Questioning chirine ba kal

**chirine ba kal** · 01-07-2016, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by The_Shadow

The "chimes" (and the "odour of musty cinnamon") are genius touches of imagination. Can you imagine something like that in the mind of a Hollywood scriptwriter? No way. The Ssu would just roar and growl like any other "scary" screen creature.

Agreed. See Phil's love of the common tropes in 1940s and 1950s pulp and F/SF; I think that's where he got a lot of his inspirations...

**chirine ba kal** · 01-07-2016, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Yep.

Precisely. And that's why we games the way we did. And had the fun we did. IMHO, of course...

**Hrugga** · 01-07-2016, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Agreed. See Phil's love of the common tropes in 1940s and 1950s pulp and F/SF; I think that's where he got a lot of his inspirations...

This morning around 4:35am before heading out to work, I listened to wind chimes(metal and bamboo) on Youtube. That combined with a nice mixture of 3parts cinnamon/1part nutmeg(used to flavor my coffee made in an Italian Coffee Pot)creeped me out(it was still dark outside)!!!

It's going to be fun one day to use props(wind chimes and my cinnamon mixture) to mess with my kids!!!

H ;0)

**Hrugga** · 01-07-2016, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

[From Big Andy:]How many Ssu are there? Could the Ancients communicate with them? If they couldn't and the Ssu were always hostile, why did they leave them alive? How do they communicate with the Hluss? If they can't communicate with humans, how does the Zu'ur trade work?

We don't know, really. Enough to survive all this time, but not enough to wipe us humans out.

Not that I am aware of, but I'm sure that they could (machines, etc.) They were kept as 'curiosities' on their reservations, to amuse the Lords of Humanspace. "Oh, look! See the quaint natives, honey! Aren't they cute!"

No idea. They do seem to, though.

The Hlyss run the Zu'ur traffic, through silent trade. Humans leave stuff the Hlyss want on the beach, and the Hlyss leave the drugs in trade.

With regards to Temples, internationally speaking are the foreign branches of a Temple independent? For example, does a Temple of Vimuhla in N'luss acknowledge the High Priest back in Avanthar as their leader or are they, to borrow the Glorious General's style, The Vimuhla Temple of N'Luss- Reformed, or some such thing? Given that so many Temples appear to be tied so close to the Petal Throne, it would seem that foreign pulpits would be in danger of being politicized against the local government.

Each of the Temples is 'loyal' to the nearest government, usually to the one with the most troops nearest the temple. Keep in mind that the Temples are independent from the governments - there is no 'leader back in Avanthar'. (The Temple of Vimuhla holds that the High Priest of the First Temple out in the Chakas is 'first amongst equals', and is the head of the Council when and if it meets.) In this particular case, the temples in Mu'uglavya make sure to support the state there, just like the ones in Tsolyanu support the Imperium. However, the central governments are quite aware that all of the temples have their own political agendas, and would be more then willing to start up their own theocratic states if they had the chance. Hence the secret police agencies all over the place; everybody is watched, all the time.

[Edit: I'm going to add a little bit, here. None of the various organizations on Tekumel are monolithic. All of them have factions, sects, secret societies, and power groups all seeking to advance a particular agenda. This interplay makes for a lot of adventures...]

Only the Nyemesel Isles has a 'state religion', as the place is a true theocracy.

I have seen many people be dismissive of historicals but to say that they are not wargames? My gast is flabbered.

Me, too.

Question about Hluss Hive ships...How big are they? Are there different types/classes of ship? How many Hluss can they carry? Are they always armed with lightning bringers? What makes those suckers move? When you hear that low humming sound pay attention...

Thanks,

H :0)

**Big Andy** · 01-07-2016, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

The Hlyss run the Zu'ur traffic, through silent trade. Humans leave stuff the Hlyss want on the beach, and the Hlyss leave the drugs in trade?

Each of the Temples is 'loyal' to the nearest government, usually to the one with the most troops nearest the temple. Keep in mind that the Temples are independent from the governments - there is no 'leader back in Avanthar'. (The Temple of Vimuhla holds that the High Priest of the First Temple out in the Chakas is 'first amongst equals', and is the head of the Council when and if it meets.) In this particular case, the temples in Mu'uglavya make sure to support the state there, just like the ones in Tsolyanu support the Imperium. However, the central governments are quite aware that all of the temples have their own political agendas, and would be more then willing to start up their own theocratic states if they had the chance. Hence the secret police agencies all over the place; everybody is watched, all the time.

How did they start the Zu'ur trade to begin with? And how do you know what a Hlyss wants?

The Temple hierarchy you describe really opens my eyes. My mistaken notion of the High Priest acting almost like a Tekumel Pope with leadership reaching across borders I got from the novels, where personages like Misenla seemed to be treated as such. Being more like Patriarchs makes things more complicated, and interesting.

**Hrugga** · 01-07-2016, 10:40 PM

Originally Posted by Big Andy

How did they start the Zu'ur trade to begin with? And how do you know what a Hlyss wants?

The Temple hierarchy you describe really opens my eyes. My mistaken notion of the High Priest acting almost like a Tekumel Pope with leadership reaching across borders I got from the novels, where personages like Misenla seemed to be treated as such. Being more like Patriarchs makes things more complicated, and interesting.

I was just reading a bit of the Blue Room Archives. It was a discussion about Ssu, Hluss, Hokun. All three are able to communicate with ease. Hokun are able to communicate with humans. Hokun seem to be trouble makers and behind many of the woes on Tekumel. I would not be suprised to see the Hokun playing both sides(Ssu/Hluss and Humans)against each other to suit their own needs.

Besides nobody likes those bugs...There are rumors about what they are doing to Humankind on the other side of the world.

Just some food for thought.

H :0)

**Gronan of Simmerya** · 01-07-2016, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Say what? Run that one past me again, Glorious General? I think I just boggled.

As the saying goes, Montressor, "I can't make this shit up."

http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=29455

And another place

http://odd74.proboards.com/thread/11...ition-war-game

in which we discover a "war game" is different from a "strategy game." Apparently, war does not have strategy in it.

Hmm, much suddenly becomes clear...

**Gronan of Simmerya** · 01-07-2016, 11:32 PM

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Agreed; you could see it in his face throughout the entire game - he did indeed know that I was fighting the battle short-handed. He kept giving me funny looks, waiting to see me pull the rabbit out of the hat.

What got him was the difference between knowing something intellectually, and feeling it emotionally. He knew something was going to happen, and it happened when I plopped the boxes full of stuff in front of him at the end of the game. That golden moment, which I was - and still am very happy to have given him - was one of the instances when the referee / GM sees that the whole thing has been worth it and all the hard work and effort has paid off.

We were lucky. We had a lot of those moments.

Reluctantly, I must confess that I was caught totally flat footed.

You see, it was a BIG battle. A HUGE battle. We had moved together either four or six standard schoolroom folding tables, so we had something like a 7 x 12 foot battlefield.

Now, other than the overeager Germans using an 88 from a mile and a half away to shoot at a jeep (the single worst possible choice; even worse the woods were CRAWLING with German infantry, and every damn squad has an MG34! One short burst and the poor lads in the jeep would have been done for.) Anyway, other than that, the Germans were playing compentently... perhaps even well.

But Chirine, honestly, is a fucking brilliant tactician.

He excels at reading the terrain from the ENEMY point of view. As in, "If I were the Germans and wanted to give me a nasty surprise, where would I put my weapons?"

Chirine is also the man who taught me about "bounding overwatch." That is, while Element A moves Element B is watching likely attack zones, and vice versa. So 3rd Platoon of Easy 8s is watching that woods there as one tank... ONLY one tank... from 1st Platoon zips out to those abandoned buildings. If the lead tank makes it, the rest of 1 Platoon follows. Et cetera.

So when 2 platoon moves its lead unit, 1 Platoon is watching the abandoned factory, and when the German tank pegs the lead tank of 2 Platoon, all 5 of 1 Platoon's Easy 8s open fire.

And because Chirine is very good indeed, 2 Platoon's tank moved in a way that made the Panther expose its turret side to 1 Platoon. And at 400 yards an Easy 8s' 76 will punch through the side of a Panther's turret.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The net effect, to summarize, is that Chirine and his subcommanders were giving the Germans one hell of a shellacking. As in, the Germans were losing a tank for virtually every American tank they knocked out. I've never seen anything like it, and I had simply subconsciously assumed that the Americans were taking the usual 3:1 or so losses.

So when Chirine said "That's why I've kept my reserves over here" and popped the boxes open, my jaw hit the floor. Too bad digital cameras weren't around yet, my expression must have been pretty choice.

On the other hand, I'm happy to know that the memory of the look on my face still keeps you warm at night.

**Hermes Serpent** · 01-08-2016, 03:02 AM

It's been interesting reading the asides about miniatures gaming in the old days from the General and Chirine. As a long time miniatures gamer (as well as RPG'er) I can empathise with their points.

I was once playing in a Vietnam wargame in the early 80's being run by Paddy Griffiths (that Paddy Griffiths) and was accused of being a ringer who had taken the Platoon Commanders course at Sandhurst (British West Point) due to my tactical handling of the US Grunts. I pointed out to Paddy that I'd learned my tactics from the WW2 Infantry manuals available to my Cadet Force at school (sort of OTC for teens) in the later 60's and not from being in the British Army. So even professionals (Paddy was then a lecturer at Sandhurst) can be fooled by applying hard won knowledge learned from books.

Nigel

**Gronan of Simmerya** · 01-08-2016, 09:21 AM

Well done, that lad!

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