Ian,
Interesting questions! I'd strongly suggest you head over to
innercircle, a Yahoo group, that's where all the big HowardHeads reside,
and if there is a real answer, they will know it.
Good luck with the new games.
Paul Herman
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Sturrock [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, October 07, 2003 12:01 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [rehfans] Introduction, and Khemsa
Greetings all,
I've made the odd post to the list already, but thought it polite to
introduce myself.
I'm Ian Sturrock, writer of the upcoming licensed Conan role-playing
game from Mongoose Publishing. Although there have been several other
Conan RPGs before, I regard this as the first "Robert E. Howard's Conan
RPG." That is, in writing it I referenced the original Howard works,
rather than the 'edited' versions or the Conantics. This, I feel, has
produced a far stronger game than would have been the case had we
allowed the various dilutions and downright errors brought in by the
pastiches.
Anyway, quick query for the group: what nationality do you think Khemsa
is, in The People of the Black Circle? Howard doesn't specify; all we
really know is that he wears a green turban and a brown camelskin robe,
and is dark-skinned. He doesn't seem to be a Himelian tribesman, and
nor does the Master of Yimsha. As I see it, they could both represent
remnants of some other culture that inhabits the Himelians; or they
could be from anywhere east of Vilayet, with adepts and sorcerers
wandering from miles around to join the Black Circle. Right now, I'm
guessing the latter, with Khemsa, the Master and the various acolytes
being Vendhyan, Hyrkanian, or Kosalan, probably mostly Vendhyan; none of
them are described in a way that might make them Khitan, though the
acolytes are not really described at all and so might well be from all
around.
--
"Every winner is a villain, every loser is a hero. Just put on your two
step
shoes and lose the blues. . . and dance like it's year zero. . ."
(Alabama 3)
