There were fairy-tale kingdoms, twenty of them, clustered on the edge of an ancient and primitive land, a land of magic and mystery, where crystal waterfalls dripped from icy peaks and wild beasts skulked in hidden glens, where castles guarded the cities and wishing wells dotted the countryside. It was peopled by lords and ladies and knights and scholars, by wizards and witches and bandits and intrepid travelers who were always told that yes, it really was safe to drink the water in any of the Twenty Kingdoms but to be on the safe side you might want to boil it first, or just stick to beer and wine. Not all of the twenty were actually ruled by kings. A few were ruled by queens and a few were more or less constitutional monarchies. But all of them were definitely fairy-tale kingdoms.
Now fairy tale is a rather broad definition. Here, it does not refer to the children's storybook type of fairy tale, populated by cutesy talking neutered animals. In the Twenty Kingdoms the cartographers filled the blank spaces on their maps with the warning, "Here Be Dragons." The cartographers weren't kidding around. And the dragons didn't talk either.
But neither were they the gruesome and grim sort of fairy-tale lands, describing the kind of place where wicked stepmothers not only killed their children but boiled them into soup and served it up at royal banquets. Oh sure, there were evil villains and awful crimes, but they weren't the norm.
It is the more romantic type of fairy tale that is being referred to here, for the Twenty Kingdoms were lands of gallant knights and elegant ladies. Lands where polite discourse and courtly manners were interspersed with fiery speeches and deadly duels. Lands of dramatic gestures and passionate romances. Real romance, that is. Heartfelt love. Tender emotion. Devoted adoration. Caring. Sensitivity. Not that hot, sexy, bodice-ripping sort of romance that was so popular in the more decadent kingdoms. There was none of that. No.
Well, okay, there was some bodice ripping. But, really, most of it was consensual.
-Heroics for Beginners
John Moore
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Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to write me a story taking place in one of the above mentioned kingdoms.
That's it.
No other rules.
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This will be my first contest on the site and as such I'm putting it up for major points. You will only receive the trophy and points if I judge your entry worthy.
Gold: 500 points
Silver: will be 250 points
Bronze: will be 125 points
I may or may not give honourable mentions.
(P.S. I respectfully ask that if you decide to do an adult entry, you label it correctly.)
(P.P.S. Don't expect a nice work from me. While I try to be nice, I will also be honest. And if that means pointing out an error in every single one of your paragraphs or critiquing harshly the content of your story, that's what will happen.)
P.P.P.S. I've decided to wait until 30 entries to close and judge.
Finally i have my 30 entries!!!!! I'm sorry it took so long. Please expect this to be judged by the end of july...I hope.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on July 22, 2007
- Rewards: Gold: 500, Silver: 250
- Final notes: .
Contest Winners
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
- Error: Unable to find finalist item 56217, it seems to have been deleted :( [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Entries [16]
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• Commented on by judge.
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by AlohaDolphinLover 300 words, on Mar 24 11:54 PM 2007. In Childrens, Fantasy, Science fiction, Spiritual• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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by Elementalwolf 1600 words, 3 comments, on Mar 5 3:43 PM 2007. In Fantasy, Fiction, Science fiction• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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by Elementalwolf 1600 words, 3 comments, on Mar 6 5:04 AM 2007• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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by Ubacubissubej 1200 words, 2 comments, on Feb 20 9:49 AM 2007. In Fantasy, Fiction, Science fiction• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by kkz2343 1400 words, 7 comments, on Jan 8 7:33 PM 2007. In <200 lines, Abuse, Dark, Horror, Other, Short story, Third person, Unfinished• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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by Elementalwolf 3500 words, 14 comments, on Mar 8 3:28 AM 2007. In Action, Crime, Thriller, War, Young adult• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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A young warrior is sent on a quest to slay a creature.• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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Down near the bank of a creek, which flowed through the valley. Giving strength to the tall trees growing near the muddy grass. / No one woby Humminbird 2000 words, 3 comments, on Oct 10 4:07 AM 2007. In Childrens, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Inspirational, Love, Shor• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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by cantletgoanymore 500 words, 3 comments, on Mar 25 8:43 PM 2007. In Fantasy• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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The horrible truth was that he was barely magical at all.by frozen moment 3300 words, 6 comments, on Apr 11 12:16 PM 2006. In Fantasy• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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/ / "Arranged marriage? But Charles that's so..."1 / / "So what? Expected? Normal? Darling, you know I only want what is best for her, aby LittleMama 1000 words, 1 comment, on May 15 11:37 PM 2007• Viewed by judge.
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A long time ago, longer then it may seem, when dragons struck fear into the hearts of many, when there were real knights in shining armor,• Viewed by judge. Prewrite
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• Viewed by judge.
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Comments
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lol
this always reminds me of how those "elegent ladies" actually were back in the knights ages lol
lets just say hygene was pretty much out of there vocabulary. lol and knights wern't actually valliant. they were far more prideful and cruel, and honer wasn't on their priority. if they wanted something, they might kill that person for it.
but why ruin a good fairy-tale? -
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"but why ruin a good fairy-tale?"
...err...because it's fun?
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lol good enough for me!
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*grins*
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I love this idea! Id love to enter but Im not good at fantasy and have a bit of a block now but Ill definitely be hanging arund and reading the entries (=
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well, you never know until you try.
I'm sure the contestants will appreciate any feedback you can give them.
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Awesome...
I wish I could enter something here...your intro certainly got some gears turning...but...um...err...I don't think I can, but I'd love to read what others come up with. Will you be writing a story based on something like this? If so...I'd love to read it...if not...will you? -
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I encourage you to try, you never know until you sit down and let something flow out. I've had lots of really good entries come that way.
I don't think I will be writing one, at least not until after this contest is finished. People might get too hooked on it and think it's what I'm looking for in this contest.
Happy reading.
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Hi I just wrote a story about Fairies but it's more modern day. Please read and let me know if you'd consider it for this contest.
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I would suggest you read over this contest description. You should be able to tell if your entry fits or not.
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P.S.
I'm sorry if i haven't been paying much attention to your stories. Life got a little hectic. I promise you however, that you will all get well-thought-out and comprehensive critiques from me before the judging. -
Is this contest ever going to get judged?
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at 30 entries.
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Alright cool.
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this started like a freakin 5 months ago! lol when will it end!
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soon.
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when is this contest gonna get judged?
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you can find that out by reading the note at the end of the contest description.
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I have to say considering the mods are cracking down on people who don't judge by a certain time should you not be setting an example? I am not meaning to sound rude, but you and some other greeters (in the past none recently) are not following the same rules as the rest of us do, I will be complaining to Barbra and Kevin about this.
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