Summercamp Pledge 2023

It is that most wild and fun time of year again, SUMMERCAMP IS UPON US ALL!!! And this chronicler is quite excited. My inner badge and challenge gremlin has once again won out, because well, we've unlocked a challenge mode. This year there is to be 40 prompts!!! And the Diamond badge is to take 32 prompts, not a mere 31, which basically means its a brand new badge, so you know I need to have it!

And thus, my goal is Diamond and beyond once again, but yet I do intend to work on my skills beyond the words this year. I wish to find ways to increase the visual flair of my work, in whatever means I may manage. I am not a skilled visual artist in any medium really, but over the past two camps I've slowly considered different ideas for visual aides in a variety of different article templates, and so this year I hope to start utilizing these tools more fully, consistently and comfortably throughout Summercamp. I will be working in my Adventures in Valerick TTRPG world, which can be found right here-----> Adventures in Valerick TTRPG

However very specifically I will be placing all the articles under the category this very pledge is in, and so if you are viewing this pledge, conveniently there is a link to that category automatically provided at the bottom of this article, if that is easier for you to track, should you wish to track or follow my progress.

Depenwood, the Endless Boreal

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A map of the nation of Depenwood.

Born of Magick, One with the World

Depenwood Geography Overview, from the Du'ristic Edition Valerick World Atlas, the most recent and complete world atlas ever published As suggested, very specifically the flag you see at the top of this article, though very much a work in progress, needing a finishing polish to really make it pop, is the base design of the nation-state's flag we will be traveling to for this Summercamp. Depenwood, more commonly called the Endless Boreal. Depenwood is kind of a cross of a a more temperate sort of great forest like you may find in certain parts of Canada or various regions of Northern Europe, but if it was let us say....as food plant abundant (by design and caretaking of the society in the nation) as the Amazon itself. It is a place where the culture takes very seriously this ancient trust of the Boreal, where chopping down the wrong sort of tree is seen as a crime on par with murder. But it is a land of plenty, for harvesting off the 'wild' flora and the glut of food it bears is actively encouraged. A traveler through the region will never want for vittles in the Depen, one can take but five paces in any direction and come upon edible wild vegetables, fruits or nuts.

Power

This land, whilst not the true birthplace of the Magisterium as it is known today, is a central location to the story of arcane magick on Valerick, an ancient land of ancient power, with many regions that are recognized as manna geysers, areas of great power. The society here is built strangely to many outsiders, for though centralized at first glance, with all the amenities of a centralized nation, the truth is far different. The land is divided, with each of the various Conclave tribes holding complete autonomy over their own region. The Voice of the Depen, a sort of quasi political-spiritual leader, holds some level of external power over the nation in a fashion, but in truth, their internal power and the dynamics of what passes as government here are unique in their level of near complete and utter lack of any national control or centralized power. But one should not be surprised by the odd dynamics of culture and the convoluted power structures that one will find here. This society was founded and built upon the cultural norms of the Wylde Elves, so it seems only natural that this fierce independance and lack of absorbed cohesion to maintain the complex webs of the various tribal cultures would be the way things are done. Wylde Elves are nothing if not stubborn, even as their cultural conclaves embrace technology and the slow creep of industrialization, they do so with magicks and methods that allow a relatively peaceful and powerful co-existence with the natural realm around them, with the faithful of the Lady of the Leaves, Talia, Mother of All, and with their various and complex cultural groups and tribes. It is a truly fascinating place, and exploring the various sorts of things that the theme of Power could potentially tie into shall be a wonderful journey that I cannot wait to go on!

Frontier

Depenwood, though by description at first may seem a place with limited frontiers, naught could be further from the truth. The many conclave tribes all have their center of power and influence of course, and with the advant of technology such as locomotion and aeronautics, there is a level of interconnectivity that Valerick now enjoys that the world over has never enjoyed until these last few decades. However, there are many regions, even just geographically, within the nation known as the Endless Boreal that fit into such a description. The islands off the southern coast hold a few such locations, as do the more hilly wooded highlands that run along her northern edges. The massive swath of swamp and marshland in her center, and the other on her western coast are both places not well explored and with many strange legends and stories about it as well. Depenwood is also a place with a deeper cultural connection to magick and the studies of the arcane. It is the place where one would expect to find cutting edge research into all manner of esoteric matters and materials, which may have very wide applications. The natural sciences are well favored and studied here as well, and many of the sharpest minds and most cutting edge theories and studies of the natural world come from within this nation. As such there are multitudes of frontiers, both literal and metaphorical, that potentially could be explored here.

Relics

This theme will be extremely interesting potentially, given the nation I've decided to focus on. Depenwood is home to the largest population of Wylde Elves and is their ancestral homeland, and is often credited as the birthplace of Arcane Magick. It is a place with its share of old and ancient ruins long overgrown and forgotten. Elves are also long lived, exceedingly so, and as such, they hold many traditions that are seen as relics of a bygone era. However the specifics or how to approach this theme is perhaps the one I am least sure on, and will be most having to approach off the cuff. It should be quite an interesting set of prompts, and I look forward to the challenge.

Communication:

As the birthplace of Arcane Magick on Valerick, one may not be surprised to know that there are some unique methods and magickal devices meant to enhance the abilities and distances over which communication is possible. The Depen is also home to many groups using many diverse languages, and as the birthplace of Arcane Magick, is also where Arcanis, the language of Magick, was first fully discovered, understood and codified. Besides this there are unique groups specializing in communication, unique cultures and sub-cultures with their own diverse structures and codexes and secret languages and written codes, and even pieces of legislation and large government like bodies whom could tie into this theme, should the prompt be appropriate.

My grainy arse photo evidence of a pledge since my computer is being a dinkus and won't lemme do the PDF stuff properly to get it in here.