From Dulahan: OK, a couple more questions from all over the board:  

The Dragon Warriors.  I understand the N'luss were the descendants of the Space Marines, very likely.  does this mean they really did conquer their empire with lost tech, not actual dragons?  Did it ever come up in play or conversation one way or another?  Honestly, I've never even decided which I like better.  They're both REALLY cool!  Which now makes me wonder if it's both. At once.  Dudes on dragons alongside flying cars with freaking laser beams.

That's what Phil hinted. We don't know for sure; we weren't there at the time and had no interest in traveling back in time to watch the carnage. Phil played it both ways in his campaign. (See also Book IV, in the tale of "The Affair of the Malchiran Emerald".) I can only point out that I saw lots of aircars in storage under Malchairan, and that Gertie the Great Golden Dragon of Blackmoor speaks Ancient Nlyssa - Irkutz - the Ancient Tongue of the Dragon Lords. And that my personal emblem on my own standard is that of the Dragon and the Flame of the Ancient Nlyss; Chirine is descended from one of their clans of sorcerers. Phil was nothing if not 'subtle' in his hinting...

Now for something else very different.  Using Undead in Warfare is a big, huge no-no.  Get ready for the high ride!  BUT!  what if such is used against the inimicals?  Say a Sarku legion defending against the Ssu, Hluss, Hokun, or Hlutgru?  Is that a case of "Anything goes, screw those things?"  Or would that still be ignoble?

For that matter, would any of those races have easy ways to deal with the Undead?

It's against the Concordat, and is an impaling offense. Period.

Yes; they kill them, usually by burning just like we do.

Quote from: d(sqrt(-1));941608So does that imply that the Pariah Gods have been given a bad press and they may in some way be the good guys? If they are working to return Tekumel to normal space...presumably they fell out with the original entities who went on to become the Gods of Pavar...who have a vested interest in Tekumel remaining where it is

Yes. The winners write the histories.

You got it.

Quote from: Shemek hiTankolel;941675Sure, why not? It's definitely in the queue, right behind the 1/35 Jadgpanzer IV L/70 (which will be on the paint bench this weekend), the 1/35 JS2 and a bunch of miniatures for my game.
Finished the Tsolyani Aridani, some random critters to be used as proxies and or Saturday Night Specials, and now I'm trying to decide whether to the start another Aridani, perhaps a Yan Koryani, or do some more Legion of the Despairing Dead.  

Shemek

Ah, me! Those were the days, when we used to game in really big rooms with these 1/35 models.

looking forward to seeing these!

There! I think we're all caught up.

Anybody besides me get the twitches seeing the rearguard at yesterday's parade march past with bayonets fixed, with their pipes and drums playing "Shenandoah"? Their former professor would have been proud of them, I think...

And, if you want my personal opinion, it's a sad day for history that none of the 'color commentators' picked up on the back story behind this. Me, I would have called out the guard, had them lock and load and fix bayonets, and looked to the defenses of the Military District of Washington. Whomever the idiot was that allowed the VMI Corps of Cadets to march past a President of the United States "with colors unfurled, with beat of drum, and with bayonets fixed" had no idea what happened on May 15th, 1864, and who won that little fracas. Hint: It was not "those people" in the blue uniforms who broke.

"Double canister at forty paces!" It might stop them, but I wouldn't be betting on it. (Where the hell is the First Minnesota when we need them?) And even then, if 'Old Blue Light' had been leading the Corps, they'd have stopped charging somewhere around Brooklyn. They have long memories, down there in Virginia.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;941746Sure. They look more 'Persian' then we did, as Phil likened our more ornate armor to that os Southeast Asia; you could consider them to be more restrained. They didn't have the trademark 'big swoopy shoulderplates' that are a design feature of Five Empires armor, for example. A little more mail, a lot less plate; articulation was pretty rare, but then it's rare all over Tekumel. If I were going to model these, I'd use medieval Indo-Persian/Mughal figures.

Look in Stone's Glossary; lots of the Indo-Persian stuff fits with what we saw, which is not surprising as Phil also had a copy.

Uncle,

Excellent!!! Thank you!!!

H:0)

Quote from: chirine ba kal;941758There! I think we're all caught up.

Anybody besides me get the twitches seeing the rearguard at yesterday's parade march past with bayonets fixed, with their pipes and drums playing "Shenandoah"? Their former professor would have been proud of them, I think...

And, if you want my personal opinion, it's a sad day for history that none of the 'color commentators' picked up on the back story behind this. Me, I would have called out the guard, had them lock and load and fix bayonets, and looked to the defenses of the Military District of Washington. Whomever the idiot was that allowed the VMI Corps of Cadets to march past a President of the United States "with colors unfurled, with beat of drum, and with bayonets fixed" had no idea what happened on May 15th, 1864, and who won that little fracas. Hint: It was not "those people" in the blue uniforms who broke.

"Double canister at forty paces!" It might stop them, but I wouldn't be betting on it. (Where the hell is the First Minnesota when we need them?) And even then, if 'Old Blue Light' had been leading the Corps, they'd have stopped charging somewhere around Brooklyn. They have long memories, down there in Virginia.

Uncle,

You are a Gentleman and a Scholar...Thank you for the continuing education.

H:0)

Quote from: chirine ba kal;9417451. Well, it was a little exciting; the shipping manifest called out that she had ten cubic meters of stuff, but it actually turned out to be about seven. She's been unpacking and collapsing boxes all week, and I have gotten more and more floor space back. Her new room is a little larger then the apartment she had in Zurich, so she's happy, and she seems to like being with 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Took her out to the FLGS last night to look at storage boxes for her comics, and she asked if we could get figures for her and Third Daughter for the campaign; Dark Sword got the sale, and I'm looking froward to painting them up. Got a figure for Second Son-in-law; must find one for First. First and Second Grandchildren were easy; Dark Fable miniatures has them.

The pleasure of picking miniatures for family members, then?

Quote2. They will, by and large, be in the book. I am shying away from footnotes and an appendix, as I am writing a book of Adventures - with a good bit of Action and Romance included. I am not writing a textbook or an RPG, but I will include a lot of this material where it is appropriate and will help the reader.

Great!

Quote4. Dangererous. See also the second to the last story in the book, where Kyrinn Eis takes her PC down such a street. It's the Souk, the Casbah, the 'wrong part of medieval London or Paris, the worst parts of Hong Kong or Shanghai in the 1930s, or the nasty back alley outside Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. Very 'pulp'; it's the place where the 'civilized people' keep everybody that they consider 'uncivilized'.

The wrong parts of Shanghai in the 30ies...a place where some Fairbairn guy has been known to stroll? That gives me an idea.

QuoteI'd run this as an adventure, to give you the full flavor...

I'm taking you up on this! Do you want me to roll a PC, or would you just tell me who it is I'm playing?

QuoteSee also the discussion back in this thread about being 'connected'; one would normally try to use one's contacts, as this would get rid of a lot of the danger of being viewed as 'fair prey' by the denizens of the place.

Just as everywhere.
Of course, your contacts might make you a target, by themselves - if you're seen as a "soft target" for the kind of people that don't like your contacts.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;941758There! I think we're all caught up.

Anybody besides me get the twitches seeing the rearguard at yesterday's parade march past with bayonets fixed, with their pipes and drums playing "Shenandoah"? Their former professor would have been proud of them, I think...

And, if you want my personal opinion, it's a sad day for history that none of the 'color commentators' picked up on the back story behind this. Me, I would have called out the guard, had them lock and load and fix bayonets, and looked to the defenses of the Military District of Washington. Whomever the idiot was that allowed the VMI Corps of Cadets to march past a President of the United States "with colors unfurled, with beat of drum, and with bayonets fixed" had no idea what happened on May 15th, 1864, and who won that little fracas. Hint: It was not "those people" in the blue uniforms who broke.

"Double canister at forty paces!" It might stop them, but I wouldn't be betting on it. (Where the hell is the First Minnesota when we need them?) And even then, if 'Old Blue Light' had been leading the Corps, they'd have stopped charging somewhere around Brooklyn. They have long memories, down there in Virginia.

When you put it like this...
I suddenly want to know how the Virginian State TV commented this picture;).

Quote from: chirine ba kal;941751From Dulahan: OK, a couple more questions from all over the board:  

The Dragon Warriors.  I understand the N'luss were the descendants of the Space Marines, very likely.  does this mean they really did conquer their empire with lost tech, not actual dragons?  Did it ever come up in play or conversation one way or another?  Honestly, I've never even decided which I like better.  They're both REALLY cool!  Which now makes me wonder if it's both. At once.  Dudes on dragons alongside flying cars with freaking laser beams.

That's what Phil hinted. We don't know for sure; we weren't there at the time and had no interest in traveling back in time to watch the carnage. Phil played it both ways in his campaign. (See also Book IV, in the tale of "The Affair of the Malchiran Emerald".) I can only point out that I saw lots of aircars in storage under Malchairan, and that Gertie the Great Golden Dragon of Blackmoor speaks Ancient Nlyssa - Irkutz - the Ancient Tongue of the Dragon Lords. And that my personal emblem on my own standard is that of the Dragon and the Flame of the Ancient Nlyss; Chirine is descended from one of their clans of sorcerers. Phil was nothing if not 'subtle' in his hinting...

Now for something else very different.  Using Undead in Warfare is a big, huge no-no.  Get ready for the high ride!  BUT!  what if such is used against the inimicals?  Say a Sarku legion defending against the Ssu, Hluss, Hokun, or Hlutgru?  Is that a case of "Anything goes, screw those things?"  Or would that still be ignoble?

For that matter, would any of those races have easy ways to deal with the Undead?

It's against the Concordat, and is an impaling offense. Period.

Yes; they kill them, usually by burning just like we do.

Uncle,

A quick question...I'm not sure if we ever touched on this. Did you ever encounter any non-human undead(inimical or not)?

Thanks,

H:0)

I came across this today by coincidence...

Prof Barker wrote a few lines about the pre-Cataclysm Nlüss in Blue Room post #568:

"Absolutely. The N'luss were a genetic offshoot of the rather homogeneous human race before the Catastrophe. They seem to have been wanderers with few fixed bases. They traded rare metals and industrial technology to a variety of races within Humanspace -- and even beyond it occasionally. They maintained an attitude of aloof pride, which annoyed their other human counterparts, and which occasionally got them killed. They appear to have had little or no interest in ruling star empires, and were happiest when "questing.""

and this in post #753:

"It does look likely that the N'luss were"engineered" for size and strength, but this does not necessarily mean thatthey were direct descendants of any particular Terran group -- after all, millennia passed between our own time and any possible starting date forthe N'luss,

N'luss legend states that they came from a "homeland" in the Plain of Towers, and that they served as guards and soldiers in the armies of Lords Vimuhla and Chiteng on Dormoron Plain. From this, comes the origin of the Dragon Warriors, whom the N'luss proudly call "our fathers."

They may well have been some sort of special military unit landed onTekumel before the Time of Darkness. They have maintained their pride and their physical prowess ever since."

It was posted in a Tekumel chat group, not my words. I thought it fit in with Dulahan's question...

Enjoy,

H:0)

Quote from: Hrugga;941805I came across this today by coincidence...

Prof Barker wrote a few lines about the pre-Cataclysm Nlüss in Blue Room post #568:

"Absolutely. The N'luss were a genetic offshoot of the rather homogeneous human race before the Catastrophe. They seem to have been wanderers with few fixed bases. They traded rare metals and industrial technology to a variety of races within Humanspace -- and even beyond it occasionally. They maintained an attitude of aloof pride, which annoyed their other human counterparts, and which occasionally got them killed. They appear to have had little or no interest in ruling star empires, and were happiest when "questing.""

and this in post #753:

"It does look likely that the N'luss were"engineered" for size and strength, but this does not necessarily mean thatthey were direct descendants of any particular Terran group -- after all, millennia passed between our own time and any possible starting date forthe N'luss,

N'luss legend states that they came from a "homeland" in the Plain of Towers, and that they served as guards and soldiers in the armies of Lords Vimuhla and Chiteng on Dormoron Plain. From this, comes the origin of the Dragon Warriors, whom the N'luss proudly call "our fathers."

They may well have been some sort of special military unit landed onTekumel before the Time of Darkness. They have maintained their pride and their physical prowess ever since."

It was posted in a Tekumel chat group, not my words. I thought it fit in with Dulahan's question...

Enjoy,

H:0)

Mighty  Hrugga,

I'd forgotten about these posts. Nice find.

Shemek.

Quote from: Hrugga;941796Uncle,

A quick question...I'm not sure if we ever touched on this. Did you ever encounter any non-human undead(inimical or not)?

Thanks,

H:0)

I seem to recall Phil talking about this on the Blue Room site. I believe it involved the breeding vats employed by the Lord's of the Latter Times.

Shemek.

Quote from: Hrugga;941759Uncle,

Excellent!!! Thank you!!!

H:0)

You're welcome!

Quote from: Hrugga;941763Uncle,

You are a Gentleman and a Scholar...Thank you for the continuing education.

H:0)

You're welcome! The family wanted my commentary on what they were seeing, so I was explaining all of the nuances of uniforms and units for them. Seeing the Corps march past gave me the chills - the ghosts walked. I've had several similar moments, over the years...

Go to YouTube and watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's performance of "Carol To The King". It's an old French marching tune, dating back to the time of Henry IV, and the fifes and drums put me in mind of some gentlemen that his son Louis XIII hired - a group of ruffians known as The King's Musketeers.

Or the Irish group that did the album "Halfpenny Bridge"; for one of the cuts they play an old marching tune of the Wild Geese; all I could think of was the Dillons coming out of the mist to settle old scores with my Scots ancestors at last.

As I say; the ghosts walked.

Quote from: AsenRG;941766The pleasure of picking miniatures for family members, then?

Great!

The wrong parts of Shanghai in the 30ies...a place where some Fairbairn guy has been known to stroll? That gives me an idea.

I'm taking you up on this! Do you want me to roll a PC, or would you just tell me who it is I'm playing?

Just as everywhere.
Of course, your contacts might make you a target, by themselves - if you're seen as a "soft target" for the kind of people that don't like your contacts.

When you put it like this...
I suddenly want to know how the Virginian State TV commented this picture;).

1. Yes. She picked Dark Sword DSM-1151 for her sister, and DSM-4110 for herself.

2. We try...

3. Let me think about this, and we'll see about running this...

4. You have it exactly! And I have one of his products, too.

5. Again, exactly!

6. So would I!!! :eek:

Quote from: Hrugga;941796Uncle,

A quick question...I'm not sure if we ever touched on this. Did you ever encounter any non-human undead(inimical or not)?

Thanks,

H:0)

Oh, yes! Lots and lots of them, right out of the list in EPT. Never saw any Ssu, Hlyss, Mihalli, Hlutrgu, Nyagga or Mihalli as Undead, though; didn't see any of the 'friendly races', either. It was all ex-human or artificial stock.