Summer Camp of '26: Prep

Foreword

Before I get to pledging, I want to say a few words. I'll try to keep it brief, no promises ;).

I first want to say how awesome and amaing this community has been. From helping me with dumb questions I have to encouraging me to do this. But most of all, helping me to understand that I am human and that I don't have to overachieve lol. That being said, onto the pledge :).

The Pledge

The Goal

This years summer camp will be my first, and while I am really excited....I am a little nervous and it feels daunting. This will be my first ever "live" participation world building event, and while I want people to see my world in all it's glory (because I am quite proud of what I have come up with so far)....I am afraid it sucks.

But remember how I mentioned how awesome the community is? They helped me come out of my shell, and made me realize we are all human and are all doing this together...well together but seperately hehe. Although one big world made by the community would be cool...chaotic, but cool nonetheless.

That being said, being human also comes with pressures. And no one pressures me like me. I have this tendency to overdo things. To try and mke myself go for way too much. It is why I tend to burn out a lot, and why my self image is so negative. I set goals too high for my current point in life, and when I inevitably fail...I curse myself. It makes me not want to do these things.... BUT NO MORE.

I pledge to at the very least achieve bronze in this years summer camp. I am going to go for bronze, and if I happen to go beyond, then that is awesome. But I need to start working on caring for myself, which includes removing things that lead to negative outcomes and self image. That means choosing a goal that is attainable to me right now. Because next year I might be a pro, I could pledge diamond and reach it next year. But guess what? We live in the here and now, and today I pledge bronze.

The World

The world I am choosing to work on for Summer Camp is Therecia. Therecia is a cool (well I think so at least) world that is wracked by near constant storms. And while it is mostly earth like, there are some varying differences, like the flora, fauna, and existence of magic.

I am really excited to continue work on this world, and hope anyone who sees it, if anyone even does, likes it :).

The Prep Work

Week One: Love

So for week one we were given a hopscotch table to roll, see below. And while that seems fun, Therecia is new. Not brand new mind you, but newer. And I am lacking in both a world meta and a world primer. So I shall be working on the meta for sure, but might get to a primer depending on how work goes lol. Being an adult sucks sometimes.

EDIT: The meta is complete :)

https://www.worldanvil.com/w/therecia-patrick-terry/meta#full-layout

Extra Credit

We were given an optional prep task in the form of a prompt. This is to get us in the mood for the first wave of prompts in July which will focus on love.

Me being me, of course I had to go for it.

The prompt is:

I chose to go with a settlement based off a myth, a torrid love story of a mortal woman and a literal deity.

That settlement is: Idris.

Week Two: Growth

Week two is here! And it's all about growth. Growth is all about going from one point another. Be it physically, mentally, or even achieving something.

Growth in Therecia:

Now growth comes in a bunch of forms in Therecia. From the growth of a newborn Elecorn to adulthood, the growth as an Elemancer as they hone their skills, and even....the growth of a cult as they gain numbers and spread across the land...

Assignment: Focus

This week we were tasked with the job of refining our scope of what we'd be focusing on during summer camp. I've decided to focus on the continent of Akalan.

Akalan is home to the country of Telecia, among others, and houses such geographical features such as the Stormbarren Desert, the Fulgurite Forests, and the Howling Heath.

It is also the birthplace of the magicidal cult known as the The Iron Brotherhood.

It is home to many different religions such as the monotheistic religion of Therenism and the various types of beliefs of the tribes of the Stormbarren Desert.

Hopscotch Week Two: Electric Boogaloo

I once again chose my hopscotch square, as I find the first of the number four box to be the most interesting to me.

That and I severely lack any and all forms of structure lmao.

So over the next few days I shall be we structuring the articles for the Akalan Continent, making my life easier in the long run.

Bonus Prompt:

A very neat part of the Akalan Continent is an area called Telecian Corridor.

The Telecian Corridor is unique because it is a large curved second land bordered one side by a mountain range and a desert, and on the other three sides by rough stormy seas.

The geography varies wildly in just a few hundred miles, from high frigid peaks breaking up storms, to a sparse desert, then grasslands, and then choppy coasts.

In this area you can find the Telecians, the tribes of the Stormbarren Desert, and more.

Week Three: Loss

A Prelude to Loss:

So before I get into my homework for week three, I want to go into how life has been going so far. So...I am late on week three. As I write this, I am two days before Summer Camp actually begins. Life has gotten hectic, with me having a LOSS of self, time, and energy. I was plagued by constant depressive episodes which sapped my energy and made me unable to do much of anything.

But despite this, the community rallied around me, and made me strong. Through them I found the confidence to pick my metaphorical pencil back up and trudge on. And so here we are. Strength rekindled, and dreams reignited.

Why bring this up though? Because it's on theme silly. Everyone no matter who they are, has experienced some kind of loss. From my recent time with loss of motivation and self worth to someone elses struggles with a loss of a loved one or the loss of hair, everyone has lost something. A sobering thought.

Loss in Therecia:

Just like the real world Therecia is no stranger to loss. From the tropical thunderforests of Shindara to the desert and plains of Akalan, the whole of Therecia has experienced loss of some kind. I however shall shed some light on the area of focus I chose, that being the Continent of Akalan.

Akalan has a few events it's history that have lead to loss, one existing during the The War of Storms and Iron, during which the The Iron Brotherhood waged an all out war against mages. During this bloody magicidal conflict, the brotherhood killed, tortured, persecuted, and opressed any mages. This led to a lot of smaller tribes in the Stormbarren Desert being wiped out, and the culture they had was lost. On top of this, mage culture in general was lost, not entirely, but a good chunk is gone.

Another thing that crept up in this era of this part of the world is something....internal. You see, a mage feels a sense of freedom with their powers. The ability to soar amongst the clouds, to channel a very force of nature gives you a high you cannot let go of.

So when the Iron Brotherhood started stripping people of powers for extended periods of time, people felt lost. hey not only lost their powers, but they lost themselves. A loss of identity through and through.

Assignment:

So for this assignment we were tasked with planning out our writing time, as life gets busy and we need to be prepared to write. While I would love to have a precise writing schedule, I work random days a week and at different times...so it's hard.

However, I will try my best to write every day between the hours of 8-10 am. I will also do my best to put extra effort on my two days off whenever they be.

Hopscotch:

I decided to roll for this hopscotch, and rolled a three. I spent a few minutes delving into a few of my fellow Anvilites articles. I am filled with a sense of awe, inspiration, and excitement at what I've read. It was all very intriguing and immersive.

Week Four: Family

Week four is all aout family. Family like all of our topics, is a wide topic, and is more than just blood and found families. Families can encompass, families of magical classifications, families of plants and animals, and even cults.

Family in Therecia

Family takes many forms in Therecia, but I would like to highlight a few of the areas I find most interesting:

• The (TBD) Classification of magic: a way of classifying magic into families of lole spells.
• The Iron Brotherhood: A Magicidal cult that believes non-magic people are superior. They live in major cities throughout Telecia and hold influence over the crown.
• The Ionar Bloodline: The path of succession of the royal family of telecia has been passed down through the Ionar family, with people marrying into the crown taking the name.

Assignment:

This week we were tasked with digging deep and explaining why we want to world build. I find this question really thoughtful and I honestly dont think about the why enough.

I like world building because it is therapeutic to me, and it helps me express my inner creativity in a way I find engaging.

A better answer however is that I started world building around 7 years ago as a way to engage with with my friends, we all liked reading and thus started writing a book together.

Fast forward to 2021 and I was struggling with where I wanted to go with my life. It felt like I lacked any direction and path. But I had skills. And so I decided that I would put them towards something I was passionate about.

And so, I world build to give people an escape from the world around them, and to help me.

I believe this will help me with summer camp as I remember where I came from and why I do what I do. It'll motivate me to do better and be better.

Hopscotch:

So I decided to cheap out a little on this one, and used my Spotify Playlist for the "world building playlist" as its what I'll be listening to.

It's my go to metal and rock Playlist. :)