Summer Camp Prep 2024

A note from the author...

So I've been a little absent from the worldbuilding scene of late. I've made no secret of the fact that, for the last 4 years, I've been battling some serious mental health issues. Anyone who has struggled or is struggling with their mental health will know that these kinds of issues can often leave you depleted of energy before the day has even begun. When achieving even necessary tasks feels like a constant uphill battle, there is little room for creative, happier things like worldbuilding or editing my novel.

For someone with low self-esteem, putting your creative work out there into the big, bad world can be a mixed experience. If you're in the right frame of mind, it can be a confidence boosting learning experience. If you're not in the right frame of mind, however, you can end up feeding that dreaded anxiety monster all of your will to engage in anything remotely creative. That is why I took the tough decision last year to take a break and give Summer Camp 2023 a wide berth because I was honest with myself and admitted that it could harm my ongoing recovery process. Thankfully, this year is a different story. I feel I'm finally back and in a position to engage with the community, and be a part of something I'm passionate about again. Something which brings me joy and a sense of fulfilment which has felt alien to me at times. That being said, I will be taking Summer Camp slowly this year, setting realistic expectations, and prioritising self-care and compassion throughout the month of July, to avoid burnout and any negative impact on my mental health. To give myself the best possible chance of achieving my goals, I have engaged with the Summer Camp Prep homework assignments the best I can, which will hopefully set me in good stead for July. I encourage every Summer Camper to do the same and wish you all the best of luck for a fantastic month of worldbuilding.

*Click here for the World Anvil Summer Camp 2024 Prep Page

Week 1: Getting Organised

Step By Step, Career Chalkboard by geralt

Assignment 1

"Consider what kind of changes would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points."

Looking back over Astaeria's History, change is perhaps one of the biggest, if not the biggest, theme of my world. Empire's have conquered and fallen, from the demise of Mathidon's 6000 year rule and the destruction of its successor, the Duchy of Tarryn, 1330 years later, to the rise of The Great Empire of Malvarron in 1331 A.E. and its ongoing colonialist seizure of independent city states. The people of the continent have lived through a tumultuous, bloody history of war and upheaval. As the Empire's borders have grown, there have been vast shifts in law, social attitudes and religious practice, all of which are open for exploration during this Summer Camp.

It is worth noting that I haven't yet collated my notes on the biggest revolution in Astaeria's recent history, the Vanguard Revolution, so this may well be the ideal opportunity to collate and develop that. The biggest consequence of the Vanguard Revolution, the outlawing of magic has been touched on before, in The Common Man's Guide to Astaeria but never fully explored to its full potential.

Ancient Architecture Building by dropolto

From the Duchy which held the magi in high esteem, to the oppressive laws and attitudes of Malvarron, Elvaran society has seen the demise of the magi, from the acceptance and reverence of individuals with magical powers, to the stigmatisation and outright oppression of them in just over 75 years. But change is a comprehensive theme which goes beyond surface level historical events to encompass underlying attitudes of factions, organisations and the general populace. Not all citizens in the Empire echo the Empire's controversial views. Beneath the surface of acceptable social attitudes, there is an undercurrent of resistance bubbling, especially in the conquered city states of the continent. The organised and elusive resistance group, the Wardens of Ethera are rumoured to be going from strength to strength in their mission to put the heir of Duke Tarryn on the throne, and so far they have managed to stay hidden, outwitting the empire's loyalists. Political disillusionment and the desire for lasting change is just as important as change itself. Instances of resistance, both big and small, and the Empire's efforts to curtail change and maintain their power are all themes which could be explored through the summer camp prompts.

Assignment 2

"Based on this, decide how many prompts you'll go for during Summer Camp. Then, download the pledge document and fill it accordingly!"

I'm being gentle with myself and setting my expectations low this year. In 2021 and 2022 I achieved a copper badge and I'm intending to do the same this year. Eight prompts during the month of July should be realistically achievable, especially as I'm putting effort into preparation. Despite my realism, I'm not going to limit myself if the going is good. A copper badge is the minimum I would be happy with achieving, but if inspiration strikes I will take advantage of it and keep going, just for the love of worldbuilding. It would be fantastic if I could make it to silver or even gold but every article I can produce is an achievement in itself. By removing the pressure, I'm hoping I can smash my eight prompt target and recapture that worldbuilding bug.

Assignment 3

"Get your categories and tags organized!"

Phew! I think I've got this one in the bag. Thankfully, I pride myself on my organisational skills, however, it's been some time since I've evaluated my World Anvil catalogue and some areas aren't as user friendly as I would like. Therefore, I've spent a little time tidying up my categories so that they flow more logically. I have removed all clutter, such as duplicate and irrelevant stubs, and updated my To Do List, adding ideas for articles that are required to fill in some sizeable gaps in the lore. I'm also trialling a new tagging system, following key themes and , which should make it easier to navigate my world as it grows. This includes a hashtag for stubs, so I can easily access work yet to be completed or published. Despite trying to keep tags to a minimum, there is a long list of necessary tags, which I have noted in a private codex entry for my own future reference. *Find some tips on organising your own worlds here

Cabinet by OpenClipart-Vectors

Assignment 4

"Take a look at your meta, primer, and any other high-level document and update it according to the current state of your world."

It has been a long, long time since I even glanced in the direction of my world, Meta, and from the outset it's apparant that the state of play has changed massively. My original aim for Astaeria was to create a TTRPG setting that I could use for a DnD campaign. Since I got bitten by the worldbuilding bug, however, my imagination has been running overtime and I've been inflicted with a love of creative writing more generally. I have completed my first draft of a Dark Fantasy novel, The Wardens of Ethera, and I've been squirrelled away for the last year-or-so trying to develop utter chaos into a work I can be proud of. I now have an aim of making that novel the first of a trilogy. But I haven't forgotten my passion for TTRPG either. I see no reason why a novel and a TTRPG campaign, or two, cannot co-exist in the same universe. It has been done before, of course, and I would just love to be able to intertwine my two creative passions into one brainchild. I try to keep this in mind when I'm creating anything to do with Astaeria. My worldbuilding must be focussed primarily on the lore explored in my novel, whilst building enough relevant side content to support any future TTRPG campaigns set in Astaeria. Wardens, is a twisted blend of Dark and Grimdark Fantasy with blended elements of science fantasy. Any future worldbuilding relating to TTRPG should reflect this as well.

Under Construction Construction Sign by Josethestoryteller

With all this in mind, I have spent some time refining and expanding my Meta section with plenty of plot secrets about my world, its themes, scopes, and drama points. But there are too many spoilers to go into detail right now. Sorry beans...