Kumal is a uchronic city-state of strategic weight in the geography of the New World: a moneyless commune whose relojito (“little clock”) lets its people travel to other times and places. It defines itself as “what the freedom of men means”.
| Type | Place (uchronic city, commune) |
| Spanish entry | Kumal |
Description
Its existence must be confirmed before setting out: “they say Kumal still exists”. Four structures make it up:
- Amphitheater, at the center, where the community deliberates and seals pacts (“they made this alliance in the amphitheater”).
- Tavern, beside it, for gathering and socializing.
- Market, on the edge: the contact point with outsiders, “the place where we feel some kind of darkness can sometimes seep in”.
- Statue or monolith that “appears at dusk”.
Kumal is unique; there is no second Kumal or network of them.
The relojito
“In Kumal we simply set the little clock to where we want to go.” A jump of three years back is recorded: “we can go three years into the past to use the revolution”.
Economy
There is no money; goods are exchanged “according to need”, in reciprocity. The market was created for travelers from afar who “did not understand the technique of exchange according to need”, and regulates dealings with strangers.
Oracles
Kumal has oracles. Two prophecies are recorded:
- Reunion: “the fingers came together again in the hand”.
- Betrayal: «por mirar en la espalda que no te apuñales, ten cuidado de no recibir el dagazo en el pecho» (“watching your back so you are not stabbed, beware of taking the dagger in the chest”).
Role
Kumal was one of the few places that sheltered the people of Crimea during the crisis. A mandate calls for “Kumal to be a chronal lighthouse for all these oppressed workers”, a beacon for anyone who would be free of any tyrant. The period is recorded as “Kumal and the Commune”.
Conflicting accounts
- Kumal appears as a refuge that shelters others, and also as one pleading for shelter itself: “hide me, Kumal, please”.
Open questions
- Its location, region and neighbors are not recorded, nor the size, material or condition of its structures.
- Who governs it, who speaks in the amphitheater, and with whom the alliance was sealed.
- Who operates the relojito, and its limits and cost; who the oracles are.
- What crisis Kumal asks to be hidden from, and whether it is the darkness that seeps through the market.
- What Kumal lacks to become the chronal lighthouse.