of a Mother of priest-kings".	7
33	2	It was a strange but rapid journey, and as we leaped chasms and seemed almost to swim in the cold air I told myself that Misk and his priest-kings and the humans that were engineers in the Nest were losing the battle that would decide whether men and priest-...	7
33	86	"Now the priest-kings blow the breath of my sacrifice as a blessing upon you, letting it travel to the ends of Gor to speak of their wisdom and mercy!" There was a great cry of joy from the crowd and shouts of gratitude to the priest-kings.	7
35	35	Indeed, the ships were regarded as vehicles of a type forbidden to men by priest-kings and their passengers were attacked in the name of the very priest-kings from which they had come.	7
35	127	If I should attempt to help Misk, what would this mean, ultimately? Would it not be to surrender my race to the mercies of the people of Sarm and the priest-kings who had served him, or would it be ultimately to protect my race until it had learned to live with itself, un...	7
11	30	Impatience, for example, is often indicated by a tremor in the tactile hair on the supporting appendages, as though the creature could not wait to be off; a wandering of attention can be shown by the unconscious movement of the cleaning hooks from behind the third joints of the forelegs, suggesting ...	7
13	11	Scents, of course, will fade in time, but the specially prepared synthetic products of the priest-kings can last for thousands of years and, in the long run, will surely outlast the fading print of human books, the disintegrating celluloid of our films, perhaps even the c...	7
10	1	Misk the priest-King The priest-kings have little or no scent of their own which is detectable by the human nostrils, though one gathers there is a nest odor by which they may identify one another, and that the variations in this nest odor permit identifica...	7
10	15	For example, does a priest-King have the same qualitative experience that I do when we are confronted by the same scent? I am inclined to doubt it, for their music, which consists of rhapsodies of odors produced by instruments constructed for this purpose, and often played by pri...	7
15	69	"How long," I asked, "does a priest-King live?" "Long ago," said Misk, "priest-kings discovered the secrets of cell replacement without pattern deterioration, and accordingly, unless we meet with injury or accident, we will live until we are found by the Gol...	7
29	68	Two hypotheses would seem most likely to explain this phenomenon to them, first that I had fled the complex, second that I was nestled among them, and I smiled to myself, for I was certain that the second hypothesis would never occur to a priest-King, for it was too improbable and <...	7
30	187	This transfer of allegiance was apparently the result of long discussion and consideration by the group of priest-kings who had followed Sarm because he was First Born, but had at many points objected to his conduct of the War, in particular to his treatment of the Muls, ...	7
31	160	"It has sheltered the Nest of priest-kings but now there are no more priest-kings—only I, only Sarm is left".	7
33	42	There were men in that crowd from Ar, from Thentis, from Tharna, recognized by the two yellow cords in their belt; from Port Kar; from Tor, Cos, Tyros; perhaps from Treve, Vika's home city; perhaps even from fallen, vanished Ko-ro-ba; and the men in that crowd were of all castes, and even of castes ...	7
1	1	The Fair of En'Kara I, Tarl Cabot, formerly of Earth, am one who is known to the priest-kings of Gor.	7
1	2	It came about late in the month of En'Kara in the year 10,117 from the founding of the city of Ar that I came to the Hall of priest-kings in the Sardar Mountains on the planet Gor, our Counter-Earth.	7
1	3	I had arrived four days before on tarnback at the black palisade that encircles the dreaded Sardar, those dark mountains, crowned with ice, consecrated to the priest-kings, forbidden to men, to mortals, to all creatures of flesh and blood.	7
1	6	It had been caught in the shield of the priest-kings, invisible, not to be evaded, undoubtedly a field of some sort, which had so acted on the bird, perhaps affecting the mechanism of the inner ear, that the creature had become incapable of controlling itself and had fall...	7
1	13	It was not far to the fair of En'Kara, one of the four great fairs held in the shadow of the Sardar during the Gorean year, and I soon walked slowly down the long central avenue between the tents, the booths and stalls, the pavilions and stockades of the fair, toward the high, brassbound timber gate...	7
1	18	This is also the case, perhaps it should be mentioned, with the first book, Tarnsman of Gor, and the present book, priest-kings of Gor.	7
1	47	I supposed Torm might be anywhere, for those of Ko-ro-ba had been scattered by the priest-kings.	7
1	48	I would not search the fair for him, nor if he were here would I make my presence known, for by the will of priest-kings no two men of Ko-ro-ba might stand together, and I had no wish to jeopardize the little scribe.	7
1	59	Indeed it is considered a crime against the priest-kings to bloody one's weapons at the fairs.	7
1	60	The priest-kings, I might note, seem to be more tolerant of bloodshed in other localities.	7
1	75	The reason for this is not simply that here is a fine market for such wares, since men from various cities pass freely to and fro at the fair, but that each Gorean, whether male or female, is expected to see the Sardar Mountains, in honor of the priest-kings, at least onc...	7
1	77	This pilgrimage to the Sardar, enjoined by the priest-kings according to the Caste of Initiates, undoubtedly plays its role in the distribution of beauty among the hostile cities of Gor.	7
1	80	Thus one practical effect of the edict of the priest-kings is that each Gorean girl must, at least once in her life, leave her walls and take the very serious risk of becoming a slave girl, perhaps the prize of a pirate or outlaw.	7
1	89	They had thought to come to the Sardar as free women, discharging their obligation to the priest-kings.	7
1	92	My business was with the priest-kings of Gor.	7
1	93	Indeed, I had come to the Sardar to encounter the fabled priest-kings, whose incomparable power so inextricably influences the destinies of the cities and men of the Counter-Earth.	7
1	94	It is said that the priest-kings know whatever transpires on their world and that the mere lifting of their hand can summon all the powers of the universe.	7
1	95	I myself had seen the power of priest-kings and knew that such beings existed.	7
1	96	I myself had traveled in a ship of the priest-kings which had twice carried me to this world; I had seen their power so subtly exercised as to alter the movements of a compass needle, so grossly demonstrated as to destroy a city, leaving behind not even the stones of what...	7
1	97	It is said that neither the physical intricacies of the cosmos nor the emotions of human beings are beyond the scope of their power, that the feelings of men and the motions of atoms and stars are as one to them, that they can control the very forces of gravity and invisibly sway the hearts of human...	7
1	98	He had been destroyed by priest-kings as casually as one might jerk loose the thong of a sandal.	7
1	100	He had won his freedom though it had, as the Goreans say, led him to the Cities of Dust, where, I think, not even priest-kings care to follow.	7
1	101	He had, as a man, lifted his fist against the might of priest-kings and so he had died, defiantly, though horribly, with great nobility.	7
1	103	My business with the priest-kings is simple, as are most matters of honor and blood.	7
1	106	Yes, I have business with the priest-kings of Gor.	7
2	12	"Do you wish to speak to priest-kings?" he asked.	7
2	39	As I listened it occurred to me that the purpose of the bar might not be simply to inform the men of the fair that the Sardar had been entered but to inform the priest-kings as well.	7
2	42	The journey to the Hall of priest-kings was not as difficult as I had anticipated.	7
2	45	Whether these were the remains of men who had starved or frozen in the barren Sardar, or had been destroyed by priest-kings, I did not know.	7
2	47	Some of these were obscene, cursing the priest-kings; others were paeans in their praise; some were cheerful, if in a rather pessimistic way.	7
2	57	But I knew that the mountains were not empty, for I had evidence of priest-kings.	7
2	78	In spite of my hatred of priest-kings I could not help but admire them.	7
2	125	For some reason I did not fear death but felt only anger that these beasts might prevent me from keeping my rendezvous with the priest-kings of Gor.	7
2	129	I smiled as I thought of the foolishness of this, for these beasts before me must be the larls of priest-kings, guardians of the stronghold of Gor's gods.	7
3	39	Yet I supposed this seemingly impervious wall must house the portal of the Hall of priest-kings.	7
3	55	I found it impossible to believe that he could be dangerous, that he could in any way be associated with the dreaded priest-kings of Gor.	7
3	67	Who was waiting? But of course he would know my name, and those who would be waiting would be the priest-kings of Gor.	7
3	96	Only the rumbling growl of the now sullen mountain larls as I passed between them convinced me that I could not be dreaming, that I had come at last to the Hall of priest-kings.	7
4	1	The Hall of priest-kings As I followed the man who called himself Parp down the stone passage, the portal behind me closed.	7
4	5	There was nothing in the lighting of the passage, or its construction, to suggest that the priest-kings' Caste of Builders, if they had one, was any more advanced than that of the men below the mountains.	7
4	7	The priest-kings, as far as I could tell, had no art.	7
4	59	I began to feel all the hatred of all the years that I had nursed against the priest-kings now uncontrollably, slowly, violently growing in my body, wild, fierce, those foliating scarlet vines of my fury that now seemed to encircle me, to enfold me, to engulf me, swelling...	7
4	90	"The other priest-kings," I said.	7
4	91	"I am afraid," said Parp, "that I am the priest-kings.	7
4	111	In the far distance, perhaps from some passage leading away from the Hall of priest-kings, I heard the roar of a larl.	7
4	121	I wondered why I had been allowed to reach the Sardar, to find the Hall of priest-kings, to stand before this throne.	7
4	122	Suddenly there was the sound of a distant, reverberating gong, a dull but penetrating sound which carried from somewhere even into the Hall of priest-kings.	7
4	132	Then it seemed in the impending darkness in the Hall of priest-kings as he looked down on me that the pupils of his eyes for an instant glowed briefly, fiercely, like two tiny fiery disks of molten copper.	7
4	137	With a cry of terror Parp cast one last wild glance about the Hall of priest-kings and stumbled behind the great throne.	7
4	146	Once more the distant and unseen gong rang out, and once more the Hall of priest-kings seemed filled with its ominous vibrations.	7
4	155	Then seized by an impulse I sat myself down on the great throne in the Hall of priest-kings, drew my sword and placed it across my knees.	7
4	157	For some reason I laughed and my laugh was the laugh of a warrior of Gor, full and mighty, unafraid, and it roared in the dark and lonely Hall of priest-kings.	7
5	136	"Long ago," she said, "when I first came to the Sardar and found the Hall of priest-kings, I was a young and foolish girl.	7
5	137	I thought that the priest-kings possessed great wealth and that I, with my beauty—" she turned and looked at me and threw back her head—"for I am beautiful, am I not?" I looked at her.	7
5	145	"I would be the Ubara of all Gor," she laughed, "with priest-kings at my beck and call, at my command all their riches and their untold powers!" I said nothing.	7
5	155	Those of the High Castes of Gor are permitted by the priest-kings only the Second Knowledge, and those of the lower castes are permitted only the more rudimentary First Knowledge.	7
5	156	I had speculated that there would be a Third Knowledge, that reserved for priest-kings, and the girl's account seemed to justify this conjecture.	7
5	160	"That plate," she said, "is kept in the tunnels of the priest-kings, but these—" and she shivered and indicated the rounded domes, which were undoubtedly sensors of some type, "are its eyes".	7
5	167	"The priest-kings," she replied simply.	7
5	172	I supposed at another time there might have been more priest-kings.	7
5	189	I silently congratulated the priest-kings on the efficacy of their devices.	7
5	194	"I came to the Sardar," she laughed, "to conquer the priest-kings and rob them of their riches and power!" She ran to the far wall, suddenly breaking into tears.	7
5	247	There stood before me insolently the beautiful, predatory girl who had come so long ago to the Sardar to exploit priest-kings.	7
5	251	I could understand that she, a proud, intelligent girl, could not but resent the indignities of her position, being forced to serve with the full offices of the slave girl whomsoever the priest-kings might see fit to send to her chamber, but yet I found in these grievance...	7
5	252	After all, I, too, was a prisoner of priest-kings and I had not chosen to come to her chamber.	7
5	255	"priest-kings?" I asked.	7
6	1	When priest-kings Walk Vika could cook well and I enjoyed the meal she prepared.	7
6	54	Of course the Chamber Slaves would not be permitted the escape of intoxication, for if they were so allowed to lighten their bondage undoubtedly, in time, their beauty, their utility to the priest-kings, would be diminished; they would become unreliable, lost in dreams an...	7
6	57	"And it is brought by priest-kings?" I asked.	7
6	105	"When the priest-kings wish you, they will come for you," she said.	7
6	110	"Do not fear the priest-kings so," I said.	7
6	124	Suddenly in the distance I heard the rumble of the gong which I had heard before in the Hall of priest-kings.	7
6	147	"The priest-kings!" she cried and turned from me.	7
6	151	And then came the third and final stroke of that distant gong and at the same instant the energy bulbs in the room dimmed and I understood that now somewhere in the long corridors of that vast edifice there walked the priest-kings of Gor.	7
7	1	I Hunt for priest-kings In spite of Vika's protests it was with a light heart that I strode into the passageway beyond her chamber.	7
7	2	I would seek the priest-kings of Gor.	7
7	28	"Have you seen priest-kings?" I asked.	7
7	33	"Have you seen priest-kings?" I asked.	7
7	51	And as I pondered these things I sensed that it had not been an accident that I had been carried to Vika's chamber but that this had been part of a plan by the priest-kings.	7
7	52	I had sensed that Vika had defeated and broken many men, and I sensed that the priest-kings might be curious to see how I might fare with her.	7
7	53	I wondered if Vika herself had been instructed by priest-kings to subdue me.	7
7	55	It was not the way of priest-kings.	7
7	56	Vika would be all unconscious of their machinations; she would simply be herself, which is what the priest-kings would desire.	7
7	59	* * * * After some hours I found myself again in the Hall of priest-kings.	7
7	66	I am a warrior of Ko-ro-ba and I issue the challenge of a warrior to the priest-kings of Gor! Let us do battle! Let us make war!" My voice echoed for a long time in the vast chamber, but I received no response to my challenge.	7
7	95	How acute would be the senses of priest-kings? Perhaps they would be relatively feeble, having grown accustomed to reliance on instrumentation; perhaps they would be other than the senses of men, sharper if only from a differing genetic heritage, capable of discriminating...	7
7	106	I remembered Vika's words: "When the priest-kings wish you, they will come for you".	7
8	26	There was nothing about them to encourage me to believe that the priest-kings, or King as it might be, were ultimately unfathomable or incomprehensible beings.	7
8	32	No wonder the priest-kings hid behind their palisade in the Sardar and let the myths of the Initiates build a wall of human terror about them, no wonder they let their nature and ends be secret, no wonder they took such pains to conceal and obscure their plans and purpose...	7
8	40	It might be possible, of course, to use some type of penetrating beam which if subtly enough adjusted might permit the reception of signals through walls and then relay these to a distant screen, but I doubted that such a device, though perhaps within the capacities of the priest-	7
8	42	That was a mistake on the priest-kings' part.	7
8	64	"The eye of priest-kings," I laughed.	7
8	178	"It is an ointment of priest-kings," she said.	7
8	180	"Then the priest-kings can be injured?" I asked.	7
8	183	"Let us not speak of priest-kings," said the girl.	7
8	238	Perhaps now I would not have so long to wait for the priest-kings of Gor.	7
9	34	In the house of priest-kings there could be no love, nor could she know her own mind in these matters, and there was always Talena, whose image would never be eradicated from my heart.	7
9	109	"He tried to prevent me but I sought out the Initiates of Treve, proposing myself as an offering to the priest-kings.	7
9	208	"You are a poor tool for priest-kings," I said.	7
9	209	"No," she said, "no!" "How many men have you conquered for priest-kings?" I asked.	7
9	260	Let her weep, I said to myself, for she has failed her masters, the priest-kings, and undoubtedly her punishment will not be light.	7
10	4	The priest-kings have eyes, which are compound and many-faceted, but they do not much rely on these organs.	7
10	5	They are, for them, something like our ears and nose, used as secondary sensors to be relied upon when the most pertinent information in the environment is not relayed by vision, or, in the case of the priest-kings, by scent.	7
10	10	Oddly enough, few of the priest-kings whom I questioned on this matter seemed to draw the distinction clearly between hearing and smelling.	7
10	13	In fact, though I speak of hearing and smelling, I am not sure that these expressions are altogether meaningful when applied to priest-kings.	7
10	20	One must be careful of what one says in the tunnels of priest-kings, for one's words may linger after one, until they sufficiently dissipate to be little more than a meaningless blur of scent.	7
10	24	I am told that the phonemes of the language of priest-kings or, better, what in their language would correspond to phonemes in ours, since their "phonemes" have to do with scent and not sound, number seventy-three.	7
10	27	The morphemes of the language of priest-kings, those smallest intelligible information bits, in particular roots and affixes, are, of course, like the morphemes of English, extremely numerous.	7
10	31	I do not know whether there are more morphemes in the language of the priest-kings or in English, but both are apparently rich languages, and, of course, the strict morpheme count is not necessarily a reliable index to the complexity of the lexicon, because of combination...	7
10	34	On the other hand it may well be the case that, as a matter of fact, the morpheme set of the language of priest-kings is indeed larger than that of English.	7
10	36	The translator tapes, incidentally, are approximately the same size, but this is no help, since the tapes represent pairings of approximate equivalents, and there are several English morphemes not translatable into the language of priest-kings, and, as I learned, morpheme...	7
10	57	"These are the tunnels of the priest-kings," it said.	7
10	67	priest-kings do not need them".	7
10	68	"Then there are creatures other than priest-kings who live here," I said.	7
10	89	Perhaps men did not much laugh in the tunnels of the priest-kings and it was not accustomed to this human practice.	7
10	91	Yet I said to myself the priest-kings are intelligent and I found it difficult to believe there could exist an intelligent race without humor.	7
11	4	I wondered if men of my species would have difficulty telling priest-kings apart.	7
11	6	The priest-kings themselves distinguish one another by scent but I, of course, would do so by eye.	7
11	28	I would learn to interpret the emotions and states of priest-kings by such signs.	7
11	32	This may become more comprehensible when it is mentioned that priest-kings, with their cleaning hooks, their jaws and their tongues, often groom one another as well as themselves.	7
11	39	After a minute or two the priest-kings stopped circling one another and turned to face me.	7
11	44	"Are you the leader of the priest-kings?" I asked.	7
11	51	"I have much to speak of with priest-kings," I said.	7
11	55	"None may see the Mother save her caste attendants and the High priest-kings," said Sarm, "the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Born".	7
11	64	"But," said Sarm, "even on such feasts none of the lower orders may view the Mother—only priest-kings".	7
11	70	"The priest-kings are generous," I said.	7
11	74	"Are men priest-kings?" asked Sarm.	7
11	90	It was at this time that I first saw how priest-kings breathed, probably because Sarm's respiratory movements were now more pronounced than they had been hitherto.	7
11	113	I gathered one did not shake and curl one's antennae at priest-kings.	7
11	120	I did so, and the two priest-kings stepped delicately onto the disk to join me, in such a way that one stood on each side and slightly behind me.	7
11	123	To my annoyance both of the priest-kings seemed immobile, leaning alertly forward into the wind, their forelegs lifted high, their antennae lying flat, streaming backwards.	7
12	2	I found myself in some sort of plaza, surrounded by the fantastic architecture of the Nest of priest-kings.	7
12	3	The plaza was crowded, not only with priest-kings but even more with various creatures of other forms and natures.	7
12	18	"Because it is a great honor to be the slave of priest-kings," said Misk.	7
12	52	Misk during all this time had not moved but had remained standing in that incredible fixity perhaps unique to priest-kings.	7
12	69	"Yes," said Sarm, and the two priest-kings approached one another, bowed and gently locked their antennae.	7
12	96	"I am Mul-Al-Ka," said one, "honored slave of the glorious priest-kings".	7
12	97	"I am Mul-Ba-Ta," said the other, "honored slave of the glorious priest-kings".	7
12	139	"Gaze upon them with awe, Matok," said he, "for they are the product of priest-kings and the most perfect specimens of your race ever to exist".	7
12	149	"By the priest-kings!" I roared, the rather blasphemous Gorean oath slipping out, somehow incongruously considering my present location and predicament.	7
12	162	"To be the slaves of priest-kings," they said.	7
12	200	Now the slave who was conscious lifted his hand piteously to the priest-kings.	7
12	207	"They feel they have failed the priest-kings and wish to die," said Misk.	7
12	233	"You must understand, Tarl Cabot of Ko-ro-ba," said Misk, apparently sensing my puzzlement, "that it is the greatest joy of Muls to love and serve priest-kings.	7
12	236	"You see," continued Misk, "these Muls have been formed to love and serve priest-kings".	7
12	257	The two priest-kings had watched this small concourse with some interest, but now the voice of Sarm's translator was heard: "It is growing late," it said, "let the Matok be processed".	7
13	6	In our sense there is no distinction between a spoken and written language for the priest-kings, though there is an analogous distinction between linguistic patterns that are actually sensed and those which are potentially to be sensed, an example of the latter being the ...	7
13	18	The syllabary of priest-kings, not to be confused with their set of seventy-three "phonemes," consists of what seems to me to be a somewhat unwieldy four hundred and eleven characters, each of which stands of course for a phoneme or phoneme combination, normally a combina...	7
13	20	I would have supposed a simpler syllabary, or even an experimentation with a nonscented perhaps alphabetic graphic script, would have been desirable linguistic ventures for the priest-kings, but as far as I know they were never made.	7
13	23	First, I did not know then how priest-kings learned.	7
13	30	Most significantly however I suspect that the syllabary of priest-kings remains complex, and that experiments with unscented graphemes were never conducted, because, except for lexical additions, they wish to keep their language much as it was in the ancient past.	7
13	34	I once asked Misk why the syllabary of priest-kings was not simplified, and he responded, "If this were done we would have to give up certain signs, and we could not bear to do so, for they are all very beautiful".	7
13	67	Somehow these laconic responses and the unquestioning acceptance of the apparent barbarities of the rule of priest-kings infuriated me.	7
13	81	"The tunic," said the other, "is inscribed with much information, and it is by means of the tunic that priest-kings can recognize us".	7
13	84	"Well," I said, still looking down the hall, "I would have supposed that the mighty priest-kings could have devised a quicker way of transporting scent-tapes".	7
13	86	"Speed in such matters," said one, "is of little interest to priest-kings".	7
13	96	Indeed, even I myself, after my experience of the arthropod on the platform and the flat, sluglike beast on its transportation disk in the plaza, was growing accustomed to finding strange creatures in the Nest of the priest-kings.	7
13	109	"Of course," said one of the slaves, "the priest-kings are tolerant".	7
13	115	"priest-kings," said the second slave.	7
14	28	I was no longer interested in insulting priest-kings.	7
14	37	I would later learn that these rays, which passed through my body as easily and harmlessly as sunlight through glass, were indexed to the metabolic physiology of various organisms which can infect priest-kings.	7
14	40	The organisms which afflict them are apparently harmless to priest-kings and thus allowed to survive.	7
14	52	I was glad that the tunic I wore was not of the Ubar's purple which would proclaim me a slave of priest-kings.	7
14	77	The Mul-Fungus, as far as I can tell, is not much different from the fungus, raised under ideal conditions from specially selected spores, which graces the feed troughs of the priest-kings themselves, a tiny sample of which was once given me by Misk.	7
14	84	I was given a translator by Misk and I would utter Gorean expressions into it and then wait for the translation into the language of the priest-kings, and in this way, after a time, I became capable of recognizing numerous meaningful odors.	7
14	89	I did not even have a sword, and I was sure that, in any battle with priest-kings, I would constitute but a moment's work for their fierce mandibles and the bladed, hornlike projections on their forelegs.	7
14	92	The priest-kings eat and sleep standing and never lie down, except perhaps it be to die.	7
14	114	He himself, of course, did not use a washing-booth but groomed and cleaned himself in the age-old fashions of priest-kings, with his cleaning hooks and mouth.	7
14	133	"I was indulgent," said Misk, straightening up so that his long body now loomed over me, inclined forward slightly from the vertical in the characteristic stance of priest-kings.	7
14	156	I would learn later, however, that this simple fact was indeed almost incomprehensible to priest-kings, and that Misk, though he readily accepted it as a fact in his mind, could not bring himself, so to speak, in the furthest reaches of his heart to acknowledge it as true...	7
15	85	I myself am willing to die but the race of priest-kings must not die".	7
15	128	"Do priest-kings believe in a life after death?" I asked.	7
15	141	"Basic information, as you might expect, pertaining to language, mathematics, and the sciences, but he is also being taught the history and literature of priest-kings, Nest mores, social customs; mechanical, agricultural, and husbanding procedures, and other types of info...	7
16	3	"I must tell you, Misk," I said slowly, "that I came to the Sardar to slay priest-kings, to take vengeance for the destruction of my city and its people".	7
16	4	I thought it only fair to let Misk know that I was no ally of his, that he should learn of my hatred for priest-kings and my determination to punish them, to the extent that it lay within my abilities, for the evil which they had done.	7
16	6	"You have come to the Sardar to save the race of priest-kings".	7
16	28	This teaches the lower orders the might of priest-kings and encourages them to keep our laws".	7
16	32	For example, we allowed them to suppose that it was through some fault of yours—disrespect for priest-kings as I recall—that your city was destroyed".	7
16	47	"On the whole," he said, "we priest-kings do not interfere in the affairs of men.	7
16	58	I could see that from the priest-kings' point of view it would be more dangerous than handing out automatic weapons to chimpanzees and gorillas.	7
16	59	Man had not proved himself worthy of a superior technology to the priest-kings.	7
16	70	"They are not priest-kings".	7
16	75	"It is said below the mountains that priest-kings know all that occurs on Gor".	7
16	78	We have four hundred priest-kings who operate the scanners, and we are accordingly well informed.	7
16	184	"Why," I asked, "was I returned to Earth after the siege of Ar?" "To fill you with hatred for priest-kings," said Misk.	7
16	222	"All priest-kings are not as Sarm," said Misk.	7
17	3	I could not forget the plot of Misk, the threat which loomed over the Nest of the priest-kings.	7
17	22	I knew there was no expression in the language of the priest-kings which was a satisfactory equivalent for the expression.	7
17	54	If these tactics were calculated to have some effect on Sarm, I think they most miserably failed of that effect, for during the entire time I took, which was considerable, he stood motionless in the room, save for an occasional movement of his antennae, frozen in that maddening, immobile but alert p...	7
17	70	At my request Sarm took me to the Scanning Room, whence the surface of Gor is kept under selective surveillance by the priest-kings.	7
17	73	I would not have made this suggestion at a later time but then I did not understand the priest-kings' utilization of gravity.	7
17	77	Reconstituted in large observation cubes these patterns might then be monitored by priest-kings.	7
17	107	I wondered of the man through whose eyes I was now seeing, who he was, what he had been, that unknown Implanted One who now walked some lonely road somewhere on Gor, a device of priest-kings.	7
17	108	"Surely," I said bitterly, "with all the knowledge and power of priest-kings you could build something mechanical, a robot, which might resemble a man and do this work for you".	7
17	118	"Is this what was done once on the road to Ko-ro-ba, to a man from Ar, who spoke to me in the name of priest-kings?" "Of course," said Sarm.	7
17	152	"Of course," said Sarm, "he broke the law of priest-kings".	7
17	160	"And so too do we priest-kings commonly kill swiftly and yet you complain of our doing so".	7
17	175	Do not think badly of priest-kings.	7
18	5	I even approached priest-kings on this subject and they, since I was a Matok and not a Mul, gave me of their attention, but politely refused to furnish me with the information I sought.	7
18	10	The visual mark was plain to human eyes but it would not be likely to be noticed by priest-kings, any more than a small, insignificant sound is likely to be noticed by a human who is not listening for it and is attending to other things.	7
18	11	One afternoon, as I judged by the feeding times, for the energy bulbs always keep the Nest of priest-kings at a constant level of illumination, Mul-Al-Ka and Mul-Ba-Ta and I were swiftly passing through one tunnel on my transportation disk.	7
18	87	One of the latter was the power source of the priest-kings, the great plant wherein the basic energy is generated for their many works and machines.	7
18	90	"The analogy, of course," said Sarm, "is incorrect, for there is no Home Stone as such in the Nest of priest-kings, the Home Stone being a barbarous artifact generally common to the cities and homes of Gorean humans".	7
18	106	Here and there priest-kings moved lightly about, occasionally noting the movements of scent-needles, sometimes delicately adjusting a dial with the nimble, hooklike appendages at the tips of their forelegs.	7
18	109	"So this is the source of the priest-kings' power," I said.	7
18	120	"I want you to learn of priest-kings".	7
18	175	"Good," said Sarm, and we began to trace our way downward around that vast bluish globe that sheltered the power source of priest-kings.	7
19	15	I wondered if the compartments of all priest-kings were so similar, or if he had investigated it at various times in the past.	7
19	30	"They are worn on Tola by all priest-kings in memory of the Nuptial Flight, for the Nuptial Flight takes place above the ground in the sun and there on the surface there are many things which are green".	7
19	39	"Long ago," said Sarm, "in Nests long before this one, in times of which you cannot conceive, it was by means of these small things that my people began the journey that led in time to priest-kings".	7
19	43	"Then it might seem," I proposed, somewhat maliciously, "that from one point of view, contrary to your suggestion of yesterday, that these tiny pieces of metal—and not the modifications of the ganglionic net—are the true and ultimate source of the priest-kings	7
19	50	"Very well," said Sarm, "the true source of the priest-kings' power lies in the microparticles of the universe".	7
19	61	For all practical purposes it now seemed that priest-kings would be invulnerable to my blade, though I supposed I might have injured them severely if I sliced at the sensory hairs on the legs, at the trunk joining thorax and abdomen, at the eyes and antennae if I could re...	7
19	62	Then it occurred to me that there must be some vital center not mentioned by Sarm, probably a crucial organ or organs for pumping the body fluids of the priest-kings, most simply something corresponding to the heart.	7
19	97	"In the accomplishing of this matter you do a great service to the Nest and to priest-kings, and thereby will you gain great glory for yourself and a life of honor and riches, the first of which will be the slave girl Vika of Treve".	7
19	103	To my nostrils, now alert to the signals of priest-kings and trained by my practice with the translator Misk had allowed me to use, there came a single brief odor, the components of which I had little difficulty in discriminating.	7
20	45	"This has to do with honors and riches and priest-kings".	7
20	124	"You don't understand," she whimpered, "I am an offering to the priest-kings from the Initiates of Ar".	7
20	168	"She was useless any longer as a servant to priest-kings," said Mul-Ba-Ta.	7
21	14	Clinging to the ceiling of the chamber were numerous dark, distended shapes, apparently priest-kings but with abdomens swollen grotesquely.	7
21	41	As nearly as I could make it out the song, though sad, was a paean of some sort to priest-kings, and mentioned the Feast of Tola and Gur.	7
21	53	I could now see the priest-kings clearly where they clung upside down to the ceiling, their great swollen abdomens almost dwarfing their thoraxes and heads.	7
21	54	Then to my amazement, one by one, the strange creatures, disdaining the bars near the door began simply to pad up the almost vertical walls to the priest-kings and then, astonishingly, began to walk upside down on the ceiling.	7
21	58	There seemed to be almost an indefinite number of the Muls and of clinging priest-kings there were perhaps a hundred.	7
21	59	The strange procession to and fro up the walls and across the ceiling to priest-kings and back down to the floor continued for more than an hour, during which time the Muls who stood below, some of them having returned with a full vessel, never ceased to chant their mourn...	7
21	60	The Muls made no use of the bars and from this I gathered that they might have been placed where they were in ancient times before there were such creatures to serve priest-kings.	7
21	61	I assumed that the exudate or whatever it might be that had been taken from the priest-kings was Gur, and that I now understood what it was to retain Gur.	7
21	64	When not actively engaged in gathering Gur their round dark eyes were lifted like dark curves to the priest-kings who clung to the ceiling far over their heads.	7
22	47	"I had hoped," I said, "that there would be a quicker way to kill priest-kings".	7
22	153	"In part," I said, "but mostly what it means will be decided by priest-kings and men".	7
23	8	The priest-kings often practice such small economies, jealously conserving the inanimate resources of the Nest.	7
23	12	Its contrast with the fastidiously clean tunnels of the Nest of priest-kings made it seem all the more repulsive in its filth and litter.	7
24	5	Its antennae, unlike those of priest-kings, were very short.	7
24	10	I knew the thing before me could slay priest-kings.	7
24	36	This noise unnerved me for a moment because I had been used to the uncanny silence of priest-kings.	7
24	65	I supposed they were not ventilated as well as the tunnels of the priest-kings.	7
25	11	I wondered how many more such creatures might dwell in similar passages and caverns near the tunnels of the priest-kings.	7
25	48	It was the law of priest-kings.	7
25	52	If this were not possible I would explore the tunnels seeking some other exit, and if worse came to worst, I was sure that Vika and I, now that I knew the dangers and strengths and weaknesses of the Golden Beetle, might manage to survive indefinitely in the tunnels, however despicably, and escape ev...	7
25	100	At last we came to an opening which gave onto something of the sort for which I was looking, a rather small complex of buildings, where I saw several Muls at work but no priest-kings.	7
27	34	I did not know the location of the female egg nor could I have tended it had I known; and, further, that the race of priest-kings should wither and die did not seem the proper business of a human, particularly considering my hatred for them, and my rejection of their mode...	7
27	35	Had they not destroyed my city? Had they not scattered its people? Had they not destroyed men by Flame Death and brought them, willing or no, to their own world on the Voyages of Acquisition? Had they not implanted their control nets in human beings and spun the hideous mutations of the Gur Carriers...	7
27	48	To another human, of course, my hair alone, which is a shaggy, bright red, would have been a clearly recognizable feature, but priest-kings, as I may have indicated, tend to have extremely casual visual discrimination and are, moreover, I would gather, color blind.	7
27	65	There was no sound to celebrate the Feast of Tola but I had little difficulty in locating the scene of the celebration, for I soon encountered a shaft, one of those through which used air is pumped out of the tunnels, which was rich in unusual and penetrating scents, of a sort which my stay with Mis...	7
27	67	Its ceiling was only perhaps a hundred feet high but its length and width were considerable and it was filled with golden priest-kings, garlanded in green and wearing about their necks that shining, jangling circle of tiny, silverish tools.	7
27	70	The priest-kings stood motionless in great circling, tiered rows which spread concentrically outward as though from a stage in an ancient theater.	7
27	71	To one side I could see four priest-kings handling the knobs of a large scent-producer, about the size of a steel room.	7
27	73	I had little doubt but that these priest-kings were the most highly regarded musicians of the Nest, that they should be chosen to play together on the great Feast of Tola.	7
27	74	The antennae of the thousand priest-kings seemed almost motionless so intent were they on the beauties of the music.	7
27	90	I wondered if, among priest-kings, he would have helped her, or if there would have been others from the former Nest, or if she alone would have fallen to earth, to eat the wings that had borne her, and to burrow beneath the mountains to begin the lonely work of the Mothe...	7
27	92	If Sarm had killed them, how was it that the Mother had not learned of this and had him destroyed? Or was it her wish that there should be no others? But if so why was she, if it were true, in league with Misk to perpetuate the race of priest-kings? I looked again through...	7
27	94	I surmised there might be a similar shaft on the other side of her platform, knowing the symmetry that tends to mark the engineering aesthetics of priest-kings.	7
27	107	Considering the number of priest-kings and the time it took for each to give Gur to the Mother, I conjectured that the ceremony must have begun hours ago.	7

Book 4. (18 results) Nomads of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
16	305	The Others—those of power, not priest-kings, must, to some extent, understand or sense the politics, the needs and policies of the remote denizens of the Sardar—they were probably not altogether unaware of the business of priest-kings...	7
7	206	Who, or what, could dare such a thing? Besides, how did I know that the message was not from priest-kings? I knew, as Kamchak and Kutaituchik did not, of the recent Nest War beneath the Sardar, and of the disruption in the technological complexes of the Nest—who kn...	7
7	209	And finally, I reminded myself again, was I not now engaged in their work? Was I not now attempting to be of service to them? Was I not now among the Wagon Peoples, in peril perhaps, on their behalf? But, I asked myself, if this message was not from priest-kings, from who...	7
2	17	And if I should find the object—why should I not myself destroy it, and destroy thereby the race of priest-kings, giving this world to my own kind, to men, to do with as they pleased, unrestricted by the laws and decrees of priest-kings ...	7
7	210	There must be others—others, who did not wish me to succeed in my work, who wished priest-kings, the race, to die, others who were capable even of bringing humans from Earth for their purposes—technologically advanced—others who were, perhaps, cautiou...	7
16	299	He might well be, and I supposed it true, merely an agent—but for whom, or what?—something that would challenge even priest-kings—but, it must be, something that feared priest-kings, or it would already have struck—t...	7
2	3	Some years before, perhaps between two and five years before, as the culmination of an intrigue enduring centuries, two men, humans from the walled cities of Gor, had, for the sake of priest-kings, undertaken a long, secret journey, carrying an object to the Wagon Peoples...	7
2	8	Could I—Tarl Cabot, a human and mortal, find this object and, as priest-kings now wished, return it to the Sardar—return it to the hidden courts of priest-kings that it might there fulfill its unique and irreplaceable role in the ...	7
2	10	But why was it I who came? Why not priest-kings in their ships and power, with their fierce weapons and fantastic devices? priest-kings cannot stand the sun.	7
2	26	Perhaps if I were successful I might save my race, by preserving the priest-kings that might shelter them from the annihilation that might otherwise be achieved if uncontrolled technological development were too soon permitted them; perhaps in time man would grow rational...	7
6	61	Had the girl been brought to this world by priest-kings? Was she the recent victim of one of the Voyages of Acquisition? But I understood them to have been curtailed in the recent subterranean War of priest-kings.	7
16	306	They could have learned of the destruction of much of the surveillance equipment of the Sardar, of the substantial reduction in the technological capabilities of priest-kings, at least for a short time—and, most importantly, that the War had been fought, in a way, ...	7
16	309	Thus, the Others might well infer that there was one, or more, concealed eggs, hidden away, which must now be secured that the new generation might be inaugurated, but hidden away quite possibly not in the Place of priest-kings itself, but elsewhere, out of the home of	7
17	35	It might be gilled, like Gorean sharks, probably descendants of Earth sharks placed experimentally in Thassa millennia ago by priest-kings, or it might have the gurdo, the layered, ventral membrane, shielded by porous plating, of several of the marine predators perhaps na...	7
26	299	It was not only that I had failed, that what I had fought for had now vanished, become ashes—not only that the war of priest-kings, in which I had played a prominent part, fought long before over such matters, had now become fruitless, meaningless—that my fr...	7
2	21	But I would not destroy the egg—not only because it contained life—but because it was important to my friend, whose name was Misk and is elsewhere spoken of; much of the life of that brave creature was devoted to the dream of a new life for priest-kings, a n...	7
16	295	How else would he dare to use the name of priest-kings on the message in the message collar?" I knew, of course, that the man was not a priest-King.	7
26	227	"Because," I said, "—it is the last seed of priest-kings—an egg—a child—the hope of priest-kings, to them all—everything, the world, the universe".	7

Book 5. (5 results) Assassin of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
4	87	We were confident that this attempt on my life, for that it seemed to be, had something to do with the Sardar, and the priest-kings, and the Others, not priest-kings, who desired this world of priest-kings and men, a...	7
1	22	These men of Ko-ro-ba, he knew, when their city had been destroyed by priest-kings, had been scattered to the ends of Gor but, when permitted by priest-kings, they had returned to their city to rebuild it, each bearing a stone to add to its wal...	7
5	299	In the last days, I spoke often with Misk of the difficulties connected with obtaining the last egg of priest-kings, in particular informing him that others had wished the egg as well, and had nearly acquired it, others who had had the technology to visit Earth, to seize ...	7
7	73	The ship was disklike, as are the ships of priest-kings, but it had observation apertures, which the ships of priest-kings lack.	7
18	171	"Dar-Kosis," I said, "is thought to be holy to the priest-kings, and those afflicted with it to be consecrated to priest-kings".	7

Book 6. (1 results) Raiders of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
9	173	Already she would doubtless be known to the Others, not priest-kings, who would challenge priest-kings for this world, and Earth.	7

Book 9. (11 results) Marauders of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
2	54	It was said that he wished, in regret for the wickedness of his life, to be carried in death to the temple of priest-kings in Kassau, that the High Initiate there might, if it be his mercy, draw on his bones in the sacred grease the sign of the priest-...	7
2	223	I wondered what might become of the religion of priest-kings, if priest-kings should ever choose to make themselves known to men.	7
2	259	There were the golden bowls used to gather the blood of the sacrificed animals; cups used to pour libations to priest-kings; vessels containing oils; lavers in which the celebrants of the rites might cleanse their hands from their work; there were even the small bowls of ...	7
2	293	He comes in death to the temple of priest-kings, that his bones may be anointed with the grease of priest-kings.	7
2	330	But Ivar Forkbeard had come in death, if not in life, to the temple of priest-kings, betraying the old gods, to have his bones anointed at last with the grease of priest-kings.	7
11	31	To me this seems preposterous, for ones so wise as priest-kings, but, in spite of its obvious falsity, priest-kings regard the Kurii and men as rather similar, almost equivalent species.	7
11	208	If the priest-kings did not do this, perhaps for reasons of pride, their laws having been given, then, in effect, Gor might become a Kur world, in which, given local allies, the priest-kings might finally be isolated and destroyed.	7
15	57	Not only would the decision to halt the invasion be in violation of the practices and commitments of priest-kings, which would doubtless create dissension in the Nest, producing a leverage the Kurii might be able to exploit, but, if the invasion were halted, it being a la...	7
18	654	Native Kurii, bred from ships' survivors over centuries, would not, it seemed, if limited to the primitive weapons permitted men, be capable of conquering Gor, isolating the priest-kings in the Sardar, until they could be destroyed, or, alternatively, perhaps be used to l...	7
20	49	They need an envoy, one known to priest-kings, yet one independent of them, one whom they respect, a man of valiance and judgment, with whom to negotiate, one to carry their proposals to priest-kings".	7
20	138	Long ago, in the Sardar, Misk, the priest-King, had told me that priest-kings see little difference between Kurii and men, that they regarded them as equivalent species.	7

Book 12. (1 results) Beasts of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
3	137	An initiate in the lead carried a standard on which was mounted the sign of the priest-kings, a golden circle, that which has no beginning or end, the symbol of eternity, the symbol of priest-kings.	7

Book 14. (2 results) Fighting Slave of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
7	39	But if the people, truly, ruled, why and how could their planet's processes proceed in such obvious ways inimical to their welfare? How could their world be so miserable for the people if they were truly kings within it? But perhaps they were not kings within it.	6
7	41	Who, I wondered, were the true kings? Or, perhaps there were no kings, truly, only the madness of the untended machine.	6

Book 17. (1 results) Savages of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
1	648	They had not directly experienced priest-kings, only the power of priest-kings.	7

Book 23. (1 results) Renegades of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
24	755	Most Goreans, save for occasional sacrifices, observations, donations to temples, and such, called for by the caste of Initiates, who claim to mediate between men and priest-kings, live their lives without much concern for priest-kings, and see...	7

Book 25. (2 results) Magicians of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
3	1084	"Pray to the priest-kings! Pray to the priest-kings!" wept a man.	7
13	85	"But if they possess the power of priest-kings, why not call them priest-kings?" "Do you think they would mind, if I did not?" he asked, somewhat apprehensively.	7

Book 26. (5 results) Witness of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
19	475	Enough to spill a few drops from the first cup, a libation, honoring priest-kings, or perhaps, in the name of priest-kings, for what is involved here may have many names, what might hold sway over both men and priest-kings	7
19	310	But, could priest-kings do such things? And, if so, was it only priest-kings who could do them? I expected that, here and there on this world, and doubtless on others, similar ceremonies might take place.	7
19	311	The women of city A, for example, might be led to believe that it was the will of the priest-kings that they become the slaves of the men of city B, and the women of city B might be led to believe that it was the will of the priest-kings that t...	7
19	401	What if, for example, as an outside possibility, but one they were not willing to discount, there might be some mysterious connection between the Initiates and the priest-kings? Why not, then, put a coin in the bowl, particularly if it were not too valuable a coin? As far...	7
19	472	These would be neither the soldiers of priest-kings nor the foes of priest-kings.	7

Book 27. (1 results) Prize of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
27	3488	"For the love of priest-kings," cried Tersius Major, "give me something to drink, something to eat!" "You have broken the law of priest-kings," said Portus Canio.	7

Book 28. (2 results) Kur of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
2	308	Why then? For what? To probe the defenses of priest-kings, to test equipment, to train and season pilots and task squads, to enact a trial of courage, to fling before priest-kings some sort of an act of defiance, what? Where are the pries...	7
57	2	"Dear Grendel!" he cried, "we had report that your plan had failed, and your command destroyed, wiped out, each and every one of our fellows, in the Vale of Destruction! Praise the priest-kings! You, and Cabot, and some others, Statius, I see, and some few, have escaped!"...	7

Book 29. (9 results) Swordsmen of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
1	270	How could we have then failed to embrace, and therewith comply with the will and intrigues of priest-kings? Do they not use us as their pawns, their dupes, and instruments? Using our congruent natures how could we, so subtly manipulated, have failed to dance upon their st...	7
4	83	Too, the caste of Initiates, which claims to mediate between humans and priest-kings, with their sacrifices, and such, would obviously prefer for priest-kings to remain as invisible and mysterious as possible.	7
5	74	Who is to tell priest-kings who will be their instruments? Are you privy to their councils, can you read the mists, the fogs and clouds, which hover about the Sardar?" I supposed it was possible that this man might be an agent of priest-kings.	7
5	191	Doubtless the agent of priest-kings would have resisted capture, and would have been quickly, brutally slain, it being presupposed that his life would be of small value, that he was the mere carrier of the message, a message presumably in the box, and the token, which the...	7
5	283	Perhaps this had little to do with Tyros? Perhaps a round ship would raise less suspicion? Perhaps this was the very ship on which the agent of priest-kings might have had his passage? "I speak in the name of priest-kings," said Sullius Maximus...	7
5	320	Presumably, too, assuming I was compliant to the will of priest-kings, I would now naively prosecute the machinations of Kurii, confident that it was in the cause of priest-kings that I labored.	7
12	76	How could it be otherwise, for I was disembarked on the northern coast according to the exact coordinates of priest-kings, secret coordinates doubtless, was there met by two agents, doubtless also in the service of priest-kings, though that app...	7
12	85	Too, why should they believe, in the first place, that I would wish to labor on behalf of priest-kings? Surely I had not been treated well by priest-kings.	7
18	171	The second major theory proposed to explain the ban of priest-kings on body armor is that the priest-kings, in their benign concern for human beings, one of the diverse life forms with which they stocked the planet, thought the banning of body ...	7

Book 30. (1 results) Mariners of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
2	200	How wise they were, and how powerful they were, how sacrosanct and holy they were, to have the ear of priest-kings, to have at their disposal the prayers, the spells, the rituals, the devotions, and sacrifices by means of which priest-kings mig...	7

Book 31. (1 results) Conspirators of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
8	168	How could such a world exist and not be known, or, I thought, is it known? Perhaps it is known, but as a guarded secret, official or governmental, to be kept from the general public? Is it the will of the priest-kings, the alleged lords of this world, I wondered, that the...	7

Book 32. (1 results) Smugglers of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
14	373	You have heard of priest-kings, and Kurii?" "All have heard of priest- kings," I said.	7

Book 33. (8 results) Rebels of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
58	233	Did priest-kings favor Lord Temmu or Lord Yamada? Which, if either, was favored by Kurii? Surely both Kurii, or some Kurii, and priest-kings, or some priest-kings, had collaborated in the readying of, and the flight ...	7
21	75	It was obvious, given the technologies involved in such a suspension of consciousness and such a methodology of transition that either the priest-kings or the Kurii, or both, had chosen to intervene in what might otherwise have been regarded as little more than a final ba...	7
21	76	The possibility had suggested itself to some, a possibility which seemed plausible to me, that the Kurii, frustrated at the current failure of their designs, and the priest-kings, annoyed by probes, and predatory intrusions, might be willing to gamble for a world's surfac...	7
21	78	If the dice fell in favor of the bestial Kurii, the priest-kings would surrender to their intrusion and habitation the surface of their world, and should the dice fall in favor of the priest-kings, the Kurii would withdraw to their steel worlds...	7
27	178	"I know little of priest-kings, or their laws, or thoughts," said Haruki, "or that there are priest-kings, or that they think, but there are many ways to communicate quickly, to transmit even complex messages, explaining situations, issuing ins...	7
45	89	"If the iron dragon utilizes gravitational technology, as you suggest, and that is within the provenance of priest-kings," said Pertinax, "then it is clear the priest-kings favor Yamada".	7
45	93	For example, though the iron dragon clearly incorporates the technology of priest-kings, it just as clearly violates the laws of priest-kings, and would thus, in countering the effect of the cavalry, seem to tip a balance in favor of Yamada".	7
45	95	"With so much at stake," I said, "in effect, a planet, for Kurii would not long be likely to peaceably share a world with priest-kings or any others, and surely priest-kings would realize the danger of admitting a technologically advanced, aggr...	7

Book 34. (1 results) Plunder of Gor

Chapter #	Sentence #	Quote	Confidence
49	41	They bravely stand between the power, mystery, and formidableness of priest-kings and ordinary people, on whose behalf they will intercede, for a fee, with the priest-kings themselves.	7