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Thread: May Vignette

  1. #1
    Legend

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    Philomel's Avatar

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    14,025

    Name
    Philomel van der Aart (+ Veridian)
    Age
    30 (+10)
    Race
    Faun (+ Fox/Earth Spirit)
    Gender
    Female (+ Male)
    Location
    Corone

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    May Vignette

    This vignette will close on 31st May 2020.

    Prompt

    Your character is suddenly left with a baby on their doorstep. There is no explanation, just a letter with a single name. What does your character do, and how do they solve the mystery of the child?

    Rules

    1. One submission per character.

    2. All entries have to be within the declared period. Editing your post and completely changing your submission is okay as long as all the edits occur before midnight EST on the closing day.

    3. The moderator judging the monthly vignette contest may post a vignette at the end, but will not be eligible for first or second place.

    4. Only on-topic vignettes are liable for rewards. The topics are broad enough that no character should be particularly limited.

    5. PCs must be involved in all vignettes. How "canonical" you choose to have the events of the vignette is up to you.

    6. All participants receive EXP. The top two finishers also receive GP. (Clarification: this excludes off-topic submissions, as per Rule 4).

    7. Entries are assessed on the following merits:

    Use of topic: Did the writer use the topic, or write something completely random and off topic?

    Creativity: Did the writer make something unique out of the topic or was it more cliche?

    Mechanics: Basic writing mechanics: spelling, grammar, punctuation, word usage, etc.

    Notes: Additional comments.
    *admin at your service*

    Matriarch of the Gilded Lily and of its brothels, associated establishments and the army.

    Characters:
    The family triplet: Philomel, Vaeron and Celandine.
    The god and kenku triplet: Stare, Avin and Vixen.
    The Primordials: Professor Charles and Moros.

  2. #2
    Newcomer

    EXP: 25,219, Level: 6
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    Level completed: 75%,
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    GP
    1,712

    Name
    Jasmine
    Location
    Corone
    The Dracosius twins sat on either side of a large, shady tree near a streambank with their eyes closed, enjoying the peaceful sound of the gurgling stream. Not too far behind them was their campsite with a tent, a cold fire pit, and their weapons laid out in such a way as to be easily and quickly grabbed, but also not in the pathway. For the moment, the boys had the camp to themselves. Their sister had gone off armed with her bow and arrows to do some light hunting. Their parents were back home, presumably enjoying some time to themselves without teenagers hanging around.

    Suddenly, the idyllic afternoon was ripped a part by a loud, piercing wail. Aiden & Zevernus snapped awake and looked around.

    “What the hell!?”

    In the absence of his sister and mother, AJ let his language slip frequently. His eyes darted around the small clearing in which they’d set up camp. On the far side, the undergrowth rustled as if a person had just darted past.

    As the wailing continued, the boys got to their feet and went to investigate. On the ground beside the fire pit sat a small, moving, wailing bundle of cloth. ZJ approached the bundle first. Bending down on his knees, he gently moved the cloth.

    “It’s a baby!”

    “A baby?”

    “Yes! A baby!”

    “Well, what are we supposed to do with a baby?”

    Panic edged AJ’s 15-year-old voice. The boys had of course seen babies, but neither had ever held one or had to take care of one. The teenager looked at the place he’d seen the underbrush moving and wondered if the baby’s mother had gone that way.

    Zevernus carefully picked up the still wailing baby, awkwardly laying the child against his chest and patting the baby’s back. This did not seem to help. Then, he noticed the folded piece of paper that had fallen out of the blanket the baby had been wrapped in.

    “AJ, come read this note. Maybe it’ll tell us what’s going on.”

    AJ did as he was asked and began reading the tear stained note, “Dear Dracosius family,” he paused, “They know who we are? But-”

    “Just keep reading Aiden!”

    “Alright, alright! Dear Dracosius family, I am sorry to do this to you, but I am not able to care for my little girl. Please, don’t look for me. I know your family is made of good people, please take care of her. Her name is Grace. She is 3 months old. Thank you.”

    ZJ held Grace out at arms length. “Grace, then, huh? Well, Grace, could you tone it down? We’re trying!”

    Grace, of course, did not understand and did not stop crying.

    “Well, now what?” AJ asked.

    Zevernus was silent for a moment, trying to think through the baby girl’s wailing. “Maybe she’s hungry? Look through the blankets. Maybe whoever dropped her off left something for her to eat.” While his brother did that, ZJ pulled Grace back to his chest and began to gently sway as he’d seen his mother do with other people’s babies.

    Aiden picked the blanket up and gently shook it. Fortunately for the boys, a bottle full of milk fell out, along with a few extra diapering cloths. “Here we go!” he announced triumphantly.

    ZJ shifted Grace in his arms and sat down on the ground with his legs crossed. On seeing the bottle Grace reached for it and cried louder. “Okay, okay! Geez!” the teen boy said as he helped her hold the bottle. Grace immediately began to suck down the milk greedily. Both boys sighed in relief at the welcome drop in noise.

    ZJ looked at AJ, “We really gotta figure something out here. We’re not heading back to the city for several days yet. We don’t have anything else to feed her other than this one bottle. And we don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby!”

    AJ looked at the baby in his brother’s arms. She had curly hair as black as their mother’s and grey eyes. Now that she wasn’t screaming at the top of her lungs, he thought she was kind of cute in the way most babies are cute.

    “I could try to follow the mother’s trail and get her to take the baby to someone else,” AJ offered.

    “She asked us not to,” ZJ reminded his younger twin. “She asked us to take care of her because of who we are. She didn’t choose us at random. Though why she brought Grace to us out here instead of the palace or the estate house, I have no idea.”

    The boys fell silent as they watched the tiny girl in ZJ’s arms. She finished her bottle and promptly fell asleep.

    “Now what?”

    AJ looked around and gathered their blankets, along with Grace’s blanket, and made a nest of sorts. “Here, I made a bed for her.”

    “Thanks!” Zervernus carefully placed the sleeping baby on the pile of blankets. “Maybe Siela will have an idea about what to do.”

    “Do about what?”

    The twins turned at the sound of their sister’s voice. She set down the spoils of her hunt and approached her brothers. In a moment, she answered her own question. “Where did that baby come from?”

    “We don’t know. We were dozing under that tree over there when all of a sudden we heard crying. By the time we got up and over here, someone had left this baby and disappeared back into the woods. Her name is Grace.”

    Siela knelt beside the baby and smoothed back a stray lock of black hair. “She’s adorable.”

    “And LOUD” the boys said in unison. ZJ continued, “Whomever left her left a bottle, which she already had, and a note telling us her name and asking us not to find them. Apparently, whatever is going on her parents think she’ll be better off with us.”

    “Pack up camp.”

    AJ looked at her confusion, “What?”

    “Pack up camp. We don’t have anything to feed her. She’s too little for solid food and we only had one bottle. We need to get back home with her, or when she wakes up we’re going to have a very upset baby with nothing to feed her.”

    The boys looked at each other for a moment, then the realization of how the rest of the night would go when the baby woke up fully dawned on them. “Right! Let’s go.”

    Quickly, the three teens packed up their sleeping mats and tents. Siela used Grace’s blanket to make a sling and carefully tied it and baby around herself. In a few minutes the only trace left that anyone had been there was the very muddy spot where a fire had once been. Fortunately, the group was only a day away from the capital city.

    A few hours later, the teens were back at the royal palace. They’d found out from a servant that their parents were relaxing with their uncle, the king, and his wife. They knocked on the door and waited to be let in.

    “What do you think they’ll do?” whispered AJ as they waited.

    “I don’t know, find someone to adopt her, I guess.” ZJ answered.

    A moment later and a servant opened the door with a surprised look. “Oh, umm, your Majesties, it’s your nephews and niece. And.. is that a baby?”

    Queen Melody was the first to react, “A baby? Come in, come in! Let me see!”

    The skirt of her dress rustled softly on the carpet as she crossed the opulent room to meet the teens half-way. Siela wordlessly pulled Grace from the sling and held her out to Melody.

    “Ohh, she’s precious,” the queen said as she moved quietly back to her seat, cooing at the tiny girl. “Jorsten, go to the kitchen and tell them we need a bottle of milk.”

    Jorsten looked confused, but started toward the door. AJ helpfully handed the servant the empty bottle from earlier.

    “So how did you kids manage to find a baby?” King Eric asked.

    “Well, it’s a little odd,” ZJ began and quickly related how the baby had come to be in their camp. He gave his mother the note that had been left.

    “So when Siela got back, we headed straight here.”

    While the boys related the brief story of how they’d come to be the caretakers of this tiny girl, Jorsten returned with a bottle just as Grace started waking up. She fussed for a few minutes as she didn’t see her mother or anything else familiar, but soon settled down with her bottle.

    “Welcome to the family, Princess Grace,” Melody murmured, as she rocked the baby.

    “Wait, what? Don’t I get a say?” asked Eric, “you can’t just go adopting a random baby Melody.”

    “She isn’t random, Dear. She was abandoned to the care of our family. You know I’ve always wanted another, this is our chance.”

    “But, but-”

    “Let it be, Eric,” Jasmine interjected, “You’re not going to win this one. Congratulations on your new daughter.”

    The king spluttered a moment more then through his hands up in defeat. He moved to stand behind Melody and gaze on the newest addition to the royal family.

    “So… do we go back to our camping trip now?” AJ asked, innocently.

  3. #3
    Newcomer

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    Level completed: 45%,
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    Ayvriel's Avatar

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    1,000

    Name
    Ayvriel Leviasi ia Saiph
    Age
    137
    Race
    High Elf
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    Female
    Location
    Raiaera

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    Ayvriel Leviasi ia Saiph
    Location | A small town close to Bradbury, Corone


    Ayvriel sighed, allowing a whisper of air to escape from between her lips. Perched on her lap with a pudgy hand tangled in the bodice of her dress, the cause of her distress gurgled in a merry manner, evidently amused by the allusion of her exasperation.

    But–

    Ow.

    But as the predicament they found themselves in were neither of their making, the elven maiden merely wrinkled her nose at the babe and began to coo at him, her hand rising to gently remove the lock of argent caught in his little fist.

    “Such a little tyrant.”

    ◇◆◇

    Her first meeting with little Nathan took place during dawn, when the sun was only beginning to paint the horizon with delicate shades of lavender and rose. As per her ritual for the past few days, the elven maiden has opened the door to bring in the bottle of milk and groceries that were left on the porch of the cottage she shared with her brother, only to find an unfamiliar crate hindering her path.

    More curious than she was wary, Ayvriel made to move aside the cloth and was greeted by the quicksilver gaze of a human babe. The claws and fangs of dread began to bury themselves into her soul even as the spellsinger glanced around in faint hopes of catching a glimpse of the person who left a child on their porch… but whomever they were, they were most likely to be long gone by now.

    Without the heart to leave an innocent babe alone, the elven maiden had taken him inside and set him by the heart to chase the chills from his tiny form. And it was as though the child was a sproutling, for he flourished in the warm glow of the flickering flames. Before long, Ayvriel learned what an inquisitive little creature he was when the babe crawled from the pile of cushions after her and tugged on her skirts.

    Charmed by the peal of giggles when her eyes fell on him, Ayvriel leaned over to pick up the child, only to notice the scrap of paper left on the pile of cushions where she left him. It was crumpled and stained, with barely legible letters of his name. “Well, I suppose since you seem none worse for the wear, we should ask around and see if anyone know of your origins.”

    Swaddling the babe in a warm blanket and draping a shawl over her shoulders, the elven maiden journeyed to the nearby cottages, but none seemed to know anyone whom might be missing a child. And with her numerous delicate alchemical undertakings that needed her to stay close, Ayvriel was unable to visit the town proper to make any further enquiries… not until her brother has returned and could help her to watch over them.

    “Looks like we will both be together for a few more days, little Nathan.”

    ◇◆◇

    The time in between passed her by in a haze, more so for one who was accustomed to the world moving at her pace. And Little Nathan was a terror who threw it into a disarray with his needs and antics.

    The babe was curious and precocious and knew not of the fear of being hurt. He was either crawling after the many cats that called the cottage home and mussing their fur when he caught up to one, or trying to stand up to grab at the gems that was part of the alchemical studies, or tumbling over the varied volumes of tomes found on their low table. When he is not, the child with the raven tuft and quicksilver eyes was either demanding food, or babbling at her in hopes of drawing her into a game…

    And the bodily functions.

    The absolute horrors of it!

    Bathing him felt very much like what the elven maiden imagined to be wrestling against an octopus would be like, and by the end of it, she looked like a drowned wraith! Not to mention that while little Nathan was fair-natured for most of the time, when he had one of his rare tantrums, it felt like a banshee was wailing right in her face.

    By the time Mikael returned home, she was cantankerous and done.

    Worse yet, her brother was unsympathetic to her plight, even as he reminded her of the physiological differences between elves and humans and how she should not commit herself to a life that was akin to a candle burning on both ends. In the end, Mikael merely let her know that he would watch over of her projects while she went to town.

    ‘So go and quickly find that human travelling group and have them find its’ parents.’

    Mikael’s words echoed in her mind even as she stepped into the mercenary guild with Little Nathan nestled in the cradle of her arms. But even as the people within began to turn their gaze upon them, Ayvriel found herself unable to bear the thought of giving up the babe.

    “Can we help you?”

    After all, his parents abandoned him…

    “… No, I’m fine. I merely mistook the building for the post office,” the spellsinger lied glibly as she retraced her steps.

    I will just have to try and convince Mika somehow.

  4. #4
    Newcomer

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    Mikael's Avatar

    GP
    1,500

    Name
    Mikael Leviasi ia Saiph
    Age
    167
    Race
    High Elf
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Raiaera

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    Mikael Leviasi ia Saiph
    Location: Family Home, The Citadel

    The small, perhaps indicative sounds of something moving almost went by Mikael’s perception. It was the quietness that Mikael often suffered with when he was given his new room within the Citadel that alerted Mikael something else was inside his room. His ears perked up to a noise nearby his desk, his eyes scanned the area but found nothing, his chair was unmoved and his books were where he had last placed them, even his unfinished rune laid there, taunting him. Quickly glancing away his eyes followed direction from his ears as the sound of movement shifted towards the other corner of his room near his fireplace.

    Mika moved swiftly across his room, his eyes darted from corner to corner and he urgently searched for the source of the noise. Something is here, but even with his keen senses Mika struggled, kneeling to search beneath his bed before quickly standing back up to race to his cupboard.

    “There you are!” Mikael cried out, triumphant as he grasped the strange critter. The skin was smooth, if not almost like leather as Mikael grasped the strange creature, it seemed rather frightened at first but almost when Mikael locked eyes with it, the grey creature calmed. A rather large head and with what Mikael guessed where fin like appendages. So that was what the sound was from earlier. . .

    Mikael held the creature for a moment longer before depositing it on his bed, it didn’t move away when he sat next to it, nor did it seem to want to run. Curious Mikael pressed against his palm on the creature’s head, the current of magic flowed evenly and Mikael confirmed it was just another animal, a very very young one at that, like a pup of sorts. “Now how did a babe such as yourself end up here?”

    The pup of course did not answer, nor did it seem to comprehend his words as it was aggressively attempting to stick to Mikael’s palm. The flow of magic between the two seemed to have made the pup quite attached to him, much to Mikael’s slight displeasure. He had another lesson to finish reading before the day’s end and knew it would be impossible to do so with such a clingy pup. With a weary sigh Mikael grabbed the pup and quickly moved down near the main library. If he could figure out its species, then perhaps Mikael could send it on its way back home.

    Perhaps no more than an hour later and Mikael was certain this little pup creetin was sent to torment him. Barely getting through a single page and Mikael had to constantly hunt down the pup. The nuisance increased until Mikael had set up several runes to sort of create a small pen for the pup. Though its attempts to escape by repeatedly ramming itself against the magical wall, soft enough in Mikael’s mind, only encouraged him to read faster and search through several tomes and scrolls.

    Fifty-six escape attempts later Mikael finally grabbed the small grey pup creature and held it up to eye-level. The impossibly large eyes stared, unblinking into Mikael’s own sapphire irises. With a single thought, Mikael’s magic illuminated the several runes etched along his hands and it combusted into a large fire. The pup smiled wildly as it changed colour to that more of a dark, if not charcoal black skin, it was enjoying its little flame bath and Mikael sighed in relief he found the right flames.

    Conjuring magic was still new to him, and being able to summon flames needed for the pup was something else.

    “Glad we’re both happy.” Mikael dryly commented, his lips remained a stiffed line as he walked out of the library.

    “So this is what a Demonatae Are’dente looks like. . .” Mikael sighed to himself, guessing the name was for how it looked full-grown, not what it appeared as a pup. Mikael continued to walk outside of the Citadel's walls, his legs making quick work of the stairs that followed and he made full speed to the bottom where the crystal blue waters met the marble white stone of the Citadel.

    The Demonatae pup looked cheerful and somehow managed to get its eyes larger, seeing the world around it move so quickly. It was happy to be nestled between two fiery hands and even more so by Mikael himself, and for the life of him, Mikael understood not of why this pup was so attracted to him.

    As Mikael reached the last step, two heads bopped out of the water at the same time, their hair floated calmly on the water as their eyes sparkled at Mikael. The young elf gave a rather unimpressed look at the two Mermfolk, even as they swam closer and rose further from the water, their eyes continued to sparkle towards Mikael. Perhaps at one point he would make comments on their near insufferable antics, but for the moment he had a literal flaming pup in his hands. The Demonatae slowly began to change its skin tone as it neared the water, as if confused on what to do with both fire and water as possible places of enjoyment.

    With a quick and smooth motion, Mikael knelt and released the little pup in the waters. It changed colours and texture near instantly and it happily swam towards the two Mermfolk in fascination, though Mikael wondered if it was more to do with familiarity. . . It didn’t go for me when I was hunting for it in my bedroom. . . only after I had held it in my arms did it crawl towards me. . .

    “Oh, a Demonatae Cub!” One of the Mermfolk sang, his voice angelic as the female quickly swam around to peer at the cub.

    Mikael remained unimpressed, “-Well, will you take it back to where it belongs?” He already spent half a day for the small intrusion.

    The female Mermfolk, Hwen, spoke first with mild concern, “You sure? He’s at the stage of never being able to return back to the surface fully.” Hwen commentated.

    Mikael paused, his straight face this time broke into confusion, and the male Mermfolk, Jwen took noticed and quickly explained, “-When they are little, their bodies maintain a high temperature but as they grow larger they need to live nearby the pools of lava and superheated water of the ocean floor.” Jwen explained a tad more, as Mikael continued to process the information.

    “So this cub can only explore the vast ocean now, but as it appears the cub is already showing signs of maturity. . .” Hwen spoke, now holding the small Demonatae, her hands gently lifting up its fins and scratching its head.

    The young Elf maintained a stare between the two Mermfolk, each continued to sparkle but before either could make another comment Mikael simply offered “-Return the cub home then.” As he turned to walk back up the stairs, perhaps a tad quicker than from when he first climbed down with the cub.

    Hwen and Jwen offered one another a rather melancholy smile, the small cub continued to chirp happily between two though and the two Mermfolk submerged along with the Deamonatae. Mikael all the while furiously wrote down a few notes from what he was told about the creature, perhaps being able to correct something already written was possible.

    Not all things that were written, were written on stone.

  5. #5
    upon the cheek of night

    EXP: 224,444, Level: 20
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    Breaker's Avatar

    GP
    38,725

    Name
    Joshua Breaker Cronen
    Age
    30
    Race
    Demigod
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    Closed for judgment.
    "The breeze did not stir. The stars did not twinkle. The trees did not sway and the brook did not babble.
    For the world did not turn when Am'aleh wept, and a tear had tumbled down her cheek."


  6. #6
    Administrator

    EXP: 10,042, Level: 4
    Level completed: 21%, EXP required for next Level: 3,958
    Level completed: 21%,
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    Tyr's Avatar

    GP
    2,590

    Name
    Tyr Vythari
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    Human
    Gender
    Male
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    Corone

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    Letting everyone know I'll be judging this month and will be getting on it. I want to thank everyone for participating!

  7. #7
    Administrator

    EXP: 10,042, Level: 4
    Level completed: 21%, EXP required for next Level: 3,958
    Level completed: 21%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,958


    Tyr's Avatar

    GP
    2,590

    Name
    Tyr Vythari
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    Human
    Gender
    Male
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    Corone

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    First and foremost, I want to apologise for the long wait on this. Work has been flooring me for quite a while. I'll be judging this in a different manner this time around, as in lightly going over the areas due to time restraints on my end. Double rewards will be awarded for the wait.



    Prompt- "Your character is suddenly left with a baby on their doorstep. There is no explanation, just a letter with a single name. What does your character do, and how do they solve the mystery of the child."



    Dracosius


    Use of Topic- The way you went with the Topic was an interesting swing with sticking teenagers with a baby and there was a light feel to the piece. Kinda takes me back to a time in my teenage life. Overall I had fun reading the play on the prompt, but I would have liked seeing more of your PC involved in this Vignette entry.

    Creativity- The use of the prompt had a level of fun mixed in with teens being left with a random child in the middle of the woods, but I would've enjoyed a little more chaos involved with the situation. The teens being stuck with scrambling to figure out how to quiet the screaming baby without a furnished bottle and then having to find food, something to pacify, or trying to change a disgusting diaper would have really set this area off.

    Mechanics- There really wasn't much I'm going to point out about in this area, but a wider range of synonyms for some common words could of spiced things up.



    Ayvriel


    Use of Topic- You certainly walked me through each mark of the prompt and did so with a certain elegance throughout this piece. There wasn't a moment where I had to backtrack, or get hung up on whether or not the prompt was utilized.

    Creativity- You performed well in this area and touched base on what I wanted to see utilized. There was just enough chaos, mystery and the spin on a young Elven maiden getting not just stuck with a baby, but a human baby at that, and getting floored by the situation. The twist at the end where Ayvriel decided to keep the babe even after the torment was a nice touch. Good job.

    Mechanics- There wasn't much worth pointing out concerning punctuation errors and the span of uncommon words used showcased quite a vocabulary. In that, remember that too many strong descriptors can hang up a story. I did catch a misspelled word, though.




    Mikael



    Use of Topic- The spin you made on the prompt to make it your own was an awesome job. You surprised me a bit by expanding on the baby thing beyond that of just a straight line. Just what I wanted to see with this topic. You walked me through each step of the prompt and did so with your own rhythm.

    Creativity- You did a great job in this area with spinning the babe thing to a creature, rather than a typical human baby like the other participants. Not only on that point, but you expanded beyond even that by choosing a unique creature that I learned a bit about throughout this entry. I enjoyed the creativity you put into this. Well done.

    Mechanics- Word usage and punctuation was mostly well worked, but throughout the post there were multiple run-on sentences that would of been better served with comma placement to create a pause. It tended to disrupt the flow of the piece.



    Oi... Sometimes it's difficult to choose a winner in these contests. Especially when writers post entries that are closely matched in different ways, but here it is.



    1st Place- Ayvriel

    Ayvriel receives:

    400 EXP
    400 GP


    2nd Place- Mikael

    Mikael receives:

    320 EXP
    300 GP


    Dracosius receives-

    700 EXP
    I'm going to reward 100 GP for the long wait, though we don't typically do that beyond 2nd place.


    Congratulations, Ayvriel!

    Thank you all so much for participating and for your patience!

    Rewards Added
    Last edited by Tyr; 11-10-2020 at 06:13 PM.

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