Seasons of Narrative

 I helped found a ferret rescue group a few years ago, and recent chats about that group and the way it has developed over the years have fed my thought patterns regarding the rise and fall of organisations and how this can fit into different types of storytelling. Other things that have been building up the structure of those thoughts are a binge watch of the current three seasons of the "Foundation" TV series, my regular readings of the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", the recent electoral landslide against the conservative party in Australia (also see here), an outsiders perspective of what is happening in the USA at the moment (here, here and here)... the Portland frog might have something to do with it too.

(I know that with the ever changing political landscape and the constant rotations of the news cycle, a lot of these links may no longer be valid in a few weeks/months/years, but that's happened many times over the years here at the blog when I've tried to get topical).

To try and put it simply, there are often patterns in the world...cycles of growth and stabilisation. Things can't move or grow if there is too much stablitity, and stasis (or even stagnation) takes over. Conversely, while things are regularly moving and growing, the amount of stability reduces. It could be looked at like a pendulum swinging between extremes of ultimate movement and ultimate stasis, but there are some interesting things that happen not only at the ends of the swing, but also on the paths from one side to the other.

 

One of the best games I've seen to model this sort of thing is "Ars Magica" (I know that I've talked about this a few times over the years). It basically divides the narrative of an organisation into seasons.

Spring - This is when an organisation is founded and starts taking it's first steps to establish itself in the world. It is generally the point of the highest change and growth, where the organisation struggles to find its place in the world and gain relevance.

Summer - This is when the organisation has been established, and starts to get noticed by the other groups in the world. It is the point where the organisation is most seeking stability and trying lock it's place into the world against other groups that are seeing it as a threat to their power.   

Autumn - This is when the cracks in the organisation start to form. Outside threats are no longer seen as the primary concern, and factionalism is starting to threaten it from within. The organisation has probably moved past its prime, and is struggling to reclaim the hey-day of it's spring and summer. Motivation to improve is often lost, and those who still seek dynamic change in the group start to move outward to start their own organisations... which inevitably leads to a decline in the groups dynamic nature and pushes further toward winter.   

Winter - At this point the organisation is no longer in step with the world around them, they are no longer seen as a powerful force, but might once have been. This is the point where stasis has completely consumed the organisation and it needs to start looking for fresh blood and fresh ideas to regain relevance.

(Maybe spring again) - Most organisations complete the cycle at winter and fade away, but those that manage to get new ideas and a new spurt of growth may begin a new phase of spring.   

At a macro level, empires might follow this type of pattern over the course of millenia. At smaller scale it tends to happen quicker. Dynasties within empires might follow this pattern in centuries (and I've heard the idea that empires actually only last 250 years, but this study is pretty contentious, and plenty of empires probably go through multiple cycles of spring rebirths). It's for this reason that I tend to go with dynasties lasting that length... "Foundation" with it's genetically cloned emperor is an interesting anomaly, and even it has it's issues, where new Emperor have roblems and the entire empire is generally dragging out its autumnal decline for many centuries... Within a dynasty, a specific leader's reign might go through the cycle in a few decades, a couple of leaders will rule during the dynasty's spring phase, then a couple in each subsequent phase of the dynasty. Within a specific ruler's time in office, they generally spend the first part establishing themselves and clearing away the problems from the last ruler (spring), the second part is making an identity for themselves and making alliances with other kingdoms/countries/organisations (summer), followed by consolidating the strength of their power base as outside forces threaten, and ensuring there is a legacy that will be marked in history (autumn), and finally losing relevance while prepping the community for their next leader, (winter). Assassinations, coups, and many other dramatic events can prevent the smooth transition of these cycles and disrupt the transition of seasons.

Within each of the seasons there can be interesting types of stories told, and I'll spend the next four posts looking at some of these.

It's also worth noting that different people will disagree on where a community may be with regard to the seasonal cycles, and this is a very diegetic effect. A kingdom that has been in decline for a century may see a new ruler come to the throne. The new ruler's path is very much sring as they try to bring new ideas, new alliances and fresh air to the court, but the kingdom itself may be in it's autumn (if there is still strength and allegiances to fall back on), or may be in its winter (if the outsiders no longer see the kingdom as a threat). Will the winter be a short one if the new king is able to revitalise their community? Will a new dynasty and new spring emerge? Or will the kingdom fall to a final decay, never to rise again even though the new ruler is trying their best? These make for good diegetic tensions in a story, where the environment is pulling on the strings against the narrator and the players.

I've got more, but that's enough for the moment.