New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Page 18 of 50 FirstFirst ... 891011121314151617181920212223242526272843 ... LastLast
Results 511 to 540 of 1487
  1. - Top - End - #511
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    In the Playground

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    I've got no excuse though, I'm 2/3rds of the way through the quarter, no tests or anything, and it's the lightest quarter I've had so far and probably will have at all while I'm here.

    I did get the first half of that sheet down though, yeah. Tass. Poor kid.

  2. - Top - End - #512
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Sorry about the late answer. I've been working monstrous days and just collapsing sleeping every time I got home. Got a few hours of free time now, though. We're all kinda sad, busy people, aren't we?

    This is the second time in a short while, Kyouhen. I'm gonna let it slide (partly because almost all those drawings fit the theme*), but please have it uploaded on time in the future.

    * which is awesome!
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  3. - Top - End - #513
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    *pokes head in*

    Hey guys, I'm back!

    You wouldn't be against me joining again would you?

  4. - Top - End - #514
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Not at all! Did you hit a good writing streak?
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  5. - Top - End - #515
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by Glass Mouse View Post
    Not at all! Did you hit a good writing streak?
    I hit a very good writing streak, and I'm trying to increase my digital art skills as well!

    Thank you for letting me back in!

  6. - Top - End - #516
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    In the Playground

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Well I'll definitely have it all done (I have a bit over 1100 words right now, and about a day's travel on buses ahead of me), but I don't know what my internets will be like, as I will be up at Fanime, a con in San Jose.

    So we'll see if I actually get the chance to upload it?

  7. - Top - End - #517
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by ShadowySilence View Post
    I hit a very good writing streak, and I'm trying to increase my digital art skills as well!

    Thank you for letting me back in!
    No worries, the Challenge is always open to anyone who makes the effort! Looking forward to seeing you pass again!

    I'm not sure if I need to say this... but just in case, different poses (from an inkscape drawing) don't count as separate drawings. Original material each time

    Quote Originally Posted by Icewalker View Post
    So we'll see if I actually get the chance to upload it?
    If that's the problem, just upload it when you get the chance. We allow for technical difficulties and no-internet situations once in a while. Let me know when you can have it uploaded, and I'll pass you if you keep that deadline

    And have fun!
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  8. - Top - End - #518
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by Glass Mouse View Post
    No worries, the Challenge is always open to anyone who makes the effort! Looking forward to seeing you pass again!

    I'm not sure if I need to say this... but just in case, different poses (from an inkscape drawing) don't count as separate drawings. Original material each time
    I understand, I didn't expect those edits to count towards this. My friend who I made it for decided to switch genders at the last second! XD

  9. - Top - End - #519
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    I'm SO sorry, guys, I've been running around at a family gathering all day, and eventhough I made sure I'd get a spot of time to do the status, I completely forgot. I suck.
    Still, better late than never.


    Glass Mouse passes with a silly drawing, and ~1600 words of vampire short story.

    Ice Walker didn't send me anything, but may do so later.

    Kyouhen didn't upload anything.

    ShadowySilence uploaded two and a half OoTS-themed avatar drawings.


    Thus, Kyouhen and ShadowySilence FAIL this round!

    Glass Mouse PASSES this round!


    Current standing:
    Spoiler
    Show
    Glass Mouse
    Current run: 83 weeks
    Longest run: -

    Ice Walker
    Current run: -
    Longest run: 3 weeks

    Kyouhen
    Current run: -
    Longest run: 12 weeks

    ShadowySilence
    Current run: -
    Longest run: 4 weeks


    Ice Walker is away, so it's Kyouhen's turn to choose a theme




    Okay, I feel a little less bad about the delay, seeing that I'm the only one who passed. What's up, guys?
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  10. - Top - End - #520
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    In the Playground

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Ended up busier and less successful than expected, so can fairly count the week as unsuccessful as far as The Challenge is concerned. I should be able to pick it up again this week.

  11. - Top - End - #521
    Pixie in the Playground
     
    BlueKnightGuy

    Join Date
    May 2012

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    This looks neato, sign me up please! I'll get started as soon as I hear the theme.

  12. - Top - End - #522
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Lady Serpentine's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Avatar by Kasanip
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Out of curiosity, is there any way to get stuff you don't want to actually put up anywhere counted for this? I'm guessing not, but I figured I might as well check...

  13. - Top - End - #523
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by Icewalker View Post
    Ended up busier and less successful than expected, so can fairly count the week as unsuccessful as far as The Challenge is concerned. I should be able to pick it up again this week.
    Aw. Alright. But since you're available after all, it's your time to choose the theme!

    Quote Originally Posted by Mardel View Post
    This looks neato, sign me up please! I'll get started as soon as I hear the theme.
    Awesome! Welcome on board

    Quote Originally Posted by C'nor View Post
    Out of curiosity, is there any way to get stuff you don't want to actually put up anywhere counted for this? I'm guessing not, but I figured I might as well check...
    Hey C'nor. Yes, you can always send it to me over PM. I'll usually mention what it is (fantasy writings / OoTS avatars / whatevs) unless asked otherwise, but that's all I'll make public
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  14. - Top - End - #524
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    In the Playground

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Ah, alright, well let's go with something I spent one of my learning hours on over my time at Fanime: theme for this week is steel.


    Edit: Well, I was going to do some writing today. Then I didn't. I got some planning done. But...this is not going as efficiently as it should be...
    Last edited by Icewalker; 2012-06-04 at 03:50 AM.

  15. - Top - End - #525
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Status!


    Glass Mouse passes with a steel-inspired drawing and 2631 words of writing (half short story, half character descriptions).

    Ice Walker didn't send me anything.

    Kyouhen didn't upload anything.

    ShadowySilence passes with 8 poems of different philosophical/dramatic themes.


    Thus, Ice Walker and Kyouhen FAIL this round!

    Glass Mouse and ShadowySilence PASSES this round!

    Just you and me, Shadow!


    Current standing:
    Spoiler
    Show
    Glass Mouse
    Current run: 84 weeks
    Longest run: -

    Ice Walker
    Current run: -
    Longest run: 3 weeks

    Kyouhen
    Current run: -
    Longest run: 12 weeks

    ShadowySilence
    Current run: 1 week
    Longest run: 4 weeks


    Okay, now it's Kyouhen's turn to choose a theme




    Hooray, vacation time! It feels good to have time to create again!
    I'm also working on my new webomic; notes and sketches and setting description and scripts and such, which can't be uploaded anywhere, so I admit my status looks a lot less impressive than it is But man, does it feel good to be in the game again!

    @Mardel: I forgot to ask you for a link to your stuff! You haven't sent me anything or uploaded anything to the thread, but did you upload your drawings/writings somewhere else?

    @C'nor: Did you want to rejoin?
    Last edited by Glass Mouse; 2012-06-04 at 05:09 AM.
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  16. - Top - End - #526
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    In the Playground

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    There we go. Back in the swing of things. Already written more than enough for the challenge this week. Need to see if I can get at least one more sheet down each day.

  17. - Top - End - #527
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Lady Serpentine's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Avatar by Kasanip
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by Glass Mouse View Post
    @C'nor: Did you want to rejoin?
    Not yet. Unless character sheets count, in which case, sure, since I wrote up one that's 1152 words here, another Advantage for her to get later which comes in at 83 words, and a basic writeup of a race for that game that's 229 words long, so I should be at 1464 words.

    (Also, I'm almost certain of this, but scenes written up for play-by-post games don't count for purposes of this, correct?)

  18. - Top - End - #528
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    I will be in Germany for three weeks, and have far less access to the internet than I thought I would. Can I be exempt until the 30th of June?

  19. - Top - End - #529
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by Icewalker View Post
    There we go. Back in the swing of things. Already written more than enough for the challenge this week. Need to see if I can get at least one more sheet down each day.
    Awesome!

    Quote Originally Posted by C'nor View Post
    Not yet. Unless character sheets count, in which case, sure, since I wrote up one that's 1152 words here, another Advantage for her to get later which comes in at 83 words, and a basic writeup of a race for that game that's 229 words long, so I should be at 1464 words.

    (Also, I'm almost certain of this, but scenes written up for play-by-post games don't count for purposes of this, correct?)
    I've counted charater sheets in the past, as well as longer (200+ words) scenes for play-by-post. In those cases, I usually make sure to exceed the limit by quite a bit, just to be on the safe side, but I can't see why it shouldn't count just like all other creative writing.
    Keep in mind that the Challenge isn't really quality driven per se. It's mostly a way to keep yourself moving and creating.

    Keep in mind, that the minimum for a week is 250 x 6 = 1500 words

    Quote Originally Posted by ShadowySilence View Post
    I will be in Germany for three weeks, and have far less access to the internet than I thought I would. Can I be exempt until the 30th of June?
    Sure thing. If you upload all three weeks' worth of writings/drawings on the 30th, I'll make sure you keep your streak
    Have a great trip!
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  20. - Top - End - #530
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by Glass Mouse View Post
    Sure thing. If you upload all three weeks' worth of writings/drawings on the 30th, I'll make sure you keep your streak
    Have a great trip!
    Danke!

    I'll try to get them up by my birthday then, hopefully the jet lag will have worn off! XD

  21. - Top - End - #531
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Hey guys! Sorry about the early status, but I'm having the last exam of the semester today (followed by a party). If you did enough work to pass, but didn't upload it yet, just send it to me before the usual deadline, and I'll edit this post tomorrow.


    Glass Mouse passes with 10-ish different OC drawings.

    Icewalker passes with ~1700 words of character backstory.

    Kyouhen didn't upload anything.

    ShadowySilence is back on the 30th of June.

    C'nor passes with 1592 words of character, city and race description.


    Thus, Kyouhen FAILS this round!

    Glass Mouse, Icewalker and C'nor PASS this round!


    Current standing:
    Spoiler
    Show
    Glass Mouse
    Current run: 85 weeks
    Longest run: -

    Icewalker
    Current run: 1 week
    Longest run: 3 weeks

    Kyouhen
    Current run: -
    Longest run: 12 weeks

    ShadowySilence
    Current run: 1 week (pending)
    Longest run: 4 weeks

    C'nor
    Current run: 1 week
    Longest run: 1 week


    It's ShadowySilence's turn to choose a theme, since you seem able to post anyway
    Last edited by Glass Mouse; 2012-06-12 at 06:29 AM.
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  22. - Top - End - #532
    Barbarian in the Playground
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Well I am able to post, so I guess we shall see what happens. Still getting my bearings around these parts and all.

    The theme I shall choose is... travel! Be it a journey, quest, trek, vacation, on a boat, in a car, a spaceship, walking, or even through time! This should leave it open yet generate some interesting ideas, not to mention fit my current situation!

  23. - Top - End - #533
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    In the Playground

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Ooh. I can use that actually. PC who was raised in one of the other three parts of the world perhaps.

    I may just spend my time this week writing the nightmares of one group of kids though.
    Last edited by Icewalker; 2012-06-12 at 02:08 AM.

  24. - Top - End - #534
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Sounds neat, Shadow! Very easy to spin a story around


    C'nor! Your inbox is full, so I'm just posting my answer to your PM here:
    Spoiler
    Show
    Heya C'nor! You just managed to get it under the deadline, as far as I can see.

    Problem is, counting this and the character description you linked, you're only at about 1364 words. I searched a few pages of the thread you linked, but I can't find the other writings you mentioned? (some 300 words would push you over the limit)

    Do you want to link/send me those writings before I edit the Challenge thread? Don't wanna fail you if you actually passed

    Cheers!
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  25. - Top - End - #535
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Lady Serpentine's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Avatar by Kasanip
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Should be around... Page 11, I think? I framed it as a question to LA and Hi-Mi-Tsu about whether or not said race would be stepping on their toes, so that might have thrown you off?

    I'll be back with a link in a moment.

    Edit: Here you go! I cut off everything before 'having', and the last line, when I did my wordcount, so it should only include actual entry.
    Last edited by Lady Serpentine; 2012-06-12 at 06:23 AM.

  26. - Top - End - #536
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Heh, no. I was thrown off by not wanting to trawl through an entire thread for something I wasn't even sure existed

    Thanks for the link!

    Edit: The status post is updated!
    Last edited by Glass Mouse; 2012-06-12 at 06:30 AM.
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  27. - Top - End - #537
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Lady Serpentine's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Avatar by Kasanip
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    You're welcome!

    How do you handle additions to existing works? I've been expanding that thing I sent you, since there were some concerns about its efficacy for its intended purpose (a 'hook' for a PbP game set in my headworld), but I'm not sure how to count it. I'm guessing just slice out anything that's left in from the original when I do the wordcount?

  28. - Top - End - #538
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Planetar

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    In the Playground

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Aaaaah they keep getting longer! This sheet alone covers the Challenge for a week! And I have like 40 or 50 more to write before July! Aaaaaagh

    I'ma post it here. Cause it's without spoilers in case of Wayfolk on GitP, and it's got nightmares and I like my nightmare writing (and I'm too lazy right now to go to PMs cause I am TIRED). Orem's is actually one of the most mild nightmares of the circle!

    Spoiler
    Show



    Orem

    You were born in the town of Yudshire, a moderately sized town not far from the castle where the royal family lived. Or, where they used to live. You were born a year before the Fall, when Malvakar rose to power and the royal line vanished. You were always a smart child, very curious and studious, as best you could be in the days after the fall. Your family had few books, but you learned to read and read everything you could, and sought out stories wherever they would be told, always asking and asking.
    Your older brother was killed by Malvakar’s plague, but you grew up alongside your older cousin Grey. Grey and his mother moved in with your family, fleeing from their home near the castle. Grey’s father, your uncle, was a royal scholar, and Grey took after him. His interest in knowledge was equal to yours, and you grew up like brothers. You would come up with crazy ideas all the time, often getting you and Grey into trouble.
    You, Grey, and a small circle of other kids, all hungry for knowledge, began spending your time together. As a group, you would read and reread the few books through the whole town, and pry adults for stories and memories of older days.
    As oldest and best educated, Grey ended up de facto leader of the bunch, but as a group you usually act as equals. Having grown up with Grey, you know just as much as he does, and tend to come up with a lot of wild ideas for the group to consider. Leara (CASTING) is one of the most inquisitive of the group, and very hands on: when she wants an answer, she sets out to find it, and doesn’t slow down until she’s satisfied. Nai (CASTING) is the most methodical of the group, taking anything she wants to know and breaking it down to basics to solve it. Kor (CASTING) is an experimenter, always testing and wondering, seeing what happens in what circumstances. Varin (CASTING) always develops theories about how things work, working to find conclusions and answers to questions from what he knows so far.
    In these days where information and stories are stomped out wherever they are found, it wasn’t long before you exhausted the books and stories of the town, although you came to learn who was hiding deeper stories from you. You’re sure the blacksmith Boreus (CASTING), has tales he won’t tell.
    One day you proposed an idea. Grey was opposed at first, but as all of you were more desperate to discover and learn, he began to seriously consider the idea.
    When Grey was 18, and the rest of you 15 and 16, you left Yudshire. You traveled on the roads at first, but after a near encounter with some bandits, you took to the woods instead. You got lost at one point, but found your way back in the right direction. It was a long and dangerous trip, but eventually you reached the old ruins of the city surrounding the royal castle. You picked your way between abandoned houses, keeping quiet and careful. Eventually you made your way to Grey’s old house, just outside the castle itself. Many of his father’s books had deteriorated, but you searched the house for everything you could find. You made your way into the attic, searched through old possessions, finding old record books and histories, which you all gathered with excitement. And then you found the Book.
    Leara spotted it first, sitting in the corner of the room, somehow less dusty than the rest of the attic, as if it had not been lying unused as long as the rest, and yet it seemed an older text than any other you had found, the weathered dark blue binding lying facedown in the dust. Leara touched the back cover of the book, and jolted back with a scream, falling and clawing several feet away from the book, eyes wide with fear. The rest of you gathered to help her, hoping she was unharmed and had not been heard. As Grey helped her up, she brushed off dust, still shaking, all of you speaking and asking questions in chaos, before Grey got everyone quiet and asked her what happened. And she told you.

    Do not open the last page.

    It has become something of a mantra for you all. Leara reapproached the book, despite all of your comments of concern, and carefully turned it, avoiding the back of the book and touching only the spine and front, and opened the front cover. All of you gathered around. You could not read the text inside. But you could see it, and you could feel it. The writing almost seemed to move in your mind’s eye. Something about it speaking out to you. It was no foreign script, it was something more primal, for you could not even have said if the book was written in human letters or others, it simply was written. And all of you could feel that there was a wisdom and a power kept within this grimoire, pure truth laid out onto the pages.
    Except for the last page. Clinging to the end of this text of wisdom was a darkness. And this was a darkness beyond a lack of light: it was the darkness of the blackest of souls. As each of you looked upon the book you could feel from several feet away what Leara had nearly touched, and it scared you. It scared each of you beyond description, as strong a fear as the wisdom an inspiration.

    Do not open the last page.

    Grey repeated it first. You all nodded your agreement immediately, and all together with covered hands you carefully lifted the grimoire, trying to avoid touching the back cover even with gloved hands, and placed it in one of the bags you had brought to fill with books. All of you stood together, around this discovery, and vowed without hesitation: as a group you would try to understand the grimoire for what it was. You would learn from it. And you would not open to the last page. That was the day you became the Circle.
    You gathered the rest of the books you had found into bags, and began your cautious and quiet journey home. The trip had taken only a few days each way, but in these times a few days missing was a grim sign. Your returns were greeted with great relief, and great concern, and many commands that you all never take such a risk again.

    For your part, you agreed with the sentiment. You live in your books, you have no desire to seek out danger and adventure as some of the other children in town do. Though you are always one to come up with wild ways around obstacles, you have no desire to find a way to open that page. You feel no curiosity, no sense of challenge, only a deep set terror about that page. But more than anything else, you focus on the grimoire. After many days, you all began to turn the pages, looking deeper and deeper. The text continued much as it started, pages and pages of strange marks and designs, marked and surrounded by text that existed somehow beyond normal script. In time you all began to understand something of it. The patterns and marks began to have meaning in your mind. You could feel a link slowly forming between yourselves and the book, its knowledge beginning to sink in as you kept near it day after day.
    And then the nightmares came. When you lay to sleep that first night you were not expecting what came, although now it is all too familiar. You felt yourself in a pitch void. But you were not alone. A shadow circled, and circled. It was watching you. Though you could see nothing, and hear nothing, and feel nothing, you knew. It was watching. And in this black nowhere you could feel it coming closer. You tried to turn, to see it, but you could neither move nor see. And then a cold sharp point sank into your chest, right into your heart, which froze into pure stillness and pain. Sharp edges closing around your ankles, and your wrists, cutting deep, grasping into your body until the black razors clasped around bone, and began to pull, tearing and tearing, ripping your body and your dream into pieces.
    And you woke, in sweat, and tried to scream. But you couldn’t. A crushing weight stifling the fearful shout in your windpipe, and as your eyes focused you saw your cousin Grey over you, his hands wrapped around your throat, cutting off all air. You struggled, trying to scream, to break away, but he held you down. You clawed at his hands, but he held firm, and you met his eyes, staring straight into yours as your vision began to fade, black closing in the edges until all you could see were his eyes, and then all faded.
    You woke with a painful pounding in your head, and severe and painful bruising around your throat. It was dark, and you were cold. Very cold. You could feel rough wood under your back and head, and there were close walls all around you. You lay still for a moment, and realized where you were. A coffin. They had buried you. Buried you alive. You tried to bang on the top, to try to pry at the wood, but found you did not move. You tried to turn your head, and realized it did not turn.
    It was then that you realized you were not breathing. The cold made you want to shiver, but your body stayed still. The blood in your veins wasn’t flowing, you realized. The cold was piercing, and your head was still pounding. They hadn’t buried you alive. You were dead. Dead and thinking, and feeling. Time passed. You couldn’t tell how much. Minutes? Hours? Days? You could feel your body beginning to fall apart, rot setting in in your stomach. You felt the long drawn out sting of the first insects entering your body as it began to decay. Days? Months? You felt it. Every moment of it. From the first minute until there was nothing left but bone. You learned then you don’t stop feeling, or stop thinking, when you die: you just stop moving.
    Then you woke up. Grey was awake as well. You looked to him, but he turned away with a wince. You could still feel a fading bruise around your neck.

    All the Circle had started having nightmares, you learned the next day. Many of them matching, consistent with one another’s. You all knew it was tied to the last page. It was not a threat, not a challenge, the darkness there was not goading you, it was simply raw malice. The nightmares were born simply of your proximity to the page. And if it could bring these shadows into your dreams from a closed book, where could its horror reach if you opened it? It would be a danger and risk beyond what you can ever judge. Do not open the last page.

  29. - Top - End - #539
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Glass Mouse's Avatar

    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    The Icy North
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    Quote Originally Posted by C'nor View Post
    How do you handle additions to existing works? I've been expanding that thing I sent you, since there were some concerns about its efficacy for its intended purpose (a 'hook' for a PbP game set in my headworld), but I'm not sure how to count it. I'm guessing just slice out anything that's left in from the original when I do the wordcount?
    A-yup, that's the way to go!

    If you scatter your contributions like last time, please provide links to all the posts. As a principle, I'd rather not do much detective work, because it really adds up time-wise


    On that note... I've had a lot of trouble myself with works that I've merely edited - especially if I've spent hours doing it - but so far, I've decided that it's impossible to really count, so I've just let it be.
    But if someone has a good idea for counting edited writings, I'd be happy to hear!

    Quote Originally Posted by Icewalker View Post
    Aaaaah they keep getting longer! This sheet alone covers the Challenge for a week! And I have like 40 or 50 more to write before July! Aaaaaagh

    I'ma post it here. Cause it's without spoilers in case of Wayfolk on GitP, and it's got nightmares and I like my nightmare writing (and I'm too lazy right now to go to PMs cause I am TIRED). Orem's is actually one of the most mild nightmares of the circle!

    Spoiler
    Show



    Orem

    You were born in the town of Yudshire, a moderately sized town not far from the castle where the royal family lived. Or, where they used to live. You were born a year before the Fall, when Malvakar rose to power and the royal line vanished. You were always a smart child, very curious and studious, as best you could be in the days after the fall. Your family had few books, but you learned to read and read everything you could, and sought out stories wherever they would be told, always asking and asking.
    Your older brother was killed by Malvakar’s plague, but you grew up alongside your older cousin Grey. Grey and his mother moved in with your family, fleeing from their home near the castle. Grey’s father, your uncle, was a royal scholar, and Grey took after him. His interest in knowledge was equal to yours, and you grew up like brothers. You would come up with crazy ideas all the time, often getting you and Grey into trouble.
    You, Grey, and a small circle of other kids, all hungry for knowledge, began spending your time together. As a group, you would read and reread the few books through the whole town, and pry adults for stories and memories of older days.
    As oldest and best educated, Grey ended up de facto leader of the bunch, but as a group you usually act as equals. Having grown up with Grey, you know just as much as he does, and tend to come up with a lot of wild ideas for the group to consider. Leara (CASTING) is one of the most inquisitive of the group, and very hands on: when she wants an answer, she sets out to find it, and doesn’t slow down until she’s satisfied. Nai (CASTING) is the most methodical of the group, taking anything she wants to know and breaking it down to basics to solve it. Kor (CASTING) is an experimenter, always testing and wondering, seeing what happens in what circumstances. Varin (CASTING) always develops theories about how things work, working to find conclusions and answers to questions from what he knows so far.
    In these days where information and stories are stomped out wherever they are found, it wasn’t long before you exhausted the books and stories of the town, although you came to learn who was hiding deeper stories from you. You’re sure the blacksmith Boreus (CASTING), has tales he won’t tell.
    One day you proposed an idea. Grey was opposed at first, but as all of you were more desperate to discover and learn, he began to seriously consider the idea.
    When Grey was 18, and the rest of you 15 and 16, you left Yudshire. You traveled on the roads at first, but after a near encounter with some bandits, you took to the woods instead. You got lost at one point, but found your way back in the right direction. It was a long and dangerous trip, but eventually you reached the old ruins of the city surrounding the royal castle. You picked your way between abandoned houses, keeping quiet and careful. Eventually you made your way to Grey’s old house, just outside the castle itself. Many of his father’s books had deteriorated, but you searched the house for everything you could find. You made your way into the attic, searched through old possessions, finding old record books and histories, which you all gathered with excitement. And then you found the Book.
    Leara spotted it first, sitting in the corner of the room, somehow less dusty than the rest of the attic, as if it had not been lying unused as long as the rest, and yet it seemed an older text than any other you had found, the weathered dark blue binding lying facedown in the dust. Leara touched the back cover of the book, and jolted back with a scream, falling and clawing several feet away from the book, eyes wide with fear. The rest of you gathered to help her, hoping she was unharmed and had not been heard. As Grey helped her up, she brushed off dust, still shaking, all of you speaking and asking questions in chaos, before Grey got everyone quiet and asked her what happened. And she told you.

    Do not open the last page.

    It has become something of a mantra for you all. Leara reapproached the book, despite all of your comments of concern, and carefully turned it, avoiding the back of the book and touching only the spine and front, and opened the front cover. All of you gathered around. You could not read the text inside. But you could see it, and you could feel it. The writing almost seemed to move in your mind’s eye. Something about it speaking out to you. It was no foreign script, it was something more primal, for you could not even have said if the book was written in human letters or others, it simply was written. And all of you could feel that there was a wisdom and a power kept within this grimoire, pure truth laid out onto the pages.
    Except for the last page. Clinging to the end of this text of wisdom was a darkness. And this was a darkness beyond a lack of light: it was the darkness of the blackest of souls. As each of you looked upon the book you could feel from several feet away what Leara had nearly touched, and it scared you. It scared each of you beyond description, as strong a fear as the wisdom an inspiration.

    Do not open the last page.

    Grey repeated it first. You all nodded your agreement immediately, and all together with covered hands you carefully lifted the grimoire, trying to avoid touching the back cover even with gloved hands, and placed it in one of the bags you had brought to fill with books. All of you stood together, around this discovery, and vowed without hesitation: as a group you would try to understand the grimoire for what it was. You would learn from it. And you would not open to the last page. That was the day you became the Circle.
    You gathered the rest of the books you had found into bags, and began your cautious and quiet journey home. The trip had taken only a few days each way, but in these times a few days missing was a grim sign. Your returns were greeted with great relief, and great concern, and many commands that you all never take such a risk again.

    For your part, you agreed with the sentiment. You live in your books, you have no desire to seek out danger and adventure as some of the other children in town do. Though you are always one to come up with wild ways around obstacles, you have no desire to find a way to open that page. You feel no curiosity, no sense of challenge, only a deep set terror about that page. But more than anything else, you focus on the grimoire. After many days, you all began to turn the pages, looking deeper and deeper. The text continued much as it started, pages and pages of strange marks and designs, marked and surrounded by text that existed somehow beyond normal script. In time you all began to understand something of it. The patterns and marks began to have meaning in your mind. You could feel a link slowly forming between yourselves and the book, its knowledge beginning to sink in as you kept near it day after day.
    And then the nightmares came. When you lay to sleep that first night you were not expecting what came, although now it is all too familiar. You felt yourself in a pitch void. But you were not alone. A shadow circled, and circled. It was watching you. Though you could see nothing, and hear nothing, and feel nothing, you knew. It was watching. And in this black nowhere you could feel it coming closer. You tried to turn, to see it, but you could neither move nor see. And then a cold sharp point sank into your chest, right into your heart, which froze into pure stillness and pain. Sharp edges closing around your ankles, and your wrists, cutting deep, grasping into your body until the black razors clasped around bone, and began to pull, tearing and tearing, ripping your body and your dream into pieces.
    And you woke, in sweat, and tried to scream. But you couldn’t. A crushing weight stifling the fearful shout in your windpipe, and as your eyes focused you saw your cousin Grey over you, his hands wrapped around your throat, cutting off all air. You struggled, trying to scream, to break away, but he held you down. You clawed at his hands, but he held firm, and you met his eyes, staring straight into yours as your vision began to fade, black closing in the edges until all you could see were his eyes, and then all faded.
    You woke with a painful pounding in your head, and severe and painful bruising around your throat. It was dark, and you were cold. Very cold. You could feel rough wood under your back and head, and there were close walls all around you. You lay still for a moment, and realized where you were. A coffin. They had buried you. Buried you alive. You tried to bang on the top, to try to pry at the wood, but found you did not move. You tried to turn your head, and realized it did not turn.
    It was then that you realized you were not breathing. The cold made you want to shiver, but your body stayed still. The blood in your veins wasn’t flowing, you realized. The cold was piercing, and your head was still pounding. They hadn’t buried you alive. You were dead. Dead and thinking, and feeling. Time passed. You couldn’t tell how much. Minutes? Hours? Days? You could feel your body beginning to fall apart, rot setting in in your stomach. You felt the long drawn out sting of the first insects entering your body as it began to decay. Days? Months? You felt it. Every moment of it. From the first minute until there was nothing left but bone. You learned then you don’t stop feeling, or stop thinking, when you die: you just stop moving.
    Then you woke up. Grey was awake as well. You looked to him, but he turned away with a wince. You could still feel a fading bruise around your neck.

    All the Circle had started having nightmares, you learned the next day. Many of them matching, consistent with one another’s. You all knew it was tied to the last page. It was not a threat, not a challenge, the darkness there was not goading you, it was simply raw malice. The nightmares were born simply of your proximity to the page. And if it could bring these shadows into your dreams from a closed book, where could its horror reach if you opened it? It would be a danger and risk beyond what you can ever judge. Do not open the last page.
    Hah, coolness! I like how the horror creeps up during the story, and the use of the mantra is a nice device.
    For story effect, I probably would've held off on the true horror until later. When the girl reads the last page and reacts, we all know the magnitude of the book's power, and the rest of the story just builds up something the reader already knows. I would've kept it more vague at first, but... Dunno, maybe it's just me
    Spoiler
    Show


    Challenge badge
    , courtesy of HeadlessMermaid.

    Avatar courtesy of the talented Neoriceisgood. Features Pumpkin from my webcomic.


  30. - Top - End - #540
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    Lady Serpentine's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Avatar by Kasanip
    Gender
    Female

    Default Re: The CHALLENGE continues!

    276 words of stuff about rather unusual wine:

    Spoiler
    Show
    Originally found, and still mostly located, within the northern hills of the Byling region, Gemberries are intense blue ovoids ranging in size from that of a man's thumb in small specimens to something more similar to the heel of the hand in large ones, with bright green ribbing running the length of them.

    Gemberries are common in that region's cooking, especially glazes and marinades for meat and fish, and are often formed into sweet wines, both by freezing them in the harsh winters of the region in which they are found to make an ice wine and holding some of their juice back for a süssreserve; occasionally, the two methods are used in combination, though this is rare.

    Both blue and green wines are produced in this manner; for the former, the skins are fermented with the juice, while the ribbing is discarded, and the opposite is done for the latter. White wine can be produced by discarding both the skin and the ribbing and fermenting only the juice, but the resultant beverage is usually less flavorful than white wines produced with grapes, rendering it uncommon, especially in isolation; when it is made, it is usually combined with another vintage, often a Tirian red.

    Gemberries and comestibles derived from them are also believed to be proof against most poisons, which has led to them being popular amongst the nobility and others who have cause to worry about such things.

    Recently, certain areas outside Byling have attempted to cultivate them, but it has generally led to an inferior product; whether this is due to climate, soil conditions, some other factor, or all of the above is unknown.


    591 words of RPing:

    Spoiler
    Show
    Quote Originally Posted by C'nor
    [In Transit From and To Ports Unknown]

    Soon after Hakuhale headed off into the docks, looking for a ship bearing a friendlier flag, a thin young man, with surprising quantity of brown hair, and a circular scar around his neck, stepped forward next to her, smiling broadly.

    "Would you be looking for passage? We can't offer much besides room and board, and there is a better chance of the ship getting into a fight than on most vessels, but we can drop you off anywhere from here to Wayfarer's Point. And of course, the captain keeps all that in mind when she sets the prices - or, if you like, you can work for your keep. Might even earn a bit extra on the way, if you're good at the job and willing to actually do it."

    [15th of Amber's Fall
    Early Morning
    At Sea, the Firebrand
    Kessia Harket]

    In a small cabin on the Firebrand, an obviously winded minor noble glared at the captain from the chair he was currently seated in, though he made no move against her, plainly wary of the several crew surrounding him, and the brightly-dressed woman examining his palsm.

    "This is ridiculous. I am a paying passenger. I demand that -"

    "Being a paying passenger," Kessia interrupted, returning the man's glare, though rather more impressively than he'd managed, "does not give you the right to tell one of my crew you've got a charm you don't so you can sleep with her, then bloody near break her jaw when she finds out you got her pregnant and tells you she's going to tell me what happened."

    Stepping back, she motioned a pretty girl, with a silvery-blue cast to her skin (save on her left cheek, where a black-gold bruise was forming), golden eyes, and kelp-green hair - though the bony ridges one familiar with Sireni might expect to see were far fewer in number than on most, making it fairly plain that she was at least half-human - forward.
    "Hakuhale? Leshi? Your recommendations? Though I'm afraid that, much as I'd like to, we can't cut off his balls or stick him in the the figurehead and open the hatch... Word gets around we did something like that to a passenger, people'll stop riding with us, no matter that he deserved it."

    For now, the half-Sireni holds her tongue, examining the lordling coldy, and waiting to see what the Driftfolk woman thinks they should do with him.

    [19th of Amber's Fall
    Sunset
    Wayfarer's Point Docks, the Firebrand]

    Just as the sun was starting to set, a ship appeared against the horizon. A rather unusual ship, in fact; a galleon which had been made in the form of a dragon.

    As usual, by Kessia's orders, the crew kept any noise to a minimum, so that, just after full dark, when it pulled into port, taking one of the many empty berths (though staying well away from those made of stone), it appeared to be a ghost ship, especially with the flames that fell gently from the mouth of the figurehead, drifting slowly back as the faint breeze from the vessel's movement caught them, and floating a short way in its wake once they touched the water...

    Of course, a few minutes later, that impression was quickly dispelled, as the crew set to work getting the cargo unloaded, the prohibition on noise having been lifted as soon as they came into port, but by that point those who were going to be impressed by it had been anyway.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •