Summer Camp 2024

I would be cracking my knuckles right now if I could, haha.   2024 marks my second World Anvil Summer Camp. And thankfully, I'm not evacuated due to wildfires this year (I hope saying that won't have it happen anyway, lol).   So, this year I'm going to try and go for the diamond badge again. I only got a silver last year, and that's because my mind was always wandering and I kept looking up what flowers I would like in my garden or playing with css so my world looked better. Make an ADHD brain aware of something to do that isn't the task needing done and it will switch to focus on that, lol.   I don't think Eldûra is old enough to run into any of the issues that WorldAnvil hinted at in their WorldAnvil Summer Camp Homework post. I have been working on Eldûra since 2015-ish, but I wasn't seriously world building until last year—wait! Has it been ten years already?!   Time goes way too fast.   Alrighty then, to the homework! Like I did last year, I will update this article week by week as June goes along. To success with Summer Camp 2024, focused minds, and successful gardens! Cheers!

---

 

Week 1: Change

When it comes to change and the world of Eldûra, I can see a lot of different ways that I could write about change. I already have a couple of examples of such events: The disasterous end to the Epoch of War that lead to the beginning of the Epoch of Snow, and the usurpation of the Throne of Súvalonädír, the kingdom that existed before Aktigar, the precurser of of Talnor. I've been wanting to write more about King Nesui and Súvalonädír, so hopefully I'll get that chance.   I'm going to prep by writing down ideas in a list to they don't float away and disappear when I finally see the prompts, lol.    

Week 2: Refuge

Refuge is something that has come up in Eldûra more than once. The first recorded refuge in this world was Eldûra itself, as humanity was transplanted from Earth after the whole Incident™ at the Tower of Babel into this new sister world. Of course, stuff happened, discord grew, and Eldûra is no longer a refuge.   The next refuge I can think of is the refuge people had to seek when the Epoch of War ended with The Battle of Unspoken Grief and the gruesome impact of the meteroid that ended it all and sent the whole world into an impact winter that lasted nearly 300 years. They took refuge in caves underground, lush places that seem to contradict the absense of the sun. These refuges were discovered by the dwarves, and the dwarves were the ones that helped the survivors find a new home. The royal family and their servants took refuge in their cellars until the dwarves found them, as depicted in this short story I wrote: "As Ashen Tears Fall from Above".   I have a couple more ideas of refuges that exist in this world, scattered across time and space. The Forgotten Princess' castle in the Forbidden Mountains of Bélar could be another refuge—the princess' refuge. And then there's this idea I've been toying with involving a remote castle, monsters, a man called "The Dark Lord" while being anything but, and a girl finding refuge in his lands... I don't know, it's barely a passing idea right now, haha.   For prep this week I will be going nuts with the tags on my articles. I've been a bit lax on that because I didn't really understand how useful they can be until recently (yes yes, lol). I'll also be changing the background of the world... I just haven't come up with what I want yet.    

Week 3: Belief

It is interesting that belief is going to be one of the themes we will be writing about this Summer Camp. Especially when the belief doesn't have to solely be religious in origin—I just finished an article about a "folktale" that has a strong basis in a historical event. You can read it here if you want to: The Girl in the Diamond Chains.   One thing that I've noticed over the years is that pantheons of gods seem to be the norm for most fantasy / science-fantasy stories/worlds/settings. When it comes to the main religion of my world, it is monotheistic. I chose this because I am monotheistic and I wanted my world's main religion/faith stand out. Of course, there are other religions in Eldûra and variations of the main faith that might cause some conflict, but that happens in real life, haha.   The Obsidian King has a cult based around him, which he's woefully unaware of, lol.   This is something that definitely needs to be worked on, as I only mention it in articles right now.    

Week 4: Decay

Now, this is a really interesting prompt. Decay is a tricky thing: when we think about it in the current day, we think of food we forgot in the back of the fridge, or plants that died when a late or early frost came unexpectedly (I lost my yellow squash that way, lol. It was only September!). We also think of bogs and fens, of bog bodies and peat moss. But we also think of abandoned buildings and ghost towns and what's left of WWII or old cans people will open on Youtube (yes, that's thing. Facinating and gross at the same time).   It's interesting how some things are not touched by decay, when taken care of. I have an example: there's a museum near the town I live near (it's located on the opposite side of the town from me). There are old farm buildings that have been moved there, old farm equipment, a forge... its a farm museum and it is quite facinating. At one time when I was in middle-school, me and my friends went to this museum and toured the farm buildings—and in one hung a dress from the Mayflower. The Mayflower. I like to think its genuine, despite the fact that this is rural central Alberta, Canada. I can only assume the original owning family took care of it as they migrated across the continent.   In Eldûra, decay is a very real thing. Things decayed after everyone saught refuge underground following the impact, though a lot was preserved in the snows that followed. A lot of ruins exist even to the current day in Eldûra, thanks to the Sorcerer Queen's attention being elsewhere (she was the kind of person who tried to rewrite history). I'm considering making a psychopomp for Eldûra, like a Grim Reaper like character, but instead of decay being his thing, I was thinking of having him battling against a creature of decay. *shrugs* I dunno. It's still on the chalkboard.   If the prompts this Summer Camp have something to do with ruins, I have a few great ideas! I can't wait!

---

Outro:

I want to thank everyone who read and liked this pledge article. I'm so excited about this Summer Camp and the potentials it will bring with it. How much more will our worlds blossom with the help of these prompts? The possibilities are endless!   Good luck to all! Hopefully we will all reach the goals we have set out for ourselves!