I Camp Even: Summer Camp 2023

I pledge to not catch covid the first week of July, thereby sabotaging all chances of achieving my worldbuilding goals. I will remain healthy and committed to reengaging with the world I have taken a break from the last few months.

— mandyla (now mintysloth)

Reflections and Goals

Last year I went into Summer Camp with metered expectations: the goal was for gold, but I wasn't going to rule out the possibility of achieving diamond. Then, I caught covid while on vacation at the very end of June, which made gold seem even out of reach. That mental fog was something else, as was the ridiculous amount of stress at work, but I managed to persevere and achieve my goal of gold as well as my word count goal of 15K for Camp NaNoWriMo.

I'm in a completely different headspace than I was this time last year. I quit my job at the end of last year and have been focusing on my mental and physical health. My plan is to begin job hunting at the end of June, and though that may take up some of my time, I will still have much more free time to focus on worldbuilding than usual. For that reason, I think diamond is definitely attainable this year. Will I do all 40 prompts? Probably not, but I completed 31 in 2021, so 32 doesn't seem like that much of a stretch.

In terms of areas of focus, I would like to build on the history and society of Havenvern Island, the setting of a novel I intend to write for NaNoWriMo this year. I would also like to continue developing Irocra--yes, it is already the most developed of all the provinces, but I love so much of what I've developed already that I just want to keep exploring it.

Theme Preparation

Theme #1: Power

When I think of power in Leland, my mind first goes to the Queendom of Leland, the organization that controlled the entire peninsula for the first seven centuries of the modern era. The monarchs claimed the right to rule as the descendants of the mythic Carina Ahyen who brought an end to The Great Invasion and united the peoples of Leland under one banner for the first time in history. Merely holding this power was a struggle with the palace intrigue and threats from within and without. Golden nobles, those whose lineage possessed the same type of enmanity as the royal family, held power at the pleasure of the queen. Power continued to dilute further down implicit enmantic hierarchies, the struggles with which would eventually lead to the fall of the Queendom.

The Queendom gave way to the Leland Confederacy after a violent revolt. While participation in the confederacy is technically voluntary, the entire peninsula is isolated from the rest of the world. If a province were to secede, they would have no access to alternative allies and would be immediately cut off from all trade. This leads to a lot of tension within the halls of power, especially when it comes to Irocra. Irocra was the last province to agree to the confederacy and has been the most vocal about retaining its own authority, often holding sole responsibility for dragging legislation and debate on a confederate level to a halt.

Narrowing down further than these broad ruling organizations, Havenvern Island is a place that was largely left alone by the ruling province of Vinato until officials took notice of some of the inhumane practices taking place on the island. A local government was installed by the province to control what was happening, and though it appears from the outside to be working, one family remaining from the old days still holds the true power in the de facto capital. The official government does nothing without the family's approval.

Theme #2: Frontier

The world of Leland has a few large, physical frontiers: the Wasteland and what lies beyond it as well as the seas surrounding the peninsula that haven't been crossed in over a millennia. These places have kept Leland isolated since the end of The Great Invasion, and though many cultures have developed their own explanations for what lies beyond these places, no one knows for sure. To be honest, I haven't figured out what lies beyond yet, but this theme might be the opportunity to change that.

Narrowing the scope a bit, the forest on Havenvern Island is a dangerous place that has been explored around the perimeter, but few wander too far into it, lest they end up victim to creatures such as the Wisvolvic. Being dragged into its depths is often used as a threat by those in power on Havenvern.

From my perspective, the techniques and technologies possible through the use of enmanities is a frontier--I haven't explored this area as much as I'd like to as I've been mostly focusing on the basics of how the enmanities work rather than applications. I've done a lot of hand waving in describing Power of Composition, so I need to do a deeper dive into that. Metal Channeling relies on Power of Geonature and is very similar to electricity in the real world, but because it is a relatively newly discovered technique, there are a million possibilities it could be used for.

Theme #3: Relics

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of relics are things associated with the Queendom period--mostly those royal items like the Crown of the Golden Lioness that are held in the museum in Harmonil, but also the lasting impact that period had on art, culture, and society even five hundred years later. Murals and architecture in buildings associated with the confederate government reflect motifs from that time period.

The family in control of Dovala holds many valuable treasures, including those of historical significance to Havenvern Island. One of these relics, a specially designed lens that reveals a map to a hidden place on the island, is going to play a key role in the novel.

Theme #4: Communication

THIS! IS! THE! THEME! FOR! ME!

One thing that plagues Leland is my inability to figure out communication. I've had a few vague ideas about what might be used for long-distance communication. Metal channeling opens the door for technology similar to the real world, but that negates what would need to be developed prior to its invention. There has to be some form of communication using other enmanities that would have been built upon over the years. I've considered something similar to a journey book from the Sword of Truth series, but figuring out how that would work and if I want to establish the magical norms that would allow it to work are the tricky parts.

I also got into conglanging last year, and though I've developed the two languages that have narrative significance, there are so many other languages out there.

Pre-Camp To-Do List
Complete revamp of enmanity articles
Create summer camp tracking article

Extra Credit
Meta refresh
Organize articles
Organize images

Havenvern Island, found in north east Leland, will be the setting for an upcoming novel. Plenty of opportunities for world building, from physical geography, to settlements, to island flora and fauna!

Havenvern Island

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Pledges of Yesteryear