World Anvil's Summer Camp is upon us again, and here comes another worldbuilding pledge.
This Worldanvil Summer Camp... I pledge to try and do.
... Yeah.
I'm not sure what the next month is going to look like, so I'm going to give things a go and see where it takes me. Ideally I'd love to reach at least bronze, but we'll see!
Sea Hears Project
As usual, I will be focusing on the world of Sea Hears for Summer Camp. I hope that the prompts will help me continue to fill out the world and drive curiosity to my visual novel.
Week 1: Power
There is a lot of
irony of power as a theme in Sea Hears, in which the powerful are not as powerful as they seem, or are much worse, and consequences for beholding such power are unpredictable. There are powerful nations that squabble over ideology and borders, powerful leaders with different methods of gaining control and command, and underground organisations with broad ideas about how the world should actually be run.
The most powerful element of
Gaia is
Gaia herself, who does not behold an allegiance to anyone.
The weather on Gaia is unpredictable; the sea can suddenly rise as a typhoon, and storm veteran sea vessels, raiding the crew and plunging them to the seafloor. The most powerful
Concepts of Magic is Calling magic, which is about making a connection with Gaia and giving in to whatever results may come forth... Ultimately, extreme power without control.
Lo Chen and
Alice Monaghan are very proficient in this magic concept.
Article ideas
- I already have an article on the Cantari - Empire , but I could write offshoot articles to go into more detail, talk about the previous emperors, or Meigui's rise to power.
- I've still yet to write about the Federation, nor its complex relationship with the Eastern states, so that'll be one to work on.
- There are still many teachers to write about. I could also write about the discipline policy in the academy.
- Powerful creatures... Sanguin always has room.
- The land of Kings also need writing up...
Week 2: Frontiers
I have to admit, 'frontiers' is quite a daunting theme for me. Part of the problem is that I am often guilty in writing 'in my head' rather than on paper or a word processor, and so feel insufficient to describe big ideas into easily digestable articles! Therefore, I have to admit that this theme could be quite helpful to me. There are lots of Frontiers from the perspective of Taru, Cantari and the Federation (the countries/empires/organisations that are most relevant to the main visual novel) that I could discuss, including the place where there is a potential school trip in the future... The only problem is, I can't remember what it was supposed to be called, oops!
Article ideas
- I could write about the 'underground' frontiers
- Once again, the Land of Kings...
- Possibly some references to humanity returning to land?
- Exploring Sanguin's ruins
Week 3: Relics
Ah, this one is possibly more relevant to my spin off visual novel, Sand. There are lots of relics and treasures to be found by brave (or foolish!) folk exploring the
Elliot Canyon. Joshua, the lead character in Sand, seeks to find enough treasure from the Old World to sell/trade in order to buy medicine for his sister. While I have already planned what kinds of treasure the player will find, it might help my world to expand a little bit on the different kinds of relics and artefacts one might find.
I also wrote a one-shot storytelling adventure for the WA one-shot challenge in April which involves players searching the dangerous sands to fulfil their personal character goals. I have been asked to continue work on this project, so these prompts could be helpful for me expanding this part of Sea Hears Project as well!
It would also be helpful for me to explain more about the current technology of the world, and emphasise more its solarpunk theme. Which technologies aided as stepping stones? And what Old World technology may have possibly remained?
Article ideas
- I could write about Old World relics found in Sanguin or elsewhere
- I could think about technology that is linked to the modern tech in the world
- Relics of significant cultural importance...
Week 4: Communications
Coooor, this is a vague one! Communication can literally mean anything, but the good news is that as it can mean
literally anything, the prompts should be quite freeing and extra flexible.
Languages are a thing in the world of Sea Hears. Players can direct their characters to pick up some words from different languages to increase their standing with others, improve their grades and potentially improve their law magic. Languages are also used as a political tool, with the Federation promoting its language 'Common', as in fact,
common. The
Cantari - Empire is influencing the
Cantari Continent with the
Cantari Language, with some generations in nearby regions slowly forgetting their native dialect. I may delve into this further in the future.
Other things communicate. Relics communicate. Magic communicates - actually, there is some cool effects I can write about that if I haven't done so already. Hmm. I look forward to these prompts!
Anvil Sailors
A few amazing folks have made shareable badges to showcase how they want to get involved with Summer Camp this year. This includes the hyped
Camp Feral,
Bronze Buddiesand
Camp Chill.
I made the 'Anvil Sailors' badge, in-case there are any folk who would like to join in an attempt
by commenting on folks' articles now and again, to
facilitate encouragement and Summer Camp cheer.
It shouldn't be a race on who can comment the most, but I know how nice it is to get some feedback on articles.
I'll put a very subtle 'yarr' or some kind of piratey thing on my comments on Summer Camp articles this year. Feel free to join me and use this badge if you'd like.
Who are the characters in the banner?
The banner features concept art for my visual novel, with the Worldanvil Summer Camp logo in the centre.
On the left, there is
Eleanor, a student at
Taru International Academy. On the right, there is
Tilde, who is also on her way to attend the academy. Both characters are playable in my upcoming visual novel.
Other credits: Photo of water is free for commercial use via
https://pixabay.com/.
Nimin N
Wish you the best with reaching bronze this summer camp, and hope you have fun with it! Also, it's been so fun to see all the different camps/clubs rising this year. Anvil Sailors is a really nice idea, if you can be in multiple camps I'd rock both that one and camp chill, both would fit my approach perfect. <3
Sailing Ocelot
Ahoy! Thank you very much for your comment! I love the explosion of camps/clubs too and found it very inspiring. Camp chill is an awesome concept and I see no reason why folks can't be in both! I wish you the best of luck with your goals too!