by various contributors, including MAR Barker, Bob Alberti, Alan Musielewicz, and others
The Multiverse
Tekumel is constructed of an Infinite Multiverse: for any decision that can be made within Tekumel there is a separate branch of reality embodying the results of that decision. However, some branches of reality shrink and dissipate away (space and time contract in the centre and thin at the edges: everything on the outside ages fast and turns to dust, everything in the centre slows to a stop -- until the outside edges encroach and time accelerates just long enough for the occupants of the centre to spend their remaining lives standing on a little one-Tsan patch of ground watching the Nothing roll in), while others (the "main line") continue on to the End of Time.
The Ends of the Worlds
There are three possible endings for Tekumel:
- planes where the Egg of the World is reconstructed and Tekumel returns to its original plane.
- planes which become so unlikely that they can no longer sustain themselves and fade or dissolve away (sometimes known as "bubble" planes).
- planes which lead to the End of Time, where the sun sets eternally over Avanthar.
Avanthar
The difference between those that survive and those that dissipate is whether or not Avanthar exists or is destroyed in that universe. Universes in which Avanthar is destroyed invariably wither away. Those which preserve Avanthar eventually conjoin at the College at the End of Time. This is why even though the Egg of the World was once reconstructed and Tekumel returned to the "Real World", Tekumel persists in its pocket dimension: the fact that the College at the End of Time exists is proof that there will always be a Tekumel branch which does not return to the original universe.
The College at the End of Time
The College is the last nodal point on Tekumel. If you think of the infinite multiverse which makes up Tekumel, it looks a bit like a tree: mostly straight until the Time of Darkness, then blossoming with possibilities in all directions. Some taper away to the "ends of branches", while many continue a "straight" course to the top of the tree. "Branches" are what happens when a universe takes an unlikely turn, and the "ends" are when these unlikelinesses either result in a destroyed or inconsistent universe. The "trunk" is where most of Tekumel is: the variety of things which occur are within an general area of "likelihood".
For instance, I hold a stone: I could drop it now, or drop it in three seconds. Neither circumstance is very different, and both result in the stone on the same place on the ground. Or the stone possibly turns into a giant demon and eats me and my family. Now that's unlikely, and it makes a branch. If the demon eats the universe, it makes an end. If the demon is destroyed and the world goes on, eventually the existence of me and my family will make little difference, the branch will have returned to the "trunk".
In this latter place is the College at the End of Time. Here, all the greatest mages and sorcerers of the many planes and races gather to hold off the end of time and secure the well-being of the Tekumel multiverse. Time works strangely here, and cause-and-effect laws have no meaning. While personal subjective time seems to progress normally, it's entirely possible to have a conversation with someone you haven't met yet, to be given back something one hasn't yet loaned out, and to meet the same person twice within a few moments.
However, one does not ever meet oneself at the College, no matter how hard one tries. On very rare occasions people have accidentally met themselves (usually shortly after a magical arrival), and nothing particularly untoward has occurred.
Miscellaneous Notes
The Egg of the World
This is apparently an ancient item, older than the Time of Darkness, which is an analogue of the pocket dimension in which Tekumel finds itself. It is extremely powerful and extremely dangerous. (Subadim the Sorcerer sought it and apparently found a fragment of shell).
The Pariah Deities
The Pariah deities (the One Who Is, the One Other, and the Goddess of the Pale Bone) are not all bad, just as the Pavar deities are not all good. Their roles are up to them to determine, but at times the One Other has leagued with the Pavar deities against the other two Pariah gods, and the One Who Is is a self-centred and self-absorbed god who can rarely be roused to involve itself in the universe. The Goddess of the Pale Bone is the closest to an all-around baddie, but she's just hungry.
The Heroes of the Age
The Heroes of the Age are agents of the Pavar Deities who hold sway over Tekumel's multiverse, and thus serve their interests. This team of sentients must unite, must merge completely, in order to defeat the Pariah Gods. To say that Heroes of the Age fight agents of the Pariah Gods is a tautological statement. That's pretty much what the Heroes of the Age are for. In other words, they won't appear to settle political disputes, or even to prevent Origob from flipping over a continent.
The Heroes of the Age appear from time to time to save Tekumel from its current world-threatening crisis. In one campaign, the Heroes of the Age fought the agents of the Pariah Gods to keep Tekumel in its current dimension. Returning Tekumel to its original dimension would not be a good thing, considering the cataclysm that occurred the last time. Also, magic wouldn't work in the original, probably (well, it would work exactly as well as it works for us!).
The Heroes had a very narrow victory, especially since they had two of their number switch sides at the climax. It essentially came down to each party having a Shard of the Egg of the World, one which may have been a clever counterfeit. They thought that if the Pariah Gods' party took the real Shard through a particular nexus point, the wheels would be irretrievably set towards returning to the original dimension. The Heroes had the real Shard. (Strangely enough, this climax was dependent not upon the Shards, both of which may have been authentic, but upon the decisions made by the individuals involved).
It is not a well-known fact that the disaster of the fall of Engsvan hla Ganga was caused by the climax of the battle between the Heroes of that age, in which they won a Pyrrhic victory. Had they failed in their mission, Tekumel would have been destroyed or subjugated by the Pariah Deities.
The Undying Wizards
The Undying Wizards, like Thomar and Subadim, are supposed to maintain the Universe. They defend against the Pariah Deities, and any other force which threatens destruction. There are some Undying Wizards, like Torasu and Thuken, who dismiss this responsibility, preferring instead to enjoy their power and work their wills up and down the cosmos.
The Pylons
The pylons are part of the inter-planar cosmostructure, landmarks between distant planes. They mark off certain areas. They are not obstacles, but they are often referred to as such because the distances one must cross to reach them are, in fact, obstacles. So to say "I penetrated beyond the 39th pylon" does not mean that the pylon was trying to stop you, just that you went a very great distance.
The Silver Suits
The Silver Suits are an interplanar race which accomplishes all their ends through technology, and not magic. They have been seen, they have killed and been killed, but one has never been captured, and they have never set foot on Tekumel, so not much is known about them.
Gidj and Sons
Gidj and Sons are an interplanar mercantile corporation. They do not so much trade across time as across planes. They are entirely clandestine, and only have a permanent shop in the city of Dlash in Livyanu. They occasionally hold secret auctions where literally anything can be purchased. But they don't accept cash, Visa, or American Express.
Ksarul and the Blue Room
There are two kinds of bond holding Ksarul in his room: Wards and Keys.
Each Key has two or three Wards which prevent it from being used or, once used, from being un-used. Wards are easier to find than Keys, and are not necessarily located physically "near" the Keys they serve.
The task of finding and using a Key to further Ksarul's release would be a Very Long Adventure -- an entire campaign could be directed towards it, occupying the entire lifetime of a player's character, and taking several years of our time.
A few keys have already been found and used, and rest upon a table in a place of waiting beside Ksarul's tomb. However, not all keys are what you would call "hidden". One key which is very well known is the Key in the possession of the Mad King of Salarvya. Deep beneath the palace in Tsatsayagga, the figure of a gently smiling young man reposes upon an altar. Those who meet high favour with the Mad King are permitted to make sacrifices to this figure, which is one of the Keys. If one sacrifices objects of blue, such as blue gems, blue fabric, even blue flowers, the figure grants boons and riches.
Ksarul is fated to be freed, and the time of his freedom is not clear. But there is not necessarily a connection between the freeing of Ksarul and the end of Tekumel. The Egg of Time exerts a more direct influence upon the Tekumel multiverse.
The Hokun
The Hokun are rather set in their preferences for weapons: long "glass" lances, swords, and armour that is made of the same extruded stuff their weapons are made of. They have daggers, crossbows, some magic, and are also able to use the weapons of the Ancients found in ruined cities here and there. Their riding beasts are quite fast and are able to run down a human being.
The Hokun riding beasts are about as intelligent as Earth warhorses -- not much more. They can bite and strike with their modified feet (they are quadripedal, with the top pair of arms atrophied and used for feeding), but they don't use weapons or have the intelligence to speak or act much on their own. They are hunched, swaybacked so that a kind of saddle can be put on them, and still cloudily translucent, though not as transparent as their masters are.
I can't give you better statistics than this, unfortunately. The Hokun are dangerous opponents, and my gaming groups give them a wide berth!
Contemporary Mysteries
Contributed by players in Professor Barker's campaign.
Dhich'une and the He'esa
Ouch! Yow! Ooh! Boy does it hurt to have someone see more clearly into your own situation than oneself. I refer to your comment "it is quite possible that the He'esa, 'Those who are seen yet not seen' had something to do with the death of Hirkane" Your comment comes just as I have determined that the "shapechangers" that our gaming group thought we were dealing with are, in fact, He'esa.
Where you just put two and two together, I had to be bashed over the head repeatedly before figuring it out (the rest of my group, not being Ksarul worshippers like myself, haven't got a clue of course). We're in Rereshqala's palace and are being literally swarmed by doppelgangers. We've had to establish a practice of exchanging personal items every time we meet because otherwise we get killed by creatures who look like our comrades. The other day I managed to examine one captured (dead and revivified), and when mind-scanned it dissolved into a pile of goo. It also manifested a major league nasty demon, so I didn't catch on right away, being too busy chanting the Paean of Irshuketl the Shackler to think.
Now, your comment about the He'esa taking out Hirkane strikes home: Dhich'une's consorted with the Goddess of the Pale Bone before, and sure enough I think you've got it. Either the Man of Gold has been turned off, or been circumvented.
If we can get some solid evidence of Dhich'une's alliance (which could be difficult -- they don't often come labelled "He'esa. Property of Dhich'une. Return postage guaranteed"), we could almost certainly rally all the Stability and a good portion of the Change temples against him.
Lord Fu Shi'i
Fu Shi'i's identity is a mystery, and one I would like dearly to solve. However, Fu Shi'i's identity does not yet rank on the level of question with "What is the Egg of the World", so it wasn't in my list. When he achieves Undying Wizard status (if he lives that long, and he won't if I have any say in the matter), then he will be that important. Presently he is the single common factor to all of Tsolyanu's troubles, and the master of both Dhich'une and Ald.
At the end of Flamesong, while the Lorun woman and Fu Shi'i decide to off the Baron's son, they have a conversation in which the Lorun woman refers to those Fu Shi'i serves. There's more to the reference, and it seemed to be not too far a stretch to imagine that his masters are the Hokun, about whom we have only rumours in published materials.
To the individuals holding the conversation, the Hokun were mysterious and mighty enough to seem plausible masters for Fu Shi'i. But to anyone who knows both, mastery of either one by the other is unlikely. Even Fu Shi'i's mastery of the Mihalli was only possible with technomagical augmentation of his powers.
