The Mortbane 1079AE Short Story/Sketch/Coloring Contest is complete! Congrats on a great summer of art and literature!
The Short Story contest was the busiest by far, having 20 entries and 3 more that were either far too long or troll entries (thank you The Pillow Armadllo for teaching me why I shouldn’t celebrate Easter with Koss).
The Top 3 Short Stories were:
“The Raven’s Egg” by Aquabeard
“Reflection” by Peter Gallant
“Epilogue” by Tzu
The Sketch contest was much smaller but had the broadest variety of styles. One sketched in pen, one used lineart only, the others filled in shadows or went entirely greyscale. And since I had 4 entries and the top 3 were supposed to move on, I said “Okay, it’s Top 4 and I’ll see you all in the coloring contest!”
The Sketches:
by Morag D, based on “Epilogue” by Tzu
by Tzu, based on “The Raven’s Egg” by Aquabeard
by Luca, based on “Reflection” by Peter Gallant
by William Koshi, based on “Epilogue” by Tzu
Finally, the Coloring Contest! Twice the entries of the sketch contest, and under half the entries of the story contest. This one was a little easier for me to judge, because there wasn’t a great deal variation in opinion on what coloring is supposed to be. On top of that, I actually feel a bit more qualified (educated) in this area to give critique on the work.
Top 3 Color Entries
By Blazingwire, sketch by William Koshi, based on “Epilogue” by Tzu
By BlueXIV, sketch by Tzu, based on “The Raven’s Egg” by Aquabeard
By Morag D, sketch by Morag D, based on “Epilogue” by Tzu
Thank you Alyssaa, Aquabeard, Atticus Rayne, Beren985, Blazingwire, BlueXIV, Crystal, D.M.Miller, DBZVelena, Dove, Kevin Bontje, khezial tahr, Konig Des Todes, Luca, Malavian Kripnar, Morag D, Oh_Frustration, Peter Gallant, Pumpkin Pie, Ruben Molenaar, S.S.Kelowna, SmartBomb, theflatline, Tzu, Verene, Vestius, William Koshi, Zarak the Fireraga and Zodiac Ele (whose story was just too long for the contest).
Contest preparation/inspiration/donation thanks goes to The Defenders of the North [EYE] Alliance, Anthony Vague & Fend Tiernan [EYE], Mom the Nuker [SoK], Daniel Frozenwind, Dream Haunt [DVDF] & H Eleni tis Troias [WCC], Davor Belegnaur, I Am Woman Hear Me [RAW], Sanitarium.FM, Zarak The Fireraga, and Straight Outta Kamadan [KMD] for being the solid pick in the monthlies that helped me raise the funds for the contest.
Major congrats to Tzu, who has earned a total of 200k and 55 vault points through the duration of the contest. The strategy to bank on: enter every part of the contest but don’t follow up your own entry until someone else has used it.
That said, I have a bonus to announce. The bonus goes to Tzu, Morag D, and Tzu and Morag D! The bonus was intended for a trio, but these two couldn’t be kept apart. They have a great chemistry which really showed as this contest progressed. Tzu started us out with a great story, then Morag D sketched up a very detailed scene. Tzunedaine and Grim, resting by the lake as Roan cooled himself down, and were shortly after spotted by Nicholas the Traveler and his buddy Professor Yakkington. So far the details of the story fit into the picture very well. In part 3, Tzu and Morag D both chose to color this picture. It was really hard to chose one over the other. Morag D had a beautiful composition, but Tzu was determined to color in the details of the story accurately. Both colored pictures get the bonus! You two should work together more often, you’re a great team!
This would normally be the part where I would be asking for some screenshots of their main characters, but as it turns out neither of them are that hard to find. The bonus reward is a group character portrait by StarrTheInsane (you probably figured that out, right?) Let me know if you’d like me to use characters other than Tzunedaine and Eryn for this. Thanks and congrats again!
Mortbane 1079 AE Short Story, Sketch & Coloring Contest 
Prize vault has been updated!
Not bad – 20 stories have been submitted and 11 will be awarded 😉 The odds are not so bad 😉
There’s a reward for 11th place? That’s fairly impressive–and you’re right, the odds aren’t bad. 😀 Even for a noob like yours truely.
There’s a reward for 1-10th. The other reward they were mentioning was an offer to the Riftwar Saga writer. The story was too long for the contest, but I really enjoyed it. It made me ill to turn it down, so I offered, in lieu of contest placement, a token of my appreciation.
The story may be the basis of a full-blown art contest in the future. A change from the three-part format I’m using here to one extended full-color illustration showcase.
Ahhh, ok, I see. Still, 50% is pretty good. Good enough for government work, anyway.
Tzu had some extreme circumstances last weekend. She contacted me to let me know she would not be able to submit at the deadline and explained. I’m not at liberty to say what, but trust I mean extreme. I have allowed the late entry as arrangements had been made prior to the close.
“thank you The Pillow Armadllo for teaching me why I shouldn’t celebrate Easter with Koss”
Oh god. I’d been trying to forget that.
waaaaa bonus bonus!! so cool!! this is almost the most exciting bit about the whole contest xD thank you 😀