Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Uncle,

Greetings. Could you expand a bit on the details of the incident when you were governor of Hekellu? Would you have any other information not already give about Striding Incantation? There is only a paragraph about them in the sourcebook...Do they get along with the Society of the Hands that are not Seen? I found your commentary on SI intriguing. Most of the pulp stories I've read about puppets have very sinister outcomes. As far as their secrecy goes are there any rumors that people whisper about them in hushed conversation? Did The Professor ever give any hints as to which god or gods they worship? Or anything else interesting about these clans? Do you have any suspicions of your own about them?

Thanks,

H:0)

PS Not Human...androids...!?!?!...The plot thickens. I missed a bit of the conversation.

Sure. There'll be a whole section in the book, but the short form is that somebody had A Bright Idea and was holding a couple of the clan's kids hostage; the clan let me know about it - this was after a performance at the palace, so the Imperium itself was being insulted - and I gathered the assasins and paid the young fool's clan a visit. Got the kids back, and shortly afterwards my new twins got a set of dolls to keep them company. Which led to the most screamingly terrifying night I ever had on Tekumel.

They do indeed get along with the Society; the Society is the more 'junior' of the pair, with Striding Incantation more 'senior'. The members of the Society seem a little more 'approachable', if I can use that term, then the clan's people who seem a lot more 'remote' and 'aloof'. Both, as Phil says, are very special and very outside the usual system of clans and politics. You just don't mess with them, or mess them around.

Lots of hushed conversations about them, and lots of very circumspect interest in them in the temples. The death of the guy in Bey Su is widely attributed to them, but nobody knows for sure and they aren't telling. The puppet shows are fascinating to watch, and they do provide some pretty cool entertainment.

They are not androids; we do know that. We don't know for sure if they are humans like us; they might be some of the specially-bred races of the Lords of Humanspace. Nobody has ever investigated the matter in any depth, as nobody wants to provoke them or start an incident that will end badly. Phil gave us nothing on them, besides what he gave in the Sourcebook; as he put it, "I think we need to have a mystery or two for people to discover for themselves." So, treat them with kid gloves and sit back and enjoy the show...

I'm sorry that there isn't more for you, but that's all we ever got from him.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Sorry; I can't get my head around the notion. I suppose one could send in the legion and wipe them out, but I would not want to be the one giving that order.

Well, I just remember how people that knew they can be messed with have behaved throughout history. Not too nobly, if i might say that.
And then my mind went to "what if there was a real troublemaker among them - someone who would be doing the same even without the proteced status - but now he has the status, too"?
You can guess why I was puzzled.

In retrospect, it was absurdly funny - if you didn't have to live through it, of course. It cost me $800 in legal fees, the destruction of my decade-old game group, and several thirty- and forty-year friendships. I'm still having to deal with the aftermath of this nonsense.

Oh, sorry to hear that! I thought these were just harmless misguided guys. I mean, they didn't realise WotC's lawyers, of all law departmentsout there, would go after them? Didn't seem like people who can cause any kind of backlash!

The biggest losers is the whole affair have been gamers and Tekumel fans in general, but then that didn't seem to matter much to these people.

So it goes. Live and learn.

Business as usual.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Sure. There'll be a whole section in the book, but the short form is that somebody had A Bright Idea and was holding a couple of the clan's kids hostage; the clan let me know about it - this was after a performance at the palace, so the Imperium itself was being insulted - and I gathered the assasins and paid the young fool's clan a visit. Got the kids back, and shortly afterwards my new twins got a set of dolls to keep them company. Which led to the most screamingly terrifying night I ever had on Tekumel.

Kids these days, and their toys!

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Fun fact: there was a time in the 90ies when some people here believed that people in the USA just know more about the way businesses work, because obviously you study that at school or something!

Ah! I don't know id this is still true, but a business management course at the Carlson School of Business hereabouts used to use the rise and fall of TSR as a case study in how not to run a business...

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Well, I just remember how people that knew they can be messed with have behaved throughout history. Not too nobly, if i might say that.
And then my mind went to "what if there was a real troublemaker among them - someone who would be doing the same even without the proteced status - but now he has the status, too"?
You can guess why I was puzzled.

Oh, sorry to hear that! I thought these were just harmless misguided guys. I mean, they didn't realise WotC's lawyers, of all law departmentsout there, would go after them? Didn't seem like people who can cause any kind of backlash!

Business as usual.

Kids these days, and their toys!

Understood.

No, they had no idea that what they were doing was going to get them into hot water. From what we found out later, the whole thing may have been a scam to get control of IP for resale. The people who instigated the affair had a very interesting 'resume', as it were.

I'm no great business man, but even I know better then that. <Sigh>.

It wasn't the kids - it was the toys...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Ah! I don't know id this is still true, but a business management course at the Carlson School of Business hereabouts used to use the rise and fall of TSR as a case study in how not to run a business...

Well, that's why I said this beliefe, which has passed already, is a funny little fact, just like the belief in the 2012 end of the world - I scheduled a session for the day.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Understood.

No, they had no idea that what they were doing was going to get them into hot water. From what we found out later, the whole thing may have been a scam to get control of IP for resale. The people who instigated the affair had a very interesting 'resume', as it were.

I'm no great business man, but even I know better then that. <Sigh>.

It wasn't the kids - it was the toys...

Well, not so funny with that additional tidbit.

And I was imagining a Tekumelian grognard from your clan talking after that first night, preferably while sipping tea from a golden bowl and observing the destruction the toys wrought to the clan compound!

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Well, I just remember how people that knew they can be messed with have behaved throughout history. Not too nobly, if i might say that.
And then my mind went to "what if there was a real troublemaker among them - someone who would be doing the same even without the proteced status - but now he has the status, too"?
You can guess why I was puzzled.

If a member of the clan was acting like a gobshite and relying on the high status of the clan to protect him, it would make the clan look ignoble.

Therefore, the clan elders would See To It. (c) (tm) (reg u.s. pat off)

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

If a member of the clan was acting like a gobshite and relying on the high status of the clan to protect him, it would make the clan look ignoble.

Therefore, the clan elders would See To It. (c) (tm) (reg u.s. pat off)

Great! Now, what are the odds, Glorious General, that Seeing To It might involve adventurers?
Just a theoretical estimate, you know, I know a guy who knows a guy that might be interested!

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Great! Now, what are the odds, Glorious General, that Seeing To It might involve adventurers?
Just a theoretical estimate, you know, I know a guy who knows a guy that might be interested!

Striding Incantation is so secretive I doubt they'd involve outsiders. I suspect the miscreant would simply not be seen any more, either for a long while or possibly ever.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Striding Incantation is so secretive I doubt they'd involve outsiders. I suspect the miscreant would simply not be seen any more, either for a long while or possibly ever.

Ah well, there goes the chance to get the PCs involved with them.