These messages are the accumulation of the messages that were sent out on the Blue Room email list between May 1995 and June 2000. A large portion of the information is directly from Professor M.A.R Barker. When the list members joined during the time the list was active, they agreed to refrain from sharing this data with non list members. When the list ended, it was urged that the data be made available to non-list Tekumel fans, and it seemed like a good idea all around. I only ask that if you download these digests, or have received them in some other way, please respect the agreements the list members made, and refrain from passing them around and instead point people to the Tekumel web site, www.tekumel.com so that they can download them for themselves, and see all the other material available on the Tekumel.com web site. Many Thanks. Chris Davis Moderator: Blue Room mailing list Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND [Moderator's Note: I created this one, let me know if there are any errors.] BLUE ROOM ARCHIVE -- VOLUME 14 391: New PBEM Forming 392: A Recent Adventure (continued) 393: Zoological Possibilities 394: Tane and Naqsai 395: Zoological Possibilities Reply 396: More Zoological Possibilities 397: Tekumel Con Update 398: Last on Zoological Possibilities 399: Chima 400: Tsolyani Society 401: Tekumel Novels 402: Character Sheets 403: Tekumelani Music 404: Ghatoni and Similar Languages 405: Moderator's Adventures 406: More Tekumelani Music 407: Architecture and Ditlana 408: Eschatology 409: Yan Kor, Astronomy, and Divination 410: Tsoggu, Gerendya, and Qol 411: Moderator's Adventures, Another View 412: Tekumelani Mood Music 413: Adventures Continue 414: Miscellaneous Questions 415: Hunting in Tsolyanu 416: Qol and Renyu 417: Fasiltum and Slaves 418: Maps Revisited 419: Maps Revisited Reply 420: Sunuz and Zna'ye ********************************************** //391 [Moderator's Note: I have been sitting on this a bit, hope Kenji still wants] [ to run it. Sorry for the delays. FYI, I will be at ] [ Networld+Interop next week if there are any fellow net- ] [ working propeller-heads on the list going, we could get ] [ together for a bite of dinner. Of course, that also ] [ means I won't be here doing list stuff. I'll be gone ] [ Tuesday night through Friday night. ] NEW TEKUMEL PBEM CAMPAIGN SEEKING LIVE SUBJECTS Travelers -- do you want to take a vacation to an exotic land, but don't know where to go? Livyanu, pestilent and occupied by stuffy Mu'ugalavyani -- no; Mu'ugalavya, home of the stuffy Mu'ugalavyani -- no; Yan Kor and the North, cold, dirty, and backwards -- no; Salarvya, hot, noisome, and generally distasteful -- no, no, no, ladies and gentlemen, the destination for you is lovely, quaint Mletpauk! Located in the scenic highlands of Vra, the town of Mletpauk has been a favorite destination of discriminating sightseers and tourists for the last 24,000 years. Cool, refreshing mountain air -- mysterious caves -- picturesque ruins -- friendly natives -- holy relics and shrines -- invigorating mineral springs -- souvenirs to die for -- strange cuisine -- and more! Experience foreign barbarity at its best, all without leaving the comforts of Tsolyanu! Loyal servant of the Empire? Your patriotism and paperwork is desperately needed in the town of Mletpauk (Mlet District, Sine Province, Island of Vra). The duplicitous inhabitants, protected by an unfortunate series of treaties, are denying themselves the benefit of rigorous Imperial rule! Inbred secessionist nobles and power-mad petty theocrats infringe gleefully on the rights and dignities of the Petal Throne; meanwhile, the alarmingly over-privileged Mayor is selected by an absurd rigmarole of so-called "reincarnation"! The district administration is not only isolated and understaffed, but corrupt and crippled by vicious bureaucratic infighting -- and needs your help *now*! Looking for a good time? Come to Mletpauk! Consistently ranked among the ten most depraved cities in the Five Empires, the loud and lurid resort town of Mletpauk recognizes 69 official festivals and is home to literally *millions* more informal revelries every day of the year! Drink 180-proof jungle liquors while you win and lose fortunes at Tekumel's *only* 48-Kiren-a-day casino! Frolic with depraved maidens, youths, and Things of the Temple of Hrihayal! Greet the ugliness of dawn from Tsolyanu's cleanest gutters! (Psst! You wanna score some "green," kid? Come to Mletpauk! It's shipped fresh from -- you know -- that *other* island out there.) Dusty bookworm? Would-be sage? Aspiring scholar? Struggling savant? Whatever the case may be, you don't know nothing until you've gotten to the bottom of Mletpauk! Old ruins -- modern ruins -- eerie caverns -- sealed pre-Engsvanyali libraries -- Ksarulian academies -- unique autochthonous language -- fine stationery and writing accessories -- buried temples -- mutant flora and fauna -- mutant local population -- savage tribal customs -- bizarre local folklore -- curious aboriginal rites -- banned bookstores -- renegade sorcerers -- inexpensive midnight oil -- crazy mystics -- mad scientists -- headquarters of the Semi-Ecumenical All-Empire Demonological Conference Organizational Committee -- earn credit towards your doctorate in the forbidden sciences while you live the good life in Mletpauk! Gladiator? Duellist? Soldier? Mercenary? Army officer? Mletpauk is definitely the place for you. The locals are small and easy to whup, but there sure are a lot of the treacherous feuding little fellers! Don't forget the homesick imperial garrison, the preening city guard, the creepy tomb police, the swaggering temple guardsmen, the ululating Pachi Lei berserkers, the rampaging youth gangs, the poison-tipped tribesmen, the belligerent tourists, and last but not least, the helpful bystanders! Let Tekumel's finest storm drains wash away the blood of your vanquished foes! Compete in the Mayor's own Ad Hoc Extremely Dangerous Sports Meets! Recuperate in Mletpauk's famous teaching hospital! Assassin? Trying to avoid one? Either way, Mletpauk is where you want to be! This quiet, peace-loving little town has *no* professional assassin clans and boasts the lowest rate of violent crime in the entire Empire. (Based on partial records compiled by the Palace of the Realm for the last available year, 1717 A.S.) Religious maniacs of all sorts -- go to Mletpauk! Aboriginal bumpkins and sly heretics have perverted the true teachings of your holy faith! Guaranteed! A devotee of Change, but feeling lonely in the Islands? Come to Mletpauk, a refreshing fountain of chaos amidst tedious Vrayani-Gangan Stability! A well-wisher of the Worm, perhaps? Then you're needed in Mletpauk, Emperor Dhich'une's one potential beachhead in the south. Or are you a fan of the Tlomitlanyal? Make a pilgrimage to the sacred relics and shrines of your deity in Mletpauk -- and restore them to their rightful place in the Skein of things! (Sick of the Pariah Gods, anyone? Then try Mletpauk! No Goddess of the Pale Bone or *DOUBLE* your money back!) Espiocrats and shadowy schemers! Are all the good suicidal missions in your secret society/political faction/O.A.L. task force already taken? Looking for a sinister plot to please your faceless masters? What you need is a trip to Mletpauk! Never heard of the place? That *proves* what a hotbed of baroque intrigue it is! Why else would you-know-who have gone to such lengths to make it seem so obscure? Are you a vapid, idle aristocrat? Martial law and those tiresome squabbling Imperial heirs getting you down? Come to secluded, politics-free Mletpauk! Guaranteed not to give a hoot about the Kolumejalimyal! Haunt of famous artists and poets since Yetil's day! Ferocious and tasty beasts to hunt and kill! For the angler, gigantic fish and other aquatic life-forms come looking for *you*! Buy trinkets with unlooked-for properties! Let those boring old Princes and Princesses slug it out while you continue to bleed your tenant farmers dry -- all from the safety and comfort of every highborn parasite's favorite backwater! No? Are you perchance a despicable foreigner? Come to Mletpauk! The hospitable, open-minded citizens of this town in North Vra welcome all foreigners -- except the *South* Vrayani, of course. (It's also source of the best forged passports, visas, and citizenship papers this side of Avanthar!) Take advantage of this unique offer today and sign up for a visit to Mletpauk! **************************************************** A campaign set in the early 2360s and adhering closely to "official" history, but generally limited to smaller-scale, lower-power goings-on. Specific plotline(s) will be shaped to fit participants' interests, with as much adrenaline-packed action or mind-twisting intrigue as individual players wish. For characters of low to intermediate experience and power -- Four-Eyed Terminator-mages *need* *not* *apply*. Any species, nationality, social background, sex, religion, profession, politics, or excuses for getting involved are welcome (vide supra). Send inquiries, character sketches, and/or existing character stats (any game system OK) to: Kenji Schwarz < kenji@accessone.com > I'm looking for a commitment to one or two turns per week from each participant. Play can start when I have at least 3 players; latecomers should easily be able to join in even after the campaign storyline gets rolling. I hereby swear that this WILL get off the ground and that I SHALL drag everyone kicking and screaming into the second round of play, and then beyond, or may I be turned into a training dummy for the Company of the Edification of the Soul! -- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //392 [Moderator's Note: I am off to Networld+Interop (a networking conference in ] [ Atlanta, Georgia) tonight. If anyone else is going, ] [ drop me a note here or at cld@prin.edu. I'll be having ] [ limited access to do list stuff while I am there. FYI. ] [ I'll be back Friday evening. Look for more mailings on ] [ Saturday. Jack continues his story started in 342. ] We finally recuperated our strength, and determined to venture through the portal better equipped than yesterday's debacle. We took sufficient supplies to last at least a week, and a good selection of other necessities - ropes, torches, etc. Fulat the Scribe didn't even come to see us off. He did send a message via Kurshetl to say that he had pressing business. (Is he a tailor too?) When we got to the nexus point we found the chamber guarded by Zorel's men, and the portal still open and stable. Kurshetl used some sorcery or other to see whether the other side of the gateway was safe or not. It was, so we progressed through, and made a somewhat undignified landing on a beach somewhere, as the exit was some three feet up in the air. The sea was a strange green colour, and the sky had a reddish hue, like a Jakalla sunset, though it was clearly midday. I suspected we were not in Tekumel. There was a boat pulled up on the beach, and as I approached it a small, furry figure ran off into the forest behind the beach. Several of the party followed it and I stayed on the beach. After a few minutes a ship came into view over the horizon, heading towards the beach. As the ship came inshore it dropped some small boats, and we saw that the boats were full of furry figures similar to the one wqe had seen earlier. They looked somewhat similar to Renyu, but larger. They spoke no tongue any of us understood, so it is a good Kushetl was there with his sorcery. He made it clear that we wished them no harm, and that we were merely pursuing a man like us dressed in brown robes. This description seemed to ring some bells, and we were taken aboard the ship and rowed to a volcanic island some miles away. As we approached the island the stench of sulphur grew, and the heat became almost unbearable. We saw several flying creatures in the sky, which Kurshetl pronounced to be either Winged Serpents of the Conflagration or Flame Dragons. Either way I was starting to wish we were somewhere else. We landed on the island and were taken into a large chamber past several bronze-skinned warriors, and two or three enormous burning beings. The Renyu-like creatures were also evident about the place, though they usually seemed to be somewhat inferior to the other beings. We were met by a serpent creature which spoke appalling Tsolyani with a lisp. Obviously his teacher wasn't that worried about grammar either, as he used phhrases and constructions that wouldn't be out of place on the lips of a Pala Jakallan dock-slave. He did not seem at all pleased to see us, and if it were not for the intervention of one of his rivals with his master, he would have had us all killed immediately. This, it seems is because we are the same race as "The Brown One", who was highly placed in the organization of their enemies, the Writhing Ones. He also seems to have arrived here some months ago, so it would seem that the Streams of Time flow much faster here. I hope we do not stay too long here, or else we will have changed beyond recognition when we return home. We were taken to see the Master, who it seems is a Demon Lord, though I dared not look at him when we were in the throne chamber. I remember very little of what transpired at the audience. After it we were shown quarters, and soon thereafter one of the Blazing Warriors came in and started to boast of how he saved our lives by interceding with Jneksha'a, and how noble he was being not having Kurshetl killed out of hand despite the fact that he had been murdered on at least two occasions by him (Bashrugi by Kurshetl, that is). After he started to talk about us individually I realized that I knew him (it). It was my old comrade-in-arms, Bashrugi, though he looked a bit different last time I saw him. His ego was unmistakable, though. The story behind all the goings-on here is this - or at least Bashrugi's version of it: The natives of this plane are the furry creatures, called Jaghroth, or something similar. One faction of these was being attacked by another, who were followers of the Writhing Ones. The oppressed faction were doing poorly until some minions of Jneksha'a arrived and discovered that their enemies were common, so they lent support to them. The Writhing Ones started to lose the war; or at least that was until the arrival of the Brown One, who created an army of undead warriors for the Writhing Ones to use. The main problem that Jneksha'a's forces have is that the plane is mostly sea, full of islands over which the two sides battle for control. Unfortunately none of the combatants have much idea how to wage war at sea, or any idea of tactics when on land (the Blazing Warriors make the Legion of the Lord of the Red Devastation look like tactical geniuses). The main reason we are still alive is that we have skills that they need to help them turn around the war. Unfortunately my personal abilities do not match up with their needs, so I'm pretty much redundant at the moment, and I can tell you that it's pretty boring sat around a barren volcanic rock with nobody for company but Kurshetl. Still, I hear they're planning a raid in the next couple of days to test out their new tactics, so I might volunteer just to relieve the monotony. I'll report on the event when I get back. -- Donmikayel hiGangasa Provincial Sub-Commandant Temple of Hnalla Pala Jakalla ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //393 [Moderator's Note: Dale Robertson shares how his Tekumel has evolved, at ] [ least in terms of its zoology. This is of course, as ] [ Dale says, his Tekumel. ] OOPS! I'm a biologist with an advanced degree - get out your notebooks, 'cause there's a short quiz at the end of this lecture. I recall seeing a comment in a previous volume about a zoologist shedding some insight on the natural history of Tekumel. This is an extension of a brief phone conversation I had with Prof. Barker some months back where this subject indeed came up. In my own EPT campaigns, which have evolved independently over the last ten or so years, this is the actuality of Tekumel's biology. Some liberties have to be taken. For example, the legends about the coming of humanity to Tekumel and conflicts with the Foes of Man are fairly accurate, but like all stories over time, elements are lost or changed. Only a few of the critters listed in the rules are non-Terrestrial: Ngoro, Nyagga, the Food of the Ssu, etc. Everything else is derived from terrestrial stock that has been altered through mutation or design over the millennia or artificially-created life forms. The majority of the "animals" in the current bestiary are hexapodal (six-legged) and three-eyes (at least in the drawings). Two common mutations I have run across are extra limbs and extra eyes. After a nuclear war, these types of mutations would be fairly common. Later, once the science of genetics was reacquired, modifications could occur for reasons ranging from aesthetics to functionality. Some of the creatures may well have come from other worlds, but it was by way of Earth. Other quadrupedal creatures (Shen, etc.) are in fact derived from terrestrial organisms modified through genetic engineering, biotech- nology, nanotechnology, etc. A summary is provided below (if anyone is interested, I can get them the complete information). Beings Descended from Humanity: Humans (rather obvious) Swamp Folk (humans with four legs and a fin on their heads) Heheganu and Hehecharu Ssu (really! they are descended from humans modified for zero-G environments. They lost their original origin, settled Tekumel as their own, adapted their bodies to feed on the indigenous life, then later were invaded by humans etc. Humanity, either not recognizing or not caring, came into conflict with their cousins... The hostility between the two species in "modern" Tekumel are not necessarily because of this conflict. Cultural ideologies among the Ssu (and humans) could easily provide incentive for genocidal warfare.) Tinaliya (look at 'em. Little bitty Ssu, but a friendlier variety). Shunned Ones (adapted for a hostile environment different from that currently found on Tekumel) Beings Descended from Quadrupedal Terrestrial Organisms: Shen (they may well be from Rigel or wherever, but by way of Earth first) Pygmy Folk Pachei Lei (probably "artificial" life forms. Otherwise, they seem a little too closely related to the Ahoggya.) Ahoggya (quadruplets joined at the back and further modified for some reason now long forgotten) Urunen Renyu (I thought they were baboons of some sort until acquiring books other than the novels - remember the legends of "dog-headed" people from explorers in the Middle Ages here on earth? I left them as baboons...) Beings Descended from Hexapodal Terrestrial Vertebrates: Hlyss (probably engineered for warfare in the distant past) Hlaka (two limbs now wings; note that they also have stinger and three eyes like Hlyss) Churstalli Lri (flying Hlyss) Shanu'ur (big Hlaka) Dzor (two limbs lost, secondarily modified into humanoid form) Pei Choi (lost one eye) etc. This does not mean that all of these beings are now capable of fully understanding each other. Different types of animals have different motivations and responses. Millennia of independent development added to this results in the cultural differences seen in the game. I have always allowed at least partial communication with friendly non- humans in my campaigns. There are "pidgin" languages combining compatible sounds, gestures, symbols, etc. for each of the friendly races. Shen lack mobile lips to mimic human "words" as do the Pei Choi and Pygmy Folk. Conversely, humans lack the ability to easily mimic the sounds of these beings. Cultural misunderstandings still abound. Most characters quickly learn to steer clear of non-humans unless absolutely necessary - who knows how a hoard of 3' tall beaked bipedal rats with highly aggressive behaviors (and consequently incredibly violent culture) will react to a plea for aid or an offer of exchange of some sort? And the Pygmy Folk are mammals. Reptilian/Dinosaurian Shen are pretty much incomprehensible except for the basics (fight or flight, getting food, defending territory, etc.). You get the picture. We do have pigs and rats on our Tekumel (along with elephants, llamas, lions, kangaroos, and a few others if you know where to look). Related topic: other interesting aliens for Tekumel from other game systems-- 1. Shanthas (Skyrealms of Jorune) 2. Eber (2300 AD) 3. Virushi (the original Traveller, one of the JTAS issues) 4. Thriddle (also Jorune) Feedback is always welcome. And if anyone is interested in swapping campaign info., character descriptions, etc., feel free to drop me a line. Regards, Dale Robertson (biologist, artist, bagpiper, and general lay-about) P.S. Can we expect to see a Tsolyani grammar web book in the future? [Moderator's Note: The Tsolyani Grammar is still available (if you look ] [a bit). I imagine that we'll do it at some point, but no immediate plans, ] [currently. ] ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //394 [Moderator's Note: Dale Robertson asks the following about Tane and Naqsai. ] [ The Professor responds. He was telling me that he thinks] [ article was printed on Tane. I'll try to get a copy and ] [ get it transcribed. It is from one of the few Tekumel ] [ items I don't have, but the Professor is working on it. ] >What is known of the areas/nations of Tane and Naqsai? Nations? Languages? >Beings? Culture? I just checked. The Tane article is in "Dispatches in [sic! -- to?] the Imperium". It has a nice map of Tane and a dispatch from Bill Hoyt's character. This issue also contains the article on the temple of Ksarul, plus short pieces on the Churstalli and other matters. Tane has never been explored or exploited very much. Might be fun to do. As for the Naqsai, they have never been written up in any detail. Mentions of them appear here and there, but somebody needs to go down there and really learn their languages, cultures, etc. They comprise a dozen related city-states, tribes, etc. on the northern shore of the Southern Continent just southwest of Livyanu. There is a city there devoted to the Goddess (Who Cannot be Named), and several Hokun settlements farther southwest along the coast. Lots to be discovered... Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //395 [Moderator's Note: The professor responds to Dale's theories. ] Thanks to Dale Robertson for his insights. I am curious as to why his fauna have to be modified or mutated Terran creatures, rather than actually from other worlds. There is no compelling reason to insist one way or the other: one can have "non-terrestrial" creatures or one can have modfified terrestrial creatures. It all as an author wants to imagine it. I chose to have my critters non-terrestrial in origin. After all if our universe is made up of the same elements, and life forms must be based on carbon (or silicon?), and if ecology and biological processes work in the same general way on Arcturus or Aldebaran as they do here, then ... why not? In any case, Dale is welcome to his version of Tekumel. There are rats and mice, as well as non-terrestrial creatures that keep the rodent population down. There are no pigs -- plague wiped them out long ago when humankind was still exploring the stars. I think it began on one of the Shen worlds and then spread back to earth and elsewhere. I have never encountered any of the other terrestrial creatures Dale mentions: llamas, etc. I can't bring myself to imagine a Tekumelani kangeroo...! Dale is absolutely correct about the role of genetic engineering, however. THere has been a lot of that, and it has produced both beauty and sheer horror. I won't comment on the details of Dale's forumlations except to note that I am interested -- and grateful -- that he has taken so much time and energy to create them. They differ from mine, but ... As my father used to say, "It's a difference of opinion that makes horse-racing." Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //396 [Moderator's Note: This message is actually 3 messages. The first is from ] [ Bob Alberti, and he is responding to Dale's first post. ] [ The second is Dale's response to the Professor's reply. ] [ And the final message is from Alan Brain. ] Message 1: >Dale Robertson shares how his Tekumel has evolved: >Only a few of the critters listed in the rules are non-Terrestrial: >Everything else is derived from terrestrial stock... >Some of the >creatures may well have come from other worlds, but it was by way of >Earth. Other quadrupedal creatures (Shen, etc.) are in fact derived >from terrestrial organisms Accepting of course that this is YOUR Tekumel (and I have no problem with that), I am drawn to wonder WHY. The situation you describe is rather more complicated than is necessary to explain the circumstances, in other words it violates the test of Occam's Razor. Yes, it COULD be the case that the Shen are drastically-genetically-engineered humans, as are the creatures which came from their worlds. But it seems a lot simpler if they're just a separately-evolved set of life forms. Or do you consider it unlikely that life evolved on any planet but Terra? >Ssu (really! they are descended from humans modified for zero-G >environments. They lost their original origin, settled Tekumel as their >own, adapted their bodies to feed on the indigenous life, then later were >invaded by humans etc. Humanity, either not recognizing or not caring, >came into conflict with their cousins... The hostility between the two >species in "modern" Tekumel are not necessarily because of this conflict. >Cultural ideologies among the Ssu (and humans) could easily provide >incentive for genocidal warfare.) >Tinaliya (look at 'em. Little bitty Ssu, but a friendlier variety). This is precisely what I'm talking about. I mean, maybe the idea of life evolving on another planet stretches someone's plausibility. But doesn't the above scenario, "Humanity begat Ssu, and Ssu begat Tinaliya," stretch plausibility even farther? > >Beings Descended from Humanity: >Humans (rather obvious) >Heheganu and Hehecharu These folks are in fact descended from Humanity, with the exception of the genus "Talk Show Host" which are actually a form of nonhuman He'esa. >Shen (they may well be from Rigel or wherever, but by way of Earth first) >Pygmy Folk >Pachei Lei (probably "artificial" life forms. Otherwise, they seem a >little too closely related to the Ahoggya.) Again, this just seems like unnecessary complexity... >Beings Descended from Quadrupedal Terrestrial Organisms: >Ahoggya (quadruplets joined at the back and further modified for some >reason now long forgotten) Sorry, you lose me right there. I can accept the idea that someday a few of my posterity might wander down an evolutionary cul-de-sac and evolve into Talk Show Host or Heheganu... but Ahoggya?! Never! My DNA would strangle itself with its own genomes first... >Urunen >Renyu (I thought they were baboons of some sort until acquiring books >other than the novels - remember the legends of "dog-headed" people from >explorers in the Middle Ages here on earth? I left them as baboons...) >Beings Descended from Hexapodal Terrestrial Vertebrates: >Hlyss (probably engineered for warfare in the distant past) >Hlaka (two limbs now wings; note that they also have stinger and three >eyes like Hlyss) Hlaka have a stinger? And here I thought that Hlaka was just trying to get friendly! [Moderator's Note: Well, not a stinger, but a rapier-like bony projection, ] [ which sounds like it is in the same family as a stinger. ] [ Just no poison. ] >Churstalli >Lri (flying Hlyss) >Shanu'ur (big Hlaka) >Dzor (two limbs lost, secondarily modified into humanoid form) >Pei Choi (lost one eye) But the Pe Choi are insectoid and exoskeletal! Are you suggesting (to use David Brin's terminology) that Pe Choi are "uplifted" praying mantis? > >We do have pigs and rats on our Tekumel (along with elephants, llamas, >lions, kangaroos, and a few others if you know where to look). Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! > >Feedback is always welcome Well, I can only assume that your vocation leads you to this somewhat overcomplicated view of Tekumel: does this alternate genesis play a role in your games? Are zoological/biological themes important to your campaigns? Otherwise, this would seem like a lot of effort to go to in order to avoid any non-Terrrestrial origins for Tekumel's inhabitants. On the other hand, it may help explain why Pe Choi taste so good boiled, with a little lemon butter... >Dale Robertson (biologist, artist, bagpiper, and general lay-about) Ah! Now I understand! You're a BAGPIPER. I should have suspected... [Moderator's Note: :) ] -- Message 2: >[Moderator's Note: The professor responds to Dale's theories. >Thanks to Dale Robertson for his insights. I am curious as to why his >fauna have to be modified or mutated Terran creatures, rather than >actually from other worlds. The answer to that one is rather straight forward: I believe that if life exists on other worlds, billions of years of independent evolution will shape it into forms completely unfamiliar to us. The larger Tekumelani animals look to me like vertebrates, mammals, dinosaurs, etc. The odds of aliens being so close to use chemically, physically, behaviorally, etc. - well, it just cannot happen (at least that's how I see it - there is a definate shortage of extraterrestrials against which to test my theory!). As a result, I chose to describe the fauna of Tekumel as I see it - and it fits together quite nicely. At any rate, only one player (a botanist) ever expressed any curiosity about the relationships of Tekumelani critters. Either way works equally well. >There is no compelling reason to insist one >way or the other: one can have "non-terrestrial" creatures or one can >have modfified terrestrial creatures. It all as an author wants to >imagine it. I chose to have my critters non-terrestrial in origin. >After all if our universe is made up of the same elements, and life >forms must be based on carbon (or silicon?), and if ecology and >biological processes work in the same general way on Arcturus or >Aldebaran as they do here, then ... why not? True! Again, not enough BEMs around here to test this idea. >In any case, Dale is welcome to his version of Tekumel. There are >rats and mice, as well as non-terrestrial creatures that keep the >rodent population down. There are no pigs -- plague wiped them out >long ago when humankind was still exploring the stars. I think it >began on one of the Shen worlds and then spread back to earth and >elsewhere. I have never encountered any of the other terrestrial >creatures Dale mentions: llamas, etc. I can't bring myself to >imagine a Tekumelani kangeroo...! Try imagining a Tekumelani kangaroo with a Niniyal riding in the pouch taking aim at a helpless play[er] with a tiny crossbow... As a side note, one enterprising character attempted to introduce the llamas to the Tsolyani. Even if the cultures are not inclined to inovation, player characters are the exceptions, so I pretty much let them do or think whatever they wish. At any rate, the introduction of the llamas led to a brief interlude we affectionately term "The Merchants' War". It was primarily a sharp quick feud between several clans of chlen breeders, chlen cartwrights (Hossmu? Little Joemu?), various chlen affectionados, etc. and the clan of the character who brought the llamas. The result? The jury is still out, but the llamas are in the zoo and the character decided to move out to Kilalamu where he found the blasted critters in the first place! >Dale is absolutely correct about the role of genetic engineering, >however. THere has been a lot of that, and it has produced both >beauty and sheer horror. And more to come in our own world, for better or worse. >I won't comment on the details of Dale's forumlations except to >note that I am interested -- and grateful -- that he has taken so >much time and energy to create them. They differ from mine, but ... >As my father used to say, "It's a difference of opinion that makes >horse-racing." -- Message 3: >Thanks to Dale Robertson for his insights. I am curious as to why his >fauna have to be modified or mutated Terran creatures, rather than >actually from other worlds. Biology is not my specialty, and second-guessing someone is always suspect, but herewith follows my 2 Quirgals worth... They're too similar. With the possible exception of the Ssu and their food, the Shunned ones and Mihalli, all major races are compatible at a very basic level. Such forms as hair, skin, bones almost certainly imply DNA, and the same type of DNA that such close cousins as Spiders, Streptococcus Bacteria and Horses share. This means that it strains credulity for them to have originated so widely. Had they not been compatible, not only would they all have different food requirements, VERY different (levro- vs dextro- sugars for example) but the allergy problems would mean that "this planet ain't big enough for the both of us, pardner". Again, the Ssu and Shunned Ones are both exceptions. But.... If the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe hypothesis is correct, then it may be that all stars in the local area - 61 Cygni, Sigma Draconis, 70 Ophiuchi to name a few of the more likely ones - are certainly contaminated with each other's lifestuff. In which case the strongest would survive in environment, and all advanced life would have adjusted to some degree to the older or more foreign strains. The H-W Hypothesis states that, for example, virusses are constantly bombarding us. We adjust to them, or we die. Similarly, we have also adjusted (poorly) to Clostridium Botulinum and other such anaerobes, which are quite different from us (but probably similar to the Shunned Ones). That's why a professional biologist chokes at the idea of multiple origins, while I, a mere ameteur, find it not unreasonable. [Moderator's Note: This is beginning to get a bit beyond most of us. These ] [ theories are interesting and entertaining. If there is ] [ anything new to say, please send it. But let's not ] [ rehash this one too many times. I feel that this is one ] [ of those subjects that could begin to take a life of its ] [ own. ] -- Alan Brain ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //397 [Moderator's Note: David Cheng sends an update on the Tekumel Con. ] Tekumel-Con plans are still rolling along. I have made significant progress in the past couple of weeks. I want to give you all a little update. I have collected mailing lists from the following sources: 1) Theatre of the Mind Enterprises 2) PhD Games 3) Andrew Lorince 4) James Roach's _Realms of Wonder_ 5) Foster & Morris' _Eye of All-Seeing Wonder_ 6) people who have contacted me directly. ... and built a database with records from all six sources. This gave us about 830 names. After deleting obvious duplicates, we're down to about 670 names. I am pretty close to having a package of material to send out in a mass mailing. It will contain: * Cover letter from yours truly * Tekumel-Con promotional flyer * +Pre-Paid+ Questionnaire postcard * Miscellaneous Tekumel Info Sheet. That's everything I can think of - suggestions for items I'm overlooking are appreciated. Please send suggestions directly to me , and not to Chris. [Moderator's Note: Thank you David! ] If you would like to receive this package, but: a) don't think you're on any of the above lists, or b) haven't contacted me directly with your name and postal address, please email me ASAP. I would like to get the mailing out by some time next week (Sept 30-Oct 5). Comments, questions and requests for info should be sent to cheng@io.com Thanks, -DC ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //398 [Moderator's Note: I think this will be the last word on this subject. It ] [ is just too open ended, and is now no longer Tekumel- ] [ centric. Tekumel is just the vehicle for the conver- ] [ sation. The first part of this message is Dale's ] [ response to Bob's message, and the latter part is his re-] [ sponse to Alan Brain's message. ] [Moderator's Note: More good news. Brett Slocum has added a Tekumel Con Web] [ page to his current Tekumel web page. The URL is: ] [ http://www.io.com/~slocum/tekcon.html. He'll be putting ] [ all the up-to-date info from David Cheng on it. It cur- ] [ rently has the Announcement from August 16, but will have] [ more this week. Thanks Brett! ] Legend. >> Dale's original posting > Bob's Response Dale's response >Accepting of course that this is YOUR Tekumel (and I have no problem >with that), I am drawn to wonder WHY. The situation you describe is >rather more complicated than is necessary to explain the circumstances, >in other words it violates the test of Occam's Razor. Yes, it COULD be >the case that the Shen are drastically-genetically-engineered humans, as >are the creatures which came from their worlds. But it seems a lot >simpler if they're just a separately-evolved set of life forms. Or do >you consider it unlikely that life evolved on any planet but Terra? On the contrary, I think the universe is probably full of life - just not life that looks like human beings in funny masks (or lizards that look like humans in the case of Shen). For extraterrestrial life forms to evolve into humanoid forms is so unlikely as to proclude its ever happening - at least that's how it looks (other than related primates, how many other Earth creatures are humanoid? None!). Think of it like this - you are studying the language of a people in another corner of the world. You discover that their word for the shining metal boxes that fly is "airplane." Which is more likely, that the word developed independently, or came from somewhere else? This is Ocham's razor. >This is precisely what I'm talking about. I mean, maybe the idea of >life evolving on another planet stretches someone's plausibility. But >doesn't the above scenario, "Humanity begat Ssu, and Ssu begat >Tinaliya," stretch plausibility even farther? Not at all. Humanoid features (two eyes, limbs, roughly the same mass, ability to use and understand one anothers devices) suggest that the Ssu are human in origin. >>Beings Descended from Humanity: >>Humans (rather obvious) >>Heheganu and Hehecharu >These folks are in fact descended from Humanity, with the exception of >the genus "Talk Show Host" which are actually a form of nonhuman >He'esa. I'm inclined to agree with you on that point. What species are the "guests" on these show? >>Shen (they may well be from Rigel or wherever, but by way of Earth first) >>Pygmy Folk >>Pachei Lei (probably "artificial" life forms. Otherwise, they seem a >>little too closely related to the Ahoggya.) >Again, this just seems like unnecessary complexity... Nope. Just the opposite - I'm jist a poor ole scientist out here trying to put some order into the chaos of Tekumelyani zoology. If one believes that evolution always favors humanoid forms, mass and technologies, then this is fine. Ultimately, neither hypothesis is testable at this time, Martian meteorites not included! >>Beings Descended from Quadrupedal Terrestrial Organisms: >>Ahoggya (quadruplets joined at the back and further modified for some >>reason now long forgotten) >Sorry, you lose me right there. I can accept the idea that someday a >few of my posterity might wander down an evolutionary cul-de-sac and >evolve into Talk Show Host or Heheganu... but Ahoggya?! Never! My DNA >would strangle itself with its own genomes first... I rather like Ahoggya. :( >>Pei Choi (lost one eye) >But the Pe Choi are insectoid and exoskeletal! Are you suggesting (to >use David Brin's terminology) that Pe Choi are "uplifted" praying >mantis? Actually, yes. >>We do have pigs and rats on our Tekumel (along with elephants, llamas, >>lions, kangaroos, and a few others if you know where to look). >Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! But no flying monkeys, alas. >Well, I can only assume that your vocation leads you to this somewhat >overcomplicated view of Tekumel: does this alternate genesis play a >role in your games? Are zoological/biological themes important to your >campaigns? Otherwise, this would seem like a lot of effort to go to in >order to avoid any non-Terrrestrial origins for Tekumel's inhabitants. >On the other hand, it may help explain why Pe Choi taste so good boiled, >with a little lemon butter... The question of Tekumelyani biology has only came up once - but that player was a plant geneticist. We tend to concentrate on heroic action, saving the day, etc. I'll have to try Pe Choi with lemon butter. Eating them with katchup is too nakome even for us! >>Dale Robertson (biologist, artist, bagpiper, and general lay-about) >Ah! Now I understand! You're a BAGPIPER. I should have suspected... Definition of a gentleman - someone who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn't! Second message's response. Legend > Alan's Message Dale's Response >Had they not been compatible, not only would they all have different >food requirements, VERY different (levro- vs dextro- sugars for example) >but the allergy problems would mean that "this planet ain't big enough >for the both of us, pardner". Again, the Ssu and Shunned Ones are both >exceptions. Exactly! >But.... >If the Hoyle-Wickramasinghe hypothesis is correct, then it may be that >all stars in the local area - 61 Cygni, Sigma Draconis, 70 Ophiuchi to >name a few of the more likely ones - are certainly contaminated with >each other's lifestuff. In which case the strongest would survive in >environment, and all advanced life would have adjusted to some degree to >the older or more foreign strains. The H-W Hypothesis states that, for >example, virusses are constantly bombarding us. We adjust to them, or we >die. Similarly, we have also adjusted (poorly) to Clostridium Botulinum >and other such anaerobes, which are quite different from us (but >probably similar to the Shunned Ones). I must have missed this hypothesis - I'll have to get out of the lab more often! :) > That's why a professional biologist chokes at the idea of multiple > origins, while I, a mere ameteur, find it not unreasonable. I have no problems with multiple origins - I just have a problem with multiple humanoids. [Moderator's Note: Again, this one has gotten past Tekumel to be a general ] [ question about science. It is time to let those who want] [ to continue discussing it, do so in private email. Please] [ let me know if you want to continue, and I'll send your ] [ email addresses to Dale. ] ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //399 [Moderator's Note: Shawn Bond asks about the Chima. Plus, a couple of ] [ announcements. ] As I'm sitting here at work, the question comes to mind; what are the Other-Planar/magical properties of the Chima? According to the treatise on the Sunuz language, the Chima were attributed to with Other-Planar abilities similar (?!) to the Mihalli. This is a very intriguing remark, considering the Tekumel Beastiary in no way mentions these abilities of the Chima (or are the statements made in the Sunuz study all an insiduous tricks by the agents of the Pariah Deities?) Can anyone bring to light more information (details please) of this (at least to me) mysterious species? Your servant, Shawn Bond ----------- A couple of announcements. One of the list members would like to get a copy of the module A Jakallan Intrigue. If anyone knows where he can get one, send him email at spkellog@indiana.edu The second is that Zane Healy has created a Gardasiyal Character generator for the Macintosh. It is located on the ftp site in the contrib directory. This software is in development, and is a pre-release beta version, so use it at your own risk. I have been using it for a few weeks and it has not harmed my mac system in any way, but that is no guarantee. It is a nice piece of work, and I think you should check it out if you own, or have access to a mac. Thanks Zane! That's it! Chris ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //400 [Moderator's Note: Dale Robertson asks the following about Tsolyani society.] [ In regards to the previous message's topic. Steve ] [ Woodcock pointed out a passage from the Sourcebook that ] [ added a theory found in section 1.413. It states that ] [ one theory is that there were 2 "proto-races" that seeded] [ the 4 limbed races and the 6 limbed races. I can mail ] [ the paragraph to anyone who wants it, or you can check ] [ your Sourcebook section 1.413. ] >I have a few (not very heroic) questions concerning Tsolyani society: >1. Other than the Arenas, what other types of sports are popular >in tsolyanu? races or other athletic events that do not include >death and general mayhem? Anything similar to Football or soccer >or hurley? Tsolyani boxing or chlen cart races? There are no football, soccer, basketball, or badminton leagues, as far as I know. In the Zocchi Sourcebook, p. 99, a game called Marotlan is described. in Yan Kor and the north and west they call this game Me'era, and a large leather ball is employed. Teams must try to keep it out of their "colour" areas. The feasts of the nobility often include acrobatic displays, gladiatorial contests (usually not to the death), wrestling, and other combative but non-fatal games. These are not really "public" but are limited to the audiences invited by the host. If you can get a copy of the Zocchi Sourcebook, a few of these recreations are sketched in. It would take a great deal of work to provide rules for them all -- and the Five Empires differ widely over what those rules are! >2. There are a few musical instruments mentioned in the novels >and game books. what does tsolyani music sounds like? I also noted >a reference to "pipes" in one of the novels (don't ask me which one) - >are these bagpipes of some sort or shalms/bombards like those in >the middle east and breton? I like the idea of warpipes being used on >Tekumel in a manner similar to the use of pipes in medievil Scotland >and Ireland. Music is touched on on p. 97 of the Zocchi Sourcebook. I hope the third volume of this (the part that includes entertainments, etc.) will be up on the FTP site soon -- and perhaps someone could xerox pages for you in the meantime! >I tend to use folk music tapes of Turkey and other middle-eastern and >north-african cultures as background (easily found at music stores, >and often in the bargain bins - so much for appreciation of other >cultures!) . They are sufficiently different to the average gamer to >be strange and exotic. As a semi-professional musician, however, I >thought it might be interesting to compose and record "Tsolyani >folktunes." The only music I have from Tekumel is a single tape recording, which contains a temple ritual from the temple of Ksarul, another from a Sarku ceremony, and a brief chorus from the Lament to the Wheel of Black. None of these is "good music," and there are no recordings of "lighter" music or folk-music, which the Five Empires have aplenty. Plenty of scope here for somebody! >3. If a marriage is not arranged (maybe they're all arranged!) how >does one court a partner? I tend to think in terms of the happy >couple, protocol specialists, chaperones, servants, bodyguards, >interested observers, etc. that would easily result in dozens of >people on the "date." Relative to this, we know the tsolyani are quite >promiscous and uninhibited at the clanhouse, at that certain temple >festivals are rather mind-boggling, but how much display of >affection is tolerated in public? Can you hold hands in the >marketplace, or will the neighbors cry "K'Sarul in a Chlen Cart - He >KISSED her in front of Everybody!"? Courtship is carried out as it has been among humans from time immemorial: meetings, trysts, "dates" (mostly within one's own clanhouse circles and families), plus excursions to such places as 'The House of the Pleasant Hour" in Jakalla. Parents may provide their pubescent sons with concubines -- and a bag of Lisutl root to keep away unwanted offspring! Girls are strenuously admonished to marry well, but there is not much stress on "viriginity" or "chastity." The temple dormitories are in some cases coeducational... As for street displays of affection, go right ahead: nobody but a Ghatoni would object! (It is also said that the Ahoggya feel disgust upon observing human sexual congress, but then they feel disgust at many human preoccupations -- and vice-versa.) Marriages are often the result of family pressures, as they are here in more traditional societies, and young folk are often dragooned into marrying a "good match" that will help the family's prestige and wealth. Aridani girls don't have to marry the person selected for them, of course, and even a "good clan girl" can kick up her heels and balk now and then. If either boy or girl is not satisfied with his/her marriage partner, a second marriage can be contracted with equals (or even a person from a superior clan -- a love match). There are also concubines, who are really rather close to being servants or slaves. Again, love matches occur -- a famous case is that of Lady Mnella of Jakalla, who started out as rather a lowly clangirl and kept marrying "up" until she became rich and prestigious, as she is today. The Tsolyani attitude toward this is: good for her, as long as she does not pretend (ignoble action) to be someone or something she is not! These mores are very complex, especially when second, third, etc. marriages are considered. Legal contracts must be written to cover how much property the spouses will spend together, who gets what property, what clans and lineages any children will belong to, who inherits, and so on... This will be too brief to help much, but I'd have to write a disser- tation on it! Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //401 [Moderator's Note: Ron Reed asks about the novels. ] >Does anyone know the fate of the 3rd, etc. Tekumel novels? I love >them, and have an old space gamer magazine, #71, where prof. Barker >states that the 3rd was underway with outlines for the following >two!!...it would be great to see them. Also, if anyone has a blank >S&G character sheet or a source for them I am in need of one. Ron The third novel is now being rewritten -- again! It is complex and difficult, and I have had a hard time getting characters I really like. As for the fourth, fifth, etc., these were originally just plans -- not real outlines -- and I think I may have bitten off more than I could chew. Ah, I was young in those halcyon days of yore! As for the character sheets, I am sure there are some floating around out there that could be xeroxed. [Moderator's Note: If anyone has a good one, we could do it up as a PDF ] [ file and post it in the contrib corner. ] Regards, Phil. ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //402 [Moderator's Note: Zane Healy offers to work up a character sheet as a PDF.] [ I will send him a couple of examples that I have. If ] [ anyone else has others, esp worked up on electronic ] [ format, let him know (via the list). ] >As for the character sheets, I am sure there are some floating around >out there that could be xeroxed. > >[Moderator's Note: If anyone has a good one, we could do it up as a PDF ] >[ file and post it in the contrib corner. ] If someone has a bad one, I could use it for a guideline for doing it up in ClarisDraw, since I can then print it out to Adobe Acrobat. I assume you were talking about scanning it, since you said a good one. I like doing forms, and ClarisDraw makes it easy. [Moderator's Note: I'll send the examples that I have Zane. ] Zane Zane H. Healy | UNIX Systems Adminstrator healyzh@ix.netcom.com (primary) | Linux Enthusiast healyzh@holonet.net (alternate) | Mac Programmer -- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //403 [Moderator's Note: Adam Crossingham asks for earthly equivalents to ] [ Tekumelani music. I sent this to the list as a whole, ] [ to hear everybody's opinion on the subject. Although, ] [ I expect to hear from the Professor, too. ] For my maiden question, I was going to ask what music sounded like on Tekumel, but Dale Robertson asked about, and Prof. Barker touched upon Tsolyani music in "Message 400: Tsolyani Society". Rats, beaten to the punch.... However I would like to develop Dale's question about what Tsolyani/Tekumelian music actually sounds like, and ask if there any traditions of music on Earth today (or perhaps a musical sound that has been reconstructed, like that of European early medieval music) that roughly approximate something from Tekumel? I was thinking that, for example, perhaps Sri Lankan music, or Thailand music, or that awful one-stringed thing from Japan could sound similar to something Tekumelian. Then I could go out and locate something in the World music section of my record shop to play at a game (perhaps while eating food from the banquet menu that was on the back cover of a recent "Eye of All-Seeing Wonder" issue), for added game *flavour*. Just a thought. Adam Crossingham -- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //404 [Moderator's Note: The Professor answers a question from Zane Healy on some ] [ of the other Tekumelani Languages. ] By the time I get this written, you may already be here ready to game! But I have delayed answering this too long -- computers! [Moderator's Note: I was! ] >Here are a few questions on Ghatoni & the Nlu'arshan languages and >a tidbit from my own explorations for his consideration. >Regarding the Ghatoni language-what are the 7 consonants >and 3 vowels that require additional symbols in the >Yan Koryani script? IÕm guessing that at least three of >the consonants might be voiced uvular stop & voiced/ >voiceless uvular fricatives (distinct from velar fricatives)? Ghatoni is a Khishan language, though far removed from Tsolyani, Mu'uga- lavyani, or even Yan Koryani. It has no script of its own but is occas- ionally written in the Yan Koryani script. The seven consonants include two pharyngeal fricatives (the voiced "ayn" and voiceless pharyngeal "h" of Arabic), and five glottalised stops (p', t' ch' k', q'). "House," which is /veshu-(kh)/ in Tsolyani, is /p'izhom/ in Ghatoni -- the "o" is a back unrounded central vowel. The other two vowels are a phonemic "schwa" (the first "a" of "above"), and a high back unrounded vowel. Neither the back unrounded "o" nor the ":u" occur in English or any European language. Turkish does have the "undotted i" that represents a back unrounded vowel, but only Mongolian (e.g. the Khalkha dialect) has very high and mid back unrounded vowels that sound much like Ghatoni. >Does Ghatoni make a distinction between front rounded >and back unrounded vowels? (which would add at least two >vowels...) Yes, as above. >The description of glottalized stops vs >voiceless vs aspirated stops in Ghatoni was very >enlightening, I gather that a corresponding situation >holds for the various NÕluÓss dialects? Yes. The N'lu'arsh languages seem to have influenced Pijenani and were probably the source for the glottalised stops in archaic Mu'ugalavyani. Most Mu'ugalavyani today write glottalised stops only in such "traditional spellings" as Ch'ochi. Nobody pronounces them, except pedants and occasional N'luss speakers who learn Mu'ugalavyani. >Do Ghatoni and the NluÕarshan languages also possess >voiceless nasals and /r/--/hm, hn, hr/, etc.? Yes. Voiceless nasals and laterals (/hm, hn, hw, hl/) are common in N'lu'arshan tongues, as in Khishan. There are even supposed to be contrasts between a voiceless lateral (/hl/) and a strongly fricativ- ised voiceless lateral (the "barred l" of Welsh "Llewellyn"). >From what >few examples I have seen, I take it that NluÕarshan >languages also possess a syllabic /r/ as in the names >/Mrrgsha/ and /Grdra/. Similarly, is there a syllabic /r/ >in the Ghatoni words /petr, betr, pÕetr/--or are the latter >retroflex stops? There is indeed a syllabic /r/ in N'lu'arshan, as also -- very rarely -- in old Mu'ugalavyani (and still preserved in the name of the chief deity there: /hrsh/). The quality of this "r" is rather like the vowel nucleus of midwestern American English "bird," "curd," "verb," etc. >Do the retroflex nasal & lateral of Yan >Kor occur in any of the surrounding languages (Ghatoni, >PÕjjenaa, LoÕorunankh)? I suspect these phonemes are found in some of the Lo'orunankh dialects, but I don't recall them in Pijenani. >The classical form of MuÕugalavyani, or rather the >Engsvanyali dialect that became MuÕugalavyani, possessed >a series of aspirated and glottalized stops: pÕ, tÕ, >chÕ, kÕ, qÕ & ph, th, chh, kh, qh. I know that modern >MuÕugalavyani possesses letters for the ejectives and >the aspirated velar stop--do either of these series occur >in modern MuÕugalavyani dialects? (I am guessing that >those dialects closest to the NÕluÓss and Ghaton borders >would be most likely to maintain them). You are right. Older forms of Mu'ugalavyani did indeed have glottalised stops, and it is possible that dialects on the N'luss frontier would still have them. Modern Mu'ugalavyani consider these sounds to be "barbaric" or "archaic affectations." >Having had the chance to peruse the grammars, I found >Engsvanyali to be truly fascinating, and very reminiscent >of Arabic in its use of roots with varying vowel patterns. >I have only gotten partway through the treatise on Sunuz >and was very surprised to discover that the Chima exist >on multiple planes as do the Mihalli. I particularly >enjoyed the fact that the 7th Octant in the alphabet is >supposed to represent sounds from a non-human language >(at least underlyingly?). The Chima are hard to study. They tend to be aloof and resistant to contact. They aren't hostile, but somehow questioners seem to always get bland, meaningless answers whenever they probe too deeply. Talk about fish, ropes, sails, the sea, etc., and the Chima are a mine of information. Try to dig into other-planar stuff, and suddenly it's "Oh, look at the bird! He flies so high above our heads!" Nothing but platitudes and chitchat. On the other hand, the Chima do seem able to shift planes. Not as easily as the Mihalli, and certainly not with the understanding of Other-Planar power and "magic" possessed by the M ihalli (and some few human sorcerers). But even a simple Chima fisherman may occasionally be met with on the Rivers That Flow Between the Worlds... >In my explorations of Tekumel we have discovered an >island, reachable by tube-way, on which humans and Pe Choi >live in a communal society, their common enemy in this >location being the Hokun. The two races have existed in >such close proximity that the human language, which I >believe was possibly a distant relation to Nom, has >acquired some of the clicks (a series of simple and >nasalized clicks: p!, t!, ch!, tr!; m!, n!, ny!, nr!) >as well as some of the breathy, humming tones exhibited >in the local Pe Choi dialect, in addition to the use >of postvelar voiced and voiceless stops and fricatives >to represent a number of sounds in the Pe Choi language >not pronounceable by humanity. The grammar is clearly >human, but a number of words were clearly borrowed from >the Pe Choi, and the initial impression on meeting these >people was that we were hearing humans speaking like >Pe Choi! We did observe that the Pe Choi appeared to use >a different language than that spoken with the humans. >I don't know if this island & culture exists on the real >Tekumel, but I'd be interested in your thoughts on this >rather unusual situation. (BTW I believe these people >call themselves something like /nr!u'ung/--with falling, >strongly nasalized tone.) Thanks for your input. You're welcome to devise whatever you wish for Tekumel -- as a *contribution* that may or may not be "real" Tekumel. I shall look and see if the place also exists on "my" Tekumel. It is entirely possible that it may... As for "clicks" (like Xhosa here on Terra), I'd just as soon not encounter them! We spent a long spring seminar once when I was learning field linguistics learning to produce clicks, and I was never very good at it! We also tried Fanti, but the word-tones were too intricate for my poor unsophisticated ears! That's why I have strenuously resisted learning more of the Aom tongues! Regards, Phil [Moderator's Note: Paul Mason sends this message. He received a Flamesong ] [ from me, and includes the phone numbers of the people ] [ that have a copy. If you are looking for a copy of ] [ Flamesong, you might check them out. ] >Hi. We now have a copy of M. A. R. Barker's FLAMESONG on hold for you >through Oct 23rd, pending confirmation that you want it. It's a good copy >of the 1985 DAW Books paperback, cover and spine a bit creased from having >been read, priced at $3.00. > >Dave Nee/The Other Change of Hobbit/2020 Shattuck Ave/Berkeley CA 94704/ >voice :510-848-0413 >fax :510-595-9029 >e-mail:ochobbit@dnai.com >WWW Home Page: http://www.dnai.com/~ochobbit ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //405 [Moderator's Note: This is just a status message and one reporting to you ] [ some first hand events of my visit to Minneapolis, and ] [ what I saw transpire on Tekumel. ] I won't go into too much detail on my arrival into Kashkomai valley, but it was less dignified than I had intended. Let's just say that I would have been toast if it weren't for unlooked for help from an unusual source. I believe the entry in the campaign diary was, "Naked Preist of Ksarul arrives with a Mnor riding on his shoulder." No more need be said! Once at the valley, I had to make way to see the holder of the fief, as I was supposed to oversee refurbishing the local temple. Much easier said than done, and as the Salarvyani had relieved me of all cash (amongst other things), I had nothing with which to grease the wheels. Judicious use of magic provided the open door I needed, and I was off to see the lady of the tower. Well, I found out that there was no temple there any more. It, with most of the other buildings in the valley were wiped out by Salarvyani raiding parties. Ah, what to do. Well, I began scouting the area for possible worshippers. I continue to do so, and have learned some very interesting things. I also acquired a "temple" (converted house) to begin the building process (thanks to a local priest of Wuru). There is too much war, raiding parties,and other nastiness going on outside the valley to want to go back, and too much cool stuff to investigate within the valley for me to leave, currently. Also, one of the adventures of some of the players took them to a huge battle site between Eselne and his troops, and Rereshqala's troops. At one point, Eselne seems to have died, but I'm sorry to say he didn't stay that way. I think that our party saved him, but we can't really be sure. It appears that Eselne is trying to overrun Rereshqala, and get him totally out of the picture. Then he'll try to deal with Taksuru/Mirusiya. This battle apparently took place just south of Usenanu, on the Missuma River. It would be cool if the regular players on the list would give us some more detail when they find out more. I know you guys are busy, but a nugget or two of news would be quite welcome. I had a great time and can't wait to go back again, and for the Tekumel con. Chris ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //406 [Moderator's Note: The Professor answers Adam's question about Tekumelani ] [ music. ] >For my maiden question, I was going to ask what music sounded like on >Tekumel, but Dale Robertson asked about, and Prof. Barker touched upon >Tsolyani music in "Message 400: Tsolyani Society". Rats, beaten to the >punch.... >However I would like to develop Dale's question about what >Tsolyani/Tekumelian music actually sounds like, and ask if there any >traditions of music on Earth today (or perhaps a musical sound that >has been reconstructed, like that of European early medieval music) >that roughly approximate something from Tekumel? Early mediaeval, Japanese, Indonesian gamelan, Arabic, and Hollywood S-and-and-sorcery movies (e.g. "Sinbad," "The THief of Baghdad," etc.) have all been suggested. There are counterparts to some of these. Tsolyani folk music sounds "bouncy" with a good rhythm and a relatively happy tone; epic poetry is ponderous, slow, and full of long, quavering notes that are allowed to die away; temple music is appropriately powerful, somewhat overwhelming, and -- in some cases -- awe-inspiring. The melodies do not sound like much that we in modern Europe/America are familiar with. I played a Ksarul temple chant, a melodic (flute- drum-vocal) interlude to the Lament to the Wheel of Black, and a portion of a longish temple ceremony/chant/descent into the Underworld for our esteemed moderator when he was just up here, and I don't think he was all that impressed. [Moderator's Note: At the time this was going on, we were either perusing ] [ some very interesting stuff, or working on the computer, ] [ I can't remember which. So I was a bit involved in what ] [ was going on. I do remember it being as Phil says, it ] [ seemed slow, full of the long quavering notes that seem ] [ to drift away into silence. Very cool stuff. ] No problem -- to each his own. There are numerous traditions, just as there are here: Yan Koryani music gives a feeling of roughness, power, raw and unsophisticated rhythms; Livyani music is delicate, involuted, and complex, using several interlocking melody-rhyme-metre lines. And so on. >I was thinking that, for example, perhaps Sri Lankan music, or >Thailand music, or that awful one-stringed thing from Japan could >sound similar to something Tekumelian. [Make it "Tekumelani"] Then I >could go out and locate >something in the World music section of my record shop to play at a >game (perhaps while eating food from the banquet menu that was on the >back cover of a recent "Eye of All-Seeing Wonder" issue), for added >game *flavour*. Just a thought. There are more similarities to Thai and Sri Lankan music than to Mozart, Brahms, the Beatles, Rap, or Heavy Metal. But having said that... where from here? Long, slow, contemplative Indian sitar music may have something in common with the Tenturen (the instrument used for Tsolyani classical music). Try to find a performance of Raga Malkos -- the scale is similar. Flute and the little bowls filled with water (called "Jaltarang" in India) are also likely to produce some similarities. Take note: I am absolutely no expert on musical matters (As if people couldn't guess from what I am saying here!) Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //407 [Moderator's Note: Zane Healy asks about architecture and Ditlana. ] >For Americans one of the great things about travelling in places like >Europe, and the Mediterranian is getting to see architectural wonders that >are far older that what we see in the US. Some of these items are far more >than 500 years old. >Which brings me to wonder. Suppose it is time for Ditlana in a certain >city, and this city has what is considered to be one of the seven wonders >of Tekumel, so to speak. I mean this building is incredible, people come >from hundreds of miles just to marvel at it. Would this building be torn >down, or would it be spared? Spared! Absolutely! The great palaces and architectural marvels would be preserved, but the city -- houses, slums, government buildings of no great interest, etc. etc. -- would be torn down all around it. Ditlana has to be done carefully, with lots of planning and work. A truly bad Ditlana could wreck a beautiful building by making it unstable -- as happened some centuries ago at Katalal. The temple of Vimuhla there had to be rebuilt after the local governor made its foundations undependable. Cost him his job, but his clan saved him from worse. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //408 [Moderator's Note: Patrick Brady asks about how people transition to the here-] [ after on Tekumel. ] >(1) I'm running a situation which a Players character is killed, now >normally this is of course the signal for the player to get a new character, >but I'm trying to >give the players a bit of atmosphere by actually roleplaying through >this characters experience of death and his journey to the Isles of >the Dead. I think PC death should be significant and the belief in >the next world is worth cultivating (it's been central to so many >cultures on Earth). Anyway,the character is an ex-Tirikamu from the >12th Medium Infantry, who lost his left arm in the war against the >Yan Koryanii. He is reasonably devout and died in battle. He "comes >round" confused and somewhat amnesiac in a barren place that he sort >of remembers as being a bit like many places. He meets other members >of his old unit (men also recently killed in battle) and they are >encamped around the only place they find themselves comfortable >(everywhere else seems cold) which is a Legion war memorial stuck on >a hillside. I'm actually doing this by email with the player and my >intention is to treat the journey as a potentially harsh and >dangerous one, with the servants of Qon acting as guides and >protectors. Gradually they have to discard their armour and equipment >(representing their past lives) and find themselves calm but changing >(absence of the Pedhetl and Hlakme) as they make their long march. >I'm interested in views, criticisms and suggestions. Is what I'm >doing acceptable, reasonable or just the influence of Twin Peaks and >American Gothic and a Pilgrims Progress ? You're doing fine. It is written that Lord Qon sends his servitors to the deceased, and after some of what you have described above, these servitors lead the spirit to a waiting boat "on the Shores of the Sea That Never Was," and they set sail for the Isles of Teretane. Aout this time one's memories of life begin to fade, and the journey becomes the All. Spirits speak to one another and sit at neighbouring oars, but there is little or no memory of what is said. (Ask anyone how much he remembers of the time before his spirit was placed in his mother's womb before his birth.) The journey through the Isles takes either seconds or millennia, according to Lord Belkhanu's theologians. Some believe that spirits are then reborn in new bodies. Read the little section in the Book of Ebon Bindings. Interestingly enough, Belkhanu's clergy are almost always employed to bury the dead, except for those of the temples of Sarku-Durritlamish (who bury their own) and Vimuhla-Chiteng (who burn their dead). Belkhanu is acceptable, thus, even for Ksarul and Hru'u, although those who are truly devout and/or members of these temples' priesthoods may indeed have separate ceremonies that focus on the rites of their own sects. In Mu'ugalavya, most dead are burned in ceremonies put on by the priests of Hrsh; in Livyanu, there is no consensus, and the temples of the Shadow Gods permit no outsiders to enter their temples' mausoleums or cemeteries (except under very unusual circumstances). The Yan Koryani operate much like the Tsolyani, and the Salarvyani tend to leave burial customs to the deceased's family or lineage. The temple of Shiringgayi is thus called upon only by those who really worship her, while most of the great lineages (e.g. the Thirreqummu of Koyluga) have cemeteries and customs of their own. In most lands there are noisome corpse pits for the poor and unimportant, cemeteries and tombstones for those of middling importance, and great monuments for those of the highest ranks. It is hard to be more specific. There are too many variables -- customs that change over space and time. Your relation of the life after death could conceivably end with the deceased being reborn in a new "incarnation." Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //409 [Moderator'S Note: Ray Gillham asks questions about Yan Kor, the Astronomy of] [ Tekumel, and how peasants and lower classes perform divi- ] [ nations. ] >1. Prior to the war between Ald and Dichune (sp?), [Dhich'une, pronounced >like "thich ("this" with a "ch" at the end), + "oo" + nay," accent on the >"nay") how could Yan Kor have been a part of the Five Empires proper? The >Sourcebook says that Tsolyanu considered Yan Kor fit only for plunder and >slaves, and Ald was the catalyst that enabled the fractious city-states >to unite and challenge the Tsolyani in their own backyard. Salarvya has >internal strife as well of course, but was Yan Kor really fit to be called >an Empire, pre-Ald? Yan Kor in the days of the Engsvanyali was a ring of northern islands and a central shallow sea, where the Desert of Sighs and some of the northern plains are today. It was a province of the Priestkings' empire. After the fall of Engsvan hla Ganga, the "province" of Yan Kor was sometimes independent and sometimes a part of the expanding Tsolyani Imperium. The Tsolyani warred and raided up there repeatedly, until Ald came along and solidified the city-states into one shaky nation. Before Ald, Yan Kor was considered by the Tsolyani to be "their property" on the basis of its Engsvanyali status. It was an "Empire" in name only during some of that time, but at others, it was autonomous. Now it is classified by Tekumelani historians as an "Empire." >2. Tsolyani astrology; there are no stars in the sky, right? Then how >do the astrologers know that there are four other planets in the >system, unless they are visible to the naked eye (in which case >they'll look like stars?). Do the Tsolyani use telescopes? Is the >astrological system stunted by a lack of heavenly bodies? The other planets of the system are visible to the naked eye. There is no difference between a "star" and a "planet" as far as the Tekumelani are concerned. The fact that stars twinkle and planets do not is irrel- evant if one has no stars to compare the planets with. There are a few telescopes on Tekumel, left over from the age of the Great Ancients, but the average astronomer must just go on eye-measurements, the way the ancient Maya did it. The astrological system, as I have said before, is based upon the horizon (the rising and setting points of each planet), plus "aspects" made between the celestial bodies (the four planets, the two moons, and the sun). A few of the ancient orbiting satellites are still visible as well. The "aspects" include conjunctions, squares, trines, and oppositions. With no constellations, the quadrants of the sky (the "houses") are important. Somebody with more astronomical know-how than I have could make up a decent guide, but this is a bit beyond my capabilities. >2a. The Tsolyani are intensely superstitious, so what other forms of >divination do they use? Reading animal entrails? Casting of sticks? >Is there a connection between this sort of oracle and the gaming >sticks (Tlashten?). Or, are the magics and demon summonings much more >useful than these "primitive" methods? The peasants and lower classes use divination methods based on patterns of sticks thrown into a box of sand, on stones thrown onto a mat painted with various patterns, etc. The sticks are similar in form to those used for tsahlten, but they are different. The temples discourage these "folk" methods of divination. They have complex rituals and methods that are probably just as reliable -- or unreliable. Only those with a lot of knowledge, money, and talent can expect better results, using magic and spells based upon Other-Planar power. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //410 [Moderator's Note: John Goff asks about details on some of the "monsters" ] [ of Tekumel. ] >I need information on the Tsoggu, the Gerendya, the Kayi, and the Qol. >Specificly if the Tsoggu is really an undead creature, or merely a sea >monster, the picture on page 63 of the 1975 TSR rulebook shows a sea >zombie of some sort complete with bones showing through rotting skin. >The description however states that it merely resembles a drowned corpse, >and its hypnotic power resembles the power of the Ssu. Does the Tsoggu >have webbed hands and feet, and do the feet have claws or fangs similar >to those shown on the hands. The Tsoggu looks (and smells!) enough like a drowned corpse to make people think it is one. It is mottled tan in colour, roughly human-sized, and has discoloured areas that seem to be eyes, a mouth, and bifurcations between its limbs. It has pupilless, white eyesa that have a hypnotic power. If it succeeds in capturing a fish, a humn, or other prey, it lets them drown and then eats their bodies when they have become "ripe" enough. It has claws on both hands and feet, but these limbs are not its main fighting weapons. Sailors believe it has a terrible set of fangs, but this is unclear since specimens are very rare. It may have just enough of a set of fangs to tear and rend carrion after it has hypnotised and drowned its prey. >The picture of the Gerendya on page 45 of the 1975 TSR rulebook shows thn >bat like wings, while the description states that it has thin membranous >wings and wing cases. This description seems closer to dragonfly like >wings than those shown in the illustration on page 45. I would like to >know if that interpetation is correct. The wings are shaped rather like those of a bat, but they actually are very thin and membraneous, as stated. The wings are larger than those in the picture, of course. >I am already working on a figure of the Kayi, and have several fine >illustrations to work with but any new information would be helpful. I can't think of anything that isn't already illustrated. >The only question on the Qol comes from one illustration in the Tekumel >Beastiary on page 69 which shows a reptile like head instead of the viper >snake head that is usually associated with the Qol. This illustration >also shows it with webbed feet. I would like to know if this >illustration is correct. The Bestiary is correct. The head is perhaps a little less like a serpent and more like a viper, but it's hard for human artists who have never seen one to do much better. The tentacles and webbed feet are correct. Some have reported human-like hands, but this variant either does not exist or else is quite rare. Remember that these construct-creatures are not naturally reproducing species that always come in one and the same form. Variations are common enough and may represent different origins, different "mixes" of the biological soup from which these beings were created, or different types for different purposes. Good luck! I look forward to seeing these kindly characters in 3-dimensional form! Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //411 [Moderator's Note: Bob tells it much better than I do, but he does skip some ] [ earlier adventures that he'd rather forget, I think. Like ] [ all good writers, some liberties taken here and there. :)] Adlar and Achan's Excellent Adventure -or- Thursday the Ksarul Priest went Naked It was an ordinary autumn day in the Valley of Kashkomai. In the fields, the peasants were harvesting the Dna grain, carefully picking out Mnor webbing and redolent scraps of Ssu-flesh dropped the prior evening. Epeng the size of basketballs scurried through the underbrush near the temple of Wuru, dodging the Dzor who was snoring against a tree. Within the tower at the east end of the valley, Adlar hiFershena was enjoying anew the ability to stand up while relieving himself. "If I ever find that Mihalli who turned me into a female," he growled, "I'll turn HIM into a pair of half-Mihalli..." Emerging from the facilities he nearly bumped into Drakohl, the grizzled Vimuhla veteran who served Lady Metlana as the captain of the tower guard. "Everything come out all right?" Drakohl snorted. "Yeah, thanks to you. Boy I hated being female." Adlar replied. "If you hadn't had that disenchantment stone, I'd still be wearing a skirt!" Drakohl paused. "You ARE wearing a skirt," he said. Adlar stopped, looking down. "No I'm not, that's a kilt." "What's the difference?" "What do you mean, 'what's the difference'?" Adlar responded indignantly. "A skirt is a skirt, and a kilt is a kilt." "Adlar," Drakohl drawled, "that's the same thing you were wearing yesterday when you were female." "Maybe," Adlar replied slowly, "but I'm wearing it AS a kilt. That's the difference." Drakohl did not reply, but turned and walked up the stairs to Lady Metlana's audience hall, shaking his head slowly. Adlar's reply was lost as a hand touched his forearm. He turned to see a tall, dour figure looming over him. "Excuse me," he said, "I'm looking for the lady." "Upstairs," Adlar replied automatically. As the figure passed, he tried to recall where he'd seen the fellow before. Somewhere, sometime... that was it! That was Thuken, the Undying Wizard! He'd killed Adlar three or four times during his attempted takeover of Kashkomai Valley, and only the generous application of revivification spells by the Undying Wizard Torshanmu had kept Adlar in the fight. Adlar was considering whether he should pursue Thuken when the Wizard reappeared, in the company of Lord Drakohl and the Lady herself. Ah Metlana! Adlar had eyes only for her. They had been lovers for weeks now, ever since returning to Kashkomai and ousting the usurper, Sanjesh. During his time as a female Adlar had hope to explore certain possibilities, but alas the opportunity had not presented itself. Now restored, his heart fluttered as she walked up, gazed lovingly into Adlar's eyes and said, "The basement." "What?" Adlar asked, snapping out of his reverie. "We're going down the basement. Please attend me," the Lady snapped. No command could be more lovingly given, nor more ardently followed. Concealing his passion behind the stony visage of a Karakan warrior, Adlar prepared to strike down the deadly Thuken should he once again threaten Lady Metlana as he did when contesting for control of the valley. For once the dread basement of the tower was quiet. No invisible demons pounded at the iron plate covering the hole leading into the pit. No planar rifts opened into the squamous plane of Horodai. The corpses of the Vimuhla priests had long been removed. Thuken led the small group quickly into the storeroom full of rusted and broken devices of the Ancients. He gestured abruptly, and the wall at the back of the storeroom opened. "I knew there was a secret room back there!" exclaimed Adlar. Thuken, Metlana and Drakohl issued a chorus of shushes, and the three stepped into the room. Tiny golden, green and red lights blinked upon various waist-high facades around the walls. A wire-frame chair, its padding rotted to a pile of dust on the floor, occupied a central spot. The mighty Undying Wizard Thuken surveyed the magical panels and muttered, "Yes, this should do. I should be able to take over the valley from right here." Lady Metlana's eyes widened (beautifully, Adlar thought) and Lord Drakohl sputtered, "What? But you said..." Thuken turned a condescending gaze upon the trio, "Yes, well that was before, wasn't it? And really, there's little you can do. You have nothing with which to oppose me, and neither meddlesome Thomar or that idiot Torshanmu are here to help you this time. But look," he drawled, "I'm a kind man. Depart now, and I'll leave your skeins on the loom for a while. Or join me, and share in the power of the Goddess! She is quite generous. But oppose me, and I'll make you wish you never existed. Actually, I'll probably just make it so that you never did exist." He glared levelly at the three for a moment, then turned his back with a scornful snort and began clicking switches on the panels around him. Adlar, farthest from Thuken in the tiny room, could not get past Drakohl or Metlana. If he had, he would certainly have cleft the Undying Wizard in two with his mighty sword! As it was, he was in a perfect position to see Lord Drakohl reach into the pocket of his skirt, er, kilt, and remove an ordinary-looking black lump of stone. The disenchantment stone! From somewhere, he was unclear as to just where, Lord Drakohl had procured a stone bearing three spells of Disenchantment. One had been used on Adlar himself, to reverse the foul Mihalli spell that had turned the proud Karakan warrior into a helpless female slave. Now Drakohl was turning the stone upon the Undying Wizard! At the last instant, Thuken seemed to sense something, and started to whirl around. Certainly a simple disenchantment amulet could hardly have any effect upon a mighty Undying Wizard! But Drakohl's move must have taken Thuken by surprise: the spell caught him full on, and the Wizard registered a look of shock before seeming to flatten, to waver, and finally to flash off in an unexpected, indescribable direction to nowhere. The spells which had brought the Undying Wizard to the Valley must have failed, and Thuken had been flung back to where he came from! "Well done!" cried Lady Metlana, throwing her arms in a disturbingly affectionate manner about Lord Drakohl's brawny shoulders. "That was terribly risky, what if it hadn't worked?" Lord Drakohl's iron visage registered little as he said, "Frankly, I'm surprised it did. But he'll be back, with a vengeance." "Good," cried Adlar, "Then I'll have another chance to give him a taste of my steel! You dispatched him before I could teach him another lesson, Lord Drakohl." "Adlar," said Metlana, "He killed you four times. You never even got near him." "The last time, he split you clean in half," added Drakohl. "Well," Adlar drawled, "That was before I had this steel sword." "Look," continued Drakohl, "Thuken could get back here any time. Get down to Achan's house and have him get up here with his magic items. That's the only chance we've got." "Yes sir!" saluted Adlar. Before journeying to Kashkomai to seek the affections of his Lady, Adlar had been a noted Imperial Courier, and now it was he the Lady turned to for the quick dispatch of messages. "Meanwhile," growled Drakohl, "Lady Metlana and I have certain, er, rituals to perform to protect the tower." Metlana and Drakohl both worshipped Vimuhla, and often conducted rituals to their mutual God. "Rituals?" asked Metlana. Then she seemed to remember, "Oh, yes, right, the RITUALS..." "...of protection..." reminded Drakohl. "...of protection, yes, of course." Metlana agreed eagerly, her eyes shining. That was one of the many things Adlar adored about her; her devotion to her faith. He hoped that sometime Lord Drakohl and Lady Metlana would let him observe their rituals, but Lord Drakohl had assured Adlar that the rituals were secret of the Temple of Vimuhla, and could not be shared. Adlar hurried off. In the service of his Lady, he would not fail. Donning his running sandals, and carrying his sword for protection, he dashed off across the valley of Kashkomai to the house of Achan, guardian of the valley... [TO BE CONTINUED] ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //412 [Moderator's Note: Ulf Ritgen adds this to the music topic. Never heard of ] [ the band you refer to Ulf, I'll have to check it out. ] [Further Note: The ftp and web site may be down over the next few days. ] [ I will be at a seminar and training for the next 3 days. ] [ I will also be upgrading my workstation from nt3.51 to ] [ 4.0. I have been backing it up today, and will be doing ] [ the upgrade sometime tomorrow evening, probably. Sooner ] [ if I can. FYI. ] >I played a Ksarul temple chant, a melodic (flute- >drum-vocal) interlude to the Lament to the Wheel of Black, and a portion >of a longish temple ceremony/chant/descent into the Underworld for our >esteemed moderator when he was just up here, and I don't think he was >all that impressed. [rest snipped] Thinking about music fitting Tekumelani temples, I stumbled across the CD "How to Destroy Angels" by the british independent band COIL. It amazed me so much that I developped a habit of reading the tekumel-novels while listening to it and it adds very much to the slightly eerie, very exotic atmosphere. The same goes for the CD's "Stolen and Conterminated Songs" and "Unnatural History, Vols. I and II" by the same band. Does anyone in the NG know them, by chance, or is anyone willing to check them out so as to let me know of his/hers experience. I've become quite a Coil fan in the passage of the last years, and I'd really like to know other people's opinion on them - regarding their use "on Tekumel", that is (I don't want this NG to become a music-critique channel... :-) ) [Moderator's Note: This is fine for now Ulf. It is on topic, as long as it] [ ends up getting to Tekumel. ] >There are more similarities to Thai and Sri Lankan music than to Mozart, >Brahms, the Beatles, Rap, or Heavy Metal. The same goes IMHO for Coil. (but IMHO, mind that...) >Long, slow, contemplative Indian sitar music may have something in >common with the Tenturen (the instrument used for Tsolyani classical >music). Try to find a performance of Raga Malkos -- the scale is >similar. Flute and the little bowls filled with water (called >"Jaltarang" in India) are also likely to produce some similarities. Reading this, I'm getting more and more convinced Coil could do the trick - particularly if you listen to their "old" albums (recorded before 1992). A very curious Ulf ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //413 [Moderator's Note: Bob continues the story of the naked Priest, and other ] [ misadventures. This leads up to just before the battle] [ we observed between Eselne and Rereshqala. ] Adlar hiFershena arrived at the House of the First Founder only slightly winded. The twelve-tsan jog from the tower was as nothing compared to the days-long cross-Empire assignments which he used to run as an Imperial Courier. As he rounded the last curve he could not prevent a chill from running up his spine at the sight of the imposing edifice. The House of the First Founder, so-called because legend claimed that this was the home built by the first human who the Gods placed upon Tekumel, was not truly "imposing" in appearance. A simple two-story stone-and-wood structure, it had a chimney to one side and a small porch off the front. But age, legend and reputation shrouded its simple facade in mystery. Adlar himself recalled exploring the house only months before, when he had arrived in the retinue of Lady Metlana. At that time the building had been no more than charred rubble over a basement full of gold and sausages. Since the house had, well, "healed" itself. When Lord Achan, a quiet Ketengku priest, had arrived at the house he had found it in the pristine and perfectly usable condition that it maintained today. The fact that the local peasantry claimed that the house had "eaten" some of their number in order to restore itself was certainly no more that the superstitious ramblings of the poor. Now the home's two original occupants, Jomu and his little sister Tsa'a, were playing quietly on the porch, Tsa'a clutching a little doll tightly to her shoulder with one hand. They greeted Adlar cheerfully as he trotted up. "Is your father home?" Adlar asked. Upon taking up residence in the house, Lord Achan had become the foster father to these foundlings. Adlar wondered if Achan had ever asked the children about the two small skeletons that Adlar had seen in the upstairs bedroom of the ruined building, or if Achan had quietly buried them somewhere. "He is inside, Lord Adlar, I'll fetch him," said Jomu in a most polite manner. Adlar was always impressed by these delightful and well-behaved children. "FAAAAAAA- THER!" Jomu cried at the top of his lungs. "I'm right here, Jomu," said Achan, appearing at the door. "Greetings Lord Adlar." "Greetings, Achan," Adlar said, and quickly explained to Achan the situation at the tower and the anticipated imminent return of Lord Thuken. Achan nodded. "Let me gather my things and we'll be off," said Achan, with a glance at the skies, "If we leave now we should be able to make it to the tower before dark." One did not wish to wander the valley of Kashkomai at night. Raiding bands of Ssu, Salarvyani spies, and naked, sunburned priests of Ksarul had been known to accost those so foolish as to venture forth at night. "Please come inside and refresh yourself while we prepare for the journey. Children?" Everyone entered the house and there was a quick bustle of preparation, as Lord Achan gave instructions to the two old clan-women who served him. "And stay out of the basement." Achan instructed them, as the party opened the front door and stepped out... ...into the bustling street of a crowded city! "Jomu, I don't think we're in Kashkomai any more," said Tsa'a, clutching her dolly. "Here, you, out of the way!" called an armored Tsolyani soldier, a Kasi by the looks of him, probably in charge of the cohort marching through this unknown city. Adlar looked quickly about: he had visited most of the major Tsolyani cities during his time as an Imperial Runner, but all he could see from his present vantage point were the crowded fronts of middle-class clanhouses and the dusty passage of the troops. "Excuse me, good sir," asked Adlar of the Kasi. "Could you direct us to..." he groped for an idea, "the Temple of Thumis, sir?" The Temple District of most Tsolyani cities displayed unique characteristics of layout and architecture which Adlar could use for recognition. "The temple of Thumis?" growled the officer, "Don't you know your way around Usenanu? The temple of Thumis is..." he curtly detailed a set of directions. Adlar returned to Achan, who had huddled the children in a doorway to escape the trampling soldiers. "Follow me," Adlar said, "We'll head to the temple district. I ought to be able to recognize where we are from there." Following the officer's directions, the four eventually arrived before the busy gate of the temple of Karakan. "Close enough," thought Adlar, and he approached a gate-guard and identified himself as a member of the Temple. "You're a Karakan soldier?" asked the guard, "Then why aren't you with the troops preparing for the battle?" Eager to avoid being impressed for combat, Adlar quickly replied. "I am an Imperial Courier, sir. These persons," he indicated Achan and the children, "have been good enough to travel with me from Sokatis. I have a message to deliver within the temple." "Oh, a message do ye? Well where is it?" The guard peered suspiciously at the empty-handed courier. "It is a verbal message, of great import," claimed Adlar. He hoped the guard would not ask for papers, as he bore none. In truth, the last time Adlar had visited Sokatis he had found the Offices of the Imperial Couriers empty, sacked by the troops of Prince Rereshqala or Emperor Dhich'une as they wrestled for control of the city. At that time Adlar had used an official stamp found in the debris to place himself on indefinite leave of absence (with pay.) Then, being the ranking (and only) representative of the Imperial Couriers present, he signed the papers himself. "Oh, it's like that, 'tis it?" grinned the guard, "Well, take y'self on in, I wouldn't want to interfere with Imperial business." Unusually helpful, the guard even directed the four to a refectory within the temple where they could refresh themselves. [Moderator's Note: You know, he really does a good written imitation of ] [ Phil in character. :) ] Making their way into the temple courtyard, the four travellers quickly made their way to the refectory. Stepping inside, they found a buffet fit for an Imperial Prince laid out along one wall. Meats, fruits, and delicacies of all sorts were heaped and arranged in a veritable wall of delights that was much picked-over. Adlar got the sense that they had arrived just after a great feast of some sort, for slaves and acolytes of the temple scurried busily about the daises clearing away the low tables and eating-mats scattered carefully about. Nevertheless, there was no shortage of food for the four of them. They approached the buffet, deigning not to wait for a slave to serve them, months of living on Kashkomai's native dna-gruel having taken their toll. Before they could reach the buffet, however, a crowd of heavily armored men appeared at the other side of the refectory, striding quickly. Glittering in golden armor, one shorter but muscular individual seemed to be the focus of an intense walking conference. Around him, proud warriors leaned in close to listen and to advise, and all strode hurriedly across the hall towards the exit. Adlar's mind worked quickly, putting together the clues before him: troops marching through the city; a great feast prior to their departure; a man in golden armor in the temple of Karakan; the rapid consultation of hurried warriors. There was only one thing to do: he threw himself prostrate upon the floor, Achan quickly following his lead. Had Adlar and his comrades simply stood still, the busy group likely would have marched past without noting them. Now, however, they were forced to either acknowledge the tall man on his face before them, or at least step over him. "Rise," called Prince Eselne, for surely it was he, "Who are you?" The Prince was noted for his disdain of protocol and gruff manner. Fighting not to stammer, Adlar rose and stated, "Adlar hiFershena, mighty Prince." The proper pronouns and honorifics for addressing even the highest persons were drilled into him during his training as a Runner. "Well, well, what of it," barked the Prince, "Have you a message?" For a moment Adlar wondered if the gate-guard had somehow forewarned the Prince of his arrival. Then, staring sheepishly down at his running sandals Adlar realized that they still bore the stamp and sigil of the Imperial Runners where the straps crossed over the arch of his foot. The sharp-eyed Prince had identified him as an Imperial messenger! "Mighty Prince," he began, by way of grabbing a few moments in which to think, "I bear a message from..." his mind whirled "Prince Rereshqala! In Sokatis!" Adlar knew that Prince Rereshqala had but recently moved through the area around Sokatis with his army. Prince Eselne held the western portion of the Empire, far enough away for confirmation of Adlar's message to be difficult. His words caused the Prince to grunt with surprise. "Rereshqala, that dog!? What could he possibly have to say to me now?" "Mighty Prince," continued Adlar, "Prince Rereshqala seeks an... alliance, a truce and a union of forces, to move against certain forces in the north." Truly, Adlar had long thought just such an alliance should occur, to counter the Princes of Change holding the center of the Empire. If he must risk his life by deceiving a Prince of the Empire, let it at least be in a good cause! Prince Eselne's retinue burst as one into uproarous laughter at Adlar's announcement. "A truce?" the Prince roared, "Are you mad, son?" One of the Prince's advisors leaned close to speak to the Prince, and he grunted, "True." Turning to Adlar he said, "You say you came from Sokatis? How long did you travel?" Now once again Adlar thought furiously. It was fortunate for him that Prince Eselne eschewed magic and telepaths, for his lies would be quickly discovered by even the simplest sorcerer. "For months sir. I was injured by Salarvyani raiders, and this good Ketengku priest," he indicated Achan as a distraction, and the surprised priest of the Healing-God nearly jumped, "and his children travelled with me during my recovery. The road was long, Mighty Prince." The Prince and his retinue laughed again, "Too long, Runner! Events have outpaced your message! Even now I go to march against my brother across the Missuma River, and your tardy message fails against the ramparts of my determination! Rereshqala's head will adorn a pike before noon tomorrow!" Adlar blanched, but the Prince had already forgotten him, whirling and stalking away with his generals to plan the morning's battle. Adlar and Achan stood stunned, staring after the Prince, their appetite for the feast forgotten. It was little Tsa'a, of all people, who broke the silence. From behind them her voice piped up, "That poor man." Adlar and Achan turned as one, as one they said, "What?" "He's going to be dead soon," Tsa'a said, her face twisting with grief as she cuddled her doll close to her ear. "What, will he lose the battle tomorrow?" asked Adlar in amazement. He had learned to accept the strange abilities exhibited by Achan's foster-children. "Oh no," Tsa'a said, her eyes tearing. "He will be dead within the hour." [TO BE CONTINUED] ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //414 [Moderator's Note: Ray Gillham asks about the Heheganu and the Mihalli tool,] [ The Ball of Immediate Eventuation. I have also added a ] [ request from a fellow in the UK looking for a group to ] [ game with. ] (Ray asks about the Heheganu) Not much to reply here. The Heheganu are one of those Tekumelani "Underpeople" species (or sub-species) that could be elaborated on, but which are just not widespread enough or otherwise noticeable enough to need it. There are many of these limited creatures, some with interesting characteristics. The planet has just too many life-forms to make it simple to describe, however, as those who have visited Tekumel will tell you! [Moderator's Note: My answer to Ray about the Mihalli tool. ] >Ball of Immediate Eventuation = a device utilizing other planar power >to do lots of wild stuff. Favorite tool of the Mihalli. Several varieties of this Mihalli device exist. I think they were explained in the old article that appeaed in the "Dragon" magazine. Humans can operate these devices, altough they often get results they did not plan on. Regards, Phil ----- [Moderator's Note: Here is our request from a would-be player in the UK. ] [ Please contact him directly using his email address. ] [ Don't just hit the reply button and send it back to the ] [ list. ] Hi, I'm Adam Crossingham and I'm looking for a Tekumel campaign to play in. Choice of rule system is not important, as I'm looking for an atmospheric and fun game. I hope to run an RQ-based Tekumel game in the future, but I want to get a feel for the pace and flavour of the game first. Hence the need for a game. Can you help? Have you a spare seat? I live in Farnborough, Hampshire, but I would be happy to travel anywhere in Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey or London; or further if the game is on at the weekend. I've got 12 years of playing role-playing games under my belt, and I'm currently reff'ing a 4 year old Cthulhu campaign. You can contact me at: Adam_Crossingham@octavian.ccmail.compuserve.com or on 0171 265 0071 x246 (work hours) or 01276 31551 (after 7:30 pm most other times) I'd be very pleased to hear from you. ****************************************************************************** ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //415 [Moderator's Note: Dermot Bolton asks about hunting in Tsolyanu. Dermot ] [ also asks for other's accounts of hunting experiences in ] [ gaming on Tekumel. ] >I'm curious as to how the Tsolyani go about the noble art of hunting. It >is obviously a pursuit of the nobility, at least as a sport. But what do >they do? What weapoms are used? How common are Kuni birds in hunting? >What sort of game would a typical hunting party pursue? And just how >dangerous is it? Are there clans which specialise as guides? The peasants use short, heavy spears for larger game, while small game and birds are hunted with bows and arrows. Swords are pretty useless, and longer spears are efficacious only against really big and dangerous animals, such as the Tsi'il. The nobility use better quality spears and missile weapons, including some crossbows and rock-throwing bows for small birds. Kuni birds are common as game-spotters. They tend to be unreliable, however, and hve sometimes been accused of taking the side of the game and reporting the whereabouts of the hunters to the animals! One recent hunt ended when the much-abused Kuni bird was heard shrieking "There he is! Get him! Get him!" to a family of Serudla below. Near the cities there is almost no game left, and the great nobles of Jakalla and Bey Su must thus stock walled parks and preserves in order to offer some entertainment to their guests. Large game include the Tsi'il, the Serudla (who is smart enough to kill a party of hunters who are either stupid or unlucky), the Okhiba, the Nraishu, and the Jakkohl (a good small-game animal). Various species of birds are found, as are fish, edible lizards, etc. There are families, lineages, and individuals who specialise in being guides and trackers, but I don't know of whole clans that do this. Maybe in the forests of Do Chaka or Pan Chaka? I also cannot speak for Salarvya or Yan Kor, where such tasks are often relegated to local tribes that are paid for their services. This is true in Rannalu and in the little states of the far northeast. Some nobles and high clans maintain hunting preserves where lower-clan people are not allowed to hunt, but there is no univeral law providing penalties for poaching or killing deer, as there was in mediaeval England. The high clans organise hunting parties -- one of the "Adventures on Tekumel" segments described one of these. Professional hunters and trackers are employed; servants take picnic baskets, musical instruments, and tents; more serfs provide drinks and snacks for those actually hunting; there are physicians and doctors in case of heat-stroke or accident; butchers and cooks are on hand to prepare the game that is brought back; and everybody troops around, enjoying little rendezvous with their favourite ladies and/or gentlemen. The trackers job is to provide the game, and the host will first thus make sure that there is game to be found. He will question his trackers, and in many cases quietly import game to be loosed in the forest just before the hunt. A few larger and fancier clans also send along professional poets and bards to sing of the exploits of important guests. Music is provided, so you may find yourself locked in battle with a mighty Zrne while the bandsmen play in the background -- and flee madly away if you are defeated, and their turn is next! If you are defeated and killed, your clasnmen may still pay for an appropriately tragic poem describing your demise. A hunting expedition usually lasts from before sun-up to sun-down, but longer forays may be aranged for real afficcionados. Since really big game is not found close to the cities or the Sakbe roads -- any more than tigers are found close to Bombay -- the hunt must either be con- ducted on someone's summer estate in the hills, or else game must be imported into a walled preserve near a large villa. All of this is very expensive, and only the great clans and important families can manage it. Human-hunting is also popular with certain less-than-beneficent religious sects. The followers of Vimuhla, Chiteng, cruel Hrihayal, and occasionally others may pay for criminals or prisoners of war to be brought and loosed inside large walled parks. This is very dangerous, however, since some of these erstwhile "game" are resourceful and may kill an important scion of a major clan, resulting in squabbling, disputes, and demands for Shamtla. This custom is slowly dying out and is increasingly limited to the Arenas. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //416 [Moderator's Note: John Goff asks about Qol and Renyu. ] >Thanks very much for the information on the creatures that I requested. >The fact that the Qol were made (built) in many different variations >answers most of my questions concerning them, and gives me considerable >artistic freedom in creating the minitures with the possible exception of >beatle haircuts. I have noticed that most illustrations of the Qol >show them wearing full robes with hoods, is there any information >regarding their taste of clothing, and ornamentation in the form of >rings, bracelets, etc. As far as i know, the Qol do not wear jewelelry or ornaments. Their robes are often provided by their human controllers, although I have heard of some who wear robes stripped from the bodies of the dead in the cemeteries and underworlds below the great cities. They do seem to prefer full robes -- Nobody I know has ever seen a naked Qol! (The idea is just a little ugly...!) If the original corpse's robes were ornate, I would assume that he Qol would not care enough to rip it off. Heavy jewellery and other impedimenta would be removed, of course. >A quick question on the Renyu, I have them standing around four to four >and one half foot tall. Is this correct or close enough. Close enough. 4 - 5 feet tall is about right. I have heard of very large individuals (5.5 - 6 feet tall), but these are rare. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //417 [Moderator's Note: Mark Bee asks about Fasiltum and then a couple of ] [ questions about slaves in Tsolyanu. ] >1.) I was looking on the map at the region around Fasiltum (The Desert of >Eyagi). With Falsiltum being as large as it is (500 to 600 thousand people), >I'm wondering how they all get food and water. Is there a really large oasis >there or are they using some intensive irrigation like the type seen in the >southwest U.S.? In order to feed that population (assuming excellent farming >techniques and good soil) will require a land area of around 3,724 square >Tsan. Fasiltum has underground water supplies. I hope Chris has put the map of Fasiltum up on the FTP site! [MN: Yes] It shows the city and notes the great underground well that provides much of the water for the populace. There are smaller wells and water sources throughout the area. There is run-off from the Chayengar Range to the east and north, and this water pools up in subterranean caverns in the foothills and out below the desert. It is blocked from coming to the surface by various rock strata, except in places where the crust has broken through in the form of sinkholes and wells (like northern Yucatan). The people of Fasiltum are also skilled at desert agricultural techniques and have adapted their crops to the terrain and climate. It's not always fun to live there -- droughts have come and killed many -- but it is feasible. >2.) How much does it cost to support a slave in the empire. I estiamted >around 10 K per year. I just wondered how close I was. Support at what level? A field slave costs about 10 K per year, if fed the cheapest food and clothed in nothing or no more than a g-string! A high-level slave, trained in fancy work, entertainment, etc. will cost many hundreds of Kaitars. Slaves must be kept up properly, if you don't want your property to deteriorate, just like a fancy automobile. Players are often shocked to discover how difficult it is to maintain the "beautiful slavegirl" they buy so blithely in the marketplace! Food, clothing, ornaments, medical treatment, training, and occasional gifts ... It can add up. Unless you're operating a big clan plantation, or you are noble and wealthy enough to be able to do it properly, my advice is not to purchase slaves. >3.) I know that in the empire having slaves equiped with weapons is >illegal, however can a slave have a knife for cooking and cutting rope and >things like that or is the knife taken from him/her as soon as they are >finished using it. Slaves often have weapons -- they are not supposed to, but they do. Just like prisoners in American penitentiaries, knives, "shivs," "shanks," and other devices are common in the slave-pens. Mattocks, hoes, hammers, etc. are found buried under the floors of half the slave barrakcs in the Empire, I suspect. Of course, slavss are forbidden to have real weapons and may face any- thing from a flogging to impalement for owning them. Owners who arm slaves as bodyguards are either stupid or criminal -- or both. Don't. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //418 [Moderator's Note: Adam Levine writes about some real life experiences with ] [ less than useful maps and how this situation relates to ] [ Tekumel. Interesting message Adam! ] I've been playing Tekumel off and on for 10 years. However, it wasn't until a recent trip to Tokyo that the impact of no maps hit me full force. The Japanese have an unusual custom of not naming streets. Only about 5% of the boulevards in Tokyo actually have names. Therefore, it's virtually impossible to find your way around with a map. Complicate this with the fact that the city was intentially laid our irregularly in order to confuse an attacking army. I had to walk about six blocks from the subway to my hotel and was forced to ask for directions twice. From a Tekumel perspective, directions would only be given in terms of landmarks. In a very large city, a non-native would have to depend of guides and pelanquins to get around; going to a new city would be terribly frustrating. If the guide or pelanquin master didn't actually know how to get to a destination, I could easily see a 10 minute journey turning into a three hour fiasco as the group becomes lost. Of course, the guide or master will not want to give up his/her fare and would not think of admitting that they really don't know where they're going. For a foreigner possessing limited or non-existent language skills, getting around a large Tekumel city would be amazingly frustrating and frightening. Given the insular culture, a foreigner could starve before someone directs him two blocks away to the Foreigner's Quarter. Similarly, the experience of Tsolyani citizen with no local contacts visiting a foreign city like Tsamra would be about as terrible as I can imagine. Adam ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //419 [Moderator's Note: The Professor responds to Adam's message on Maps. ] Adam has some interesting -- and absolutely valid -- perspectives on maps and cities. We are so used to being oriented within out environment that we forget that this is a fairly recent development in human society. Earlier cultures had no maps of their cities -- or just impressionistic maps (like my first map of Jakalla, published with EPT) -- and getting around in a new place was a pain indeed! If Japan is confusing, try India. My first experiences in Lucknow and Delhi and Benares were fraught with apprehensions of becoming throroughly, irretrievably lost! When I asked an elderly Muslim scholar for his address, he replied something like: "Go a mile beyond the Chauk on the road, stop by the blue mosque, where the big pipal tree is standing. You'll see a betel-nut vendor's stand, and if you go into the alley behind it and walk about a hundred paces, you'll see a tunnel leading left that opens into a courtyard where there are flowers. My house is just beyond by the pond." One of my friends laughed and added, "Don't forget to mention that it is under the tree with the pigeon sitting on the limb." Another friend chimed in, "If the pigeon flies away, you'll never find it." I tried his directions and unexpectedly came right to his house on the first try. Later, when I went again, I had to ask directions from the betel-nut vendor since I'd forgotten. But people in these societies generally know everybody and every place in their locality, and they can guide you. I've had more trouble with crooked taxidrivers and unhelpful passersby in New York than I ever did in India, Pakistan, Saudi Araia, Iran, or wherever my work took me. We take so much for granted! >From a Tekumel perspective, directions would only be given in terms of >landmarks. In a very large city, a non-native would have to depend of >guides and pelanquins to get around; going to a new city would be >terribly frustrating. If the guide or pelanquin master didn't actually >know how to get to a destination, I could easily see a 10 minute journey >turning into a three hour fiasco as the group becomes lost. Of course, >the guide or master will not want to give up his/her fare and would not >think of admitting that they really don't know where they're going. Most guides and palaquin-masters know their cities very well. Only if he wants to cheat you and take you all around the place to raise the fare might he mislead you. >For a foreigner possessing limited or non-existent language skills, >getting around a large Tekumel city would be amazingly frustrating and >frightening. Given the insular culture, a foreigner could starve >before someone directs him two blocks away to the Foreigner's Quarter. >Similarly, the experience of Tsolyani citizen with no local contacts >visiting a foreign city like Tsamra would be about as terrible as I >can imagine. You are right. That's why you should get in touch with your clan's representatives in a foreign Tekumelani city before going there. If your clan is not represented, try writing to the Tsolyani legate (or whatever country you're from) -- they usually have servants and guides for their nationals. These people will meet you at the dock or city gates and take you to a predetermined clanhouse, or resthouse. If you are a priest and have a temple in the new city, you won't have a problem. One of the usual tasks for small-boy acolytes is to serve as guides for visitors. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable. //420 [Moderator's Note: Elliot James asks about Sunuz and Zna'ye, languages of the] [ worshippers of the Pariah Gods. ] >I was wondering about the languages of the Pariah Gods. Sunuz is an >artificial language of the Priests of the One Other and is officially >banned within the Five Empires. That said, is the laguage ever studied >within temples, particularly those of Thumis, Ksarul or Grunganu. If it >is studied, what is the attitude of the heirarchy within the Temples? Or >is this more within the sphere of a Secret Society or a is it more the >work of individuals following their own private research without official >sanction. Like most crimes within the Five Empires I presume that studying >Sunuz is a capital offense. Finally are there any praticular risks for >the student, rather like knowledge of the Cthulhu mythos gradually >errording the sanity of the individual studying the language? Sunuz and certain other languages used by the followers of the Pariah Deities are not well known, but they are not forbidden. Both Thumis and Ksarul (with Ketengku and Gruganu) teach at least the rudiments of these languages in the larger temple academies in Bey Su, Jakalla, Thraya, Hmakuyal, etc. You won't find many people who know them, of course, and those who claim that they do are often charlatans or dabblers who don't really have much of a grasp. The temples do not encourage these studies, but they feel that it is important for *somebody* to know them, and students who are so-minded are allowed to proceed -- but always under the careful eye of older scholars who can discourage those who might find *too* much fascination in the arcane doctrines of the Pariah Gods. There is no particular danger in studying the *languages* themselves, but what is written in those languages can take hold and twist your mind right around the bend! That is why most study of the Pariah Deities is done with the guidance (and iron control) of senior scholars. >In addition there is Zna'ye, the ancient tongue of the Goddess of the Pale >Bone. Is this language also banned within the Five Empires? I'd also be >interested in similar details to those listed above. Zna'ye is only rarely taught in any of the Five Empires. I think there was a scholar-priest of Ksarul (one Deragu hi-somebody -- I forget now) who had some competence in it, but since it is spoken only in Nuru'un, halfway across the world, and since it is kept a dark secret by those who use it for their religious rites, it is hard to learn in Tsolyanu, Mu'ugalavya, or Yan Kor. It is listed as "available" in certain curricula of the temples of Ksarul, Gruganu, Hru'u, and -- oddly enough -- Sarku in the largest cities of Tsolyanu, but I don't know anybody who has ever claimed to have taken those courses. Regards, Phil ----- Chris Davis Moderator, The Blue Room blueroom@prin.edu The Blue Room's FTP site: http://nexus.prin.edu or ftp://nexus.prin.edu Available 24 hours a day, except when my PC is down, or unavailable.