The CHALLENGE continues!

[redfeatherraven]

And he never used that service again.

http://www.4shared.com/office/zILOVB...tion_6_17.html

Accidental re-submission won't be an issue. By this week I should be able to get the setting complete enough to begin a story; in theory, notes will no longer be necessary to submit.

[Kingkorb5207]

Does pixel art count as an entry?

[D.KnightSpider]

Yeah. Despite pondering it all week, I kinda got nothin' as far as picking a theme for next week goes. So... let's just be entirely random.

Next week will be brought to you by 'Cheeseburgers'.

[Viera Champion]

I finished my first week at work so I'm free for a while. I'll be back for next Sunday.

[Glass Mouse]

And he never used that service again.

http://www.4shared.com/office/zILOVB...tion_6_17.html

Accidental re-submission won't be an issue. By this week I should be able to get the setting complete enough to begin a story; in theory, notes will no longer be necessary to submit.

Haha, that works fine! I'm fixing the status post! (sorry about the late answer, btw, I had to check it out on my PC because my tablet was wonky)

Does pixel art count as an entry?

Absolutely. All art does!

Next week will be brought to you by 'Cheeseburgers'.

Woo, silliness!

I finished my first week at work so I'm free for a while. I'll be back for next Sunday.

Alright! Thanks for letting me know

[MeanMrsMustard]

I've been camping for four days, but I did write… I just was away from a computer and had to do it by hand. I'll have it transferred by Monday afternoon.
In the meantime, have the little digital art I was able to do.
Myself after donating my hair.
An OC of mine graduating from high school.

[redfeatherraven]

I wrote, but not enough. Had a lot on my plate this week, and got hung up on a sciencey thing, so I missed the word count entirely.

Sorry, folks. I'll be able to make up for it this upcoming week.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Chapter Four of my original story — 1338 words.

Spoiler

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Although Spanish wasn't as fun as English had been, it was better than dance and driver's ed. The desks were arranged in two semicircles, which was an interesting change from the rows of Jenny's previous two classes. About half an hour of class time was spent on the disclosure. Jenny idly wondered why teachers bothered with the things. They were 90% identical to the disclosures from every other class. After the disclosures, the teacher, who was an accomplished guitarist, played a song for the class. Since this was Spanish 2, Jenny recognized about half of the words from last year. Finally, the class played a "get to know you" game. All in all, it was a standard class with a few creative touches.

After the bell rang, Jenny leaned against the school building, watching the parking lot for her mother's dark purple car. I can't wait until I finish driver's ed and get my license, she thought. Then I can take the family car by myself and not have to get picked up.
Soon enough, the familiar vehicle pulled into a parking space. Jenny ran over and got in.
"Jenny! How was your first day?"
"It went well. How about yours?"
As Jenny's mom began talking about her rather boring day, Jenny's phone buzzed. The number was unfamiliar, but the text message read Hey, Jenny. Clara here. With a grin, Jenny made a new contact for Clara and added this number. She typed up her reply.
hey! I'm on my way home right now. mom's talking my ear off
Ha ha ha. :)
so what kind of stuff do you think you're gonna do today?
I'm not sure yet. Probably show my disclosures to my parents. Then mess around for the rest of the day.
do you have any good games?
Yes, but I'm still not very good at them. :P
maybe I can come over sometime this week. I'll ask mom now
When Jenny's mom paused for breath, Jenny spoke up.
"Hey, so there's this cool girl I met at school today. Her name's Clara, and—"
"Oh, that's wonderful news! Do you think she'd like to come over sometime?"
"Uh, that's actually what I was about to ask you. Or maybe I could go over to her house? She says she's got some pretty good games, and I'd kinda like to give them a spin."
Jenny's mom laughed. "Nothing brings two teenagers together like accomplishing the physically impossible in an electronic world."
"Uh, I guess you could put it that way…"
"Do you want to come to the grocery store with me, or would you rather I dropped you off at home?"
"I'm fine going to the store. What's for dinner tonight?"
"I'm not sure, but your dad texted me a list of things he'll need for the new recipe he's trying."
"Oh, surprises are cool too."

As Jenny pushed the cart through the grocery store, she thought that perhaps her mother could afford to be more observant. Tomatoes, onions, and rice were generic enough, but cilantro? Tortillas? Lime? Maybe her mother hadn't actually read the list yet.
Ah well. Mexican food's good.

As Jenny had anticipated, dinner was, in fact, good. Neither of her parents were much for conversation. I guess that's what happens when you're the youngest, thought Jenny. Your parents are already middle-aged when you're in elementary school, then when you're old enough to talk with them the way your older siblings did when they were your age, they're tired. Plus, they never stop seeing you as the baby of the family. I wish Andrew was here.
Andrew was Jenny's only brother, and he was more than four years older than she was. He had graduated and moved on to college just last year. He had been such good fun while Jenny was growing up, and the two were much closer than Jenny ever got to her three sisters. Of course, Kate had been twelve years old when Jenny was born, and Monica and Ellen had been nine.

The family finished dinner quietly, and Jenny had no homework aside from getting a parent to sign the four disclosures. This meant that she had several free hours before she went to bed. What should she do?
Jenny sat on the couch and looked at the large collage her mother had made from pictures of her family. In it, Jenny was perpetually four years old, since Mrs. Hawthorne had put it together nearly twelve years ago. Jenny smiled at it. It was well put together, and it would tell a visitor more about the family than an hourlong chat with any of its members. The family's resonant traits were clear: auburn hair and brown eyes, though Monica was blonde and Ellen had hazel eyes — both inherited from their father. One could see Kate playing soccer, Mr. Hawthorne snuggling with the twins, and Andrew helping Jenny into the branches of an elm. Ellen's first lost tooth. Kate making it all the way to state with her science fair project. Andrew in the pool with water wings. Monica with braces. The four oldest posing with newborn Jenny. Baby and school pictures for all of the children. Jenny's favorite photograph was of Monica and Ellen standing together on their fifth birthday. They both were wearing a black skirt and red blouse, but Monica had made some interesting fashion choices: a lime green scarf, mismatched knee socks, and chunky plastic bracelets. Kate still teased Monica about it when they were both in high school. The whole family had been surprised when it turned out Ellen was color blind.
Looking at the wall of memories made Jenny feel left out. She couldn't remember any of the events in the photographs — the only recollections she had from before kindergarten were jumbled, random flashes. This collage sometimes made her wonder if she had been an accident — this had to have been planned since before Andrew was born. Once Jenny had asked her mother about it.
"Oh no, honey," Mrs. Hawthorne had said, stroking her hair. "I had the idea shortly after the twins were born, and we collected photos for several years. The plan had originally been to wait until you were ten, but then the only other kid in the house would be Andrew. I put it together when Kate was your age, and we set it up on her sixteenth birthday."
Her mother's words had been reassuring, but there was part of her that wished her parents had waited.
Jenny pulled out her phone.
hey Clara. you as bored as I am?
You really don't have anything to occupy yourself with?
normally after school I do homework
Can't you practice for tennis or something?
not really. the neighbors hate it when I use the fence to practice
Thanks for the mental image.
haha, no problem
Minutes passed with no reply. Jenny opened the Internet and busied herself. Oh no, she thought, what if I've scared her off? Even though it made her feel clingy, Jenny tapped out another message.
where did you go? D:
Sorry, tidying up my room.
This made Jenny pause. Huh, you'd think she'd mention her parents asking her. I can't imagine a teenager just deciding to clean their room, unless they were already a tidy person by nature… and then their room wouldn't be untidy in the first place!
Jenny thought guiltily of her own bedroom, which was in quite a state of disarray after having all her friends from junior high over last night. As she got off the couch and headed up the stairs, she sent a reply to Clara.
dang you, you reminded me I need to cleanup my room too! :P
Oh dear. Sorry about that. :(
you're such a sweetie. it was a joke :P ;)
That was the last text of the night, and as Jenny straightened up her things, she couldn't stop thinking about how great it was that she had met someone as charming as Clara.

When the story's done, I'll put up the whole thing.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

My submission for this week! Folks - I'm back!

Spoiler

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Immediate Fate

Immediate fate represents the Physical laws, which are all things that react and happen in predictable ways, and is the most common form of Fate. This kind of Fate can be summarized by any natural and non-living reaction or combination (chemical or physical). An example of this could be - a ball is dropped, and gravity dictates it will fall to the ground. The Elements that Fate is made up of represent these reactions, whether by themselves by states of matter (solid, liquid, gas, and plasma), thermodynamics (heating and cooling) or kinetics (motion and resting), or by combinations of the elements as listed in the graph below.

Elemental Manipulation

While Immediate fate is composed of these natural tendencies of Fate within the world, elemental manipulation deals with the ability the Elvori have to manipulate these reactions. It should be noted that elemental manipulation cannot directly affect another living thing. While living things are made up by the elements as well, the combination is too complex for a seer to alter. This means a wind seer could not change the air in another's lungs to another gas, nor could an earth seer make a tree grow any faster. Along the same lines, a water seer could not manipulate blood or saliva.

Even when a living thing dies, it takes time for that thing to decompose, and revert back to the seperate elements. When it has, those element could be manipulated, but not before that point. Waste matter produced by living things has already been broken down into the elements by the living creature, at least for the most part, so is manipulatable.

Attunement

As an adolescent Elvori begins to experience and learn about the world, they come into contact with various natural concentrations and combinations of the elements. Weather, gravity, the seasons - nearly everything they experience applies to the elements. In addition, through their studies of the elements as well as observing seers that are already attuned, they see examples of how these natural elements can be manipulated.

Eventually, every young seer makes the choice of which element they will attune. This choice can be based on many factors - desire, talent, social pressure, or even a calling - a feeling of being drawn by the element itself. For some, the choice is obvious. For others, it may take years for the choice to be reached. Even so, the studies of a young seer cover all the basic features of all four elements, to give a greater knowledge to how the world works, and how the elements interact with each other.

The act of attunement creates a link between a seer and their element of choice. [this link gives energy on top of the energy a seer possesses to use toward elemental manipulation]

Improvement of Senses

Upon embracing a specific element, a seers body begins to adjust itself to be better attuned to the element. The most recognizable of these adjustements is a heightened physical sense that is conditional to which element they chose. Water seers gain a keener taste and smell, while wind seers have better hearing. Fire seers have an excelled vision, and earth seers recieve a heightened touch. Fortunately, this change is gradual, and so a seer has time to get used to this new ability, and not be overwhelmed by it.

Secondary Attunement

Commonly, a seer only attunes to one element, but under certain conditions, two attunements can be attained. The force of Fate must be in power for someone to have multiple attunements, because during this time, a seer's connection to the elements is closer, and capable of more. As a note, Ultimate Fate can only be accomplished in an Age of Fate as well.

If a seer chooses to attune to multiple elements, they must first be already attuned to an element. This is because the process of attunement is a dedicated and complex process. Trying to do two at once would be to counteract the efforts that must be involved. Due to the relationship a seer has with their element, a secondary attunement cannot be an opposite element. So, if a seer was attuned to water, they could choose for a secondary element earth or wind, but they could not attune to fire. This rule is also why a seer could not attune to a third element, because any other element after the first two attunements would be an opposing element.

A seer who has accomplished two attunements has the same amount of power as someone who is only attuned to one, which means they must divide this power between the two. A seer can choose to have both of their elements a similar level of power with each other (1/2 and 1/2), or have one compliment the other (1/4 vs. 3/4).

(I do have some considerations on changing this, such as the fact that since opposite elements are two sides of the same system.)

Area of Interaction

When a seer attunes to an element, they begin growing more accustomed to the element in which they are connected to. At first, this interaction is at a personal range. This means a seer can only interact with or manipulate an element by direct contact with the intended element. However, as a seer progresses in their powers and becomes better attuned, this range extends out to encompass an area of distance around the seer. It should be remembered that a seer can still manipulate things by physical touch in addition to now being able to manipulate at a range.

As the area of interaction of the seer expands past physical touch, a seer gains insight of the elements in which they are attuned to within this sphere. Also, since a seer can now sense the element within a certain range, they can also manipulate the element within that area. A seer can also focus on the area they interact with to identify which specific kinds of their attuned element are within their area if interaction, as well as the amount. A seer can then use this information to aid them in their manipulations. For example, if a water seer had an area of interaction that was 60 feet in diameter, they could sense what specific liquids were around them in a 30 foot radius, and where they were. This ability would prove especially useful for the seer if they were trying to detect a liquid underground or behind a wall, as other elements do not interfere with this ability.

Elemental Encounters

Against Water -
Earth absorbs/impedes Water
Wind blows Water
Fire evaporates Water

Against Wind -
Earth impedes Wind
Water impedes Wind
Fire consumes Wind

Against Fire -
Earth smothers Fire
Water extinguishes Fire
Wind extinguishes Fire

Against Earth -
Water erodes Earth
Wind erodes Earth
Fire breaks down Earth

One would notice this list shows that all elements affect each other by beating each of the elements in some way, or by also in turn being beaten by them. Thusly, no element is truly superior to another. The winning result of an interaction is dependent on which element is more strongly represented. For example, in one interaction between Fire and Water, Fire could be represented in more capacity than Water, thus causing Water to boil and evaporate. On the other hand, there could be more Water in the interaction, causing the Fire to be extinguished.

Power = (Progression Level + Elemental Fluctuation) / Amount of Elements Attuned
Caliber of Manipulation = (Ability + Skill)

Progression Level = (Age x Experience)
Ability = (Sensitivity + Precision) x Progression Level
Skill = Creativity(Imagination and Aptitude) + Study (knowledge of elements)

Sensitivity; which user can more accurately interpret what they're sensing to pinpoint that underground water, or sense smaller amounts?
Precision; when it comes to actually manipulating the element(s), which user has finer control?

Elemental Fluctuations

In addition to the latent power a seer recieves from within as they progress through experience and age there is also natural tendancies of power recieved from the element itself. Each element acts differently, and so, each seer must be conscious of their element's fluctuations so that they can plan to use their element the most during times in which their power is at its greatest. For wind, this is difficult to do, for it is constantly in a state of fluctuation. In contrast, earth never fluctuates and is always at a steady power, never high or low. Water, however, - weak at first - builds up over time until it is used, and then must build up again. Fire on the other hand - strong at first - will get weaker as it progresses, and then flares back right as it is lowest.

[Glass Mouse]

Status!


Glass Mouse passes with 1,454 words of sci-fi story and two heaven-hell themed drawings.

Lycunadari passes with an avatar, a banner, a painting and three photos.

TheWombatOfDoom uploaded 1,234 words of fantasy magic system.

C'nor didn't upload/send me anything.

Viera Champion is on hold until next Sunday.

MeanMrsMustard passes with a pony, a selfportrait and 1,338 words of story chapter.

D.KnightSpider passes with 1,568 words of fantasy story and a theme-fitting drawing.

redfeatherraven didn't pass due to science.


Thus, TheWombatOfDoom, C'nor and redfeatherraven FAIL this round!

Glass Mouse, Lycundari, MeanMrsMustard and D.KnightSpider PASS this round!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 139 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 1 week

Lycunadari
Current run: 25 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

TheWombatOfDoom
Current run: -
Longest run: 3 weeks
Themes: -

C'nor
Current run: -
Longest run: 11 weeks
Themes: -

Viera Champion
Current run: -
Longest run: 2 weeks
Themes: -

MeanMrsMustard
Current run: 10 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

D.KnightSpider
Current run: 4 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 3 weeks

redfeatherraven
Current run: -
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: -

This week's theme, chosen by D.KnightSpider, is Cheeseburgers

Next week's theme is chosen by redfeatherraven - let me know in PM or this thread, and I'll include it in the next status.




Just a heads-up: My online-ness is gonna be erratic for most of July due to travels and festival. Next week's status might be a day or two late, and for the past 2-3 weeks of July we'll probably do an "aggregated weeks" counter instead of the usual per-week counter.
So, for your creating/uploading routines, nothing has to change. I just hope for a little patience in regards to the status posts (and my personal uploads).


@TheWombatofDoom: I might've missed something of yours, but the text only adds up to 1,234 words for me. Anything I should've counted, too?

[TheWombatOfDoom]

@TheWombatofDoom: I might've missed something of yours, but the text only adds up to 1,234 words for me. Anything I should've counted, too?

I think I might have missed something in my copy over. When I get to work tomorrow, I'll double check. I definitely had more....

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Alright. While I did miss a whole section, I'm 45 words short. I have a table also, that I'd need to transpose on here, that might put me over the edge, but I don't know if tables count as words, and not an image or something...

[Glass Mouse]

Alright. While I did miss a whole section, I'm 45 words short. I have a table also, that I'd need to transpose on here, that might put me over the edge, but I don't know if tables count as words, and not an image or something...

I think a table could count as a picture (unless it contains words enough for multiple pieces, in which case you can count it as text). So... both?

[redfeatherraven]

Sorry, didn't notice I was the one up for the theme this cycle.

If there's still time to make a suggestion? Cheese.

I suspect that's been done before by now, but it seems reasonable enough.

[Glass Mouse]

Sorry, didn't notice I was the one up for the theme this cycle.

If there's still time to make a suggestion? Cheese.

No worries. As long as the theme ticks in before the week starts, all's good

[redfeatherraven]

Awesome, duly noted.

Ironically when choosing that I completely forgot this week's theme was cheeseburgers; I'll try to switch it up a little more next time.

Now pardon me while I write something incredibly silly.

[Lady Serpentine]

Spoiler

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Cold as summer, warm as winter,
What strangeness we've become...
We reform our minds each shard and splinter,
But the pieces will not make a proper sum.

A living object, only good for what she gives
Sees herself as an empty shell, untouched by any worth,
Filled by faults unflawed, she thinks no-one forgives,
And I can break though only as a mirror to aid in her rebirth.

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Ice around a heart of broken dreams,
A snowstorm filled with dying screams,
Of all the ones she's killed.

They're gone away, she shouldn't care,
But empty eyes still watch and stare,
The voices are not stilled!

She hunted all who dared to run,
Gave herself to it; became undone,
Forever too weak-willed.

And now she seeks things undeserved,
Here interests ever all that's served,
No promises fulfilled...

[MeanMrsMustard]

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Avatar requests.

Spoiler

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An avatar request.

Another avatar request.

Asexuality stuff.

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A little heart using the colors of the asexual pride flag.

Myself decked out in most of the ace colors. And eating cake.

Tumblr icons.

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Avatar for an askblog.

Avatar for my personal tumblr.

I really love the CHALLENGE. Even though most weeks I usually do about 4 things, this has helped me do more. I can really tell how much I'm improving, especially with the tumblr icons. My old tumblr icons were pretty crappy.

[Glass Mouse]

Status on my way to music festival! It's gonna be... interesting to see what I manage to write or draw this week


Glass Mouse passes with 1,322 words of sci-fi story and a drawing.

Lycunadari passes with an avatar and five rose photos.

TheWombatOfDoom didn't upload/send me anything.

C'nor passes with two poems and approximately 4,500 words of RP'ing.

Viera Champion is supposed to be back now?

MeanMrsMustard passes with three OoTS'ers, an asexual heart and two tumblr drawings.

D.KnightSpider passes with 1,864 words of story and an attacking vampire cheeseburger.

redfeatherraven didn't upload/send me anything.


Thus, TheWombatOfDoom, Viera Champion and redfeatherraven FAIL this round!

Glass Mouse, Lycundari, C'nor, MeanMrsMustard and D.KnightSpider PASS this round!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 140 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 1 week

Lycunadari
Current run: 26 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

TheWombatOfDoom
Current run: -
Longest run: 3 weeks
Themes: -

C'nor
Current run: 1 week
Longest run: 11 weeks
Themes: -

Viera Champion
Current run: -
Longest run: 2 weeks
Themes: -

MeanMrsMustard
Current run: 11 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

D.KnightSpider
Current run: 5 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 4 weeks

redfeatherraven
Current run: -
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: -

This week's theme, chosen by D.KnightSpider, is Cheese

Next week's theme is chosen by me.




@D.KnightSpider: Hahaha, I absolutely love that theme avatar!

@MeanMrsMustard: I'm so glad to hear that! Improvement and productivity is what we're all about


Also: I'm aware I have a few prize lags by now. Sorry about that, exams and illness will do that, but I'll catch up when I get back next week.

[redfeatherraven]

Sorry 'bout that, was hoping to have my silly thing done by yesterday, but got hung up on the climax of the story and only managed a measly 551 words.

On that note if anyone has any resources on, say, the mechanics of scientifically animated undead, preferably in the vein of constructs, it'd be much appreciated. Google can't seem to give me anything viable if it's not Romero zombies or necromancy.

I'll try to finish the story regardless, but not immediately. I had a plan for this week and I'm already on the case.

EDIT: It seems I overcame that writers' block. We're up to 1529 now on last week's topic, albeit with background information rather than story. Bit over an hour and fifteen minutes' work. Better late than never.

Mind, I don't intend to use that for this week's challenge - it's just for the sake of finishing what I started. I'll be beginning on this week's topic as soon as I've concluded the infodumping.

[D.KnightSpider]

@D.KnightSpider: Hahaha, I absolutely love that theme avatar!

Er, redfeatherraven chose the theme for this week. I picked the cheeseburger theme for last week.

I'm glad you enjoyed the attack of the vampire cheeseburger, though. I had a blast drawing it.

[Icewalker]

I RETURN.
Torno!
(Sono a Italia, studiare all'estero.)

::cough::

Anyway.

I want to try to take up drawing again. (uggggh so many things, no good at any of them, boooo) I figure if I at least get back to drawing a tiny bit each day, or most days, it'll actually be the best for long term progress, and shouldn't be too difficult to maintain. At any rate, I intend to resume my piles of practice sketches. I'm also editing my book, which does include a fair amount of writing sections, but it's very hard to manage a word count with it, and as it's edit-centric they're fairly low given the amount of work. So I'll just be drawing for now.

I may have some trouble in the next couple months hitting the deadlines. Not in terms of getting work done, but in terms of realizing when the deadline is. I'm in Italy currently, so I'm +9 hours off the West coast of the US. I suppose I'll try to do my uploads Saturday night?

But yes! Good to be back. I'm going to go draw for an hour now.

[redfeatherraven]

Got it this week: 2126 words. Includes headers, but there's not a 500-word header or anything.

All of it is successfully derived from this week's theme; none of last week's data makes an appearance. I'm going to make the theme a bit more clear as time progresses, but I wanted to go ahead and have the present progress up for tonight.

http://www.4shared.com/office/R3RZ1f...treatment.html

Have at it.

[Icewalker]

I have done a fair bit of drawing the last couple days. Probably enough to count for the Challenge, justifiably? Although it's cutting it maybe a little close. That said, I also wrote a 3000 word game submission, and it's waaay easier to upload.

PS: If, by crazy random happenstance, there are any Westfinders on here, don't read. There are a measure of spoilers below.

(2000ish words, here)

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The kingdom of Eurotas is not doing well: the king’s oppressions grow by the day, and internal strife is beginning to break out. The greatest knights of the kingdom, the Indomitable, are corrupt and bribed near to the point of being wholly mercenaries. The Old King, Kanidas, focuses more on internal threats to his rule and the suppression of subjects and groups he considers inferior, doing less and less to hold back the barbarian threat from the East, violent desert-dwelling savages who bind demons and loose them in combat.
A rebellion has begun to organize, and though rumors abound, they are still an underground movement. Their numbers grow, and those who are not officially among them tend to sympathize with them. Support for the Old King is nearly nonexistent, however he remains in power through mercenaries, corruption, and sometimes the individual power of himself and his high advisers: The Old King has lived for 80 years, yet seems not to weaken much with age, and many suspect the use of rituals to extend his lifespan.
The rebellion (and game) is centered in the second largest city of Eurotas. The city, commonly referred to as Demonsgate, sits right on the border of the Eastern desert, and in the olden days as now was the first line of defense against the barbarians. It is a large and bustling market city, but with its fair share of soldiers and warriors, with even most common folk ready to serve as a militia if the barbarians ever organized at large, as they did a century ago.

There is a prominent single monotheistic religion, believed universally throughout Eurotas. The central figure of this religion is the Sky-Father, who sacrificed himself on the side of a mountain so as to become one with all people alive and yet to be born, in doing so showing them the way to his hall in the afterlife. The religion preaches honor, kindness, and knowledge. (How much are these ideals followed? It varies.) There is a small division within the religion’s beliefs: a prophetess, Selene, believed by some to be a creation of or messenger from the Sky-Father, and by others to be simply an important political and religious historical figure. Selene prophesied that one day, the souls of the ancient dead and of those who did not follow the Sky-Father’s will in life would return to destroy the world, and those who live as the greatest heroes could join Selene after death in her vigil to watch and wait for that day, so they can fight to stop it. Orthodox believers, and followers of Selene, tend to get along reasonably, with some arguments and disagreements, but no widespread violent conflict. (I have a fair bit more myth to go with this, primarily afterlife-based, but it is in fact wholly fluff: flow has nothing to do with Selene’s prophecy or the Sky-Father, aside from the way PCs religion influences their political opinions. Which may be a lot!)
Fun fact: all of this is religion. It is wholly faith-based, rather than fact based. Nothing wrong with it, but it’s not proven, God does not walk among us or talk to people unless they claim he does, etc. It is though, universally believed in Eurotas. Even Demons, ostensibly from the fiery pits deep beneath the Earth, are actually just terrifying semi-intelligent vicious animals who live in volcanoes. While it is universally believed, it is not vehemence/heresy kind of belief: if somebody didn’t believe in the Sky-Father, they’d be considered very strange, definitely wrong, and would maybe be a bit shunned. They wouldn’t be stoned to death or anything like that.

There is a wider world, but Eurotas is largely cut off from it. It doesn’t really come up in game, at all.

Magic! It exists. It’s not a very high magic setting: magic items aren’t really a thing, and while everybody is usually capable of extremely simple magic (light, sparks, that kind of thing) fairly few people actually have magical talent to a practical level. Magical education is basically practiced only within the clergy. Priests of the Sky-Father, and the often followers of Selene (sometimes non-clergy followers) will practice and learn magic to the point that it’s actually useful for anything. Magic is fairly standard energy-centered fantasy magic: energy, elements, healing, etc. Spells aren’t usually a thing, though rituals are sometimes on a very large scale. Game may have a ritual or two in a flow-context, but it’s not something that people can do individually or generally.




PC Teams
Who are the groups in the game? (Limit 250 words per team)

The Indomitable: The greatest knights of Eurotas. The Indomitable believe, above all else, in not showing fear, standing firm in the face of impending death, etc. Very capable warriors, almost universally followers of Selene, often egotistical, generally believing they will all join Selene’s guard upon their deaths as great heroes. The Indomitable tend to be wholly out for personal gain, and are so easily bribed they are practically mercenaries. They tend to be bullies, although are not necessarily actively evil (usually mostly amoral, but not immoral). While supposedly loyal to the Old King, the Indomitable know public opinion is shifting against him, and even their leader, the Prince himself, is beginning to plot against the Old King. In game, there will be several veteran Indomitable who are likely particularly unpleasant people, and several recruits to the Indomitable, who will be encouraged to design their characters with the above traits, as those are the sort of people who would attempt to join the Indomitable. Technically, the Indomitable are all PCs. One or all of the 2-3 veterans will know the gist of flow, and the role that they may probably, but not necessarily, take in it. 2-3 veterans, 2-3 recruits.

Priests of the Sky-Father: Fairly self-explanatory: these are people who have devoted their lives to the worship of the Sky-Father. They tend to be more educated, and are among the fairly few literate individuals. Generally devoted to honor and good. Game takes place on a minor holy day, an alignment of stars, and so they will be out and about, sermoning. Priests of the Sky-Father are also generally mages. These are wholly PCs, among the common people. Probably 2-3 players.

Followers of Selene: The dedicated followers of Selene are slightly less organized than the classical clergy of the Sky-Father: there are those who are wholly dedicated as clergy, much like the priests of the Sky-Father. (Think of Selene as like Muhammad in Islam: she was important, but even to her followers is a relatively minor figure under the true God.) There are also those who have dedicated themselves to the ideals of the Sky-Father and Serene, but aren’t actively part of an organized clergy. Followers of Selene are likely to be warriors to some extent, more combat capable. They also preach honor and good, although with a bit more of a self-improvement and self-focus bent. These are wholly PCs, among the common people. Probably 2-3 players (maybe more if people choose to dedicate themselves more to Selene)

The Caravan: A traveling caravan! Performers, storytellers, tinkers, etc. The caravan is filled with exotic and fascinating things and people, all of whom are both kind and fascinating. They will be extremely popular in the market town, very quickly catching everybody’s interest and appreciation. For the most part, while from variously far off lands, they are still believes in the Sky-Father in some form (perhaps with one exception for variety). The Caravan are also wholly PCs. Probably 3-4 players.

The People!: There will be other folk as well: merchants, nobles, out-of-work sailors (there are seas not too far off to the south, let’s say), city guard, and so on. Lots of variety, range, and choice. It’s possible that the Priests of the Sky-Father and the Followers of Selene won’t be cast entirely as distinct groups, but instead just as recommendations to PCs among the people (in which case recommendations would probably also extend to things like ‘city guard’ and the like for some or most players). The public generally highly dislike the Old King. Additionally, they are generally relatively combat-capable: living in Demonsgate means you are ready to be militia, if the worst comes. So everybody will at least vaguely know their way around one tool they can fight with. Everybody else.

The Rebellion: This is not specifically a group of people, but rather an additional trait spread throughout the other groups. Basically every group mentioned above could or will contain some rebels among them. The rebel movement is a fairly loose one, with people often being just a rebel in name and not having engaged in much large-scale plotting or action, though many have as well. The rebels are gathering in the market today to pass secret messages and discuss plans, whispered from ear to ear. They are considering acting soon: public opinion will be on their side, even those who are not among the rebels almost always have a positive opinion of them. Approximately half of the PCs, or slightly less.

The Monks of Mt. Aletheia: This small order of badass warrior monks are hyper-dedicated to Truth. They revile all lie and manipulation, and make their intentions clear in all circumstances. This may seem great, but they get overzealous with it. The Monks wish to overthrow the Old King for his corruption and lies, and will end up joining with the PCs in order to do so in the first third of game. However, they will make it clear when the Old King is defeated that their intention is to set up a government of highly oppressive, iron fisted truth and brutality, with the most severe of laws and punishments, and have no qualms or hesitations at going to any extreme to accomplish this. The Monks are mostly SPCs, though they may have one relatively young PC Monk or something of the sort. 2-4 people.

The Old King and his Advisers: The Old King Kanidas! And an adviser, or two. It’s very possible he/they will return from RE, early on in game, although I don’t know who’d be dying. Details. The Old King has been lengthening his lifespan with (probably awful) magic rituals. He and his one or two advisers are actually personally very very powerful, hence the Rebellions inability to simply stage a coup.

The King’s Enforcers / Other SPCs: This group of 3 or 4 people will show up a little ways into game to enact a new oppressive law, and round up undesirables (including the much-beloved Caravan, and some young/innocent looking PCs). They won’t exactly last long, between the PCs and the Monks’ entrance. They will return from RE as assorted single SPC figures for later diamond flow goals. 3-4 people.

The Barbarians / The Demons: The Barbarians will show up from RE near the end of game only, as a component in the final battle. They are brutal and savage, worshipping their blood god, and fighting for the blood and joy of it. The barbarians physically capture and chain Demons, often very large terrifying beasts, red and spikes and fire. The barbarians then release the Demons in battle, not to make them more likely to win (though it does, because they’re used to fighting Demons) but just to cause more chaos and death with this huge monster rampaging and attacking both sides.

[Viera Champion]

Course. When I said I'm back, it means fail me for, like, three weeks while I work up the motivation to start writing again.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Inkscape is fun. Woot.

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Avatar request. (Note: I realised after I exported it as a bitmap that I made a few errors. I'll put the second version up as part of this week, since adding a hat doesn't really count as a separate work to me.)

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Ponies!

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Ace the Asexuality Awareness Pone.

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Milkshake. (Twitter request)

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Glaze Strings. (Twitter request — note: player has several NSFW images in hir most recent pictures) (Picture itself is SFW)

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Experiments in Not Using a Pencil-and-Paper Reference for Inkscape Ponies:

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#1

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#2

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[Glass Mouse]

Oh my gosh guys, I'm so sorry, I completely blanked on the status yesterday! I hope it doesn't disrupt things too much to have it one day late.


Glass Mouse passes with 1,519 words of essay.

Lycunadari passes with a flower photo, four medieval photos and a paiting.

TheWombatOfDoom didn't upload/send me anything.

C'nor didn't upload/send me anything.

Viera Champion didn't upload/send me anything.

MeanMrsMustard passes with one OoTS avatar and five different ponies.

D.KnightSpider passes with 1,647 words of story and a drawing of a lost cheese adventure.

redfeatherraven passes with 2,126 words related to the theme.

Icewalker passes with ~2,000 words of setting description.


Thus, TheWombatOfDoom, Viera Champion and redfeatherraven FAIL this round!

Glass Mouse, Lycundari, C'nor, MeanMrsMustard and D.KnightSpider PASS this round!


Current standing:

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Glass Mouse
Current run: 141 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

Lycunadari
Current run: 27 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

TheWombatOfDoom
Current run: -
Longest run: 3 weeks
Themes: -

C'nor
Current run: -
Longest run: 11 weeks
Themes: -

Viera Champion
Current run: -
Longest run: 2 weeks
Themes: -

MeanMrsMustard
Current run: 12 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: -

D.KnightSpider
Current run: 6 weeks
Longest run: -
Themes: 5 weeks

redfeatherraven
Current run: 1 week
Longest run: 1 week
Themes: 1 week

Icewalker
Current run: 1 week
Longest run: 3 weeks
Themes: -

This week's theme, chosen by me, is heroes

Next week's theme is chosen by Lycunadari - let me know in PM or this thread, and I'll include it in the next status.


@redfeatherraven: I'm assuming everything checks out, but I'm getting a "The file you requested has limited access: Publisher only" message, so I'm gonna have to ask you to create a new link or similar.
Small tip: Google Drive is wonderfully simple

Coming soon: A post wherein I ouline the plan for the next three weeks!

[Glass Mouse]

Planning the next four weeks

As I mentioned some time ago, I'll be traveling for three weeks from this weekend onwards. I would very much like to avoid scrounging for netcafés and the like while traveling, so the plan is as follows:

This week's status will be one day early. I'll do it Sunday evening at some point after 8 pm GMT+1. Most of you already manage your contributions before that time, but now you know what to plan around.

There will be no status on the 22nd nor 29th of July. Instead I'll do one big status post on the 5th of August.
We are not taking the weeks off, since that's a surefire way to lose the habit . So on the 5th, everyone needs to have done three week's worth of creative works. You can upload one week at a time or all at once depending on personal preference, but nothing will be counted before that status post.

As for themes, I'm open to suggestions, but I'm thinking it might be easiest if they are decided ahead of time?

I'm sorry about the inconvenience this causes, but last time I went traveling this solution worked fine, so I hope we'll be as lucky this time

[redfeatherraven]

Sorry, sorry. I know what the issue was with the 4shared link, but I'd rather use Google Drive regardless, so I'll re-upload it there.

Here's the new link, same file submitted the other night:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

In the words of the late Billy Mays, "But wait, there's more!"

The document has inflated since the submission to a treatment over five thousand words long and growing. I like the concept, and it may get prototyped, if I can learn how. In the meantime, since writing humorous things with no audience is a terrible shame, here's the full document as it stands:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B0fo...it?usp=sharing

I know there's been some issue to this point, so I double checked my work this round. I've verified both links can be accessed by anyone with that link, even without a Google account signed in, and I'll also use this for future submissions.

That all said. Heroes. Hmm. Maybe it'll be a doodle week for me.

[Lycunadari]

So, I have a question.

I'll be travelling for five weeks, from the end of July till the start of September, so I'll probably wont have an Internet connection. Is it okay if I send you the collected 30+ pieces when I come back, or do I have to drop out of the challenge?