Summercamp 2024
- Stream
- July 6th
With Barron!
- Stream
- July 13th
And also Ademal!
- Stream
- July 21st
Let's get boisterous.
- Summer Heat
- July 27th
A Hot Ones inspired stream.
First things first H PPY PRIDE! Say it loud and say it proud cause we live it all year round!
But also, it's hotter 'n hell outside. A bike ride and a bit of yard work in the morning, and I'm ready to spend the rest of the weekend indoors, working on SUMMERC MP.
re you ready for it? We're ready for it. We plan to sponsor, we plan to stream, we plan to write, and we plan to read!
A seventh badge? We're going to need more shelves.
Week One — Change
Tumultuous times are interesting moments to set stories in, whether they be due to natural disasters, sickness, conflicts, or others. Characters face unusual challenges, infrastructure breaks down, and society as a whole can change.
Change can be big and small—from the size of a small community or city to the entire universe—, and it can be positive and negative.
Assignment 1
Consider what kind of changes fit into your themes, genre, and other foundational points.
Assignment 2
Decide how many prompts you'll go for during Summer Camp. Then fill out a pledge accordingly!
Assignment 3
Get your categories and tags organized!
Assignment 4
Update your meta and primer according to the current state of your world.
First we must set the stage. Here is what we will be writing about.
As I've matured into a world on fire, I've found myself needing to reconsider Ethnis and the way I vent my emotions through it. I think this return to Earth's darkest days is a good way to vent out many of my feelings around the world and myself.
Mnemo Ex Machina
Hidden on my GDrive is a collection of manuscripts dear to my emotional journey — stories around which the lore of Ethnis is framed. Some date as far back as 2012, but the one which I keep coming back to is Mnemo Ex Machina, from 2017.
Mnemo is set in the Advent Era, which begins with First Contact during humanity's somber twilight and ends with the coronation of Clasnithra as the Emporer of the Aempian Empire and Earth.
The story follows a transitioning woman named Malcolm. She is our Virgil (and we her Dante) as she scavenges humanity's ruins for Pre-Collapse tech to refurbish and sell — ideally to other humans, but anyone is a customer when you're on an empty stomach.
It is in this tech that she learns the ways of the old world and the means to take a swing at humanity's occupiers.
Changes
Earth isn't the same as it once was. There's a long time between 2024 and 2260, and it's a long way down.
I haven't even introduced you to The Last Generation yet. They were the smallest in documented history, bounds defined by being born within 50 years of Earth's last gulp of breathable air.
I haven't introduced you to their miraculous children. The Indigo. The first humans to harness the Meta.
I haven't told you about everything Aempis gave to Earth, and the horrible toll it exacted in compensation.
Did you know been a thousand years since First Contact? Relative to the usual perspective of this Codex, I mean. The Banners didn't even exist yet. There were only two worlds: Jhoutai and Earth.
Everything will change.
Like I've done since 2017, I am going to be breaking apart my Summercamp by the planets! I find that setting that physical border helps me keep to a theme as so many planets have themes to follow and play with. Two planets are in my crosshairs this year.
Valoo
The first is Valoo, a planet lost to an unending storm during the Lacuna, it currently serves as a campaign setting that pits three souls against a planet teeming with life, strife, and lots of rain. I plan on exploring a lot of the people, places, and concepts.
Nova Braga
Second planet is Nova Braga! A planet visited once before for one of Ademal's stories, The Hive! I'm going to be travelling around the globe to a Hedonite outpost and neutral zone, buried within the sands of Gilgamesh's Stool, a tectonically active steppe. It'll be the primary setting for the next entry into my book series!
Changes
One theme, particularly on Nova Braga, is culture shock. Being born in space means Calhoon has to no concept of the customs planetside. Personal bubble? He's been alone on a ship his entire life!
On Valoo, players get to go through change as their situation on the planet reveals itself to them. Through it all survival is always the top priority.
Gommorah Sands on Nova Braga, is a location with a storied history. First a fort, then a settlement, then a fort again, then a brothel, then a DMZ for inter-banner dealings. That amount of change will tell itself through the architecture.
Valoo has gone from a thriving corporate headquarters to a rain-battered ruined shell. It has its scars and I look forward to building them up and giving them their proper weight.
We've been at this for 7 years now, with a combined ~350 Prompts completed.
Let there never be a doubt. Of course we're doing them all.
Double Diamond, Baby!
Cleanup
On the chores and errands side of things, I (Ademal) went through and re-tagged a considerable amount of articles in order to create our new Glossary page. It felt important at the time, but was a tangent in the retrospect. Classic me, but it's neat all the same. TJ's is still my favorite.
Anyway check out that META I finally wrote, too.
Barron has gone through and cleaned up his previous Summer Camp articles as well as define the planet categories for his new Summercamp. On his own PC, he's gone and sorted his pictures for Valoo and Braga out so it's ready to reference for worldbuilding!
Oh and we got started on a nice table to make a note of all the possible articles we could do. We figure if we just write down a bunch of articles that would be nice to have for our stories, we can pick the best ones to fit the prompts when Summercamp starts.
Week Two — Refuge
Where do you go when everything around you changes? A refuge can be a literal place (like a building or a city), but it can also be anything that keeps you safe or comforts you. The change someone takes refuge from can also be small in the grand scheme of things—sometimes, small changes can have deep consequences on a specific person or group.
Assignment 1
Consider what kinds of refuge would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.
Assignment 2
Find a community—whether that’s our Discord server, Facebook Group, your RPG or friend group, or something else.
Assignment 3
Find ways to improve styling and layout in your world!
Assignment 4
If you’re a CSS wizard, maybe take the time now to give it a polish!
Safety on Earth in the time of Mnemo is found through good tools and stringent protocols for hygiene and safety. the humans of the wastelands must be shrewd at all times, blissful ignorance is not a viable means of survival. I will be exploring what tools and rituals she will need to adopt to survive.
For much of the story, Malcolm survives mostly through self-made safehouses out in the wastes, the maintenance tunnels, and eventually an abandoned, condemned unit in the city. I'll be writing about her home, and perhaps trying to generate pictures of its interior.
Immediately when I heard the word refuge on the stream, I thought of Gommorah Sands serving as a 'neutral zone' in the Federation. A place that follows Hedon's laws of consent, like an embassy it can serve as an escape for those fleeing persecution or make a deal that isn't entirely smiled upon.
In my book, Gomorrah Sands serves as a refuge for Calhoon and Ja-guen, both are fleeing from the aftershocks from the first books events. It's also going to be Calhoon's first time off a space ship in decades! So that's going to be some emotional times there, or he might seek the refuge of his ship.
As for Valoo, well it serves as a refuge for all who live on the planet. It's their only home, and it's under threat. Even for the party who has just arrived, finding shelter in this place will not be easy.
Community
Barron has graciously offered his Accountabilibuddy services to Dimi, who just as graciously accepted. Already Barron's workin' to get a sense of what Dimi wants to accomplish! Time to get them goals done, Chief!
If you too would like accountabilibuddy services, you may apply to Barron via discord!
We have a community! Come join! The lounge is nice and our music channel accepts any flavor. We'll be talking, streaming, and discussin' all Summer camp there.
Styling
I'm, building a toolbox of widgets and toys for use in this Summercamp. Some of it is new, some is refreshed, and all of it is good. In particular, I have organized all of our art and made strives towards making Ethnis easy to read on mobile!
I've also made it so tables look good on mobile! You can test it by resizing your browser window, and can grab the code here.
Week Three — Belief
Religious belief is a foundational element for many cultures, but belief doesn't have to be about religion! Beliefs can be about superstition, urban legends and myths, people you believe in, and more. Essentially, anything and anyone that inspires people, for good or ill.
Assignment 1
Consider what kind of changes would fit in with your world's themes, genre, and other foundational points.
Assignment 2
Create a bank of inspirations! Quotes, music, description of experiences and shower thoughts, etc.
Assignment 3
Find art and pictures that inspire you, and grab a map if you don't have one (and need one).
Assignment 4
Check your inspirations again. Are they still relevant? Can you find any that better represent the current state of your project?
Myth
Faith
Religion
Superstition
Philosophy
Dreams
Aspirations
Fears
Faith wasn't taught to me. I had to put it together piecemeal. Old Tommy used to tell me 'All this talk of tomorrow is getting your hopes up. There's plenty of ways to die today.' He was one of the Last Generation, who were reasonably certain nobody would outlive them. They were correct, until Contact Day came with all the glory of a reboot.
It was that cynicism which gave me a fighting chance, but I buried it with him. Life was beating some hope into me.
I put it all together with the help of some assholes I met along the way. To tell you about myself, I'll have to introduce you to them.
The people of Kainga featured in Valoo, are the descendants of original WorldBiotic Staff. Their centuries of separation from the universe at large provides me a brand new canvas to define some tenants and beliefs of their culture!
Gomorrah Sands is going to take place in town owned and controlled by the Apple of Hedonism. Exploring their core beliefs will be an excellent way to flesh out some of the Hedonite characters I'll be writing about. Confidence, Cooperation, and Consent.
Mood Board
Children of the Last Generation
Gruesome Endings; New Beginnings
Valoo
Kytheria
Gishani
Week Four — Decay
Most things decay over time, but, just like all other themes, decay can be understood in a multitude of ways. There's physical decay, but there's also moral decay—both often go hand-in-hand with old organizations, and physical decay can be used as a metaphor for moral decay. And decay isn't always a bad thing - an evil empire might crumble so something better can flourish. Think about how people in your world try to prevent decay too!
Assignment 1
How does Decay apply to your focus?
Assignment 2
Describe your preparation rituals.
Assignment 3
Review your world homepage to hook potential readers!
Assignment 4
Polish your author profile and pillar articles.
Malcolm's story begins in smoke, with her and her mother displaced by a great fire. With its heat trailing near behind they migrate towards civilization, towards the invaders responsible for their decaying lands. They pass through ruin and storm, through infestations of alien pests, and through blistering desert.
To Malcolm, decay exists as an extant form of life. It is a cycle of nourishment. The Aempian invaders are parasites leeching from the world.
The choking foilage of Valoo is grown on the decayed corpse of a corporate powerhouse.
The concrete skeletons of brutalist architecture serve as trellis for the flora and nests for the fauna. Combing through the centuries of decay for relics of the past will be a repeating theme with the articles and the gameplay!
The Barony is the third and longest lasting governing body of the Gomorrah Sands. Twice a Fort, now a Hedon Club. Through that time, much of the facilities have remained the same. The people who run it however, being so above the law can decay the moral compass until it leads them into the wrong directions.
Rituals
Getting into Worldbuilding is half the battle of worldbuilding! Summercamp is a great way to get motivated, but both of us have adopted our own ways to prepare! Some of them are nice overlaps.
Taking in Nature
One thing we've been doing together before our homework and days of worldbuilding has been riding bikes! So much of our inspiration comes from the nature in Northern California and we've found that a good bit of fresh air and exertion is a fantastic way to start a day of worldbuilding!
Barron's been getting out to nature in the Ethnis Vineyard and farm! While the Farm is just Artichokes and Onions for now, the grapes and peaches are coming in nicely!
Hopefully for your summercamp you can also find a nice way to enjoy the fresh outdoors and make something! Start some Herb Gardens!
Fuel is needed for worldbuilding, and the quality of fuel you put in really matters! I've been exploring more in the kitchen; baking bread, makin' meats, and then slapping them together.
And adding onto that, I've been watching a lot of Delicious in Dungeon!
Planned Articles
| Owner | Article Type | Project | Article | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ademal | Building | Final Generation | Malcolm | Our Protagonist |
| Ademal | Character | Gishani | Fykk | That's a pretty useful curse you've got there, kid. |
| Ademal | Character | Final Generation | Anthem | Patron AI Goddess of Robots and Infomorphs |
| Ademal | Conflict | Final Generation | Advent War | "In the war between god and Euphraesti, God was a no-show." |
| Ademal | Location | Final Generation | San Joaquin Valley | Dustbowl in the dry season, Mudpot in the wet |
| Ademal | Language | Final Generation | Sazashi IRP | Irish Receieved Pronunciation. The common accent of the Jadey family. |
| Ademal | Material | Gishani | Rutas Bioplastic | In goes algae and methane and out goes plastic. |
| Ademal | Myth | Final Generation | A Tale of Better Times | What the last generation told itself the world once was. |
| Ademal | Organization | Final Generation | This Machine (Band) | Actually not so great at killing fascists... until their frontman went solo. |
| Ademal | Organization | Final Generation | Aempian Government | Would like to remind you that its predecessor was worse. |
| Ademal | Profession | Final Generation | Data Archaeologist | Finds and decodes old data to piece together history. |
| Ademal | Settlement | Final Generation | New Sacrament | It used to be Sacramento. |
| Ademal | Building | Final Generation | Jadey Ireland | The seat of the Jadey Family's pharma scavenging empire. |
| Ademal | Species | Final Generation | Wild Polydactyl Domesticated Tiger | A delightfully bad idea with hilariously violent ends. |
| Ademal | Technology | Final Generation | Sophontic Cloning | Rarely humane or practical. |
| Ademal | Tradition | Final Generation | Advent Day | A celebration of First Contact. Always a good excuse for food. |
| Ademal | Species | Kytheria | Filament Spider | They spin bioplastic frames for coral to grow into nests over |
| Ademal | Phenomena | Final Generation | Enkindling | The moment you first spark and are able to cast a spell |
| Ademal | Ethnicity | Final Generation | The Final Generation | Anyone born after 22XX, after which it was presumed not a single human born would survive to viably procreate. |
| Ademal | Tradition | Final Generation | Filial Conscription | Rich kids always get the easy work. |
| Barron | Settlement | Gruesome Ends | Gomorrah Sands | |
| Barron | Building | Gruesome Ends | Hor’rus Geyser Chamber | A Geothermal plant that powers, provides, and entertains. |
| Barron | Building | Gruesome Ends | Golden Sands Commons | A botanical gardens and favorite hanging place of the Baron of the Desert. Home to parties and orgies. |
| Barron | Building | Gruesome Ends | Hanging Gardens | A botanical gardens and favorite hanging place of the Baron of the Desert. Home to parties and orgies. |
| Barron | Character | Gruesome Ends | Baron of the Desert | The Baron of Gomorrah Sands. A Don-style personality who wanders facilities behind his guard. |
| Barron | Character | Gruesome Ends | Bathmaster Hor’rus | Dad Bod Aen who runs the Bathhouses, he helps maintain the Geyser Chamber and thusly the bathhouses reliant on it. |
| Barron | Character | Gruesome Ends | Nali Sharptongue | A Ral-mi bodyguard of the Baron. Brutal, efficient, a bit sadistic. |
| Barron | Condition | Other | Adrenalol Withdrawal | A condition marked by shivers, aggression, and desperation. |
| Barron | Condition | Valoo | Popper Blisters | A fungal infection that causes growth of fungus beneath the dermal layer until they pop out their spores. Burn to remove. |
| Barron | Condition | Valoo | Hydra Envenoming | A paralytic toxin that targets the arms and legs first, before paralyzing the lungs and chest. |
| Barron | Conflict | Valoo | The Lower Level Siege | The last attempt of the Hydra to escape, cost the lives of a few monoliths including Kainga’s doctor. |
| Barron | Conflict | Gruesome Ends | The Gomorahan Question | A skirmish that resulted from the Baron’s push to full neutrality for the Sands, which involved removing Federation oversight. |
| Barron | Document | Gruesome Ends | The Sands Deed | The Letter written to the Nova Bragan forces declaring Gomorrah Sands a neutral haven. |
| Barron | Document | Valoo | Habitat Handy Guide | A guide provided with habitats to promote good settlement and sustainability. |
| Barron | Ethnicity | Gruesome Ends | Bragan | Defined by a mix of Syndicate and Pact value, bound together by a shared love of independence. |
| Barron | Ethnicity | Gruesome Ends | Spaceborn | Being born in space means many of the planetary values haven’t engrained, but conservation and planning are critical. |
| Barron | Location | Gruesome Ends | Gilgamesh’s Stool | A steppe that dominates the southeastern corner of the Bragan mainland. Gilgamesh’s stool is home to Gomorrah Sands and is a hotbed of subsurface volcanic activity. |
| Barron | Location | Gruesome Ends | Hor’rus Geyser | The Largest Geyster within Gilgamesh’s Stool. The predictable Geyser erupts constantly due to the below surface tectonic activity. |
| Barron | Item | Gruesome Ends | The Captain’s Log | A feat of Orga Tech, an insanely detailed sex-toy with realistic pumping and fluid production. |
| Barron | Item | Gruesome Ends | Fracture Key | One of two activating elements of the Fracture Anti-Threat System |
| Barron | Item | Gruesome Ends | Shrieker Blade | A great way to clear the dust from your desk or for inflating an opponent like a balloon. |
| Barron | Language | Valoo | Valooan | All the valooans down in valooville speak the valooan |
| Barron | Language | Gruesome Ends | Club Talk | A dialect invented by Hedon to allow for covert communications in areas where talking about Hedon dealings is not as accepted. |
| Barron | Material | Gruesome Ends | Bragan Sapphire | A valuable gemstone mined from Gilgamesh’s Stool and the surrounding mines. Popular for Federation Ship production. |
| Barron | Material | Gruesome Ends | Bragan Moss | A volcanic mineral that is popular in use for artistry, carving, and gems. Some examples are useful in Meta Enchanting |
| Barron | Formation | Gruesome Ends | Hedonite Bouncer Squad | Most high-ranking Hedonites will have a Bouncer Squad of individuals who defend their charge against any threats. |
| Barron | Myth | Gruesome Ends | The Baron’s Uprising (Murder) | While public history states that the Gomorrah Sands left with little more than the initial skirmish, many know that the Baron had been playing his hand way before that. |
| Barron | Myth | Valoo | The Buried Knowledge | A long help rumor of the Valooan that somewhere below new layer of growth, all the orga secrets of WorldBiotic lay buried. |
| Barron | Phenomena | Gruesome Ends | Bragan Ionic Haboobs | From the eastern end of the Stool, the constant eruptions of the volcanos kick up dust storms and generate electric current in great storms. |
| Barron | Phenomena | Valoo | Spore Rain | A condition in which fungal spores and corralum spores are collected into the atmosphere and redistrubted via rain |
| Barron | Organization | Gruesome Ends | Barony of Braga | Headquartered in Gomorrah Sands, the Barony of Braga has been run by the Baron for decades. It is a powerful organization that holds its own against the Federation |
| Barron | Organization | Valoo | Hydradics | The Cult of the enthralled or the deceived who serve the Hydra and their purpose |
| Barron | Title | Gruesome Ends | Bragan Baron | The leader of the Barony that holds the Bragan system. Comes with a lot of perks |
| Barron | Settlement | Gruesome Ends | Gomorrah Sands | Once a mining colony, then a fort, now a Hedonite Base and Neutral zone |
| Barron | Settlement | Gruesome Ends | Car’radonia | The closest neighboring town of Gomorrah Sands, on the outskirts of the Stool. Mining town, and a good source of income for Gomorrah Sands |
| Barron | Species | Valoo | Bathcleaner Bugs | Tiny creepy crawlers that eat detritus and bacteria from surfaces. They are commonly used in bathhouses. |
| Barron | Technology | Gruesome Ends | Biocoding | The technological process of using genetics or metaphysical signatures to lock the use of an object. |
| Barron | Material | Other | Gekkosuit | An orga tech that mimics setae on a gekko, this material can be used in equipment to assist in grip or even climb up vertical surfaces |
| Barron | Tradition | Valoo | Kaingan Siesta | A small portion of the day where the people relax and talk with each other, Familiarity is security. |
| Barron | Vehicle | Gruesome Ends | Bragan Buggy | A type of wheeled vehicle often powered by voltaic cells that can rip across the desert. The Gomorrah Sands sports a small fleet of them |
Whooo, I cannot wait to read some more Ethnis this summercamp!! Good luck on the Double Diamond \o/