Summer Camp 2024 - Reading Challenge

Looking Back

Summer Camp was a blast. As the first World Anvil event I've particpated in, the experience went far beyond what I expected. What started as a chance to focus on developing Terramora further, turned into a truly transformative experience with implications far beyond world building.
First, the community here is fantastic. As the first discord channel I've truly utilized, and the frequenters of the challenge channel are incredibly welcoming, encouraging, and helpful. Without them, Gold would not have been accomplished, and Terramora would likely still be invisible on this site. If you haven't had the chance to get to know these folks, I highly recommend jumping into the the discord, in addition to checking out all the great worlds the site has to offer.

Secondly, the experience of writing to prompts was new and surprisingly enjoyable. It forced thinking about things that otherwise would have been glossed over, or even forgotten, and helped add quite a bit of depth to both modern and historical Dendralis.
Lastly, the chance to harness focus into one are for a month was the most productive and fulfilling creativity has been for some time. With numerous hobbies and focuses beyond Terramora, it's too easy to jump from project to project even within a singular day. By focusing on one single project for the month, both the volume and quality of output was significantly higher, not to mention getting to build on progress from day to day was very enjoyable. I will be attempting to focus on one primary project each month through at least the remainder of 2024, and possibly further in an experiment to see if this is truly a more porductive process for myself.

Summer Camp in Dendralis

As of now, only the continent of Dendralis has been revealed on Terramora, and thus was the central focus for all summer camp prompts. In particular, Summer Camp provided a great opportunity to expand upon the ancient history of this continent in signifiacnt ways. Below are links to the preparation for Summer Camp, and the hub page for all articles created during camp.

Reading Challenge

The hardest part of the Reading Challenge is trying to pare down all the amazing articles submitted to Summer Camp into a digestible number of articles to share. I also wish to support those who have done a ton to help me over the last month as well. As such there are two segments of articles below for your reading pleasure. The first group is comprised entirely of worldbuilders who have helped out Terramora in various ways (and I'm sure some I've missed, so HUGE apologies to those I did miss). Second is a collection of articles from prompts I did not complete myself. The focus this month remained on what fit in very nicely with what has already been created within Terramora, and some prompts simply weren't obvious fits, and thus skipped. It was fun getting to read those who did complete these prompts to get some new ideas for Dendralis and beyond. Enjoy!

Friends of Terramora

Mount Saint Helens style blast? Yes please! Especially when it's coming from the intense world of Etrea by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull.

Alan Byers's support for Terramora has been exceptionally helpful, and his work is just as impressive. I love the idea of Petra-like structures hollowed out from stone, and Esclobar is not only protective in it's defense, but offensive as well.

From the streaming great Polina "Line" Arteev comes the Lavender Rebellion. I love a rebellion, and a subtle decentralized one always seems to stick around no matter what.

From another helpful voice on the discord, Coolg, the use of Devil's Ashes is just such a great concept that goes hard.

From yet another positive voice, Annie Stein, come Uranian vehicle cities! Some operate as de facto pirate ships at that!

From a Queen of CSS on the discord channel, Han, comes a land of beauty, danger, and intrigue. The writing does a great job of painting a picture, while the images included really hammer it home.

What list of helpful Anvilites would be complete without Mochi? The wire dancers are a wonderful example of the spooky deep sea creatures that are so fun to learn about in the real world.

Finally, Keon Croucher is an amazing welcome man to the discord, and a really fun worldbuilder. The practices of the Faith of Varis Tomain completely subvert our standard ideas of what constitutes religious practice and worship.

Exploring the WorldAnvil-verse

A Tradition that Represents Moral Decay

Immediately breaking the rule of featuring authors who are entirely new, The Shadow Masquerade from Tillerz is a wonderfully detailed account of a morally bankrupt event that gave off some Bilderberg/Eyes Wide Shut vibes.

Dieselpunk is a genre long I've long admired but haven't gotten to dive into enough. This entry from BCGR_Wurth added a wonderfully visceral experience to a genre of steel and oil.

Just absolute brutality from tarkinlarson. A descriptive account of human sacrifice that has definitely taken an even darker turn with time.

A Document of Spurious or Controversial Attribution

An epidemic a sleep-writing creates a tale of an unknown world creates a fantastic hook into the Million Islands from Demongrey

Sometimes articles written as part of the world, rather than about the world fail to really hook. However, this offering from Ellysium instantly immerses the reader into the Hallowed Legacy.

This cryptic tablet from reminds one heavily of not only the named inspiration of Skyrim's Dragonstone, but also the hermetic text the Emerald Tablet.

A Myth, Urban Legend or Conspiracy Theory Believed by Many to be True

Too funny not to include this newspaper article from Tlcassis Polgara | Arrhynsia - The heathenous Round World Society trying to convince people the world is not flat?? Balderdash!

A wonderful little tale of a terrible fate from Yerran, having both the full tale, and surrounding context immerses the reader nicely.

From M.R.R. Shelswell, the Smokeman is the kind of spooky that just sticks with you.

Future Plans for Terramora

The beauty of working on Terramora is that it is so massive, that there will always be something to add to the world. The focus for the remainder of 2024 is to continue to establish the continent of Dendralis. The Greenwood and Emerald Isles are solidly established, while the regions of the Emerald Shores, The Fertile Valley, the Darkwood, and the Fissures are almost ready to be revealed to the world. However, that leaves 40-50% of the continent yet to be plotted out. Ideally the entire continent will be loosely plotted out in it's entirety, while the named regions will hopefully all be unveiled by the time Worldember is complete.
In addition to revealing these regions, the hope is to complete a detailed primer for the continent of Dendralis, and to create the first piece of prose related to the world. Look out for the great historian Talamus Wynned to be included heavily in these works. There is also a plan to continue participating in World Anvil's events. The buzz in energy and creativity is contagious and will continue to push Terramora further.
In the long term, some regions beyond Dendralis have been loosely plotted. Ideas like deserts, artcic mountain ranges, and even a ring of fire are being tossed around in the oven. There may even be a subcontinent being developed entirely inspired by the Gizzverse.... Hope you decide to follow along the adventures in Terramora!