Welcome to The Hall of Blue Illumination, the podcast dedicated to the world of M.A.R. Barker’s Tékumel. In this episode, our hosts discuss various media and other sundry things belonging to our world that for them, evoke aspects of Tékumel. Sit back and enjoy as they move from 1930’s newsreels, to the DMV, through pyramid nomenclature, and discuss a scene from one of the greatest films to ever grace the silver screen — The Wizard of Oz Big Trouble In Little China.
Show Notes:
[00:00:45] Our topic today: things that are resonant with the world of Tékumel.
[00:01:22] Victor begins with Temples of India, a newsreel from 1938.
[00:03:40] Victor also notes the scene in MGM’s Wizard of Oz (1939) where the Witch’s guardsmen and flying monkeys remind him of Tékumelani armies.
[00:04:47] When you’re looking for inspiration for Tékumel, there is a lot of material you won’t deliberately go to. You can find inspiration in the unlikeliest of places.
[00:05:55] Looking to your own sources and inspiration is how you develop your own Tékumel.
[00:06:32] Each of us has our own understanding of Tékumel. Some things that are resonant to one person won’t be resonant to another.
[00:07:34] Tékumel is a broad and deep setting, and everyone focuses on different aspects. James mentions architecture as one of the things that you might focus on.
[00:09:20] James cites a scene from Big Trouble In Little China.
[00:10:45] Scott’s mention of the DMV leads into a discussion of that most prevalent of Tsolyáni institutions, bureaucracy.
[00:14:22] Tsolyáni markets are more akin to our farmers’ markets than a modern grocery store.
[00:15:40] Sometimes people get lost in the distinction between “game” and “real” Tékumel. The society of “real” Tékumel is much more traditional. When you play Tékumel, you are taking on the role of someone who is different from most of the regular people going on with their lives. (See HoBI Ep. 13)
[00:17:12] Scott’s Dungeon Crawl Classics/EPT mashup. His player characters were peasants who had been gathered up by the priests of Hrü’ü for a ritual.
[00:18:00] The real world has its own resonances. The Mesoamerican pyramids are similar to Mesopotamian ziggurats. A discussion of architectural taxonomy ensues. [GPD: IMHO, “ziggurat” — from the Akkadian ziqqurat — should probably refer exclusively to Mesopotamian structures. “Pyramid” is derived from the Greek word for the geometric shape, and thus a better catchall. Scott is right, the vast majority of Mesoamerican pyramids are step-pyramids.]
[00:19:06] [GPD: Thanks guys!]
[00:19:41] Don’t just swap out the temples and monuments of the real world for the temples of Tékumel, but as a composite, together all of them inform how you should view Tékumelani architecture.
[00:21:58] How does chlén hide operate? What does it look like? How does it feel?
[00:22:51] James mentions the photographs of colonial soldiers at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, and how they remind him of the make-up of the Five Empires’ various legions.
[00:25:40] Victor’s Tékumel group is underway. He’s found is that it doesn’t hurt to have descriptions of things written up beforehand. Tékumel is different enough that you need to remind players precisely how different it is.
[00:26:38] Victor gives us an anecdote about a new player in his Tékumel campaign. This player had brought with him many assumptions based on other fantasy games. His character hailed from Milumanayá and made the mistake of mouthing off to a couple of guards in Jakálla. Luckily, the other PCs were there to save/correct him.
[00:28:29] However, as James points out, the Milumanayáni don’t exactly share the Tsolyáni’s respect for social hierarchy. Perhaps our benevolent God-Emperor has a plan to instruct that poor northern folk in the proper organization of civilized society?
[00:29:40] “Proud parent moments.” The best moment in a Tékumel campaign is when players instruct other players on the correct way to interact with Tékumel. For instance, a disquisition on impalement stakes.
[00:30:47] James gives an example of one of these moments: when his players were confronted with the societies of Yán Kór and Salarvyá, their shock and horror at the habits of these foreigners.
[00:32:07] It’s fun to watch players’ characters take on Tsolyáni cultural characteristics. It shows that they’re really entering into the world.
[00:32:52] Scott notes that only the rules of polite society prevent the cultures of the Five Empires from giving into their disposition towards xenophobia. Should these cultures forget their manners, ethnic cleansing would be a likely outcome.
[00:33:24] One of the resonance issues to think about — to the Jakállani, the culture of another Tsolyáni city like Sokátis is different, even though both cities belong to the empire. Sokátis, in part due to its proximity to Salarvyá, has a distinct culture. Victor draws a parallel between traveling from Vienna to Istanbul, and the gradations of cultures you would encounter between.
[00:35:24] Victor recalls a quotation verbatim, but not the author. (See the note at 00:38:34)
[00:36:15] The genius of Engsvanyáli-descended cultures is the structure of noble and ignoble actions, and how that colors everything. James cites the Concordant, that keeps followers of the temples of Stability and Change from attempting to annihilate one another outright.
[00:38:34] James thinks Victor’s quotation at 00:35:24 was from Churchill. [GPD: And the verdict is….Churchill? At least it’s popularly attributed to him. See the discussion here.]
[00:39:43] Scott finds the winged monkeys evocative of the Garden of Weeping Snows. Lo Pan reminds James of Nyélmu, the wizard imprisoned in that location.
[00:40:47] Victor references the One Thousand and One Nights as a possible source of inspiration.
[00:42:16] The technology of the ancients feels particularly alien, and not very resonant with anything.
[00:42:35] Victor references the Latter Times, the period after Tékumel entered the pocket dimension, but before the rise of Llyán and Tsámra. Those guys were mad as hatters, and they did things that seem bizarre to peoples of other times and places.
Hosts: Scott Kellogg, James Maliszewski, and Victor J. Raymond.
Tékumel Products Referenced:
Empire of the Petal Throne is the original Tékumel sourcebook and rules set. It was first published by TSR in 1975. It can be purchased as a print-on-demand book, or as a PDF from RPGNow.
Speaking of Nyélmu, check out the art of Zhu Bajie. Zhu has produced art for James’s Tékumel fanzine, The Excellent Travelling Volume, and has created a fantastic illustration of Nyélmu among other things.
Non-Tékumel Things:
Temples of India was a short newsreel produced by Jack Cardiff in 1938. It is available on YouTube.
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 musical film produced by MGM.
Big Trouble In Little China is a 1986 film that blends aspects of fantasy, westerns and martial arts. It is a cult classic, and you should watch it.
Dungeon Crawl Classics started out as a series of OGL modules constructed with the rules of 3.5 D&D in mind. Its publisher, Goodman Games, has expanded its line to include a core rulebook, which is an attempt at a “streamlined version” of 3rd Edition D&D. DCC books attempt to replicate the look and feel of early 1st Edition D&D material.
The Misha Glenny book referenced by Victor is titled The Balkans: Nationalism, War & the Great Powers, 1804-1999.
You can email us at citizen@tekumelpodcast.com. You can also find us at our website, on Twitter, or on Facebook.
I’ve been rereading Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series this week, and I’ve found
so many “resonances” with Tékumel that I have to believe that Professor Barker was directly
influenced by Burroughs’ work.
On a superficial level, John Carter’s Mars features underworlds and long-deserted cities, several
six-limbed beings and animals, and a mix of traditional fantasy with science fiction. Perhaps
more interesting are his narrative asides; John Carter devotes a great deal of attention to
describing the alien habits and attitudes of the various Martian peoples he encounters.
In episode 19 Victor mentioned the works of Jack Vance. For my part, my sense of Tékumel has been heavily informed by Burroughs’ Mars, a fact I didn’t truly appreciate until this
week. I would recommend the Mars series as Tékumel-related (Tékumel-informed; Tékumel-
informing?) reading, after, of course, the Professor’s own novels.
Absolutely! Prof. Barker was a fan of Burroughs from a very early age. That makes a great deal of sense to me – thanks for pointing that out!
I think for me the Sumerian language resonates Tekumel for me. Maybe it is because the language is so different than English, or because I have used it to name places, NPCs, and things in various homebrewed settings I’ve tinkered on. It is easy for me to imagine one of the aliens using it (or something like it) as their main language.
Using Sumerian for naming places, NPCs, and things? This wouldn’t be in Traveller, would it? (*cough*Vilani*cough*)
On a personal, and quite banal note, one of the things that always evokes Tekumel for me, is pilasters. Now, that’s not strictly “game” Tekumel, but rather “published” Tekumel.
I’ve had a long but not deep interest in architecture. Having recently read The Professor’s novels, and being forced to consult a dictionary to ascertain exactly what was being described, I have learned quite a lot more about specific architectural features. Now, every time I see pilasters on older buildings, and, I must admit, I do look for them, I am reminded of Tekumel.
A more interesting evocation of Tekumel occured prior to a recent gaming session, during our traditional pre-game wine, pizza, and general chatting time. One of my companions, who, incidentally, was an occassional contributor to The Blue Room, mentioned that he had recently watched a video of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the former president of Pakistan, a traditionally hierarchical society. He had noted that Bhutto was surrounded by “circles” of attendants. Those of greater status occupied positions closer to the president, and corresponding “circles” of lower status attendants occupied positions relatively further away from “the centre”, Bhutto.
He remarked “how very Tekumel” the hierarchy of “hanger-on” appeared.
That’s a great observation! I love looking up words while reading MARB’s work. Between Gygax and Barker, I’ve learned much about architecture terminology from playing RPGs.
I was rewatching Game of Thrones the other night, and I started picking up strong Tekumelani “resonances”:
–aridani warriors (Arya Stark and Lady Brienne of Tarth)
–Politics, subterfuge, treacherous rulers, mad rulers, treacherous mad rulers (Sersei Lannister, Robert Baratheon, Danerys Targeryan, powergame players (“Littlefinger”, Melisendre, Lord Varys, Tyrion Lannister) )
Undead and Revivification–(Ser Gregor Clegane, Jon Snow, Khal Drogo, Beric Dondarrion)
–Polytheism (the Seven Gods)
–storehouses of ancient knowledge being jealously and deliberately sat upon (Samwell Tarly spending all his time emptying chamberpotsinsteadof researching while apprenticing at the Maesters’ Citadel)
–Weird Astrography (the orrery in the Citadel, also in the opening credits)
–weird flora and fauna (3-eyed Ravens, the white tree,The Children of the Forest, Giants/trolls, and, of course,Dragons)
–Lost civilizations (the Valryians, whose legendary steel is one of the few weapons that can kill the White Walkers, also whose empire ended) through a geologic catastrophe)
–use of ancient super weapons to destroy enemies (Wildfire)
–racial near-genocide of indigenous race by foreign invaders (Slaughter of the Children of the forest by the Andals)
–Genetic experiments (the White Walkers, created from humans captured by the Children of the Forest.)
Ayup, resonating like mad, I should venture to say.
And on Babylon 5, an encounter with a powerful alien sentience is explained in terms that seem VERY familiar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLZW8Deq8vE. Just change the word “ant” to “dri-ant” and it could be right out of the lips of Pavar himself.