Just when you think everything has been discussed, you realized there are volumes of info untouched as yet.
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Quote from: Neshm hiKumala;1037512We do know that the Hokun were the "original customers"? If this is mentioned anywhere in any of the original books, I missed it.
I know that the Hokun are complex: there's different Hokun cultures, different types of creatures too, and they're spread over the whole of the planet it seems, but I had no idea about their long-standing history with Tekumel. Mind blown.
 
This is a very interesting and exciting idea indeed. Loads of potential for a Humanspace Empires campaign.
Still, as regards "the Veritable Autocrator", although fascinating in its own right, since it's only mentioned in "Gardásiyal" in a sort of unclear manner (it's not mentioned in "Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne" which skips a lot of confusing early Tekumel history details -- a good call in my book), I'm gonna put it aside as an idea and stick to what the Sourcebook says about the First Founder.

I don't know if it gets mentioned in the books. All I know is that I have a copy of the original receipt for the job - Phil had done it up, just for the fun of it - and his off-hand comments over the years.

Agreed!

Quote from: Neshm hiKumala;1037513Let's chat about a place called "Malcháiran".

Lots of little bits of info can be found about it around the interwebs.

The most detailed bit is to be found here I think:
"Their tribal shamans became a red-robed hierarchy, and the squalid log huts of the village of Malcháiran were transformed into the proud towers of the capital of a theocratic empire."
So Malcháiran is a village, or was, where a fiery extra-planar entity (one which may or may not have been Vimuhla -- the locals are sure the two were and are the same) became the Dragon Warriors' main god.

But that "village" pops up again later on, in a big way, as it turns out to have been the place where the Petal Throne itself was found:
"the Petal Throne was brought into Tsolyanu centuries ago from the N'luss city of Malchairan, near which are ruins and monuments of the Latter Times."

Wow, sounds like that little backwater village, later on mighty Dragon Warriors city, has actually always been a special place, thanks to its being located near ruins from the Latter Times ... which really means ruins from the Humanspace era.

And then, there's this quick note here:
"the still-active spaceport north of Malchairan"

Whhhhat?! Is this actual Tekumel lore, of the sort I've never heard of before?

Well, I just happen to have an audio tape of Phil discussing this city in the archives; it's a lot more complex and detailed then people realize. Did you ever read Phil's short story from the 1940s? I think it used be on the //www.tekumel.com site.

And we visited there, in our adventure of "The Affair of the Malchairan Emerald". It's a large part of volume 5 of my book, as it turns out. And yes, the underground spaceport is still active, run by the AI that's in charge.

So, yes, it always was a very special place in Phil's Tekumel. And it still is, in mine.

Quote from: Greentongue;1037519Just when you think everything has been discussed, you realized there are volumes of info untouched as yet.
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Agreed. Asking the questions of the people in the know will get you some very unexpected answers...

The only known image of the First Founder: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/538672805411450912/

Quote from: altfritz;1037667The only known image of the First Founder: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/538672805411450912/

Could be, could be...

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1037574(...) All I know is that I have a copy of the original receipt for the job - Phil had done it up, just for the fun of it - and his off-hand comments over the years.

Ha. I love the idea that there's a receipt for it! That's so amazing and funny. Very Barkerish.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1037575Well, I just happen to have an audio tape of Phil discussing this city in the archives; it's a lot more complex and detailed then people realize. Did you ever read Phil's short story from the 1940s? I think it used be on the //www.tekumel.com site.

And we visited there, in our adventure of "The Affair of the Malchairan Emerald". It's a large part of volume 5 of my book, as it turns out. And yes, the underground spaceport is still active, run by the AI that's in charge.

So, yes, it always was a very special place in Phil's Tekumel. And it still is, in mine.

Well, it so happens that I'm currently reading "The Prince of Skulls" and Malcháiran (or Malkháiran as some of the locals pronounce it) is mentioned in it quite a bit (without many details, so far). This hopefully suggests that the novel's protagonists are going to end up there eventually.
Still, a working spaceport? Oh. my. goodness.

All this stuff ... of these details ... We mentioned in the past, on this forum, that everything about the world has pretty much been published, but for a few details here and there. But these are some very cool details indeed, like the Malchairan bit.

And of course, there's the question of preservation of all this material. You mentioned, Chirine, that you scanned and made copies of all the documents you got from the Prof, but then you're only one man: there's only so much you can do. I wish the Foundation had its head screwed up right and started ... oh, whatever. It's not gonna happen.

Anyway. Thanks for all this fascinating stuff.

By the way, this is the only short story I found on the Tekumel website that's written by the Prof: The Petal Throne.
Is that the one you were thinking about?

Wow, a working spaceport! Chirine, I'm seriously so excited for when you finish documenting your adventures!

Quote from: Neshm hiKumala;1037702Ha. I love the idea that there's a receipt for it! That's so amazing and funny. Very Barkerish.

Phil loved doing stuff like this; he'd put it out in a game session, and revel in our amazement and astonishment.

Quote from: Neshm hiKumala;1037703Well, it so happens that I'm currently reading "The Prince of Skulls" and Malcháiran (or Malkháiran as some of the locals pronounce it) is mentioned in it quite a bit (without many details, so far). This hopefully suggests that the novel's protagonists are going to end up there eventually.
Still, a working spaceport? Oh. my. goodness.

By the way, this is the only short story I found on the Tekumel website that's written by the Prof: The Petal Throne.
Is that the one you were thinking about?

I'm breaking this into two answers, if you don't mind...

No spoilers, here; keep reading and have fun! Phil used us and our adventures to explore his world, and I was delighted to see our 'footprints in the dust' in the book.

Yep; that's it. Phil's early Tekumel fiction. He showed me this back in late '77, and refused to let us publish it as he didn't think it was very good. I was delighted when it saw the light of day!

Note that it describes the Petal Throne as a rose; Dave Sutherland drew it more as a lotus, in '75.

Quote from: Baron;1037710Wow, a working spaceport! Chirine, I'm seriously so excited for when you finish documenting your adventures!

Yep; it was one heck of an adventure, and about the only one that Phil ran that would work as a stand-alone 'adventure book' or 'module'.

With the drastic reductions in real-life drama going on around here, I now have the time and energy to write again, and I'm really enjoying telling the story.

Quote from: Neshm hiKumala;1037703All this stuff ... of these details ... We mentioned in the past, on this forum, that everything about the world has pretty much been published, but for a few details here and there. But these are some very cool details indeed, like the Malchairan bit.

And of course, there's the question of preservation of all this material. You mentioned, Chirine, that you scanned and made copies of all the documents you got from the Prof, but then you're only one man: there's only so much you can do. I wish the Foundation had its head screwed up right and started ... oh, whatever. It's not gonna happen.

Anyway. Thanks for all this fascinating stuff.

My original seccond answer seems to have gotten lost, so here's another run at it.

Agreed; the basics are all out there, and what's in the archives fleshes things out a bit. We have a lot of things like 270 minutes of interview on Thraya - enough for a city book - for example; my original objective was to collect, collate, and preserve this data for the future. I've done that; I've kept my promise to Phil.

Beyond that, I don't know. I'm using the collection as a research tool to finish my book, and after that's done it's all up in the air. There was talk of a family trust to keep the collections intact after I'm gone, but that seems to have faded away from apathy at this point. We'll see what the future brings, I guess.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;1037767My original seccond answer seems to have gotten lost, so here's another run at it.

Agreed; the basics are all out there, and what's in the archives fleshes things out a bit. We have a lot of things like 270 minutes of interview on Thraya - enough for a city book - for example; my original objective was to collect, collate, and preserve this data for the future. I've done that; I've kept my promise to Phil.

Beyond that, I don't know. I'm using the collection as a research tool to finish my book, and after that's done it's all up in the air. There was talk of a family trust to keep the collections intact after I'm gone, but that seems to have faded away from apathy at this point. We'll see what the future brings, I guess.

Well, you could always leave it to the Tekumel Foundation...

* runs like hell and prays that thing still shoots a bit to the left... *

Once you've got a terminal diagnosis of some sort you could hold an auction.  From what you've said, the Tekumel Foundation guys don't have much money really.  So, you could auction it all off the fans and watch while the Foundation guys squirm until their arteries burst.