Thank you both for participating! It was interesting how you both chose to have your characters go somewhere mentally rather than physically, but despite that you both fulfilled the prompt admirably with appropriate length vignettes. These were not the best entries I've seen from either of you, but they were creative and intriguing nonetheless, and since I delayed this judgment a couple months we'll double up the rewards.

Gum

Use of topic: Solid use of topic, although it was pretty difficult to understand what was going on. While there was ample poetry in your words, it got in the way of the prose as often as not. Take your first paragraph for example; of the four sentences that comprise it, three of them are rather abstract. I'm sure this was intentional to convey the dreamlike experience, but I think you'd benefit from dialing the dynamic wordplay down a bit, and (especially at the beginning of a post/vignette) giving the reader something more tangible to build on.

Creativity: This is the aspect where you shone the most; although I didn't "get" some of your literary devices, they were nonetheless elegantly composed. I really admire your ability to find unique ways to explain ordinary things such as wind or warmth. It not only gives the world you describe a unique spin, it brings your character to life in a very believable way.

Mechanics: I might have noticed a small error or two but don't recall anything worth mentioning. Well done!

Lilthis

Use of topic: You were on point as ever, finding a really unique way to put your character in an intriguing setting. Somehow you almost always manage to properly approach the prompt from an angle I didn't anticipate. In addition to using the topic well, you had an excellent structure and rhythm to your writing. The vignette started with vivid sensations which grounded me in the prose, and ended with an explanation of the events via dialogue. Really well done.

Creativity: I kind of covered this above, so I'll just say that choosing astral projection as a means to get to a new place was pretty damn clever.

Mechanics: There were a couple of words such as "barraged" which you may have used slightly incorrectly, but nothing that would interrupt the average reader so I didn't score anything against you.

Great contributions from both participants!

But there can only be one winner...

Congratulations, Lilthis!

Lilthis receives 600 EXP and 400 GP

Gum receives 960 EXP and 300 GP

(rewards doubled due to judgment delay)

Hope to see you all in the next event!