Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Big Andy

Ok, have to ask. Is this a document the Good Professor created that you have in your archive or one that Chirine has in game?

And was it explained why they paid for it? I seem to recall that it was a crossroads on the good ol' interstellar highway that became a pleasure planet.

Only five parsecs until Tekumel! Visit the Mystery Spot!

1. The document should still be in Phil's files; that's where I last saw it. I have a scan of it in my archives. Chirine does not have it 'in game', nor does he know it exists.

The deal I made with Phil, way back in 1976, was that when he did something for Tekumel, I would make a copy for the archives - the 'back-up copy', as it were - and he'd keep the original. (I have done this ever since; it's what I always wanted to do, be an archivist - nothing more.) Over the decades, I would supply him with copies as things would 'go missing', 'get borrowed and not returned', 'lost', and other fates. That's what the archives are for - heck, when Jeff and Amanda Dee lost their artwork files for their lovely cardboard miniatures due to a server crash, we were able to replace the files for them.

2. No. Phil was always very cagey about this, and kept suggesting that we go have a look. we declined; nobody, but nobody, wanted to mess with the Hokun. I's suspect it had something to do with the lack of iron, myself; the Hokun may have granted the mineral rights, and been upset that they got handed a strip-mined planet. And yes, it happens to be on a good node in the trade routes, which is why you have such a diverse set of peoples on the planet; turning it into a resort world may have been the Hokun's way of making lemonade out of a lemon...

Wall Drug of Humanspace! Free Ice Water!

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Sure, I could...or I could give them a list of languages and let them pick...


Well, Occam says that it often is, but not always.


In my version of Humanspace, they were adding "Don't miss out on the Milky Way's Bangkok!", FWIW!

Agreed! Given the way the Lords of Humanspace acted, it wouldn't surprise me...

A few questions about the galaxy that Tekumel was formerly a part of...

Was the Humanspace empire the dominant force in known space, or were there other non-human races who had similar holdings? The Humanspace people sound somewhat like a bunch o' bastards (considering what you said they'd do if Tekumel reappeared in regular space), and I'm curious if they had/have any opposition, either human or not.

Did Phil ever give an "Earth year" for when Tekumel disappeared? I'd be curious how far into his future this happened, and (approximately) what the Earth date would be "now" - currently on Tekumel.

Do you think the Lords of Humanspace miss Tekumel, and have been/are looking into what happened? You've mentioned how it was important to stop the ones on Tekumel from moving the planet back into real-space, I was just wondering if there was any pull going on the other way. Some kind of incursion of forces from real-space, if they could make a stable gate or dimensional portal, could spell real trouble!

Thanks for your answers! This thread continues to be an awesome look into some wonderful games and fascinating players - I'm really enjoying it.

[From Atsuku Nare:]A few questions about the galaxy that Tekumel was formerly a part of...

Was the Humanspace empire the dominant force in known space, or were there other non-human races who had similar holdings? The Humanspace people sound somewhat like a bunch o' bastards (considering what you said they'd do if Tekumel reappeared in regular space), and I'm curious if they had/have any opposition, either human or not.

Yes, they did; both the Shunned Ones and the Hlutrgu were enemies. The H Mihalli were considered 'dangergrous', and there was a no contact rule in force about them. The Hokun were sort of allies, and the Nyagga very neutral.

And yes; the Lords of Humanspace were not nice people...

Did Phil ever give an "Earth year" for when Tekumel disappeared? I'd be curious how far into his future this happened, and (approximately) what the Earth date would be "now" - currently on Tekumel.

60,000 years from now, he said. Earth has been long forgotten, away across the galaxy. So, you could say 62,016 AD /CE, if you wanted to, although I'd plump for 69,946 AD / CE based on the date when Phil did his very first Tekumel writing.

Do you think the Lords of Humanspace miss Tekumel, and have been/are looking into what happened? You've mentioned how it was important to stop the ones on Tekumel from moving the planet back into real-space, I was just wondering if there was any pull going on the other way. Some kind of incursion of forces from real-space, if they could make a stable gate or dimensional portal, could spell real trouble!

They seem to, as we occasionally ran into parties of 'spies' and 'adventurers' who seemed to be working for somebody entirely besides The Usual Suspects, and who seemed to have entirely too much in the way of supposedly Ancient Technology. They also tended not to hang around long enough for us to ask any really interesting questions, too, and tended to leave via Nexus Points in a hurry. (Again, keep in mind Phil's long connection with the classic SF themes!)

Yes, we always kept a very close guard on any stable Nexus Points as well as on the tubeway car stations - unwelcome visitors were always a possibility!

Thanks for your answers! This thread continues to be an awesome look into some wonderful games and fascinating players - I'm really enjoying it.

You're very welcome; this is your thread, not mine, really. I'm here to answer your questions...

Originally Posted by Hrugga

If you have never seen this...enjoy!!! It is not official, but I think you will like it. I do...https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B45O...it?hl=en&pli=1

H :0)

Agreed! I thought that this was a really nice bit of work, and was quite saddened when it all stopped dead. There used to be a website, too, but I don;t know if it's still up.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Agreed! Given the way the Lords of Humanspace acted, it wouldn't surprise me...

Well, they had power over energy and matter. And with absolute power comes absolute irresponsibility, more often than not.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

If you have never seen this...enjoy!!! It is not official, but I think you will like it. I do...https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B45O...it?hl=en&pli=1

H :0)

FWIW, I hadn't seen it, and I like it.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

[From Atsuku Nare:]A few questions about the galaxy that Tekumel was formerly a part of...

Was the Humanspace empire the dominant force in known space, or were there other non-human races who had similar holdings? The Humanspace people sound somewhat like a bunch o' bastards (considering what you said they'd do if Tekumel reappeared in regular space), and I'm curious if they had/have any opposition, either human or not.

Yes, they did; both the Shunned Ones and the Hlutrgu were enemies. The H Mihalli were considered 'dangergrous', and there was a no contact rule in force about them. The Hokun were sort of allies, and the Nyagga very neutral.

And yes; the Lords of Humanspace were not nice people...

Did Phil ever give an "Earth year" for when Tekumel disappeared? I'd be curious how far into his future this happened, and (approximately) what the Earth date would be "now" - currently on Tekumel.

60,000 years from now, he said. Earth has been long forgotten, away across the galaxy. So, you could say 62,016 AD /CE, if you wanted to, although I'd plump for 69,946 AD / CE based on the date when Phil did his very first Tekumel writing.

Do you think the Lords of Humanspace miss Tekumel, and have been/are looking into what happened? You've mentioned how it was important to stop the ones on Tekumel from moving the planet back into real-space, I was just wondering if there was any pull going on the other way. Some kind of incursion of forces from real-space, if they could make a stable gate or dimensional portal, could spell real trouble!

They seem to, as we occasionally ran into parties of 'spies' and 'adventurers' who seemed to be working for somebody entirely besides The Usual Suspects, and who seemed to have entirely too much in the way of supposedly Ancient Technology. They also tended not to hang around long enough for us to ask any really interesting questions, too, and tended to leave via Nexus Points in a hurry. (Again, keep in mind Phil's long connection with the classic SF themes!)

Yes, we always kept a very close guard on any stable Nexus Points as well as on the tubeway car stations - unwelcome visitors were always a possibility!

Thanks for your answers! This thread continues to be an awesome look into some wonderful games and fascinating players - I'm really enjoying it.

You're very welcome; this is your thread, not mine, really. I'm here to answer your questions...

*Sound of Asen scribbling notes*.
Yes, my players are totally going to love that!

Originally Posted by Hrugga

If you have never seen this...enjoy!!! It is not official, but I think you will like it. I do...https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B45O...it?hl=en&pli=1

H :0)

Cool.

Historical note: Phil called his FTL drive "The Three-Light Drive". Sort of reminds one of the Eighth Ray, doesn't it?