Summer Camp 2023 Pledge

It’s that wonderful time of the year again. The sun is blinding, my room is far too warm, people are out and about, but most importantly, 'tis the season for Summer Camp prep. Last year I’m pretty sure I didn’t get a single badge, or if I did, I may have gotten copper. Whatever the case, I had my reasons for my lack of words and articles. Was having a rather nice little holiday with a friend and then spending time with family. This year, however, I would also like a shiny badge and so I have assembled my words here today to proclaim that I pledge to get the shiniest of all the badges in this year’s new and exciting edition of World Anvil’s Summer Camp 2023!
I hope to write a lot more about the present age of Lethea instead of going into minor events that happened decades or centuries ago. While I love writing fictional history, explaining more about the troubles and dangers threatening the world in the mid-16th century would be handy.

Theme Preperation

Theme 1 - Power

The first patch of prompts will be power themed and that ought to give me plenty of opportunities to explore some of the important organisations in the world that haven’t received much love yet. Everything from powerful countries, influential religions, and maybe some magic stuff as well. Who knows?
When it comes to the powerful countries of Lethea, places like the Federal State of Alminthas and the Empire of Pallernen already have articles, although they are outdated and in need of an update. Unfortunately, editing old content doesn’t count for SC so I might have to work on some less powerful, but still nonetheless influential countries such as the Alstiseriaic of Athe. That article isn’t technically a stub at the moment, but all the content there is can be scrubbed clean before July as it’s outdated and I can write the new lore from scratch. Athe is pretty key to the whole setting, especially the dominant religions of the world.
Speaking of religions, a couple of years ago I wrote up an article on Hillenism, one of the main organised faiths, but I never got around to making articles for Baglamism. If there’s a prompt I can use to write that article, then that would be great. The two religions consider one another to be vile heresies and so explaining the differences between the two would be excellent for explaining the causes behind religious tensions and conflicts.

Theme 2 - Frontier

When this theme got released, I was in a bar with a random Englishman and French woman who I had met at a language café where we were practising our Danish so it took me a few days before I started thinking about this homework and the theme itself. At first I was a bit disheartened as I couldn't see how writing about frontiers would help me flesh out the core contents of Lethea. The theme seemed a bit too much like the expanse theme of yesteryear.
Later, however, I realised that the Kingdom of Enliten, a country I had just recently written an article on, was technically a country on the frontier and thus I could expand on what I had already started recently and continue writing more on the region. I've even been working on a map of the place!

Theme 3 - Relics

With relics my main two ideas so far are religious relics, as the various faiths play a vital role in the world, and also relics related to the aberati, the ancient enemy of the free peoples of Lethea (who are in desperate need of a new and improved article) that has slowly been recovering since their great invasion was put to an end by Gilei Hillen with the Explosion at Athe and the Ascension. Both the religious artifacts and the aberati ones could date back to the same invasion, perhaps even foreshadowing the return of this ancient threat while also honouring the legendary figures who helped fight it.
Who knows, perhaps I'll even delve deeper and cover some of the more weird and ancient relics from tens of thousands of years ago when humanity wasn't just battling the aberati with swords and spears, but rifles and orbital bombardments.
Since coming up with history for my world is one of my favourite things to do, I imagine this theme will be a whole lot of fun and I look forward to seeing how it helps me develop my world further.

Theme 4 - Communication

The final theme of this mighty fine Summer Camp is communication! As seems to be common for me, I was a bit concerned at first, but I quickly realised that I could write about the network of signalling towers that covers the northeastern frontier of the Lethean heartland. Those signalling towers were erected to warn the world in the apolyptic scenario of a second great invasion of Lethea. In addition to that, I noticed Aiterean, a conlang that I've been slowly developing which serves as the main language of international trade and diplomacy, is still a stub and therefore a perfect candidate for a language prompt.
His excellency, Dimitris of World Anvil, has also bestowed upon me a mighty quest to flesh out a section of Pekkola known as Valníki which I am eager to get started on as well, but it would probably be best if I waited until the frontier prompts drop for that.

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Potatoes by Marco Antonio Victorino

Why potatoes?

Perhaps some of you might be wondering what the deal with them there potatoes happens to be. Those mighty fine taters have served me admirably over my long and eventful years on this great website, allowing me to fill gaps in formatting and often serving as portraits for characters. Some could even argue that sentient potatoes are the most influential characters in all of Lethea.
The reason as to why I chose these taters to serve me in the oh so long ago year of 2019 (or was it late 2018?) was because of a single man by the name of Samwise Gamgee. Now he was a man who loved potatoes like I love a good 90°C sauna back at home. He'd boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew and he'd do so with joy. Now every time I gaze upon one of my own placeholders I can think back on that hobbit's life and his love of all things that grow.
Even if he did drop a few eaves that one fateful night, he remains a great idol and an excellent role model for us all.

Enliten

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The Map of the Enlitic Peninsula is, as the name suggests, a map that depicts the Enlitic peninsula and its surroundings in the year 1567 AA. This exquisite depiction of the region was commissioned by Harál Herwik, the King of Enliten, in 1565, along with the consent of his advisors in the Council of Helí.
Much of the northern parts of the map, the territories that extend beyond the Enlitic mountains and the Central Pass, are highly speculative, as folk believe that those lands are swarming with aberati.