World Building Summer Camp Submission

World building for over the course of the month has allowed me to complete more in a 30 day timeframe than I have at any point in the past. Perhaps better was the access to articles made by so many other creators, which showed me what can be done with formatting. Before July, the most I had done was a header, but I've taken time over the month to learn how these other creators made such alluring articles through bbcode and CSS, which I think improved all of my summer articles for the better, and will serve to improve my entire world. I've also gotten to see some great worlds in other genres that promoted me to consider additions to my own world that could breka from the standard fantasy genre, particularly with regard to eldritch horror.

An iconic building or landmark representing a location

Wi'a Hus Obelisk
The Frozen Oasis
Cage of Luax

A conflict between two unequal powers in your world

The Black Tide
Foxlands Battle
The War on the Drug Barons

An animal associated with, or symbolizing, power

Voraegir
Sand Drakes
Crowned Tamarin

World Building Goals

Through to december, I hope to finish the timeline I have up to the present date. Once revision on the timeline is done there will be a fairly robust set of lore within the articles, utilizing as much of World Anvil's useful tools as I can manage. That should put the world in a reasonable state for playing and also let me focus on some of the cooler smaller things, as I came to enjoy when writing for the summer writing challenges. Further, I hope to stay updated on what the World Anvil community is doing, getting involved with more monthly prompts and challenges.
Using CSS and reading other people's worlds are also on my to-do list. I hope to use CSS to give each bit of the setting a good "vibe" so that readers and players can come to an understanding the world in more than just literary means, making the world feel alive and diverse. I hope to get some inspiration from the authors of other worlds and by keeping up with some of the great worlds I've found throughout world building summer camp. As I go on to write more for the world, I hope to do a little more "advertising" within the year to gauge some interest and get some good world building advice from people on the subreddit and users within the site.
With regard to events, I hope to get more involved in World Ember this year, as I don't think I took part last year with how young my world was. While I'm currently unsure of the nature of the event, I'm thinking that it will provide some good inspiration for both specific article ideas, but also broaden my ideas as to what is important to explore within the world, whether its understanding why certain figures are revered, how ideas came into being, and what the "point" of the world should be in a broader sense. Hopefully the completion of my timeline and these future events will pave the way for me to consider the depths of my world, and even give ideas for some smaller worlds/ side projects that may not fit into Laminarum.
Beyond just the lore itself, I hope to develop some in world sources, making it feel lived in. Little poems, stories written by characters, analyses of events, and such. While I have lightly delved into this before with the fun (but unfinished) Art of Deflection: A Legal Case Study, I hope to do it more. Not only do I think it will help the world feel lived in, but it will improve my writing skills when it comes to entertainment pieces, rather than educational writing as I have mostly focused on in this world so far. Some other world builder's articles have given me some great ideas as to how improved prose can really make an article more enjoyable to read, rather than having to feel like an educational lecture. Perhaps through revision, I can even use time this year to improve the prose of my current articles.

Obsessed with Monoliths, Who Knew?

Reading through the articles of other creators and making some enhancements to my own world have shown me one important fact about what inspires me in worldbuidling: I love monoliths. Big, small, colorful, black, stone, metal, you name it. Monoliths and obelisks are pretty great, and I plan to implement plenty more into my world in the future. Maybe its something about the implications and assumptions that can be made from the lack of detail on them. They could mean anything and could have been made by anyone. Maybe this perspective will alter how I world build in the future. Do answers always have to be provided, or should there always be substantial room for assumptions and theories?

While summer camp has given me an appreciation for the little details of the world, it has also shown me worlds that hinge on this lack of information. History is fickle and perspective is powerful. Real, breathing worlds aren't powered by the facts about their existence, but how the people within the world interact with and understand those facts. In that manner, there's nothing more interesting in a world than ignorance and how people seek to alleviate it: that's the essence of the monolith. So, if you read this and world build in the future, throw down a monolith somewhere and see what chaos and extremism can develop from little more than a smooth, possibly purposeless rock.