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.
The Campaign So Far
I want to start posting weekly recaps for this game. Since we started playing seven months ago, I am going to need a few posts to recap with. There are quite a few characters, because I run a consistent world across all sessions I run, whether in home games or at cons. Since around 20 people have visited my version of Tekumel, and my home campaign involves occasionally playing alternate characters, the list has gotten quite long. It is only going to get longer.
Characters:
The Minnesota Crew and Friends
Takotl: A Nakomé foreigner priest of Vimuhla. The Tekumel alter ego of Steve, a college student in 1976 Minnesota.
Dhuktemu: A Nakomé foreigner warrior and accomplished glass blower. The Tekumel alter ego of Walt, a college student in 1976 Minnesota.
Gwedi: A Nakomé foreigner magic user. The Tekumel alter ego of Jared, a college student in 1976 Minnesota.
Wezhda: A priestess of Hrihayal and member of the Rising Sun clan.
Bara: Warrior and member of the 1st Legion of Ever Present Glory.
The Space Rangers
Qolnu: A Shen Space Marine of the Humanspace Empire stationed aboard the Space Ranger ship Anxiously Standing on the Precipice of Tomorrow.
Garlac: A Pe Choi Space Ranger of the Humanspace Empire, also stationed aboard the Precipice.
G-Gum-Shaggu: A Pachi Lei Space Ranger of the Humanspace Empire and member of the crew of the Precipice.
'Zing: A human Space Ranger of the Humanspace Empire and also a member of the Precipice's crew.
The Assassins
Uezhngo hi'Tlehlotl: A warrior-assassin and member of the Hidden Thorn clan in Thraya.
Ses hi'Aetnim: A magic user-assassin and member of the Hidden Thorn clan in Thraya.
Naegru hi'Kothmel: A warrior-assassin and member of the Hidden Thorn clan in Thraya.
Athong hi'Orak: A warrior-assassin and member of the Hidden Thorn clan in Thraya.
Uaka hi'Umel: A priest-assassin and member of the Hidden Thorn clan in Thraya.
The Hlaka
Chrao: Hlaka warrior in the Legion of Aerial Joy in Sokatis.
Dza: Hlaka warrior in the Legion of Aerial Joy in Sokatis.
Iwau: Hlaka warrior in the Legion of Aerial Joy in Sokatis.
Maii: Hlaka warrior in the Legion of Aerial Joy in Sokatis.
Meya-Ai: Hlaka warrior in the Legion of Aerial Joy in Sokatis.
The White Crystal Clan
Bagultlang: Priestess of Avanthe and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Biyish: Warrior and member of the White Crystal Clan in Jakalla.
Darushu: Magic user and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Jikal: Warrior and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Kairinu: Magic user and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Khadarto: Priest of Karakan and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Kochu: Priest of Thumis and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Mareska: Warrior and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Ngarasu: Warrior and member of the White Crystal clan in Jakalla.
Others
Isha hi'Adhim: A powerful sorceress. Tekumel alter ego of Geraldine Thompson, wife of Professor Joseph Thompson and mother of Brian and JJ.
Minnesota in February 1976
Steve, Jared, and Walt were invited by their physics professor, Joe Thompson, to his house to play a game. He had learned about this new game, called Empire of the Petal Throne, from another professor that he met at a convention. He told them that he had been playing it several nights a week, and could not get enough of it.
They arrived at his house in a VW minibus on a freezing cold night. There was a sign on the front door asking them to go around the back and enter through the basement, so the clomped through the snow and entered through the Bilco doors.
They were surprised at what they found in his basement. The white walls were lined, from cracked floor to low ceiling, with miniature soldiers in brightly painted uniforms. Most were recognizable as representing the militaries of Napoleon, or the American Civil War, but a few had strange blue armor and baroque helmets.
Professor Thompson was sitting at the far end of a ping pong table wearing a robe and an elaborate feathered headdress. He motioned for them to take seats in the eclectic collection of chairs surrounding the table. Once they were seated, he passed out cryptic papers that he identified as character sheets.
He told them that they would be taking on the role of these characters and that he would be rolling dice to determine if they were successful in the actions they attempted. He then began describing their approach by boat to the mysterious city of Jakalla. He described the alien sights, sounds and smells in lurid detail as they made their way to a man that they heard could provide them with work despite their status as foreigners.
The man in question, Sakul hi'Puroda, entrusted them with a box they were to carry to another city called Sokatis. There, they would meet a man named Talker hi'Maroda who would give them another box to bring back. This seemed simple, so they agreed to set out on something called a sake road, that seemed to be like the local version of the Great Wall of China. As the professor described their journey and the strange merchant caravan they were traveling with, his wife came in to serve them tea. They noticed that the incense seemed to grow stronger after she left and they began to feel sleepy. Their eyes closed and they slipped into unconsciousness.
Aboard the Humanspace Ship Anxiously Standing at the Precipice of Tomorrow. Tekumel Orbit.
The crew of the Precipice had been tasked with patrolling the space around the resort world, Tekumel. There had been reports that the dangerous drug zu'ur was being smuggled off Tekumel to be sold throughout the galaxy. They were awaiting a Ahoggya ship called The Elevation of Castoff Treasures, that intelligence suspected might be smuggling drugs amongst its inscrutable cargo bound for Achernar.
The Elevation did not resist their hail to hold orbit and they docked and went on board. They quickly found several drums of zu'ur hidden in the Ahoggyas' unpleasant merchandise. As they were arresting the crew and moving the contraband aboard the Precipice, the captain received another call from Intelligence directing them to intercept another ship, Memory of Freedoms Lost, that was believed to have a connection to the separatist group, The Amber Dawn. The Memory was inbound towards Tekumel and had triggered an alert when it passed through the warp gate into the system. The ship's manifest claimed it was carrying Cylex gas, which was critical to the operation of the massive terraforming machines beneath the surface of Tekumel, but a scan indicated that the concentration of Cylex gas in its containers was far too low for economic transport and was instead consistent with the atmospheric requirements of a mysterious alien race that was known to support The Amber Dawn.
The Memory did not resist being boarded, and the Space Rangers slipped aboard to find a human crew waiting for them. While the crew did not resist answering a few questions, the responded violently when ordered to allow the Rangers to access the gas canisters. The Space Rangers were able to make short work of the crew and forced their way into the gas chamber.
Once inside the chamber, they were met by three strange human shaped aliens with their heads completely wrapped. One of the aliens was working on a large machine in the middle of the chamber, and the other two immediately opened fire. The Rangers were not able to stop the third alien from activating the strange machine, and a disturbing wave passed over them and the whole ship started shaking.
They killed the remaining aliens and made their way back to their ship which was struggling to regain control while attached to the Memory. Once aboard the Precipice, they were informed that all navigation systems were unresponsive and something was interfering with stellar navigation. The ship was badly damaged by a strange pulse and was rapidly reentering the atmosphere of Tekumel. The ship's systems were detecting significant seismic activity from the surface below.
Unable to regain control, the captain ordered everyone into the stasis pods. As the Rangers sealed themselves into the pods, unsure if they would ever reopen, 'Zing made the strange decision to ingest some of the zu'ur they had recovered from the Ahoggya. The ship, its crew unaware, plunged to the surface below.
Tekumel, 17 Shapru 2354
The Sakbe Road between Jakalla and Thraya on the banks of the Rananga River
Walt, no Dhuktemu, started awake, surprised to find himself dozing off on watch. Nothing was going to approach the caravan in this rain anyway. He glanced around the huddled forms under the overhang of the way station. He easily picked out Steve and Jared, no Takotl and Gwedi, amongst the crowd,
What was going? How did he get here?
Aboard Anxiously Standing at the Precipice of Tomorrow, several miles south of Sokatis
Qolnu's stasis pod slowly opened and he shook some of the sleep sickness out of his head. He could see his companions' pods opening, but knew they would be slower to recover than a Shen like him.
"Report"
He was relieved when the Precipice responded, "Sir, I was forced to revive you because I am rapidly losing my ability to maintain life support. I apologize that I was not able to protect you until a sufficiently advanced civilization arose on this planet."
"Sufficiently advanced civilization? This is a resort world."
"Sir, I regret to inform you that you have been in stasis for quite some time.
Comments
Post a Comment