Breaking News from Tékumel

Visitors from the Outer Planes have been whispering in my ear recently about a mother lode of Tékumel material about to pass into the public eye.

And sweet slithern' Sarku, here is the official announcement. Early this morning I received the following press release from Victor Raymond of the Tekumel Foundation. A heap of kudos are owed to the Professor for this move, a quantum leap forward for the effort to preserve this vital piece of our hobby.

I will have some extended commentary later this day coming your way about the materials and significance of this find. For now enjoy the breaking news and a few of the photos of the many, many artifacts in the collection.

From the PR:

The Tékumel Foundation is proud to announce that on Saturday, June 11th, 2011 Professor Barker's  Tékumel materials and wargaming supplies were moved from his home to secure, climate-controlled storage. This project was long and carefully planned and carried out with the blessing and encouragement of Professor Barker and his wife Ambereen and the assistance of dedicated volunteers, some of whom flew in from out of state.

The Tékumel Foundation is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Professor M.A.R. Barker and building an archive of Tékumel memorabilia and documents. Foundation members assisted by Lady Anka’a and various Tékumel fans cataloged, photographed, carefully boxed and transported these materials to a secure climate-controlled storage area in less than 10 hours. Items secured include Professor Barker’s globe of Tékumel, the scale model Temple of Vimúhla first displayed at GenCon IX in 1976, private maps, papers and other interesting and diverse items including unpublished material – exactly how much or what is still to be determined.

There is still much work to be done. Paper items need to be digitally scanned to secure storage; items may need to be repaired and/or restored. Items not directly connected to Tékumel must be organized, including wargaming materials, fanzines of the 1950’s, and games that at various times had been sent to Professor Barker for review. Fortunately, the Tékumel Foundation has people with the necessary skills to assist with this enormous project. It is hoped Professor Barker’s papers will yield new material for Tékumel, and we are optimistic that there is “good new stuff” to be published.  

Hex map of the never publicly-released Southern Continent.

Globe of the Eastern half of the known part of the planet.

The Western half

The aforementioned Temple of Vimuhla model from Gen Con.

More of that