World Building Summer Camp 2023

Written by Kbignell

I, Kbignell, pledge to complete at least 8 prompts to obtain the Copper badge for the WorldAnvil 2023 Summer Camp.

This is my first summer camp and I am looking forward to contributing to the WorldAnvil community! I have become highly motivated lately to focus more on my writing, starting with a small DnD OneShot campaign and moving on to a novel and a collection of short stories. I also plan to add some full blown DnD adventures and novelettes. I will be focusing on my world of Wizards and Warlocks, just a name place holder for now, where I plan to develop a series of novels.

Power

Power is the theme of the first set of prompts. There are a myriad of meanings to power. Political power, military power, the power of individuals to affect their world. In the world of Wizards and Warlocks, as you might expect, a lot of what power means is the power of magic, specifically the strength of an individuals magic. Where power comes from is a large aspect of any type of power. Magic power granted by immortal beings can be a double edged sword, whether granted from good or evil, power granted can be wielded for a variety of ends, and the means is often of as much importance as the result.
The power of one individual can often seem to outweigh the power of many, but almost all power is no greater than that granted by those from who it originates.
WorldAnvil has been very helpful and motivational to me in the past couple of months and I hope I can use the motivation and the community support to finally actually write the novel that has been in my head for years. I look forward to reading what others write and hope to get great feedback on what I create here.

Articles for Power

The Church of Peace
Retinor
The Acradious Fruit
Hippocampus
Qoitiken
Demons versus mortals
First Mage of the Realm
The Blessing
folotopi
Retinor Eats and Feats Fest

Frontier

The Minds oi Gods and Demons has many frontiers, the first and foremost being the division between the area of the world known as the blessing, where demonds cannot tread, and the Demon Lands, where demons rule and even gods cannot safely go.
Warlocks often travel to the border between the Blessing and the Demon Lands to be closer to their patron demon to increase their own power as well as to entreat with demons to perhaps find a demon of greater power to serve, and to deliver offerings of powerful Wizards as sacrifice to their patron demons. Few others would travel there unless hunting Warlocks or in an effort to cross into the Demon Lands to slay a demon to save a life.
Other frontiers are the borders between the various countries and kingdoms. There are a number of different countries on the continent, some prosperous, some not, some just and good, and some less so.
The frontier between the habitable southern lands and the frozen north is a popular place for young adventures to go and try to prove themselves, hunting various monsters of the frozen lands and returning to their homes with riches and trophies to display. Or in many cases, not returning at all, becoming food for the things that live on the ice and in the cold and snow.
There also exists a frontier between the realm of the physical world and the realm where the gods exist now, cut off from the world physically, but still able to communicate with ordinary people, and extraordinary Wizards.

Articles for Frontier

The Desert of Quouribi
Thaltop
Researcher for the Malminar Counsel of Wizards
battoon flies
Haanth Cactus
Glittergreen
VanLief Aericksen
Alta'zula
Bexxa'wyld
Inquiry to the State of Affairs of the People of Thaltop

Relics

Relics of past ages take many forms in the world of The Minds of Gods and Demons. There are relics from before gods and demons came to walk among people on the physical plains. These relics are ancient texts written on curious paper of flexible stone with indelible ink. Relics found in sealed containers of hard, nonreactive, stone-like substance that have survived for ages. Hundreds, maybe thousands of years before the Blessing. Most of the relics from the age before the gods are indecipherable pages of these texts, horded and traded among the rich, confiscated by governments, some few studied at the greater colleges or by powerful Wizards. Some have been lost to demons, stolen in the night or offered up by Warlocks currying favor. A very few devices of unknown use have been found, but none have been found to do anything, becoming things of legend displayed in important museums or lost to private collections.
Relics from the time of Gods are more sought after, but just as scarce as those from before. These are tools and weapons created by Gods and Demons themselves working with and among people. A few that have been found have proved to be fully functional if not extremely dangerous. Attempting to use a found relic has proven to be as dangerous as not. These relics hold power beyond dreaming, but the use and control of them are lost to current knowledge most of the time. A few have been used successfully by a powerful Wizard or Warlock.
Relics of kingdoms and countries risen and fallen since the Blessing and the departure of Gods from the world are also important throughout the world. Some just impart lost wisdom and some are artifacts of power or tools of great craft-skill, beyond what is capable of today's crafting.

"Relics of the past are a reminder of how great or terrible we were, and how great or terrible we can be again. We've survived this long, why not longer?"

Articles for Relics

Naming Day
The Staff of Ceitus
Mandricourt
Emberly Malminar
Attendant to a God
The Song of The Blessing
Giant Phase Koi
The Gods
First Hunt of the Qoitiken
The Renewal

Communication

Communication, both successful and unsuccessful, happens in a multitude of ways, often concurrently. Warlocks communicate with each other via secret words and actions. They communicate with devils via hidden means and with their patrons via ritual telepathy. Wizards have secret communications between each other within their sects or countries.
Secret communications can take the form of hand signals, body language, code words, and many other means that would have to be known and noticed to be interpreted for immediate face-to-face communications. Notes left in secret places written in code would be slower but effective communication between those who cannot meet in person. Secret sigils or marks on buildings or trees or other more permanent structures could be another method of communicating secrets.
Language is of course an obvious and immediate method of communication. Do different countries have different languages? Are they related in anyway? Are the dialects within languages? How do they differ? What slang or idiosyncrasies of speech might cause even those speaking the same language to misunderstand each other? How would education level affect the communication between two or more individuals?
Miscommunication is as much a part of communication as slang or idioms. What causes the most common miscommunications? Failure to pay attention to details? A bad turn of phrase?
Communication across distances adds another complication to understanding, or misunderstanding, what someone is telling you. In this world, technology is not advanced at all, at least not in communication. This makes it difficult to effectively communicate across distances. A system of letter delivery is in place, riders carry written materials and packages long distances from place to place, crossing kingdom and country boundaries. Some level of cooperation between countries is necessary for this to work well, and when one country doesn't allow these deliveries freely, it can cause communication to break down or cease altogether between parties.
Communications between countries would be another aspect. How do the governments communicate with each other? Why would they and what would there purpose be? Subterfuge? Trade? Threats? Misunderstandings between governments are often rooted in misunderstood communications. In this world at least one government is deceptive and effusive, keeping borders mostly closed, keeping it people from knowing much about what goes on outside its borders and controlling information within the country. Another aspect of communication is the control of information and ideas.
In the country called the Arrangement of Peace, the government and the government supported religion controls information, keeping the people compliant to its wishes. It also controls the information coming from outside the country. Only the very rich and those in the inner circle of the church and government know much about the greater world outside their borders.
I was at first a bit trepidatious about this theme, but after some consideration and deep thought, I think I have come to like the challenge.

Articles for Communication

Glittergreen cart
Wizard Flux
Lightning Bug Communications
The Merchant Marines of Peace
Sand-sharks
High Holiness Dalathalian
Defeat of the Salt Swamp Monster
WizFlux Station
Culottesjerry
Blind Wizards

Bonus Optional Prompts!

Demon's Counsel
Truth about Species


The Artifact A D&D 5e Oneshot