FLASH CHALLENGE: April '10

[kailhofer]

The "Medieval Fantasy Fill-In" Challenge:



All of us have heard of Medieval Fantasy, whether may we realize it or not. This is the world of swords and sorcery, of orcs and elves, and of unicorns and dragons. This is the frequent playground of role playing games and the home to fiction like the Lord of the Rings.

But just doing a fantasy story isn't nearly difficult enough for you, my friends. The next part of this challenge comes from playing around with one of those random generator sites for writers. As I laughed at the crazy combinations the computer spit out at me, I thought, What if we had that kind of mix and match for our stories?

We can take a simple story idea for Medieval Fantasy, and make it kind of a fill in the blanks notion, wherein we'll wind up with a wide variety of stories along a similar vein, but all very, very different. That could be fun and quite a challenge, especially if one or more of the elements you chose are unusual and then you need it all to make sense.

Before you read the challenge statement below, create four Medieval Fantasy elements:
1) An action character (knight, barbarian, archer, etc.)
2) A foe or undesired character (ogre, street urchin, tax collector, etc.)
3) A "bystander" character (someone not normally a part of a story, like the scullery maid, the street vendor, the guard that walks the castle parapet at night, etc.)
4) A mythical, made-up treasure (the Ring of Harald, the Axe of Blazing Might, the Sword of Lions, etc., but it has to be a thing serious Fantasy characters would want, not something like the Shoe of Always Fitting Comfortably or the Ointment of Bigger Manhood or anything silly like that.)

I challenge you to fill in the following idea with your choices, then write your story to fit it: In a land of sorcery and deception, a ________ (#1), a ________ (#2), and a ________ (#3) search for the ________ (#4). The three characters can work together, against each other, or in any combination thereof.

For my example, I chose a barbarian, a goblin, and a castle minstrel to search for the Drum of Doom.




See the example at the end of this post to see how I did it.



RULES




CHALLENGE REQUIREMENTS: (1) Your medieval fantasy story must contain the first three elements you picked from the fill-in-the-blanks statement above in a quest or mission to find the 4th challenge element you named; (2) List those 4 challenge elements before your story starts, but don't include them in your word count; (3) One entry per author; and (4) This is a Rated 'PG-13' challenge.

FORMATTING: 1,000 words or less, not counting title, byline, or "The End". Give your story a title and a byline. Leave an extra line between paragraphs, just like when you see them in the 'zine. I will allow different colors, but not changed fonts or sizes, artwork, or any other embedded or external links. You are responsible for doing your own formatting.

CHARACTERS & SETTING: No copyrighted characters or settings, or references thereto. Famous, non-copyrighted fictional characters like Santa Claus, or religious figures such as the Devil, angels, or Thor, etc. as supporting characters at best and at my discretion. The Wicked Witch and Dracula may be in the public domain, but don't expect me to allow them. No person that was ever a human being may be used as a character, but can be referred to, as in "Ethelred the Unready had declared it would be so." Characters, except as noted above, must be used in their original appearance only. All non-copyrighted settings are ok. Famous, unique sites like Stonehenge may be used over and again. No fan fiction or sequels, so don't bother putting your story in the Land of Oz or that great place you thought up three challenges ago.

DISQUALIFICATIONS/REFUSALS: If, in my judgment, any requirement or rule is missed, I won't post the story for voting, but authors are free to resubmit with changes until the deadline. Should a story be initially accepted and posted in the challenge, but then later judged by me to be in violation, the story may be disqualified and removed from contention at any time prior to contest end. Authors who feel a story may be in violation should send me a PM and state their case.

HOW TO ENTER: Stories must be sent by PRIVATE MESSAGE, and NOT posted into a thread. Just click the 'PM' button at the bottom of this post and paste your story in the message.

DO NOT send a regular email to me.

CONTEST PROCEDURE: Stories will be posted "blind"--without the author's name on them. All the story titles are literally tossed into a hat and chosen at in random order. When the poll closes after the voting week, I'll post a list of the stories and who wrote them. The winner is chosen based on total points scored. All entries are reposted in the Flash Archive with the author's byline included after the challenge is concluded.

Entries from new authors are strongly encouraged. C'mon. Give it a try!

NOTE: ONLY REGISTERED MEMBERS who have posted at least one message may submit a story. Without that one post, the system may not let you send a PM.

DEADLINE: Stories should be in by 9 p.m. Central Standard Time (GMT-6), Thursday, April 22, 2010. The stories will then be posted for voting at around 10 p.m. Voting will close on April 28th at approximately 10 p.m., GMT-6.

VOTING: Stories are rated on a scale of 0-10 in whole numbers in 6 different categories by filling in scores in a form that is posted by me immediately following the post containing the stories for this challenge. Voters copy and paste the form into a PM and send it to me for tallying. One vote per user (that is, per ip address), and authors may not vote for their own story.

Every effort will be made to keep the voting fair. In the past, some voters have abstained from voting for some of the stories while voting for the others. Since total points scored decides the winner, this put the stories that weren't voted on at a disadvantage. Should this happen again, the skipped stories will be given marks equaling whatever the story's average is at the time of contest close. IF YOU WISH TO SCORE A ZERO FOR A STORY, YOU MUST ENTER A ZERO IN THAT POSITION ON THE VOTING FORM. A challenge entrant who does not vote for the other stories will receive a 10% deduction in their own score at the time of contest close, and the other stories will be given marks equaling whatever their story's average is at the time of contest close.

If more than two stories are tied at the end of voting, there will be a succession of one-day runoff votes until a single winner is chosen or the number of winners is reduced to two.

WHAT YOU WIN: Writers get improved short fiction skills, increasing their chances in the marketplace, without the lengthy investment in time a longer story would take. That, as well as bragging rights and pride--there is stiff competition each month amongst some great stories.

LEGAL STUFF: Aphelion will not try to make a dime off you or your stories. Really. We want to see you succeed but nothing about that will line Aphelion's pockets. We love fiction and we love seeing authors get better to the point where people do pay them for their stories. That's why we're in this.

I'll try to do my best lawyer impersonation: By entering this or any challenge you are technically granting Aphelion: The Webzine of Science Fiction and Fantasy perpetual electronic rights only to post and archive your challenge entry. Aphelion would rather not lay any claim on them at all, but by posting them on a public site, they'd legally count as being published no matter what.

Ok. A real lawyer would have been less interesting. I tried.


Example story, not eligible for entry:



Beat the Drum

By:
N.J. Kailhofer



Elements: barbarian, goblin, musician, Drum of Doom



The echo of the Drum rumbled out from the sacred chamber, down over the mountain, and out to the valley floor below—where the teeming horde of goblins slept.

From their hiding spot in the rocks, Goran the barbarian saw Lex's disembodied hand twitching on the skin of the Drum. He whispered, "Odin's eye. His hand fell off again!"

Alton softly said, "It's not my fault he's falling apart. You killed him almost a week ago."

Goran grunted. "He kept squealing like a pig. I wanted to sleep."

Goran looked back over the edge of the rocks toward the Drum's chamber. Lex, as they named the goblin, stood over the Drum, staring up at where they hid in the rocks as if waiting for instructions. Lex's fallen hand twitched again and another supernatural rumble of thunder rolled out over the valley. "Do something about him."

Alton frowned, and then held his lyre close. Plucking a tune that he figured wouldn't carry as far as the valley below, he sang.

"From the Drum, the goblin man
Did remove his fallen hand.
Then he picked up the sacred treasure
And brought it out to our great pleasure."

"Odin's eye," Goran breathed. "That's awful."

Alton glared at him. "Do you think I have songs ready just in case the dead goblin we were using just happened to drop his own severed hand onto the top of the Drum of Doom in the middle of trying to steal it out of the sacred chamber that is instant death for anyone to enter?"

"Yes?" Goran asked.

"No!" Alton snapped. "I'm not some traveling minstrel, making up songs on the spot for crowds on the street. In the castle, the Duke likes practiced, well-known songs performed in the classical style. I'm doing the best I can. Look, it's set to music, so a dead goblin will do it."

Lex finally managed to pick up the Drum without his hand and began to lurch away from the far end of the sacred chamber.

Alton noted, "I think he's about to lose a foot, too."

The barbarian sneaked a glance over the rocks to the valley below and then asked, "How did you know a dead goblin would keep moving when you sang to it?"

"The Duke's wizard," Alton said, "drinks too much, and then likes to show off arcane things he knows. I had to sing for hours, keeping that poor, dead bastard dancing until the wizard finally fell to sleep and I could stop."

Alton paused. "Why do you ask?"

Goran grinned. "The others heard us. They're coming."

"Why are you smiling?!"

Goran's smile was now ear to ear. "There's about to be more dead goblins. You keep singing and our numbers will keep growing!"

The barbarian leapt over the edge and slid down the rough shale slope into a bowl-shaped depression just below the sacred chamber, but above the mouth of the valley. Already, the shrieking cries of the horde echoed around them.

"Odin's eye!" Goran swore. "Get down here and sing your heart out!"

Alton swallowed hard and jumped over the edge. He tumbled, sliding face-first to the bottom of the loose face of stone. Sprinting to hide behind the barbarian's back, his mind raced, trying to think of battle verses from the Duke's usual songs. The Song of Roland was no help. Count William's A Song of Nothing made men laugh. The Canticle of the Sun?

Goran swung his two-handed blade and a body fell at Alton's feet, blood still spilling from a wound in the goblin's neck.

Alton shouted, "I can't think of any battle songs!"

Goran laughed, slicing away. "It doesn't have to be good, remember? Just sing it, and they'll do it!"

Alton ducked away from a goblin knife and glanced up toward the valley. They were coming over the lip of the bowl in droves. Plucking hastily at his lyre, he sang,

Bravely the goblin fights
to defend our mortal rights
and protect the human men
from his former brothers.

Four dead bodies lurched up from the dust and ran back toward the approaching horde. Alton sang his improvised verse over and over as the melee spread into full pitched battle. He did his best to stay behind Goran and not be cleaved in two by the barbarian's wild chopping.

Something pressed into Alton's back and he dove, swinging his lyre. With a crashing sound, the body of the instrument struck the goblin, knocking its head to the ground. With a start, he realized the head was Lex's.

Alton's lyre fell to pieces.

The dead goblins stopped in place. The living horde paused for a few moments, too, as if wary, then began to move toward the humans again.

Alton grabbed the Drum of Doom from Lex's arms and pounded one of his hands on the top of the Drum.

A loud beat pounded from the drum, but it did not have the thunder sound like before, when Lex's hand had fallen on it. The goblins halted in place, as if afraid. He tried it again. Another loud beat drummed the air without supernatural force.

The living goblins seemed confused and looked back and forth at each other.

Alton thought like mad, then shouted, "I need a goblin's hand!"

Goran swung his sword, and tossed him a hand.

"Ew!"

Alton struck the Drum. A thunderclap shook the slopes around them, and all the goblins were laid flat upon the ground, dead.

"Odin's eye."

"I guess," Alton said, "it only works on goblins."

Goran grinned.

"What?"

"We can be goblin killers for hire. Your Duke will pay us mountains of gold to clean out his countryside with the Drum and make it safe for settlers. You'll never have to play for that wizard again."

Alton thought for a minute, then smiled back. "Fine, but we need to find a better way to play than with this hand."

Goran just laughed.


[align=center]The End[/align]

[Lester Curtis]

If I may quote . . .

"Odin's eye," Goran breathed. "That's awful."

. . . but to me, at least, it sounds more fun than last month's challenge.
I may have to try this one . . .

[kailhofer]

Well done, poets!

I read the first 2 stories (of the 4 I have in so far) tonight. Rejected one and sent the other back for alterations.

The only suggestion I have for those of you out there still writing is to watch your potential for the story to be read as fan fiction or a sequel.

Nate

PS. I might not get to the rest until Friday.

[kailhofer]

FYI for everyone, if your medieval fantasy turns out to just be a part of some kind of dream sequence from another place or genre, I am allowing that.

Sometimes even I have to bend a little...

[kailhofer]

Good grief. This is starting to feel like herding cats.

I've accepted only one story so far, and even that one only barely. Was there something about this challenge or the way it was presented that was unclear? I know you folks are talented and creative, so I always expect someone to push the boundaries of what's allowable, but all of you? Was it too boring or not difficult enough? It's very hard to find that perfect level of fun yet challenging enough to engage everyone, and perhaps I failed.

This is a medieval fantasy about traditional fantasy characters trying to find a physical treasure. Pretty much anything other than that, except as part of some kind of dream sequence, is going to be rejected. Period.

[Robert_Moriyama]

...I think it's sort of a "semantic trap" that all high fantasy "has to sound like it's either England or Hungary".

Okay, England because every frickin' "high fantasy" movie features people with English accents (even if they're faked) (Hell, even "How to Train Your Dragon" has Vikings with Scots accents...)

But I don't get the Hungary reference. I guess Spain (for the cavalry) and Hungary (for the castles) have been popular for fantasy film locations, but usually they are meant to be somewhere else.

'Splain, please...

[Robert_Moriyama]

I seem to recall that High Elvish in Tolkien was somewhat based on Finnish...

Tolkien was a student of language, history, and mythology, mainly of Northern European traditions (hence the trolls, dragons, etc., did partake somewhat of Norse myth). No doubt he was also familiar with the mythology of the British Isles (Welsh, Irish, Scottish, etc.), and the culture of the Shire seemed to be based on pre-World Wars rural England.

But all this takes away from the actual rules of the Challenge, which specifies "medieval" as a key word. This means roughly the period from around (say) 500 AD - 1300 AD, post-Arthurian in England, pre-Charlemagne (I think) in France; some plate armor still around, some chain mail, broadswords rather than slender fencing swords, longbows and MAYBE a few cannon to make a mounted knight in armor a tempting target. Think of the setting of the "Jabberwocky" movie as typical -- big drafty castles and low, leaky hovels, lots of mud, barely organized... Nate may be rejecting entries because some people don't quite have the right period in mind.

RM

[kailhofer]

Hm... Now, why are my ears ringing?

Oh, yes, must be that bottomdweller, tempting fate again.

[Lester Curtis]

I'm with Rick on that.

Go back a little further and I'm pretty sure the Roman empire had a standardized monetary system as well, but unlike in medieval times, the Romans knew about toilets and sewers (and other public works) . . . I think they had public schools, too. Literacy. Science, which wasn't constricted by religion in its findings . . . they didn't get everything right, of course (that lead plumbing didn't work out so well) -- but then, no human society is without some faults. A lot was lost with the collapse of the Roman empire, though.

[Lester Curtis]

It's been said -- the 'good old days' --

-- weren't.

[kailhofer]

And as the runners thunder around the turn, HERO remains in the lead, but SERGIO is only 2 points behind. CASEY is after that, and further back, leading the pack is RICHARD.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's race update.

[Lester Curtis]

Name three ancient Greek (natural) scientists or mathematicians.

Name one ancient Roman scientist or mathematician.

Which is easier?

Yeh, I got to thinking of that exact thing later . . . the Romans are well known for having stolen a lot of their better stuff from the Greeks . . . when they recognized a good thing, they cheerfully kyped it. Maybe this made them lazy (or maybe it had to do with their lead plumbing). Maybe we could just call it "practical acquisition." You really have to wonder how they got as far as they did with their system of numerical notation.

At any rate, a lot of this knowledge was being shared all around the Mediterranean for quite a while. We shouldn't forget the contributions of the Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, etc..

Thanks for the nice little science-history outline, Rick.

[kailhofer]

And as the runners thunder down the stretch, HERO has widened his lead a little over SERGIO, and CASEY is shortening the gap for third.

Tune in tomorrow night to see who will wind up on top!



PS. Reminder to the two authors who have not yet voted. Failure to vote carries a stiff penalty in the results.