Follow along with my WorldEmber progress!

I promised you a look over my shoulder this month as I bring a vague and disjointed collection of ideas together into a cohesive piece of world-building. These resources will help you keep track of my progress through this month-long marathon challenge:

• Haly’s Official WE Progress Report — each participant gets a page that automatically collects their author information and all WE-eligible articles across all worlds into a single, shareable package.
• Haly’s WorldEmber on Argentii Index — an on-the-fly journal page and handy sidebar displaying only new Argentii WE-eligible articles.

Your World’s Foundation: Underneath it All

During WorldEmber, I’ve been digging deep into the very bedrock of Argentii, both physically (goldstone), and metaphorically (United Lands). This is because every time I try to tell a story, I stumble across something in the world that needs more exploring, from a worldbuilding perspective.

Last year, during Summer Camp 2023, I focused on the most extreme points of the world: the most extreme island, the most extreme climate, the most extreme plant, the most extreme organization with the most extreme leader.

Now, I’m putting to use everything that I learned about Argentii during that time!

Once I dug into the most extreme areas of Argentii, my mind opened itself to the other flows of trouble, drama, conflict, and adventure that were lurking among the scores of islands I’ve yet to name or explore! Proving yet again that worldbuilding is an adventure of discovery. I have dozens of new ideas pulling me in different directions, all at once.

Asking “How Did We Get Here?”

Rather than letting myself get bogged down in trying to make sense of things that I don’t need right now, I shifted my attention to a deeper investigation of how these things came to be by setting my timeline in stone.

Argentii’s tag line is “the Fractured Land.” This not only suggests the idea of islands, but also of the continent’s history as well as their present struggles and conflicts. While fleshing out this timeline is not my current focus (I’m saving that for January and, possibly, the WorldAnvil Worldbuilding Awards), it’s certainly something that I’m keeping in mind whenever I delve into the past to figure out the hows and whys of the world’s present.

For example, it’s important for me to know that thousands of years of regional

isolation led to cultural, linguistic, and genetic isolation among the peoples of those regions. Then the people rose up against the dragons and reclaimed Argentii, and the different peoples began exploring…and encountering each other.

These encounters grew into conflicts, and these conflicts were what made the rise of someone like Tige the Uniter possible.

And without Tige and Talla, we wouldn’t have the evil cult that rules Tilth, nor the heroic band of misfits who will, eventually, bring it down.

“If…Then…Because…”

I shamelessly stole this phrase from my friend Janet Forbes, professional worldbuilder, co-founder of World anvil, and one of the two people I most aspire to be like. (The other, if you’re wondering, is Louise Belcher from Bob’s Burgers.)

This phrase — if…then…because… — lives on a sticky note on my wall because I haven’t taken the time to design a poster, print it, and have it framed. Originally meant as a phrase to help drive narrative and story, it applies equally well for worldbuilding, and it is one of the foundations of my worldbuilding style.

If…something, something, dark side.
Then…BEES?!
Because…science is magic, baby!

“Wait, Haly…what…what are you actually trying to show me here?”

Good question! Follow me here, I’ll show you.

If: If a desperate young woman with nothing to lose moves to a new town looking for a fresh start…
Then: …discovers that her new home is purgatory, most of her neighbors are the troubled spirits of the burdened dead, and not only her new job, but her entire purpose within the town is to try and help them let go of those burdens and move on…
Because: …this is where the magic happens because this is where the bulk of the worldbuilding happens!

Here’s another.

If: If an evil cult has thoroughly dominated an entire island’s population…
Then: …the people will gather and ferment a rebellion…
Because: …the cult leader made owning pets illegal and punishable by death and generational indebtedness, ON TOP OF all the other reasons that have been piling up for generations of generations.

“If…then…because…” forces us to contextualize the people, places, events, items, and ideas in our worlds not only in the present (if) and future (then), but also in the past (because). It’s a staple of my worldbuilding style, and a helpful tool for you to add to your own worldbuilding toolbox!

Wrapping the Day

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I had a nap before sitting down yesterday to write, then fell asleep writing. When I woke up, I didn’t have time to finish before the maintenance took the site down…at which point I gave up and went to bed.

Clearly, I needed the rest!! Thank you for your patience.

Please, please send me your WORLD-BUILDING questions NOW!! I want to pre-schedule my 1/1 post so that I can maximize the time I spend with my family on my last day of vacation!

As I write this, I am sitting at 36,027 new words of world-building toward my 50,000-word goal.