Energy bulbs on Gor

 Energy bulbs on Gor  

The energy bulb

Invented by Caste of Builders

Produce clear soft light for years

These bulbs, invented more than a century ago by the Caste of Builders, produce a clear, soft light for years without replacement. 

Tarnsman

Energy bulbs only affordable to the very rich

Most Goreans prefer the light of flame

The light in the room came, interestingly, from behind a translucent blue ceiling, probably being furnished by energy bulbs. Saphrar was a rich man indeed to have energy bulbs in his home; few Goreans can afford such a luxury; and, indeed, few care to, for Goreans, for some reason, are fond of the light of flame, lamps and torches and such; flames must be made, tended, watched; they are more beautiful, more alive. 

Nomads

Places using energy bulbs

In an underground tunnel beneath the Ubars Cylinder in Ar

Inside, the tunnel, though dim, was not altogether dark, being lit by dome-like, wire-protected energy bulbs, spaced in pairs every hundred yards or so. 

Tarnsman

In an underground chamber in Ar

The end of the tunnel widened into a vast chamber, lit by hundreds of energy bulbs. 

Tarnsman

In the tunnels of the Priest Kings beneath the Sardar Mountains

The passage was lit with energy bulbs, of the sort which I had encountered in the tunnel of Marlenus which led beneath the walls of Ar. 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. 

Priest Kings

Energy bulbs in underground areas of the Curulean in Ar

I saw no merchandise in my passage through the rear halls of the Curulean; the girls are generally kept, prior to their sale, in holding cells, lit by energy bulbs, beneath the ground level; soon, however, I was passing by the exposition cages, which are accessible to the public; these cages were now empty; they are used, from the tenth to the fourteenth Ahn of a given day, to display the goods that will be sold that evening; 

Assassin

In the house of Turias richest merchant

The light in the room came, interestingly, from behind a translucent blue ceiling, probably being furnished by energy bulbs. Saphrar was a rich man indeed to have energy bulbs in his home; few Goreans can afford such a luxury; and, indeed, few care to, for Goreans, for some reason, are fond of the light of flame, lamps and torches and such; flames must be made, tended, watched; they are more beautiful, more alive. 

Nomads

The operation of energy bulbs

Energy bulbs mounted in granite walls, protected by wire domes

Inside, the tunnel, though dim, was not altogether dark, being lit by dome-like, wire-protected energy bulbs, spaced in pairs every hundred yards or so. These bulbs, invented more than a century ago by the Caste of Builders, produce a clear, soft light for years without replacement. I mounted the tarn, who was visibly uneasy in this strange environment. Without much success, by hand and voice, I tried to soothe the beast's apprehensions. Perhaps I spoke as much for my own benefit as his. The first time I hauled on the one- strap, the bird would not move; the second time he lifted into flight, almost immediately scraping the ceiling of the tunnel with his wings, protesting shrilly. My helmet protected me as my head was roughly dragged against the granite of the ceiling. Then, to my pleasure, instead of alighting, the tarn dropped a few feet down from the ceiling and began to streak through the tunnel, the energy bulbs flashing past me to form in my wake a gleaming chain of light. The end of the tunnel widened into a vast chamber, lit by hundreds of energy bulbs. 

Tarnsman

Energy bulbs mounted in stone walls

The room in which I lay was large, perhaps forty feet square, and the sleeping platform lay at one end of the room but not touching the wall. The walls were of plain dark stone with energy bulbs fixed in them; the furnishings seemed to consist mostly of two or three large chests against one wall. There were no windows. 

Priest Kings

Philemon, I and the guards emerged from the exposition area to the interior of the sales amphitheater; the entire house was now lit by energy bulbs; later, the block alone would be illuminated; the seats rose in tier after tier, largely circling the block, though a passage lay open behind the block; there were exits from the amphitheater available on several of the levels of tiers; certain specially favored portions of the tiers were boxed, seating areas reserved for important clients of the Curulean, often important Slavers from distant cities; 

Assassin

Central controls (presumably) dim all the energy bulbs in the large amphitheater at one time

Different energy bulbs are activated to cast a blaze of light only on the auction block (spotlight effect)

Then the crowd stilled and the Musicians, too, were silent, as the energy lights in the amphitheater dimmed and went out, and another set of energy bulbs, to a pleased shout of the crowd, suddenly lit the block with a blaze of light.

The block, in the light, looked very stark and massive. It was empty.

I wondered how much the girls would be able to see from the block. I could make out, in the reflected light, the faces of those about me, and, as the moments passed, could make out more and more. 

Assassin

In the nest of the Priest Kings, all energy bulb are dimmed at certain times, presumably from a central control

Vika smiled up at me. "You see," she said in relief, "it is too late. Now you must remain."

"Why?" I asked.

She looked away, avoiding my eyes. "Because the energy bulbs will soon be dimmed," she said, "and it will be the hours allotted for sleep."

...

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. 

Priest Kings

Energy bulb mounted in ceiling, when broken, reveals a tangle of wire

I seized the bowl from her hand and hurled it underhanded up against the bulb which, though it had apparently burned out, shattered with a great flash and hiss of smoke and sparks. Vika screamed and crouched behind the stone platform. Down from the cavity where the energy bulb had been there hung, blasted and smoking, a tangle of wire, a ruptured metal diaphragm and a conical receptacle which might once have held a lens. 

Priest Kings

Nothing to indicate that energy bulbs of the Priest Kings operate any differently than those of men

The passage was lit with energy bulbs, of the sort which I had encountered in the tunnel of Marlenus which led beneath the walls of Ar. 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. 

Priest Kings

Energy fed into a main system, powers the energy bulbs

Without this power source, the energy bulbs do not work

As Al-Ka had predicted, the energy bulbs in the Nest, except where they had actually been destroyed by the fire of Sarms silver tubes, came on again.

Former Mul engineers, trained by Priest-Kings, had constructed an auxiliary power unit and had fed its energy into the main system.

When the lights flickered and then burst into clear, vital radiance there was a great cheer from the humans in Misks camp, with the exception of the Gur Carriers to whom the energy bulbs were not of great importance. 

Priest Kings

A version of energy bulb able to be dimmed by rotating the base of the bulb 

The instruments he used, the tests he performed, the samples he required were not unlike those of Earth. Of special interest to me was the fact that this room, primitive though it might be, was lit by what, in Gorean, is called an energy bulb, and invention of the Builders. I could see neither cords nor battery cases. Yet the room was filled with a soft, gentle, white light, which the physician could regulate by rotating the base of the bulb. 

Captive