Inspiration for Tékumel - 1000+ Followers!

Just topped 1000 Followers on my "Inspiration for Tékumel" boards on Pinterest. Yay! See the appropriate sideboard in the righthand margin of this page. Now, if only 100% of them were interested in Tékumel, think of that!

I should also note that I recently watched a program that suggested that "followers", "likes", etc are how the Social Media companies get us hooked on their virtual acid. Something to be aware of! :-0

My latest Pinterest board is for colour palettes that I think will be useful in coming up with painting schemes for my Tékumel miniatures.

Inspiration for Tékumel - 800+ Followers! :-)

Just topped 800 Followers on my "Inspiration for Tekumel" boards on Pinterest. Woo Hoo! See the appropriate sideboard in the righthand margin of this page. Now, of course, not all are interested in Tékumel. Perhaps it is safe to say that most are not. But at least there is the chance they now know a little bit more about Professor Barker's creation than they once did. Perhaps they will be inspired to explore his world a little further...

A Belated Happy Birthday: Caroline Munro!

Caroline Munro

Born: Jan 16, 1949 

ERBzine Birthday Tribute.

The Gulf of Perudáya

The Gulf of Perudáya

Diving back into the Digitizing Tékumel project after a long break. Here is a re-imagining of the sandbars in the Gulf of Perudáya. Those in my first attempt I just drew more-or-less at random. For these I have traced the shallows as actually marked on the Swords & Glory map.

These sandbars would be exposed to varying degrees at low tide. They would be constantly changing shape but would roughly the general shape as drawn. There would be a myriad of smaller channels cut through them that would also change over time. Local Knowledge suddenly becomes a very important skill! I expect that there are clans that specialize in providing pilots, which merchants can hire to navigate them through the channels. Some merchants might try to go it alone - at their own risk. And other times there might be pirates who masquerade as pilots to deliberately lead a ship astray, running it aground so it can be looted.

Also, I should point out that a while ago I started some boards on Pinterest under the heading "Inspiration for Tékumel" with the aim of pinning pictures that I think somehow - sometimes in only the smallest of ways - offer some sort of inspiration as to what Tékumel might look like. It's hard, of course, because Tékumel is Earth but I think for the most part I've selected pictures that provide at least a tiny bit of inspiration. If only to ensure that people get out of the Medieval European mindset that prevails in most settings.

I've started adding more and more specific boards, targeting cities and geographic regions of Tsolyánu, for example. The most recent of these is the Gulf of Perudáya board which features the picture above. I am planning on integrating my digitization project with Pinterest even further as I go along.

Jacques Majorelle - Orientalist or Tékumelist?

Looking south across the Ranánga river?

Scenes from the Kráa Hills?

Jacques Majorelle was a French painter who spent a lot of his time in Morocco. I stumbled on one of his paintings on a facebook page and a quick google search later had pulled up the pictures above. It struck me that the flat-topped buildings in the scenes are very like the descriptions given of Tsolyáni clanhouses.

I think he would qualify as an Orientalist painter, though he is - I think - later than those usually put in that category. A google search on Orientalism or Orientalist is worth doing!

The Mssúma river? 

Perhaps there should be more vegetation along the shores, but still the overall character of the river is pretty close: broad and slow flowing. True, the water should be more yellow, laden with silt but by the same token, the blue skies are also wrong, as Tékumel's skies are golden (some of the paintings get that right.)

Did you know "Missúm" means "death" in Tsolyáni, and that the Mssúma river is often also spelled "Missúma"? And that yellow is the colour associated with Lord Belkánu, one of the Tsolyáni "Gods of Stability" and the Lord of the Excellent Dead? Hmm...

Welcome to Béy Sü!

If you stripped away all the present day elements, this scene from Varanasi, India might very well be a view looking south along the west bank of the Missúma from central Béy Sü. The Tsolyáni capital, I have blogged about this mighty city before. Here.

Many people, when they try to describe to themselves and others what Tékumel or Tsolyánu is like, or might be like, use Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Aztecs or the Maya as a starting point - but with the same technological sophistication as Ancient Rome or Greece. I don't think that is entirely off base but I feel that India and that part of the world offer far greater sources of inspiration. The roots of Tékumel are far deeper in India and Pakistan (and the region) than they are in South and Central America. IMO.

I've recently been starting to collect images, mostly from India, which I think provide some inspiration as to what Professor Barker's World might look like. None will be perfect, of course, but all are useful in some small way. The above photo I found on Pinterest. I've set up a board there myself: Inspiration for Tékumel.

I hope it will be of use.