Nepenthe of Imperian

It’s been stated that the effort spent playing the IRE MUD Imperian, has deterred possibilities of lifelong opportunities. I'd agree that the depth of the accusation has a vague sense of truth to it, but counter with the argument that impacts in my life derived from the game thus far were worth taking the journey traveled through the building of Imperian’s history. It is a series of in-game experiences created from make-believe characters who ultimately inspired my creativity, writing style and real-life adventures.

“Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem,” said Psychologist Rollo May (1909-1994). I consider Imperian a vessel of positive influence towards my creativity; ideas from the text writing of the game have been molded into the visual forms of my watercolor paintings, pencil drawings and pen sketches. Some of the artwork has been sold, some given to friends that request them and the remaining articles shuffled into my ever-growing collection.

‘Rolling up a character’, design of personality, writing character history and fashioning in-character relationships through the art of writing has been a hobby of mine since I was young and writing books of childhood ideas. Only this particular MUD has brilliantly refined the offer of and a sense of simplicity when developing those characteristics as a novice. Honestly, I believe such an easy novice design makes it faster to develop roleplay, player-killing and the pivot-points of existence in a character’s life that should make up the majority of a player’s time while ‘MUDding’. Because of this initial setup, I was encouraged to freely write in a multitude of perspectives - whether as a Lamira leader of her people, a blind novice prophetess of Antioch or another of my many characters . Others who enjoy the opportunity of writing in a refined, composed manner are offered the chance to contribute with the building of certain in-game items, ‘rooms’ and even realm history like I have been. How many online games let the players assist in building up the game like this one? Too few, sadly.

At bedtime, I recite stories to my two-year-old son, Napoleon. He likes to hear stories of gleaming knights in epic battle against dark Stavennites, about Lycaean spirit-storytellers of Nature and Lamira stories of their Divine. If not for him, I realize, the inner spirit of a child wouldn’t have been so clearly awakened in me as he and I live the joys or hardships in our daily lives. If not for Imperian, I wouldn’t have had choices to walk the path leading up to some of the greatest adventures in my life, met the new friends I will cherish always or the imaginative man who became his father. I do not give an online game credit for the creation of my handsome son in real life, however, will give Imperian favoritism for the in-game adventures I convert into tales and, (with different voices for each of the characters), use to spark imagination and dreaming into Napoleon’s open, growing mind.

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” Journalist Gloria Steinem (1934-Present) Pride swells within the heart and soul when a man, woman or child feels accomplished in the evolving growth of a time-consuming or a spur of the moment artistic creation, whether of paintbrush, pencil or pen. This particular IRE MUD has given me the channels of pride within my artwork, and continues to inspire the ‘dreaming’ that is inevitably part of creativity. There is opportunity when playing this game over others that sparks a greater imagination, the ignition of new, broader ideas into the world of dreaming and advancement into the ways that ’Novice’ or ’Transcendent’ writers can indulge. Adventures, epic or no, truly blossom in game and out of the game when I play Imperian; truly when it’s said ‘Strength through words, power through seduction, and diplomacy at the tip of a sword’, can I believe the same continuous opportunity I found yesterday can be found there again both today and tomorrow.