Community:Scholars of Novia/Contest 01

Prologue
In a crumbling stone tower, deep in the Shadow Wood, there live two sisters, Vomica and Repugna. Some say they are immortal, having survived from the time before the Cataclysm by the use of an enchanted hair comb. Others say they are simply two old crones who have gone half-mad eating poison mushrooms in the forest. Still other rumors claim that long ago they came from a place known as the Land of Wish Gonesoon where they were great scholars of Wick Torrean literature -- though the location of Wish Gonesoon and the identity of Wick Torrean remain unknown. Whoever they are and wherever they are from, over the years Vomica and Repugna have gathered together a spine-tingling collection of some of the darkest tales in all of Novia: The Grim Sisters’ Anthology of the Mysterious & Macabre.

Once again, the sisters are prowling the countryside listening for additions to their eerie series. Yours, perhaps, could be their next inclusion.

Contest Instructions (the basics)
Reply to this thread with your submissions. Only replies made to this thread will be considered contest entries.

For this contest we are seeking spooky stories, scary tales or even creepy poetry as would fit well in the Grim Sister’s collection. Keep in mind that although it will soon be Hallowe’en, All Saints Day, All Souls Day/Day of the Dead and/or Samhain for many people on Earth, these holidays and holy days are not (as of yet?) a part of New Britannian culture, so avoid direct references to these Earth celebrations and solemnities.

For this contest, you may compose a text attributed to your character/avatar, a text authored by your usual SotA Forum name, a text attributed to some theoretical Novian personage (not an actual in-game NPC), or even a text intended as anonymous. Entries should be 733 words or less. One entry per player-author, please.

Contestants will have an opportunity to work with the Scholars to produce a finalized version of their submission before final judging. Final judging will be carried out by a panel of judges comprised of the Grand Masters of the Scholars of Novia and a special guest "dev" judge.

Prizes for Contest Winners
Contest winners will receive free in-game publication by Portalarium of their winning texts. Winners will also have the titles of their winning submissions placed on the Scholars of Novia Recommended Reading List and will have their winning submissions copied to the Scholars of Novia Library area of the SotA Wiki. Finally, the Scholars of Novia will devise some in-game method for recognition after game launch.

'''Have fun! Good luck! Get writing!'''

The Fine Print for this Contest
Content: We are seeking spooky/scary/eerie/macabre submissions as would be appropriate to the Grim Sisters’ Anthology as described above. Submissions may take the form of stories, journals, letters, song lyrics, poems, etc.

Content Consistency: Submissions should be consistent with SotA lore, including pre-alpha game-play, entries on the SotA Wiki, and the text of Blade of the Avatar. In short, though you are creating what could be considered imaginative fiction by the average New Britannian native, it should not contain elements as would not be recognizable to the average New Britannian.

Submission Word Count: Submissions should be no more than 733 words. Titles, subtitles, author’s names and the like will not be considered as part of the word count. There is no minimum word count.

Quantity: This contest is limited to one submission per player-author. The one submission can be a single text or several smaller texts making up a series or compilation so long as the total word count is not exceeded.

Author Name: For this submission, the player-author has choices as to the name of the author to which his or her piece will be attributed:


 * A player-author may choose to attribute a text to his or her avatar or to his or her usual name on SotA Forum. In this case, the character or avatar name will accompany the text in all publication places as described in the prize package below.
 * A player-author may choose to attribute his or her text to another theoretical New Britannian personage (not, however, another avatar or actual in-game NPC). In this case, only the invented author's name and not the player-author's avatar or usual name on SotA Forum will accompany the text into in-game publication as described in the prize package below. However, when the submission is posted on the SotA Wiki, the avatar or usual name on SotA Forum will be included as part of the information associated with the text.
 * A player-author may choose to submit a text as a text that would be considered an anonymous text in New Britannia. No author's name will accompany the text into in-game publications, although the submitter will be identified when the text is posted on the SotA Wiki.

Submitting Entries: Entries should be made as replies to this Contest thread only.

The Review Process

 * The Scholars will review all submissions. They will select those with the best potential to include in the Grim Sisters’ Anthology. Once these submissions have been selected, the Scholars will work with the author to edit the piece for grammatical, spelling, or readability issues as well as consistency with lore.


 * The Scholars will then present the finalized versions of the submissions to the judges. The judges will decide and declare the winning entries.

The number of winning entries will depend upon the total number of entries. Multiple winners are likely.
 * For this submission, the judges are the three Grand Masters of the Scholars of Novia and a special guest judge from Portalarium.

Announcing the Winners

 * The Scholars will announce the winners of the contest.


 * They will post finalized versions of the winning text on a Winning Finalized Submissions Thread within the Scholars of Novia area of the SotA Forum.


 * The author of the submission will be required to respond to the above post, quoting the finalized text, and giving his or her final approval to the version of the content as it appears. This will ensure that the author acknowledges the finalized version of the text as the version of the text to be published in various ways as described in the prize package below.

The Prize Package

 * Recommended Reading List: The Scholars will list winning submissions on the Scholars of Novia Recommended Reading List which will be available to the entire SotA community.


 * Publication on the SotA Wiki: The Scholars will copy the texts of the submissions into the Scholars of Novia Library area of the SotA Wiki. Reference will be made to the thread in the SotA Forum on which the submissions were originally made as well as to the SotA Forum name of the submitters/authors. Over time, other people may add cross-references to this wiki page such as is typical for all wiki pages.


 * In-game Recognition: As the mechanics of game-play are more fully revealed to the Scholars and the rest of the player community after the official launch of SotA, the Scholars may devise some additional in-game system for recognizing winners of Scholars' contests, including winners of contests as were held before the official launch.


 * In-game Publication: Portalarium has offered in-game publication at no cost to the contestant as the prize for all winning submissions.

The Even Finer Print
For all Calls for Submissions - See: Submissions General Rules