Contest Cancellation

I've decided to cancel the contest. It just didn't go as well as I'd hoped, and if only one person enters each task, it's not even a contest, really. So this contest is over. I might adapt the story into a short post series, because I feel like it had some good things going for it, but otherwise...it's over.

Thanks for reading.

Chase #3

Rendezvous Point K is in the Krokosphinx. That actually makes a lot of sense. You shove the scraps of paper into your backpack and begin walking. You lost a good bit of time working on that tedious puzzle, so now, you need to go even faster than before, if that’s possible. It’s a disappointing and stressful feeling, being far behind.

The blue mander captain who mans the boat is gone for the night, but you know how to launch it. You clamber on and set it loose, and soon, you’ve docked at the second island. You jump out of the boat and walk over to Niles. “Have you seen…” You proceed to describe Corwin and Amy.

The tree rustles his fronds in a gesture of assent. “They ran into the tombs, but it was a long time ago. It looked like dirty business to me.”

You thank Niles and run down the steps into the tombs, your wand at the ready. When the drafty cold air wafts across your face and you see the glimmer of the blue lanterns, you walk a few more steps, then jump behind a pillar to listen. A small crack between the pillar and the wall gives you a decent view of the activity in the main hall. To your horror, you find not just Corwin, Amy, and the assistant who mailed the intercepted letter, but several wizards, none of whom you recognize and all of whom are cloaked completely in black. They seem to be surrounding a wizard, with long black hair and a winged commander robe…Emmaline FairySlinger.

You slouch back against the wall, barely able to hold back a defeated sigh. There’s no way you can overpower all those wizards, who most likely have powers similar to Corwin’s. Worst of all, you can’t see Amy anywhere. You can only hope she escaped, but somehow…you can’t help but fear the worst.

Suddenly, someone speaks loudly enough for you to overhear. “Dratted dogs,” says Corwin, clearly not caring about the volume of his complaint. “Can’t keep their panting little noses out of anyone’s business…they’re in almost every world on the Spiral, not just content with their own. But –” He let out a great sigh. “– to Marleybone I must go, for the fulfillment of my grand plan. I will meet with SkullBringer there…he claims to have captured BattleSpear.”

With a jolt, you realize Corwin’s about ready to go. If you hurry, you might be able to escape unnoticed, and possibly even head him off for once. Marleybone – finally he’s making it easy. Why, even his complaint sounds familiar…

(The location of his minion is somewhere on this blog. Look for the Mark of the Mordromancers, and go where it leads you. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to comment.)

Last Week's Champion

The winner of the previous task was, once again, Roslyn SilverTalon/April! She will receive her hoard packs shortly. She was also the only person who entered again; I will try again one more time in case anyone decides they want to unseat her from her record. Remember, whoever wins the most of these tasks will get the grand prize, and if she wins four tasks, that will automatically be her.

Good luck. The next task will be posted later today.

Chase #2

You let out a sigh of relief as you sit up from being hunched over the page. It took some thought, but you feel fairly certain about the incantation, even though you have no idea what it does. Lestil slemran. It doesn’t sound too intimidating, but if a mordromancer wants it, it must be bad.

Clutching your wand again, you stand up and exit the Necromantic Archives at a brisk walk. It looks like Corwin’s already been here and may be at his Rendezvous point K, wherever that may be. If you don’t want him to pull off his plan, you’d better hurry.

“Hello.” A voice, smooth and mature yet somehow not quite adult, sounds behind you. You turn, staring at the dark figure standing in the doorway to the Theurgic Archives. It looks like he’s been waiting for you, crouching behind the doorframe until you revealed yourself. He’s wearing a pointed hat with a feather and a robe with an elegant, spotless cape, all jet black.

You find yourself stiffening, and your knuckles whiten around your wand. This looks exactly like the picture of Corwin DarkHammer that Sophia showed you, even down to the outfit. He continues, “It was awfully sloppy of me to leave my notes on important historical records. I hope you didn’t…ahem…inconvenience yourself in trying to decipher them. I’m afraid I tend to be somewhat cryptic in talking to myself.”

After a short period of stuttering, you manage to find your voice as you reply, “It was no trouble at all. You’re not quite as confusing as you think.”

For a moment, you see Corwin’s eyes narrow, but then he returns to normal with a silky laugh. He leans back into the hallway and pulls something out. You see the bound form of a wizard with long, violet hair tied back into a ponytail. Unless you’re very much mistaken, this is Amy ThunderBrand, notorious diviner of the White Legion.

“I appreciate your taking the time to delve into my notes, but unfortunately, time is something I don’t have much of tonight. I’m afraid I must run – places to go, people to see!” He points his wand at you and shouts some unintelligible words.

Soon, you find yourself surrounded by a thick black mist. You can see through it, but you know there’s no chance of walking when you try to move your legs but find them stuck. You can’t do anything as Corwin hauls Amy out the door.

Eventually, the mist dissipates, but you know they’re long gone, to that place…Rendezvous Point K. After your epic forgetting-to-dodge fail, you might not stand much of a chance, but it’s worth a try. The memory is pretty far back, but you think you might just know where to look…

(The key to the rendezvous is somewhere on this blog. Look for the Mark of the Mordromancers, and go where it leads you. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to comment.)

Contest things

Look.

Only one person showed interest of any kind in the contest so far. There were no comments, no nothing, other than the series of emails I exchanged with the winner. The nature of contest is to compete with other people for a prize, and as much work and excitement as I put into this, I feel like I might need to cancel it if it continues to do badly.

I will post the next challenge shortly, and if I get fewer than, say, three people interested, I will just cancel straightaway. I might modify the story as a post series or something, because I was pretty excited about this, but we'll just see.

Thanks for reading.

- Sophia E

Last Week(ish)'s Champion

The winner of last week's (actually two weeks ago) challenge was Roslyn SilverTalon/April! Congratulations - she will receive her hoard packs hopefully as soon as I can manage to arrange something. Details for the next challenge will be posted tomorrow, so stay tuned!

2nd Annual Contest - Your Briefing Video

(Note: Watch this with your sound on, otherwise you won't be able to make heads or tails of it. Also, my voice sounds weird with this microphone; sorry. Please enjoy!) As a strong wind blows through the room, the candle goes out and everything is plunged into darkness. You can’t see Sophia or Elizabeth, but you hear Sophia making strangled grunting sounds as she struggles to evade her attacker. With a shock, you realize nobody is attacking you and maybe the Mordromancers don’t realize you’re there. You slowly back away until you reach the door to the room. While the group is fighting in darkness, you ease it open, trying not to be heard, but the hinges make a high-pitched squeak.

The Mordromancer growls, “Who goes there?” You can hear his heavy footsteps thumping toward the candle. Without bothering anymore with stealth and hoping Sophia and Elizabeth will keep him occupied, you flee for all you’re worth.

As you run in the dark night through the Commons tunnel, you think about the intercepted letter. It sounds like Corwin is looking for some kind of article that holds information about the White Legion. Although you’re fairly new to this whole business, the name rings a bell. Where have you seen one of those before?

(The article is somewhere on this blog. Look for the Mark of the Mordromancers, and go where it leads you. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to comment. Remember, go quickly; the first to complete the challenge will win two hoard packs, and the first to complete the majority of challenges across the entire contest will win a $10 Gamecard grand prize! There will be a new challenge every week.)

Mission: Mansion - Task 7

"It's done," you tell the others. "Let's go back to the mansion." Grace gasps and places a hand on her chest. You notice that she seems more ghostly than before. "Let's hurry!" she calls. Her voice seems distant, like an echo from a faraway tunnel. She places a hand on your drawing and vanishes in a flash of sparks.  You take one last longing look at the food and do the same. 

You find yourself back on the steps of the mansion, along with the only wizard left in Sophia's group. Grace is nowhere to be seen. She must have teleported out. 

"Well, if we want to break the curse on Bartleby, let's get moving!" says your partner. She looks at the door and says the password, confidently stepping over the threshold. You sigh, deciding to get it over with, and follow her. 

The two of you head up the grand staircase in the entry hall once more, without much idea of where you're going next. Much to your surprise, you're not alone when you reach the top. A girl, dressed all in black, seems to be waiting for you. 

"You," you whisper coldly. "Yes," says Fiona in a matching tone, her mouth forming a sneer. "It's me." 

"Why have you done this to Bartleby?" shouts your partner angrily. 

Fiona waves her hand dismissively. "Oh, it was in my best interests." She doesn't seem to care to elaborate on her reasons, but instead changes the topic. "I suppose you're here to break the curse. You'll never find the amulet that's eating away his life, much less find out how to stop it, unless I tell you. Of course, you could always just search the mansion, but you know what happens if you stay here too long." 

She snaps her fingers, and transparent bluish forms appear around her. You whirl around and find them behind you, too. They're all wizards who succumbed to the curse. Fiona continues on. "They've become bitter and vengeful in all their years invisibly trapped here. You might even find that they want to kill you. It's your choice. You could leave here safely and let Wizard City fall, or you could stand and fight to the death." 

Her eerie smile grows wider as the ghosts close in.

*****

"Well, well," says Fiona when the last ghost vanishes in a puff of smoke. "I'll admit, you're better than I thought. You're out of immediate danger, but you won't survive the mansion's curse. That was laid down by my great-grandfather, and I'm afraid there's no way to break it." You shiver and notice that you're almost as ghostly as Grace was.

"But as for Bartleby's curse," she says, "You're running out of time. Bartleby is dying as we speak, and he won't survive much longer. You'll never find the amulet before you, as the poem puts it, 'join the ghosts in silent moans.' If I think you're clever enough, I just might tell you where it is. You'll never break the curse, anyway. Answer my questions quickly, or I might consider summoning some of my vampire friends..."

*****

Fiona looks surprised. "It seems you're cleverer than I thought. Very well. You'll find the amulet in the room on the left." She gestures with her hand. "I suppose I should tell you 'good luck,' but that's just manners. I'll see you around - if you're lucky." She teleports away in a stark flash of skulls. 

Your partner clenches her fists. "Hmph. Good riddance! Let's hurry and find that amulet."

When you enter the room, it's immediately obvious where the amulet is. On a raised pedestal in the middle of the room, there's a bronze amulet with a tree on it. It seems to be the opposite of glowing; that is, everything around it is cast into a strange darkness. On the pedestal next to it is a very heavy and thick book, likely over 1,000 pages long. How can you find the counter-curse in there? In desperation, you step up to it and desperately begin flipping through.

*****

You stare at the text on the page:

TO BREAK THE WILTING CURSE

The incantation to break the curse can only work when it is heard.

O victim of the wilting spell,

Here I stand your curse to quell.

Become again what you once were

As you regain your life-force sure.

And now, to get the curse to break the amulet with a jolt of power must shake. When this threat does no more loom, escape from your impending doom, for the coming blast will cause your death unless you have this cursed house left.

"All right," you say, "I'm going to read the incantation. But be careful! Apparently something terrible will happen after we break the curse, and we need to leave quickly. Get ready to run." Your partner nods resolutely and braces herself. 

You take a deep breath and begin reading. "O victim of the wilting spell, here I stand your curse to quell. Become again what you once were as you regain your life-force sure." You wait for something to happen, but nothing does. You whisper the lines written after the incantation. "And now, to get the curse to break the amulet with a jolt of power must shake." You raise your staff and aim a blast of magical power at the amulet. 

The amulet glows with a foreboding reddish light and begins to vibrate. "Run!" calls your partner as you both dash for the spiral door. You throw open the house's front door and run down the porch steps, out the gate, and to the steep planks up to the spiral door island. You stop short, remembering how you slipped upon entering the house. Your partner launches herself up the planks and heaves herself onto the small island, turning around to pull you up. 

You take one last horrified look at the house, and find it exploding in a cloud of dust and strange black fire. Then, you look down at your semi-transparent body and jump through the spiral door. The curse is broken at last.

So, this is a speed trivia challenge. The trivia questions will come in three sets, and each set of five questions features a different topic. I will comment at 9:00 AM EST with the first question, and your job is to reply to that comment with the answer as fast as you can. The person who gets it right first wins the question. If nobody gets it right, the person who answers first wins the question. The person who wins the most questions wins the set. After the first set is over, I'll post another section of the story, and post another comment with the first question of the second set TWO minutes later so you have a chance to read it. The questions will proceed as before. After the second set is over, more of the story will be posted and the third set will begin. After the third set is over, the rest of the story will be posted and we'll have a winner! Good luck.

Standings:

Set 1: Emma DawnRider
Set 2: Destiny SoulTamer
Set 3: Destiny SoulTamer

Destiny wins the contest! Congratulations! Prizes will be emailed out soon. There has been one change to the first prize. It is now wand of choice + story mention + custom graphics. Comment to say what you want.

- Sophia E

Guess who's here?

It's me again! I know I haven't been on much, what with Sophia's contest, but here I am! My pirate form has been doing some awesome things lately! I did the Presidio a couple of days ago, much to my distress. (I tried to talk my companions out of it so we could attack the Frogfather instead, but they didn't listen.) I'll admit, I felt truly splendiferous after what happened. My crew and I didn't get defeated once! We literally aced the Presidio! And to make it even better: I did it in this AWESOME OUTFIT!!

Don't I have splendiferous fashion sense?

Oh yeah. And my wizard form just got Iceblade! WAHOOOO! Battles are so much easier now!

Emma? What are you doing on the blog?

*stuffs computer behind back* Um...what blog?

Don't try that with me! Out! Now! I have some things to discuss with the readers!

Hmph! I'll get my revenge! *storms out*

I'm so sorry about that. Anyway, I saw your comments, Emma and Destiny. I'm pretty flexible (except for late afternoon and some evenings,) but it looks like this weekend isn't very good for Emma. How do you feel about Monday morning at 9:00 EST? 

Also, I have 5,000 pageviews now! Thanks, everyone!

That's about all for today. I will be posting again soon!

- Sophia E