The Hall of Blue Illumination

19/11/2025

Time for an update on The Egg of the World: my editor and I have been finishing the latest round of edits before declaring victory over texts. I have six short fiction vignettes to write, and some updates to the “advice for referees” at the end of Chapters 4-8. Then I am done writing!
With editing nearly complete, it is on to art direction – half-page illustrations for the beginning of all eight chapters, three adventures, and the Jakálla Underworld Level Zero section, and lots of smaller illustrations, and the full-color cover. (Of course, this will change as we get into the thick of it.)
My graphic designer has started on layout prototypes, which is really quite exciting. I’ve included an excerpts from those mockups to give you a very early sense of what the interior text might look like. (Again, I expect this to change as things move along.)
I will provide another update right around the Winter holidays. Thanks for reading!

05/11/2025

The Tekumel Foundation will be at PAGE 3 in Philadelphia, January 15-18, 2026!

Send a message to learn more

24/10/2025

Gamehole Con 2025 was a success! The Tekumel Foundation had a booth in the Exhibitors Hall, and there were several Tekumel events over the course of the convention. Rob Smith and Scott McKinlay ran Legions of Tekumel, while I ran two Empire of the Petal Throne adventures. James Maliszewski returned - we had copies of The Excellent Traveling Volume for sale! Catie Pfeifer and Fiona ably helped at the booth, and lots of people stopped by to get current Tekumel products, including Ed Greenwood, Derek W. White, Chuck Gannon, Jon Peterson, and many others. It was an excellent convention, with thanks to Alex Kammer and the rest of the GHC team!

21/10/2025

I'm going to have an update from Arnecon and Gamehole Con by tomorrow. Short form: both conventions were highly successful.

08/10/2025

Gamehole Con 2025 Tékumel Schedule (October 16-19, Madison WI, www.gameholecon.com)

Legions of Tekumel: Battle on Atkolel Heights (5 hrs) Thu 5:00 PM CST, Tekumel Foundation featuring Robert Smith with Scott McKinlay The armies of the mighty empires of Tsolyanu and Yan Kor meet in the rough and mountainous border lands to settle their differences. Command the armies of the Seal Emperor of Tsolyanu or of the Baron Ald of Yan Kor to win glory for yourself, your legion, and your clan! 28mm miniatures.

Legions of Tekumel: Battle in the Chakas (5 hrs) Fri 9:00 AM CST, Tekumel Foundation featuring Robert Smith with Scott McKinlay The armies of the mighty empires of Tsolyanu and Mu'ugalavya meet in the forested border lands to settle their differences. Command the armies of the Seal Emperor or of the Four Palaces to win glory for yourself, your legion, and your clan! 28mm miniatures.

Legions of Tekumel: The Enemies of Man! (5 hrs) Sat 1:00 PM CST Tekumel Foundation featuring Robert Smith with Scott McKinlay Hordes of Ssu, the original inhabitants of Tekumel, are pouring forth to reclaim their lands, and this time they have allies! Command the armies of the human coalition to hold back the invading masses. Or direct your inhuman warriors to finally throw off human domination. 28mm miniatures.

Tekumel: Avanthe's Blasted Shrine (4 hrs) Thu 12:00 PM CST Matthew Rose You are all members of the temple of Avanthe in Tumissa. Recently a shrine in a small city outside of Tumissa has been desecrated. You have been charged with finding the interlopers and bringing them to Tumissa for questioning. The system being used is Empire of the Petal Throne.

The Mysterious Shrine (4 hrs) Fri 2:00 PM CST The Tekumel Foundation featuring Victor Raymond Deep beneath the city of Jakalla lies an ancient shrine, now completely in ruins. But a priest of the gods of Stability has hired you to help him unearth the shrine and discover its secrets. Rumors abound of fearsome guardians and other creatures which have crept into the dark passages of the shrine. Can you confront these terrors and survive?
The Court of Darkness (4 hrs) Sat 9:00 AM CST The Tekumel Foundation featuring Victor Raymond Your last expedition into the Underworld was a disaster. Half of your party was killed, including the leader, in a confrontation with the undead. You were forced to flee, leaving the bodies and hoping that you were not traced back to the surface. You have a chance to rescue their bodies, if you can only disrupt the plans of the Temple of Durritlamish. Can you confront this danger and survive?

04/10/2025

We are less than a week away from Arnecon, and less than two weeks from Gamehole Con. The Tekumel Foundation and Great Hall Games will be in the dealers room at both conventions, as well as running events!

12/09/2025

People might want to know about this:

The legacy of Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barker illustrates how fantasy, escapism, or games can be as much reactionary as progressive.

30/08/2025

Coming just six weeks from now; Arnecon 3 - Tekumel Events! I will be there running Empire of the Petal Throne, and there will be other Tekumel events!

Arnecon™ is a gaming convention honoring the creative genius of Dave Arneson and his game group, The Blackmoor Bunch. It is a panoply of game experiences - featuring miniatures war-games, board games, and role playing games. Come game with the people who were there when Role Playing was invented. ...

27/06/2025

It’s another post on the Sandbox of Doom! This time: how do you get into the Jakallan Underworld?

https://www.sandboxofdoom.com/2025/06/26/tekumel-thursday-how-do-you-get-into-the-underworld/

12/06/2025

A North Texas RPG Con report, in a new post on The Sandbox of Doom: https://www.sandboxofdoom.com/2025/06/12/tekumel-thursday-ntrpg-con-2025/

Miniatures battles, tabletop roleplaying, and lots of stuff for sale. Really looking forward to next year!

11/06/2025

A new post on The Sandbox of Doom: https://www.sandboxofdoom.com/2025/06/06/tekumel-thursday-the-rest-of-the-city/
The rest of the city of Jakalla - including where to find the Grand Bazaar!