Sarkoy
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The Sarkoy are the people of the planet Sarkovy, featured in Star King and The Palace of Love, two of the Demon Princes novels of Jack Vance. Sarkoy mainly inhabit the steppes of their somewhat bleak and unforgiving planet.
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[edit] Habits and customs
Sarkoy have a highly formalised and structured society and place great value upon etiquette. A breach of certain manners may earn a death sentence; "dishonouring a fetish" is one such crime and "throwing sour milk upon his grandmother" is another. The cruelty of the Sarkoy can be judged by the popularity of the sport of harbite, in which the harikap, a semi-intelligent animal, is tormented to death in a number of imaginative ways including being set on fire. (When Kirth Gersen ironically enquires of Sivij Suthiro what the Sarkoy will do for entertainment when they have exterminated the harikap, Suthiro responds blandly that they always have each other.)
[edit] The Sarkoy poisoners
Their most notable characteristic is that practically every inhabitant of the planet is skilled to a greater or lesser degree in the art of assassination by poison. An adept of this art is known as a venefice and it is rumoured that a Master Venefice can kill his quarry merely by walking past him. This may be an exaggeration, but perhaps not a flagrant one. Many venefices pride themselves on their ability to develop poisons out of substances previously considered harmless, and an expert can transmit toxins or plague germs on contact, even a contact so slight as to go unnoticed. A skilled venefice typically keeps his fingernails hardened and sharpened such that they can cut paper at a touch (in order to deliver subcutaneous poison); a still more skilled practitioner can poison one merely by passing him paper to show off this 'paper trick'.
[edit] Religion
Sarkoy generally worship Godogma, who carries a flower and a flail and walks on wheels. Evidently he is viewed as one who gathers the souls of the dead, and the Sarkoy view death with apparent fatalism; however, when Kirth Gersen remarks to Suthiro that "One never likes to hasten Godogma", Suthiro agrees and remarks that on Sarkoy there are a thousand popular aphorisms to this effect.
[edit] Gersen's association with the Sarkoy
During a visit to the planet, Gersen displays a familiarity with and tolerant acceptance of Sarkovy's unlovely customs. He also has friends in high places, as the mere mention of a venefice named Coudirou is enough to open doors for him. Most probably this is because Coudirou is enough of a master of his craft to kill anyone who crosses him, and the other Sarkoy naturally assume that Gersen would never dare to drop his name casually unless he really did know him well. The previous mention of Coudirou in Star King implied that Gersen was at some point a student of his, and Gersen himself is no slouch as a poisoner.
