Summercamp 2023 Pledge

Goals

First time for everything, I suppose. I'm not that confident in my writing abilities to shoot for anything specific, so I made it my personal goal to get A badge, whichever one it ends up being. Frankly, I think taking part in this will do me a world of good in terms of getting the creative juices flowing and get me out of any rut I might have unknowingly fallen in.

Week 1: Power

Power is an especially interesting topic as it is perhaps the chief motivator for any world, really. Everyone who is anyone will seek to be on top, though what being on top actually means can be a very fluid concept indeed.

On Nascindor, power is held mainly by organizations and individuals willing to strive for it, but some of it is also exerted due to sheer necessity, wherein a faction has to hold a position of authority for the continued survival of the world, as is the case with the church of Resounding Truth. I aim to explore how power is divided and why, going deeper into the motivations of the factions that exist within Nascindor, how these motivations might clash with eachother and the ramifications of such clashes.

Prompts willing, I would also like to start writing more characters, and what better way to do so than fleshing out heads of state and other important personage who wield power?

Potential articles;

• Exploration of the actual leadership of the church of Resounding Truth and its subsidiaries, such as the Seeker fellowships
• The influential figures of the Arachnitha collective and how power is actually wielded in their subterranean realms
• How the expansionist nature of the S'aue affects the world of Nascindor and why they commit to such imperialism

Week 2: Frontier

There are many kinds of frontiers, and on Nascindor the most compelling of these are most definitely the Tapestrum Arcanum from which all magic is drawn and the boundary-pushing technological advancements of the S'aue. Especially the latter can potentially shake up many of the foundations that exist on Nascindor as it solidifies its place on the stage. I will definitely be writing about the Tapestrum and those who explore it at length and, if the prompt gods are gracious, I would like a chance to write some prose in the form of an explorer's journal, detailing his or hers explorations of a frontier. It's an exciting theme, and one that has the potential to really expand Nascindor.

Potential articles;

• Studies and theses on the workings of the Tapestrum Arcanum
• Examples of the technologies pioneered by the S'aue and their impact upon the world
• Exploratory notes on the Black Forest

Week 3: Relics

Now THIS I can get behind. Relics are a way to convey history without having to drown the reader in dry academic papers (not bashing, just not my cup of tea), rather showing them a cool sword from a time when it ruled the world in the hands of ancient rulers and demigods, or a stone tablet that is written in a long forgotten language which contains the secrets to life itself, if only it could be understood.

And who's to say that a relic has to be a thing of the past? To quote a spiffing chap with a doctorate;

People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.

Which I think can (and should!) be used to justify relics from the past, future, present and all points in-between.

There's so much potential for exploring a setting with this theme that I might actually have a hard time deciding which of my ideas to go with first! This theme can also help me brush up my characters, as I can tie relics to past figures of note and expand on them that way.
Potential articles;

• Anomalous objects retrieved from the Varlem Desert or objects that exist within the Tapestrum Arcanum but not the real Nascindor
• Ancient artefacts from the time before the Progenitor fell
• Weapons and objects from across time which harbor a spark of ancient or future power, of interest to collectors and researchers alike

Week 4: Communication

This theme actually reminded me that I hadn't even thought about how information is conveyed from one party to another on Nascindor, beyond the assumption that there is some kind of postal system in place, so having to actually think about this is a boon for sure.

The way people communicate can be a defining feature of an organization or ethnicity, and add a ton of flavor to the world. The Arachnithan burrow-homes in particular I could see having some interesting ways to keep in contact with eachother, as well as the S'aue, who are in a unique position due to being mechanical in nature and therefore capable of types of communication not readily available to organic beings.

Potential articles;

• The postal system of the human city-states and how it functions
• Types of communication employed by the Arachnitha/S'aue
• The ways the Pale Men communicate and how it differs from the rest of humanity

I like badges!

–Shaaman

by Midjourney

_{This, too, is power.}

by Midjourney

_{The Tapestrum Arcanum is a frontier of undiscovered mystique.}

by Midjourney

_{Relics often take the form of geometric shapes... for some reason.}

by Midjourney

_{The undying classic of communication; written correspondence}