Hey.
Worldember 2023 will be my first worldbuilding competition, I've been working on and off of Verdance for a good few years now but most of my writing remains either on paper or loosely organised in folders as notes. Now that I think I've got enough foundational knowledge of my setting I'm happy to start sharing it properly with everyone and I think that this December will be an excellent month for me to expand on some of my content that I've yet to put down into proper writing.
My Focus
For Worldember 2023 I will be focusing on my writing of constructs. Constructs are artificially, magically created objects or creatures with varying degrees of sentience. Constructs are a rare sight in Verdance, this is partially due to the difficulty involved in their creation. Each individual construct requires a good breadth and depth of knowledge to create and some even view the craft of creating a construct as an art. They are categorised into four main groups: Golems, Revenants, Artifice and Chimeras. I will elucidate all I can on this topic via creating an article about each of these groups and by writing stories. Expect my story on Chimeras first as I've already begun development on it.
Meta
Scope
As previously mentioned constructs are rare creatures inside Verdance. Very few people even know about their existance and even fewer know how to create them. Though despite their sparsity this does not reduce their impact onto the story, constructs have played important roles in a variety of historical events in Verdance and still continue to do so alongside their creators. The art of creating a construct often involves skills in a variety of different areas executed to a high standard and thus the people capable of such are revered amongst the initiated. In my upcoming articles and stories you will learn more about their influence in the world of Verdance as a whole.
Theme And Mood
Verdance has no overbearing atmosphere and the theme is often influenced by circumstance. Sitting at a comfortable 'middle' fantasy as opposed to high or low, the aesthetic and thematic influences of a construct depends greatly especially between types of constructs. As the creation of a Golem is the act of creating life it is often seen as a positive endeavor. Golems may be used as guards or to accomplish work too dangerous for a mortal being made of flesh while often being adorned with beautiful engravings. On the other end of the spectrum, the creation of a chimera requires the extensive and invasive operation of a live creature often without sedative. Constructs can be intimidating, inspiring, comforting or depressing. They are a vastly applicable selection of creatures capable of inducing a selection of atmospheres, a few of which I will attempt to demonstrate in my upcoming work.
Goals
Constructs are widely seen throughout all of media. From gargoyles to golems, magical mirrors to manticores. Artificially created life is a common occurance in many different fantasy settings. My goal with Verdance as a whole is not necessarily to 'put a twist' on any existing trope or to add anything exceptionally outlandish to stand out but to modernise and elaborate on established common lore. And as such constructs are to be no different, though they may differ greatly between themselves I believe that as I write more about them this Worldember you may learn to see the similarities. By establishing some magical rules (not necessarily science) I believe I can elevate the themes of constructs, their purpose, their creation and ultimately make them more appealing as not just a class of creatures but as individual characters.
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