The world of Glasirra is a spur-of-the-moment creation that has in all honesty changed my life. Now that claim may seem incredibly bold and a little dramatic, but they are not without reason. I’ll take us back to the beginnings of the idea, a very silly one that somehow made everything else. I was sitting in a dorm alone when my mind thought to itself, “What if armadillos lived in cold climates?” Now you likely read that and think to yourself “How the hell did you take that and make a whole fantasy world?” It’s simple, I conjured that simple idea and followed it. What sort of world has giant armadillo creatures and a cold climate? Who lives there? All these questions followed and compounded themselves until I was overwhelmed with thoughts.

So to my computer I went, desperate to organize my thoughts. Now these thoughts did not become very organized very quickly but over time they aligned themselves in relative order. Now I had a place, and no story for it, damn it. So I set out to create a story, pulling from my religious childhood and favorite media I pieced together an intensely complicated plot. Next, I presented these ideas to my harshest critic, my older brother, an intensely pragmatic, detail-oriented, and skilled Dungeon Master. He pulled it apart, making note of the discrepancies and loose ends, not even trying to hide his true opinions of it. It felt awful, but I walked away with more ideas than ever and harsh but effective criticism.

Keeping the critiques in mind I typed away furiously, putting together a thousand-year lore to set up a campaign for actual DnD gameplay. Then the next great roadblock emerged, I had no one to play it with. I was severely lacking in the area of friends at the time, well I had a few, from high school mind you…in different states. So the prospects of presenting my labors to an audience that I knew was low. So, knowing very little about the people that I was approaching, except that they were in Fantasy Worldbuilding Class, I presented my little poorly written synopsis hoping I could entice some players. Catching the eye of three players I realized I needed to get my shit together. I finally had a real story on my hands, and people to experience it too! 

On a random Wednesday night, after painstakingly organizing a first session, Paley, Riley, and Kyhana wandered into an empty classroom where I poured my heart onto their laps, performing the inciting incident for them, desperately trying to get them to stay and care for the story I had for them. As I sat flushed after the game I checked in with them all, hoping they enjoyed it. They were all smiling, talking amongst themselves, wondering what would happen next, who was responsible, and eager to see where their characters were going. All the relief in the world crashed down on me, thank god they liked it. Then for the rest of the year, I chased that feeling, watching those three laughing and yelling at me and each other as they fought for their lives, found love, and reunited with lost ties. It’s been one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been a part of, they’ve ripped my story to shreds, trampled it a bit, and rebuilt it, but it’s all the better for it. Now, every Thursday as we settle down in an empty classroom pulling out dice, setting up a pile of snacks, and cracking open drinks I’m among some of the best friends I’ve ever had.

How exactly do I take something I adore and make it into something else? For this class, I had to transform it, which I was happy to do. I can’t get enough of the story, I made it according to my tastes after all. What better way to memorialize this ever-growing tale than to enshrine it on a website? Now I’m calling upon an audience that doesn’t quite exist, as the only people truly privy to the story are the four of us and my brother. I can relay all the information in the world in text, I have too much of it already, but being there? Playing and screaming as people roll the dice? Unfortunately, it is incredibly hard to communicate in words. The website wasn’t even the first idea, I started by imagining the campaign as an animated series, drawing on similar shows that were also adaptations of games. I found myself tired of drawing frames in a short time, and with a newfound admiration for animators, I put down my pen. I turned to a more classic narrative, writing up a first chapter, and digging through old notes to remember exactly how everything started. I reread short stories, trying to emulate the style, hoping that whatever I wrote didn’t immediately bore an audience. Then I recorded myself narrating the chapter, putting on my best savvy narrator voice. With that, I took a step back, examined what I could do in a semester's time, and realized that time does in fact play into all this. Slightly saddened at my limited options I racked my brain for a better option and remembered my imagined audience. I was creating everything under the assumption that there was a dedicated fanbase watching or reading, so why not play into it? 

Now we arrive at the website itself, an exploration of what a fan wants, what I can provide, and as I said, a memorial of the progress I’ve made alongside my friends. It takes what I love about the story and lays it out for a whole new set of eyes. Drink it in, just browse, or take some of it for all I care. The joy of it all is changing it, I’m not overly attached to the narrative remaining constant, the greatest joy of the project and the game is watching my friends ruin it. Offering up my hard work to ‘fans’ means I expect questions, critiques, and most of all reworkings of it. So I invite you all to take this as a work in progress, things are ever-changing in the real world and so are they in Glasirra.