Sneak peek: The Face of Song
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Jul 23, 2024 at 04:16:28 PM
I am back from vacation! It was delightfully relaxing, despite various things going wrong during the actual travel stages (canceled flights, lost luggage, etc). It seems fitting, then, that the card I was planning on sharing with you all today is the one that represents love and peace.
We had some interesting challenges with this one! I had, in my initial writeup -- and in my ignorance of art -- described it as "a feathered face with birdlike eyes." Avery did her best in the sketch set, but as you can see, leaning too much into those descriptors turns out to produce some . . . interesting results:
Fortunately, after we talked it over, we managed to arrive at a look that achieves the right feel, without being quite so odd or creepy:
The bells were Avery's suggestion, to give another sense of "song" to go along with the "birdsong" principle I had started with. I like how they break up the overall look -- and now I want to do things with bells in Vraszenian culture! Which is exactly the kind of feedback cycle I'm enjoying with this project, seeing how what our artists create influences my view of the world of the deck.
--Marie
Sneak peek: Hundred Lanterns Rise
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 08:08:44 PM
There's been an interesting feedback loop between the pattern deck and the world it exists in. Many of the cards are named for things we know are important in the setting . . . but sometimes it goes the other way: we named a card with a phrase we liked, and someday we'll figure out how to work it into Vraszenian culture.
As you might guess, that's the case with the card we're previewing today! Alyc and I both really love the tradition and imagery of East Asian paper lanterns and floating them into the sky, and that felt like a really good match for the card of release. The phrase "Hundred Lanterns Rise" sounded nice, so we went with it -- but what exactly does that refer to? Some festival, probably; when and what it's for, we have no idea. Someday we'll work it into a story . . .
. . . because that's just lovely, innit? It'll be particularly gorgeous once it's colored, with the flames warming the lanterns from within.
As a reminder, I'm going on vacation, so there will be no update two weeks from now! I will be back as usual in a month.
--Marie
Maps for sale! Also other things!
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Jun 11, 2024 at 09:24:32 PM
Maps!
Some ages ago, Alyc and I bought prints of the map of Nadežra (as depicted in The Mask of Mirrors) from the artist, Tim Paul, so that we could frame them and hang them on our own walls. But we had the clever idea of buying more prints at the same time, so we could use them for promotional purposes . . .
. . . and then, uh, we completely forgot about them.
Courtesy of a fan on our Discord, however, we were recently reminded! We only have a small number of prints, but we've decided to offer them up to you, our loyal Kickstarter backers, in case anybody would like to take one off our hands. They come in two sizes, small (13"x16" / ~33 cm x 41 cm) and medium (17"x21" / ~43 cm x ~53 cm), and at this point we have one of each available; the small will run you $30 and the medium is $40, plus whatever shipping may come to. (Fair warning to anybody not in the U.S. that shipping will cost an arm and a leg: there's really no getting around that anymore, unfortunately.)
Anyway, because we have so few, I'm not going to go to the effort of adding these to our BackerKit store; instead just contact me, and it'll be first come, first served. Let me know if you'd like us to sign the map before we mail it!
Books!
We recently got yet MORE author copies dropped on us, and they're starting to take up an unconscionable amount of space in my house. So if you missed out on picking up signed copies during the campaign and want to nab some now, again, contact me! $25 plus shipping, and I will be grateful to you for reducing the overstock.
Reminder: Quotes!
Since it's been a while, here's a reminder that we're on the hunt for quotes! Our intent is to include suitable epigraphs from the novels and short stories in the guidebook for the pattern deck, so if you can think of anything that seems to fit a certain card, just fill out this form!
Coming up: Temporary radio silence!
And just to let you all know, although there will be a regularly scheduled update in two weeks, after that I will go dark for a little while. I'll be spending about two and a half weeks in July on Actual Vacation, during which time I intend to do absolutely no work whatsoever if I possibly can -- and that includes writing Kickstarter updates. I should only miss one, though (jet lag willing), and after that we'll be back on schedule.
Until next time!
--Marie
Sneak peek: The Face of Seeds!
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, May 28, 2024 at 02:22:39 PM
Another update, another card! If we'd been approaching these in a more systematic order, I might have tried to start with previewing The Face of Seeds, since it is, after all, the card of beginnings. But we're going in more or less random order, with Avery tackling them as the inspiration strikes (and me sharing them as whimsy takes me), so the beginning winds up in the middle.
Here's the six sketches Avery sent us:
I haven't been sharing the notes Avery includes with the sets; maybe I'll do some examples in a later update, since it's very interesting to hear her thinking behind each one. In the case of the lower left, for example, she was playing around with the idea of river grasses and water weeds, in keeping with the central role the River Dežera plays in Vraszenian culture.
We're likely to wind up with a hybrid of #1 and #6; Alyc and I love the sproutiness of the hair on #1, so it's just a question of how much we keep the kind of young/old vibe of the face in #1 versus the more wild energy #6. Sometimes it can be hard to choose, because we love more than one option!
--Marie
Sneak peek: One Poppy Weeps!
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, May 14, 2024 at 06:48:18 PM
One Poppy Weeps, the card of pain, isn't exactly a cheerful one to think about. Like all the cards in the pattern deck, though, it has both its positive and negative sides; after all, sometimes pain now is necessary to avoid more pain later, or it's a warning not to do something that might be dangerous for you.
Apart from what's implied by the card's name, we didn't have a lot to give A.C. in terms of direction for this one; it was an open field for them to decide what they wanted to do with it. Here's what we have for the pencil sketch:
Yowch. Also, poppies don't work that way? I doubt you could stab the stem of one through a person's hand like that. <lol> But who cares: this is a very strong image, one where you will instantly remember the card's basic significance the moment you see it. When Alyc and I saw it, our reaction was basically, "fantastic, no notes."
Well, one note, which is that Alyc was very impressed by A.C.'s ability to do such good hands. Even someone like me, who basically doesn't draw at all, knows that hands are proverbially a pain to draw well, to the point that many artists favor compositions that don't require them to show hands in detail . . .
I can't wait to see this one painted, in all its vivid colors!
--Marie
