Summer Camp Prep 2025

Introduction

This will be my first Summer Camp, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to push myself. I intend to go completionist on this, much as I did with Spooktober, and will therefore be aiming for Diamond.

It's not like I have much else to do at the moment!

I will be working on my primary world, A'arde. At this point, I haven't made any solid decisions about specific areas that I wish to work on. This is mainly because A'arde is so new, I could literally work on anywhere and it would make an immediate impact!

Assignment Schedule

31st May: "Nourishment"; Pledge Document; Outdated Articles & Meta
7th June: "Roots"; Review Your Setting's Roots; Back To Your Roots
14th June: "Metamorphosis"; Shake Things Up; Learn from Other Worldbuilders
21st June: "Tomorrow"; Plan Ahead; Connect with the Community
28th June: Summer Camp Launch

Assignment 1

Theme: Nourishment

A'arde is a fantasy world with a combination of biological, magical and supernatural entities within, This means that nourishment can come in many forms, including but not limited to:

  • Physical - Agriculture, Culinary Arts, Food
  • Spiritual - Worship, Prayer, Meditation
  • Intellectual - Education, Training, Opportunity
  • Cultural - Traditions, Arts, History
  • Magical - The Weave, Types of Magic, Enhancement

The theme of "Nourishment" doesn't really speak to me at this stage, as it comes across as incredibly broad with a lot of possible applications. I think, in this case, I may well just wait until the prompts come out to decide what to do with it, as there is so much I could potentially do and I just haven't finalised any specifics yet.

Pledge Document

Insert Image

Outdated Articles and Meta

Much of my World is less than eight months old, and the Meta was only updated during WorldEmber. At this point, I don't see that it is worth my while to go back through old articles or my Meta, as I am happy with what I have so far.


Assignment 2

Theme: "Roots"

The issue that I have here, is that the assignment asks us to talk about cultures and their origins. My world has literally hundreds of them, spread across multiple planes of existence. And as I don't have a specific area that I wish to work on, it wouldn't be fair for me to outline any of them.

The only origin story I would be keen to outline here is the origin of A'arde itself, as it was originally a magicless world like our own that fell victim to a magical invasion from God-like entities. A'arde only came into being because of the intervention of another entity, the benevolent God Aegis, who tore down the antimagic curtain surrounding the realm and tranformed the Mortal survivors of the world into Gods so that they could fight back against the Primeval Titans. It's an origin I'm quite proud of, and I would love to explore it more. However, it doesn't exactly constitute as a culture so I'm not sure how it would fit in with the prompts.

I'm honestly not finding this theme particularly speaks to me on its own either. Maybe it would if I had more focus in what I wanted to achieve, but with much of my world being less than 8 months old I just can't bring myself to restrict my creativity in that way. I'm hoping the individual prompts will inspire more joy...

Review Your Setting's Roots

I literally rewrote my Homepage, Primer, etc for WorldEmber... I am NOT touching them again until next WorldEmber. The only addition I may make is the inclusion of a World Map, as that is also part of my challenge for Blue Fairy.

Back To Your Roots

My first worldbuilding project was made almost thirty years ago, when I was still single digits in age and making up a world to tell stories to my little sister and cousins. I can honestly say that NONE of that is relevant to me now!

I have come up with so many concepts and ideas over the years that many of them have melded into a single, gloopy memory. How many of them have inspired A'arde? I honestly could not tell you.

I have been writing, adapting, and changing my approach for three decades, so for me it is impossible to identify those mistakes, ideas and changes for the sake of this article. And honestly... I don't have the desire to try.


Assignment 3

Theme: "Metamorphosis"

Oh jeez... another big theme that could have ANY NUMBER of possibilities within my world... This is not helping to narrow things down either...

I could talk about any number of things, and none of it would have any bearing on what I end up writing about during Summer Camp! The evolution of the Elves, the arrival of magic in the world, transition between Ages, the way different magical animals came into being... It's so vast, that much like "Nourishment", I'm not all that keen on talking specifics, and will wait for the prompts.

Shake Things Up

Unfortunately, I had to skip this section, as I just didn't have the time to go out looking for new things. It has been a busy month, but I don't feel that bad about it. I'm not exactly short on inspiration at the moment, so I'm not worried!

Learn from Other Worldbuilders

I actually find that simply reading articles isn't all that helpful on its own. I tried reading a few, including some from Tyrdal, Tillerz, and Imagica, but while I did learn some interesting new things about their worlds, I didn't find that it gave me any new ideas.

Instead, I found myself veering toward something a little different. A good old chin-wag!

I regularly worldbuild alongside LollyBeau, who is one of my best friends, and she is always an inspiration for me. We have a lot in common in terms of things we like, but also have enough differences and contrasting experiences that we are able to bounce off each other without it being an echo chamber.

I've also had some conversations with my friend Karagar, who is in the process of transferring his world over from Obsidian Portal. This has predominantly been along the lines of sensitivity, species traits, and emotional involvement!


Assignment 4

Theme: "Tomorrow"

This is actually something I can really chew on. The concept of Fate is a very big thing in A'arde, and there are Gods dedicated to it who literally write the future - both as fixed eventualities and as flexible events that can change. In A'arde, tomorrow isn't necessarily written in stone, especially as certain events within it are dependant on what players in my games do and decide!

I have a clear idea of certain events that are going to happen in my world, beyond the year 1492. Currently, players in my games are operating in 1478 and 1488, so some things have the potential to change depending on what they do. These things are unlikely to have major impacts on the key plot points of the novels, but could have some interesting effects on background events and historical references that I add!

Plan Ahead

Writing schedule

I don't have a job, so I can write whenever I have a moment! I'll mostly be timing it around when my puppy has a nap though!

Writing space

I have both my laptop and my PC set up with WA access and all my research is either in notebooks or on my phone. This means I can switch between the two at will.

Worldbuilding resources

Notebooks, check. Sourcebooks, check. Phone full of random links and ideas, check!

Look at your stubs

I actually don't have that many stubs as I hate having small, pointless articles. The few that I do have are not currently relevant to the themes.

Connect with the Community

I'm on the server already, and have made my intentions clear over on Twitch, where I have been streaming as part of an Actual Play. I'm hoping to set up more streaming to help me keep on track, and my friend Lolly has agreed to whip me into shape if I get lax!


Prompts

See my Competition Homepage here

A myth about a legendary food or drink (Myth)
A substance known for its unique smell (Material)
A profession related to spirituality or philosophy (Profession)
A charity dedicated to those in need (Organisation)
A ritual related to agriculture (Tradition)
A species that feeds through a symbiotic relationship (Species)
A condition you can get from eating specific foods (Condition)
A delicious staple found on every dinner table (Item)
WILD CARD: A city many people want to visit (Settlement)
WILD CARD: A place people aren't supposed to go (Geography)
An organisation rooted in controversial principles (Organisation)
A myth surrounding the birth of an important person in your world (Myth)
A character known for their numerous progeny (Character)
A foundational document for a country, religion or other organisation (Document)
A garment traditionally associated with a culture (Item)
The place of origin of a people in your world (Geography)
An ancient tongue from which many common idioms spring (Language)
A war that resulted in the creation of something new (Conflict)
WILD CARD: A symbolic building (Building/Landmark)
WILD CARD: A diaspora spread around the world (Ethnicity)
A settlement that has been rebuilt several times (Settlement)
An ever-changing location that requires its inhabitants to adapt (Geography)
A subculture that appeared due to social changes (Ethnicity)
A transformation caused by a celestial body (Natural Law)
A formation known for its adaptability (Formation)
A technology invented to prevent or delay a transformation (Technology)
A ritual that's changed meaning throughout the years (Tradition)
A species that undergoes a metamorphosis (Species)
WILD CARD: An animal celebrity (Character)
WILD CARD: A job many people aspire to but few achieve (Profession)


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