Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Kathy Marschall/Lady Vrisa

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

the night that Kathy showed up and handed me a copy of her letter telling them where to stuff it was traumatic.

...buh?

Kathy as in Lady Vrisa? Kathy as on one of two or three artists who actually worked with Phil to DEFINE the look of Tekumel?

THAT Kathy?

My gob, he is smacked.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Kathy Marschall/Lady Vrisa

Oh, OK. Very nice work.

Shemek.

Chirine,

I was recently on the old Blue Room Archive and I came across this snippet from Phil. It's from a larger paragraph.

"I don't mind talking about it -- it's common knowledge in the ports of Yan Kor and Pijjena. ...The Black Ships come from over the Pole --apparently there are ways around the ice cap that lies about 30 hexes north of the northernmost hex you can see on the Zocchi map. The Black Ships contain leather-clad traders and warriors who seek gold, furs, fancy goods, etc. in Yan Kor and the south. They do not often disembark, and they never leave their ships to travel southward by land. Some seem to have sorcerous powers, like Fu Shi'i, while others are reputed to be fine warriors and sailors. They have not been a major problem, which is why they are not much mentioned in any of my books. I suppose one could take passage on one of these ships and go across the pole. But rumour has it that those kingdoms are ruled by Hokun, who use humans as slaves."

Out of curiosity, is there anything else that you could tell us about these Black Ships, and their crew? According to Phil, in the same post, he states that "Fu Shi claims to have come over the North Pole, via the "Black Ships" that sometimes appear in the northern seas." I guess that they are somehow related to the Brown and Purple Empire you mentioned a while back?
I checked the previous posts, but didn't find any mention of these ships, or the human allies (slaves?) of the Hokun that crew them, if that's who these "men" are?. If you already covered it, please point me in the right direction and I'll see what you said.

Shemek

Originally Posted by Big Andy

This is up and running now.

Very cool! I like what Jeff Dee is doing; it's what we've all had to do, over the decades, taking Phil's 'sketches' and fleshing them out.

From Asen RG:
Interesting. Are they using old Humanspace tech? Or do they have their own, and what it looks like?
Same question for the Mihalli precognition, how do you suspect it works?

Yes, to both. They get the stuff the same way we do, by sending out parties of 'adventurers' to see what they can find. They also had their own stuff, but we saw very, very little of it; I think I have a drawing or two in the files, and I'll have a look for you...

We don't know for sure, but the prevailing theory is that it is tied in with their seeming to exist on several planes of reality at once, and that their 'future selves' can communicate with their 'present selves', depending on how well the planes of reality are meshing at that point in space-time.

I don't know, either.
I mean, I like to say you should treat games "seriously". But what I actually mean is, you should pay attention to the details and base them off actual research instead of on "we're PCs, of course it works in our favour"!

Well, that makes sense.

From your stories, you guys were playing in what I'd call "fully serious" manner. I wouldn't say the same about many of the people that claim that title today.

Oh, I'd agree with that. Very much, actually.

And it's already at $1731 with just 25 backers.

Which is a good thing, if you ask me...

Originally Posted by CRKrueger

Ok, so I have a couple questions for Gronan and Chirine.

Assume the following:

• I know nothing about Tékumel
• I have no problem with "acquiring" out of print material.
• I'm not really tied to any one system.
• I realize that like Prof. Barker himself, I'm not a transgendered person of color and so, naturally, have no business even thinking about Tékumel.

1. What in the name of Thúmis the Seeker should I start with?

2. It seems like all your campaign history got put into novels and wargame supplements. Is there a master list of these?

3. What relation does the Jeff Dee stuff have to Tékumel? Is it some off-screen part he took to make his own?

4. I haven't learned any fantasy languages, and probably won't, but is there a good guide to Tsolyáni?

1. I agree with Gronan - start with EPT. It's the best introduction yet, I think, and does not have a lot of complication to it. If and when you think you're ready, a copy of the Sourcebook - but be aware that it is a very dense read, as it's more an ethnographic study then an RPG. But it is Phil's world, all laid out for you.

2. Brett Slocum has a very good bibliography over on his Tekumel Yahoo group; it's very complete, and about the best list out there. Look in his 'FAQ file'.

3. What Jeff is doing is what we all used to do; take Phil's little 'sketches' and monographs and fill them out when gaming. Phil used to do the exact same thing - he knew in general terms what a particular area was like, but if more detailed information was needed he'd send a party of players in there to find things out for him. He'd them write is all up, and we'd publish it. Lather, rinse, and repeat for the better part of fifty years, and that's why there is this huge mass of data about Tekumel. Jeff's doing the same thing, but you get the information in a handy format for your use.

Likewise, "Bethorm" is about the closest we'll ever get to what Phil's S&G RPG would have been, as well as being the best approximation of the way Phil played in the middle to late 1980s - when he used any rules at all. Simple combat system, more complex magic system - I think it's about the best we'll ever get, frankly.

4. "The Tsolyani Language", by M. A. R. Barker. The Tsolyani-English / English-Tsolyani dictionary and 'handy phrases' are the best part - some of the latter tell little stories that are gems of their own. We did a CD version of the language tape that Phil did for me, and Carl Brodt might still have some. We still have the master tapes; Phil said that his copy got lost or mislaid in the middle 1990s.

(And it's 'bisexual', not 'transgendered', I have been told. Sorry to be fussy...)

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Kathy Marschall/Lady Vrisa

What he said. The wonderful Kathy Marschall, The Highborn Lady Princess Vrisa Vishetru, 23rd child of the Ssao of Saa Alliqui, and clan-cousin to Baron Ald Vishetru...

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

...buh?

Kathy as in Lady Vrisa? Kathy as on one of two or three artists who actually worked with Phil to DEFINE the look of Tekumel?

THAT Kathy?

My gob, he is smacked.

Ah, Glorious General, I hope you have a bucket handy.

Yes. The very same. The talented artist and wonderful player. Our mutual friend. Our stalwart companion for a decade. Read and weep, my General...

So one fine Thursday night in the middling 1990s, the Missus is watching the telly in the living room when the front doorbell rings. She comes and gets me in the home office; Kathy's at the front door, and she hands me a copy of a typed letter that she's just handed to Phil before she'd walked out. She'd told Phil and the cronies - guess who? - that's she'd had enough of their antics and that she was quitting the Thursday Night Group. Permanently. To drive the point home, she'd done one of her great bits of art telling them just exactly what she thought of them.

As you are, I was - and still am - gobsmacked. Then she told me, in short pithy words, on my doorstep, why she was quitting.

The continuing and graphic in-game 'PvP' sexual harassment, sexual abuse, torture, and rape that she had had to put up with as Vrisa was made the object of hatred by the very people that she was then currently doing the artwork for - she was in the middle of the "Adventures on Tekumel" series - and that night had had the final straw when Vrisa was drugged and abducted by one of the players - guess who, my General! - who then had her stripped and sold to Gij and Sons for sale as a slave. The player - guess who, my General! - not only pocketed the sale money but sold all of her possessions and pocketed that money as well; remember the suit of steel armor that we got her as a gift? Gone, my General. Her enchanted sword, that she used to save our sorry asses on so many desperate occasions? Gone, my General.

"Oh, and by the way, could you hurry up on that artwork?" she was told. That's when she walked out.

And with that explanation, she turned and left. Never came back to Tekumel, either. I had the shakes for the next two days.

Sad little postscript: When I called to let her know about Phil's memorial event, her husband gave me a polite brush-off. Can't say as I blame them, my General.

Does this put my rage in perspective for you, my General?

Kathy and her amazing talent for illustrating Phil's imagination. Gone, my General.