SHS Fanfiction Challenge #19

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our nineteenth challenge theme:

THEME: The Little Folk

It seems there is a constant underdog in the games we play. Sometimes it's because of class choices, sometimes romance, or sometimes just because they're not cool enough and often overlooked (figuratively as well as literally). And yet the dour dwarf, the irrepressible halfling, and the, er... some type of gnome (whether absent-minded inventor, prankster, or whatever) are common staples of our imaginations. So this month, whether you wish to choose the cliche` or show us the unusual (as Bioware did with Mazzy or Deekin(yes, monster midgets are allowed)), whip us a tale of the Little Folk, the less remembered. Dazzle us with dwarves, humor us with halflings, and... er, gnag us with gnomes.

How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #19: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


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Thanks, Shadowhawke. Been so long since I played BG, and JE has been the center of a good deal of attention recently. So my inspiration came from it. Glad you liked it. The magic part came from the fact that OP (Open Palm) characters got to use earth magic, whereas CF (Closed Fist) characters used the winds. And the shattering with one strike came mostly from a scene from the Sword of Truth series.

I'd definitely recommend you buy it, but if you can help it, don't be inquisitive, or intelligent, until after you leave home. It does spoil some things.

SHS Fanfiction Challenge #18

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our eighteenth challenge theme:

THEME: Evil

Most of our games lean, or even swerve, towards a good path. Your character is a shining paragon of virtue or justice or somesuch. But some of us, have always wanted to pull through as something else, something darker. Maybe it's a raging CE barbarian. A LE knight who's honor is unflinching as he slaughters all who stand against him. A NE assassin, cold and empty as death itself. Or perhaps not, but this month you have a chance to show us your evil protagonists, and what they do in a game waiting for a hero.

How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #18: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


Comments

Comments are most welcome, preferably directly in the entry topic itself.

And on time!

Sorry about being late again(and absent). Been suffering some modem troubles, but think I got that all worked out. *Crosses fingers*

EDIT: Network, not modem.

I wasn't sure what kind of appropriate way to greet April Fools. So I guess it's got nothing...

SHS Fanfiction Challenge #14

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our fourteenth challenge theme:

THEME: Fear

Heroes are often paragons of courage, and rarely do we see them ever truly afraid. Most seem to know no fear, but it's said that true courage can only be shown by overcoming fear. And others are perhaps crippled by panic, and shame and guilt haunt them for one action undone for it. So show us dread, terror, bring out your heroes darkest horrors, and make them all fear.


How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #14: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


Comments

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A day late, but I honestly thought today was the first...

SHS Fanfiction Challenge #21

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our twenty-first challenge theme:

THEME: But I Can't Code

One needs only to look at the Mod Ideas forum to see that there are a ton of good ideas for characters. Yet so many of them never leave the ground for the author's lack of coding knowledge. So this month I give you the opportunity to bring your creations to life, if only for a time. Draw those crazy people out of your head and unleash them in word. And who knows; maybe, with encouragement, coding isn't too hard to learn afterall.

How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #21: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


Comments

Comments are most welcome, preferably directly in the entry topic itself.

SHS Fanfiction Challenge #17

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our seventeenth challenge theme:

THEME: Choices Are Changes

New Years begins a time of resolutions and decisions and changes. And there's always something new happening. Throughout the lives of our characters they face important decisions, whether moral dilemmas or whether to let Aerie cook for dinner. Should we romance Casavir or Bishop? Do I really want to go on one more delivery quest? So this month write us a piece of some of the most difficult choices your PC has ever made. Now... to Slayer or not to Slayer?

How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #17: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


Comments

Comments are most welcome, preferably directly in the entry topic itself.

SHS Fanfiction Challenge #13

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our thirteenth challenge theme:

THEME: We Are Family

It seems all to often that the family of our characters get overlooked. Sure, we writers are not the only ones at fault, often our companions are just as orphaned. But it seems quite contrary to me. Some of our greatest belong to those we call family. So if it's dear daddy Bhaal, a lonely Ahsdale, or Neeshka's demon ancestor coming for a visit, spin us a tale, a tale of family.


How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #13: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


Comments

Comments are most welcome, preferably directly in the entry topic itself.

(PS: Sorry for being late. I planned to do it at the beginning of the month, but then missed the change.)

Short little piece.

I started writing during work, and didn't have the heart to tear it up.

*~*~*~*~*

I am going to die.

Few in this time, in this place, truly understand those words. Death, they say, is so far off. Sickness has not touched our homes in an age. No disease has been known to us. And even as a world falls around us none would dare to raise steel against us. And yet my death rides on swift and silent wings, pressing ever onward , inescapable and undeniable.

I cannot change my fate. Death is around every corner. I see it in the temple?s home, in the quarters of the guards. I?ve seen it during lessons with some of the monks. It even lingers when I speak with Gorion. Imoen too is touched by it, yet differently. It wells within her; I would never have thought she the one to kill me. We have lived for years together, as siblings. Why she seeks my death I cannot imagine.

Death strides forward, and I look up as a knock strikes my door. It is Gorion. I hear it in his breathing.  But no, Gorion?s breathing is always deep and steady. This was shallow, covered with fear. And yet still a part of him remained in it. Puzzled I move to the door.

I open the door to a sight I?ve never seen, nor do I wish to again, though to be true worse will come later this day. His hair, usually pulled back so tightly in a ponytail, was spread out behind him like a great mane. I take an involuntary step backward and my foot catches on ? I don?t know what. I fall, and Death and the hair both moved closer.

Gorion knelt by me and lifted me to my feet. He was not a strong man, but still he could lift me as if I were a child. He set me on my feet and informed my simply that we were leaving. Leaving... Death grinned. The hair left, and when I finally pulled myself together I realized that money was now here and Death was not. Was I safe?

*~*~*

I found Death twice. First in the priest?s quarters and then in the barracks. Twice I was attacked, and twice I escaped his grip. They didn?t. Death had returned to Candlekeep. The monks saw it. Their breathing was as Gorion?s had been this morning. They were afraid. So was I, but none of them feared my death. I think they feared their own.

Imoen?s breath was rushed too, but hers was not fearful; excitement quickened her. She knew something was coming, and anticipation rushed her breath. She knew Death was here. And she knew Death would follow me.

*~*~*

Death came again. As he sought me by a warrior whose breath was deep in his helmet, Gorion intervened. I ran from Death. Gorion did not. Death?s breath quickened as he invited an old mage into his fold, and the victims of his most recent battle, monsters and two lovers, though I believe the lovers to be monsters themselves. Death claimed the battlefield.

I heard two breaths behind me, both rushed, one in fear, one in readiness. Death was behind me. I turned to see, and Imoen stood by me as well. Her breath caught in her throat as I felt a lash of pain through me.

Through pain I listened to two breaths, as one lowered to my ear and another knelt by my side. A hand moved to my chest soft, gentle. ?Tell your keeper,? Imoen whispered, ?I have come to replace him.? The bony hand shrank back, and Death no longer had breath, clawing at his throat. One breath was afraid, and the other was in ecstasy. And my breath... my breath ended.

SHS Fanfiction Challenge #15

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our fifteenth challenge theme:

THEME: School

Several characters throughout our games show an excellent intelligence and an even better education. Others seem to only know the pointy end of a stick or sword. Even some of our own PCs begin life with a rich schooling in a library fortress. But how did these characters deal with classes of twenty-odd students, or one-on-one tutoring with a stuffy old monk. Maybe they were entirely self-taught, learning everything they needed to know on their own. And one can't forget their professions. Who taught them to wield a blade or magic, to heed the call of the divine or the lure of music? So for this month spin a tale of your characters at, or avoiding, school.


How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #15: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


Comments

Comments are most welcome, preferably directly in the entry topic itself.

SHS Fanfiction Challenge #16

SHS Fanfiction Challenge is a monthly challenge where everyone can submit their entries related to the challenge genre.

The challenge is open to everyone and there is no limit on the length or number of the entries submitted. It can be any kind of game.

Here's our sixteenth challenge theme:

THEME: Perspectives

It is inevitable that in any game, rpg or otherwise, there will be minor characters. There are characters who's stories remain untold, who's motivations remain undiscovered, and who's pasts and futures lie in a shaded area beyond our sight. But everyone has a story, whether Marl badgering adventurers because of the loss of his son, or a demon child searching for his dog. So this month your task is to share with us a story, a story untold.


How to join

Simply create a new topic, titled it with a prefix: "Challenge #16: ", followed by the title of your entry.

Comments, questions or suggestions about the challenges are welcome here.


Comments

Comments are most welcome, preferably directly in the entry topic itself.

Comments? Questions? Discussion of the upcoming expansion should be done in the linked thread.

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