Of Heads and Tales - Two Quests of the Eighteenth Anniversary

[Aia del Mana]

11 hours ago, Else said:

HCs are unfair, this is not a HC, it it? is everything else unfair too?

I raised one of my many concerns and Aia addressed it. If a change in rules is unfair to someone who believes contest are unfair, how can he complain?

Let Aia decide how she wants to run it....

In this contest, strange and grim,

Where heads are sought and gathered in,

Contestants roam from land to land,

With swords in hand, a deadly band.

Their goal were not just points of style,

But heads, a grisly, gory pile.

The prize they seek, of great desire,

A newly created creature of Aia.

The ground is stained with crimson red,

With heads collected from the dead.

The people tremble, filled with fear,

At the sound of battles over here.

But still the contest rages on,

With not a slight of mercy shown.

The heads keep piling, one by one,

Til contest's end, when all is done.

And though the prize is great to win,

The cost is great, and stained with sin.

So ye do enter, if ye dare,

And know, it were indeed, unfair.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Aia del Mana

[The Puppeteer]

Posting here again as my reply was moved or I posted in in another wrong section

 

In Gateway Island, I did awake,

With truly nothing in my mind,

For I knew not who had me create,

With not a single thought aligned.

 

 

I called myself the Puppeteer,

For I feared to be the puppet true,

But as I roamed, I did not hear,

A voice to guide me or give a clue.

 

 

In Magicduel, a world so fair,

I wandered, searching high and low,

For answers to my questions there,

But all I found was woe and woe.

 

 

I pulled the strings of all around,

But in my heart, I felt so lost,

For I could not find my true bound,

And my fate seemed without cost.

 

 

I played the game of gods and kings,

But in my heart, I knew I was,

A mere pawn in the mist of things,

With no control, no power, nor cause.

 

 

But still I search, I will not rest,

Until I find my true place,

For I am more than a mere jest,

And I will not be erased.

 

 

So if you see me wandering,

In Magicduel's grand domain,

Do not be fooled by my pretending,

For I am not a puppet in vain.

 

 

For I am the Puppeteer,

But I am more than what you see,

For I am searching, always searching,

For my true identity

 

 

[Mallos]

My mistake I thought that was a new player roles and legends post.

This head contest in part one is also similar to a heads contest I ran previously, the main flaw in having to pass heads to a player is requiring the player to be online constantly through the quest duration, for this I had Fyrd develop a code to check heads for me and the clicky can take place of the player. Passing the heads to the player has some specific implications though easily remedied if you are allowed to take the heads back. 

[Aia del Mana]

Although I have seen similarities between this and the heads contests previously conducted, there are indeed quite some number of implications with this contest that are not present (and have not been present) in previous iterations.

I will leave most of these to the imagination (or to the ingenuity of MagicDuel's inhabitants - such as not to ruin their strategies currently) but one may consider that I do not need to be present at all times, and the difficulty of travelling to my location may become less trivial in future.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Aia del Mana

[Handy Pockets]

 

The Heads contest use to be a wild event.  The first year I  watched as a new to the dreams here in MD.  I ran to the bridge and climbed over it to see someone  jump down the cliff to the underground pathway.   I understand that the Heads Contest has now changed,  those were the days.

We would come together at  a certain time of the contest, all players were to stand at the G.O E.  They had to stay in the crowd untiil the game was won.  I remember being stressed and tired after this stage.  We would set our creatures to defend us.  I have lost most of my knowledge who of my creatures I would set out to defend  Heck even to get a burst, and now my creatures are getting  lazy.  

The winner was the one with the most heads at a clock count down. 

There was a lot of pushing the rules, dare I say even, cheating.  But I was in a crowd of fantistic players and enjoyed the conversations that filled the air.

I know that players pushed  rules,  

I think that Aia's rules are pretty close to the Wild event I remember, with some rules worded differently, to keep everyone truthful.

[Aia del Mana]

@Ledah has won the pre-commencement round Of Heads, and I will await his choice of prize.

The second round Of Heads has commenced, for those who have been preparing. I will remain accessible as I may; this will usually mean I am present at the Gazebo of Equilibrium, or whithersoever the day shall take us, during the Anniversary.

 

A reminder that the quest Of Tales remains open, and, as an anniversary contest, I will be requesting plushies for all those who would participate in either contest.

[Ledah]

A second mysterious unreleased coloured sounds interesting to me...!

Thanks for the contest, and here's to the second stage...

PS: My eternal gratitude to any entries in my glorious name to the ChatGPT quest.

[Aia del Mana]

I declare this contest closed.

Ledah has received his prize for the contest Of Heads - a coloured Water Elemental.

I count four total entries for the contest Of Tales:

chriselnenepr about chriselnenepr
Ledah about jakubhi
Fang about Fang
The Puppeteer about The Puppeteer

1. @chriselnenepr about chriselnenepr
 

Quote

Chriselnenepr, a strange and eerie fellow,
Embraces the chaos and the randomness,
In Necrovion, where shadows lurk,
And death is the only ruler.

He wanders through the land of darkness,
Trespassing where he shouldn't dare,
For death holds no power over him,
And Chriselnenepr's spirit is aware.

Once choked by Marind Bell,
For refusing to play her deadly game,
But death could not hold him down,
For Chriselnenepr's will is not the same.

In Necrovion, he finds his solace,
Amidst the shadows and the decay,
For in the land of death, he feels alive,
And his strange and eerie heart is at play.

So let Chriselnenepr roam,
Through Necrovion's twisted land,
For in death, he's found his home,
And in chaos, he makes his stand.

With every step he takes,
A chill runs down your spine,
For in his presence, death awakens,
And the living are left behind.
 

A nice poem with alternating rhyme and with some depth to character, with an ominous conclusion which would make me want to read more from the writer in question.

2. @Ledah re: @jakubhi:
 

Quote

A tale of Jakubhi, a man of lore,
In the land of Loreroot, he seeks to explore.
For knowledge and books were his greatest desire,
Ignoring the noble maidens, his heart never did tire.

He'd seek out ancient tomes, dusty and old,
On the power of knowledge, his faith would not fold.
He would wander the library, searching each shelf,
To understand the secrets, he was determined and felt.

He would bravely run away, when faced with Ledah,
The evil master of skilldamage, full of dread and dismay.
But Jakubhi was brave and he was strong,
He never gave up, no matter how long.

He searched for forgotten secrets, tales of old,
In the dark corners of the library, he would be bold.
He would seek out knowledge, far and wide,
In his quest to understand, he would never hide.

He'd search for the truth, and search for the lies,
He'd search for the answers, even through demise.
He'd battle the darkness, never fall to fear,
His courage and strength, it was always made clear.

The bolded line, I believe, is the most amusing in the contest. I assume that this was added not by an artificial intelligence of sorts, given that the line in question is the only one in the entry which does not fit the rhyme.
The remainder of the entry reads well, and creates some depth to the character in question.

 

3. @Fang Archbane re: Fang Archbane

Quote

Once there was a small, loving dog named Fang. He was a loyal companion to his owners and allies, always wagging his tail and eager to please. Regrettably however, Fang's life was destined to be full of betrayal and heartache.

His first family abandoned him when he became too self aware and began asking too many questions, leaving him confused and alone. He was taken in by a new family but they were cruel and neglected him, scared of the changes they saw. They too eventually grew tired of him and kicked him back out into the cold.

Fang found countless new families time and time again, and each one promised to love and care for his withering soul. But they too all betrayed him, rendering no aid when he begged and pleaded as he felt his heart slowly dissapearing. Fang walked on his own until his body matched his dissipating willpower and he was too weak to continue, collapsing on the side of the road.

As he lay there dying, a Demon appeared and spoke to him. The Demons words sparked something Fang had thought to be long lost, and a strange transformation began to take place. Fangs small body began to burn and he was consumed by flames, but instead of being destroyed he emerged from the fire as a symbol of rebirth... He arose a phoenix.

Against the Demons best attempts and wishes, fueled by the pain and betrayal he had suffered so relentlessly, Fang set out on a mission of revenge. He flew to the homes of his former owners, raining fire down upon them in retribution for the wrongs they had committed in his now shattered psyche.

But as the ashes settled, Fang realized that his thirst for vengeance had consumed him. He had become a monster, one that was now no better than the creatures who had betrayed him. He then flew off into the sun, searching for redemption and a new purpose in death.

Fang's journey to date may have been full of pain and sorrow, but it also taught him the true meaning of love and loyalty. He would never forget his past, but he would also never let it define him. He would always be there, watching over his rare surviving loved ones from the shadows, protecting them from harm, and always ready to rise from the ashes, stronger and more dedicated than ever before.
 

This reads as if a human wrote the entry in completion, and the story is the most engaging of the lot (although the other entries are constrained by the fact that they are poetry, and not prose.) It is difficult to compare the entry with the others for the aforementioned reasons.


4. @The Puppeteer re: The Puppeteer

Quote

In Gateway Island, I did awake,
With truly nothing in my mind,
For I knew not who had me create,
With not a single thought aligned.

I called myself the Puppeteer,
For I feared to be the puppet true,
But as I roamed, I did not hear,
A voice to guide me or give a clue.

In Magicduel, a world so fair,
I wandered, searching high and low,
For answers to my questions there,
But all I found was woe and woe.

I pulled the strings of all around,
But in my heart, I felt so lost,
For I could not find my true bound,
And my fate seemed without cost.

I played the game of gods and kings,
But in my heart, I knew I was,
A mere pawn in the mist of things,
With no control, no power, nor cause.

But still I search, I will not rest,
Until I find my true place,
For I am more than a mere jest,
And I will not be erased.

So if you see me wandering,
In Magicduel's grand domain,
Do not be fooled by my pretending,
For I am not a puppet in vain.

For I am the Puppeteer,
But I am more than what you see,
For I am searching, always searching,
For my true identity

From a strictly linguistic perspective, this rhyme is the easiest to read and to follow, and the perspective were one which it were easy to sympathise with.



It is difficult to choose a winner, but as the contest rewards will go to the top half of submissions (i.e. two entries), I will award the two prizes to jakubhi (for the most enjoyable read - note that Ledah wrote the entry, but the prize will go to the subject of the entry), and to chriselnenepr, for the most engaging.

Would the subjects (jakubhi and chriselnenepr) please kindly contact me to obtain this new coloured creature - a Water Elemental.

[Aia del Mana]

Jakubhi and Chriselnenepr have also each received a coloured Water Elemental.