As Summer Camp is upon us, so is another pledge document!

Homework Week 1

1) I plan to create articles for all three of my book worlds; The Wellspring Dragons, Lapis of Nicodem, and Evenacht. This will coincide (I hope) with the revamp of the sites.
I just published the 2nd edition of WSD books, and it seems the right time to change the site up and add content.
LoN is a couple of years old and needs a refresh. I've been promising myself I'd get around to it, and summer camp is the time of year to really focus on that. Basically, LoN has strayed a bit from my original intent; I've been told it's a bit more dystopian.
I'll also be changing things up with Evenacht, with a new intro page and fresh content (and, maybe, get that intro video finally done! Do videos count as articles? Probably not).

2) I will complete silver but aim for gold.

3) Power

Wellspring Dragons

One of the greatest abuses of power in WSD occurs at the hands of bloodmages. They promise those not gifted with magick the ability to wield, but only if they follow their bloody tenets. The lure of magick is too great to pass up, for the power-hungry who think it will give them an edge among their peers and associates. Many will commit any atrocity to achieve this goal.
Shiobe's power is her knowledge, which lit the way through the Glass Volcano, the lair of Kykini Cede, Flame Dragon of Kassak, and will light the way through Hekara's Abyss, the lair of Lajaka, Ice Dragon of Lassa. Unfortunately, the lairs haven't had dragonpriests caring for them in centuries--and a run-down lair is a dangerous lair, no matter how much information one has about them.
King Shiel won the civil war for Illena's throne and invaded Merren to rid Seari of a bloodmage-backed despot. Other countries watch with unease. If they knew about the bloodmage threat, they did nothing about it. Now that Shiel has, they don't want him to continue conquering and lose the relative peace that has existed since the end of the Jonna Empire.

Lapis of Nicodem

Authority is a power nearly sacrosanct in the Dentherion Empire. Puppet rulers use it as a hammer to keep their citizens in line--and that authority comes from the threat of tech weapons. Unfortunately for the wielders of this power, aquatheerdaal, the mineral that energizes all known tech, is nearly depleted. They are struggling to find a replacement that will keep them on their thrones. Rebels syndicates are taking note and taking advantage of the situation.

Evenacht

The lust for power drives many a ghostly being in the Evenacht--and a great deal of the living who reside there. Power drove the Astri to make a pact with a long-ago Death deity to allow Talis ghosts to use the Evenacht as an afterlife paradise. This set them up as the defacto most powerful culture in the Evenacht. Power drove the Beast, who sucked up what he could before Erse Parr ended his miserable existence. Unfortunately, his touch still lingers and still causes damage and death (as readers of Evenacht Snake's Den just found out!).
Power is what created the Finders; Aeshren Gerant thought only associates approved by him and his council were legitimate Redeemers of the Condemned. The Hallowed Collective is the most important afterlife organization in the Evenacht due to this--and the most corrupt. Only they get to decide who's ready to be Redeemed, and it may not be the ghosts whose penance is long since served.

4) I watched the video on character relationships and scanned the diplomacy web article.

5) I have meta, it's just in Word docs on my computer, mostly in the form of short story snippets. Transferring them hasn't been the biggest priority, though I really should consider it (trying to look through pages and pages of text for the answer to a question I know I wrote about is a time-sink).
And there's the fact I'm a pantster, and I rarely plan the worlds I create. They flow from the characters, and even if I jot something down, there's no guarantee the stories I write will follow that. I can't even plan a chapter without it going in a sideway direction :/
One of the things I do want to do is add the music I've been using for Instagram posts and stories to Inspiration, then make Spotify playlists off them.

And that ends my Week 1 Summer Prep. Excitement's already building on Discord!
My big prep is completing the Wellspring Dragons Book 4 by the end of June, so I can devote more time to Summer Camp in July (great motivator, no?).

Homework Week 2

1) Frontiers

Wellspring Dragons

Frontiers in WSD? There are several!
Long forgotten by humans, the lairs are ripe for re-exploration.
The in-between that allows for magickal transport is a mystery. Few mortals think they are more than just a foggy place that makes kick-portals and movement between the twilight and sunlit realms possible. It's a vast space just waiting to be explored.
Cleaning up bloodmage habitations of bloodmagick contamination has led to several discoveries of techniques by the Monarch's Claws, and more are on the way.

Lapis of Nicodem

The aquatheerdaal supply, which powers nearly all technology on the continents of Pelthine, Theyndora, and Siindernorth, is nearly depleted. A race to find a replacement power source, and create tech that works with it, is of utmost importance to governments and organizations alike. This is why entities are scrounging through old mines in search of just a bit more aquatheerdaal, hoping to stave off the inevitable for as long as possible.

Evenacht

The Voidlands is a border between Evenacht and another evening land, and few traverse it. Ghosts go there to achieve the Final Death; there is no mist to recharge essences, and ghosts dwindle into nothing. Since the conditions are harsh, the living residents rarely travel through them, so the lands beyond a single trade route are unknown.
The Sunderlands were once a lush forestland, before the Beast got upset and turned it into a snow-bound continent. The interior is now a mystery.
Understanding the mists and how they energize ghosts is a huge open research opportunity that has frustrated interested parties for untold millennia. Could it be, that deities simply want some things to remain secrets?

2) Maps!
I've reworked my Wellspring Dragons maps to coincide with the 2nd edition release of the books, and the next book will need a map of the area surrounding the Ice Dragon's lair.
I also need a map of Greenglimmer for the next Evenacht book, which is a frontier in that it's a hard-to-navigate rainforest.
And, maybe, I can get new versions of Lapis of Nicodem maps up. Who knows?
I never drew a map until I started using World Anvil. I've found I like it! I've worked with them until I developed a style I liked. They have the darker feel I'm going for in my books.

3) ...fix categories and tags? Um...maybe?
There's a lot to do with that. Tags, yeah, could use some work. For categories, I'm always going back and forth between them and content trees. I think content trees are more flexible, and might fit my redesign better, but breadcrumbs! We shall see how it all turns out.

Homework Week 3

1) Relics

Wellspring Dragons

Relics, you say? My my my, WSD has a TON.
The dragonstones Dragonstones house a trial for potential dragon companions (because humans calling themselves dragonmasters is an ugly bit of hubris) and if the adventurer lives, the dragon bond is open to them.
TheFive Dragon relics The Five Dragons have relics that they give to favored humans. The most famous is the Ijakarana, a dagger the Ice Dragon spelled to have a constant coat of frost.
Dragonpriest artifacts When the dragonpriests were still around, they created magickal items they only shared with the dragons. Many of these are still housed in dragon temples, in spelled glass display cases, and can cause great mischief if used by those wishing to cause harm.
Bloodstones These are objects (usually fist-sized crystals, rocks or a nice gemstone) that store magickal power for use by bloodmages. These bloodstones are fed by sacrifice, and some are thousands of years old. While the caretakers of these objects rank high in the bloodmage hierarchy, they pay a heavy price for the honor.
Maps The dragon map documents Shiobe and Sikode have are relics. The author/s drew the main thoroughfares of the dragon lairs on them, but also embedded images in the sheets--and those images move! This kind of fantasizing is a monumental re-discovery.
Bloodmage relicsWhile digging in the crater that once was a bloodmage mansion, Illenan shadowartists discovered plaques with ancient writing on them. These plaques seem related to a creature birthed from a shattered crystal. What, exactly, is the connection?
And many, many more.

by Shanda Nelson (my artist name)

Shiobe and the Kandari. The Kandari changes presentation until the bond between dragon companion and dragon cures. Shiobe isn't thrilled with this incarnation.
The Flame Dragon's previous companion was a woman he disliked, but circumstances kept the bond intact. Her Kandari looked like twisted, gnarled wood with the gem at the top. While only the gem is technically the Kandari, humans refer to the entire wand by that name.

1) Relics cont.

Lapis of Nicodem

Khentauree The khentauree are relics of the past. They were built centuries ago, existed through the Taangis Empire collapse and the Dentherion Empire creation, and some of them have yet to go to silence.
Religious artifacts So, not to give away too much of the future story, in Knavish Canto, Patch goes after his sister and father in underground ruins of a temple complex. And yeah, there's a bit more to them than that.
Tech relics When Dentheria invaded Jilvayna, they lost a skyshroud near the capital city of Jiy. A century and a half later, Wrethe's grandmother discovered the buried craft--and realized it still functioned. She cleaned it up, buried the dead left to rot, and spent her remaining years smuggling generators in to power it. Now it's his home.
Gedaavik's code is a much sought-after relic.

Evenacht

Sun shard As with WSD, Evenacht has a lot of relics. We've encountered some already in Snake's Den. The primary one is the Sun shard, a yellow crystal imbued by the Sun syimlin for use by acolytes conducting dangerous missions. They used shards as protective devices, light devices, and a way to tell the intent of a being. Vantra had thought them destroyed long ago, until she discovered one in a Nevemere camp.
Dosiv The dosiv is a black stone sphere with yellow veins that once housed Veer Tul's Darkness blessing. Vi-van used it during the Nevemere coming-of-age ceremony to connect them to Darkness. The current naro vi-van, however, drained it and used another stone to conduct this important ritual--and death and destruction has followed.
Mephoric emblems The weapons that the previous Death deity, the Beast, enchanted. He would fence in a place that garnered his wrath with them, then detonate them. Whatever lay within was destroyed, be it land, animal, living or ghostly being. Erse Parr sent him to the Final Death six thousand years ago, and the Shades of Darkness hunted for the remaining emblems. They thought they had discovered and eradicated the remainder. They were wrong.
Sundered relics The Evenacht has some gruesome relics, too. The Condemned are punished by Death for an ill-lived life. These souls have their ghostly essences rent apart, their heads placed in the Fields of the UnRedeemed, and the rest hidden throughout the evening lands. Finders select a Condemned to Redeem, and then search for those missing parts. Some Condemned have been in the Fields for thousands of years, plenty of time for the living beings of the Evenacht to discover their sundered essences and use them as holy objects, unholy objects, and whatnot.
Relics tend to play a big role in my stories. Heh.

2) Timelines and Chronicles
I need to revisit Timelines. I haven't used them since 2020, when I started using another program to keep track of my book stuff, but adding them to certain articles makes sense.
I haven't used Chronicles because I'm under the impression I can't change them to fit my worlds, none of which have a 24/7, 12/365 cycle.

3) ART!
I create everything now, so it's good to get a head start on some of it. Love art, love drawing, love creating...
One of the images I plan to draw this summer camp is Veer Tul bringing darkness to the land.

Homework Week 4

1) Communications

Wellspring Dragons

Language: In WSD, one of the main languages, Daione has influeced all languages in the countries once part of the Jonna Empire. It is used as the main religious language as well as the language government documents are written in. Sentence structure, words and sounds made their way into local languages. The empire did its best to eradicate less-popular languages and promote the main one spoken in any given local. Why? The way the Condi looked at things was inherent in their language, and they forced that viewpoint on the languages that came under their control, which guided the thought processes of the conquered.
While other scholars speak about the influence of local languages on Daione in return, Condi scholars, to this day, ingore that strain of research.
Comunication devices: One of the most prominent communication devices is the mirror/glass. Usually a square, shined object, drawing a glyph on the surface connects it to another device with the same glyph. The beings can speak with one another, then close out the conversation by severing the link. There's much more to this, but that's what the prompts are for!
Mind speak: Basically, mystery artists can interact with one another through mental speech. It's how teachers of the mystery arts teach complicated spells to their students. Speaking with non-wielders was considered impossible, until dragons reappeared and did so. How? *dragon shrugs and looks wise*
Language amulets: Sophisticated language devices created by dragons that allows individuals to speak a language they do not know. Making them is a monumental undertaking, and the resulting product will sell for hundreds of gold (well out of the reach of even most wealthy individuals). Dragons, who drop out of human consciousness on a regular basis, use them to integrate back into society quickly.
Blanket wieldings: They go by several names, but were first created...(oh, that's a secret for book 5. heh). Anywho, they're used in modern times to blanket a large metropolitan area. When foreign kick-portals are sensed, they activate and shut down the ability to use them, preventing an invasion. These wieldings notify the mystery artist on duty to oversee them, and mobilization can happen quickly afterwards.

In Daione. Says 'Languages'.
Flowscape bg and symbols by Shanda Nelson (my artist name)

In WSD, Shiobe is able to translate ancient texts her father taught her eight languages and their older forms. her translations not only led her and Sikode to dragon lairs, but helped them navigate the interiors. In the books, language knowledge is power.

1) Communications cont.

Lapis of Nicodem

Finger language: One of the things Cassa researches is how a street finger language used by the underground and street urchins in Jiy made the transition from the terron populations who use it as their primary language (terrons are large, intelligent lizards). These entities did not have contact with each other, so the migration is a mystery.
Computer Codes: Jhor created a code that downloaded and installed modern languages into khentauree who still spoke Taangin, the language of an empire that died six hundred years ago. This coincides with the problem of understanding Gedaavik's code, because he lived centuries ago and not only did not speak modern languages, but coding was very different at that point in time.
Restrictions: The Dentherion Empire, which basically has taken over the entirety of the continent of Theyndora, has done its best to eradicate all tech in conquered countries, leaving only Dentheria as a modern powerhouse. So while they can use radios, phones, comm devices etc, all other populations rely on letters, couriers, etc. Of course the underground and rebellious factions have done due diligence in acquiring more rapid forms of communication, but for most others, the plodding nature of information acquirement has kept them subservient to Dentherion whims.

Evenacht

Say what now?: The Evenacht is not only home to ghosts whose ages range from day 0 to fifty-thousand or more, but home to thousands of native populations that speak their own tongues. Conflicts arise from ghost vs ghost as well as ghost vs living beings not being able to communicate effectively. Not all conflicts result from misunderstandings; for instance, some arise from old ghosts speaking languages that rely on gendered nouns while more modern descendent languages do not. Younger ghosts wonder why older ones hold onto a language so filled with inequality, and don't buy the 'it's comfortable, it's what I'm used to' excuses.
How can ghosts hear, anyway?
Divine interaction:The syimlin (gods) walk among the Evenacht populations. How does one communicate most effectively with them? Should you even try? What if you mess up?
Interstellar divine communications:One of the big communication dilemmas involves the interstellar invaders of the planet Sensour. The Gabridarço ships flying under the banner of the Flayn Monarchy thought victory against a not-quite-space-faring planet was assured. Then the death deities rose together and killed the entire fleet. Oops.
Those dead souls did what all other dead souls on Sensour do--enter the various evening lands. But these evening lands are not Gabridarço evening lands. How can the Sensour death deities get in contact with the divines from Gabridarç in order to solve the transportation problem of getting them back home? Not only is interstellar travel without the mists = Final Death for ghosts, the Flayn Monarchy has restricted interactions and communications with Sensour, so getting some sort of message to Gabridarç, and getting a reply, has yet to work.
This has led Gabridarço souls to invent some interesting devices using Evenacht materials in an attempt to replicate communication tools they used in life.

2) History of a language, rather than exactly how it works, is more my lane. But I do add languages created by Vulgarlang! I've used them in all three of my series/serials.

3) I read through old articles a lot, so this just flows with my regular workflow. Yay!
I'm also planning a revamp of sites this summer, so this will be a good way to get some of it done.

background image by quino al from Unsplash