Entry for New Years 2023 - StalwartLight

Articles Read:

One:

The Vault Ring
The Vault Ring is functional a biometrically encoded credit card/USB drive. The corporation behind the rings brags about how much security they have built into the rings, and due to the biometric security hacking an active ring is next to impossible. What is interesting about the rings is that sometimes a ring will have funds available without someone locked to the ring. My first thought was to include stealing such loaded but open rings as part of a quest in an RPG. It would also be fun to figure out a quest sequence where the Elites mentioned in the article would be coerced or forced to transfer funds to the party for some reason. An application to my world would be an item that has the same unique locking mechanism. The draw of such items is that they only allows designated users to access funds or information.

Two:

The Archivists
The Archivists are a group of highly educated knowledge keepers. Not only do they keep knowledge safe, but they also serve as a dispensary of knowledge. Their main use is to ensure the fickle gods of Divine Tyranny are appeased or pleased by the actions of the various denizens of the world. What's intriguing is the Archivists place a great deal of emphasis on researching and chronicling the activities of the gods. They also spend a great deal of time maintaining the history of the world. Both of these services work together in fulfilment of the main goal of the Archivists. For me, this element is less creating a group to keep the records and more entrusting specific families to keep knowledge safe. Others would be responsible for creating those records in the first place.

Three:

People's Militias
The Militia are presented as an ever-present problem for an occupying force. As a result, the invaders can never really put an end to the resistance. The militia will keep coming back no matter how aggressive the occupation is. The application to my writing is to remember that not all civilizations are content to go with the flow of changing control. Some peoples will actively resist being conquered, even if they originally lost the war for their homeland. Militias are important to a world to make in feel more lived in, as militias are often the uprising of normal people who have no interest in being occupied and abused.

Four:

Ether
The Ether is a source of magical abilities for the world. It is a bit more refined than a basic magic system, but it is clear that author intends for the use of Ether to be quite flexible. From the looks of it, Ether is only limited in its applications to the aptitude of the user. Ether exists in my world in the form of Mana. My plans for Mana revolve around making it a common resource, but the ability to use Mana for anything meaningful will be uncommon. Magi will be everywhere in some cultures, but extremely rare in others.

Five:

Alchemical Flasks
These flasks present a horrifying connotation. The idea of being in a medieval army and getting hit with what is effectively napalm is terrifying. The main draw of these flasks is their ability to replace oil, fats, or pitch on the battlefield. They also enable the disorienting effects of flashbangs to be used at scale during a pitched battle. For the user, these flasks have the potential to keep them out of a difficult situation. Alchemy is present in Vitcoona, and much like Mana is a readily available resource. However, alchemy requires a great deal of patient study to truly master and being extracting the most potent effects out of ingredients. In some cases, alchemists have the ability to create four potions out one potion's worth of ingredients. This is possible through careful extraction and concentration of ingredient properties.

Six:

Hadrian - The Iron Fist of Blood and Rust
Hadrian is a deity that feeds off conflict. War is the purest and most concentrated source of conflict. The author has done an excellent job making Hadrian feel like a person and not some enigmatic force. Hadrian has a palpable goal, and he takes specific actions to achieve his goals. What is quite intriguing about Hadrian is he does not have a moral requirement from his followers. Rather, he expects them to live out there passion, which leads to conflict, and conflict sustains Hadrian. From my perspective, when it comes time to create deities for Vitcoona, I'll need to be sure to incorporate the same feeling of life that is incorporated into Hadrian.

Seven:

Hut Hut
Gotta love a weird tavern. Honestly, people getting freaked out by a tavern on a giant chicken body is reasonable, but I would be intrigued enough to try it out myself. From the sounds of it, the tavern keeper is friendly, but she is not able to properly communicate. Personally, I very much like the idea of a tavern that just leaves whenever it wants to. It is a very interesting read. To be honest, I am going to have to remember to create a weird building for people to read about in my world.

Eight:

The Great Truth
This article is a myth setting up the conflict of a greater story. What is fun about The Great Truth is that it conceals from everyone the source of the problem. I presume that the world of Medieval Zombies has very limited magic due to the need for artifacts to channel magic. Perhaps artifacts are commonplace thanks to their uses prior to magic being restricted, but I find it fun that magic is difficult to use. Magic systems do not always need to give ready access to magic and the abilities contained within the realm of the arcane. For me, I will give some thought about how magic is used in my world, and if it really should be a common resource people have access to.

Nine:

Doc Milton
This is one of those characters I'd be suspicious of just because he does not look right. Having played a good bit of Fallout, I have learned that not all weirdos want to bash your brains in, just most of them. Doc Milton seems to be the kind of guy that wants to make his parents proud originally, but he ends up betrayed by them and left to rot. The fact that it is another freak (a ghoul no less) that ends up rescuing him from slavers. I feel the need to incorporate some characters who get shunned simply because they look a little strange (or a lot strange as may be the case). I do greatly look forward to creating some characters that can only be fairly described as weird.

Ten:

The Creator
The Creator is a little vaguely described, and I believe that is done on purpose. The whole point of the Creator within the story appears to be that nobody fully understands them and nobody is brave enough to figure them out. In my writing, the good deities will engage in personal relationships. While still viewed with fear, the good deities I have planned will be personal creatures. To be honest, I do hope to create gods that feel like purified people themselves. This article has inspired me to get around to creating deities that have awesome powers, but are still "people" if you will. I am looking forward to the work to come.

My Resolution:

I'm going to create a three-part resolution for WorldAnvil.

Resolution 1: Get better at formatting articles.

I've noticed through my reading that the articles I've been creating need a little more attention to formatting and cosmetics. I don't have an artist yet, and my own artistic abilities need a lot of development before I start sharing my own artwork. However, I can use article formatting to present articles that are more pleasant to look at and read. My plan this year is to create more polished articles.

Resolution 2: Completely set up on the world of Vitcoona

I have some mechanics at a global level in mind that I actually need to write down. Some have already started to appear in my writing. I won't list out all of the world mechanics I want to create, but one of the big ones is Pylons and how different nations manipulate Pylons.

Resolution 3: Introduce the BBEG and his opponents

I most definitely have a BBEG in mind, and I thought he had a stub created for him. Unfortunately, I'll need to go dig up the name for my BBEG. Either way, I want to set up the main conflict of Vitcoona, because the overarching conflict between the evil god and the good gods is going to be the motivator for a lot of stuff that happens on Vitcoona.
Ultimately, I greatly enjoyed exploring around the greater WorldAnvil community. I'm excited for what the new year is going to bring for my world, and I hope to see some major progress on my project.