The Blue Room
Mailing List Archive
Messages 511 - 515
Message 511: More on Temples and Legions
[Moderator’s Note: The Professor responds to Bob’s message on Temples and Legions.]
Whilst editing Mitlanyal, Joe Saul was moved to ask...“[please discuss] the relationship between the war temples and the professional military (i.e. Legions)? The role of these temples in society, especially as regard the Legions, is not at all clear to me. For example, my understanding is that temple guard units rarely fight. If so, how can the priests of Karakan claim to actually be warriors, except in some symbolic sense? Wouldn’t anyone truly interested in war as a lan activity sign up for the best legion he could join? And wouldn’t he look down upon anyone who serves in a mere temple guard unit?
“Or can officers of military legions also become lay-priests of Karakan/Chegarra, join the honorary societies, get the martial training, and so on?
“Maybe it’s just me, but I am confused...“
Bob’s response: Here is my response, but I’d like to hear what the professor has to say. It is important to understand that in Tsolyani terms I am a ‘scholar priest’, likely of Thumis, probably only of the second circle. Hence military matters hold almost no interest for me whatsoever, unlike many gamers. Thus my analysis of temple-military relationships and my understanding regarding Joe’s question is limited. As far as I know, the military in Tsolyanu is a uniquely hybrid beast: the military legions are wielded by the Imperium, but are supported and funded by various combinations of the Temples, clans, and the local and imperial treasuries.
This balance prevents the military as a whole from gaining too much independent power, and also prevents any of the Imperium, Temples and clans from turning the military against any of the other groups.
There is also the ancient, historical prestige factor: these Legions have histories and Kaing (= standards) that date back hundreds and in some cases thousands of years. Generals dare not allow their personal greed to besmirch a reputation that was old when Engsvan hla Ganga ruled the world! The Tsolyani Imperium is indeed a unique sort of quasi-religious, quasi-economic, quasi-political creation. It is part of a temple’s glory to be one of the patrons of its legions, and it is similarly part of a clan’s pride to be a patron of those legions. The temples and the clans view to establish ‘museums’ (halls of memory, as some call them), in which the ancient war relics are set out for all to see: great Kaing standards, the older ones encased in protective lead sheaths; swords, shields, tabards, armour, bows and other weapons, captured enemy gear, treasures and trinkets of campaigns fought long ago. These things are just another part of the glue that holds Tsolyani society together.
But the military stands alone. (Now this is where I get hazy.) Anyone can join any military legion, with some exceptions. In some cases the restrictions that exist are unwritten, such as a Sarku-worshipper joining Red Devastation. In other cases the restrictions are explicit: no men will join Lady Dilinala’s legion of lesbian warriors. However, one is generally free to join almost any legion.
This is true, with the reservations mentioned above, plus unwritten economic/social stringencies as well: a poor lad cannot join Red Devastation, any more than a poor girl can join Lady Mrissa’s legion of women. A good clan membership can get you in, but if you lack such support, you may not be able to join the legion of your choice. You can then join a lesser legion, or you can join a temple priestly guard legion (if you’re devout enough and of the right clan), or you may join a city guard or Sakbe road legion—or you can can get into one of the supply units that provide food, goods, weapons, clothing, transport, and other logistic needs.
If a young man or woman wishes to join a legion supported by Lord Karakan, he or she may do so. Even (hazy again) a youth whose family raised him as a Sarku worshipper could join, although he would be well advised not to exhibit any but the most perfunctory interest in his family faith.
As stated above, this is theoretically possible but practically dubious in many cases. A backsliding Sarku worshipper might be given a chance if he has money, friends in the right places, and perhaps other reasons to be admitted. Case in point: Prince Rereshqala recently had to intervene in a case in which a young worshipper of Hru’u was admitted into a highly placed legion devoted to Lord Hnalla. When discovered, the legion’s officers proposed to quietly throw him out and be done with it, but the boy called upon a powerful clan relative in Sokatis. During the investigation of how this had happened, it turned out that the recruiting officer (a Molkar in Jakalla) had allowed himself to be swayed by the fact that the boy’s older sister, a truly lovely maiden, would be made available to him if the lad were admitted without question. This seems to have been carried out by the machinations of the lad’s clan, and the girl—a rather meek young clangirl—had little to say about it. Prince Rereshqala untangled the mess, put the boy into a good Hru’u-based legion, sent his soldiers to rescue the girl from her unwilling liaison, and reprimanded those responsible.
One could be a worshipper of Lord Karakan, then, but not be a priest of the temple, and hence not a temple guard. You could join a Karakan legion, see all sorts of wondrous battle action in the fields between Bey Su and Avanthar, pray for victory in the temple, and be slain gloriously by an illiterate lad from the Kurt Hills wielding a dull chlen-hide sword who gets in a lucky shot.
All true.
Priests of the various temples may become military officers through personal effort (by studying as a priest before joining a military legion) or by means of political and financial incentives. High Administrative Priests may be appointed as Legion officers because of their adminstrative skills and political acumen. High Ritual priests are often appointed as the Kerdu of a legion, when in fact the legion is really run by their experienced military adjutant, and they serve merely as the Temple liaison to the legion. And in the Temple of Vimuhla, all the soldiery are at least first-circle priests of the Temple, so that whole legions are made up of ‘temple priests’ who are also warriors.
All true, again.
What you probably WON’T find are mid-level soldiers who are also mid-level priests. To be a mid-level priest, one must live and work in the temple. To be a mid-level soldier, one must bunk in the barracks. Only at the top where money, power and influence stir the mix will you find the ‘High Ritual Priest of Karakan and Kerdu of the Legion of Blazing Glory’, or such.
A few exceptions exist, but in general this is true.
The temple guard of the various temples are (always? usually? sometimes?) a branch of the ritual priesthood, of fairly junior station. They are usually an offshoot of the ritual priesthood, but they are not counted as technically belonging to it. Thus, the ritual priests of Karakan might not consider their temple guards as organisationally part of themselves. It is like asking an American marine if he/she is part of the U.S. army, the Navy, the Airforce, or the Coastguard! In a broader sense, yes; in a narrow sense, no. Temple guardsmen usually start as ritual priests (but so do administrators and scholars), but they branch off and become members of their special units rather quickly.
The grizzled sergeant of the temple guard is probably someone of only moderate clan, only moderate ambition, and only moderate intelligence and political skills, Hence their rather unphenomenal station in life.
All true.
But the Temple Guard are either ritual priests, or else clanspeople hired by the Temple for the duty. These are not the same as military legion troops, and experience in the temple guard is of only limited interest to legion recruiters—sort of like the way a teenage job at McDonald’s demonstrates one’s ability to show up for work and not get fired, and that’s all.
Temple guards normally begin as ritual priests but quickly specialise. Local clansmen are not usually taken directly into a temple guard unit, although they may be hired for special tasks (e.g. crowd control, guarding a shipment of goods being sent from one temple to another, etc.).
There are of course certain positions in the temple guard reserved for those of particular skill, talent, intelligence and devotion. These persons are a cut above the second-circle “Opener of the Way of Bones“ (Sarku Temple door-guard), and would not mix with such. These officers of the temple guard are highly trained and serve to guard the Inner Sanctums, and the offices and persons of the Inner Temple. When one of the Temple Guards blasts an invader with a blazing spell, then slices through four or five bravos to turn back an incursion of player characters, that’s the kind of officer that they ran into.
I invite Professor Barker to shoot holes in this analysis, as it represents only my limited experience with military matters in Tsolyanu.
Bob Alberti
Not for me to poke holes in your blanket! You express things nicely. All I can add are a few details.
Phil
[Moderator’s Note: Phil also added some comments on the list member supplied fiction URL that I sent out. Thanks Ian! ]
Dear Chris,
I welcome such contributions! I hope there will be more coming.
Regards, Phil
Message 512: Engsvanyali Campaign Notes 1
[Moderator’s Note: The Professor is currently running an Engsvanyali based campaign that I enjoyed being a part of recently. One of the players, Al Musielewicz has been providing me with excellent narrative reports of thier progress and and we decided that those reports would make excellent content for the Blue Room. I’ll provide some spotty background, and his reports will provide more detail. Funny, it appears that we are in a period of Civil War in this age, too. Who’d have guessed???]
I am Kanuthu Melesh, Second Magistrate of Seyritha, a small quiet town in the Northern part of the Engsvanyali Empire. My post was a quiet one, without much prestige, but comfortable for a small town. it all started with an uproar one afternoon, when 4 clan-brothers from quite some distance away blustered in complaining of brigands, and bearing large kegs of Zu’ur. A most deadly drug. After being told by the head of the local Alchemist’s clan (I am still not certain I trusted his opinion—other than the one he offered about his clansman, the fact that they were idiots!) that it was not Zu’ur, I stored the liquid for further analysis. We ate and I had the unpleasant task of trying to decide how to tell them that Geroth (the ‘bandit’) was actually a clan-cousin doing some ‘covert operations’. :) But there were other things that needed to be discussed.
They brought very disturbing news. Apparently a rising power in the North was threatening the peace. We (our clan) supported the First Prince of Engsvan hla Ganga. The would be usurper of the North, the Prince of Blood was trying to consolidate his power in the North, and move down to meet the First Prince.
During the night, as we slept in my ‘palace’ (it was a crumbling affair) we were warned of imminent attack. I was 2nd Magistrate, and we tried to notify the 1st Magistrate, but it appeared the murdering rogues were already in that part of the city. We found all members of our clan had been killed, along with one of Geroth’s ‘daughters’. Geroth found us (or did we find him?) outside the clanhouse and led us into an unfrequently used storehouse, that allowed us to move out of the area unseen. With our ‘bandit’ clan-cousin Geroth, we struck out to the wharves to find a boat in which to escape. We discovered that one of the reasons the Prince of Blood was here was to raid our warehouses of food and other resources.
Well, we couldn’t let that happen! We torched most of the warehouses, hopefully setting back the Prince’s plans, and struck off to the North. One of the last sights I saw of Seyritha was its burning wharves, and a jewel encrusted armoured figure shaking his fist at us, as we paddled toward the Northern shore of the Lake.
We had picked up about 40 or so refugees, also, and had to bring them with us. We barely kept in front of the Prince’s troops, and after many difficult days and nights we made it to a nice quiet village.
We were openly welcomed, and the refugees were invited to stay and help, and have found a new home. At least for now. A few days later a contingent of the Prince’s men parlayed with my clan-brothers, and after some discussion, returned to the Prince, as their orders were somewhat confusing, (or my clan-brother confused him with Chlén-sh*t). After a few days, my clan-brothers struck further north, and I stayed with the refugees, and am helping integrate them and myself into the new village we have now made our home.
It is my hope to strike out after my clan-brothers, and rejoin them after I have made sure what is left of the people of Seyritha that are here remain safe and comfortable.
I shall share their reports with you as I receive them.
Progress report 1
To: Kanuthu Melesh, Second Magistrate of Seyritha
From: Koroneshmu vi Endu
Dearest Cousin:
Once again I thank you for your kind hospitality and your aid in helping us escape from Seyritha. As you remember we parted your company in a small village nestled in the mountains to the north of the city. At that point we left with Geroth, the onetime bandit, clan cousin and now guide and confidant. I am writing this letter to recount our adventures since parting.
We left the village mentioned and traveled north over the peaks of the mountains in the company of several dozen of the personages that wished to accompany us in that direction. Once we reached the top of the mountains, we noticed that the forests to the east along the range were old growth forests with few if any breaks. Along to the west there were some fields. The sea was readily visible from the top of the mountain. Oh to explain the wonders that we fealt seeing the desire of our hearts the first time! Lo! We sang bawdy tavern songs, that would cause even the most seasoned of our clan sisters to blush. La! We merrily marched down towards the sea. We could tell that the sea was shallow. Persons could be seen walking out far into the sea. The crops along this side of the slope were in a good stage of growth. Chlén beasts were pulling loads in and out of the fields.
We saw a number of persons along the road and questioned them. They informed us that this area was under the control of the Prince of Blood. One boy of about his village was ahead and we paid him a few small coins (I was amazed he knew the value of money) to lead us to his village near the coast. Numerous children came up to us an begged. The told us for a few coins they could lead us to the pirates treasure and other places of interest. The children were no worse nor better than the beggars that line the street outside of our clan house. The older lad said he would take us to his grandmother who could give us space for the night.
It was some time after sunset when we entered the village. It was poor. It is cut off from the seacoast and is in the middle of the forest. One rush light was lit in the village square. A man was sitting in the village square near the light. We questioned him and he stated that the Lord of Blood came and took the adults away from the village. Now only the young and the old live in the village. The crops are standing the fields and only the older children are left to do the work. We questioned the old man at some length and he stated that the village had no real name other than ‘the village’. He also knew that the path that led down the seacoast to a town about 20 or 30 ssan away. It was at this time that we noticed that the peasants that followed us were no longer with the party and we could not determine when they had left us. Geroth did not wish to stay in town but said that he would stay in a cove about two ssan down the road to the west. The cove had lots of driftwood and was a ssan from the open sea. An inlet about a quarter ssan in width goes all the way to the village. About four ssan to the west was a pomentary that had a lookout post on it in the days that this village was a pirate base. Hakael was the name of the old man that assisted us and directed us to the home of the old woman.
We went into the house and went up to the second story to spend the night. Later that night the children brought us food. All did not seem right in that the Grandmother was not around. We looked at the food and decided that one of us would eat and the others would not. We lit the candle and notice that shadows long and thick were forming everywhere. The darkness began to press around the light from the candle. We went to sleep while one kept watch.
It was during the second watch that we were attacked. The children had grown to the height of a man. We could reconize there features although they had hideously changed. We smote them with our weapons only to find that they had greyish smoke inside of them! No blood! No entrails! What foul beasts of legend and the tombs had we disturbed. There were others outside of the room. We relit the canlde. Outside of our window we could see drifting shadows and forms in the fog. There could be heard soft chittering in the wind. The fog actually had tendrils that would reach out and touch things. We went outside briefly to look around. We looked at the house and it had changed form! It now appeared to be the aft castle on a ship and not like a house at all. We went back into the house/ship and back to our room. The food that had appeared eatible earlier now appeared fetid and decayed.
Soon we heard crying in the street. A child was in the middle of the street crouching and weeping. The child began to mutter and we did not understand what it was saying. We approached the child only to find out it was not human but some creature from a nightmare! It had long limbs and a narrow probisus. It had grey powder that it sprayed out. When we struck the creature is exploded in a cloud of smoke. It sounded like shattering bamboo. We raced back to the house. Once inside we noticed shadow creatures along the walls and ceiling that Spidery types of creatures whose heads would change shape while watched. There were undead buried in boxes that came out to get at us. Other creatures attemmpted to attack us that I can barely describe. It is strange in that I was touched by two of these creatures and I became deathly cold from there touch. I was moving as if in slow motion, as if I was acting in a fog. We defeated some of these creatures and it was soon determined that we could not last the night. We decided to strike out for the cove with Geroth.
On the way to the cove, we almost succombed to the fog and creatures. I wished to sleep, but the others would not let me. We foudn a statue in the path, it was very worn. It looked like a human being wearing a cloak, like a priest or holy persons. What was of importance was that the fog could not or did not come near the statue. We decided we would have to spend the rest of the night at this statue. We placed our back to the statue and looked out into the four directions. Dawn came some time later.
—to be continued
Progress Report 2
When dawn finally came we were able to look a bit closer at the statue. Although we could not read the script, I took a piece of parchment and took what I believed to be a carving of the name of the entity or personage represented by the statue. We went back to the town in the morning to discover that in the daylight the town looked entirely deserted. Not a person was in sight and everything looked like it had not been used in a long time. We were perplexed in that the creatures here knew of Prince of Blood. In that we were sure that they existed and we did not enter into some sort of interdimensional rift or interfogulation as it is technically known by the Priests of Hlallal. We spotted Geroth or he spotted us and we told him of our adventure of the previous night. He warded himself and advised we leave immediately. We decided not to burn the village.
As we approached the shore we noticed that there are carved wooden pillars everywhere along the shore facing seaward. Soon traveling along the coast we meet some men from a village farther up the coast. We ask them of the pillars and they tell us that these pillars are used to keep demons and ghosts from coming to their village. We inspect the pillars further. There are strange marks and symbols upon them. Some of these pillars appear to be of stone.
Further along the coast we see a bay. The water level is low at this time of the day so we may cross without much difficulty. At night the water goes far inland along this inlet. The village is much larger than the one we were in last night. There are white mud walls along the entire perimeter and halfway up the hills leading to the mountains. There is a substantial amount of cultivated land inside the walls. Farther up the hills are towers that allow the guards to see far in every direction. All in all it is a pleasant place for us to observe. We enter into the village through a ladder type of construct which can be drawn up to prevent entry by enemies. We ask why such elaborate fortifications for a simple village. The men tell us that ‘ones who come from the sea’ attempt to raid the village at irregular intervals and this is to protect the village. We ask about the nearest town from here and they relate that it is rumoured to be 200 to 300 ssan to the west along the coast.
As we enter the town we meet the Lord of the village Mekan Teshmu. He is a hefty man and of pleasant manners. He tells us stories of the raids of the ‘ones who come from the sea’. He tells us of the devasted and wild lands to the east. He cannot relate a satisfactory tale of the village we visited last night. No one from this village will travel there. He knows of the Lord of Blood, but his village is not worth the effort to conquer, so they leave it alone. About three or four ssan away to the west is Makumaya’s Head. This is the promontary to that contains the old observation towers used by the pirates who used be along this coast and then used by villagers to look for pirates. At this time, it is used as a roosting place for numerous birds. He offers us the hospitality of his village. We accept.
Eventually we learn that the women of this village are hideous in appearance. They are stunted and hairy and have trouble conceiving. We also learn that they have trouble growing vegetables here. One of the locals points to a steel obelisk that juts from the ground. He tells us that it glows at night. The legend is that Lord Harakan threw it at Lord Huru from the heavens. It landed here and it sits in the earth. One of the youth climbed to the top and founds cranks and wheels. He died shortly after. His hair and teeth fell off and he developed burns and blisters on his body. At this time a tall thin woman who is the priestess of Nallal approached us. She is the priestess of this village. Her name is Lasha.
—to be continued
Message 513: New Article on the FTP Site
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! A new article is available on the FTP site. It was lovingly typed by Kenji Schwarz, (about 1.2 years ago) and is titled, The Temple of Vimuhla. I scanned the pictures from the article today, and I have included them at the end of the article.
Please note, I am now creating Acrobat 3.0 documents now. I will upgrade the old ones from 2.1 to 3.0 at some time in the future. The file is 288K in size, and can be found in the articles subdirectory.
Thank you Kenji for not flaying me for taking an inexcusable amount of time getting it together and ready for public viewing. Hey, that’s one long-standing item off my todo list. Next, I’m going to spend a few hours on the sourcebook.
Message 514: News from Tekumel Prime
Moderator’s Note: James Snead (among others) have asked what is happening on Real Tekumel these days. I have put forth the question to the Professor, and received this reply.
It has been a while since we had any update on current events on Tekumel. Any chance of persuading someone to provide a briefing to those of us in the provinces?
Our gaming parties are now elsewhere: the Thursday nighters are on the other side of Tekumel enjoying a war with the Hokun. The old Tuesday night group is now in Engsvanyali times, doing political things with the chief of the Priestkings in Ganga. Both are having fun, but neither can shed much light on events on what I have come to call ‘North Tekumel’.
In fact, Rereshqala now owns the southeastern quarter of the country, from the Missuma river on the west, over to the western border of Chaigari, north to Sokatis and south to the coast (plus some of the isles). Eselne owns the northwest, down as far as Tumissa, which still refuses to allow any Prince inside its fabled fortifications. Eselne himself is rumoured to have died in the battle in the river just north of Usenanu—he hasn’t
[Moderator’s Note: This can be confirmed, as it was seen by some operatives] that ended up seeing the battle unexpectedly. He was, er unfortunately, somehow (?) revivified.. ;) ]
been seen—except from a distance—for a month or more; Mirusiya besieged Avanthar, got nowhere, and is now busy starving the fortress preparatory to another assault, together with young Taksuru; Ma’in Kruthai is in Katalal, drumming up support for Eselne, who has offered her the best deal she can get: First Wife of the Emperor (Eselne), when things stabilise. Mirusiya still has problems with Eselne; these two just don’t get along.
Emperor Dhich’une has now run out of human troops inside the citadel and is resorting to creatures ‘borrowed’ (or ‘rented’ perhaps with Avanthar’s stored treasures) from Other Planes. He doesn’t want to use his Undead because all but the Jajgis are too slow and need too much direct supervision compared to humans. However, there are lots of creatures and races out there who would enjoy lunching on Tekumel...
The Salarvyani have retreated from Ferinara and the Chaigari. Apparently there are political tussles at home, which nobody has seen fit to tell me about! The Mu’ugalavyani are stable and stationary in Pan Chaka. It is rumoured that they are planning an assault along the coast and through the swamps to take Penom (don’t ask me why they want it) to use as a seaport for a major invasion later.
Things are messy. Exciting, though!
Regards, Phil
Message 515: New Article on the FTP Site
Miniatures and Legion Questions
[Moderator’s Note: Shawn Bond asks about miniatures and a certain Legion.]
The first question concerns the miniature labelled a ‘generic’ Tsolyani infantryman. The uniform of worn by this soldier is quite similar to the uniform depicted in a rendering of the Seige of Ke’er in the Empire of the Petal Throne rulesbook (drawn by the Prof. himself). The pictures tells the reader it shows a scene of troops of the Legion of Serqu laying siege to the mighty fortress of Baron Ald (after which the beauteous Yilrana was savagely impaled before its shattered gates). I don’t believe the Tsolyani have “generic“ troops other than conscripts drafted from peasants (who certainly are not attired in the armor worn in the picture). Therefore, my question is: which came first, the picture or the figurine? Or has the uniform been assigned as a “standard“ uniform for one our glorious legions of the Almighty and Every Puissant Seal? (as a wargamer, I can appreciate a “generic“ miniature to fill out one’s army - making 100+ individual legion miniatures is an impossible undertaking).
Most Tsolyani arms and armour are made to order for specific legions. This is very true for the heavy infantry, medium infantry, and many others: the ‘name’ Legions of the Empire. The draftees (conscripts, lesser Cohorts, supply troops, road guards, city guards, and the like) are usually issued their gear when they need it and not before. Sometimes it fits and sometimes it doesn’t. Reminds me of a siege at the beginning of the war with Yan Kor a few years back: the great Ahanbasrim, who later perished in Flamesong, was given a dose of amnesia by an enemy; he was wandering around Khirgar when a recruiting party picked him up and drafted him to serve in the coming battle. For some reason he was issued a helmet that had a crest fastened on with a bolt and nut that protruded down into the interior of the helmet. He spent the next month bemoaning the headache it gave him. This, however, is a realistic portrayal of ‘universal’ soldier’s equipment. Ouch...
What the picture depicts is accurate: the Tsolyani support legions that were brought to serve in Yan Kor during that long struggle. Some of these troops are sappers, artillerymen, or just cannon-fodder.
My second question (which I will make brief) is how did the imperial heavy legion, The Legion of Mighty Jakalla, fare during the War in the North? The last mention of it is in “Deeds of the Ever Glorious“ where it was based at Khirgar in 2358 AS. Did it participate in the battles for the Atkolel Heights and later Pijena? And what of it’s commander, an ex-governor of slumberous Jakalla, who was made commander as punishment for financial misdeeds during his reign?
The Legion fought well in the Atkolel Heights, but was badly pummeled when it tried to advance into Pijena. Eselne disliked the General and eventually persuaded his father (the God Emperor) to order him home to Avanthar, where he became a bureaucrat in the Chancery. He has not been heard from since Dhich’une took over.
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Phil
