Summer camp 2023 prep article
Hi!
Pledge
In July 2023 I'll be joining in the summercamp prompt challenges, and I really hope to reach a gold badge (24/32 prompts), but otherwise my minimum goal is silver (16/32). I'll be working on my world of Ûnduleah.Theme preparation: Power
Which are the powerful organizations within your world setting? Who are the powerful individuals? What kinds of power do they wield and what are their weaknesses and needs?Agency(power) + Need(weakness) = Action Actions change the world, and provoke reactions. Unem has numbers, and food. They control the heat shard, but don't know quite what power it holds. They control the capital of Vehedem ... Where a lot of knowledge has been collected. They just don't understand it exactly. The Dîn dwarves are a tremendous force, but they never attacked anyone. (yet). They have enough food, they have tamed beasts, great geography and efficiency. Naash is home to the nomad humans, food and water is scarce, resources are scarce. travel is difficult and there is very little wood. Aachor has a diverse population of different clans that mostly work together. It has many resources, enough food and water. But is lacking efficiency in cooperation. It does have some unique resources from the black, white and red shards. Illinor has never been explored. It has vast woodlands filled with unknown monsters and other inhabitants. The purple shard does ... ? Powerful orgs: The council of the Dîn. They hold the most direct power int terms of manpower, money and resources. The pirates of the great bay .. .. are also a powerful rogue organisation. Indiscrimate, only seeking riches for themselves by robbing trade ships. The humans of the capital VEHEDEM ? .... They are the center of power for most of the cities on Unem. But not all have pledged loyalty to them yet. The Remu are very powerful, have many resources, great navy, but no good access to the rest of the continent and lacking food sources to grow in numbers. The Fili control the black shard, giving them access to unique materials and monsters for exotic export. making them the richest of the Kádi. Making them the prime target of anyone seeking riches for their own. After the Dwelling Days the dwarves emerged to a mostly warm-ish planet: These are the resources in very rough distributions: Grains flow from Central Aachor towards north and south Aachor Grains flow from Unar Grasslands towards the Azor Steppe Meat flows from North Aachor towards south-Aachor Meat flows from Unar Grasslands towards the Azor Steppe Minerals flow from Unem/Dûnn towards Aachor Peat flows from North and central Aachor towards south-aachor Coal flows from Unem/Dûnn towards Aachor Iron flows from the red hills towards the rest of Ûnduleah (except the island in the great bay) Hardwood flows from North Aachor towards the rest of Ûnduleah (except the moving marshes) Leather and furs flow from North Aachor towards the rest of Ûnduleah Cotton flows from Unar Grasslands towards the rest of Ûnduleah. Reeds flow from Unar Grasslands towards the rest of Ûnduleah Ivory flows from North Aachor towards the rest of Ûnduleah mushrooms flow from moving marshes towards the rest of Ûnduleah in other words: The 'easiest' places to live are: Dûnn - lack: grains, hardwood and iron Unar Grasslands - lacks: iron Central Aachor - lacks: minerals Special resources locations: Red hills: Iron Escar: Hardwood (much) Bar: Furs and ivory Moving marshes: Hardwood (little), mushrooms Remu: Ships Unem Grasslands: Cotton, reeds The south of aachor also has 'travel' issues. where boats can't get you to very many places. Remu: Take wood by ship, and stop by Iri, purchase Iron and grains, take Iron and wood to Dûnn. Take back minerals and special foods like olives and spices. Sell some food and minerals at Iri, purchase imported hardwood, then sell the rest back home in Remu. Also: take Iri: Mine iron like madmen. Then sell it to the Remu trade ships, and take it by foot up towards the Fili. Trade it there for food, and for imported hardwood and ivory. Escar: Export hardwood down the coast towards Fili, purchase grains, sell If only the Remu have large ocean vessels: Fili would become the biggest trade hub of Aachor, as nearly all resources flow through there. Trader lake would become the biggest internal trade hub of Dûnem South Iri would become the main export hub from Aachor Razor strait would be the main export hub of Dûnem As soon as sea trade over the great bay happens: The Unem people: Sources of power: Numbers. They have many people and reproduce relatively quickly compared to dwarves. Food and water. They have vast agricultural lands to the north of the Laraki mountains to produce food, and good access to water due to the mountain lakes and rivers. Fast land travel. The vast plains and their ownership of horses and chariots make them able to mobilize and move people and goods across their land quickly. The yellow heat shard. The most powerful of all shards emanates with pulses of heat that warm the entire world of ûnduleah. It's a tremendous source of power, yet currently, the only known use it has to whoever controls it is to recharge magical artefacts or abilities. If this shard is ever destroyed, or contained, the lack of heat could affect the entire world's climate and turn it cold again. Resources. Wood, stone, sea, lakes, game, horses, Minerals. The Laraki mountains and it's rivers give some access to iron, silver, Copper and Gold. Strategic. The Crescent Islands provide excellent defenses and naval access to the rest of Unem's shores, to Illinor, the west of Aachor and Naash. The Kidîn Kiridûn mountains and the great ...... plateau .. .. .. provide a natural barrier to land invasions. Leaving only the gap of Trader lake towards Dîn. Misc. The orange shard; Weaknesses no obsidian, diamonds low skilled people, poor quality weapons and boats etc Not all humans are part of the same clan, there is a lot of people trying to seize power
Theme preparation: Frontier
Where are the frontiers in your worldsetting? And why would anyone want to go there?! What about metaphorical frontiers, like the “frontier of medicine” or space, the “final frontier”?The underground people of the Aachor mountains. Illinor. As a whole is unexplored frontier. So is Faastri Island. Dûnn is a frontier for the humans. Most cities and their influence are small, and don't cover all of the subcontinent. There is a lot of wilderness everywhere to be found. The central islands are a frontier for most peoples. The underwater world is also a massive frontier. Not much of it is known by anyone The celestial world of the gods. Is a mythical, but in a way existing frontier. What lies beyond the oceans?
Theme 3: relics.
What aspects of the past are revered today in your world setting? Which peoples are remembered? And which are forgotten, and why?Sharing used to be the core value needed to survive. Nowadays it isn't anymore. There is plenty. Scarcity is a thing of the past. People might compensate this by wanting áll the things now. Because they finally can. But the sense of sharing and cooperation is still held in high regard. Wanting to be self-sufficient is now pursued by most. Sharing is seen as an indication of plenty, of wealth instead of necessity. There is actually no shame in accepting help. It is seen as a good thing. Who lived on Ûnduleah before the time of chiefs? Was the world always this cold? Or was it once not so? Did those civilisations leave anything behind? If so there might be ruins that were port cities that are now found in the middle of landmasses. Or relics. What happened to them? They are not remembered, why not? Where do the dwarves come from? Were they created? evolved? mutilated? (the myth is that a god had a child, and the child was playing in the snow, built little snowmen, gave them big beards of mosses, twigs for fingers and they came alive to become the first dwarves. These first dwarves might be held in high regard. Where do the humans come from? The dwarves inhabited this continent first. They were here when the silver rain came. They found the heat shard. They built the capital around it. The humans were strangers, they came and destroyed, stole from the dwarves. The dwarves hold the historical rights to the capital. There are many relics from the clans left behind in the capital, now under control of the humans. The humans brought a relic with them that washed ashore with their ships An ancient early wizard dwarf used the power of a shard to create a relic.
Theme 4: Communication
How do people and organizations from different backgrounds or cultures communicate with each other? How does communication happen over short and long distances? Who in your setting communicates secretly or carefully, and how? How do people communicate with each other in your world setting? How are messages sent long distance? Do you have secret communication styles, like thieves cant or shadow marks?Aachor peoples have used system based on vulcano's. Eruptions used to be a sign that could be noticed all across Aachor. And their communication systems have been inspired by this: A huge pile of rocks is transported to the top of a cliff or mountainside. Using ropes and carts. They are placed on a platform that in times of need can be pulled away, causing all of the rocks to roll down, creating a mini-earthquake-avalance. This could be heard across the plains and drew the attention of the next outpost. The sound is accompanied by a system of fire-signals. Unem people rely more on the pony express, with vast grasslands it's a highly suited area to quickly travel by horse or other fast land animal. The Dîn military and government have developed a tremor-based communication system. Mostly due to their use of Burrowing Wyrm who communicate in this sense by nature, and the dwarves have just enhanced it so that they too can pick up on the signals. These consist of a system of connected physical hard medium. For example metal or stone. Breaking these physical lines would be an easy way to disrupt their communication. For the common folk the pony express would be the fastest way to communicate. The naash people could use the tides. On the north the ocean currents flow from east to west. On the south it flows from west to east. So going by boat would probably be the fastest way. Illinor is home to many Drayi .. I wonder if they could be used to communicate.They are basically a natural interconnected communication system. It just has no nuance, just on or off. Perhaps a morse type of language could work here.
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