THE READING CHALLENGE: WORLDEMBER 2021: Nicholas Hoar

This article is created for my entry into the 2021 worldember reading challenge.

The 10 Articles

1. CHAOS CORRUPTION

Initially catching my eye when I was looking for articles to read, Chaos Corruption is an entry for the Condition challenge. I would like to start by saying the CSS work and thought put into the layout of the information was well-performed, looking appealing to the eye, and more thought out than the likes of a generic Wikipedia article. The condition itself appears to be a byproduct of wild magic, and these locations are dubbed chaos areas (which I'm inclined to state could be better named). It seems like the purpose is to set a precedent that Chaos magic is more destructive in this person's world, which can easily be adapted to other areas, and may pair well with the likes of Gauls Scar within Muncaelo, a land that basically got arcane nuked. beyond that, perhaps at some point I should review my articles and check for means to reorganize the information within to be more appealing to navigate and read.

2. MAGE SQUADRONS

Another case of me selecting based on interest, the Mage Sequadrons article is an entry to the Formations challenge, which partially intrigued me as I couldn't think of any military formations to write an article about. That's to say, it's a little out of my field of expertise. Once again, the layout of the article makes me feel like mine is unappealing to the eyes, which is something I should really invest in cleaning up at some point. He also utilizes graphics to help explain some points about the populace of the empire's military, showing a bell curve of all things. They also interslice story bits to help connect the information to the world, doing so through quote blocks, and easily adapted ideas that I should consider for my World Anvil page, especially since I love to utilize quote notes in my GMBinder products.

3. Solanian Masks

The third one to catch my eye, this was an entry into the Item Category, the reason why it and group masks appeal to me, in general, is due to the infamous elven masks from the TTRPG Hall of Fame, where someone created a detailed story of how elves all were masks in their culture because they all share similar facial structures, and the masks help better distinct themselves. The layout is appealing, with each section being its own floating block overtop the background. Additionally, the way the Almighty Deity BasicDragon has incorporated the mask into his society is intriguing and would lead me to want to explore more of his world's rich lore.

4. Fjordwalking

For the next several entries, I'll be ready entries from Tim De Roos, cause I have to support my main boy! Anyways, I decided to start with the BA entry for the Ritual/Tradition category. A brief and clean-read without any unnecessary flare or distracting division, Tim is great at conveying his information in a single block of text, and perhaps that might be a great article style for some aspects going forward. The article reminds me of a short story I had to read back in grade 5 if I'm remembering correctly, that entailed a widow going to town to sell her brooms, having to cross a large frozen bay, and then getting lost on the ice during heavy snowfall on her way back that night, entailing a fear of meeting the ocean's edge and falling in to die. It was a happy ending, but at the time it sucked to read, our class wasn't really into the story.

5. Tidal Torture

In the second Tim article, I was well accustomed to Tidal Torture before I started this reading list, as it was discussed a few times in the BA Discord server. I will note that this is another entry but time in the Ritual / Tradition section, so Bad Tim, you broke the rules... But once again, it's a quick article detailing where it's utilized, by who, and an example of the cell structures used in the torture, with an additional quote to add a bit of world to the article!

6. Honeypaste Haul

A case of Tim adding a bit more detail, as for the plot category he created a small campaign! An interesting idea, I've avoided plot thus far as I don't like my story being that readily available to read, and I utilize WA primarily as a means of fleshing out the world, and run all plot points and monsters through Roll20/ GMBinder. For this one-shot page, Tim has utilized sections, dividing the article into the Synopsis, Introduction, Task, goods, and rewards, with each section giving information for a different part of the quest, with the synopsis just giving a general overview. Additionally in this post, Tim has elected to use the side bard to convey quest details, as well as relevant articles in relation to where the quest takes place.

7. Inklock

Now onto Tim's Item entry, the Inklock. Like many of Tim's items, the content is divided between titles used to describe the many abilities or function his creations have. A nice addition not seen on the cards, however, is a sales pitch and quote that can be found at the top of the article. Additionally, the Squidward alternative name is a great little gag.
8. War of the Towers The last article by Tim de Roos that I'll be including in this reading list, Tim created an article for the Military Conflict category, which I've been meaning to read for a while. He utilizes the sidebar to convey important but quick information, such as the start and end dates, locations, participating organizations, and a list of allied forces to one of the organizations (the Kingdom of Wolfsbrunn). He then goes on to write several paragraphs depicting different stages of the war and divided by titles. I am inclined to say this reads well.
9. The Creation of the Fellstones While trying to find a couple more articles to finish off my list, I decided to look into some Myths / Legends, which is the category of this article. Right off the bat, I find the layout of the article page to be interesting, I'm assuming this is universal across the Nycos WA, but I like how the maps at the top of the article and in the background. The only notable issue is that the world header covers the bottom of the map. Similar to when I write myths and legends, The Creation of the Fellstones is just one large block of text with no sections or divide, which makes sense as when writing a myth or legend, you must acknowledge that it is just a story, and dissecting your own stories isn't fun or easy. I believe the fellstones themselves, which is what attracted me to the article, are a band of adventurers that attempted to use 7 congruent wish spells to undo the horrors of the previous war that had ravaged the world for generations. unfortunately for them, one member changed their spell slightly, and I believe the aftereffect cause the war to continue and them all to turn to stone? or maybe just die. It is wordy, like LotR.

• A note: Immediately from the first paragraph, I can tell this guy likes Elder Scrolls and LotR!

10. ENCYCLOPEDIA NIORATHA

To end this list off, I decided to go with a reading I had done prior to starting the list; Kefkejaco's Important Document entry, the Encyclopedia Nioratha. And what can I really say, the written portion of the document is simple, really just giving us a quote and describing the iterations and distributions of the encyclopedia, but what made this article so impressive, and keeps it in the back of my head, is the fact that the encyclopedia is designed to doubles as a sort of landing page, with its contents section acting as a navigation tool for the rest of the WA site, which is nothing short of bloody generous. At some point, when I attempt to revamp the navigation of my work, I know I'll take some form of inspiration from this article.

New Years Resolutions

Why I'm not much of a resolution guy myself, I guess that If I had to say anything, with the ending of my night shift job, I hope to have more time to continue writing articles, and starting to make the actual world I'm working on congruent, as opposed to a bunch of relatively unorganized and disconnected/ empty articles. Additionally, I hope to start working on the Team Brievary Instagram once again, start producing Homebrewed content to Reddit, and possibly start monetizing such products.