Summer Camp 2023: Pledging and Pathfinding

Ah, we're here again. The writing seat has been longing for its author, hasn't it? Well, let's sate some appetites.

Welcome to another year of Summer Camp - Istralar's sixth, if you can believe it. We slayed 2018 and 2019, suffered 2020 and 2021, and absolutely stormed through 2022. This year, things have changed again, as they are so often wont to do. Where there were once 30 prompts in 2018, there are now 40 in 2023 - I suppose global inflation isn't just hitting our wallets, hm? As usual, I'll be going for Diamond (which is 32 prompts filled), with a bonus attempt at doing all 40 if I am able to do so.
Witness here, the tracking sheet that darling Catoblepon and I put together! This is my personal version. If you want to use it, check out the Summer Camp channel in WA's Discord - we made versions you can use yourself, and also made one for groups to use. There's also Graylion's tracker on WA, but since I use this to plan as well as track... I prefer mine!

Now, every year, the lovely folk on the WorldAnvil team organise a set of homework that we're meant to do throughout June to prepare ourselves for Summer Camp. They stage it all very nicely and separate it across all four weeks of June, so that you're not thrown into the deep end. As you may have guessed, I'm doing this after all four have released, because I was always that smartass child in secondary school who waited until the last minute to do my homework and then got good enough grades to keep going, and that attitude has never been broken. Whoops.
Without further ado, I suppose we'd better get a move on with this homework.

Week 1: Making a Pledge

Well shit, that's just this article.
I jest. There's more to the first week of Summer Camp homework than just making an article and being done with it. First off, we're making our pledge happen. There's a lovely certificate that the team have made for this, but uh - I've been having issues lately with fillable forms. So we're doing our own version. We'll call it the discount pledge. It's no less meaningful.

I pledge to achieve the Diamond badge during July 2023 to improve Istralar, my dearest world.
I make this promise to myself, my players, my readers, the World Anvil community, and the world which is made better by our creative spirits.
— Han

Now, this one's going to be interesting, because I do have a busy July ahead of me! I'll be skiing when SC officially starts, and then promptly launching into a new term of taekwondo classes. Pair that with tight work deadlines, the impending arrival of my partner from the US (early August!!), my ongoing 10pm - 2am weekly campaign AND my GM's lovely 6am sessions on the same day, and the Fae's Anatomy megagame, and I certainly do have one hell of a time ahead. I'm looking forward to trying to fit it all in, but I'm also anticipating a lot of stress. Woo!
However, I do write damn fast. Worst case, you'll get rapidfire short articles from me that I'm not happy with. I'm hoping to keep up the standard, though. I plan on using a loooot of lunch breaks.

Theme Preparation #1 - Power

This section of the homework dives into the themes of the week; it's something the subsequent weekly homeworks have as more of a primary thing. Each wave of prompts that is released will be centred around a specific theme. In the first wave, this will be power in all of its manifestations. The team have been kind enough to give us a prompt to think about inspirations:

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? Write a paragraph or two about power in your world setting in your pledge document.

— Summer Camp Homework #1

My players experience firsthand the intricacies of power in Istralar, for it is ever a term with heavy meaning. There are those who stand above all, claiming godhood or various shades of lesser divinity - these are powerful beings, yes, and something I seek to focus on is the gradual building of a new pantheon of deities to replace the currently-copyrighted deities I use from Paizo's Golarion. The first of these few - Sothime, Enhedha, and Kaian - have already stepped onto the pages of this very tome, but they are not alone, and I'm hoping the Power prompts inspire something more here.

Time Dimensional by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Deities are a higher power, and one that does not stand unchallenged. The Shards of the Void are fallen, broken gods that now exist beyond the trappings of fate - many of them seeking to work counter to the gods, in their unknowable motivations and strengths. Not every Shard has an article, you will note. This is just more god stuff, you may be thinking. Ah, but you do not know the extent of how these things interlace.
Whilst the magics of gods and Shards wars, the avatars are able to play counter to both yet may also succumb to either. Avatars are one of the purest forms of magical power - they are the raw personification of a nation or collective. They embody the land and its people, and serve as natural guardians. Theirs is an everlasting duty, and one they are content to bear unseen by mankind. Yet the shards oft force their hand, these days. Perhaps this Summer Camp, we will hear more of the intellect behind countries or planets - or perhaps it will remain a mystery to all but a select few...
Magic itself is a strength, even beyond that wrought by gods and planets. The conflict between arcane and divine magic is central to Istralar's very being, to its core - especially strewn with the debris of the fallen Terra Arcana. The rise of psychic magic upends the natural order all over again, and various other powers come to the table to make clear their stands. The Champions of the Divine, created to fight the Shards, may find no rest if yet more war breaks out upon discovery of psychic magic throughout the land. Powerful individuals, like the lich Seiðrkolva in the north or famous mage Thrinda Flametongue, are unpredictable as they are, and they are not alone: the names of terrifying individuals are carved into the world, and the rise of psychic magic gives room for yet more names to find their way into history - no matter the side they're on.
The war between the Aletheian Empire and the Medimian Empire, too, shows no signs of halting, even with a Hell-linked tiefling claiming the throne to the Aletheian Empire in recent years, and with the tentative alliance between Medimia's favoured Champion and Aletheia's precious Lost Ones. New heroes rise, and with them come their inevitable foils. The war threatens tensions throughout the world as alliances are pulled taught, and the spectre of Riven Drast's Reformers looms.

For with war has come innovation. Elias has gained some knowledge of the leyline powers usually only accessible by the avatars, and now the shape of war threatens to become unknowable. New magics, new powers, new forces and new fights - I think it's safe to say that I have plenty of inspiration for this theme.

Feature Hint & Extra Credit

Onto the next stage of homework. It's recommended that I go through the world and set up diplomacy webs, and then update the meta. I actually won't be doing this. Defining the relationships between countries is a very involved task when you have a globe full of countries and especially when half of them aren't in WA! I also still disagree with the meta having relevance to Istralar - it is a tool best used to help new worlds, and I find it completely unhelpful.
What I will note, though, is that I have been steadily going through Istralar and updating old articles, and turning long-term drafts into quick stubs. You'll find a lot of stubs throughout the world now when reading, which should hopefully help if you want to know what the heck a Terra Arcana is but I haven't written a full piece yet.

Week 2: Frontier

We're jumping straight into themes from hereon out!

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”?
Write a paragraph or two about frontiers in your setting in your pledge document, considering these questions and the advice in the blog post. Use it for inspiration during July!

— Summer Camp Homework #2

I could write an entire novel on just frontiers, especially if we're bringing up metaphorical ones - I already touched on the rise of new forms of magic above, though, so we won't re-cover already well-trodden ground. Let's focus on locations, instead, in this -- I'd hate to give away too much, otherwise (let's just say there's a lot going on in the world of tech as well...).

Istralar has been settled for millennia, and yet there remain vast swathes of land that are unsettled, ill-explored, and just generally considered at the edge of civilisation. Iskaldhal's northern reaches (particularly around Kylmävikk Desert), the depths of Takawaoku's thousands of islands and its expansive deserts and wildernesses, the wide unsettled central Tulaant Steppe and southern wreckage of the Sunari Wilderness across Xin-Jiyu, and the entire continent of Kudara are some of the more obvious frontiers present across Istralar.
These have all been mentioned or focused on in the past, giving rise to lore on the Heijian Tribe, the Walk on the Unguided Path, and other such tidbits across the world. There is still plenty of room and space to learn, but - these are not the only unexplored locales the world has to offer.
For instance, when was the last time you read mention of Istralar's seas? Do you know their names? I'd be very surprised if you did, considering I don't think most of them have names, and yet their depths are full of life. My players have heard mention of at least one undersea civilisation - perhaps it's their time. Or perhaps it's time to learn where the deepest depths of Istralar are, and explore those instead... both under the sea, and under the earth itself. A deep cave network sprawls throughout Istralar, originally inspired by Paizo's Darklands and WotC's Underdark. Over time, I have wanted to differentiate these depths. The Goldendwelt are but one hint at this new frontier to explore.
The seas, the caves - we must also remember the skies, and the final frontier of space itself. Though it might be too early to focus on the skies - they're getting more interesting when my first game ends - there is always the greater universe.
The elves are known to be an alien species, travelling from world-to-world. Their legacies still hang elsewhere in the universe, some still teeming with life, others dead or broken. And these are not the only other planets that await - nor are they the most advanced.
Perhaps for some, Istralar is a new frontier to explore..?

Takawaokan Beauty by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Perhaps those explorers are already here?

Feature Hint: Maps

I already have a few maps for Istralar, and any new ones for regions or continents would unfortunately take far too long! Maps are a long-term project for me - well, region/world ones, at least. If a battlemap seems relevant, those I'm pretty quick at making. In fact, have an example - one of the latest battlemaps from my party's struggle against the Earth-Mother's Gift.

The Princess's Dinner by Hanhula (in Wonderdraft)

The extra credit for Week 2 is to go through and spring-clean your world's organisation. I do this on a regular basis anyway, so... yep. It is recommended that I go through and tag my articles - unfortunately, with no tag manager, I don't want to deal with this yet. I'll handle tags on a consistent basis when WA has a tag manager to handle them with!

Week 3: Relics

What aspects of the past are revered today in your world setting? Which peoples are remembered? And which are forgotten, and why?
Write a paragraph or two about relics and history in your world in your pledge document, and use it as reference during July!

— Summer Camp Homework #3

As noted, we're going directly into themes. Honestly, I don't know what to write for a summary. These sort of prompting questions - not the prompts themselves, but the homework questions - always feel like they're aimed at much smaller worlds. Imagine asking anyone on Earth those questions, and you might understand my dilemma.

Captive Starlight by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Some aspects I'd like to focus on with relics is in building up countries I've mentioned little of. When has Osori ever been relevant? Areshket? How much was lost when Medimia and Aletheia absorbed countless countries into their vast majority? What encourages Volkur to stand strong? I want to focus on the smaller pieces. The forgotten ones. The ones that will not be so relevant to my game now, but perhaps could be in the future.
I love relics that have personal attachments. Lockets with faded pictures, combs that once belonged to long-lost princesses, sashes that once held together the robes of a dying king. Things that resonate with the people reading, with me, and with the places they're from. Things that belong, but that have since become lost. And we can't forget living relics, either. Ancient beings that live through their own power or forced to remain by the power of others - whether that be as some undead thrall, or a divine servant kept alive to serve. I don't know, there's so much to write and do here.
Honestly, it was when I started generating pictures for this one that I started really having ideas, too. Imagine - fragments of other stars, still alive, kept entrapped in ancient relics.
Imagine portals to the realms of divine beings held in the hands of kings and queens, exclusive to them alone. Imagine weapons drawing power from the small villages that found them - perhaps malevolently, perhaps entirely for their own protection. Imagine the curses and blessings wound around these things, and the places they are held. Reliquaries and castles, lost graves and wild, windswept plains. Forgotten battlefields and forbidden depths, each holding untold treasure.
I think relic will be the easiest of the themes to write for, depending on the prompts, but it's also the hardest to brainstorm for because so much depends on how the prompts are worded. I can have ideas, sure, but they won't form themselves into written words until I have prompts to tie themselves to. Such is life in Summer Camp planning.

Feature Hint: Timelines

Say no more. Istralar has one central Chronicle. I'm updating it as I figure out what time-related shenanigans should be on there. Appreciate it over here!

Extra Credit: Image Sorting

The extra credit this week involves sorting your images. Which - like with maps - is something I do already! All of Istralar's images are carefully sorted into albums so I can find them easily. Here're a few galleries.

asterzalni.jpg

ballroom.webp

bandithome.jpg

cavesmap.jpg

churchbasicallydone.jpg

courtroom.jpg

dininghall.webp

dragontemple2.jpg

dungeon3.png

FeyRuinsSummer.png

finalstage-Recovered.jpg

gateway.png

Gemstone of Life Battlemap

ironfalls.png

Iskaldhal cover

Map

lastroom.png

libray.jpg

mindscape.jpg

Nations of Takawaoku layer

Layer

newcaves.jpg

pier.webp

ritualmap.jpg

ruinedtown.png

snow (2).png

Takawaoku Base Map Image

Map

Takawaoku Base Map Image (Replaced: 2022-03-17 07:36:20 WA Time)

Map

TEMPLE.jpg

templegarden.jpg

templeunder.jpg

tenaerul.jpg

test cover

Map

The Geography of Istralar cover

The Rising Darkness cover

The Shrines of Stone cover

Aetha

Alysia-Token.png

Amara Copy-portrait.png

Amara-Token (1).png

Amara-Token.png

Aster Lau'turea

Azsire-Token.png

Azyel-portrait.png

Biach-Token.png

Burdyr Donderiall-Token.png

Cid-portrait.png

Cid-token.png

Helgi-portrait.png

Hrizse-Token.png

Iryani-portrait (1).webp

Iryani-Token (1).

Iuvaeni-Token.png

Kailuva-Portrait.png

Kailuva-Token.png

Kesserin-portrait.png

Kraia-portrait.png

Naseem-portrait.png

Naseem-Token.png

Nyctrissa-token.png

Runaia-portrait.png

Runaia-token (1).png

Saeryn-token (1).png

Thief

Tuiravi Kids-portrait.png

Tuiravi-portrait.png

Tuiravi-Token.png

Verti

ypolita.png

Flag of Aletheia

Flag of Medimia

Flag of Meihua

Flag of Ordan

Flag of Rhaead

Flag of Shiar

Laminaeles flag

Week 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?

— Summer Camp Homework #3

Ah yes, communication! Possibly my favourite theme from name alone - we've been coming up with some fantastic ideas for this one in Discord. By the way, if you're not in the WorldAnvil Discord, you should be. It's a fantastic place, and the Summer Camp channel has some brilliant resources pinned. I have a variety of plans for what to do with communication. For one, it's important to note that communication isn't just verbal. Even when two humans from Earth are interacting, it's not just verbal. The body language, eye contact, and small motions you do are all ways you communicate - many people struggled with communication over the course of the pandemic because of this.

Even verbally, we do more than just speak to each other. We layer our speech with in-jokes, puns, and words that are derived of so many other words that they could seem like they've lost all meaning (go delve into the etymology of 'podcast', if you will). We use different tones, different languages, and different levels of formality to indicate so many things about ourselves. This translates into our online chats, too. If I'm using proper capitalisation and punctuation - I'm almost definitely paying more attention and potentially am taking things a lot more seriously!
Because of this, I want to focus on some alternate methods of communicating. I've obviously already written up the Books of Communication in the past, so they're out, as is Spiltea. What I can do, though, is talk about... everything else!
I want to write something on how mortals pray to their gods, and how the gods answer those prayers when they're banned from the Material Plane. I want to cover forms of sign language used to communicate with those who can no longer hear, or are in otherwise dangerous situations. I want to cover the secret, sacred language the northern Iskaldhan tribes use, because I've started working on it as a conlang and I wouldn't mind putting that into the world.
I want to talk about songs with hidden meaning used to pass messages through towns and communicate stories that otherwise would go untold, and for that, I want to use my own voice. I've not had cause to sing for a WA article for a long while, and yet singing is something I'm constantly doing. I really need to combine those passions!
Following on from language are the repositories of information that exist around the world. I've written a few libraries now - see the Qualic Scriptorium, the Endless Archive, and Impossibility for some examples - but information is not just stored in libraries. It lies in museums, in songs, in scrolls, and in hearts. It hangs sequestered in jails, imprisoned for its danger, and it bursts out in mind-bending explosions. Perhaps a follow-up to Mindblot is in order, or perhaps something new lies in the papers traded in shady alleys.

Hell's Mouth by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Something I always like to do is tie the themes together. Imagine: a powerful relic lying in a frontier town, whispering out to those that want to find it... unifying all themes in one, in that case. And just in general, I like tying prompts together. A relic might have belonged to a powerful hero that I wrote about in week 1, and might have been involved in some awful miscommunication in week 4. A frontier of innovation might be cresting over a city, spread around by new, faster forms of newspaper and herald. You get the idea. I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes this year!

Feature Hint: Dictionaries and Whiteboards & Extra Credit: Reading my World

These are features I don't really use, but the WA team wants to remind me of them. Of course, if I get around to writing that conlang I mentioned during SC, I'll use the dictionary feature then - but until then, it's staying unused! Whiteboards, meanwhile... I do want to use them, but I've yet to find something to use them for. Whenever I want to mindmap, I do it on paper. Can't use whiteboards so easily when I'm procrastinating in the office!
As for the extra credit, the assigned task is to reread my old work. I do this pretty regularly, again. I'm constantly having to jump around in the world for my players, whether it's because they've asked something weird or gotten themselves teleported around, so I'm often checking in on old stuff. I also like to read back our older roleplays (as we do text RP alongside the campaign) and man, those are so good for inspiration. It's very heartwarming to remember how much love you and your friends have poured into a beautiful creation together.
So - that's it! We're done! We're at just over four thousand words, so I'm going to shut up now. I'm really looking forward to this year's SC! Just, er - don't expect much from me until a couple days in. I'm leaving on a skiing trip tomorrow, so I'll be too busy throwing myself down mountains to write at first. It should be fantastic inspiration, so if my first few articles are all winter-based... you know why!

Good luck, everyone!