Summer Camp 2025

I've been very quiet since Summer Camp 2024 and I hope to rectify that with some creativity and world building this summer. Ideally I'd get enough accomplished to be able to use my world to start a campaign, but that's not my first goal. I'm interested in creating more than just data entries with details about a place, but an actual story for the articles I create. My goal, in addition to the number of articles I complete, will be to add at least one story each week. The story will provide the information about a place, group, person, etc., but it will be a more interesting and fun creative exercise. So without any further ado, here is my prep for Summer Camp 2025.
 

Nourishment

Basic physical nourishment is generally met in my world. Throughout each region and political structure, there is enough to eat. Although what is considered enough can be a little subjective, most people can either buy, trade, or grow their own food. The main exception being the slums of the three major cities- Caligo, Aurora, and Ozette. Due to the extreme imbalance of resources in these cities, there are many that can't afford basic nourishment, which often leads to violence, thieving, or other social or political problems. Now, if we consider the idea of metaphorical nourishment, then the answer becomes less clear for each region. The Southern Accords tend to live constantly in fear of the next catastrophe and focus of survival. Since many inhabitants are also looking to remain anonymous due to shady pasts, philosophical and social nourishment tend to be in short supply. Some religious factions and organizations have concocted ideas about the regions propensity to catastrophic events, not many others worry about the religious or spiritual implications. Instead they generally just try to live their humble lives day-to-day. The eastern regions of abundance near Caligo, Aurora, and Scient Shantar have many versions of religious and philosophical groups that can fulfill this metaphysical nourishment. Sometimes they appose eachother violently, but typically they are happy to coexist (even if they are still a bit wary of each other at times). The Western region, espeically Gour Hel Konon has an abundance of spiritual and philosophical nourishment. The whole community agrees on the best way of life and practice their form of religion freely, with little care for what the remainder of the continent thinks. Of course, all of these differing ideas of nourishment could be present or ignored whatever adventuring party plays in this world. It will be up to them to decide how to find their nourishment and what entities, groups, factions, or others may be actively trying to take that nourishment...
  As for my nourishment as a writer, I'd like to focus on the potential starting area for a campaign, Caligo and the surrounding plains. My secondary goals will be to develop all the possible factions vying for power and prestige in the world. My goal is to earn a silver medal with at least 16 articles.
 

Roots

Each of the major regions in my world has the same root, if you go back far enough in history. That history stems from the invasion of the world by demons and devils. Humanoid-kind has been focused on surviving for a very long time. It isn't until relatively recently, say the last 2,000 - 5,000 years that humanoids have advanced where they no longer constantly fear attacks from demonic forces. However, even current society has roots in this ancient struggle with demons. Major civilizations and cultures are influenced by their ability to band together and stave off attacking demon hordes. This is a little different in each region, so only considering the past few thousands, each regions roots seem different. The role of the environment (desert vs. swamps vs. mountains) and leaders' political ideals have shaped their current state. I have not put much thought or effort into a homepage or primer, so I'll need to revisit and revise my current settings. In my first worldbuilding project I made a map or the world and then filled it in as I went, making things up as the party explored certain regions. This worked fine, as long as I had enough prep time between each session. However, I'd like to work more on having the background of the entire map ready before the campaign starts, so I'm more prepared between sessions or if a session goes off-track. I had a few really great ideas on turning traditional meta-gaming knowledge on its head, so I'd like to incorporate those ideas. For example, zombies; they need to be more capable of spreading on their own, otherwise they wouldn't be able to create a region-wide horror like I'm envisioning.
 
  I did not manage to finish all of the Summer Camp prep because the world is busy... However, I still intend to meet my goal. Wish me luck!