Great World Ember 2023 Conditions Articles!
74 Articles read!
It is always amazing to me how talented the community of World Anvil world builders is! I spent a very busy week reading all your submissions for the "Condition" category, getting yuked out by hideous diseases, and as is usual for me, I am finding it difficult to settle on a single one to win this category. I haven't quite done that yet, but having been through everything, I am ready to share some of my favorites.So here's a selection of gems that are worth your reading time - and why!
"Vanished" by Rumengol is a lovely moody piece that prowls through the dark tunnels of human behavior when living under the thumb of tyranny. As punishment from capricious gods for arbitrary sins, offenders vanish into thin air only to re-appear weeks later stripped of clothes and memories. How they are seen and treated is the thoughtful cherry on this short, effective article that features unique art and perfect CSS.
Hanhula delivers a visually stunning, dark piece of masterful world building in this article about villians and dark forces in Istralar. Every Shard is given a unique personality and flavor, and the creepiness of the piece is that the inherent goodness or necessity of each shard is present - but corrupted into evil by Gloom. One wonders if Istralar will ever be free - perhaps some courageous adventurers should band together to save this world from such dire perils...
Oh, Chris Clark (ECC Books) is such a delight to read almost every time I get a chance to pick up his work. In "Troll Disease" he takes pot shots at - well, trolls. You know, the ones in real life who haunt your favorite social media outlets and drive off all the nice people you came to the platform to connect with? Yeah - those. So sit back and prepare for some lighthearted tounge-in-cheek humor about those annoying bipeds who you wish would go back to hiding under a local bridge...
I've never encountered Barron before, though he's not new to the WA community, and this article was a chilling introduction for me I'm afraid. Of all the numerous "terrible disease" articles spawned by this prompt, this was by far the most visceral and effective. A glorious, horrible piece of world building, "Corralum Scales" is compelling writing for the strong of stomach who want a story, information, perfect art and clever CSS down to the final visual cutting off diseased limbs. Excellent work. I'll be having nightmares for a week thank you very much, but I don't regret it. Much.
"Varrex's Legacy" by Kargaroth was a wonderful discovery of a talented brand new member of the WA community. The writing on this article was solid - it was direct and clean, yet it twisted from the initial typical "horrible tragic disease" trope into a "what goes around comes around" karma story without flinching from the twisted messes and differing points of view that people have of ugly truths. Looking forward to seeing more by this author in the future!
In "Psaic Confusion" Lady Grayish has provided an outstanding example of a strong and engaging author "voice" - a characteristic that always elevates your articles. The speaker here comes out in the light and cheeky attitude that engages the audience without ever stepping over the line into annoying. I almost always highlight articles with distinct and strong voices, but this article is worth the read for having a point of view character (about whom we know nothing) who is compelling because her voice is so ridiculously well formed.
"Energy Death by NotaHumanHand is a great example of a very useful worldbuilding condition that screams to be the foundation of a story or novel - either tragic or heroic. It neatly avoids the trap of providing solutions/cures that are too readily attainable. The very best articles communicated and maintained the peril posed by the condition. "Energy Death" is a simple, short article that brings this characteristic of great articles into sharp focus. If you struggle with storytelling and want to disect what a great premise or peril looks like - I highly recommend.
In "Slimy Sickness" Myth-X provides an intriguing story in the context of a thorough discussion of a virulent disease. The story is compelling enough to keep you reading with tension that makes you wonder if the protagonist is going to get out of the problem that is obviously forming. The distinctive world style of Arc Sagas is front and center moving you right into the story with its colorful comic book film noir feel. I expect that RPG game play in this world would be tons of fun. I recommend for the article's story and style. Lots of fun!
Haha! Pretty fun way to introduce yourself eh? Always had fun conveying my fear of invasive diseases into worldbuilding. You have very good taste, and everyone in this list is a heck of a choice.
Oh yes! I loved/hated your article and will definitely be following you hoping for more! I really enjoy the judging process - I learn so much from it!
AH! Thank you so very much for including Slimy Sickness here! : D This was one of my favorite of all the Articles I wrote! Inspector Court and Coroner LaCross rly are a lot of fun! I'm looking to improve the way I deliver those in the future! And of course, those two characters will be back! But your kind comment and enthusiasm was really confirming for me! Thank you for that! My best wishes for 2024 and best of good luck! There's a lot of rly good Articles chosen for this! I've read a few of them and was happy to see them here! : D
Every article earned it's way here through some tough competition! I thought Slimy Sickness was the best of your condition articles - and the story was the thing that really made it shine! Best wishes too for 2024!
TYVM! : D I appreciate that! Inspector Court was born of a need to elaborate "Radiant Sickness". He went from being a minor-quote character to something else! Coroner LaCross got his debut in "Slimy Sickness" when I realized that was what Inspector Court needed in the last one(he needed a Coroner), and together, they've been rly fun to write! I appreciate the challenge of blending narrative and expositional, mechanical elements (and failures)! Slimy Sickness was a thrill to write- and I hope I can improve the way people interact with Arc Sagas in the future! : D Inspector Court and Coroner LaCross will be back! ^^ I thought you might appreciate their origin! It was those 2 Articles; thanks again for the opportunity!