Up in Flames
The end of summer and the Fall of the Nymerans
Hey Mythopoeians!
Ray here, back with not a lot of writing progress over the last few months. Summers for the past few years have been my busy season, anchored by shows like San Diego Comic-Con, Gen Con, and my annual pilgrimage to Burning Man in Black Rock City.
This year, it felt like perhaps there were just one or two too many spinning plates. Too many trips, too many priorities, and not enough time to see to them all. Business and relationships took priority and unfortunately that meant creative work took more of a back seat. It’s been a pattern of my seasons for the last few years - I started this blog in January, usually when I have the most time to write - but I think the difference this year is at the end of it I’m just feeling burnt out rather than rejuvenated. Well, I was rather - it’s been a good few weeks and I feel myself hitting a rhythm again, just in time for the fall (haha, get it).
That said, I think I do need to take a step and reevaluate my bandwidth, what I truly want to accomplish, and what brings me joy.
For next year, I’ve already decided that we won’t be attending SDCC. Gen Con may be unavoidable, but saying no to back to back massive shows will hopefully help with the fatigue. I’m also trying to orient my role at Mythworks to three main things: creative work, project development, and new opportunities. Basically, that means working on my own stuff, working on others, and then looking for ways to make new stuff. We’ll see how it goes!
Creatively, I’ve been mostly focused lately on Starfall, a tabletop game I’ve been developing as my other main creative project this year besides Glow. It’s been a fun little spell project, and a few days ago Vince and I had the first official playtest. That left me so inspired I’ve been hammering away every day for the past few days.
I think I’m going to try and ride it out and drive towards an official alpha release of Starfall. Once that’s in place, I plan on going back to Glow. In the meantime, here’s another worldbuilding tidbit straight from the journal.
Glow: What are the Ascendancies?
The ascendancies are golden periods of Nymeran history, marked by incredible magical, cultural, and technological growth. Though Nym is old, its history has always been marked by periods of consolidation - “ascendancies” - and separation - “falls” - where the united country dissolves yet again into petty factions and bickering. Nymerands understand all of history and the natural order of the world in these terms - what ascends must inevitably fall. What is whole eventually fractures.
In total, there have been four recorded ascendancies, though some scholars argue that the Lightbringer brought about the fall of the first ascendancy, those from the sky above. The current age is thought of as the fifth fall, though the destruction that this most recent fall evoked has given it the nickname as “The Fall” (capitals and all).
Will Nym rise again? It always has in the past. Many from Aldai believe there is to be a Sixth Ascendancy, where perhaps the world will be restored yet again…
The Cortège
Oh! I almost forgot, but posting the picture of the Nymerans above reminded me of a show I attended recently!
The Cortège is described as “mythical pagaentry.” It’s a mix of mediums like dance, theater, puppetry, drones, electronic music - all in service of a mythological, archetypal narrative that definitely has shades of Glow - or at least I’ll be using it as inspiration (and already have)!
Funny story, I began receiving Instagram Ads for these mysterious show about two months ago, and instantly thought the aesthetic felt mystical and foreboding - just like Nym! I took a screenshot to use for our Glow mood board and pondered what this strange ad could be without giving it much of a second thought.
Fast forward a few weeks ago, and I’m reading a review of the show on the Los Angeles Times, still not putting two and two together. Then I get the ad again, and it clicks that it’s one and the same. And most likely I got the ads because I’ve been identified as a “burner” based on my friends on Instagram. That’s modern advertising for you!
Anyway, it’s an incredible show. Hard to categorize, timeless in nature. It’s pricey, but I think worth the ticket of admission. Check it out if you’re in the Los Angeles area - they just extended the show to October 18th, and hopefully will receive enough interest to go beyond that. If you’re reading this, thank you Eya for the wonderful birthday gift 😘
—
Until next time!
Ray