WorldEmber Prep 2025

So, here we are. My first ever WorldEmber event. Although I have been mooching around World Anvil for a little while, this year has been the first time I've really started to get to grips with it. This has involved my first Summer Camp, where I managed to earn the Silver Badge. Then undertaking Spooktober in which I gave myself the extra challenge to make a bestiary, coming up with a new creature/species for every prompt - I managed all 21! Next came Novelember, where I've managedto reach the magical 50,000 words.

So now, to finish off my year.... WorldEmber! And, of course the all important, Prep!

Area of Focus

The area I have decided to focus on for this WorldEmber is the Pantheon of Tordronnen. This will include articles about the various Gods, their domains and preferences, and possibly even some of the myths and stories of their exploits. I have a few stub articles sitting there with just a title, so I'm excited to really start bringing them to life!

Writing Goal

I'm going with a fairly modest 10k this year - I say modest, but after getting done with Novelember 10k is going to feel very different. I've decided to stick with the lower goal as, given the near constant writing I've done over the last couple of months, plus the fact that I'm disabled with a lot of fatigue... I figure I'd rather not overdo it. That's not to say I'll just stop if I get my 10k and I'm not finished with what I've got to say! But I would rather aim for a lower goal over a busy December and be pleasantly surprised if I actually exceed it!

Prep Bingo!

For my Prep Bingo I've surprised myself by managing both a row and a column!

Make a list of stubs you'd like to expand

So far I have just two God based stubs waiting for detail; Halaenia the Goddess of Healing and Childbirth, and Meridon of the Dusk and Dawn. Which 2 out of the 15 is a start I suppose.

Another stub I'd like to look at is one for Urmas Larkin, the High Cleric of Halaeia and man in charge of the Halaenia Infirmary of Osthaven.

It's not many, but they're what I've got in my "Bit and Stuff" category where I hide away all the stubs I'm yet to get around to...

Get some feedback from your readers or players

This one I've found tough as I find asking for feedback quite daunting. I actually find receiving positive feedback particularly hard for some reason, probably best delved into by a therapist... Well, in the meantime, here's some words said about my writing....

Your writing conveys so much depth and emotions that it moves me in ways that others fail to do. I think you're very talented at describing the scenes without being overly wordy, conveying emotional intent and moments in a way that respects the details of the characters and brings them to life in an impressive way.

— NyeathaRavyn

This feedback comes from NyeathaRavyn , who reads pretty much all my articles and is one of the people who have been kindly making their way through my Novelember Manuscript.

Find an accountability buddy

This one is a nice easy one! My accountability buddy is, as always, the wonderful Aelyrya Payne. She is the creative mind that first inspired me to actually begin World Building in the first place and has been one of my biggest cheerleaders ever since.

Find more from Aelyrya and her world A'arde here!

What kind of people can you find in your worldbuilding area?

Well, the answer to this sort of depends on how you define "people". As an obvious couple of answers there are clerics and other religious and philanthropic people. However I'm also planning on telling some of the tales related to the Gods and so this is likely to include some of the souls fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it) enough to have deeper entanglements with the pantheon.

Plan your writing schedule

Due to my health I'm actually unable to hold down a job. This is helpful in that I have nothing but time to write, but also a huge hindrance, as I don't know from one day to the next if my health will allow me enough brains to mash together into words. So, my current plan is not so much a regular schedule as a daily check in of "Do I Have Brain Cells Today?" The hope will be that as long as there are a couple of functional bundles of the Grey Matter that will be enough for me to get started that day!

Make a list of articles you want to write

This is likely to be a list of two parts, the obvious ones being the Gods themselves, and the second being essentially my stretch goal list.

The Pantheon of the Triarchy

• Othero
• Kalani
• Meridon
• Nemesia
• Nelyyka
• Miraeth
• Valentilde
• Xivan
• Odhran
• Yrsaenor
• Thallo
• Halaenia
• Kaituri
• Tyshoan
• Tzophiyan

Stretch List

• Urmas Larkin
• Lejla De Recht
• Francesca Jans
• Liliana Fluerel
• Morag Du Corinth
• The Temple of Yrsaenor
• The Tides Festival
• Midsummer Celebrations
• The Tale of Thallo and Mara
• The Formation of Lake Aula
• The Nemesian Inheritance

Plan your worldbuilding playlist

This will probably be much of the same music I've been using whilst completing Novelember. While I do go through phases of different music preferences I think I'm likely to stick with much of the same for now. When I'm writing I always favour music either without words or without words I understand, otherwise I run the risk of starting to sing along instead of writing!

My top 5 that have been on for the last month are:

• Anoana - Heilung
• Helvegen - Wardruna
• Norupo - Heilung
• Rún - SKÁLD
• Himinndotter - Wardruna

"I sense a theme!" I hear shouted. Yes. I am going through a very specific music phase currently. Whilst this music doesn't represent Tordronnen in its modern times exactly, given that my area of focus is the Gods, the way this music evokes the feeling of consorting with one's ancestors seems most appropriate.

Do some pre-writing research

For my area of focus I've mainly been looking at research about symbols across other pantheons. There are commonalities across most civilisations, such as a god related to crops, gods of death, gods of water and weather, they all appear in some form or other. So for my research I've been looking over some of the items, plants and animals associated with these various deities, seeking out not only the common occurrences, but also the ones that are totally different. I feel that looking into and understanding more about how gods of different domains have been worshiped and represented in the past will help inform how those of Tordronnen might be now.

What adjectives would you describe your world with

I would love to be able to say big words like, fantastical or magical, but the most honest word I can find at this time is... Unfinished. There is a vast majority of the world of Tordronnen that is still only loose thoughts and notes to come back later. I'm aware this is often the case in worldbuilding; you never have everything done completely, but there is so much more I need to do for Tordronnen before it feels like it has earned another word.

Review your category tree

Now as of this point there isn't a great lot actually on my World Anvil. As said earlier, I've only really engaged with a couple of challenges and all the articles associated with them are within their own category. I have however gone through and organised my category tree with the various stubs I have from those challenges already, and ensured the categories I'll be using for WorldEmber are ready!