Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Dulahan

I concede I'd also really love to know more about the Purple and Brown Empire, but between a post I noticed yesterday, and what's been said I gather that their armor is somewhat more plain. They have some sort of monolithic government. They're expansionistic. Probably have some spies in the 5 Empires... And know of the Hokun.

Anything else?

Like what their names are like? Are they all like Chinese sounding like Fu Hsi? (Trivia! that's actually the name of a figure from Chinese Myth, one of the three sovereigns: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuxi) Or didn't you learn any other names?

Religious Details?

They seem like they could be a good potential antagonist or ally depending for my own game I'm planning, what with spies and Expasionistic tendencies. Or even just a place to send my poor PCs as Diplomats at some point.

Honestly, I'm a setting nerd in general, I love learning all I can about in depth settings. So anything at all about the parts of Tekumel not otherwise detailed are things I'm fascinated by. Different nations and cultures and histories especially. Probably comes from my own being a Historian or something.

Not a lot more, really. We didn't spend a lot of time on this, as we spent most of our time in the Five Empires dealing with all sorts of emergencies. Phil was very upfront about not detailing a lot of his world - about 75% of the planet's surface, actually! - so that GMs and players could make up their own adventures. Which I thought, and still think, was/is pretty damn generous of him...

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Uncle, first, allow me to express my hope that the daughter's luggage arriving is a good thing, not a bad thing! (I'm sure you'd be glad to see her either way!)


I'm starting to think that those stories, or what you remember of them, might make a nice appendix to your book. After all, they're probably the inspiration of a lot of the "adventuring" side of Tekumel! And something like "The Hidden Roots of the Petal Throne" might be a fitting title.


Of course, that's exactly how it was in Europe, though most fantasy ignores it. You display the signs that identify you as part of (or head of) a group.
Why would a decent man cover his family crest, or his coat of arms? These are things you're supposed to be proud of. Why aren't you? Are you not a decent man?
(Exception was made for stuff like people that have given an oath).


Here's my question! Can you, or the Glorious General, describe what it would be like to simply walk down the street in the Foreigners' Quarter in Jakalla, looking for a place to stay?

1. Well, it was a little exciting; the shipping manifest called out that she had ten cubic meters of stuff, but it actually turned out to be about seven. She's been unpacking and collapsing boxes all week, and I have gotten more and more floor space back. Her new room is a little larger then the apartment she had in Zurich, so she's happy, and she seems to like being with 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Took her out to the FLGS last night to look at storage boxes for her comics, and she asked if we could get figures for her and Third Daughter for the campaign; Dark Sword got the sale, and I'm looking froward to painting them up. Got a figure for Second Son-in-law; must find one for First. First and Second Grandchildren were easy; Dark Fable miniatures has them.

2. They will, by and large, be in the book. I am shying away from footnotes and an appendix, as I am writing a book of Adventures - with a good bit of Action and Romance included. I am not writing a textbook or an RPG, but I will include a lot of this material where it is appropriate and will help the reader.

3. Exactly.

4. Dangererous. See also the second to the last story in the book, where Kyrinn Eis takes her PC down such a street. It's the Souk, the Casbah, the 'wrong part of medieval London or Paris, the worst parts of Hong Kong or Shanghai in the 1930s, or the nasty back alley outside Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. Very 'pulp'; it's the place where the 'civilized people' keep everybody that they consider 'uncivilized'.

I'd run this as an adventure, to give you the full flavor...

See also the discussion back in this thread about being 'connected'; one would normally try to use one's contacts, as this would get rid of a lot of the danger of being viewed as 'fair prey' by the denizens of the place.

Think Mos Eisley spaceport - a "wretched hive of scum and villainy..."

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Yes, that's it. I also have a follow-up question for Uncle as well. "Totally unfamiliar style of armor and weapons...", Uncle if you could expand on that a bit if you remember. Any details about these strange weapons would be helpful...

Thanks,

H:0)

Sure. They look more 'Persian' then we did, as Phil likened our more ornate armor to that os Southeast Asia; you could consider them to be more restrained. They didn't have the trademark 'big swoopy shoulderplates' that are a design feature of Five Empires armor, for example. A little more mail, a lot less plate; articulation was pretty rare, but then it's rare all over Tekumel. If I were going to model these, I'd use medieval Indo-Persian/Mughal figures.

Look in Stone's Glossary; lots of the Indo-Persian stuff fits with what we saw, which is not surprising as Phil also had a copy.

From Dulahan:1500 posts in, and other stuff as well. So now my questions are starting to flow!

Pariah Gods - Interesting to me that they just want to bring Tekumel BACK in reality. I always thought they just wanted to destroy everything. I mean, other than the fact the Lords of Humanspace would basically destroy Tekumel as it is anyways.

It definitely gives them a more positive vibe though, and something I want to know even more about now!

This was Phil's big in-joke; all us PCs were fighting to keep normality from being restored. He thought that is was funny when the Silver Suits first landed, but nobody else did. We were working to preserve our society, not destroy it.

And here's another for gaming purposes proper rather than pure selfish desire to learn the setting.

What's a good reason for parties of different Faiths and Clans to adventure together? Specifically some good reasons to shove them together. The Tekumelani "met in an inn" for lack of a better term? The core Thursday group sounds like it was quite diverse, but plenty of reason to work together. the Legion angle seems like one, but what are some other reasons and methods?

You work together because you need to; your temple owes another a favor, all sorts of reasons. Imperial 'suggestions' also come into play, as does the clan and family. We had mostly Change people, but we included Stability and others as needed for a particular mission/job/quest/adventure. See also "Man of Gold", where this is discussed in connection with the golden hand; one of the hardest things that RPG gamers have with 'getting Tekumel' is the idea that you are part of a functioning society, and not a footloose homicidal maniac.

For example, I am a Change worshipper (Vimuhla). My mercenary bodyguard, Vrisa, is Stability (One Of Light). We never had any issues with this; I did my job and paid her, and she killed anything that tried to bother us.

There are several hundred good reasons to work together, that I can think of that came up in our games. Try the Barsoom or Conan series for more examples. Greed, honor, glory, survival, and attraction all come to mind.

For that matter, any advice if I don't go for the off the boat campaign idea? A couple of my players, the two cores at that, are already diving into tekumel.com or my books (one's my roommate, so he has ready access to all the print material I let him - which is admittedly considerable, I've been tracking stuff down for the better part of 15 years ), so they may well have some good ideas. So even things as simple as "Don't let someone be a Very High Clan member and another a Low Clan in the same group" sort of stuff is useful.

What I do is start new players at about third level in EPT, like Phil did with me. Give them a background, and give them a choice of jobs/quests/etc. from their clan or other organization. I prefer to keep all the members of a party at about the same level of social standing, as it makes it easier for them to get into the world. Different clans and temples are great, as it gives reasons to cooperate. Never had an issue with High/Low clan things, as I made it very clear how this works in Tekumel, and I had very good players. Get them together at a party at the clanhouse, and there you go.

EDIT: What's the status of "To Serve the Petal Throne?" Is it out in the wild somewhere?

I am steaming away at the thing, and am 127,000 words into it with another roughly 175,000 to go. There is no firm limit to the book; once I finish telling the stories of our adventures, it'll be finished. I do not have it up on line yet; I want to finish it first. Several of the regulars in this thread have seen the current draft; they may want to chime in with what they think of the thing so far. I am interested in comments, which they have been kind enough to make.

From Dulahan: OK, a couple more questions from all over the board:

The Dragon Warriors. I understand the N'luss were the descendants of the Space Marines, very likely. does this mean they really did conquer their empire with lost tech, not actual dragons? Did it ever come up in play or conversation one way or another? Honestly, I've never even decided which I like better. They're both REALLY cool! Which now makes me wonder if it's both. At once. Dudes on dragons alongside flying cars with freaking laser beams.

That's what Phil hinted. We don't know for sure; we weren't there at the time and had no interest in traveling back in time to watch the carnage. Phil played it both ways in his campaign. (See also Book IV, in the tale of "The Affair of the Malchiran Emerald".) I can only point out that I saw lots of aircars in storage under Malchairan, and that Gertie the Great Golden Dragon of Blackmoor speaks Ancient Nlyssa - Irkutz - the Ancient Tongue of the Dragon Lords. And that my personal emblem on my own standard is that of the Dragon and the Flame of the Ancient Nlyss; Chirine is descended from one of their clans of sorcerers. Phil was nothing if not 'subtle' in his hinting...

Now for something else very different. Using Undead in Warfare is a big, huge no-no. Get ready for the high ride! BUT! what if such is used against the inimicals? Say a Sarku legion defending against the Ssu, Hluss, Hokun, or Hlutgru? Is that a case of "Anything goes, screw those things?" Or would that still be ignoble?

For that matter, would any of those races have easy ways to deal with the Undead?

It's against the Concordat, and is an impaling offense. Period.

Yes; they kill them, usually by burning just like we do.

Originally Posted by d(sqrt(-1))

So does that imply that the Pariah Gods have been given a bad press and they may in some way be the good guys? If they are working to return Tekumel to normal space...presumably they fell out with the original entities who went on to become the Gods of Pavar...who have a vested interest in Tekumel remaining where it is

Yes. The winners write the histories.

You got it.

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Sure, why not? It's definitely in the queue, right behind the 1/35 Jadgpanzer IV L/70 (which will be on the paint bench this weekend), the 1/35 JS2 and a bunch of miniatures for my game.
Finished the Tsolyani Aridani, some random critters to be used as proxies and or Saturday Night Specials, and now I'm trying to decide whether to the start another Aridani, perhaps a Yan Koryani, or do some more Legion of the Despairing Dead.

Shemek

Ah, me! Those were the days, when we used to game in really big rooms with these 1/35 models.

looking forward to seeing these!

There! I think we're all caught up.

Anybody besides me get the twitches seeing the rearguard at yesterday's parade march past with bayonets fixed, with their pipes and drums playing "Shenandoah"? Their former professor would have been proud of them, I think...

And, if you want my personal opinion, it's a sad day for history that none of the 'color commentators' picked up on the back story behind this. Me, I would have called out the guard, had them lock and load and fix bayonets, and looked to the defenses of the Military District of Washington. Whomever the idiot was that allowed the VMI Corps of Cadets to march past a President of the United States "with colors unfurled, with beat of drum, and with bayonets fixed" had no idea what happened on May 15th, 1864, and who won that little fracas. Hint: It was not "those people" in the blue uniforms who broke.

"Double canister at forty paces!" It might stop them, but I wouldn't be betting on it. (Where the hell is the First Minnesota when we need them?) And even then, if 'Old Blue Light' had been leading the Corps, they'd have stopped charging somewhere around Brooklyn. They have long memories, down there in Virginia.