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Tékumel
Tékumel is a fantasy world created by American linguist and writer M. A. R. Barker over the course of several decades from around 1940. In this imaginary world, huge, tradition-bound empires with medieval levels of technology vie for control using magic, large standing armies, and ancient technological devices. In time, Barker created the tabletop role-playing game Empire of the Petal Throne, set in the Tékumel universe, initially self publishing it in 1974. Later, Barker wrote a series of five novels set in Tékumel, beginning with The Man of Gold, first published by DAW Books in 1984.
The setting provided a context for Barker's constructed languages which were developed in parallel from the mid-to-late 1940s, long before the mass-market publication of his works as the roleplaying game and book forms.
The most developed language created by Barker for his setting is Tsolyáni, which resembles Urdu, Pashto and Nahuatl. Tsolyáni has had grammatical guides, dictionaries, pronunciation recordings, and even a complete language course developed for it. In order for his imaginary languages to have this type of depth, Barker developed entire cultures, histories, dress fashions, architectural styles, weapons, armor, tactical styles, legal codes, demographics and more. They were inspired by Indian, Middle Eastern, Egyptian and Central American mythology in contrast to the majority of such fantasy settings, which draw primarily on European mythologies.
The world of Tékumel, a fictional planet around star Nu Ophiuchi (a.k.a. Sinistra), was first settled by humans exploring the galaxy about 60,000 years in the future, along with several other alien species. Their extensive terraforming of the inhospitable environment, including changing the planet's orbit and rotation rate to create a 365-day year, disrupted local ecologies and banished most of the local flora and fauna (including some intelligent species) to small reservations in the corners of their own world, resulting in a golden age of technology and prosperity for Mankind and its allies. Tékumel became a resort world, where the wealthy from a thousand other stars could while away their time next to its warm seas.
Suddenly, in the 1120th century (according to Shawn Bond) and for reasons unknown, Tékumel and its star system (Tékumel's two moons, Gayél and Káshi, its sun, Tuléng, and four other planets, Ülétl, Riruchél, Shíchel, and Zirúna) were cast out of our reality into a "pocket dimension" (known as a béthorm in Tsolyáni), in which there were no other star systems. One hypothesis is that this isolation happened through hostile action on the part of an unknown party or group. Another is that the cosmic cataclysm was due to over-use of a faster than light drive which warped the fabric of space. No one knows, but the inhabitants of Tékumel, both human, native, and representatives of the other star-faring races, were now isolated and alone. The novels contain vague clues as to what might have happened.
Severed from vital interplanetary trade routes (Tékumel is a world very poor in heavy metals) and in the midst of a massive gravitic upheaval due to the lines of gravitational force between the stars being suddenly cut, civilization was thrown into chaos. The intelligent native species, the Hlǘss and the Ssú, broke free from their reservations and wars as destructive as the massive geographic changes ravaged the planet. Several other significant changes took place due to the crisis: mankind discovered it could now tap into ultraplanar energies that were seen as magical forces, the stars were gone from the sky, and dimensional nexuses were uncovered. Pacts with "demons" (inhabitants of dimensions near in n-dimensional space to Tékumel's pocket dimension) were made and a complex pantheon of "gods" (powerful extra-dimensional or multi-dimensional alien beings) discovered. Science began to stagnate until ultimately knowledge became grounded in traditions handed down from generations long ago. The belief that the universe was ultimately understandable slowly faded and a Time of Darkness descended over the planet.
Much of Barker's writing concerns a time approximately 50,000 years after Tékumel has entered its pocket dimension. Five vast tradition-oriented civilizations occupy a large portion of the northern continent. These five human empires (Livyánu, Mu′ugalavyá, Salarvyá, Tsolyánu, Yán Kór), along with various non-human allies (Ahoggyá, Chíma, Hegléth, Hláka, Hlutrgú, Ninín, Páchi Léi, Pé Chói, Shén, Tinalíya) who are descended from other star faring races, vie to control resources, including other planar "magical powers" and ancient technology, as they vie for survival and supremacy among themselves as well as hostile and other non-human races (Hlǘss, Ssú, Hokún, Mihálli, Nyaggá, Urunén, Vléshga).
Much of the gaming materials and other writings focus particularly on these Five Empires (Tsolyánu in particular) which control much of the world's northern continent (only about an eighth of the planet's surface has published maps).
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Tékumel
Tékumel is a fantasy world created by American linguist and writer M. A. R. Barker over the course of several decades from around 1940. In this imaginary world, huge, tradition-bound empires with medieval levels of technology vie for control using magic, large standing armies, and ancient technological devices. In time, Barker created the tabletop role-playing game Empire of the Petal Throne, set in the Tékumel universe, initially self publishing it in 1974. Later, Barker wrote a series of five novels set in Tékumel, beginning with The Man of Gold, first published by DAW Books in 1984.
The setting provided a context for Barker's constructed languages which were developed in parallel from the mid-to-late 1940s, long before the mass-market publication of his works as the roleplaying game and book forms.
The most developed language created by Barker for his setting is Tsolyáni, which resembles Urdu, Pashto and Nahuatl. Tsolyáni has had grammatical guides, dictionaries, pronunciation recordings, and even a complete language course developed for it. In order for his imaginary languages to have this type of depth, Barker developed entire cultures, histories, dress fashions, architectural styles, weapons, armor, tactical styles, legal codes, demographics and more. They were inspired by Indian, Middle Eastern, Egyptian and Central American mythology in contrast to the majority of such fantasy settings, which draw primarily on European mythologies.
The world of Tékumel, a fictional planet around star Nu Ophiuchi (a.k.a. Sinistra), was first settled by humans exploring the galaxy about 60,000 years in the future, along with several other alien species. Their extensive terraforming of the inhospitable environment, including changing the planet's orbit and rotation rate to create a 365-day year, disrupted local ecologies and banished most of the local flora and fauna (including some intelligent species) to small reservations in the corners of their own world, resulting in a golden age of technology and prosperity for Mankind and its allies. Tékumel became a resort world, where the wealthy from a thousand other stars could while away their time next to its warm seas.
Suddenly, in the 1120th century (according to Shawn Bond) and for reasons unknown, Tékumel and its star system (Tékumel's two moons, Gayél and Káshi, its sun, Tuléng, and four other planets, Ülétl, Riruchél, Shíchel, and Zirúna) were cast out of our reality into a "pocket dimension" (known as a béthorm in Tsolyáni), in which there were no other star systems. One hypothesis is that this isolation happened through hostile action on the part of an unknown party or group. Another is that the cosmic cataclysm was due to over-use of a faster than light drive which warped the fabric of space. No one knows, but the inhabitants of Tékumel, both human, native, and representatives of the other star-faring races, were now isolated and alone. The novels contain vague clues as to what might have happened.
Severed from vital interplanetary trade routes (Tékumel is a world very poor in heavy metals) and in the midst of a massive gravitic upheaval due to the lines of gravitational force between the stars being suddenly cut, civilization was thrown into chaos. The intelligent native species, the Hlǘss and the Ssú, broke free from their reservations and wars as destructive as the massive geographic changes ravaged the planet. Several other significant changes took place due to the crisis: mankind discovered it could now tap into ultraplanar energies that were seen as magical forces, the stars were gone from the sky, and dimensional nexuses were uncovered. Pacts with "demons" (inhabitants of dimensions near in n-dimensional space to Tékumel's pocket dimension) were made and a complex pantheon of "gods" (powerful extra-dimensional or multi-dimensional alien beings) discovered. Science began to stagnate until ultimately knowledge became grounded in traditions handed down from generations long ago. The belief that the universe was ultimately understandable slowly faded and a Time of Darkness descended over the planet.
Much of Barker's writing concerns a time approximately 50,000 years after Tékumel has entered its pocket dimension. Five vast tradition-oriented civilizations occupy a large portion of the northern continent. These five human empires (Livyánu, Mu′ugalavyá, Salarvyá, Tsolyánu, Yán Kór), along with various non-human allies (Ahoggyá, Chíma, Hegléth, Hláka, Hlutrgú, Ninín, Páchi Léi, Pé Chói, Shén, Tinalíya) who are descended from other star faring races, vie to control resources, including other planar "magical powers" and ancient technology, as they vie for survival and supremacy among themselves as well as hostile and other non-human races (Hlǘss, Ssú, Hokún, Mihálli, Nyaggá, Urunén, Vléshga).
Much of the gaming materials and other writings focus particularly on these Five Empires (Tsolyánu in particular) which control much of the world's northern continent (only about an eighth of the planet's surface has published maps).