Questioning chirine ba kal

**Big Andy** · 09-01-2016, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

The Kolumel; the only drawing by Phil we have of this was for my article on coins; I'll see about scanning both it and the photo for you.

I'll take you up on your very kind offer; spent last nigh digging out video gear and getting everything back in working order, as I haven't touched any of it since we did Phil's memorial event.

---

The thing is apparently a hunk of ancient Three-Light drive, taken out of a ship and made 'portable'. The black box aspect of the thing is a framework draped with cloth to hide the actual technology of the thing, and is one of Phil's oldest and funniest in-jokes - which I didn't get until we were going through his slides for the memorial event, and I saw the photos he'd taken of it. (And though "You got me again, Phil!" and laughed quite a lot in his memory.) It works by cutting off the connection to the Planes Beyond, and then moving something in time-space (Arneson's little 'dimension hopper' device is a much smaller version) and I'd guess is also some sort of 'force-field' generator. It also supposedly has a tractor-pressor beam generator, too.

The thing is absurdly well-guarded, and Lord Fu Shi is usually hanging around the thing - it's thought that he and his masters from the other side of the planet provided the device to Baron Ald. We looked in at the thing, after the war got started, and couldn't get anywhere near the thing. Looked nice on the massve cart they made for it, and it's be one heck of a model on the table. (Which I will have to make, now that we have Chlen from Howard Fielding...)

What else do you need for your adventure?

Can you explain the in-joke?

Also, sawing out a hunk out a hunk of Three Light drive sounds absurdly dangerous and makes me think of the Vietnamese going out and sawing apart dud bombs to get the HE out of them. One wrong move and your future weapon activates on you. Did the Weapon ever get used? In the novels and sourcebooks it just seems to roll around slowly as a threat, with no one really knowing what it does.

And, yes, you need to model it. And then show us the pictures. Sorry to throw more work on you

**Greentongue** · 09-01-2016, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by Big Andy

Did the Weapon ever get used?

In "Man of Gold" at the end, it said that it was but most didn't know because of what it actually did.
=

**Baron Opal** · 09-01-2016, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by Big Andy

Can you explain the in-joke?

And, yes, you need to model it. And then show us the pictures. Sorry to throw more work on you

I think it was expected to be a caged demon of some sort, rather than an ultra-tech device.

How big would it be? It's been ages since I read the book, but would a 5" cube under the canvas be on scale?

**Neshm hiKumala** · 09-01-2016, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

What else do you need for your adventure?

So far ... more time to think about them! I'll get back to you when I have further questions (and I will have more of them!)
In the mean time, thanks for the details on the Weapon Without Answer.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

You can see a color version in the "Der SpiegeL Online" article about Prof. Barker; try http://www.spiegel.de/images/image-1...eryV9-mdcb.jpg but the flash kinda wipes out the detail.

Yes, the details are washed out. I had seen that picture before without realizing that the Emperor's Seal was hanging there. Very cool.

As for you attachment: as mentioned already, for some reason, the one you posted failed to take digital root, so to speak.
I've attempted to post my own attachment, the Spiegel's photo:

serveimage.jpg

... and it worked.
The Spiegel image, as downloaded on my computer, is a JPG. Perhaps is the picture you attempted to post saved in some other format, one not recognized by the RPGSite? Try a JPG or a PNG if you can.

**Big Andy** · 09-01-2016, 05:59 PM

Originally Posted by Greentongue

In "Man of Gold" at the end, it said that it was but most didn't know because of what it actually did.
=

I know the Man of Gold was used but no one knew what it did but, as I remember, the Weapon seemed to burn out, electrically speaking, with black smoke pouring out of the cube, and the Baron's army retreating because of its malfunction. I will have to go back and check.

**chirine ba kal** · 09-02-2016, 05:19 AM

Let's try this...
ImperialStandard.jpg

**chirine ba kal** · 09-02-2016, 05:22 AM

Originally Posted by Bren

Attachment 319, the BW picture, doesn't work properly.

Thanks for letting me know; I tested it after I posted, and it worked the first time. However, then all I got was an 'invalid attachment' notice. I tried something different - see post #4308...

**chirine ba kal** · 09-02-2016, 05:24 AM

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Hey Chirine,

Out of curiosity is that Phil's office, where the picture's taken? Is that the Glorious General to your right?

Shemek

It's the mezzanine gaming area at the original Source Games, where I was doing a gaming session trying to promote Tekumel; this was back when we were still trying to keep Tekumel Games afloat.

No, it is not. For a photo of me and the Glorious General (with Dave Wesely as a bonus!) see my recent blog posts...

**chirine ba kal** · 09-02-2016, 05:36 AM

Originally Posted by Big Andy

Can you explain the in-joke?

Also, sawing out a hunk out a hunk of Three Light drive sounds absurdly dangerous and makes me think of the Vietnamese going out and sawing apart dud bombs to get the HE out of them. One wrong move and your future weapon activates on you. Did the Weapon ever get used? In the novels and sourcebooks it just seems to roll around slowly as a threat, with no one really knowing what it does.

And, yes, you need to model it. And then show us the pictures. Sorry to throw more work on you

We never saw or heard of the thing actually being used as a weapon, so nobody had a clear idea of what it did. Al of us being SF fans, we assumed the worst in technological devices. The news that activating the Man of Gold had popped it's fuses was the first 'hard information' we had on the damn thing.

Phil's joke on all of us Midwestern cultural illiterates? What's a big cubical object, covered in black cloth which has got gold calligraphy around the top, and is 'The Weapon Without Answer"?

After Phil passed away, we were helping get the house ready to be sold, and there on the bedroom windowsill was a 6" cube that matched Phil's description of the thing. And I sat down and laughed, thinking Phil had gotten me again, even after all these years.

In the Holy City of Mecca, in the Al-Masjid Al-Haram, is the first temple where the Prophet - Blessed be his Name! - cast down the idols and established the first mosque. Phil's description of his mighty Black Box is that of Islam's holiest site, the Qaaba (or Kaaba, depending on how you translate the Arabic word.)

Ah. me. Ah, Phil...

**chirine ba kal** · 09-02-2016, 05:38 AM

Originally Posted by Greentongue

In "Man of Gold" at the end, it said that it was but most didn't know because of what it actually did.
=

Exactly. We still really don't know what the thing was / is; as far as I know, it's still sitting out there someplace in Yan Kor in storage.

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