The Concept: Part of Pox Nora's glamor is its rich and flavorful lore. I would like to see what stories the fans of Pox can craft for the world of Poxanthuru. The Rules: Everyone is encouraged to participate in this short story competition. 1. Submissions may be of any length, but they must be prose. (Depending on how this competition is received, there will be poetry/artwork competitions in the future, among others.) 2. A single user may submit as many pieces as they would like. This prevents multi-accounters from holding an advantage. 3. Submissions must be at least loosely inspired by the Visions of Amareth expansion. Whether this means that you relate it to the textual Amareth story, pull inspiration from new rune flavor text, or simply use new runes as characters and creatures is up to you. 4. All submissions must be received by 11:59 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, December 1. Submissions received after that time will not be scored. 5. All submissions will be judged by myself and Cadenthia. 6. Submissions should be posted as replies to this thread. For general discussion, questions and comments, please use the separate designated thread. 7. Winners will be announced no later than 11:59 PM on Thursday, December 3. Trades with prizes for the winners will be posted at that time. Winners must place a bid on their prize within three days. 8. For prizes to be awarded, there must be no fewer than ten (10) entrants. 9. Submissions must be written in English. The Prizes: 1st Place: Croma Visionary 2nd Place: Any forgeable exotic. 3rd Place: Two rares from the latest expansion. The Scoring: Pieces will be judged based on the following metrics, : 1. Entertainment Value (50%): Whether emotional, philosophical, comedic, romantic, etcetera, your story should be entertaining and fun to read! 2. Compatibility (15%): To the best of your ability, you should try to make your story fit within existing Pox lore as seamlessly as possible. 3. Peer Selection (25%): The number of "likes" a story receives will affect its score. 4. Grammar and Spelling (10%): I might be "turned off" if the story is unreadable, but I'll be pretty forgiving otherwise. This isn't a school assignment after all. This competition will receive criticism for being subjective, which it is. Sorry. Be creative, good luck, and most of all, Happy Poxing!
I received the following story via PM. Thanks to gopuu420 for being the first to submit! There are many stories in the world, but this story is romantic,entertaining and interesting. Hope you people will like it. Once there was a mason ,name Truthseeker, very brave and very intelligent, very handsome. Many princesses liked him so much. In the time of Truthseeker there was very beautiful and smart princess namely Croma Visionary.The name was suitable to her because she had vision .She was leaders of witches. Once truthseeker went in a forest called "Forest of Amaret".There were many trees like K'thun the ancient, Gnarlwood patriarch,bogwood mireoak and one big tree named Heart of forest". Truthseeker saw a beautiful princess(Croma Visionary) watched butterfly and sang a song under the tree of "Heart of forest". Truthseeker fell in love with princess of witches .Croma also fell in love with truthseeker. In the forest there were dinosaurs and minotaurs like minotar render ,minotaur knight. They all lived together happily and protect from devils their King Truthseeker and Princess Croma Visonary .Angels,God,Spirits was happy to see the love of them .There was a bad evil in the forest name Zombie Headchucker . He didn't like love of Croma and Truthseeker. He declared wars with the king Truthseeker. All witches,spirits,trees,animals was going to prepared for the strong reply of Zombie Headchucker. All were ready with their weapons and the war began. Many zombies, witches,animals died in that war. Love never die.In the end of war Croma and Trutheseeker saved safely .God,Angels all blessed them. and the life began of their love ."The End" writen by gopuu420
I’m sitting here on a beach with fire roaring and hoping that this marvelous night will never end. There is nothing better than to be with you under the light of the Moon. I am happy, happier than I have ever been. And so are you. I can see it in your eyes, your beautiful red eyes, and in your mischievous smile that brightens my world. Your bright red long hair falls on your round breasts, making me lust for you. I would like to hug you … kiss you. But alas, some unknown power tells me not to. This invisible force from another world whispers: “Touch her and this night will end, enjoy it and it will last forever.“ I am trying to do everything in my power to stop my needs, but I am not a man without emotions. Lust is driving me crazy with every second and minute. Your eyes tell me that you are crazy for me too. Why wouldn’t you as you have been blessed by goddess of love herself – no wonder you have bewitched me! You are my destiny, my future, my life – my one and only love. NO! I can not hold myself back any more. I need you now, I need to feel your breath, I need to kiss your lips, I need to be inside you and be one with you. So I kiss you passionately and rip off your silk dress... But suddenly, there where once fire blazed only ashes stand now and Moon has been switched out with Sun. And you, my love, have disappeared, leaving me alone and without my endless, brightful life full of nature, cursing me with restless death, and your wailing screams in my skull.
Eh, I guess I get negative points for not finishing it, but there you go. Much like any world, Poxanthru has seen its fair share of deaths and destruction. However, this world perhaps more than most. In the beginning there were 3 golden civilisations, all at peace - prospering under the favour of the gods, and in return they would worship those who watched over them. That is, until the plague. It came so suddenly, carried on the wings of birds, the merchant's goods and in the vast underbellies of the ships. It began as most things do, a cough here or there, a few people complaining about a headache and the like. But then the crop failed. You see, this was nothing the world had ever seen before, it indiscriminately scythed down huge swathes of life - none would survive. Huge areas of blackened land sprung up, spreading like an ink blot on a page - a taint on the otherwise golden age. This marked the end of an era; evil had come to poxanthru. Ironically enough, it was evil itself that saved all life. While the plague spread, there was one nation that remained untouched - the mighty firk. First to respond,they sealed their borders and created a mightypsychic barrier around their swamp - none could pass. But even they were not immune to the destruction. The barrier they had created, while being their saving grace, would ultimately lead to their downfall. In order to gather the energy required they had to tap into the vast reserves of Nora under the earth - the very substance all life was based on. Their greatest sorcerers irreversibly bound their entire species to ....
Another story received via PM: Once upon a time suddenly one incident occur .One girl died in a mystery .Noone knew where the girl disappear. There was a lady detective Warden of the path handled the case of disappeared girl. Aurora Inspector,Aurora investigator ,Solstice marksman were team with Warden of the path. They had one nice sensor to detect enemy called "Motion Sensor". When any thief, bad guy, rapist, smuggler, criminal speak lie the sensor worked and make a noisy sound whether the person is innocent or criminal. Lady detective was very smart and intelligent .She started investigation about all friends of the mystery girl and also finding proofs of the criminal.The girl was kidnapped by Nefari Informant. He was a kidnapper. He needed money and that's why he kidnapped the girl Cora Sunblossom. Supported team also tried to find Sunblossom. Finally Warden of the path had got one big proof from Sunblossom's home. The cigarette lighter from of Nefari informant. Now the turn of motion sensor. Motion sensor also made sound and finally proved Nefari Informant sequester Sunblossom. After completed investigation Nefari Informant accepted that he kidnapped Sunblossom from her home for money purpose. Parents and friends became happy to see again Sunblossom. Sunblossom also happy to come back at home. "The end" written by "gopuu420"
Tork could only hear the thumping of his steed's padded paws against the wet ground as they charged through the silent forest. A black blanket of clouds had recently smothered the bright blue that normally smiled down upon K'thir, bringing with it a rain and wind that savagely grounded all of Tork's kin. As the Corgi galloped as speedily as its gait would allow between the towering trees that surrounded them, Tork thought of the Elves and their Eternal Circle. Menalaus was back. And alive. Yet instead of Menalaus' arrival bringing peace and cohesion, it seemed to have augmented the gaping schism that now separated the Elves. Tork gripped the Corgi tightly as the animal crouched its hind legs and exploded into the air, stretching its forelegs out in front of its head as it cleared a moss covered log. The Elves had always been a centerpiece in the politics of the forest and if a civil war was to catch fire, the forest would simply be overrun by the sheer size of enemies that wished its inhabitants death. The dark clouds above suddenly cleared and silver beams of light came crashing down through the thick canopy to give the drops of clear water surrounding Tork and his steed life. A dazzling display of bright crystalline points stretched out in front of Tork, but only for a moment as the clouds above quickly patched the refreshing clearing among them and revived the constricting darkness. Tork brought the Corgi to an unsteady stop and looked up at the sky. He was just so tired of it all, everyone and everything. The constant war, the screaming, the panic, the stress, the feeling of hopelessness and pointlessness that forces into his mind questions of purpose. Why? Why should he stay alive. Why should he fight to live, when he only lives to fight. He lives to fight an unending conflict, a conflict whose initiation he had no part in. Why? He didn't even fully understand the reason for the war. Nora? Power? Or is the Eternal Circle speaking the truth when they speak of the containment of evil? Why even bother living this hell. It wasn't going to change. If he killed himself tonight, it would simply be a flying leap along the timeline his life follows to its very end. Tork, still looking up at the sky, exhaled then filled his lungs with the cool air of the night. He didn't know. He needed to think more. Turning his Corgi around, they began walking back to Tork's tree of residence. He'll go for another ride tomorrow night. Just like the other nights.
“Why again are we coming back to this Pox forsaken island, again Bal?” The two men in their tattered gray robes drug the rowboat up on the beach, sand the color of an old bruise parting as the vessel furrowed it up, gouging a red wound in the shoreline. “You know why Rog. We need to remember. The Coven healed our bodies, but our memories…there was something important here. Something the Stitched were guiding us to.” They took up packs from their boat, and made their way across the beach to the gnarled, black trees of the ruined northern jungle of Maljara. “This looks right, Rog. I know you’ve had the same dreams. They’ve been calling for us to come back and finish what we started. Look” A raised, gnarled hand pointed into the jungle. Glowing eyes peered back from the misty, shadowed foliage of the ruined jungle. Reds, yellows, and blues in all shades glowed in the unnatural twilight. “I have, Bal, and it scares me. I’d rather just be done with this horrid chapter. I’d like to get back to just sewing up corpses, that’s a lot safer than this.” “You think I’m not afraid? But I’d rather sleep again.” They pushed past strange, twisted foliage, following a path known only to them. Staying between the glowing eyes. The stitched never coming into view, but staying close. “There! Rog, in the clearing ahead. Is that…” Rog’s old parched lips parted in a deep, low sigh. “That’s the scroll house, it’s so close to the shore. In the dreams, it takes so long to get here.” “Hasn’t it though. Years now since they pulled our shattered bodies off that beach.” Bal’s old, frail form moved with a speed it hadn’t had in years, trampling small delicate flowers as he scrambled to the old building. Covered in runes and in a style not seen in millennia, the building stood untouched in the jungle, like the foliage itself was afraid to touch it. Rog moved much slower, tepid as he reluctantly joined his companion. “Are they here?” “So many scrolls. Books that no one has read in decades. Millenia. Maps and globes…what precious secrets lay here in these ruins? How have they survived so long?” “Your bookish friend there, probably Bal,” Rog said pointing at the one Stitched that had shown itself. A small creature made of books and small bones sewn together. A soft, pink glow enveloping the small creature. “He’s tapping on that table over there.” Like a wraith, Bal glided to the table, started in voracious, eyes scanning the parchments and books the patchwork librarian sat over. “These are old, Rog, very old.” “Kind of what you’d expect in ancient, cursed ruins, Bal.” “No, I mean First Cataclysm old.” Bal paused as Rog sucked in a breath of air, audibly surprised. “I think it’s helping me see what the words say, Rog. It’s…they’re the survivors of it, Rog. The Stitched. The First Cataclysm wasn’t violent, or ruinous like the Separation. Their world wasn’t ending in Pox shaking destruction. It was ending in a whimper.” Bal’s fingers and eyes scanned across the ancient text, with inhuman speed, dust flying from the pages in a small cloud. “They woke something up, Rog, something old when Pox was young. Something hungry.” “The Stitched, did?” “No, the Fae…By Zarimahl’s Tomb…we have to stop them.” “The Fae? Those harmless…” “Not so harmless, they let it out, Rog. And they’re going to let it out again. That tower we’ve heard about. It’s a prison. They couldn’t kill it, just contain it. And that Fairy Queen of theirs is just an unwilling key holding the lock shut.”
Competition is closed as of now. To those who participated: Disregard my original requirement that prizes would not be rewarded if fewer than ten participants entered. To honor your hard work, prizes will still be awarded soon.
And the winners are: 1: Mercer Skye for his well-crafted story which alludes to Pox past to build on Pox present, and his overwhelming peer support. Congratulations Mercer Skye, well written! Your Croma is waiting for you. https://www.poxnora.com/trader/viewtrade.do?id=3799967 2: 19Madfox95 for his subtle reference to a popular reskin and his (a)rousing story. Here is the link for the exotic you've chosen: https://www.poxnora.com/trader/viewtrade.do?id=3800000 3: Makarov for humanizing the characters of Pox through an emotional piece. The rares you requested are here: https://www.poxnora.com/trader/viewtrade.do?id=3801349 Runners up: You will receive one new rare just for participating. I will let you have your pick of the ones left over once Makarov makes his choice. I'll PM you when he has. For everyone who participated, please send me a PM on the forums (or reply here) with your poxnora user name, even if it is the same as your forum name. I will use this to verify that the correct players receive their runes. Thanks for all your stories! I had a blast reading them.
This was a cool idea, it would be good to see it run again some time. @Senshu it might be cool if you took on this concept in a more official way, could maybe tie it in with the run up to the next expansion, giving some relevant parameters etc.
Agreed. ~ As for suggestions: More guidance to the initial requests might help. By this I mean writing prompts.
I was curious as to where this would end up going but @Vyrnell has shown that there may be an interest in something like this.
Wow, thank you all. I'd hate to bother @Sokolov , but I really would like to attach some official canon and expand on this piece if it might be in line with what kind of story Pox Lore is heading in with this last expansion. I pulled some pretty specific punches, which would be difficult to write around if it's not the right direction, but I like the challenge.
We probably won't be furthering the Amareth storyline for the time being, but it is obviously a loose plot point to develop down the line. Your story seems like a good intro to that (and is pretty open to expansion), so I will save it and probably use it as a jumping board when we do further explore the mis?-adventures of Amareth the Prophetess.
