Summer Camp 2024

Article list

 

Favourites

My favourite articles are:

My main character for this new world: Lady Olénie of Glass, an article with a lot of art that I like.

 

Magic system: Glass and Magic Lenses explaining how they are used to transform magic wavelengths and cast spell, and Runes, explaining how this symbolic writing system works and how it's linked to magic. I love how I've developed this system and how well I managed to make the hard rules work!

 

The past of my world: Dragonic magic manifestations, explaining how the emperors used to invoke dragon constructs to fight their enemies and how this ended up killing them and ending the empire, and The Last Emperor's Experimental Notes, which details the last experiments carried out by the emperors before their fall. These two were a real surprise, as I really don't like vehicle prompts, but then this sparked an idea that is now fundamental to the past of the city and current days' politics.

 

Animals: Painted magpie, clever animals whose love of pretty colours is being exploited to pollinate flowers, and Tower cats, the little bosses of the city who keeps it free from vermin and dangerous magical creatures. Those two are just fun and cute articles.

       

Theme 1: Change

 

Theme 2: Refuge

 

Theme 3: Belief

 

Theme 4: Decay

   

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Pledge

   

Worlds

     

Themes

 

Theme 1: Change

The CIty of the Hundred Fiefs

Changes to:

Local politics: Olénie has been trying to change the way her fief is ruled and to better people's lives

The political status quo: with the new lord starting to reunite the city

People's social status: as people kill the lord or lady of a fief to take their place

The towers of a fief: in a constant bid to outcompete the neighbours, by gathering more sunlight, attracting more birds...

Animals and people: under the effect of the ancient imperial magic still found in the basement of the city

Technology: the lords and ladies are constantly trying to improve their fiefs to beat their neighbours

History: to present briefly the ancient empire before it fell and how it's still impacting the city

  What stay constant: People's lifestyle in the city has not truly changed a lot since the situation stabilised shortly after the fall of the empire.    

Imperial Soulmates:

Changes to:

Political: The empire has slowly been conquering more territories over the centuries. I've already written enough articles about this.

Technology: the empire is constantly inventing new magitech, and the inventition of organic magitech a century ago has only reinforce that. I've written many technology articles already, but I'm always happy to add more if I get a good idea.

Society: As a results of the technical changes, imperial society is constantly having to catch up and adjust. This is something I can explore more during SC.

  What stays constant: Despite the enormous changes everything and everyone go through the territories conquered by the empire conserve their own culture and their local elites, which has made the empire remarkably stable.    

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Theme 2: Refuge

The CIty of the Hundred Fiefs

Refuge

Locations: The lords/ladies are super powerful and protected in their own fief.

Laws: The laws of the city define a few "refuge" areas, like the trade corridor and the centre of the city where the council of lords and ladies meet.

Ethnicity/characters: Groups of people occasionally travel to join another fief to take refuge from a tyranical lord or lady.

Farming: Lots of towers have little refuge for birds and insects to try to attract them and get them to pollinate the plants - the counterpart is that if they lose a bird or insect, they lose the plants, and this has strong consequences for what's available to eat but also in the ingredients for medicines, potions, and rituals.

Technology: Protective wards

Artist character: Using art as a refuge from the real world. (one of Olénie's friend, who made her official portrait)

 

Imparial Soulmates

Refuge

City: Quanahr, the current coty of Hélène and where she took refuge from her family

"Refuge from daily life": The private quarters of the emperor's other soulmates

 

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Theme 3: Belief

The CIty of the Hundred Fiefs

Beliefs

Religion: There is no formal religion, but most people worship the spirits of the old imperial family and of the inhabitants of the empire before it fell.

Calendar: each fief has its own era-based calendar based on the change of lords/ladies. Some of them are formally worshipped too.

Moral system: Power is mighty and the lords and ladies of the fiefs are all mighty inside their lands. For their subjects, it's their moral duty to obey their lords - the only excuse for not doing it is for those string enough to murder them and take their place.

Politics: Almost eveyrone in the city believe that the fiefs need to be gathered back together under one rule.

People: A lot of people believe Olénie's new neighbour has what it takes to reunite the city.

Myths: Most people spend their entire life in one or two fiefs and never leave the city, and so they only know about the external worlds through rumours and tales, leading to some strong misconceptions.

  Some superstition and urban legends about past lords and ladies? Because if the lack of central power and formal education, history is not always properly recorded and so lots of rumours can spread quickly.  

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Theme 4: Decay

The CIty of the Hundred Fiefs

Decay

Species: mushrooms. Something used as a magical ingredient or as warfare weapons in the plant warfare waged between the fiefs.

Farming: Recycling resources is very important in the fiefs since they're isolated, so mushrooms focused on recycling plant decaying matter.

Moral decay: The reason why people thought the old empire fell.

Ideals: People used to want a return of the old unified empire, but now that someone is close to unifying the city, many realise they prefer staying independent at the cost of poverty.

Building: Mechanical and magical decay of the towers over time, have to be held up by DIY.

  Forces fighting decay:

Olénie making effort to improve her fief and her people's lives

The new would-be emperor fighting over the decay of the city and trying to reestablish the empire

Mages researching ways to prevent the physical decay of the city

 

Imparial Soulmates

Decay

Moral decay: What outsiders think of the empire (enslaving themselves to the emperor in exchange for prosperity) / what imperials think of the outsiders (using forbidden magic in their bid to tcompete with the empire)

--> What th local regions of the empire had to give up after conquest (in which areas they lost independance and have to obey the emperor)
--> Plots by the politicians in the capital/people at court to gain more power over the local regions     Forces fighting decay:

Politicians fighting for more regional independance in the empire

Outsiders fighting against the empire

Rebels inside the empire trying to kill the emperor

 

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Extra ideas