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+ Wind in the Flowers: Re-inventing a Game
+
+
+ Art Notes
+
+*R. Sean Borgstrom*
+February 27, 2002
+
+James Wallis had promised a significant amount of cool art for the new
+edition, with well-respected artists from both inside and outside the
+gaming world. This meant working out what I actually wanted everything
+in the world to look like. I'm not a very visual person, and my
+imagination is mostly full of abstractions and words, so this was an
+interesting challenge.
+
+I'm not going to discuss the art itself, because, hm. Because it is
+wonderful and amazing and it makes me huddle over the pictures and say,
+"/This/ was drawn for /my/ book." But it's not /my/ work, and I don't
+think I can get 10-20 artists together to write a column for me. I just
+contributed the stuff below, so that's what I'll write about.
+
+Not all of my art notes actually reached the artists. James ultimately
+decided that 9,000 words of art suggestions might daze, restrict, or
+even offend some of the artists we had on board. So he trimmed them down
+somewhat. I'm going to discuss the original document, however, since it
+wound up establishing some subtle things about the setting that either
+worked back into the text of the book or influenced the canon for future
+supplements. I think that's a very interesting process, even when it
+didn't affect the art.
+
+One of the key design principles for *Nobilis* is empowerment. I do not
+mean that it's a high-powered setting. It is, but that's not the point.
+I mean that it's very much a game about allowing the player's picture of
+their character to drive that character's destiny.
+
+When applying this to the art notes, one of my primary concerns was a
+tendency in gaming art to depict females in submissive and exaggeratedly
+sexualized poses. Such images of women, when common in a book or game
+line, implicitly categorize female characters as weak or sexual, which
+is bloody rare in the *Nobilis* setting. This led to an immediate
+secondary concern: I didn't want men depicted in submissive or
+exaggeratedly sexualized poses, either. Any such image, basically,
+detracts from the overall thematic point of empowering both players and
+characters. This led to frequent comments of the sort "no breasts bigger
+than the woman's head", "no underdressed nymphlets if you can help it",
+"all nudity should be artistic and justifiable", and, most importantly,
+"The Nobilis, the main characters of the game, almost invariably give an
+impression of power and competence." I don't know just how many of these
+James relayed, but the art turned out well in this respect. Go us.
+
+Another fundamental idea in *Nobilis*---probably the most
+fundamental---is that of an animistic world. My personal motto for the
+game, not currently appearing in any ad copy, is "every concept has a
+human face." Cars have spirits. Storms have spirits. Even massive ideals
+like Time have spirits. You can interact with almost everything as a
+person.
+
+The principal characters of *Nobilis*, though born mortal, have a piece
+of the divine embedded in their soul. This is an elemental piece of
+reality---Fire, Maps, Automobiles, Trees, Waves, or somesuch thing. This
+is what makes them "Noble" or "of the Nobilis". As the centerpiece of
+the game, they needed both their animistic nature and their empowerment
+front and center in the art as well.
+
+Defining their basic appearance from here was pretty straightforward. As
+humans touched by the divine, they should never look ordinary. They
+could be rugged, handsome, or pretty. Some would be interestingly ugly.
+The rest, though plain, should be fascinating in some way unrelated to
+attractiveness, perhaps possessing a profoundly honest face, an
+inscrutably bland demeanor, or phenomenal grace in motion. Simply
+ordinary Nobles would undermine the idea that they represent natural
+forces, and it also suggests a more mundane environment than I wanted
+for the game.
+
+Most Nobles have an appearance reflecting their Estate---that elemental
+piece of reality I mentioned earlier. The Noble governing Shadows (the
+Power of Shadows) might have obscured features and elongated fingers.
+Static might crackle in the Power of Television's eyes. The Power of
+Mazes might lounge on an Escherian throne. A few pictures used
+distinctly supernatural elements for this. Most of the artists instead
+captured the elemental nature of the Nobilis through clothing, setting,
+and pose. Both worked awfully well.
+
+The art notes are the first place I established what the Nobilis
+actually wear. I'll be covering the topic in more depth in *A Society of
+Flowers*, an early supplement, but it boils down to three styles. Two
+reflect opposite ends of empowerment.
+
+First, the most important part of a Noble's duties is defending reality
+from a pretty vicious enemy. This leads to workmanlike, casual,
+loose-fitting, tough, and respectable clothes. They don't have to look
+hot, and they don't have to look professional, because they /don't have
+to care/ what people who look at them think.
+
+Second, there are occasions for regalia, a classic sign of power:
+gorgeous, amazing, ornate clothing, possibly including face-painting and
+equally impressive headwear. In addition, as animistic representatives
+of their Estate, some should be drawn with clothing that reflects it:
+the Power of Water might have flowing garments, and the Power of Time
+almost certainly has a conspicuous pocketwatch. Examples of all three
+styles appear in the book.
+
+Other creatures of note in the game include Imperators, creatures wholly
+divine. Where a Noble has a piece of reality in their soul, Imperators
+/are/ pieces of reality. One Imperator defines and embodies Words,
+Doorways, and Bronze; another Parasites, Passivity, Mistrust, and
+Growth. They are creatures of what the game calls /spiritus Dei/, the
+divine breath, the first and uncaused cause that makes other things to be.
+
+One of my mistakes here was defining the appearance of the Imperial
+"True Gods", the deities more of Earth's primordial soup than of
+humanity. The true gods exist in the setting to capture a certain
+element of inhumanity in the divine. Of the seven forms of Imperator
+discussed in *Nobilis*, four resemble humanity in general appearance.
+These are the Angels, the Fallen, the Magisters of the Light, and the
+Magisters of the Dark. The Aaron's Serpents, children of the Ash that
+holds worlds in its branches, are unsurprisingly, ophidian.
+
+I didn't want the divine to be /too/ anthropomorphic, however, so there
+are the Magisters of the Wild, capturing a certain essence of mental
+inhumanity, and the true gods, inhuman in all ways. I described them for
+the artists as glorious monsters, amorphous and nightmarish but not
+bestial. They are not icky, but rather majestically awful. They are
+horrid /things/, but they induce more awe than revulsion.
+
+No one drew one. Possibly James just left this bit out, but on
+reflection, /I/ wouldn't want to try and draw something from that
+description, even if I were a living god with the pencil and the pen.
+
+To close the column on a high note, I'll talk a little bit about
+locations. Although I didn't expect anyone to draw them for the main
+book, I wanted the art suggestions to stick around as a supplement
+bible, so I had to work out what Heaven, Hell, and the World Ash looked
+like. It's not that the characters regularly visit Heaven or Hell, but
+it's an established feature of the setting that the angels' work in
+Heaven constantly rains new glories down on every world. Conversely,
+corruption seeps ever upwards out of Hell. As for the World Ash, you
+pretty much need to climb it to get anywhere but Earth, so I do expect
+fairly regular visits. These are all important places.
+
+Thinking about how to describe them led me to a peculiar realization:
+Heaven and Hell are easily as fundamental as the angels. The World Ash
+is as real as the Serpents that are its children. One of the most
+important things to understand when drawing them is that they are more
+than places---they are things of /spiritus Dei/, and therefore concepts
+as well as places. Heaven is not beautiful; it is Beauty. Hell is not a
+place of suffering; it /is/ corruption and suffering. I am not entirely
+certain what the World Ash that spans between them is; I think it may be
+Life. That's perhaps the strongest case of art suggestions influencing
+my perspective on the written setting, and so I stop there.
+
+R. Sean
+
+
+ What do you think? <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88>
+
+Go to forum! <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88>
+ Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic
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+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88>
+
+ Topics Author Date Latest Reply
+ James and the Small Caps
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=81&t=81> (2) new Kibo
+08-20-2002 16:29 02-10-2003 01:23 new
+ Art <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=77&t=77> (1) new Lxndr
+04-26-2002 07:36 04-26-2002 07:36 new
+ The Original Nobilis Club
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=76&t=76> (3) new Bret Gillan
+04-17-2002 11:28 03-17-2003 17:48 new
+ Questions & Thoughts
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=64&t=64> (3) new Pyske
+03-20-2002 18:31 05-01-2003 13:03 new
+ Noble Buddhism?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=61&t=61> (9) new Tlaloc
+03-20-2002 12:17 12-10-2004 01:20 new
+ Noble Suicide <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=58&t=58> (9) new
+Eric Christian Berg 03-20-2002 07:43 01-18-2005 16:27 new
+ Art Notes <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=54&t=54> (4) new R.
+Sean Borgstrom 03-14-2002 16:31 03-21-2002 03:44 new
+ Ack...you just lost my sale
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=45&t=45> (10) new SteveD
+03-14-2002 04:06 03-15-2002 06:29 new
+ Onomastikon working URL
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=36&t=36> (4) new Jorge
+Hernández 03-06-2002 12:51 08-20-2002 16:10 new
+ Why do angels change names ?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=33&t=33> (10) new philippe
+tromeur 03-06-2002 10:13 12-10-2004 01:34 new
+ R. Sean, some examples?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=32&t=32> (3) new Arref
+03-05-2002 08:17 03-13-2002 20:28 new
+ Sounds great, BUT...
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=28&t=28> (2) new Kane
+02-27-2002 16:43 02-27-2002 17:30 new
+ Sort of backwards?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=21&t=21> (8) new Eric Finley
+02-20-2002 14:25 02-28-2002 09:35 new
+ Programmer nature slips out!
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=20&t=20> (2) new Sean
+McCarthy 02-20-2002 13:18 02-21-2002 10:30 new
+ Object Lesson Damage
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=15&t=15> (1) new Darren
+Miguez 02-13-2002 12:45 02-13-2002 12:45 new
+ How about this?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=12&t=12> (2) new Kristian
+Lund 02-13-2002 11:30 02-14-2002 01:17 new
+ Now, this was strange!
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=9&t=9> (7) new access.denied
+02-13-2002 07:44 02-16-2002 21:44 new
+ Briefs on the other two?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=5&t=5> (5) new Eric Finley
+01-31-2002 18:39 02-13-2002 10:36 new
+ Forum now works <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=4&t=4> (1) new
+Sandy Antunes 01-31-2002 17:36 01-31-2002 17:36 new
+ limited series <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=1&t=1> (2) new
+Sandy Antunes 01-21-2002 17:41 01-31-2002 17:36 new
+
+ Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88>
+
+ Newer Messages
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=81&a=1&> | Older Messages
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=1&a=2&>
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ * Editing, Development, and Production
+ </news+reviews/columns/wind27mar02.html>
+ March 27, 2002
+ * Affiliations </news+reviews/columns/wind20mar02.html>
+ March 20, 2002
+ * How to be a Hollyhock God </news+reviews/columns/wind13mar02.html>
+ March 13, 2002
+ * Naming Conventions </news+reviews/columns/wind06mar02.html>
+ March 6, 2002
+ * Art Notes </news+reviews/columns/wind27feb02.html>
+ February 27, 2002
+ * Dynamic Nobilis </news+reviews/columns/wind20feb02.html>
+ February 20, 2002
+ * Systems Change </news+reviews/columns/wind13feb02.html>
+ February 13, 2002
+ * Treachery </news+reviews/columns/wind06feb02.html>
+ February 6, 2002
+ * The Emperor to Come </news+reviews/columns/wind31jan02.html>
+ January 31, 2002
+ * The Changing of the Guard </news+reviews/columns/wind21jan02.html>
+ January 21, 2002
+
+
+ Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet
+
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