Lately I’ve had an urge to explore M.A.R.
Barker’s Tékumel
setting through solitaire roleplaying. (You can read my earlier
missive on this subject, “Prepping A Solitaire Foray into Tékumel.”) So one night
while my wife was off watching Game of Thrones with
friends and my son sat glued to the television screen watching
American Idol (neither of which engages me in the least) I
spread my solo gaming materials across my standing desk and indulged
in a brief foray into the Empire of the Petal Throne. My heroes consisted of Ibásh,
a young, idealistic priest of Keténgku;
Bara, a protective aridani warrior late of the Legion of the Mighty
Prince; and Thékuto, a
well-traveled trade liaison for the Victorious Globe clan, to which
they all belong. Their masters have quietly charged them with
researching and retrieving an ancient automaton. As the first step in
their journey they stopped along the sákbe
road at the Tower of Deathly Hospitality (detailed in the earlier
blog entry on this subject). Seeking shelter in the midst of a
torrential monsoon, they find a caravan camped on the platform as far
as possible from the dilapidated guard tower, with a lone fellow
staring into the open door into the structure calling for his wife
but, alas, not brave enough to enter and search for her himself.
After learning of the tower’s haunted reputation from the encamped
caravan, the group approaches Hóru
hiArusá, a craftsman from
the Silver Collar clan heading home with his new wife. Dzái
sought shelter in the tower against his wishes; she has yet to
emerge, call for help, or otherwise make her presence known. Although
Ibásh wants to charge in,
Thékuto, ever the voice
of savvy reason, asks what Hóru’s
willing to do if they group finds and returns his wife. The artisan
offers them a finely wrought copper cup he himself crafted.
Encouraged by this incentive the heroes enter the tower.
