edonil Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well! So, it's with a heavy heart, that I have to announce that I'll be stepping down from running the Iron Quill. Life circumstances have conspired to make this a harder and harder thing to do, much as I'm sad to say. The Quill started a few years ago and it's been an awesome thing to watch so many people try their hands at writing, some for the first time and others just using this as a chance to sharpen up skills. I've been quite proud of it, and of everyone who's taken the time to participate. But sadly, as the above song says, it's time for me to find my separate way. So this will be the last month that I'm involved in running the Quill. So, what's going to happen to the future of the Iron Quill? Well, Quill veteran admiralvorkraft has very graciously agreed to take over the contest as I leave. So he'll be in charge of it from this month on, and I wish him the best of luck with it all! I hope everyone continues to participate in this awesome event. I'm going to miss all of you, thanks for so many years of great stories and an awesome community. Wish you all the best, and I hope to come back and visit and see how you're all doing. So long everyone, maybe I'll meet you at a convention someday. And now, here's the competition itself! The Iron Quill is a writing contest that takes place every month. It’s an exciting competition and a great place to hone your skills and get some constructive feedback. The Rules You must post your story in The Writing Room by the submission date with the following posting format: Iron Quill – Name of the round – Name of your story. Nothing else is needed to sign up, but please post in this thread with a link to your story when completed. Your story must be no more than 1,750 words and be a self-contained story set in the world of Malifaux. Any story must include at least two of the Ingredients for the current round. When you use the ingredients, keep in mind they don't need to be literal, please feel free to be creative with them! As the stories are completed, this post will be updated to contain a listing of all the submissions. You are welcome to edit your story up until the submission date. Winning The winner will be selected by overall score, as determined by two methods: A public poll will be created where anyone can vote on their favorite story. Each vote will be worth 1 point. Authors of submissions can vote in this way. A private poll of the authors where they pick their favorite story and a runner-up. These votes are weighted; the favorite story gets 3 points, the runner-up gets 2 points. These votes should be submitted to me by forum PM. All votes must be submitted by the voting date or they won’t count for scoring. You cannot vote for your own submission. If you are an author, you must submit votes for the private poll or you will be disqualified. Name of the Round: Last CallSubmission Date: March 22nd, 2016Ingredients: Theme: Betrayal Character: Red Oni/Blue Oni Line: This was not supposed to go on after the last call. Item: Contract Location: Governor's Mansion 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadeton Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 19 minutes ago, edonil said: So, it's with a heavy heart, that I have to announce that I'll be stepping down from running the Iron Quill. Life circumstances have conspired to make this a harder and harder thing to do, much as I'm sad to say. The Quill started a few years ago and it's been an awesome thing to watch so many people try their hands at writing, some for the first time and others just using this as a chance to sharpen up skills. I've been quite proud of it, and of everyone who's taken the time to participate. But sadly, as the above song says, it's time for me to find my separate way. So this will be the last month that I'm involved in running the Quill. You should absolutely feel proud of what you've built here, Ed - this is a fantastic competition and I really want to thank you for giving people the opportunity to express their love of the game and its universe. Given that my own involvement in the Iron Quill has led me on to write two stories for Wyrd (so far!), I have more to thank you for than most. Kudos to Admiralvorkraft for stepping up, and wishing all the best to you in the future. Thanks again! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnomezilla Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 What? No! Things can't change, I just got here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Grue Posted March 1, 2016 Report Share Posted March 1, 2016 You have built such a wonderful thing here Edonil. Be proud of what you created, and who you were able to bring together because of it. When I first got here and wasn't sure who to reply to or what to post the Iron Quill gave me a place to come and start out. I may not have been as successful as the others over the years but know that I enjoyed coming here and looked forward to the Quill each month. Some how I was even able to win it once. Ask my wife how happy the Iron Quill makes me and she will probably tell you to tell me settle down. You will be missed. Admiralvorkraft seems like a very good choice. You will have a worthy successor. Let me know if you need any help with any of your future pursuits Edonil. Same for you Admiralvorkraft. As Always, The Grue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Wallace Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Sorry to see you go just as I was walking in the door. I'm interested in taking part in March's Iron Quill, I just had some questions about the Ingredients and how to utilize them properly. Like for instance, Characters is Red Oni/Blue Oni. I'm assuming that's referring to a character trope, not a specific pair of characters? I'm still new to Malifaux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Grue Posted March 3, 2016 Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 Welcome SnakeoilSage. The ingredients are there for our use as we see fit. Edonil always said to use them as a starting point and expand from there. Some times I look at an ingredient and take it at its literal meaning, whereas I also at times will go beyond and use the ingredient as its own personal "mini theme" and work from there. Red Oni / Blue Oni <-- This is the link to the Red Oni/ Blue Oni TV trope page if you want to use it that way. It is a good read either way. I cannot tell you the hours I have lost troping from one page to the next to the next. Let's look at an example: Taking Red Oni / Blue Oni at "what it means" Spoiler Sergeant Manthey was a hard man, Rebecca thought to herself. Nails for breakfast, with milk he could curdle with his stare. They had been paired together on a string of cases and what started out as a tedious assignment had soon turned into a loathsome affair. It was hard to Rebecca to follow protocol and ask the questions required by her station to ask when Sergeant Manthey beat floating stars into whomever they were interrogating. She could respect a good beating, a little applied force could shave hours of a prolonged investigation, but this was different; this Sergeant was different. He had a passion about him, a violence that seemed abated only when knee deep and draped with blood and viscera. She didn't know what it was but she found herself becoming fond of having him around and it confused her. They were nothing alike, hers was order, planning, following orders, while his was chaos, running headfirst into any situation, and his mastery of tying knots as he bent rules and stretched tape. It was infuriating but admirable. He was the type you wanted at your back but not always at your side. Taking Red Oni / Blue Oni at "What it is" Spoiler Captain Griswalde knelt by the top half of a dying Guardsman. He was one of hers; she didn't remember his name but remembered his assignment, "Patrol Unit 1, Three Kingdoms Quadrant 3" "On your feet man and report," the absurdity of this order was not lost on her, but it had the desired effect. His eyes fluttered open and he even tried to prop himself upright. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "What happened here?" "My legs Cap..." She sighed and focused her eyes, "I don't care about your legs, you're dead and there's nothing we can do about that. What I do care about is what did that to your legs." To his credit the man swallowed and told her his story, "We were on patrol sir, like every night, when these two monsters came out of no where." "Monsters?" her voice wasn't questioning, stranger things prowled these streets, but she needed more details. He continued, "There were two of them, one wide as a wagon but no taller than horseback, its skin was red and it was full of muscle. Tore through us in a rage, screaming and bellowing, couldn't understand it. We tried firing on it but this other one cut down our riflemen. It was tall, lithe, blue skin and razor sharp claws. They were fast and tore us to pieces." She spat on the ground, this was not the first time she had heard a story like this from a dying guardsman, first it was in Quadrant 1, then Quadrant 2. She had hoped it either wouldn't happen again or that at least she'd get better intel this time. A noise behind her spun her around pistol and axe at the ready, but then she untensed. "McMourning, didn't hear you come up," she holstered her weapons, "the bodies are ready for transport, I am glad you got here so quickly, last thing we need is a riot, it's good to see a man take pride in his job. If only all my men were as dedicated as you." Hope that helps, unless I veered off and took your questions the wrong way. Either way, I am here to help and am always available to answer questions. As Always, The Grue 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admiralvorkraft Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 My submission is up, Change of Guard. Words: 1750 Ingredients: All As always, questions/comments/critiques are more than welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Grue Posted March 31, 2016 Report Share Posted March 31, 2016 I am late but I should have my submission up by the end of the day. As Always, The Grue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddywhack Posted April 11, 2016 Report Share Posted April 11, 2016 Was this ever completed and voted on? I haven't written anything in a while, but I enjoy the entries and the ideas they can give me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admiralvorkraft Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 I don't know that anyone other than me submitted this round. Maybe The Grue did and I missed it? I'll shoot ed a message tonight and see what's up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddywhack Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 I think the other official story contest was also going on at the same time. Might have caused a drop off. Will there be another one coming soon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admiralvorkraft Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 Yup, I should get the new round posted sometime today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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