These messages are the accumulation of the messages that were sent out on the Blue Room email list between May 1995 and June 2000. A large portion of the information is directly from Professor M.A.R Barker. When the list members joined during the time the list was active, they agreed to refrain from sharing this data with non list members. When the list ended, it was urged that the data be made available to non-list Tekumel fans, and it seemed like a good idea all around. I only ask that if you download these digests, or have received them in some other way, please respect the agreements the list members made, and refrain from passing them around and instead point people to the Tekumel web site, www.tekumel.com so that they can download them for themselves, and see all the other material available on the Tekumel.com web site. Many Thanks. Chris Davis Moderator: Blue Room mailing list Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND BLUE ROOM ARCHIVE -- VOLUME 9 241: Character Creation Experience 242: Organization of Political Factions 243: Doing Lunch on Tekumel :) 244: Miscellaneous Questions 245: Organization of Political Factions Reply 246: Doing Lunch on Tekumel Reply 247: Adventures Around the Fief II 248: Tekumelani Funerals 249: Announcements 250: Clan/Lineage/First Names in Livyanu 251: Tales from London's Thursday Night Campaigns 252: Extremes of Religious Worship on Tekumel 253: Clan/Lineage/First Names in Livyanu Reply 254: More Livyani Names 255: More London Campaign Notes 256: Livyani Clans 257: The Vermin of Tekumel 258: Questions about Impaling 259: Date Questions Regarding Dhich'une's Ascension 260: Life in Tsolyanu 261: Leadership of the Temple of Sarku 262: Vru'uneb Cells and City Living 263: Taksuru's Challenge to Dhich'une 264: London Campaign Notes, Parts 3 and 4 265: What do you want to see in Mitlanyal? 266: Cell and Underworld Questions 267: Mitlanyal Status Report and Responses 268: Responses to Mitlanyal Question 269: London Campaign Notes, Part 5 270: More on the Temple of Sarku ************************************* //241 [Moderator's Note: Well, rules in a disucussion are forbidden on this list ] [ usually. But the following is a nice story of new in- ] [ terest in Tekumel. I enjoyed it immensely, and it con- ] [ tained some good questions, so I decided to enclose it all] [ in the message. I hope you'll forgive this indulgence... ] [ This message comes from Joe Saul. ] I have just had the most phenomenal character generation experience of my seventeen-year-long roleplaying career, and I have to share it -- and congratulate Professor Barker on his _Adventures on Tekumel_ books. They are a powerful tool for getting players involved in the world of Tekumel, while educating them at the same time. I didn't get interested in Tekumel until fairly recently. Hearing stories from friends in a campaign in London convinced me that I should really find out more about it, but material was hard to find and I was concentrating on both law school and Amber. Last spring, a game store opened up here in Ann Arbor; the manager is an old friend of mine, so I agreed to help him out in exchange for an employee discount. I discovered the _Adventures on Tekumel_ series, and fell in love with it. I quickly bought all the volumes, the _Bestiary_, the _Book of Ebon Bindings_, and all the older material the store had on hand (the two-volume Tsolyani language set, for example). I bought a copy of _Gardasiyal_. I cleaned the store out. (Remember, I get a discount....) I read the material -- during law finals, no less; fear not, I got an A in Patent Law anyway -- and decided that I had to run a campaign in Tekumel. I would use the _AoT_ series as the character generation system. Various things intervened, though, and I didn't get around to actually doing it until this past Saturday. I still haven't recovered. Knowing that the generation would be time-consuming, I only had part of the group do it at once -- one couple, where she was already quite enthusiastic and he was game for it, and my girlfriend (Lisa Leutheuser, now a reader of the Blue Room list), who had somewhat mixed feelings, as she loved the novels but hates making up new characters and has a novel of her own to work on. I started with Lisa (the others were late), and we forged ahead. You should know, by the by, that I do not generally approve of random generation systems. I prefer to give players a choice. I had planned to adapt the _AoT_ system to allow distribution of points, but Lisa said "I don't know what kind of character I want. Let me see if the dice rolls inspire me," and we did just that. The other two, Paul and Shelley, showed up, and I gave them some additional briefing material (courtesy of Patrick Brady, a gentleman and a scholar) to read while I got Lisa started. To make a long story short, we started before 6pm -- and finally had to break to eat dinner at 1:15am! Fortunately, we here in Ann Arbor are gifted with an excellent Hong Kong-style restaurant that is open until 2; we drove there, ate, returned around 2:45... and then I had to bodily throw people out at 4, so I could get some sleep. Paul and Shelley were still busily reading and scribbling to the very end, and Lisa's first words to me, as she slid between the sheets, were "About my clan-brothers..." I have never seen a character generation system which evokes such enthusiasm, gives people such a sense of their characters, as _AoT_. Tekumel is a complex world, but putting characters through those adventures makes the world manageable and gives the players lots of information their characters should know. _AoT_ also makes people think very hard about their characters. "I think my religion has become much more important to me; I want to join the temple instead of the Army." (following the monastery adventure). "Penom is a shitty place!" (you can guess the context) "No more caravans for me; they're long, dusty, and you lose all your money." "I have an unhealthy fascination for Livyanu; I am just drawn there..." One player's face showed genuine pain, almost, as he read of the death of his Prince, Eselne (he'll get a chance to put it right; I'm planning to run the archeology adventure in modified form for the whole group, which should also solidify their dislike of Dhich'une). The result: much fatigue, plus the following questions: 1. What are some lineage names for the Might of Ganga and Golden Bough clans? ---- Professor Barker answers... Qolyelmu, Chaishyani, Saynuch, Ssanmirin, some Ssankoral, Ketkolel -- almost any will do since there is so much intermarriage at these upper levels of society. ---- 2. Are the names of Rereshqala's children known? Lisa managed to roll up a member of the Tlakotani clan, much to my shock. She is from Jakalla, is of great beauty and prowess, and worships Dlamelish, and I wondered if it would be appropriate to cast her as one of the Decadent Prince's children. (If not, I'll probably use him as the "other close relative: clan uncle" she rolled, as an interesting but not very... ahem... dynamic political contact.) ---- Professor Barker answers... Prince Rereshqala's children are indeed known, though I don't think I have ever given them. His offspring are particularly prone to parties, ceremonials, hunting, and laziness. They'd make very poor player character- vehicles. Joe can use the Prince as her clan uncle. Poor Rereshqala will be horrified to find his niece worshipping Dlamelish, but it serves him right -- Princess Ma'in Kruthai has taken refuge with him in his palace southeast of Jakalla, after his troops took the city, and she's had a lot of influence on his friends and hangers-on. ---- 3. How does etiquette dictate that the members of Very High clans should deal with Tlakotani who are not Imperial heirs? Is she going to be able to speak with them at all informally? ---- Professor Barker answers... Yes, one can speak to these people informally. Once even speaks to princes and princesses with relatively informality -- when they are off-duty, as it were. Honorifics are still used in speech, but prostrating oneself before the glory of the Throne is not necessary. It's rather like our world: I gather one no longer has to back out of the presence of Queen Elizabeth. One is always respectful, unlike our own American society in which humorous insults and ridicule play a larger social role. ---- 4. Anything I should know about the internal customs of any of the clans listed? I'd like to get it right... ---- Professor Barker answers... This is complex. There really isn't much that MUST be observed, but there are lots of small traditions and customs that each clan has that are valued and hallowed by time. The Might of Ganga, for example, still tries to celebrate the acession of the last Priestking of Ganga, but they have the date wrong and now commemorate the 1st of hasanpor with all kinds of feasting and gift-giving, whereas history says -- possibly incorrectly -- that it was _summer_ (month and day not known) when the last Priestking ascended the Throne... Who knows? ---- Congratulations, Professor, on a job very well done. I read the shorter passages to people, let them read the longer ones to themselves, made sure nobody duplicated anyone else's experiences, and it by the Gods *worked* even better than I could have imagined. [Moderator's Note: Phil wishes you well in your game Joe. Of course, all ] [ the materials Joe mentioned are in print and available. ] Joe Saul ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //242 [Moderator's Note: Paul Snow asks the following about political factions in ] [ Tsolyanu. Since you asked for comments, I am posting to ] [ the list at large... Not forwarding to the Professor di-] [ rectly. I am sure he'll have something to say. ] To what extent are the political factions organised in Tsolyanu? Is it the case that like minded individuals informally work together to achieve their aims or is it more organised than this. If it is more formal, do people actively join the cause and declare their affiliations? Knowing that the Tsolyani like to visually display and analyse situations, do people wear badges or insignia to show political allegiance along with the tokens for clan and lineage? I would presume that the organisation has to be fairly structured so that any planning or effort can take place at a national level. I imagine that this often happens outside the normal political organisations of Temple and Palace in a semi-feudal way based on a structure of obligation and honour in a hierarchy of patrons and their followers (clients?). This structure can then operate at the different social levels of society as plans for action filter down the patronage structure. Comments? Paul Snow ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //243 [Moderator's Note: David Bailey wonders about how the Tekumelani take their ] [ lunch breaks, both urban and rural diners. ] A few of us were idly speculating the other night as to the format of a typical Tsolyani lunch time in three different circumstances: * the first circumstance was in a large Imperial Bureaucracy, say the Palace of the Realm, where people are of a wide range of high clans; * the second circumstance is within a large merchant clan house; and * the third is out in the fields, where agricultural clans dominate. We speculated that the bureaucrats either popped home for lunch in the clan refectory, or that they subscribed to a type of 'Avanthar Palanquin Club' (modelled on the Bombay Bicycle Club), whereby they exchanged complex enamelled tokens for the dish of the day from an army of low clan food preparers who distribute thousands of pre prepared meals (and plenty of gossip ;-). For the clan house we expected a rather informal gathering over a period of two or three hours, with people assembling a scattered daises and eating from four or five set meals. In the evenings the formal meals would be the minefield of social obligations that we know and love about Tsolyani culture, but at lunch the atmosphere is a lot more pleasant. We wondered if representatives groups from closely related clans might 'drop in' at lunch as a way of showing friendship, whereas in the evenings, other clans only visit under the formalised arrangements of fealty and obligation. ("Well we always go to see White Crystal on the third evening in Drengar, and if we don't how do you expect to get that loan approved?") Out in the sticks, we imagined a pattern of little groups bringing their own meals, with a very few bringing cook pots and charcoal for an informal 'camp-kitchen' in colder weather. There is a lot printed on the subject of evenings, and any comments on the midday meal would be appreciated. David Bailey. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //244 [Moderator's Note: Phil replies to some questions Joe sent in about his ] [ fledgling campaign. ] >1. When did Princess Ma'in convert to the worship of Lady Dlamelish? She was already a devotee of Dlamelish in 2354 when EPT was published. She was tricked into conversion sometime before then -- a year or two? She has defended herself against any attempt to convert her back to Avanthe! Dlamelish may not be all that much of a political power, but her worship is FUN. [Moderator's Note: So how does one get tricked into conversion??? ] >2. Is the Tlakotani clanhouse in Jakalla (assuming there is one) > predominantly change or stability-oriented? Most prominent members belong to the Stability temples, but the Tlakotani are an eclectic lot, and there is no prejudice or attempt to convert Change adherents. >3. What does the Refulgent Blue Curtain society really believe? (I do > have the article from the web site, but it's fairly vague about their > beliefs. Which is only to be expected where Ksarul worshippers are > concerned, but as I now have a player character who is a member...) Hard to answer because I myself don't know. I have never had a character who is a member. My experiences have always been with the Ndlau Clan or some of the other groups. Best take whatever the sources provide and build on that. Maybe Bob Alberti will have some ideas -- his primary character, Arjai hiVaisoner, is a devotee of Lord Ksarul. >4. A related question: How do the doctrines of the Inner Temple of > Ksarul differ from those of the outer? The outward doctrines are those that concern rituals, prayers, ceremonials, and all that goes with them. There is much reliance on mythology, the stories of Dormoron Plain, the Blue Room, and that sort of thing. The Inner Doctrines cannot be characterised, of course, because they are kept a dark secret with all sorts of mind-bars and mental traps to protect them. I don't have access to them myself, nor does Arjai hiVaisoner. Arjai's wife, Chitlasha, does know, but she cannot confide even in Arjai. Whenever these matters come up, I simply tell the players that "those concerned are told what they need to know and do accordingly." No details. I know this is difficult for inquisitive American players who are used to being "in" on all of the secrets of any endeavour in which they engage, but it is better, perhaps, that they do NOT know. Some of the doctrines of the Dark Lords are actually somewhat unsettling. I know this doesn't answer all your questions, but I cannot do better. Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //245 [Moderator's Note: Phil responds to Paul's question on Political Factions. ] My replies are necessarily fragmentary. THese are complex questions! >To what extent are the political factions organised in Tsolyanu? There are no formal "political parties" -- no "New Hampshire Primaries" or party caucuses. There are occasional organised meetings, however, at clanhouses, temples, etc.,where like-minded folk gather to discuss the issues of the day. It is often just a matter of common knowledge that Mr. X or Ms. Y is a member of such-and-such a faction and favours a particular person or course of action. >Is it the case that like minded individuals informally work together to >achieve their aims or is it more organised than this. If it is more formal, >do people actively join the cause and declare their affiliations? Knowing >that the Tsolyani like to visually display and analyse situations, do >people wear badges or insignia to show political allegiance along with the >tokens for clan and lineage? There is some official "joining," particularly in the temples, where "semret" (really semi-secret) societies are so prevalent and powerful. The army, too, has its groupings and staff meetings. In the clanhouses, those of the same orientation often get together at dinners, feasts, etc., and then political matters are discussed and planned. As far as I know, nobody has devised political buttons or bumper slogans for their palanquins! A clan symbol or religious icon worn with one's costume often carry all the information needed to know who is a partisan of what. >I would presume that the organisation has to be fairly structured so that >any planning or effort can take place at a national level. I imagine that >this often happens outside the normal political organisations of Temple and >Palace in a semi-feudal way based on a structure of obligation and honour >in a hierarchy of patrons and their followers (clients?). This >structure can then operate at the different social levels of society as >plans for action filter down the patronage structure. Political organisation at higher levels is indeed structured. Your interpretation is correct: the Princes, priests, and high clan leaders may gather occasionally to discuss a matter; the recognised leaders devise solutions and strategies; these are discussed and outlined to those who need to carry them out; and orders are issued through several levels down to the lads in the streets. Clan and religious obligations, "noble action," and personal loyalties play important roles. Often those at lower levels have no idea who the eventual giver of their orders may be, but there are authentification procedures at every level in order to maintain security. Political rallies, as such, do not exist, but street demonstrations are frequent, with people marching, cheering, carrying torches and icons, etc. in favour of this or that leader or point of view. There is little "social content" in the usual Western European sense -- no anti-abortion marches, or "Free Poor Willy" things. Many of these public ceremonies are accompanied by singing, chanting, dancing, drumming, music, people carrying censers of incense, others with torches, and all sorts of emblems, military standards, and religious icons. Somebody breaks out casks of beer and wine for the marchers, and then there is a party -- often a riot. I think Lord Tekunu hiQolyelmu described one such incident in one of his dispatches. Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //246 [Moderator's Note: Phil responds to David's message on how the Tekumelani ] [ take their noon meals. ] >A few of us were idly speculating the other night as to the format of a >typical Tsolyani lunch time in three different circumstances: Do lunch? Of course! >* the first circumstance was in a large Imperial Bureaucracy, say the >Palace of the Realm, where people are of a wide range of high clans; Those of like social status may gather at midday when the grerat Tunkul gongs signal the midday prayers for Avanthe, Hnalla, and Karakan. The bureaucracies may actually employ food-preparation clans to bring in pots of stew, bread, etc., which departmental staff members pay a few Qirgals for -- or a monthly lunch bill. Soldiers and guardsmen have regular "messes," to which they go when off duty to eat and rest. Priests may return to their temples, eat with comrades and clan brothers/sisters, or buy food from the street vendor clans. Those near enough to their clanhouses may go back there and eat in the regular refectories. Higher officials may gather in somebody's office to eat better quality lunches prepared by the food preparation clans. These are a regular feature of some bureaucratic offices, cities, and regions but are less common in others. It is hard to state a single fast rule. Of course, people don't eat with those who are too much higher or lower than themselves -- a few levels of difference is all that is normally permitted. Player characters find this somewhat unpleasant: Senior Priest X is not likely to eat with Guardsman Y, even though the players are good buddies outside the game. People don't eat with those of unlikely alignments either: a high official who serves Lord Sarku is not going to get chummy with a person of his own rank and status who worships Lord Hnalla. Should someone have no lunch or anyone to eat with, the most that one might do is politely point him/her toward a food preparation clan's premises -- or suggest that such and such a street vendor makes excellent gegresa. >* the second circumstance is within a large merchant clan house; and Each clanhouse has its refectory, as does each temple, and army barracks. Clan members (and their guests) can go in at almost any time (except late at night when the kitchens are closed) and find food. The quality and nature of this repast varies from clan to clan, city to city, etc. Members wander in, eat alone or with friends and family, and wander out. There are standard breakfast, lunch, and dinner times, but no particular serving order or difference in the foods. A breakfast may thus consist of Dna-grain porridge, bread, Chumetl, sweet milk, fruit, etc., and these same foods may be provided at lunch and dinner, with variations. Fancier dishes are found at higher clanhouses, of course, and feasts often involve the most incredible confections and dainties. >* the third is out in the fields, where agricultural clans dominate. Some of the poorer sectors of society do not have "lunch," however, but only a pre-dawn meal on bread, Dna-grain porridge, vegetables, and a little meat stew, with copious gulps of Chumetl -- and then off to work. During the day there may be brief breaks to munch on the equivalent of a leek or chunk of bread. The main meal is then eaten in the evening at the clanhouse, temple, etc. >We speculated that the bureaucrats either popped home for lunch in the clan >refectory, or that they subscribed to a type of 'Avanthar Palanquin Club' >(modelled on the Bombay Bicycle Club), whereby they exchanged complex >enamelled tokens for the dish of the day from an army of low clan food >preparers who distribute thousands of pre prepared meals (and plenty of >gossip ;-). I think you're pretty close, although the "Palanquin Club" sounds a bit un-Tekumelani. In some groups, there is a regular monthly lunch bill that one pays in order to eat at one's office or bureau (see above). >For the clan house we expected a rather informal gathering over a period of >two or three hours, with people assembling a scattered daises and eating >from four or five set meals. In the evenings the formal meals would be the >minefield of social obligations that we know and love about Tsolyani >culture, but at lunch the atmosphere is a lot more pleasant. We wondered >if representatives groups from closely related clans might 'drop in' at >lunch as a way of showing friendship, whereas in the evenings, other clans >only visit under the formalised arrangements of fealty and obligation. >("Well we always go to see White Crystal on the third evening in Drengar, >and if we don't how do you expect to get that loan approved?") Some of this sounds very appropriate: lunch is less formal, but clan and religious distinctions are maintained. Friends, acquaintances, and relations from other clans do drop in -- not just to eat but also to discuss business, politics, etc. People don't normally just "drop in" unless there is a purpose, such as business, etc. Friends do get together, as do members of groups, and social life may include post-dinner entertainment, drinking, gaming, etc. All of this is done within the rather rigid confines of Tsolyani society, of course. People do invite others of their own status to dinner. Getting together with casual acqaintances or outsiders requires a clear purpose, of course. >Out in the sticks, we imagined a pattern of little groups bringing their >own meals, with a very few bringing cook pots and charcoal for an informal >'camp-kitchen' in colder weather. This does happen in the fields and villages. Members of a clan may have slaves or clan members of poor or lesser status given the task of cooking and arranging for food. Servants are very common, even in fairly low level clans. Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //247 [Moderator's Note: Due to demand, Tekunu is continuing with the second in his] [ "Adventures around the Fief" series. ] I will continue my adventure at this time. I am sending a copy of the map to the Blue Room (I will have to make a new copy of 1. My fief's map and where it is on Tekumel 2. The underworld beneath my fief so you may follow my adventure on a map. (I will mark the areas) 3. the Hlyss ship. ----- It is in this room that we establish the base camp. I send for guards, my architect and others and give instructions to widen the openings and the passage ways so that nobles may gain access without losing their dignity. I give instructions to make the room habitable and so forth. I also require that the dig be terraced so that gardens may be planted. Bare earth in a hole is ignoble. By the next morning after the fete the area has been widened. I go down and can move more easily through the chimney and the other areas. The room is starting to look better. Furniture, mats, and a refreshment center have been established. I decide to wait until we can form an archeology team from various temples. In the meantime I watch my servents, carpenters, stone masons, and artists begin to decorate the base camp. I am satisfied with their work. The archeology team is finally decided upon. We have Hajara hi Vuunnauu of the Jade Diadem clan. We have Kamr and Trimur hi Seshmuel.(Thumis) We have Odusuna hi' Vesura (Avanthe). Dijai hi Relsa (Belkhanu) and Adjel (Thumis). Janach hi'Ssaiura (archeologist student) We decide that we will allow all and any temple to come here to explore. At the reception I meet Hajara who is soon to become my steady squeeze during this time. We take about six soldiers and about a dozen slaves. We explore the stairwell down. It is rough hewn and not regular. It is only about 2 1/2 ft. wide. Upon closer inspection I note that the marks from the chisel cut up and not down. The stairway was started at the base and worked up from that point. We work out way through to the bottom and find a rough, triangular shaped room. The apex is where we are and the base is a metal wall where it was busted through. We enter through to the room beyond. It is a thirty foot by forty foot room covered with dust. There are two metal boxes in the room that are 3' tall by 4' square. The walls and the tooms are [Moderator's Notes: tooms? ] metal on the far wall from where we entered is a thick round metal door. We open the door and a fifteen foot wide and tall hall way leading away from the room. The floor is coverered with sand, dirt and all sorts of fish bones and dead sea things. About sixty feet down the hall it Tees. We go to the left and forty feet down the hall is a room. There are a lart number of machines in this room. Ther are also large metal, plastic and glass containters. The machines appear to be made for human hands. We turn around and go the other way. The corridor continues and turns left. We find storage corridors along this tunnel about every fifty feet on alternating sides. These storage tunnels are 15' wide and tall and about 30' deep. In the first one (on the right side) we find more rusted machines. The next to the left contains the same. The next one to the right contains statuary and statues. It contains a 200lb. beautiful blue stuatue of a Ssu. Elaborate whorls are all over the statue. There are about 100+ statues on the floor. Most are of clear glass and not realistic but impressionistic. The next to the left contains a huge door at the end about 15' by 15'. We cannot get through. Finally we reach the end and about a 30' stairwell. At the end is a room that contains a control box for tubeway cars. And a tunnel for the tubeway cars. We ignore the controls. In the dust around here are Ssu footprints. There is another exit to the left of where we go out. there are long narrow steps going down for what seems forever. We go past sandstone, Linestone and Baslat rock levels. Finally the air begins to get bad and we can barely breath. Luckily the Avanthe Priest has a spell to help. We get to the bottom and there is a bronze door with nine glowing buttons on a 3 x 3 grid. There are markings but not in any language we understand. We hear rumblings and it sounds sentient. We go all the way back and will come here as soon as we can. At this time we will need to come back with enough provisions to last a while. The undergound may go on for quite some time. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //248 [Moderator's Note: Jack Bramah, freshly returned from a trip to Thailand ] [ sends the following message, a bit off topic, but a good] [ start for discussion of Tekumelani funerals. How about ] [ it Phil? We've seen what the funeral of an Emperor is ] [ like in the Solitaire Adventure books. Could you embel-] [ lish on that, and add some details about how other ] [ social layers handle funeral rites. (I did check and ] [ Sections 1.560 and 1.422 of the Sourcebook have some ] [ information Jack. ] Subject: Funerals Something everyone might want to look out for on the news on March 10th, though it may not make it to US or UK screens is the funeral and cremation of the King of Thailand's mother. As far as I can work out there are five huge processions, the main one of which, accompanied by hundreds of monks complete with chanting and clashing of temple gongs transfers the body to the funeral pyre (an elaborate building in itself) on a huge gilded chariot in the shape of a boat, with carved dragons etc., some 30' long and 20' high pulled by teams of men. After the cremation the golden urn containing the ashes is then transferred back to the Royal Temple on a similar conveyance. It was truly incredible to see the amount of effort and expense which has gone into the building of the pyre itself and the surrounding buildings (all temporary) to do with the ceremony. They are also relaying the roads and pavements along the processional route. The whole thing seemed to have a Tekumel sort of feel to it, what with the huge chariot and everything. -- Viscount Veshtaru hi Chaishyani (Jack Bramah) Legion of the Mighty Heroes of Avanthar Molmitlan Otulengba! ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //249 Hi everyone. It's annoucement time again. I am sorry the list has been a bit quiet recently, but I have been busy editing the Soucebook Volume 1. I am about 2/3rds of the way through it on paper, then I have to make the changes to the master document. Lisa, Jack and Dermot, I'll try to process your messages to the list later today. I apologize for the delay. I don't really read the newsgroup too much, as it is mostly spam and argue- ments. However, recently there has been a large ruckus about copyrights in that forum. I posted a message there hoping to clarify the situation, as publishing Tekumel material has a lot to do with me. Here is a copy of the message I posted to the newsgroup, hoping to clarify the copyright situation. I am sorry to post this to the Blue Room, but I want everyone to be crystal clear on the copyright issue. Chris ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Barker's lawyer, Alan Musielewicz, asked that this be posted on his behalf. He is apparently having some troubles posting from his account. I post this only to clarify what the Professor and his lawyer feel about the status of his copyrights. Feel free to test their resolve on this issue at your own risk. If you don't believe that I am relaying this message on the behalf of Mr. Musielewicz, fine. I really don't care... You can contact him and pay for his legal opinion of the status of those copyrights. Begin included statement. ----------------------------------------------- I am Alan F. Musielewicz and I am an attorney licensed in the State of Minnesota. (State and Federal Courts) Further, I am currently and have been Dr. Barker's attorney for five years. Four points: (1) Dr. Barker's copyrights are intact. Although they span over three periods of copyright law, they are all valid and nothing has lapsed into the public domain. (2) I really wish to know who was the attorney at the time of the Feist publications. There may have a breach of attorney/client privilege. Feist was rather clever and he changed Tekumel enough that a suit would have been difficult, if not impossible to prove. In any event, Dr. Barker's decision not to pursue a nebulous claim does not constitute a waiver of his rights to his copyrights as a whole. Neither statutory law nor case law would support that point. (3) Dr. Barker is the only person who can give permission to make products, novels, materials and the like based on Tekumel. No one else has the right. This is fair and public warning to all that I will vigorously pursue by legal means any attempt by anyone to disregard Dr. Barker's rights regarding Tekumel. (4) Anyone who reads this, please do not waste my time responding. I will not answer correspondences on this matter. I do not wish to discuss this with anyone that is not a Juris Doctor, or a paying client, as my time is valuable and I am not here to give a basic course on copyright law. My time is better spent on suing offenders rather than dallying with words on line. Alan ----------------- End included statement. Chris //250 [Moderator's Note: Lisa Leutheuser asks the following question on names. ] I have (I hope!) a simple request. I am looking for a list of Livyani first names, lineage names, and clan names--including the relative status of the clan. (I'm assuming that different clans are found in Livyanu than in Tsolyanu, yes?) [Moderator's Note: I can't answer your specific questions, but some info on ] [ how clans are different in Livyanu as noted in the ] [ Sourcebook. Livyani clans are like those of Yan Kor, ] [ divided according to city-of-origin, but overshadowed ] [ by the religious distinctions between the temples. Each ] [ of the temples has member-clans, and those adhering to ] [ one sect don't intermarry with others. There are approx-] [ imately 700-900 clans in Livyanu. ] I know in the Livyani language that male and female names have specific endings, but I only have one or two examples of male names. (I can name the NPCs all the same thing, but I think that would be confusing for them and for those who much deal with them! ;-) ) My life would be made infinitely easier if there was already an existing list of names available in some source book that I don't know about or even a list available electronically on the WWW or on some ftp site. Otherwise, if someone has some Livyani names and clannames they would't mind sharing, I would be much appreciative. [Moderator's Note: I don't know if anyone has such a compendium... How 'bout] [ those of you lucky enough to play in Phil's campaign? Do ] [ you guys have anything like this? Do you have anything ] [ Phil? ] Also, if anyone has a "collected name book" for Tsolyani names that they are willing to share, I would like to see that as well. Let me know if the Blueroom is not the right place for this kind of question, and I will re-post this to alt.games.frp.tekumel. [Moderator's Note: No, this is just the right spot for this question... ] Thank you, Lisa Leutheuser ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //251 [Moderator's Note: Jack Bramah offers some tails of the London Thursday night] [ campaigns. ] In sorting out the chaos of moving house I found some old diaries which occasionally contained snippets of the then current Thursday night London game. I'll try and piece them together in a coherent fashion with background detail (what I can remember). The players were (initially): Myself Chaideshu hiSsanmirin Sea Blue Ka Former hereksa in Serqu Sword of the Empire. Also has a smattering of sorcery, only used when otherwise unarmed. Steve F Kanmi'yel hiBashlatoi Standing Stone Vi. Sorceror Priest. Hates Jadhak and Tlangten. Jamie T Jadhak hiVriddi. Vriddi. Ct. Sorceror Priest of Chiteng. Enjoys his work. Unable to keep money. Min S Tlangten hiSsanyusa. Standing Stone. Vi. Thrown out of Red Devastation for being too psychotic. Hates Kanmi'yel Rob D Baluri hiThanu Sword of Fire. Vi. Arrogant. Hates Kanmi'yel (See old issues of Imperial Courier for details of their extensive litigations) Dave B Emra hiGangasa. Might of Ganga. Be. Thin twin brother of Yaliemra. Sorceror Mark W Yaliemra hi Gangasa. Might of Ganga. Qo. Se Above Olly J Ssomu hi???.???. ???. Strong warrior, not exceptionally endowed with brains. Ally of Baluri Dave M Kashu hiVorodu. ??.Vi. Sorceror Priest. In with, if not actually a member opf the Incandescent Blaze society 7th Halir We went down into the tsu'urum into the Llyani levels, and found all sorts of strange and useless devices of the Ancients. The flashing lights looked pretty. We fought replicas of ourselves. I suspect that means our old enemy Kolontal is back. We eventually discovered a Learning Sphere which taught me Llyani Mathematics, though what practical use that is I can't imagine. Ssomu didn't agree with the division of the spoils and insulted the Clan. I demanded satisfaction in the hirilakte. I won. When will my companions learn that I *always* win in the arena when my honour is impugned? We left the arena to discover that there are other duplicates of ourselves running around the town. Baluri's secretary has been murdered and replaced by a simulacrum of some sort. 16th Halir Entered a tomb of one of the Ssirandars and got ambushed by a crowd of those backstabbers from the Ndalu Society. They left us alive, but took everything else. Fortunately after that we found the main tomb, and managed to re-equip ourselves. I found the amulet of the Good God I've been searching for all this time, and what appears to be the Hammer of Pendarte. Unfortunately those cost me most of my share. 17th Halir We have received a challenge from the cowards who ambushed us. They wish to fight a fair contest between the two groups - winner takes all. Everyone seems to be in favour, assuming that we can go down to the combat ground in the underworld and set up a few safety devices as contingencies against the treacherous behaviour they are bound to use. 23rd Halir The Duel. We went down two days ago to set up focus points for Departing in Safety. Who should turn up for the duel but Kolontal - two of him in fact, accompanied by two ru'un. Discretion was thought to be the better part of valour, so we decided to use the Eye of Departing in Safety. Unfortunately it left Emra and myself behind to face the two ru'un (Kolontal went after the others). Emra was hit by the Excellent Ruby Eye, which left me to face certain death at the hands of the ancient automata. I sang my death song, and fired up a Blade of Inexorable Disjection and went to my glorious death, sure of a place in the Legions of the Lord of Battle. Fortunately one of them turned away and headed after the others, and with the Scarlet Lord guiding my blade I cut down the Bronze Demon. -- Viscount Veshtaru hi Chaishyani (Jack Bramah) Legion of the Mighty Heroes of Avanthar Molmitlan Otulengba! ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //252 [Moderator's Note: Demot Bolton wonders about the extremes of worship on ] [ Tekumel. ] After reading some of the excellent articles on the temples at the FTP site I began to think about worship. How do people worship in Tekumel, and in particular what are the extremes of worship? Of course there are some obvious examples, we've all seen the looney flame worshipper (or played one :) ) fly into a raging orgy of destruction and mayhem. And where would we be without the services of some of the more enthusiastic savants of the green eyed lady of fleshy joys? But what of the other temples, can anyone give some examples of personalities they have encountered on their travels who can claim to be extreme devotees? While we're on the subject what about everyday worship? Players tend to play extreme characters generally and it is a good idea to give a 'normal' view as well. The peasant who lays a painted blue stone in the field, or the mild mannered Vriddi gent who light a candle at bedtime. So lets hear about those fanatical Thumis chlen cart spotters and those boring nobles. Dermot { ) } } "Otulengba. Guardian of Doors C__{_ { _{__/ Otulengba, Sealer of Gates! L__I__J I Otulengba, Closer of Ways! C/~\_7 /| * Come forth unto me, by the Flame!" Glyph of Tkel, Gaurdian of the Gates of Flame ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //253 Subject: Re: Message 250: Clan/Lineage/First Names in Livyanu I don't have a list of Livyani names, but you could easily supply a brief list by going into my Filemaker Pro database of character names and searching for "Livyanu" under "Nationality." This would pull up a good-sized list of nanes. [Moderator's Note: I have tried to get lists of things out in the past ] [ for people from the database. Untill I learn a bit more ] [ about FM Pro, I can't get text to print out because of ] [ the diacritical marks. Last night I did go into the ] [ database, and look for all the Livyani cities I knew of, ] [ and found all the entries, placed Livyanu in the city ] [ field (along with the city name), so that the list would ] [ be easier to recreate. There were 140+ people listed ] [ with cities in Livyanu (some are expatriots). I will see] [ what I can do to get them printed to Text files, or ] [ people will just have to be satisfied with comma delim- ] [ ited text. The other option is a Postscript file. I can] [ do postscript with no problem. Please be a bit patient ] [ while I fool around trying to make this work. ] Most Livyani male names end in -z: (-az, -uz, -ez are common), and women's names end in -b (-eb or -ab are most frequent). Thus, Meluaz, Arvaz, Chorguz, Alitheb, Ekkuneb, Dailab, Nalueb, Mikonez and his sister Mikonab, etc. Lineage names do not use anything like the hi- the Tsolyani employ: thus e.g. Tarshaz Arrio Baghaz Khuer, Noldeb Tikkuna. The clan names are indeed different from those in Tsolyanu but are rather similar semantically: e.g. Gilded Wing, High Singing Bird, Mighty Blue-Green Wave. [Moderator's Note: There are also numerous clan names given in the 140 ] [ odd listing of Livyani characters. ] May be Chris can work up a quick list from my database. ??? :) Wish there were a compendium! I'll also ask my players to chime in (no Ssu intended). [Moderator's Note: Working it up is quick, but getting it to print to a text] [ file is proving to be a bear. Maybe I can just hand copy] [ the names, lineages, and clan names to a text doc. ] >Also, if anyone has a "collected name book" for Tsolyani names >that they are willing to share, I would like to see that as well. Again, my character database is the place to look, but it requires Filemaker Pro, and it is not yet up on the FTP site in its entirety. I hope Chris can get to it one of these days soon. I wish I had time myself to do up a list for you, but -- alas ...! Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //254 [Moderator's Note: Jim Fetzner responds with another source of Livyani names] [ for Lisa. ] The best set of Livyani names I have seen lists the names of the commanders of each of the Lluneb in Volume V of the Armies of Tekumel series. As I am in the middle of entering this for the Blue Room, I will extract them pronto -- secondary bonus here is that most of them list city of origin for the individual named. [Moderator's Note: Thanks Jim. That list will be handy. I also extracted ] [ a list from the Character Database. If anyone wants a ] [ copy, I'll tidy it up a bit and put it on the ftp site. ] [ I have just finished editing the master paper copy of ] [ Volume 1 of the Sourcebook. After a day or so of rest, ] [ I'll begin working on the master MS-Word Document. Then ] [ on to something else. Sorry for the lapse in messages, ] [ but as I get near the end of one of these massive edit- ] [ ing jobs, it gets hard to lift my head up and do some- ] [ thing else until the job is done! ] ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //255 [Moderator's Note: More of Jack Bramah's London Campaign notes... ] 25th Halir Thank you Ssirandar. Now I can afford a coming-of-age banquet for my son that Jakalla will remember for years to come. 26th Halir I have been thinking about the guest list. I suppose I should invite the Governor, and I'll send a tentative invitation to Uncle Chaimira, though I doubt the pressures of his duties at Avanthar will allow him to be present. I'd better consult the Clan elders for the people that the Clan wants to invite. With any luck the fact that dress will be the 16th Form might keep Tlangten and Ssomu away. Companions that they are I can't risk their lack of breeding reflecting badly on the Clan if they make some horrendous gaffe. 1st Trantor The clanhouse is in complete chaos. Word has just been received that the High Provost of the Chancery will be in the province on official business next week, and he intends to honour us, and me with his presence at my son's banquet. This will really make it a night to remember! 4th Trantor Three days to go. The High Provost is due tomorrow, and there will be a welcoming banquet in his honour. At least I shall get the chance to wear the 19th Form. In fact it will probably be required for my son's banquet too. 5th Trantor (late) My head is in a spin. Perhaps I should not have indulged in that strange white paste after that much ngalu. I seem to be having very strange dreams. I have just seen a vision - it was this rather than a dream, since it felt so real, and I don't think I was asleep. I saw Kanmi'yel - or his soul at any rate, crossing over a black bridge to an island where Missum is standing at a lectern draped in yellow cloth, with a huge book perched in it, into which he is writing the names of other souls crossing the bridge. When Kanmi'yel reaches him he puts down the pen and does not write a name in the book. I wish I knew what that meant. 7th Trantor More panic in the clanhouse. It seems that both Prince Rereshqala and the Princess Ma'in will be attending the banquet. This must surely be auspicious for my son. When has there been a naming banquet for someone not of the Tlakotani where two Imperial heirs are present? I must say that I was not this nervous when we were waiting for the order to scale the walls of Ke'er. It will be glorious if everything goes well this evening, but I will never be able to show my face in Jakalla again if anything goes wrong. 7th Trantor (later) My son has chosen the name Tekutan. I hope that some of the spirit of that Tekutan hiSsanmirin who commanded the garrison of Chene Ho in the War of 2020. Unbelievably both Tlangten and Ssomu attended and were models of respec- table behaviour, not putting a foot wrong all evening. The food was exquisite and the entertainments unsurpassed. Tekutan was bewitched by the Lady Zuara hiTlakotani, a niece of Rereshqala. I have heard that her tastes run to men of lower social background. One or two of the Noble Clans of Jakalla have had their noses put out of joint by being "requested" to induct commoners into their ranks. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //256 [Moderator's Note: Lisa asks for clarifaction on Livayni clans. ] One last thing, would it be possible to for you (or Barker, or anyone else) to pick out a few high/very high status Livyani clans that have good sized clan houses in Tsamra? Then I will be completely set. :-) Phil replies... When I get the list, I'll try to do that -- but often it is just too difficult. Some clans are "high" in one city and "medium" or even "low" elsewhere. This is especially true of Livyanu, where local temples are the social arbiters and rulers, and where a clan belonging to a highly regarded (and economically powerful) temple may be seen as higher than the same clan in another city. The ruling clan of Tsamra was the Gilded Wing -- until the Mu'ugalavyani invasion. Now it is still high because it is the clan of the puppet ruler (like the Vichy Government of Nazi-occupied France). Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //257 [Moderator's Note: Bob Dushay asks about what vermin are on Tekumel. ] >What are some of the common vermin one might expect to encounter in >Jakallan grain-storage areas? Did Terran rats and roaches take over >this niche, or does some other creature fill this role? Do cats serve >their ancient function of keeping down vermin, or is some other animal >(or spell) used instead? In reply to Bob Dushay's question: Rats were left behind when mankind went out to the stars. Thus, when Tekumel was first colonised, rodents were not brought along. A few earth insects, etc. did make it over the centuries, but these were either exterminated by local insect-like species, or else did not survive for other reasons. Right now, there are a number of small species that do live in granaries and eat roots and fruits. Some of these are mammalian, others more like amphibians or insects. There is a squelchy little beast down in south- western Tsolyanu that gets into storage bins and literally rots the grain -- it turns black and liquid and smelly. It is called a Banye (with the usual noun ending: Banyekh, accent on the "e"). The Epeng, which is like a string of brownish beads is a serpent-like creature that lives in fruit storage areas -- and stings painfully. There are black and bright red Epengyal, too. A furry weasel-like creature that eats underground tubers and roots is the Meshoshikh (accent on the "o"). All of these are controllable but bothersome. Cats and dogs do exist on Tekumel, and the cat is still used to control pests. There is not a large variety of dog and cat sub-species, however: orange, black, and grey "tabbies," Siamese-like cats, etc. are the commonest. but others are occasionally found. Large hunting dogs, terriers, and a few other canine breeds are common as well. Insect pests are common, as are rusts, moulds, and other plant diseases. These are often wiped out by equally virulent and hostile life-forms. Tekumel is a regular melting pot of species from many, many worlds, as you know. These have fought and competed, and now one finds that a sort of balance is being struck. Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //258 [Moderator's Note: Brendan Knox asks about impalements. The Professor adds ] [ to the answers he got asking this on the newsgroup. On ] [ a side note, the Professor has promised to go over the ] [ Livyani Clan lists, and give us some idea of their rela- ] [ tive ranks. ] >I have a few questions regarding Tsolyani clans and the impaling stakes >so many of us enjoy. Dear Brendan. I understand that your questions got answers from two other list-members. I doubt whether I can add much to what they have already said. >Firstly, if you lose clan status and no longer belong to a clan, what >status do you now have in Tsolyanu? Are you still a citizen and can you >still travel the Sakbe Roads unescorted etc. Do the same laws that apply >for normal citizens apply to the clanless? Expulsion from a clan is perhaps the greatest social sanction short of imprisonment, enslavement, or outright execution. The person loses all rights and has little or no legal recourse. His/her property is confis- cated by the clan. He/she is still a free citizen and can travel the Sakbe Raads, but as a "Nakome" (Nah-co-MAY), he/she can be arrested, imprisoned, or killed with little compunction. Any contracts, marriages, etc. with such a clanless person are automatically dissolved (although a wife and children may elect to stay with the person). It is not some- thing that can be taken lightly. In our world it is not uncommon for people to disown their families, run away to live on their own, marry "unsuitable" persons or just live together outside of society's stric- tures, and generally thumb their noses at social rules, but in Tsolyanu it is harder and more dangerous -- perhaps more like what such actions would have brought about in earlier, mediaeval times here. The clans are the governing force behind all of the institutions of Tsolyanu; it is not wise to cross them. >A further point on this, an immigrant, especially non-humans will not >belong to a clan (correct?). What rights do they get, how can they >become citizens and how could they join a clan? If a nonhuman or immigrant is granted clan status, he/she/it receives FULL clan rights. To join a clan, one must be invited, usually as a result of some years of loyal service to that clan, plus friends who are already clan members, plus gifts of money or other goodies to the clan. Becoming a citizen is relatively easier: long term residence in Tsolyanu, service to the Empire, a clean record, plus a business or visible occupation, etc. are what the Palace of the Realm will look at when a foreigner comes to request the status of citizen. >The last question is that of impaling stakes. How many impaled people >would you see on average if you entered a town and how long do they >usually remain in this position? This is assuming that criminals who >have been imapled are displayed to the public, which judging by the >harsh manner serious criminals are treated in Tsolyanu, I think would >be the case. Impalements are fairly common since many common felonies (larger thefts, burglary, rape, etc.) are capital offenses in Tsolyanu. There is usually a single site in each city where impaling stakes are erected on a regular basis. Executed felons remain on these stakes until they are taken down to make room for new victims, or until their bodies are removed by their relatives and friends (usually after several days, and always with the payment of bribes and fees to the Palace of the Realm. This is not one of the prettiest parts of Tsolyani life. [Moderator's Note: Phil, is it possible to recover a victim of impalement ] [ and resurrect them? What are the rules of the Palace of] [ the Realm with respect to this topic? What about re- ] [ animating them as undead? ] Phil answered this question while I was speaking with him tonight... The body is left on the stake (under guard, if need be), until it is impossible for the revivification spell to work. After which, the body is taken by the Prison Guards, to a corpse pit. After the body is rendered not re-animatable (is that a word?), it is dumped into the pit. Some of these pits in the larger cities are quite unpleasant, according to the Professor. A great place to dump a player character, by mistake. :) Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //259 [Moderator's Note: David Chaterjee asks about the ascension of of Eternal ] [ Splendour. ] >Our campaign is moving into the monsoon season of 2363, and I'd like to >ask Phil for a couple of crucial dates: that of the death of the >God-Emperor The Stone Upon Whom The Universe Rests; and that of the >kolumejalim. (I seem to remember a gap of a few weeks between them; and >that the accession of His Imperial Majesty the former Prince Dhich'une and >the dawn of the Age of Eternal Splendour took place on the same day as the >Choosing? - if not, when also was His coronation?) As I recall, Dhich'une's coup took place in the last Intercalary days of 2365. There was a short interregnum, and then Dhich'une held what he considered a Kolumejalim in early 2366. He then took the throne in early summer. The priesthood of Hnalla concurred (political machina- tions?) and declared him Emperor, and he then took the ceremonial trip up the river to Avanthar and was taken into the Golden Tower. I think the whole process took no more than a week. I cannot give you the exact dates right now -- all my materials are downstairs and would require some searching in order to dig them out. I have a terrible memory for dates anyway. As I have said, I see Tekumel in terms of pictures, colours, actions, and scenes -- not in terms of systems or abstracts. I failed rather spectacularly at mathematics and passed geometry and algebra only through the kind blandishments of good- hearted teachers. Some of the players may thus recall more about dates than I do. >(Oh, and whilst we're on dates, do you remember when Princess Arimala was >revealed?) I can't recall off hand. Anybody? >Two related questions: first, although Tsolyanu measures years tuKolumel, >each Emperor has His own throne-name and so presumably time is also >measured relative to the current Emperor ("In the fourth year of the Era >of Eternal Spendour..." etc). If so, what is the status of the >inter-regnum between death and kolumejalim? (or coronation?) On Earth >there would normally be a well-defined successor whose elevation is >instantaneous upon the death of the monarch; but the constitutional >position in Tsolyanu clearly prevents this. The gap during which the >population is without the divine protection of an annointed Son of Heaven >must surely be a time of moral crisis quite apart from any political >uncertainty. The interregnum is indeed a time of nervous politicking. The previous Godking is said to rule (even though actually deceased) until his suc- cessor formally enters the Golden Tower and appears behind the screen of the Petal Throne. In reality, this is a clearly understood fiction. This is often a time for unrest, for factions to arise and claim this or that -- and for the candidates for the Kolumejalim to gather support and march in procession to Bey Su, where the Kolumejalim is always held. Violence can and does occur, although traditional childhood training, and the rigid, formal, strictures of Tsolyani society prevent it from happen- ing as often as one might expect here. >Second, how long would it take for news of these events to reach the >quieter parts of the Empire? (I expect our players to be inland in >Thayuri.) News from the war is a delayed series of rumours and >counter-rumours; but we know of the networks of telepaths (though not >their extent, nor whether they act as a news service to their locales if >appropriate), and presumably the announcement of the death of the Emperor >would travel pretty quickly to all major towns? (Hours? days?) Then I >imagine it descends to travellers to disseminate locally; or would the OAL >(or the priesthoods?) see it as their duty actively to deliver such vital >information to all citizens? The network of telepaths does facilitate the spread of important news, although this method is rather uncertain and whimsical. One town in southeastern Tsolyanu (near Thraya) got the news of the death of Emperor Hirkane within a few hours, while Thraya itself did not get a telepathic message (or any other kind) for a couple of weeks after the event! (Remind anyone of the servers on the Internet?) Once received, the Palace of the Realm quickly spreads the news through public criers, written broadsides, announcements in the temples, and messengers to smaller towns and outlying settlements. All of this takes time. News is a slow and rather confused business. The telepathic networks often suffer from delays, interference, garbled messages, and other mix-ups. The Palace of the Realm is sometimes also unwilling to release news that may cause disruptions and unrest, and the politics of the situation thus must be sorted out first. Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //260 [Moderator's Note: Bob Alberti sends the following on life in Tsolyanu. ] The following are questions and answers concerning life in Tsolyanu which appeared in the alt.games.frp.tekumel newsgroup. Since some folks don't have Net News and some messages fail to reach those who do, I have been asked to forward these messages to the mailing list. ----- >Brendan Knox writes: >AS a fairly new player to Tekumel, there are a few questions Bob Dushay's answers to the questions regarding clan are exactly right, Brendan. Getting kicked out of one's clan is something to be avoided at all costs. One way to look at how desperate your situation would be is to think of clans as businesses for a moment. If you got fired from your job and had no family, you'd have your savings to live on. AND none of the other clans are "hiring"! Even if it were easy to "get into" a clan (and it's not -- in "Man of Gold" Harsan could only enter a clan under Imperial order), who is a clan more likely to "hire": an industrious nakome fellow they've known for years, or some stranger who got fired from another clan? In Barker's Thursday night campaign, Arumel hiChankolel was a very respected member of the Sword of Fire clan. Following Dhich'une's coup (I can safely call it that on this plane, I think) he organized a rebel army which swept from Jakalla to Thraya and Sokatis, up past Ferinara, across the Desert of Sighs, past Sunraya and rescued Prince Mirusiya from extra-planar seige in Tleku Miriya. Yet a few years later he found himself in the Vimuhla city of Tumissa, on the western end of the Empire. Outside Tumissa is the "Temple in the Chakas", actually an extra-planar stronghold with an entrance to our plane in that vicinity. The highest members of the Temple of Vimuhla are there, and one of them ordered Arumel, in the name of the Temple and the God Himself, to carry out a mission against the Demon Gereshma'a which would have resulted in Arumel's almost-certain destruction. Arumel refused. He was promptly kicked out of his clan and temple, and had to beg favors from those of us in the party. He died only a matter of weeks later, ambushed by those whom he had offended in the past, who knew that no one would seek vengeance for his death. THAT is what it means to get kicked out of your clan. >>Another question, this time about implaing stakes. How long >>do you think an impaled party stays impaled after death >>(the "showing off" time) and how many imapled offenders do you >>think you'd see upon entering your average city in Tsolyanu? >An excellent question, and I don't know. The sourcebook says that the roads >outside of the major cities are lined with impaling stakes, so there are >probably quite a few bodies there. I'd guess they leave the bodies until >the stake is needed for somebody else. The amount of time your body spends on display will depend on several factors. First is your clan, as always -- if they could not save you from the stake, they will possibly (depending on the nature of your offense) try to save you (and themselves) from the indignity of having a clanmember so treated. If you committed a particularly offensive crime your clan will disown you of course, and this won't be a factor. Another factor is a sense of the times. If there has been some sort of larger disturbance, of which your offense is a part, you and your partners-in-crime may remain on display for quite some time to dissuade others from such actions. As Bob points out, if they run out of stakes you might be taken down early...or they might put up more stakes! There are religious considerations. If your offense was somehow worthy-of-impalement-but-not-so-bad (and what that is I don't know), you might be granted the dignity of a religious interrment after you died. This isn't so likely -- such an offense would have to get you killed but retain some of your dignity. Further consideration must be given to the protocols of the Mrek who oversaw your impalement -- the four-person team described in Flamesong which must oversee all "official" impalement. Their protocols are particular and arcane -- you might be left up or taken down according to the phases of the moons and planets, according to their ancient traditions. Finally, the imperial officers of the area can simply say "Psha! That thing STINKS! Take it down and throw it on the garbage heap!" I particularly ignominious ending. I've only been impaled a couple of times, and it hurt. Each time my friends managed to either get me off the stake or hack off an arm and use an Eye of Revivification on it. [Note from Bob: subsequent discussion asked what the Empire would think of an executed criminal being revivified. I should make it clear that both times that Arjai was impaled were when he was OUTSIDE Tsolyanu proper. Each time he was visiting another plane and was all-too-happy to 'get outta Dodge' right after being revivified. Each time he was rescued by "the party" who left with him. The consequences of pulling such a stunt and then hanging around would have been unpleasant.] There is nothing dignified or pleasant about it, and it hurts. Especially if they don't sand down the sides ofthe stake (splinters in your spleen!) or if they don't sharpen the tip(not advised, as the tip is more easily deflected to emerge from below the ribcage rather than tip-first through the open mouth, the mark of the best impalements). Lubricated, smooth, sharpened stakes are the quickest and the least-likely to be botched. Bradford Wayne Everman wrote: >I'd have to say that, given >the inherent bloodlust of the average citizen of Tsolyanu, they probably just >leave the bodies hanging there. : >One thing >I have learned while playing in the world of Tekumel is that being alive >is probably a crime. I hope I can correct your perception of the Tsolyani. They are NOT, by and large, possessed of "inherent bloodlust", nor of the opinion that "being alive is a crime." The legal system in the Empire is strict, but it is not Pol Pot. Punishment is harsh, but it is only meted out when warranted. If Tsolyani citizens, even nakome, feared for their lives upon stepping out into the street, commerce and industry could not be maintained. The reason Tsolyanu may LOOK "bloodthirsty" at first glance is probably because the nature of role-playing games is to place characters into "nonconforming" situations. Few people enjoy role-playing peasants, administrators or guards going about their daily routine (well, few people do -- we actually tried it for a while and it was a refreshing change from saving the world). Bickering about where to dig the latrines, who should dig them, and whether they should be close to the river or farther up the hill simply doesn't make for fun gaming. So players tend to be engage in questionable, if not outright illegal activities. In Tsolyanu raiding a tomb is highly illegal, and will in addition annoy the tomb-robbing clans, the tomb guards (whose bribes from the tomb-robbing clans will be interrupted if the tombs are disturbed by outsiders), and the posterty of those in the tombs. But how many basic Tsolyani adventures are set in the Underworld? A lot! Another factor in this perception is "place". The Tsolyani expect people to perform their roles, and frown upon nonconformity. But what is the adventurer but a nonconformist? You're supposed to join the clan business, marry the girl-next-door, and produce little ones who scurry about the clanhouse -- what are you doing wandering around in those grimy tsuru'um with a bunch of ignoble scum from other temples!? So the adventurer in Tsolyanu is automatically in conflict with the whole society. If you disagree with society long enough you will be at first urged to cease your conflicting activities, then punished, and finally done away with if your nonconformity persists. But, really, the "average Tsolyani" is just as peaceable and kindly as you or I. The average Tsolyani is perfectly happy to marry the girls or boys next door, to fulfill their role in the clan or temple, to seek acceptable measures of gain and advancement which bring respect and reward, and to avoid the attention of the Imperial legal system. For contrast, look around you. Our "adventurers" rob banks, or run drugs, or slay people who have insulted their honor -- we call them criminals. After three drug offenses we imprison them forever. However, if they slay someone, we release them in about seven or eight years as long as they can show the least provocation. A Tsolyani would think our system arbitrary and insane, and would find our madness confirmed in the crime which riddles our cities. Are we "bloodthirsty"? How many people will die to violence on fictional TV programs tonight? Is it a crime to be alive? How many poor, minorities, or immigrants are hassled, harassed, illegally arrested or imprisoned? If our minority population can be considered "nakome" for a moment, what is their ratio of rates of imprisonment? No, from the point-of-view of the "average Tsolyani" life is about doing your job, pleasing your friends, family and bosses, looking forwards to the spring celebrations and the autumn harvests, and trying to enjoy your brief stay upon the planet. And in many ways their society is more sane and stable then our own. Or do you really think the Western way-of-life is going to be largely the same as it is now in the year 21996? Arjai hi Vaisoner, Priest of Ksarul, Cloak of Azure Gems Clan. Tarinu hiKirisaya, Warrior of Chiteng, Golden Bough Clan. Adlar hiFershena, Warrior of Karakan, Red Sword Clan. Bob Alberti, Priest of Ethernet, Programming Geeks Clan. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //261 [Moderator's Note: Bob Crane asks about Dhich'une and the temple of Sarku ] [ in regards to issues about the undead. ] >Subject: Temple of Sarku: Who's really running things around here? >I read in "The Temple of Sarku" (Barker, 1984) that all of the temple's >religious leaders are everyday mortals. It seems to me that the most >undead like the Jajgi or the even more powerful undead (names?) should >be the ones running things! After all, if they have all of their >conscious facilities about them then they should be able to acquire >quite a bit of knowledge and power as they "live" year after year after >year. Is this possibly an oversight by the Professor or is he keeping >a secret from us? Assuming that Dhich'une can stabilize and retain his >power, what would happen if he secretly became an undead? Could he be >in control for HUNDREDS of years hypothetically? The statement is correct as given. Most citizens of the Five empires would be strongly against open power wielded by one or the Undead. Since most of the inhabitants of these nations are "alive" (as opposed to "Undead"), any open attempt to rule by the latter would lead to great social unrest, desertions from the armies, etc. The Temples of Sarku and Durritlamish thus treat the Undead as "adepts" (revered, holy beings), and do not permit them to rule. There is also, apparently, a loss of interest on the part of the Undead in temporal power: after all, what good are money, sex, physical prowess, property, etc. to the Undead? As long as Sarku's religious objectives are achieved, the Undead seem content (if that is the right word) to act as mentors, advisors, sages, etc. and dwell in the darkened depths of their sect's greatest temples. I should note that the Undead are less common in "real" Tekumel than in the games based on it. Creating an Undead being takes considerable time, expertise, and sorcerous hard work. The lowly Shedra are the commonest, but these are merely animated liches. Most worshippers of the Worm Lord would not want their loved ones turned into Mrur under any circumstances. A few -- mostly guardians for Underworld areas and tombs -- are indeed created every year; others dry up, wither, and fall to dust after some time unless renewed by sorcery, and this, too, is a lengthy process. The next variety, the Shedra, is somewhat more intelligent, able to think for itself somewhat, and make a limited numer of functional choices. Again, the Shedra are rare, limited to the Underworlds, and really cannot appear in polite society! The highest category, the Jajgi, actually comes in many forms and varieties, ranging from semi-intelligent (but clearly deceased!) to the rarest of all, the Undead who can function as a normal living being. A Jajgi of this calibre can take part in society but cannot procreate. These tend to be the highest adepts of the Temples of Sarku and Durritlamish; they are scholars, sorcerers, and teachers of the Way of the Sepulchre, the Inner Doctrine of the faith. (And don't ask me, please, to define the "Way": not being Undead myself, I do not know it.) Emperor Dhich'une is ASSUMED by many to be a Jajgi. He may also be a living being, but imbued with one of the Aspects of his dread Lord. "Putting an Aspect" upon a living person is a power the Gods seem to have. I recall another Aspect of Lord Sarku, called Siyenagga, that was vouchsafed to a human priest of his temple. There was also the case of an Aspect of Lord Vimuhla, named Purukasai "the Burner of Cities," that was given to a human warrior. Other cases are cited in the temple records. If Emperor Dhich'une is actually a Jajgi, he must have gone on to attain still higher powers than most of his Undead colleagues ever managed to acquire. Previous Sarku-worshipping Emperors have existed in Tsolyani history, but these seem to have been living beings (well... we think so...). If Dhich'une is indeed one of the Undead, he must have retained the human qualities of ambition, greed, and a need for power -- very unusual for any Jajgi and rather contrary to Lord Sarku's teachings -- and this would make him a very long-"lived" ruler, indeed! Tsolyani society would certainly refuse to follow him, if this were proved to be the case, and his Undead troops (who cannot be numerous and must be only a small bodyguard or cohort of personal servitors) would not be able to save him from his unwilling subjects! Hypothetically, an Undead Jajgi Emperor would cetainly be able to last for hundreds of years, but people would notice, and his supporters would drop away. It is even considered "not cricket" to employ spells or magical devices of revivification upon an Emperor. These are rare in "real Tekumel" terms, and people tend to shy away from someone who has been "dead" and embarked upon the long voyage to the Isles of Teretane. It just "ain't normal." Most Tsolyani prefer their colleagues, rulers, etc. to be "alive," just as we do here, and all the Undead soldiers on Tekumel cannot make one's subjects love and serve such a ruler. This is almost certainly one of the problems Dhich'une is having -- and will continue to have -- in ruling the Empire: people suspect he is missing a few crucial parts (like blood that flows?), and thus Eselne, Rereshqala, Mirusiya, or even newly-revealed Taksuru seem better to the average folks than he does. In the game, of course, revivification is almost absolutely necessary in order to avoid rolling up new characters at every step. Most of our players have been "returned to life magically" more than once. In "real Tekumel" terms, this would be very difficult, very expensive, and would create a number of social problems for the reviv-ee and his/her comrades. Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //262 [Moderator's Note: Brendan Knox follows up his question on clans and ] [ impaling with a question on the cells of the Vru'uneb ] [ and city life in the Empire. The Professor responds. ] >Another small question. On reading about the "intelligence >service" of the Livyani in AOT, they describe it as a cell >structure. One of Three was mentioned for Lord Ashqar(sp?) >and Three of Four for his sister. What precicesly does this >mean? One of Three could mean numerous things to me (one of >three cells, one of three in one cell, one of three in three >cells who each have one of three, two of three etc.) >Am I barking up the wrong tree(s) here? The implication is that Lord Asqar is one of three memers in his cell. This is the smallest cell of the Livyani Vru'uneb. It is common for this paranoid society to have large cells (20-40 -- and more members), and have several of the cells interlocking with "secret" members in every cell who are also members of other cells and watchers upon watchers... Sounds like our increasing lack of personal security on the Internet and in our own society these days? Brrr. >I have also wondered about the layout of towns and cities, >not so much where everything is, but how everything fits >together. Most people live in either a clan-house or possibly >one of the temples. The foreigners generally live in the >Forgeiners Quarters and possibly in the coastal or river >cities/towns, in a form of hostel (Usenanu has one I believe). >Do people have separate houses, nobility etc.? Otherwise I would >imagine the layouts would look more like walled complexes >(clan-houses and temples) separated by streets. Usenanu has several hostels for foreign or out-of-city travellers. I mentioned only the BEST hostels in the Sourcebook. Most people do live in clanhouses, and every clan tries to have a house in every large city -- and also in as many of the smaller towns as possible. Rather like fraternities that have chapters at different American universities. Clanhouses differ from place to place: in Khirgar, they are tall and narrow because Old Khirgar is a small, walled enclave. In Urmish and Katalal, clanhouses are larger, more open, with gardens and parks, courtyards for trade and crafts, stables for Chlen-beasts, pens for Hma and Hmelu, servant quarters, slave quarters, and facilities such as kitchens, pantries, wine cellars, scriptoria, ecord-rooms, refec- tories for dining, etc. When you visit a clanhouse in one of these "open" regions, you first come to a solid wall all around the place, with a high gate emblazoned with the clan's symbols. Inside, there is an open court for "parking" of palanquins, where slaves and escorts can sit and wait under shaded colonnades, with food and drink, foun- tains, etc., and more gates that lead off to other courts where stores are kept, where crafts are created, where the clan transacts its usual business(es), etc. Going on into the main house, you find an atrium where chamberlains come up and ask whom you wish to see. Halls lead off toward guest rooms, family rooms for individual lineages and family quarters, and to the public areas: feasting halls (closed most of the time unless there is a party), council rooms, trophy rooms (where ancient standards, awards, documents, etc. are kept for the edification of young clansmen), and the like. Every clanhouse is differently organised and arranged. There are also private houses outside of the clanhouses. Some families and lineages prefer to live by themselves, and so cities also contain sections where personal homes can be purchased. These are smaller versions of the clanhouses, with little courtyards, atria, bedrooms, guestrooms, etc. -- as much and as fancy as the owner can manage. Slums are also common: small flats of two or three rooms, with cooking facilities in one room, sleeping quarters for as many as a dozen men, women, and children in another, and a sort of "common room" for guests and general meeting and greeting. Many slums contain still smaller and meaner quarters: barely hovels, people sleeping on the landings of staircases in ancient, dilapidated, stinking buildings, holes made by pulling bricks out of an ancient city wall, or just ragged awnings spread over a crevice in a building on the street. These are not nice places. Dirt, starvation, disease, and ugliness are the rule here, and every year the Imperium (and similar agencies in other countries) make efforts to clean them up, move the inhabitants out, find them jobs, and help. These efforts are haphazard and never very effective, unfor- tunately, and so nearly every year one sees food riots in the great cities. I think Lord Tekunu described one of these that he witnessed in Jakalla. Bey Su is worse, and troops are sometimes brought in to quell such disturbances. Tekumelani cities are very complex, sociologically. I hope that we will be able to get out a city book one of these days, but no book can give the actual feel of one of these places: the opulence and wealth on the one hand, and the abject unbearable poverty on the other. Beauty and elegance are all around, but there are also ugliness and congestion and decay. Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //263 [Moderator's Note: In checking through some events, Bob Alberti found a ] [ transcription of the challenge issued by Taksuru in the ] [ Professor's Thursday night game. ] Here's the challenge issued to Emperor Dhich'une by a representative of Prince Taksuru Tlakotani on the 23rd of Dohala, 2366, recently unearthed in my notes. ----- "Mighty Emperor, He Whose Every Word is That of the Gods, Eternal Splendor, "I bring word from the Council of Priesthoods of the Empire of Tsolyanu, the Seal Which Rules Forever in Glory, that a challenge is issued by a Prince of the Empire and duly considered by the Council of the Priesthoods, to the Rule of the Emperor and the Legitimacy of the Kolumejalim, the Rite of Choosing Emperors. "In accordance with the laws of Empire set forth by the mighty Emperor Trakonel the First, "The Blazing Light", may the God-Emperor please, you are implored to respond to this challenge, in the manner set forth by Emperor Trakonel, to vouchsafe the security of the Empire and the Glory of the Petal Throne. "The Council of Priesthoods declares therefore a conclave of the Priesthoods to be met in one week, on the last day of Dohala, at which time the Council will be honored to receive the Emperor's representatives to answer the challenge brought before the Council. "This the Council of the Priesthoods implores upon the pleasure of the Mighty Gods and the Emperor whose Splendor is Eternal." ---- Fortunately for the messenger, the Emperor was not present when this challenge was issued. Unfortuately for the Emperor, the challenge was delivered to distract attention from an invasion of the Golden Tower, led by Prince Mridobu and the Baron Ald, via secret ways known only to Mridobu. Upon entering the Golden Tower and finding the Emperor gone (Dhich'une was in the City of Sarku celebrating important religious rites) Mridobu seized the throne using the name "Risen to Rule". His rulership was extremely brief, however: returning to Avanthar mere days later, Dhich'une's Undead swarmed over everything in sight. [Moderator's Note: So, Bob, what you are saying is that Taksuru and Mridobu ] [ were in league on this? Or did Mridobu just slink in on ] [ the party's coat-tails? If Mridobu was going to rule, I ] [ wonder what Taksuru was going to get out of the deal? ] Witnesses from the village of Avanthar (located on the river beside the cliff-hewn fortress) claim to have heard shrieks of "They're coming out of the walls!" and seen Mridobu's supporters hurled to their deaths from every window of the tower. Mridobu himself disappeared and has not thereafter been seen. But he's done this before... Arjai hi Vaisoner, Priest of Ksarul, Cloak of Azure Gems Clan. Tarinu hiKirisaya, Warrior of Chiteng, Golden Bough Clan. Adlar hiFershena, Warrior of Karakan, Red Sword Clan. Bob Alberti, Priest of Ethernet, Programming Geeks Clan. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //264 [Moderator's Note: Jack's transcript continues. This is part 3 and part 4, ] [ as they came within a few hours of one another. ] Part 3 10th Trantor Kanmi'yel is dead again, or so it seems. Jadhak and I have our doubts. A N'lyss called Mruft Sroso tried to kill Jadhak today, apparently under the influence of Domination. Strangely the assailant's left eye is clouding over a bit like Kanmi'yel's did after the incident with Nyelmu and the sra'ur of Lelmiyani. 11th Trantor Kanmi'yel, it seems, immolated himself in the Sacrificial Flame at the Temple of Vimuhla. Why he should choose this particularly devout form of suicide is a mystery to me, as he has never been that fervently religious. 12th Trantor I overheard Jadhak talking to Tlangten - *He* killed him, or at least had him killed by some of his hired thugs. He dominated him and then had him killed at Kashu's house. Jadhak is now really worried, because he had a Transmogrification cast to try and contact Kanmi'yel's spirit. He failed to find it either in the Unending Grey or on the way to the Isles of the Excellent Dead. That menas that either he's still alive or in the Halls of Burning Victory (or whatever the Flame paradise is called). 13th Trantor We now think that Kanmi'yel's soul is inhabiting the body of Mruft Sroso, who we have recently found out was employed by Kolontal. I can't believe that Kanmi'yel would have anything voluntarily to do with our arch-enemy. Jadhak is now working out a way of killing Kanmi'yel off permanently. Personally I don't care as long as a corollary is the death of Kolontal. He's one thorn in my side I could well do without. 17th Trantor I don't know what happened to Jadhak's plan, but Kanmi'yel is back looking like himself again, and we're heading north to try and thwart the plans of the vile traitor Baron Ald. -- Viscount Veshtaru hi Chaishyani (Jack Bramah) Legion of the Mighty Heroes of Avanthar Molmitlan Otulengba! --------------------------------------------------- Part 4 1st Hasanpor Because of Jadhak's dithering in Purdimal about buying some weird ingredients for one of his bizarre rituals we almost got stranded in the middle of nowhere for the intercalary days. We travelled non-stop for the last two days. It cost us a fortune in palanquins and bearers. The rest of us have persuaded Jadhak to cough up for it as it was his fault. Not that it's his money anyway - he's borrowing off me again, or at least borrowing off my funds which are managed by the major-domo. I understand that Ma'ashte made him put the Palace of the Moon up as security against the loan. One part of me would be quite keen for him to default on the loan, as the Palace is worth ten times as much as the loan, but I'm not sure I'd want it, given the strange goings-on that always seem to occur there. Probably something to do with the fact that there used to be a Pariah temple underneath. There's probably a lingering taint even if it has been completely filled in and purged by all the relevant priesthoods. Anyway we made it to Khirgar in time for the intercalary days. Not exactly my favourite place in the Empire, but still better than some village in a field. The city is teeming with troops. Tlangten has found some of his old legion buddies, so he's off remembering old times with them. 2nd Hasanpor I bumped into Sergeant Heshqo this morning. He used to be my senior NCO. He was invalided out after losing his right hand in a Qadarni. At least he isn't reduced to beggary, as he seems to have held on to quite a lot of the loot we got from Ke'er. It can't be much fun though for a soldier who knows nothing else, but can't fight. 4th Hasanpor We've received some sort of orders. I'm not sure quite where they come from, but Kashu and Jadhak seem to be the most informed, so I suspect there may be a hint of Incandescent Blaze somewhere. We're to find some sort of secret Yan Koryani fortress to the north of the Atkolel Heights, and find out what's going on there. 15th Hasanpor We've been struggling through a swamp for the last couple of days, beset by the usual denizens - Tsoggu etc. Razhim turned out to be some sort of automaton, no doubt sent by Kolontal, who cut down Baluri and Tlangten before we could stop him. 16th Hasanpor We arrived at the "fortress" and discovered two black pyramids covered in glyphs of Tkel. It's a good job we had Jadhak with us, who got us past using the correct formulae of dismissal. The place is something to do with the Weapon Without Answer, and we found Fu Shi'i, who we killed by setting light to him - or so we thought. No sooner had we turned our backs when he was up again and sent eaters of Souls at us, which kept us busy while he made good his escape. 18th Hasanpor The archaeologists will have fun in the centuries to come when they find the wreckage of a ship atop a mountain in the Atkolel Heights. A ship with a lot of Yan Koryani bodies underneath it. I'll explain: we were using Aeriality to speed our journey back to Khirgar when we came across a unit of the Legion of the Dancer Without Eyes being attacked by a larger force of Yan Koryani. Our sorcerers had expended most of their energies so the only recourse to rescue these gallant troops was to improvise by withdrawing our merchant ship from within the Chest of the Topaz God and allowing it to fall on the attackers. What a waste of a ship. Still, we should appear in a few Ahoggya legends soon. -- Viscount Veshtaru hi Chaishyani (Jack Bramah) Legion of the Mighty Heroes of Avanthar Molmitlan Otulengba! ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //265 [Moderator's Note: Bob Alberti, who is writing the forthcoming Mitlanyal, ] [ asks a question of everyone in the group... ] [Quick Note: Things are wrapping up for the quarter here, so the list will ] [ be silent for a couple of days. I'll try to crank out some ] [ messages on Sunday. ] I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but then again I'm pretty thick sometimes. One of my niggling concerns when writing Mitlanyal has been that it will not meet the audience's expectations. Of course, I realize that it CANNOT meet EVERYBODY'S expectations, and additionally that WHATEVER I publish will be roundly flamed by those who choose to use alt.games.frp.tekumel for something other than grammar-related spams. There's just no pleasing SOME people. I gave the first rough draft of the Pariah Deities section to Professor Barker last evening and am starting on the Tsolyani section (having 'warmed up' on the smaller PD chapter). Unless he makes any drastic changes or requests additional info be added, this will be the first section actually FINISHED. Hence it has triggered in me the anxiety present in any writer -- is anyone going to LIKE it? So I figure what the heck, before I engrave any of this in stone, I'll ask... What do YOU want to see in Mitlanyal? What do you EXPECT to see in Mitlanyal? [Moderator's Note: If you wish, send your responses directly to Bob at ] [ tekumel@wings.network.com. If you want to send something ] [ directly to the list community, send it to the regular ] [ Blue Room address. ] Arjai hi Vaisoner, Priest of Ksarul, Cloak of Azure Gems Clan. Tarinu hiKirisaya, Warrior of Chiteng, Golden Bough Clan. Adlar hiFershena, Warrior of Karakan, Red Sword Clan. Bob Alberti, Priest of Ethernet, Programming Geeks Clan. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //266 [Moderator's Note: This reply is part of an answer sent to Brendan Knox by ] [ Professor Barker. ] [IMPORTANT Note! For those of you who have had trouble with the ftp ] [ server, I have changed the software. Please try to log ] [ in and download anything that has given you trouble in ] [ the past (it should also work better with Web access, ] [ too. Try webbing to nexus.prin.edu. ] The following are parts of a reply from Professor Barker regards some clarifications to my last post to the Blue Room about Vru'uneb Cell Structures and also a side note about some fungus I had turn up in a game of mine. Q: When you say the cell contains three people, how many cells of this type are there? Is it a heriarchy (spelling?), ie. only one cell of 3, one of 4, one of 5, down to one cell of 40 people or are there usually a few cells of three, etc. Phil: It is said that there is only one cell with just 3 in it: the one to which Lord Asqar belongs, plus two others whose names are not revealed. There are proably several cells with four, more with five, etc., up to the largest and commonest -- the Vru'uneb's "foot-soldiers". These last may number 40 members or even more. Nobody knows. Q: I also ran my first game a few weeks ago (of Gardisiyal that is), and I had two keen hobbyists of the Tsu'urum investigate some old ruins that are fairly well known. However, they fell through a weakened floor and into some new levels, down into some type of fungus. I called it Humetl fungus (the accent over the "u"). It caused slight amnesia, they didn't know how they had come to this place, and only remember leaving Thra'ya. Would this be a type fungus that might have adapted on Te'kumel? A kind of defense (apart from growing in the Tsu'urum!). Phil: The Humetl fungus is well known. Another and more common name for it is Maralakh, accent on the 3rd "a". Your name for it is per- fectly good, however. The word Humetl is related to Humal-ikh," which denotes wineskin or waterskin; this is because of the bloated shape of the fungus. Many thanks for your answers Phil! Quick Note: The fungus' amnesia was very slight, a few hours loss I think, and it only lasted for another hour or so (can't remember the Tekumel time units!!) Not much more is known, I can't seem to remember! Just enough to make a possible eater of the fungus (who would!!) forget the reason they were there!? Who really knows? Yours in Flames, Brendan ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //267 [Moderator's Note: Bob Alberti summarizes some responses to his request for ] [ comments on Mitlanyal. (Some comments directed to the ] [ list will show in a later post, but they were forwarded ] [ directly to Bob, so he has seen them.) ] Subject: Responses so far (ridiculously long) Here is a summary of some of the concerns and responses so far. I am digesting the questions into summaries for two reasons. First, since responses have come in private mail its not really kosher to forward them to the list intact (although I don't really think the authors would mind in most cases), but second and more importantly because several people have made the same point in different messages, indicating a generalized concern. Please continue to write with your ideas and comments. They are quite helpful. Last evening Professor Barker and I addressed many of these items to make sure they were covered, so they do have impact. And thank you to EVERYONE for going to the trouble to write and help out, it's much appreciated. [Moderator's Note: Remember, the address to send comments to is ] [ tekumel@wings.network.com, unless you want your comments ] [ broadcast to the list at large. ] ----- That was my original plan 'way back when I started, but the thing is already too damned big. My original idea involved a 'travelogue' story where a protagonist's adventures brought her into contact with each of the different Tsolyani temples. Unfortunately the more I worked with Tekumel the more interwoven the faiths in different nations became, to where simply cutting out the Tsolyani gods would leave ragged edges all over the place. Additionally I've read these travelogue stories by other, much better authors than myself (Silverberg had one about some huge mucking planet whose name I can't recall) and the whole thing came out very forced. This you'll get. There are aspects to this project that I suspect many critics of my slow productivity simply aren't grasping. First is that by-and-large I'm not making any of this up. I've had several people offer to write "background material" or "filler" on various parts of Tekumel, but that's not what I need. What I need is a currycomb and a lot of time. Professor Barker is a prolific storyteller, but that's just what he does -- tell stories. It is not his style (nor should it be) to expound for great lengths of time upon a single subject or in a single area. Instead he follows the story of what he is telling, and if that means means his discussion ranges wildly across the field, then its my job to scurry along behind him picking up his... no, wait, this metaphor is going entirely the wrong way! The point is that it's very easy for him to drop phrases such as "with the exception of the War Temples and Sarku, most temples give over their dead to Belkhanu's priests for burial", and what does that do to me? I have to run through EVERY TEMPLE, add this information in as a Death Ritual of the Outer Doctrines, and then balance it against information from each specific temple. For instance in the temple of Avanthe, corpses are buried with their hands at their sides, but Hnalla and Thumis bury their dead with their hands crossed over their stomachs. (Remember, I'm not making any of this up.) That being the case is it necessary for me to examine WHY these bodies are buried in different positions? Must I explain that Belkhanu's people see to the arrangement of the limbs as part of their duties? And then again, why DON'T Vimuhla and Chiteng employ Belkhanu's services? So every phrase that the Professor drops is a potential information landmine, waiting to explode with facts flying in all directions. Add to this the fact the he is quite prolific and has written a lot of stuff (much of it never published), and maybe one starts to grasp the magnitude of the problem of categorizing and organizing his works. So to return to the main point, yes -- a compendium of pre-existing material alone would be worth the effort and worth the purchase. If done right. You'll get a good bit of this, I think. Phil and I have made an effort to ensure that examples of worship within each of the temples are given. This will be touched upon, but I've discussed it before, too. The key point to keep in mind is that people are people, even a quarter-million years from now on Tekumel. Hence most people worship simply because that's what their parents did, with little more consideration of it than we give. Why do Americans go to church on Sunday or temple on Saturday? Why can the same people sin and make hypocrites of themselves every single day? Because their faith is customary and shallow. Likewise, how does a Vimuhla worshipper refrain from burning down the neighborhood? How can ANYONE worship Dra? Custom and shallowness. "Yes I worship Vimuhla, in fact my brother's a second-circle cantor in the temple. It's a good job and he likes the people he works with. His proctor is a pleasant fellow and there's this really cute tenturen player from the temple of Hru'u who comes in and gives lessons to the children. My brother says he'll introduce me sometime, but my job doesn't leave me a lot of time to attend temple ceremonies." Just average joes working from day to day, whether in Bey Su or the Kraa Hills. Yes, that's right. In fact, none of them are "evil", with the possible exception of the Pariah Deities. Mitlanyal will strive to make clear that each god, however "icky" they may seem to us Westerners, fulfills a societal role and supports society... even Chiteng! Yes, this will be addressed. For instance, Ksarul and Thumis have the best schools, and each temple operates vast areas of cropland. What do you get from worshipping Hru'u? What do you get from working at Honeywell? What do you get from volunteering at your church? You do get stuff -- whether it's money, prestige, power, or simply the company of friendly people of like beliefs. Good. I'm not a rules-lawyer, and as has been mentioned here many times, we don't actually USE rules at Professor Barker's Thursday night game. I believe Keith Dalluhn has posted our "rules" a couple of times. Fig Newtons figure more prominently than dice in these rules. That's just what you'll get Well, you WILL get SOME of the "high-falutin'" stuff, seeing as many PLAYERS are interested in it, even if as you point out very few TSOLYANI ever encounter any of it. Except where it impacts social and theological celebrations, this is not a factor. The celebration of the Acension of the Seal Emperor, for instance, has not been formally celebrated since Dhich'une took the throne because he's been too busy keeping the lids on all his pots. However, Tsolyani being who they are, many places still celebrate Hirkane's Acension out of habit and a love of celebration. Aside from these kinds of factors, worship in the temples remains unaffected by the civil war. As many theologies as I can fit will all be touched upon, if briefly. Probably the most legitimate criticism of my slow pace of progress has been that I am trying to cover too much ground. My only explanations regarding this decision are these two: first, this is how I do things, and how I, personally, learn. I need to understand the whole of a subject and I'm very poor in leaving grey areas where I simply accept my ignorance and work around it. The reason I'm so good with computers, for instance, is that I understand them from an electrical point-of-view up to the structure of very high-level languages. On the other hand the reason I never graduated from college was because it was very hard for me to learn calculus: to pass the five required courses took me twelve years and about fifteen total classes. This is not because I'm stupid, per se, but because I learn poorly by formula and rote. I had to understand, for instance, that in an equation featuring "R-squared", one "R" meant the radius along the X-axis, and the other R meant the radius along the Y-axis, and exactly how they interrelated: the X-axis R pushed the spinning Y-axis R along its length, the length of Y varied according to the equation across X. The whole thing represented one way to describe the volume. Once I understood that I could understand the mathematics, but I could NOT learn it by rote. If this sounds like an elaborate excuse, I can only say it is not. It is what I learned about myself after attempting to overcome the particular challenge of college and calculus. Where it pertains to Mitlanyal is that I needed to see the WHOLE PICTURE before I could grasp the various gods. I needed to understand the relationship between the Fungus-Eaters of M'morcha and the Dragon Warriors of the Nluss before I could comfortably say that I knew anything about either of them. The second reason for the slow pace of this book is simply that these religions ARE deeply interrelated. It's very hard to do a good job while leaving out these interrelationships. It's like trying to explain stew buy just letting someone taste a potato. The subject really called for a comprehensive examination. The organization of the book is roughly this: 60% Tsolyanu 20% The rest of Humanity 10% Livyanu 5% Mu'ugalavya, Salarvya, Yan Kor 5% Northeast States, Mretten, etc. 5% Aliens 2% Enemies of Man 3% Pariah Deities With about 10% being Introductions and General notes which go a long way towards reducing the size of the various sections. It's important to emphasize that many of these entries are going to be VERY brief. Everything we know about the Ssu gods can probably be covered in two paragraphs. The Nom deities are particular in detail, but common in theology to other deities in their area and don't require elaborate explanation. There are about a dozen Northeast States, but they subscribe to one of two branches of a common mythos which can be explained in one section. So it's not as overlarge as it may at first appear. No, it relates to the size of the section being middling-small, and also the fact that they're quite interesting (if terrifying). I wanted to start with a section which I could complete within a short time in order to take what I learned about the process of completion and apply it to a larger section. By the way, the worship of the Pariah Deities is, apparently, the OLDEST continuous theology on the planet, with the Shadow Gods coming in a close second... That you will get. While some of this has been covered above, the only thing I'll add is that I am under no contract and have been offered no particular incentive to do this. I've had to fit the creation of this book in around the birth of three children (premature twins and a singleton), the rise and fall of the Internet Gopher protocol of which I am a co-author, changing jobs, doing computer consulting to make ends meet while trying to change jobs, and building an addition onto my house in order to accomodate my growing family. These aren't excuses -- they're life. Sometimes *I* beat *myself* up in just this way, but such self-flagellation is useless. In learning to live with the reality of just how long its taken to complete this work, I've had to come to recognize, understand and accept the obligations which my life, career and family impose upon me. I don't say this for pity, sympathy or pats on the back -- I tell you this personal information solely to address your concern. It is a legitimate concern. I hope that if you understand that I actually DO have a life (one I'm neglecting this morning while I indulge in this missive, heh) it will help alleviate to some degree your frustration with how long this book is taking to produce. That having been said, I will vent a tiny bit here by saying that TOME never ASKED ME if they should run that silly ad showing the cover of Mitlanyal with "coming soon" plastered all over it at the back of one of the early "Adventures in Tekumel" books. They've spoken with me about three times in my life, and the first time they asked me for an estimated date of completion was about a month ago. So I refuse to take responsibility for expectations raised by them... Oh, I won't. Really, I'm seeking validation more than addition to the book. I want to feel comfortable that I haven't missed anything obvious -- I don't want to try to accomodate everyone's everything. It would just kill me if I finished the thing and someone said "Hey! You left out Thumis!" or something REALLY obvious like that, and that's what I'm trying to avoid. Mitlanyal will probably not satisfy ALL these desires. First, people in the hierarchies come and go, especially at wartime. Just look at the sourcebooks from 2355 -- many of those people are dead, retired, promoted or moved, and many supplanted by Dhich'une's cronies. The fact is that it doesn't much matter what the name of the High Scholarly Priest of the Temple of Thumis in Usenanu is, what does matter is that the GM and Player understand what that role would demand of its occupant. One would need to be politically savvy enough to hold the position, intelligent enough to achieve the post, sedentary enough in nature to remain in the temple bureaucracy and move up this high or cunning enough to have achieved an appointment to the post. With those factors understood one can handle an encounter between whoever holds this post and a group of players, and convey the sense of connectedness and depth that is EPT's strength. Many of the Aspects will be explained, and the foreign counterparts of the Gods will be named where possible. A FEW special ceremonies of each of the temples will be given as examples, but they could not possibly be all described, or even named: they vary from city to city and time to time. The fact that there ARE Inner Doctrines to the Temple of Ksarul will be examined, but as with the ceremonies, they will not be explicitly named and described. Why? Because, again, they vary from city to city and time to time. What, for example, are the Inner Doctrines of the Democratic Party in Houston? Are these the same as the Inner Doctrines of the Democratic Party in Hawaii? Are the schemes brewing in Minneapolis City Hall at all related to the schemes brewing in the City Hall in Miami? In some broad ways, yes -- politicians are politicians, and common sense tells you that power, populism, claiming to fight crime and justifying tax increases by doing so all will play a factor. Likewise common sense can describe the chaos which must be the Inner Temple of Ksarul during these years of revolution against a Sarku Emperor. And once the 'dust settles' in Tsolyanu, the Inner Doctrines will settle with them into the more mundane issues of inter-temple rivalry, how to influence the Imperium, the growth in influence of the Ndalu clan over the Refulgent Blue Curtain society, etcetera. And these will differ from place to place. That there are 32 Unspeakable Acts of Dlamelish will be explained, and that they range from simple sexual rituals to complex displays of xenonecrophilia and more will be made apparent. But they cannot be described for many reasons. One is that as much as the publicity would help sales, I don't want my book banned across the nation. Another is that they, too, vary from place to place. For instance the north of Tsolyanu is matriarchal, the south patriarchal. Therefore many of the 32 Acts in the north will emphasize the dominance of the female, while in the south they will emphasize the dominance of the male. I hope that these replies help you understand more of what Mitlanyal looks like and where it's going. I'll try to keep the list updated concerning how much of the book I've finished when I've finished it -- this will give me continuing impetus to stay focussed. Right now the Pariah Deities are done, the Introduction to the book and brief history of Tekumel are done, and I am beginning work on the Hnalla Temple. The "work" does not involve collecting more information -- that's done. Most of my chapter-documents for the book are about 60K MS Word documents (empty 'chapter skeleton' documents are about 15K in size, so 45K of content). The work involves running through each chapter, and integrating data which is written in various voices for various audiences into a single voice for a single audience. Some are exerpts from novels, some are facts from articles written by the Professor, etcetera. The facts have to be incorporated into a readable narrative voice which ties them together in a logical fashion. Any missing "critical" gaps in information must be filled in through interviews with the professor, and then empty skeletal entries (i.e. "Cities of Broad Influence" for the Barrier Gods) must be discarded. Then the sections have to be proofed both for format and also for spelling and grammar. Just between Livyanu and Tsolyanu I've got to do this 33 times. I'll keep you informed how it goes... Arjai hi Vaisoner, Priest of Ksarul, Cloak of Azure Gems Clan. Tarinu hiKirisaya, Warrior of Chiteng, Golden Bough Clan. Adlar hiFershena, Warrior of Karakan, Red Sword Clan. Bob Alberti, Priest of Ethernet, Programming Geeks Clan. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //268 [Moderator's Note: These were some of the responses sent to me wrt Bob's ] [ questions about Mitlanyal. Feel free to comment to the ] [ list, but you can also write Bob directly at tekumel@ ] [ wings.network.com. If you reply to the list, I'll take ] [ that as a desire to have your opinions posted to the ] [ list community. (These messages were forwarded to Bob ] [ as they arrived.) ] Roger Pearse starts. At 12:09 15/03/96 -0600, you wrote: >What do YOU want to see in Mitlanyal? What do you EXPECT to see in >Mitlanyal? To be liked, I feel it shouldn't just be a source-book - there should be human interest, and some sort of storyline. What I have in mind, is the sort of thing done in RuneQuest's Cults of Prax (and Cults of Terror IIRC), where you had a story in boxes in the margin where a wandering merchant encountered the various groups one after another. This was also done in Growing Up in Tekumel, and was all the better for it. -------------------------- John Bailey continues... You wrote: > >[Moderator's Note: Bob Alberti, who is writing the forthcoming Mitlanyal, ] >[ asks a question of everyone in the group... ] > >I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but then again I'm >pretty thick sometimes. That's what you get with age... Next you'll find yourself looking at pretty girls saying "I have a daughter your age..." ;-) >One of my niggling concerns when writing Mitlanyal has been that it >will not meet the audience's expectations. Of course, I realize that >it CANNOT meet EVERYBODY'S expectations, and additionally that >WHATEVER I publish will be roundly flamed by those who choose to use >alt.games.frp.tekumel for something other than grammar-related spams. >There's just no pleasing SOME people. True, but if it's "Official Tekumel, some people will buy it even if it's "poorly written" or "amateurishly published" by some other's arbitrary standards. Some people (like myself) just want more about "real" Tekumel. And they don't care whether it's published by "Company X" or "Company Y". After all, the important thing is "the game", not how well a product looks on a store shelf, or whether it wins awards from self-important people who don't even roleplay in Tekumel. >I gave the first rough draft of the Pariah Deities section to >Professor Barker last evening and am starting on the Tsolyani section >(having 'warmed up' on the smaller PD chapter). Unless he makes any >drastic changes or requests additional info be added, this will be the >first section actually FINISHED. So, does this relate to an earlier discussion in this list about the worship of Pariah Dieties being older than the Pavarian 20? >Hence it has triggered in me the anxiety present in any writer -- is >anyone going to LIKE it? I'll tell you after I've bought it and read it through a few times. >So I figure what the heck, before I engrave any of this in stone, I'll >ask... >What do YOU want to see in Mitlanyal? What do you EXPECT to see in >Mitlanyal? WANT = EXPECT = a list of all the major religions of the Five Empire, the major non-humans, and a bit of personality to differentiate them from each other. -------------------------- Alan Brain adds..... >What do YOU want to see in Mitlanyal? What do you EXPECT to see in >Mitlanyal? What do I want? 1. More details, as in this newsletter, on Society, Secret and otherwise - examples would be nice, telling a story... 2. More on the background, the Far Past. Emphasis on the fact that the people on Tekumel are (generally) not Human as we know it - not Homo Sapiens anyway, 100,000 years produces Evolutionary change, not merely cultural, and who knows what meddling was done with DNA both by the technologists, and the Gods. 3. More on the non-Tsolyanu. 4. More details on everybody's favourite enigma, the Good Old Doomed Prince, his decline and fall. What do I REALLY want? A compendium - not just an index, the contents - of everything that's ever been published as background, from articles in TSR the Last ( The Strategic Review, before it became The Dragon) to the photos of varous temple models. What do I expect? Less. But will shell out the bucks anyway, provided it's less than $500 (not a misprint) [Moderator's Note: So, there you have it! A taste of responses, plus you ] [ have seen Bob's summary message... ] ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //269 [Moderator's Note: Installment 5 of the London Thursday night game diaries. ] 12th Langala Back to Jakalla finally. We had an uneventful trip (for us). We went via Bey Su, and escorted a shipment of books for the Temple of Chiteng in Jakalla. We were forced to dawdle by the fact that Jadhak insisted on reading them all before we got to Jakalla. 21st Langala I got a call at the clanhouse from a representative of the governor of Chame'el. It seems his brother was captured by pirates off Dlantla Isle. There has been no ransom demand, so he suspects that he has been killed, but whatever, he would like us to retrieve the body. I have no idea why he has approached us, but it would be pleasant to have a sea voyage at this time of year. 22nd Langala We all went to a party at the Palace of the Moon, and a gang of bandits attacked the house during dinner. We managed to escape, though Emra, Ssomu and I had our pedhetl drained, leaving us with the willpower of mrur. Kashu went to the Omnipotent Azure Legion, who weren't interested 23rd Langala We went back up to the Palace to confront the bandits, Emra Ssomu and I still somewhat zombified. The leader was this guy with crystal hands. He revealed to us that he had been a slave that Kashu had mutilated whilst trying to test the effect of a couple of "Eyes" we had found. All he wants to do is to get revenge on Kashu and become Emperor. Pretty reasonable requests for a slave really. In true Kashu style, he just killed the slave, Nuriyade, and pushed us into this strange cabinet device to escape from the rest of the bandits. Once in the cabinet our awareness returned, and we found ourselves transportd to various places. I appeared with Kashu on a narrow icy ledge on a vast cliff face. There was a cave behind us. We were attacked by ice demons which we dealt with, and entered the cave. We were in an ice maze, and encountered another three demons; I slew two with a single blow. We found our way out of the maze and came to a chamber where there was an ice block with what appeared to be me inside. I struck it with the Hammer and it shattered, and we found ourselves back in the Palace of the Moon, with the others. The rest of the bandits had fled when the cabinet started making strange and terrifying noises. The cabinet is now a smoking wreck. -- Viscount Veshtaru hi Chaishyani (Jack Bramah) Legion of the Mighty Heroes of Avanthar Molmitlan Otulengba! ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable. //270 [Moderator's Note: Steve Lopez wants to talk some more about the Temples ] [ of Sarku and Durritlamish and their semi-living adepts! ] [ Even though this has pointed questions to the Professor,] [ I decided to post since Steve asks for discussion. ] I'd like a little further discussion on this topic (if you don't mind, please), as I (Churak) am up to my butt in brown-robes lately. > The Temples of Sarku and Durritlamish thus treat the Undead as >"adepts" (revered, holy beings), and do not permit them to rule. >There is also, apparently, a loss of interest on the part of the >Undead in temporal power: after all, what good are money, sex, >physical prowess, property, etc. to the Undead? As long as Sarku's >religious objectives are achieved, the Undead seem content (if >that is the right word) to act as mentors, advisors, sages, etc. >and dwell in the darkened depths of their sect's greatest temples. Sure, but duplicity and Machiavellian machinations are a way of life among the upper classes of Tekumel. Why not also a "way of death"? Is it possible that a long-"lived" (ahem) Jajgi or two could be "pulling strings" (sight unseen) to influence political and social events in order *to advance the worship of Sarku or advance his religious objectives?* (note emphasis). Perhaps the desire for *personal* power dies when a person becomes undead, but religious fervor and the desire to advance one's faith may live on. Perhaps a talented Jajgi could be influencing events on Tekumel by playing powerful living Sarku worshippers like den-den counters. >Most worshippers of the Worm Lord would not want their loved ones >turned into Mrur under any circumstances. So what was going on in Chapter 20 of "The Man of Gold" (particularly the "orgy of death" on page 159)? Was this a standard Sarku ritual or a "special event" cooked up by Dhich'une? Your article on Sarku worship seems to suggest the latter (in that only priests generally get to participate in this kind of "inner circle" event). By the way, these passages were the most memorable (and unsettling!) of the entire novel. >Emperor Dhich'une is ASSUMED by many to be a Jajgi. Two questions here; one concrete, the other hypothetical. If Dhich'une is in fact undead, would this be detectable by magic? Now for the hypothetical part, which assumes the answer to the last question is "yes". Since Dhich'une has left the Golden Tower at least once (that we know of), would it be possible for an sorcerous agent of one of the other heirs to get close enough to him to make the determination of whether or not he's undead? (There must be spies in Avanthar -- the last time Dhich'une "wasn't home", one of the heirs had advance notice). Or is he jumping in a tubeway car beneath Avanthar and zipping straight to the City of Sarku, with no chance for a palace insider to get near enough to him? (And what would the range on such a spell be, anyway?). -- Steve Lopez [Churak hiMrukkal, Grey Cloak Clan of Fenul] ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: nexus.prin.edu Open 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down or unavailable.