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Episode 12, “What is the Hall of Blue Illumination?”
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 several subjects, including the origin of the podcast’s name, Victor’s new Tékumel campaign, and how to handle any incongruities that arise between your own material and that of the canonical setting.
Show Notes:
[00:00:30] What exactly is the Hall of Blue Illumination? It’s the location in the Chancery of Avanthár where The Book of Mighty Imperial Deeds of the Great and Glorious Petal Throne is kept. (That’s Korúnkoi hiGardásisayal Kólumelan hiTirikéludàlidàlisa for you Tsolyáni fans; see “Reports Submitted to the Petal Throne” in Dragon #4 (Dec. 1976))
[00:01:40] Who has access to the Hall of Blue Illumination? Not you, that’s who.
[00:01:54] Sentient books in Tékumel? One of the AIs left over from the Latter Times, perhaps? Those Lords of the Latter Times were…eccentric.
[00:02:59] Seriously though, anyone who gets permission from the Chancery (try the Provost, Lord Cháymira hiSsánmirin) can go and read the book. Or at least most of it. There’s also a Secret Book, which contains classified entries and the covert activities of Tsolyáni agents.
[00:04:03] Various pages of both the secret and public books are inscribed with Mind Bar spells to prevent readers from sharing some pieces of information.
[00:04:45] Victor has started a new Tékumel campaign. Currently, it’s an in-person, “fresh off the boat” campaign with two players. Victor plans to add more, and may follow Prof. Barker’s model: he’s considering refereeing separate groups of players who all operate within the same campaign, so that the actions of one group can affect the experiences of the other, and vice versa.
[00:07:20] Scott plans using a similar device with two Call of Cthulhu groups.
[00:08:10] Both of these players were new to Tékumel and EPT, so Victor spent some time with them on character creation. He wanted the players to have a fair understanding of the relevant mechanics starting out, even though EPT can be deadly for new characters.
[00:08:40] One of the players indicated that he had a difficult time identifying with the Gods of Change, because their doctrines seemed rather selfish. Victor explained to him that while there are certainly fanatical devotees of the Gods of Change on Tékumel, there are also “time servers,” i.e., the Tékumel equivalent of Easter-Christmas Christians. Sometimes, because of the weight of tradition, a character may end up w
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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 several subjects, including the origin of the podcast’s name, Victor’s new Tékumel campaign, and how to handle any incongruities that arise between your own material and that of the canonical setting.
Show Notes:
[00:00:30] What exactly is the Hall of Blue Illumination? It’s the location in the Chancery of Avanthár where The Book of Mighty Imperial Deeds of the Great and Glorious Petal Throne is kept. (That’s Korúnkoi hiGardásisayal Kólumelan hiTirikéludàlidàlisa for you Tsolyáni fans; see “Reports Submitted to the Petal Throne” in Dragon #4 (Dec. 1976))
[00:01:40] Who has access to the Hall of Blue Illumination? Not you, that’s who.
[00:01:54] Sentient books in Tékumel? One of the AIs left over from the Latter Times, perhaps? Those Lords of the Latter Times were…eccentric.
[00:02:59] Seriously though, anyone who gets permission from the Chancery (try the Provost, Lord Cháymira hiSsánmirin) can go and read the book. Or at least most of it. There’s also a Secret Book, which contains classified entries and the covert activities of Tsolyáni agents.
[00:04:03] Various pages of both the secret and public books are inscribed with Mind Bar spells to prevent readers from sharing some pieces of information.
[00:04:45] Victor has started a new Tékumel campaign. Currently, it’s an in-person, “fresh off the boat” campaign with two players. Victor plans to add more, and may follow Prof. Barker’s model: he’s considering refereeing separate groups of players who all operate within the same campaign, so that the actions of one group can affect the experiences of the other, and vice versa.
[00:07:20] Scott plans using a similar device with two Call of Cthulhu groups.
[00:08:10] Both of these players were new to Tékumel and EPT, so Victor spent some time with them on character creation. He wanted the players to have a fair understanding of the relevant mechanics starting out, even though EPT can be deadly for new characters.
[00:08:40] One of the players indicated that he had a difficult time identifying with the Gods of Change, because their doctrines seemed rather selfish. Victor explained to him that while there are certainly fanatical devotees of the Gods of Change on Tékumel, there are also “time servers,” i.e., the Tékumel equivalent of Easter-Christmas Christians. Sometimes, because of the weight of tradition, a character may end up w