Tekumel Campaign: A Dark and Stormy Night (Updated)

  Since I wrote this, new information has come to light about M.A.R. Barker, he was a Nazi. I no longer support playing Tekumel. I will keep these posts up, because I believe in preserving the past, even when it is ugly. There may be a time when sufficient time has passed that Tekumel has been examined and can be played in the right context (like Lovecraft), but that time is probably very far in the future. Due to the intricate interconnections between the setting, the religious themes in it, and the non-western derivations of its societies, I believe that a thorough examination by people far smarter than me will be required before I am comfortable that I understand which parts of it might be harmful. Like many, I was drawn to Tekumel because it seemed more open than other fantasy worlds, with greater representation of the diversity of humanity. Obviously, it is horrifying to learn this. I encourage others to seek out other fantasy worlds that have involved people of color in their creation.

 

This is part of an ongoing campaign. You can find the other sessions over on the sidebar.

As this game has been going on for several months, I will be doing summary write-ups of the different sections in order to get caught up. 

A Dark and Stormy Night (Based on Krista Donnelly's adventure from Visitations of Glory 1)

17 Shapru 2354: Dhuktemu, Takotl, and Gwedi were initially unsettled to find themselves on an alien world in their characters' bodies. Gwedi came very close to accidentally casting a spell as the power bottled up inside her attempted to burst free. After a while, they calmed down and took stock of where they were. They found themselves under the overhand of a guard house on the sakbe road. The caravan they were traveling with was forced to stop because the river they needed to cross was too swollen from the downpour for the ferry to cross. They could see a similar guardhouse across the river where the sakbe road continued on towards Thraya and eventually Sokatis. The light was dimming as the sun set.

They went out into the rain in order to get a better look around and saw a walled villa to the south of the sakbe road. As they watched a man, clad only in a loincloth, ran out of the villa towards them. He did not make it more than a hundred yards before he was felled by arrows from the tree line on the far side of the villa. The trio decided to help the man and ran down the stairs from the guard tower to rush to his side. They found that he was dead and charged the tree line. 

As they entered the tree line, they were driven back by a hail of arrows and were welcomed into the walled villa for cover. Once inside, Kotaru, the captain of the guard, offered to introduce them to Migor hi'Fesrengala, owner of the villa. Migor explained to them that  band of bandits was demanding they pay a large sum or they would burn down the villa. Migor could not get help from the guards stationed across the river because the ferry could not operate. The bandits were demanding payment by midnight.

The characters were immediately concerned, both by the bandits' demands and by Migor's sickly state. Takotl, a priest, took the house priest, Adlar, and Migor's younger brother, Mnektu aside to discuss his condition. Adlar explained that he had tried everything, but that Migor's health continued to worsen. 

At dinner, they are introduced to Migor's daughter, Ngaya. Migor discusses his plan to marry his daughter soon, as she can only inherit the villa and ferry title if she is married before he dies.  If he has no eligible heir the villa and ferry revert back to the title holder. He has worked out a deal to marry her to Lord Zhemre, the title holder, this would be to both families' advantage. Mnektu disagrees saying that they should find a mate that would allow the family to keep control over the villa. 

Things get heated and Migor has a fainting spell. Ngaya, angry at being promised to Zhemre, gets up and heads towards the bed chambers. Gwedi, not convinced by Ngaya's display discretely follows her while Takotl and Dhuktemu go with Adlar to find treatment for Migor.

Gwedi sees Ngaya slip into Migor's chamber and listens at the door. She can hear Ngaya talking with Kotaru, begging him to run away with her saying that she knows where her father has hidden his money. Kotaru suddenly emerges from Migor's room and Gwedi barely manages to slip back through into the main chamber in time. 

Meanwhile, Takotl and Dhuktemu are becoming suspicious of Adlar, they think that many of Migor's symptoms are similar to those of poison, and they find Adlar's explanation of his attempts at treatment to be lacking. They also suspect that he may have something going on with Ngaya based on his reaction to her betrothal.

They reenter the main chamber to find that they are too late, Migor has died. Mnektu, realizing that his family's fortune is lost, begs them to fetch Ngaya for him. They head to Migor's room, where Gwedi last saw her, but find her gone and an empty chest on the floor. They rush to her room and find an open trap door in the floor leading down to a tunnel that seems to go beyond the walls of the villa. They return to tell Mnektu that she is gone, he summons Kotaru, but he is nowhere to be found. He begs the characters to follow Ngaya through the tunnel and bring her back.

When they enter the tunnel, they see two sets of footprints, one belonging to a woman, the other a man. They follow the footprints, and after a short distance, find Ngaya dead on the floor, her throat cut. Sure that Kotaru is the culprit, they decide to pursue him. They emerge from the tunnel not far from the ferry. It is dark, but they manage to find footprints indicating that Kotaru ran for the boats. When they arrive at the dock, they find one ferry gone. They decide to brave the swollen river and take the other. 

The current is so strong that they can only go downstream and can barely control the boat. After they float downstream from the villa, they discover the wreckage of the other ferry, overturned and unoccupied. They manage to beach their boat, but find no sign that Kotaru managed to make it to sure. They decide that he has drowned and that Migor's money is lost with him. 

As they walk back to the villa, they see a torchlight coming from the front and hear shouting. It is midnight, the bandits have come to collect.

18 Shapru 2354: They slip back into the villa through the secret tunnel and tell Mnektu that Ngaya is dead and that Kotaru has drowned with all of Migor's money. Adlar lets out a wail and stabs Mnektu in the chest. He straddles the fallen body, thrusting his knife repeatedly and screaming, "You promised her to me! I killed for you!" The characters restrained Adlar, but it was too late, the last hi'Fesrengala had passed from Tekumel.

There was no time to mourn the dead though, there was a cry from outside followed by the deep boom of a ram hitting the gate. The trio rushed to the wall to defend the villa, but were met by a hail of arrows from the bandits below. Several of the guards were killed and Gwedi took a terrible wound to the eye, blinding her and leaving her unconscious. They drug her back into the main chamber and gathered the remaining occupants to escape through the tunnel.

As they emerged from the secret exit and made their way to the guardhouse, they could see the bandits breach the gate and enter the villa. They rejoined the caravan as the rains stopped and they settled in to wait for the ferry from the other side. The villa burned all night. 

With the dawn, it was obvious that the river would not fall enough for the ferry to make it over that day, so they went to investigate the ruins of the villa. They found no additional survivors or items of value. They treated Gwedi as best they could, but she remained unconscious and feverish. Dhuktemu made her a glass eye.

19 Shapru 2354: The next morning they were able to take the ferry over to the east guardhouse. It took most of the day to get the caravan across on the one remaining boat. 

20 Shapru 2354: Gwedi woke up in the morning and the caravan started for Thraya. During the mid-day rest, they interrogated Adlar about his role in the affair. He admitted to poisoning Migor for Mnektu in exchange for a promise that Mnektu would arrange for him to marry Ngaya when Migor was unable to think for himself. He suspects that Mnektu panicked and upped the dosage when he learned of his brother's plans to marry his niece to Zhemre. 

Following his admission, they game Adlar a choice, they could take him to Thraya where he would face impalement for murdering a noble, or he could cast himself off the high side of the sakbe road. Adlar, a coward at heart, chose the latter and threw himself over the side. Sadly, he slipped as he jumped and twisted in the air, landing feet first. His legs were broken, and his spine was likely shattered, but he was not dead. The caravan left his screams for mercy behind as they continued on their way to Thraya.