Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal - part II

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Hello Uncle,

Question. To expand on the "fresh off the boat" scenario, if said "Barbarians" where hired by clan xyz to do a, b, c. Would they be given any sort of "papers" giving them the ability to move about(knowing Tsolyani zenophobia)?

Thanks,

H:0)

Yes; wouldn't be allowed out without them. And some little 'inducements' to help ease their way, too. As we discussed in part One, cousin Woofel would see to all this for them.

Originally Posted by Neshm hiKumala

Chirine,

I have a few, hopefully specific questions about Dlash. I haven't read "The Lords of Tsamra" so forgive me if some of the following questions have answers in that book.

01 - Who has juridiction over Dlash? Is it an independent city? Their dealing with other-planar stuff must give them a great deal of power.

02 - Has a map of the city ever been published? The answer is probably "no" but I wanted to confirm this with you.

03 - Is the city organized like other cities of the same size: with a nobles quarter, a foreign quarter, a market, etc?

04 - What's sold there? Other planar stuff, sure, but what sort? Animals? Spices? Plants? Objects? Slaves? Do they specialize in anything special?

05 - Who are the "masters" of the city? You mentioned a few days ago that the Dlash city leaders are as close to being direct descendants of the Ancients as one can be. What specific reason do you have to say that?

06 - How do you get in, legally. I'm sure there are many ways of getting in illegally, but what about legally? I assume it's easier to get in as a Livyani, but is that even true? Would the Empire of the Petal Throne be able to send in an official delegation, even though the city probably has an important strategic value for Livyanu, which means that they would be very interested in controlling which foreigners get in and why?

Thank you.

1. Independent, for all practical purposes. The Syndics do pay nominal lip service and taxes to the central government in Tsamra, but the government keeps their hands off the place.

2. Yes. Gio did one, to go with her gazetteer for the city, and this was available for a very short time. It might be available on the Internet someplace.

3. No. All of the usual stuff like this is in a suburb; the city itself is off limits to everyone except the Syndics and their subjects.

4. Yes, to all of the above. The rare, the exotic, and the unusual are all part of the good and services on offer. You name it, they can provide it - for a price, of course.

5. The Syndics. They look human; I never saw a non-human Syndic. They have access to very advance other-planar technology, local space travel, and inter-bethorm travel. They know waaay too much... Other then that, you'll have to wait for the specific tale in my book about my dealings with them.

6. You don't. If you visit, you get housing outside the city appropriate to your rank and station, and they meet with you there. It's a sealed city, and they keep it that way. Same for the Livyani themselves, they have what amounts to an embassy there, located in one of the better suburbs. And yes, they do keep very close tabs on who the Syndics are talking to, and they try to keep tabs on the trade. Not that I'm surprised by this; the Livyani have a sneaking suspicion that the Syndics are behind the black stones that the Red Hats used to negate the Livyani magic-users.

Originally Posted by Neshm hiKumala

Fun.

I don't use sound effects during my game sessions, but some referees do. If you're one of them, and if your players ever end up visiting the core of Tekumel, where the great machines of the Ancients still whir, consider using this track for ambiance: 12 hours of the ambient sounds heard in the Krell underworld in Wilcox's "Forbidden Planet".

Phil loved this sequence in the movie; it's what he thought that the technology of the Ancients should be like - huge, mighty, and incomprehensible.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Thanks. They remind me of Akephaloi or Blemmyes. Would you have any more info on where they come from? I looked in my EPT and Bethorm books and I saw nothing about them. Maybe some stats...

Thanks again,

H:0)

They are in Ebon Bindings, and I think they are in some other nook as well; I found stats someplace, and I'll look around.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Thanks! I'm glad you like him; he was one of the first Tekumel figures that I did for our group.

(If I may make a side comment, I've gotten quite a bit of grief from hardcore miniature figure collectors for these conversions that I did back in the day - I'm told that I should have never used these Collectable and Valuable figures, ruining them for collectors, and that I should be ashamed of myself for doing so. I take it all with a bucket of salt; the last guy who was berating me for my disgusting conversion habit hadn't been born when I did this figure. Apparently, there are quite a few collectors out there who can;t quite get their heads around the notion that I'm really that old, and bought my figures back when they first came out...)

And actually gamed with them. I've got some figures roughly the same vintage, and I still use them as well.
Why not? What else are they good for if not to use?

Chirine,

Just wondering, do you know anything regarding the status of the Humanspace Empires game? These are a great set of rough rules, and I have lifted the weapons, and their stats, for my game. I'd certainly welcome a finished product.
Did the Foundation kill this as well? I seem to recall you saying that they were responsible for the Shen blog's demise.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

(If I may make a side comment, I've gotten quite a bit of grief from hardcore miniature figure collectors for these conversions that I did back in the day - I'm told that I should have never used these Collectable and Valuable figures, ruining[I] them for collectors, and that I should be ashamed of myself for doing so.

The phrase "To the giggling hooks with you, Soft One" comes to mind.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

They are in Ebon Bindings, and I think they are in some other nook as well; I found stats someplace, and I'll look around.

Thank you!!! I found a reference to The Ts�ghiyur in the entry about Lord GERESHMA'A, He of the Mound of Skulls. Who rules the Northwest Quadrant and Twelfth Circle of the Demon Plane...among other titles!!! So you can think of these fellows as literally not having a head, and or as minions, nice...Do they have any special powers in your game Uncle?

H:0)