Community:Scholars of Novia/Contest 02

Prologue
IN DRAFT

Outside the small stone keep, the snow fell slowly and silently in the still, cold mountain air. Within, Manicaverda sat by the fire and played a solemn strain upon her lute — a fine, old, mellow-toned instrument that had been in her family for generations, handcrafted long ago by a bardlord and his ladybard wife, the bravest balladeers to ever strum a song.

Across from Manicaverda sat her husband, Fortezzo — broad-shouldered and barrel-bellied, with a patch where his left eye had been — a well-worn warrior, yet altogether distinguished in mien. He had been a great commander, in fact, one of the greatest ever known. In the Battle of the Unliving Legion, he lead an army against an unrelenting horde of skeletal soldiers as they marched down the Kingsroad toward the city by the sea. Fortezzo and his men would battle Death itself that day, and in the end, they won — though barely. Moved by the valor of his men, and the great sacrifices of the wounded and the fallen, there and then Fortezzo swore a personal oath: "So long as the lifeblood flows within me, no deed of courage such as I've seen this day shall ever go forgotten." And so it began — the Commander's chronicle — The Valorbook of the Vale.

"Manicaverda," he said to his wife, as she played her song, a tune that had been written even long before the Cataclysm, "a new force is rising in the world — heroes and heroines, bold of heart and strong of will. Perhaps it is time for a new chapter." He turned to his writing table and in the most elegant of hands — the big man had always made his letters with great beauty and precision — he put ink to parchment: Valorbook of the Vale: The Courage of the Outlanders.

Your Avatar's Novian exploits could be the next addition to the Commander’s chronicle.

Contest Instructions (the basics)
Avatars of New Britannia, we, the Scholars of Novia, once again bring you a special request for your tales, stories, and accounts. This time, the request is from Fortezzo, a retired commander from the battlefields of Novia. Have you witnessed acts of bravery and courage on the part of your fellow Outlanders? Have you yourself, as a newcomer to Novia, taken up sword or staff in defense of another? Are you willing to share your stories with Fortezzo to help him continue to honor his personal oath?

Commander Fortezzo seeks accounts of scenarios such as have happened or as are possible within the Hidden Vale and parts of Novia as they currently exist within gameplay. Specific details about the persons involved in these heroic deeds, the foes encountered, and the places where such acts of bravery occurred will be most valuable for his collection.

For this contest, all winning entries will be packaged as though they were written by Fortezzo himself as part of his chronicle. He writes in 3rd person in highly descriptive prose using dialogue where appropriate. Fortezzo's accounts do not read like facts-only news reports — he writes boldly and vividly, and his stories are powerful and riveting yet easy to read.

While Fortezzo will be considered the overall "author" of the Valorbook, authors of submissions will still have their authorships recognized, as stories in the book will be clearly labeled "as related by name of entry author." For your attribution, you may choose your usual character/avatar name, your usual SotA Forum name, the name of some theoretical Novian personage (not an actual in-game NPC), or you may choose to have had the valiant tale reach Fortezzo anonymously by rumor, or report.

For this contest in particular, authors may wish to tell tales of events which occurred when fighting alongside fellow Avatars. References to fellow Avatars are acceptable so long as the as the author has received permission from the players of all Avatars mentioned. Moreover, in this contest, authors may naturally find it necessary to refer to NPCs, particularly hostiles, such as are encountered and with whom Avatars interact in game. Such references will be considered acceptable so long they describe the actual words and/or actions of said NPCs as they occur within current gameplay.

Since all winning entries will be included in the Valorbook as if they were penned by Fortezzo, contestants are advised that for this contest only, the Scholars will need to translate all non-English entries into English and to regularize certain spelling conventions and vocabulary choices so as to give the semblance of a single authorship. This is not an indication of the Scholars' preference for one language over another, or even for one spelling convention over another in English. It is simply to maintain the roleplay of our frame story of Commander Fortezzo and his chronicle.

Entries should be 733 words or less. One entry per player-author, please. Style is 3rd person, prose, and can include dialog and description.

This contest is open to all player-members of the SotA Community, with the exception of those members of the Scholars of Novia who have agreed to work on this particular contest. Members of the Scholars of Novia wishing to submit entries to this Contest may do by publically declaring on this thread that they have recused themselves from all Scholars duties for the duration of this Contest.

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.

Reply to this SotA Forum thread with your submissions. Only replies made to this thread will be considered contest entries

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 submissions as would be appropriate to Commander Fortezzo's chronicle as described above. For this contest, we are asking that submissions are in prose.

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. For this submission, you are creating what could be considered actual accounts of actual scenarios as are possible with the areas of the world currently available within gameplay.

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, all winning submissions will be indicated as having been penned in the Valorbook by Fortezzo such as they were related to him by the player-author. The player-author shall have the following attribution choices:


 * A player-author may use 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 the name of another theoretical New Britannian personage (not, however, another avatar or actual in-game NPC). In this case, only the invented 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 have had his or her tale brought to Fortezzo's attention by rumor or report. No attribution 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.


 * For this submission, the judges are the three Grand Masters of the Scholars of Novia. The number of winning entries will depend upon the total number of entries. Multiple winners are likely.

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