Ushering in 2025

The past year...well, few years honestly, have not been a great time for me. Between mental health struggles, poor relationship choices and the current state of the world its been hard to feel motivated and want to do things. Around August I decided to dive into world building. Tanaria had been a project of mine since 2003 that started as a hand drawn map and a half-baked idea. Getting into D&D last year revived that project. I've always been a writer and used my loose ideas in roleplays and stories, but those stories, save for a few, were always fleeting and never required that I buckle down and flesh out actual lore.
With D&D I had to have a solid foundation, sure I could have used the canon or premade stuff, but what fun is that, right? So, Tanaria began growing, little by little, block by block into a world filled with fantasic creatures, dynamic peoples and cultures, rich history and traditions and the more I worked on it the better I felt. It has been so rewarding to build this from nothing and create something.
Even as I began working on Tanaria here, I was not active in the community for one reason or another, maybe it was fear of rejection or perhaps because of how I utelize AI to assist as a sounding board for ideas and format things I thought that made my work "less than". But Tanaria is my baby, the ideas are mine, from the Werewolf packs of Skölna, to the creatures in the depths of the Mesowet Ocean, the trickster god Igmut and the newest race of Tanaria, the Zemanii, regardless of what I use to help me put my ideas to "paper" these ideas are mine, building and creating with people that are important to me in a world that has been in my dreams for decades.
I decided to take part in the Worldember challenge on a whim, just to see what I could accomplish in December and I couldn't be happier with the results. Not only did I nearly reach 200,000 words written and get out I don't even know how many articles, SO much of Tanaria has been developed, and while it is only a fracton of what I want this world to become, I have new holidays and lore, history and people. It has been a wonderful experience for my creativity but not only that, it allowed me to dip my toes in the community and meet and interact with many AMAZING world builders that I have inspired me and motivated me in new ways. So, to all that take the time to read this, thank you. Thank you for your worlds, thank you for your encouragement, and thank you for your support and positivity. I can't wait to see what you all create in the coming year.
As 2025 rolls in I am eager to see what is in store for Tanaria. I have some ideas, but as many world builders and writers know... sometimes worlds and characters take on a life of their own and surprise you in their own ways!

---

Biggest Inspirations

Aiterean in Lethea

First is Dhelian's Aiterean Language. Not only did they take time working on the script and figuring out the linguistics and grammar, but it is easy to see this is a labor of love. Languages are something that interest me deeply so this article was one that really resonated with me. It made me excited to work on my own langauges and consider tackling a script one of these days. This was really an inspiration and I'm so glad I got to read it!

Paddlewick in Alana

This is one I just love. The mood and tone of the article itself is inspiring and lovely. Even without the pictures its easy to envision this little town. It outlines shops and key points and feels overall like a tourist's guide, which I love. Informative, intimate and all around lovely.

Make Lore, Not War's Kena'an

I'll be honest, I love most of what Imagica makes. I love the aestetic of Kena'an's articles and the design of the pages. The ideas are well thought out and easy to read. I love how when reading most of their articles it feels like I'm listening to a story from a friend sharing something that excites them and that is probably what inspires me most, is the tone of their articles and how engaging they can be. While I like having a more "textbook" feel to most of my articles, I really love and appreciate the feelings Imagica evokes in their writing. The kitchen article specifically, I thought was really cool, especially as I really enjoy when people take time to put in those little extra details in their world that don't necessarily play a huge or even overly necessary part, but really show how much love and time and thought go into their work. Another thing I love about Imagica's articles is how eager they seem to share the spotlight, linking other articles and mentioning things they like and were inspired by even outside of events like these.

Moths of Arotora

This is a simple little article but I just love it. It is a great example of how you can spend as much or little time on an idea and I am a sucker for those small details, but a lot of time when I'm thinking about the fauna of my world, I'm thinking about the big critters like my Strixia or the Clawstriker, but this article really reminded me to also consider some of the smaller denizens of Tanaria as well as variations and subspecies and while some people might not appreciate the time and effort that might go into the creepy crawlies of the world, its something, to me, that shows how much love and dedication is going into a creation. Also, because Velmorra, my goddess of death is associated with moths, this article also gave me some interesting ideas!

Scalenex's Thinking Medieval

I don't remember how I found Scanlenex's stuff, maybe they found me first, but regardless I couldn't pick one article from this series that I didn't like or find useful. This whole series is comparing history with fantasy world building, considering the similarities and differences between Scarterra and our world. Every time they publish a new part of the series, more often than not I am thinking about or considering new things for my own world, be it something I never considered but certainly has a place, like where people take a crap or the use of tools or weapons and why one group of people might use those things over another. Its a great series and I defintely recommend giving it a peek.

Karak'Thoon in Havenguard

This was a nice find, I find myself often so caught up in the politics, geography and demographics of a settlement or area that I don't consider the people and how they deal with problems that might occur based on location and this was a nice reminder that for a world to feel real and immersive there are things that need to be considered, because people are resiliant and are going to do whatever they need to do to make things easier for themeslves.

Zuelis-Tyt in Crimson Court

The whole aesthetic of this world is just wonderful. I love the vibe and feel while perusing the pages. I really enjoy the use of quoteblocks to set a mood or tone and its something I always think of efter the fact and never go back and do myself. I love the idea of Great Beasts and its something I plan to implement in my world eventually, so this was a great find and a great read for many reasons!

Lady Lyanna in Starry Skies

Everything Girlgeek goes inspires me. I know she uses WA as a repository for her plots and characters, but her characters are wonderful, well rounded and relatable. Even making them on the fly for new stories, the ability to make characters with strengths and weaknesses, that feel like real people is a talent that I've seen many flop. Lyanna is just one of many amazing characters and Girlgeek inspires me to make more characters of my own instead of always relying on the characters I'm comfortable with. I already have three new characters because of her and I look foward to the new boys and girls that will fill my world in the coming year.

My 2025 Goals

There are so many things I could put on this list for the coming year, but I want to try and keep my goals attainable because I know I will beat myself up or get frustrated if I fail. So the big ones for me are going to be getting my roleplays into stories. I have so many great co-written stories that have developed so much of Tanaria's lore and history and I'd love to get them into a format that is easy to share.

Transcribe my lore-related roleplay stories into novel format
Get all of my OCs into articles
Learn more CSS to make my pages really look the way I want!
Finish importing my old Bestiary

Being an avid roleplayer/writer I have WAY too many OCs but most of them are over ten years old and very developed so having them here in a place where they can be fully fleshed out and have a "home" I know will feel really good.
I started learning CSS here during Worldember so now being able to take my time and make my pages look great is going to be both a pain in the ass and super rewarding so at some point during the coming year I'd love to tackle more CSS and get my Tanaria page looking fresh!
I also have an old simple bestiary I made YEARS ago and I've been slowly working on adding those articles here. I have well over 50 to do, but I think if I pace myself I can get most if not all of them done in the coming year!
Some softer goals would be to work on my writing skills as a whole, take part in as many WA events as I can, and try and finish all of the regions/Countries on the Arandor continent.