Gaming on Tékumel

Clans & Personalities

Tanmrúktu the Astronomer

by Jack Bramah

The stats given are a mix of an early version of the Tirikelu rules for character generation and combat with the Swords & Glory Magic System

Tanmrúktu is of somewhat indeterminate age: appearing to be in his late 50s/early 60s. He dresses in a fairly austere way, without showing any particular religious affiliations. He lives in a tower on one of the hills of Pála Jakálla. He lives alone, though he sometimes engages servants for short periods, though none of them last long. He is well-known in Pála Jakálla society, and will occasionally be found at social events.

Tanmrúktu is not a Tsolyáni native, although he has been in Tsolyánu so long that nobody alive can remember exactly where he came from originally.

In truth he is originally from the Secret City of Dlásh in Livyánu. He was declared a heretic by his fellow priests, and he managed to escape north to Mu’ugalavyá. He was not welcome there either, so he moved on to Tsolyánu, which was at the time under the rule of the vapid and uninterested Neshkirúma the Cloud-Spinner. He failed to notice the arrival of the heretic in 1960.

In Livyánu Tanmrúktu had reached the 16th Circle in the hierarchy of the Temple of the One of Fears. His heresy involved the closer linking of the Demon-Lords to the Shadow Gods, inferring that the Shadow Gods are merely more powerful versions of creatures such as Lord Órigob. To the average Tsolyáni priest, of course, this is merely common sense.

In his 400 years in the Empire, Tanmrúktu ha devoted himself to the study of all the demons. He is possibly the foremost expert on the truth about all the demons. He has about 27 levels in both Demon Lore, and Practical Demonology. As well as his preeminence in the field of demonolgy he is quite well versed in various other sciences: Mathematics; Medicine; Astronomy; Astrology; Geography.

He also has 25 levels of Sorcerer, although his spells are limited to those he had already learned before fleeing Dlásh and some “specials” of his devising. They are as follows:

Amethyst Expurgation (against all demons) ... All Levels
Demonology ... All Levels
Eater of Souls ... All Levels
Ascertainment ... All U Levels
Transportation
Elicitation ... All U levels
Visitation of Other Planes ... All Levels
Clairvoyance/Clairaudience ... All levels

He has the following unique spells:

Amorphic Blast T3, T5, T7. This is a missile variant of the Amorphia spell, affecting 1, 1-3 and 1-5 targets respectively. Range 45m. Roll for hit locations for Punition. Target gets an MRF save, although this affected by range: 0-15m +2 to throw; 16-30m +0, 31-45m -2. If a head or body area is indicated the target dies instantly; on a leg or arm hit the limb in question is consumed by the roiling chaos. If the target saves, the blast will still continue, and may affect another target (as per Missile miss), but anybody struck will have an additional -2 on the MRF throw for each person that has already saved against the spell.

Agonizing Doom T1, T3, T5. Targets as for the three versions of Amorphic Blast. Damage inflicted is 4D6, 4D6 and 6D6. MRF save results in no damage.

Demonic Metamorphosis T7 T10. This spell allows the caster to take on the attributes of one of the minor demon races as described under the Demonolgy spell. Duration 5T. PT:3CR. The difference between the versions is that at T7 the demon changed into will be random. At T10 the caster can select shich one he wants to be. Prq: All levels of Demonology. The caster retains his MRF and spell points, and his Melee value if greater than that of the demon.

Planar Sight T8 T9. This allows the caster to see simultaneously into any other plane which is accessible via nexus points within a 500mc. D: 3T. Prq: all levels of Clairvoyance/Clairaudience and Visitations of Other Planes. With the T8 version, vision in the plane occupied by the caster is blotted out, but with T9, the caster retains his visual awareness of his surroundings. The spell only allows vision, there are no other sensory inputs, though it is quite likely that Tanmrúktu is working on these. One corollary of this spell is that other spells can be cast into the other planes being viewed. To do this successfully the caster must make a Difficult Sorcerer Skill check to select the right plane. The viewer can also be affected by spells cast from the planes being viewed (+5 MRF)

Stats STR 16
STA 18
DEX 17
INT 16
REAS 23
PsAb 21
PsRes 39
COM 11
SIZ 12 (Ht 12, Bld 6)
BMel 15
BMiss 8
Evade 11
HP 14 [3/5/8]
D.Bonus +1
Spell Pts 600
MRF +45
Skills
Sorcerer 25
Demonology 26
Demon Lore 28
Astrology 20
Hu’ón 8
Historian 10
Priest 16
Apothecary 15
Astronomer/Navigator 17
Etiquette 12
Geographer 12
Mathematician 12
Philosopher 12
Physician 8
Art Connoisseur 10
Wine Connoisseur 12

Languages (modern)
Tsolyáni (Native); Livyáni (Native (but slightly archaic); Mu’ugalavyáni (Intermediate); Salarvyáni (Advanced), Tsoleíni (Intermediate); Pe’é (Intermediate)

Languages (ancient)
Duruób (Near Native); Llyáni (Advanced); Ensvanyáli (Advanced); Sunúz (Intermediate); Thu’úsa (Advanced); Bednálljan (Advanced).

At the moment the popular belief is that Tanmrúktu is a renegade priest from the Nyémesel Isles. This belief will probably persist for a few months until somebody comes up with a new theory.

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