Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all, from Pecháno.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday, and that Santa Ssü brought you lots of presents.

With Christmas fast approaching things are settling down at work, and that gives me some days off during the week. I was able to use today to actually paint some miniatures, something I haven't done in months.

I recently discovered this box, which I received as a Christmas present many years ago, and never actually got around to paint the miniatures. They are absolutely amazing sculpts with what can only be described as delicate details. They easily hold up to today's standards, even though the were made in 1991!

There's 10 in the box, in a variety of poses, and they will be great as NPC  Aridáni. I have decided that I will paint them as a different warrior/adventurer from one of the Five Empires, and possibly some of the smaller nations; the first one on the left, top row will make a fine  Pecháni I think.

The first one I finished was the second from the left, middle row, and it was done as a Tsolyáni. It really came out very nice. I'll post the finished miniatures shortly.

Commerce, Taxation, Trade

Commerce, Taxation, and Currency.
 

            Pecháno's main industries consist of mining and forestry. The two major clans of Pecháno, the Beneshchán in the west and the Rekhmél in the east have monopolies on both of these commodities. In addition to these two main industries there is also a relatively small, albeit well established, and high quality, arms and armour manufacturing trade. Located in Teshkóa some of the finest steel weapons and armour on Tékumel are produced in its narrow and winding streets.

Pecháni Merchant

            Pecháno, as with the other nations of the Five Empires, impose customs and tariffs on goods imported for sale. As soon as one crosses a border a horde of officious inspectors, guards, and scribes appears to demand their due. This procedure can be both costly and time consuming if the proper inducements are not tendered. Although the Pecháni are not as pedantic as the Tsolyáni nevertheless, duties must be paid unless one tries to enter Pecháno outside of the official border crossings. This is possible however, if caught one risks imprisonment, death, and losing all of one’s merchandise for trying to defraud the state. Officially, the Pecháni only collect tariffs (which consist of a percentage of the merchants purchase price for his cargo, as proved by his receipts and manifests) from Salarvyáni merchants, and charge an exorbitant 5-9%. Many revenue officers deliberately exaggerate the amount owed and pocket the difference. Other merchants are technically allowed to cross without restrictions, but reality is quite different, and bribes and unofficial tariffs are quite common.

Pecháni Tax Collector takes his due.

            Tax collectors are among the most venal people on the planet, and the officials of Pecháno are amongst the most oppressive; the naïve and illiterate are frequently hoodwinked into paying as much as five times the correct tax. All too many tax gatherers treat their assigned areas as fruitful farms, which can be joyously harvested over and over. It is hard to get one of these scoundrels removed; witnesses and evidence are needed, and a tax collector is invariably accompanied by an entourage of scribes, guards, assessors, etc., all of whom are in his pay. Occasionally a powerful clan or temple can have a particularly high-handed official transferred or arrested, but most average folk simply pay and remain silent. The government is satisfied as long as it receives its revenues and the economic base is not depressed to the point of ruination. The post of tax collector is therefore a much sought after, although it carries strongly negative social prestige. 

            Pecháno, like the other nations of the Five Empires, charges every resident, citizen and non-citizen alike, a percentage of his yearly gross income, and the temples, the clans, and private individuals commonly offer inducements for reduced assessments. The taxation rate in Pecháno is 1.5%, and 4% for any Salarvyáni. All income is susceptible to taxation, and includes: wages, business profits, interest, ‘inducements’, treasure finds, spoils of war, loans, gifts, and bequests –in short everything! Not surprisingly, much of the revenue of the state is derived from this simple form of income tax. Technically, non-monetary income –works of art, weapons, jewellery, magical devices, land etc., –is also liable to tax, no matter how acquired. The base used is the likely price were the item to be sold at once, and this amount is added to the individual’s gross income. This is usually imposed upon acquisitions worth over 1000 Nzúggesh, and most tax collectors accept a rough estimate rather go to the trouble of having things appraised. There is thus considerable room for bargaining.

            The Pecháni divide their currency like the Salarvyáni, in the following way: 1 Nzúggesh, which is the equivalent of 5 Tsolyáni Káitars as a comparison, is divided into 4 silver Nzái, and each Nzái contains 50 copper Vrél. Even though the Pecháni have and mint their own currency they will of course accept coins from other nations for a nominal fee or exchange rate, usually 3-4%. It should be noted that the Pecháni use the Salarvyáni names for their coins.



 

Pecháni Nzúggesh

Pecháni Nzái

Pecháni Vrél

Update

Ok, things are beginning to calm down in the "real world" and I'll be putting up some new stuff in the next couple of days. I just updated my post from July 23, 2016. For some reason I didn't include the section on Tomb Police in the initial posting and I have rectified that now.

 In the mean while, I have included a most curious image that was presented to the Chægósh. Recently an expedition returned from Ssuyál, and they brought back with them several functioning devices of the ancients, including one which was able produce an exact reproduction of what we normally would only see with our eyes. The image below is of warriors from the Nchésh of the Protectors of Life, and the Nchésh of the Dragon outside of the Royal Palace in Mechanéno. This device is currently being examined by the Lord Pogórto Nradésu, Patriarch of the Temple of Tsómeq, to determine what else it may be able to do. 

Pecháni Royal Guard.

The last few months have been quite hectic in the "real world" and what little free time I have has been mostly spent on prepping for my game. The campaign that I started in April has continued to gain momentum. We had a new player join the group recently and he has really gelled with the rest of the party. He has never gamed with our group and he brings an interesting approach to the table. As a result of this addition our sessions have been a lot more boisterous than usual and he really is a wild card as far as what his character's motivations are. All in all a great infusion into what was already a steady and creative group of players! 
I am still debating whether to keep this a purely Pecháni blog or make it a Tékumel blog. We'll see...
I recently found a blog, which has sadly become defunct, called The Shen Blog. http://theshenblog.blogspot.ca/
Created by one of MAR Barker's players, who also happened to be one the illustrators of Swords and Glory, this blog is hilarious. His game reports, which I believe are from one of Chirine ba Kal's old campaigns,  had me in stitches the first time I read them. Certainly worth a peak in my opinion. It really is a shame that he walked away from it.   

t

Medium Infantryman, Nchésh of the Ever-Present Power

                                                                                                   

Sákbe Road Guards

Sákbe Road Guards

Sákbe Road Guards are also part of the military, and in Pecháno they are also responsible for patrolling and guarding the borders, especially the Salarvyáni border. The borders with Ssuyál are guarded by the Pecháni army. Not surprisingly, the bulk of Pecháno’s army is in the north of the country locked in almost perpetual warfare with the Ssü. The exact number of troops is deployed on the northern marches is unknown, and kept secret by the Pecháni, but may be as high 20,000 men. The Sákbe Road Guards in Pecháno are extremely well trained and disciplined. Their overall commander has the rank of General (Pecháni: Sreddék), and unlike Police Commandants he answers only to the Assembly of Lords and the Chægósh. The Rekhmél and Beneshchán individually have no authority over him.

A typical Guard officer somewhere on the Salarvyáni border.

The Sákbe Road Guards are armed as Medium Infantry, although typically they tend to patrol without armour, carrying a spear, sword and shield normally only wearing armour when posted in more dangerous locations. Their armour tends to be golden in colour, either made of brass or painted Chlén hide, trimmed in a reddish brown, with a silver helmet, trimmed in gold for officers. Guardsmen wear rusty orange kilts with blue and white tassels, and with rank-and-file guardsmen and NCO's wearing a  dun coloured tunic under their armour whereas, officers wear a brown kilt, trimmed in blue and white tassels, and a brown tunic. NCO's are identified by their sword belts which will have their ranks painted on them: a blue half-circle edged in white denotes a commander of 10, an Olmég, while the same pattern but with the addition of a yellow circle with a black dot in the centre denotes a commander of 20, a Grumég.

  The Sákbe Road Guards normally employ plain, large, circular shields, painted a reddish-brown terracotta colour. Occasionally veteran troops will paint stylised geometric designs on the shields, but this atypical of the Guards as a whole.

A veteran Grumég  posted near Teshkóa.

Contingents of 20-40 men (1 to 2 Gruségh) traverse the major roadways, with intervals of 2 to 4 hours between patrols become typical around major urban centres like Mechanéno, Ogréjja, and Teshkóa, whereas more remote sections may see weekly patrols. Areas near the Salarvyáni or Ssuyál border can sometimes have hourly patrols, but this is not typical. The primary duties of the guards consist of garrisoning the watchtowers and roadside fortresses, keeping the peace along the highways and at way stations, and inspecting caravans for contraband. They will also ensure that all duties have been paid, and that smugglers are punished. 

Tomb Police

The Tomb Police in Pecháno are exclusively drawn from the guards of the Temple of Su’úrkha and those clans that worship him. In Mechanéno they are responsible for guarding the Royal Necropolis where the kings of Pecháno are buried, and the Hall of Bones, where the heroes of the realm are interred. They are typically liveried in browns, blacks and yellows, and are poorly equipped, usually having to employ cast off arms and armour from the Pecháni Army. Their duties during the day primarily consist of directing mourners and sightseers. At night they patrol the City of the Dead, tramping between monuments and pyramidal tombs in groups of 30, holding flaring torches aloft in order to keep away those who would despoil the dead.

The Temple of Su'úrkha in Ogréjja also has their own small, private detachment of Tomb Police that guard the tombs of the leading clans, but these are not as effective as their counter-parts in Mechanéno. In Teshkóa the tombs of the Rekhmél are guarded by one of their vassal clans (the Kháru) who worship Su’úrkha and Kazhérh.  

Relief from the Hall of Bones, Mechanéno showing tomb robbers being apprehended.

A quick post today.
I am getting around to posting some pics of my finished miniatures. Sorry for the poor quality pictures. The first one is a stock Ral Partha one, see my post from February 22, 2016, and the second one is a Nshe, and my first attempt at a sculpt. I am quite happy with how they both turned out.

Priest of Vihár

Nshé and Priest of
Vihár

Nshé

Police

Police in Pecháno

Pecháno has urban police forces, Sákbe Road guards, and tomb police. The police forces of larger towns and cities are considered to be part of the regular standing army: troopers who are organised, trained and armed like medium infantry. In the villages the constabulary consists only of a village headman plus a posse of bucolic deputies drafted into temporary service. His powers include keeping the peace, arresting malefactors, solving minor disputes (usually with the help of the clan elders), investigating local crimes, etc. He can only punish petty offences with a few days imprisonment in a storeroom, root cellar, or, if he is in a bad mood, the basement story of the village latrines. Those accused of more serious offences are held until a squad of police from the nearest town are sent out to collect the felon, or felons.

 

Pecháni policeman and two felons.

Detail from the Temple of Quóth in Ogréjja.

            The size of the police squad typically varies from town to town, or region. Those towns that are close to the borders usually have a larger constabulary than those located within the interior of the country. Towns on the border with Salarvyá can easily have 15 – 20 constables while those on, or near, the border with Ssuyál can have double that number whereas a town outside of Ogréjja would have, at the most, 5 policemen. Mechanéno has about 2500 full time constables on the books, with another 1000 reservists that can be called up in time of need. The actual number of on duty constables at any given time is probably closer to 800 - 1000, as many of these positions are patronage appointments where only a “pay cheque” is collected and no policing is done. The current Chægósh is said to be quite displeased with this situation and rumours of reform are being whispered by those close to the Royal Court. Ogréjja has approximately 200 constables, at most, with another 100 that can be drawn in from adjoining towns within the immediate vicinity; Teshkóa has a full time force of 500 men who are also responsible for patrolling those towns adjacent to Teshkóa, within a 50km radius. They also serve as guards at the Rekhmél’s iron mines. The Chief of Police in a Pecháni town or city is technically the highest ranking municipal official, and is supposed to be independent, answerable only to the Royal Court however, quite often military commanders are given overall command and the Police Chief is subordinate to the senior Sreddéq. 

            The Pecháni police tend to be quite efficient and professional, if somewhat overworked, and corruption is not as wide spread amongst its rank and file as it is in other nations. This is not to say that the policemen of Pecháno are ‘saints’, merely that they are less greedy than their opposites the Five Empires. The Beneshchán and Rekhmél are responsible for the upkeep of the police forces in their lands, although both clans are subsidised by the state. Curiously, the Lords of Ogréjja are not obligated to pay for policing and all funding comes directly from Mechanéno. 

Update

Well, I am still here but I have been just too busy with work to post anything new. I have some stuff I want to put up on the blog, and hopefully I'll be able to do it this week. The new game is going full speed, and although we are only playing once per month the party has made great progress. I may start posting some of the adventure logs here, but I think that I'll wait until we get a bit further in the campaign. Besides, I'm not sure whether to keep this blog purely Pecháni or add other stuff to it.In the mean time, here is a picture of the village of  Purrung’ashté located in North-Central Pecháno. It is said that the snow covered mountain the centre of the picture, Mount Harranndüllu holds a great city of the ancients within it. Whether this is a myth or a fact is unknown. One thing though that is certain, is that Ssü raiding parties often emerge from catacombs located  beneath it and lay waste to the surrounding countryside.

The Village of  Purrung’ashté

I was going through my old files the other day and I found this. I don't know who did the original, but if it's yours please let me know.


            

Shémek hiTankólel

Qímmu  1^st Kekkérja,

The Nchésh of the Splendid Slayers of Ssü.

Law and Punishments (Part 2)

Part IV.

Law, Police, Punishments, and the Arenas. (Continued)

Pecháni Magistrate issuing a verdict.

Carving on the walls of the House of Enlightened Justice,

Teshkóa.

        

             Civil courts deal with altercations between clans, temples, individuals, and other legal entities. Assault, robbery, rape, murder, kidnapping, brawling, and other crimes of violence fall into this category, as do suits involving breaches of contract (including marriage agreements), divorce, clan rights, disputes over land or water ownership or usage, embezzlement, fraud, imposture, inheritance, personal slander, and many other kinds of illegalities.

            Whenever a civil offence is committed the complainant has three means of redress: (1) he can demand Shámtla –“blood-money”-- from the offender; (2) he may take the case to a civil court, which holds a hearing and imposes a settlement and/or penalties; (3) he may resort to the ancient duelling code, “The Manifesto of Noble Deliverance”. If the matter is such that the complainant feels that he cannot gain satisfaction from any of the above mentioned methods, there is a fourth course open to him: the assassin clans. However, it should be noted that this truly is a final solution when all other courses have been exhausted or dismissed. Under Pecháni Law the assassin clans have the right to kill, commit violence, or destroy property – but only against private persons and clans, not against the state or its officials in their professional capacities. In Pecháno, inevitably, the first recourse is very often duelling. Shámtla is rarely paid out or, for that matter, sought after, and then it is usually only scribes, merchants, or foreigners that demand this type of settlement. Duels are very formalised events in Pecháno, and they are almost always to the death. There are even “facilitator clans” who are employed to arrange the type of duel, the location, and to ensure that the conditions are adhered to. Duels are often held in the Hirilákte Arenas which are present in the major urban centres of the nation, and can involve several combatants. One is reminded of the events in Teshkóa some years back (during the time of Tuhéshmu Rekhmél A.S. 1944).

Tuhéshmu Rekhmél

There was an altercation between the Thushchán and their rivals the Pahrnéb over logging rights in the Guringa Forest, situated in eastern Pecháno. This conflict festered until it ended up being so acrimonious that the clan elders arranged to gather all of their men and meet in the Hirilákte Arena in Teshkóa to settle the issue once and for all. Some 500 men appeared upon the duly arranged day and proceeded to slaughter each other with such zeal that the conflict spilled out of the arena and into the streets of Teshkóa. Numerous casualties resulted amongst the townsfolk, who were not party to the feud, and a good portion of the foreign quarter was set ablaze in the chaos. It was only the direct command of Tuhéshmu Rekhmél himself that ultimately stopped the fighting which raged for 7 hours. Even to this day these two clans still harbour animosity towards each other, and it takes very little to fan the flames.    

Social Institutions

Well its been some time since the last post. I have started a new game, and this initially took up much of my free time. However, I've gotten the story arc figured out and I can now go back the posting.

Part III

Social Institutions

            There are perhaps 50 clans in Pecháno. No one has ever done a census. The Beneshchán and Rekhmél lineages are the biggest and most powerful. Some are remote mountain clans, almost equivalent to “tribes”. A few are occupation-based: bakers, wine-makers, carters, smiths, butchers, arms and armour-makers, and the like. A couple are religious in nature: secretive and devoted to their deities. Pecháni don’t introduce their clan names with “hi”, as the Tsolyáni do. They put the personal name first, followed by the clan name. The Pecháni, like the Salarvyáni, stress hereditary family position, and noble titles, which are accompanied by both political power and wealth. An individual’s position depends upon his family and its standing in the ranked tiers of the society. Within Pecháni society the warrior lineages are considered the most prestigious. Slavery is present in Pecháno however, like the Salarvyáni, slaves are owned by individuals and not by the clan as a whole. Far more common are indentured servants and serfs who are still accountable under the law!

Pecháni Warriors sacking a Salarvyáni fortress.

Column Carving: Hall of Skulls, Mechanéno.

 Part IV

                

Law, Police, Punishments, and the Arenas

            The legal system of Pecháno is founded upon the principles laid down by the Priest Kings of Éngsvan hla Gánga. Theoretically, this should provide for a monolithic, nationwide hierarchy, which stretches, from the village headman all the way up to the highest courts in the land. There should be no local laws or ordinances: what is legal in Mechanéno should be legal in Teshkóa or Ogréjja. Reality is somewhat different, however. Like Salarvyá, Pecháno is a feudal monarchy, the Beneshchán, and Rekhmél are the absolute masters of their lands, and minor deviations of the state laws are not uncommon. The Pecháni legal system falls somewhere in between the centralised Tsolyáni one, and the decentralised Salarvyáni system. The authority of Mechanéno does manage to keep things consistent for the most part.

            There are two types of courts in Pecháno: Imperial, or Royal, and Civil. There are no ecclesiastical courts in Pecháno. Any disputes amongst the temples, or with the temples are settled in Civil Court.

            A Royal Court tries cases in which the state itself is the aggrieved party: treason, spying, speculation of state monies or property, dishonesty in a royal post, cowardice or disobedience by soldiers and a variety of other similar offences fall under its purview.

Part IV Continued next post... 

     Well, I've almost finished the first miniature, just need to paint the axe head and parts of the helmet. Should have it done in the next couple of days. I think that I'll do the second miniature as a follower of Karakán.

Here is the second part of my background on Pecháno. This time I’ll look at Pecháno’s political structure. Again, as I stated in Part I, much the following information was gleaned from Phil over in The Blue Room while it was still active, and private correspondences we exchanged. Speaking of which, I also plan on eventually posting what he had to say about the Three States of the Triangle.

Part II

Political Structure                                                                

Tapestry of the first Beneshchán,

surrounded by the Seven Deities of the Rising Peaks,

Hall of Bones –Mechanéno.

Pecháno is a feudal monarchy, which is ruled by a king, or to use the Pecháni title: Chægósh. The current Chægósh (c. 2367AS) is the senior oligarch of the old ruling clan of Mechanéno, the Beneshchán. The Chægósh is selected by his clan. The position is not exclusively hereditary to the Beneshchán, but it tends to become almost so by virtue of the fact that his lineage and his entourage make up the most powerful people in the land. Usually the Beneshchán have ruled, again by virtue of power and proximity to the ancient throne of Mechanéno. A few Rekhmél rulers are quoted in the histories, as are a sprinkling of members of other clans a long time ago. The Chægósh is not secluded, like the Tsolyáni Emperors, but goes forth with his heroes to hunt Ssü and lead heroic expeditions into old Ssuyál. The reigning Chægósh is a youngish man who calls himself just “Beneshchán,” as is the custom. If he ever had a personal name, it is never used. The king presides over the Assembly of High Lords in which the Beneshchán and their rivals, the Rekhmél of Teshkóa, predominate. Lands belonging to these two ruling houses are divided into smaller and smaller fiefs amongst descending tiers of vassals. The system is carried even further than it is in Salarvyá: every landowner, no matter how minor, is someone’s vassal, and if he sells (technically “enfeoffs”) a piece of land to another, he then becomes that person’s feudal overlord. Since no land is actually ever truly “sold,” a buyer becomes the “vassal” of the person from who he buys the land. Even the priests of the Seven Deities of the Rising Peaks are vassals because they own the land upon which their temples stand and must be responsible to some higher suzerain. The same is true of the professional clans, which own their shops and clan houses. Only those who are not landowners – i.e. clerks, employees, retainers, etc. –are not vassals and hence have fewer rights under the system.    

   

Some Miniatures

I recently “discovered” a great blog: “chirine’s workbench” http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.ca/ . Created by a member of MAR Barker’s “Thursday Night Group”, a founding member no less, it serves as a great forum where one can learn what it was like to adventure in Phil’s Tékumel. Not only are there many wonderful anecdotes, but Chirine is also a prolific miniature collector and painter. He has miniatures dating back to the mid ‘70s, many of which were used in the game and served to represent PC’s. Ever wonder what Dave Arneson’s Capt Harchar, or Sword-Swinger looked like? Well go to Chirine’s blog and find out!

Taking this trip back in time has inspired me to dust off some old miniatures (literally) and buy some new ones. My plan is to get a good solid core of the Shemek’s old unit, the Nchésh of the Splendid Slayers of Ssü, and hopefully get them on the table top soon. In the mean time I decided to do some individual minis which I plan on using in the game I recently started. 

I haven’t completely decided on a colour scheme, but this mini (an old Ral Partha Chaos Warrior I believe) screams Vimúhla to me so I think that it will have to have some orange on it. 

The second miniature which I believe is an ancient (pre 40k) Citadel: Warrior of Chaos and I believe that I may have used him as a proxy for Shemek back in the day. 

Any way, I will post updates on the WIP, and once I get my feet wet with these two I will start to repaint the original Shemek hiTankolel.