Kadaj Yoshikawa, the creator and owner of Harshlands, and Janire Coba, the creator and owner of Belle Epoque, are also the world builders of the Faireland of Öndheim. They talk about the importance of the merchant experience in region design, the lore and stories of Öndheim, and in addition to their Faire-wares they also share the especially commissioned song of Öndheim!
You have several Fairelands under your metaphorical belt by now. How do you prepare for a new Faire, how early do you begin?
We somehow began shortly after Fantasy Faire 2023 ended, by choosing a potential mood and theme. We had a couple of good ideas, but we were extremely excited of going Viking for 2024!
We actually begun working on Öndheim starting from late January, by choosing the Region name, making sure it would reflect the lore of the Faireland. Shortly afterwards we sketched a few possible layouts. The top priority for us are the amazing merchants who chose to put their trust in us. For this reason, whenever we design a region, we want to make sure that the designers are the core focus. Especially with Öndheim we tried to highlight this aspect as much as we could. We wanted to turn their stores into a focal part of the region story, and ensure everyone had the very same deserved spotlight. By the time we begun to actually build on the land, we already had the layout and stores prepared and trust me, that saves a lot of time!
We then crafted the whole region around the stores, creating our story, to provide Fairelanders a smooth shopping experience, but also an engaging lore hunt.
What are you bringing to the Faire this year?
Kadaj: I’m bringing Öndheim architecture! It’s always sad to see our Faireland go, therefore I want to make sure a part of it survives, and hopefully spark the flame of a new creativity, for new worlds and visions.
Janire: I created a viking outfit to wear around Öndheim, and I made special purple versions of two of my best sellers: Loey and Coquette.
Tell us of your Faireland. What sparked its birth, what is its inspiration? Does it have lore, secrets, stories? Tell us everything!
Öndheim (Realm of the Spirits) is heavily inspired by Norse and Scandinavian folklore, blending themes and architecture from dwarven style as well. It is meant to be a personal Norse Realm, just like Helheim, Jotunheim, Alfheim and so on.
It is a realm of transformation, as Gwen Enchanted loved to point out during her incredible LitFest Tour, and she’s right! It stands at the crossroad between the world of the living and the deceased.
It is a Faireland that floats on time currents, suspended in an infinite present. Spirits are dwelling in the stone halls, waiting to be deemed worthy to finally pass on. They would gather by the Bell of Judgment, and should it toll, they would be granted a passage. They all look very similar: they are ghastly figures with horns, who somehow kept their personality. You can meet them in the region: some are playful, others can be pensive, and you can find hard working ones.
There is also a special Spirit that you have to find yourself though. While choosing the name of the Faireland, we discovered that Önd, in Icelandic, means Duck, therefore I’ve chosen to add a little spirit duck, as easter egg, hidden in the region!
One last thing I would like to mention, is the big entrance below the landing point, guarded by a Mountain Giant.
Not only it leads to the Forge of Life, the pulsating heart of Öndheim, where titans endlessly keep the Faireland alive, but if you dare to go forward past the hall, you will discover a very special place. If you haven’t seen it yet, I will not spoil the surprise!
There is also a Öndheim story dispenser by the landing point (and free low lag avatars too!), don’t forget to check it out if you’re interested for more.
In addition to this, we have also chosen, starting from last year, to provide our regions with some musical background. Last year I produced a whole instrumental album but, due to my health conditions not being completely helpful, this year I had an artist commissioned to make a special track. I gave him the lyrics guidelines, as well as a story of the Region and what Fantasy Faire is. And so this is the result. I hope you will all like it!
Thank you, Janire and Kadaj, for taking the time to chat with us. Thank you for bringing us this amazing Faireland!
Fantasy Faire 