Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Neshm hiKumala

That's really interesting and important information. Thanks for sharing that.

Um...you're welcome, but please understand, my characterization of the Professors archives is more "impression" than "information. "

It's based on things Chirine has told us, and also (reading between the lines a little) what the Foundation implies about the collection and what they have to work with.

My sense is that the Professor's papers would be ideal source materials for a biography of the man, and maybe for a history of the creation and evolution of Tekumel in his imagination, but there isn't much there that would significantly expand his creation beyond what has already been published.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Phil would love these. Heck, you can fill out a couple of Avanthe legions at least.

And the monsters are great, as are the "Really Truly NOT CONAN Figures! Honest!"

Agreed; I think he would have been all over them in a minute. Have you looked at the Dark Fable website? All the people we used to run into at the better sort of parties are there, along with the required fan-bearers and trumpet-tooters that Phil loved so much to put on the table.

If I may digress into my philosophy of gaming, figures like this don't 'ruin my immersion' when I play; they, instead, inspire me to dream of gods and heroes and their (mis)adventures. I look at them, and stories start to write themselves; adventures occur, and - as I am wont to say - mayhem ensues.

Just wait'll you see what I'm cooking up to go with the Dark Fable miniatures...

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Unless chirine has The Professor's head in a jar in his basement.

Maybe that "chirine ba kal you have gone native" applies and he is a secret Sarku worshiper?

=

In a way, I do. I've been told by quite a few of the people who played with Phil and with me that I 'do Tekumel' better then he did; I think this is because he was a first-generation GM, and I'm a second-generation one with a lot of gameplay (read, "what works and what doesn't") under my belt. Plus, I have the resources inherent in having all of his files in my collection, as well as all of the material we and other people generated over the years. So, I do games with a certain style and panache, and with - I will admit - a certain flourish; I believe that Phil's creation, as well as the time we had with him, deserves no less. He once said to Dave Arneson "Chirine makes the most clever little miniatures!" and I try to keep that in mind.


Do I like what's happening? No, I don't; it's killing the dream that a lot of people had over the years. In my admittedly ignorable opinion, following Phil's advice in EPT and 'make Tekumel your own' is what will keep his dream alive.

And I will continue to do what I do, as one of my detractors once said, of "keeping the Tekumel flame alive"; next month, I have a group coming in to do research on the early days of gaming and play a little Tekumel. We'll see what happens, eh?

Originally Posted by Neshm hiKumala

Absolutely. I had the same thought the other day while reading the latest Tekumel Collecting blog post.
Absolutely fascinating information. I'd buy a book filled with that sort of info (and more) in a heartbeat.

Most of the information is out there on-line; all you have to do is some deep digging, and you'll find it. Yes, I do answer some of those questions and point the way, but anybody with a bent for research can do this.

And no, I will not be the one writing the 'significant historical document' about this, either. I was told that I needed to change "To Serve The Petal Throne" from an account of some adventures into a Tekumel version of "Playing At The World" - with footnotes, lists, documents, etc. - and I simply balked. If some body wants to ask me questions and do their own book, I'm all for it.

When I went through all of Phil's files, paper and digital, I found exactly two Tekumel items that were entirely new to me - the draft of his 1950s novel and the last unfinished one. There is a lot of what to me is extremely fascinating materials that fill in some of the gaps and cracks in the published materials, and some really cool bits that really filled in some details about some things I'd wondered about. (Phil's letter files are a fascinating look int what he was thinking at the time, but as has been said, that's mostly biographical information.) It was being put about as part of the 1990s 'One True Tekumel' mythology that there were "filing cabinets full of the secrets of Tekumel", and that by supporting Barker's Own one could have access to that data.

Sorry; it wasn't true. What we have is what we have, and with Phil gone what we'll be seeing as 'new' material is what we - Tekumel's fans - can come up with based on our knowledge and love of Phil's creation. And in my mind, that's no bad thing.

Tekumel lives because of your adventures; that's the bare truth of it. Those of you who have slogged your way through TSTPT know about our adventures - now, run your own...

Originally Posted by Dulahan

That sounds like a hell of a project. Especially when one doesn't have access to the files and texts.

I apologize for my peevish response to this the other day.

It is totally understandable that you would believe there was all this hidden knowledge, just waiting to be unlocked but sadly out of your reach.

Especially if, as Chirine says, there may be some out there who encourage that belief.

I remember the 90s (and even the 00s) and the paralysis that came with passively waiting for the next droplets of received wisdom to trickle out of Minneapolis. It drove me nuts then, I don't think it was "good" for Tekumel fandom or for Tekumel itself, and I would hate to see a return to that.

Hence my peevishness, but you are clearly someone who has, reads, and thinks about the source material, and you are actively playing, clearly not "paralyzed," so there was no need to direct my peevishness at you personally. Sorry.

So I am currently reading the S&G sourcebook(not as quickly as I would like). I just wanted to mention(as has been done before) that there is so much there hidden in plain sight. References here and there for one to expand on. So if you do not all ready have a copy...get one!!! I also need to start looking into the Adventures on Tekumel books as well...I am trying not to be too lazy and ask Chirine about everything!!!
Though I know he always answers and points one in the right direction!!!

Enjoy Tekumel,

H:0)

PS I just figured I would remind myself(and others) of the wealth of information available and out there. Fantastic stuff!!! Not to mention the Book of Ebon Bindings for the supernatural...Dangerous!!!