Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

And I must report with deep regret that due to a medical emergency in the family, happening at the last moment, I had to cancel running Tekumel on the local mini-con.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

I wanted to ask this before, but it slipped my mind. So here goes...What form, or apperance are "Books" on Tekumel? Western like, folded(accordion style, like an Aztec Codex), or like scrolls? Or all of the above...? I also seem to remember something about "metal" plates as well...? Thanks

H:0)

All of the above, plus some. Really important documents are engraved on metal plates, parchment is used, and paper very common. You'll also see stacks of wood, leaves, and every imaginable material put together and written on. There is no use of moveable type, however. Block printing is used for cheap and nasty things for which a huge number are needed, because the scribes turn up their noses at these as being unworthy of their time.

One of the very coolest and most wonderful moments of my life came when we were up in the 'attic' - Phil's third floor home office. He had a huge - over 8,000 item - personal library, and he was showing some of us around. He told me to hold out my hands, palms up, and he put a small - about the size of the usual paperback - book in them. The cover was ornately carven, and he then opened the book very carefully and began to turn the pages.

I had everything I could do to not drop the book. The pages were covered with deep black in calligraphy in Urdu; it was a copy of the Qu'uran, written in the ink of squids on pages not of paper, but of paper-thin ivory. About 700 years old, Phil said. He also had examples of everything you mentioned, as well as Japanese 'accordian books', Chinese bamboo books, Persian miniature paintings, and Tibetan leaf books.

So, yes, you get everything...

Originally Posted by Hrugga

This is a handy-dandy link to The Humanspace RPG resource page...I forgot to post this before. Some of my favorite haunts are here...Enjoy!!!


http://ixians.blogspot.com/p/humansp...urces.html?m=1


H:0)

Thank you for posting this!

Originally Posted by rawma

I dunno. Jean-Luc Picard says there are four lights, and he's traveled faster than the speed of light enough that he ought to know.

Yep; and Phil was doing his writing when the good Captain's ancestor was taking a little trip in his bathyscape - little bit o' trivia there...

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Cool.

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

Why... Why... How could you say that... ?

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

As to the latter part, at 3C the ships are going nowhere. Space is big. Sigh. When you and I were in Starfleet Academy they made us learn basic math.

I had hypothesized that there were three "drive emitters" at the rear of the ship and each gives off a different wavelength of harmonic visible light, but I'm glad to hear what Phil's idea was.

Yep; it's one of those 'who knows?' things. All Phil cared about was that you could go from planet to planet really quickly.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

How far off of the main Tekumel main trunk would it be to merge in
Chitin:I for the Hlyss?
Meaning that for the Hlyss you have all the physical types from Chitin and not just the single type in the original game rules?

https://www.blackgate.com/2014/12/28...-harvest-wars/

Is there enough known about the Hlyss (in the original rules) that this would break the setting?
=

I don't see where there'd be a problem. Phil had one 'chitin' to make things easier in the game, but I don't see where this kind of distinction would be an issue. In our time gaming with him, Pe Choi tended to have a little bit 'thinner' chitin then Hlyss, so you could easily use this handy set of rules to show this. Hlyss are supposed to be very tough and feared, so I think you're fine. One could even make the difference between Hlyss 'workers', which were pretty easy to kill, and the 'warriors', which were very tough for a human to take on.

Originally Posted by AsenRG

And I must report with deep regret that due to a medical emergency in the family, happening at the last moment, I had to cancel running Tekumel on the local mini-con.

Oh, dear... You take care, and all out very best!!!

Originally Posted by AsenRG

And I must report with deep regret that due to a medical emergency in the family, happening at the last moment, I had to cancel running Tekumel on the local mini-con.

Hope everything turns out ok.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Yep; it's one of those 'who knows?' things. All Phil cared about was that you could go from planet to planet really quickly.

You and I understand this, of course, but the notion seems to get lost in some places.

Sometimes, the amount of time it takes the Starship Enterprise to get from Gamma Hydra III to Rigel VII is "however long the plot needs it to take."