Welcome One and All- General Information Thread

[Airan]

The drums of war are seldom silent over the fierce and brutal Northlands. However, there are some places where the horrid cries of battle are unheard, peaceful places long hidden from the eyes and ears of those who would bring them destruction. Settled deep within verdant pines and tangled briars along the land's northeastern coast is one such place, a tranquil village known simply as Nest. The creatures of Nest are odd folk, bearing affinities for strange rituals and believing the winds of fate to carry them safely through their lives.

However, the once calm winds have changed course, carrying in their wake a prophecy that threatens the peace the creatures of Nest have forever known. Invaders shall arrive from across the sea with weapons in paw and what can only be described as a living god at their helm, ready to slaughter in a relentless pursuit of conquest. But there is still hope yet. For nine warriors, heaven-sent, shall appear in the darkest hour to defeat both god and army, and save Nest from certain ruin. As time passes though, no heroes have shown, and the invaders grow ever closer. Mekai, a young priestess of Nest, has grown restless with waiting, setting out on her own to bring them herself. Even if they're found though, the odds are stacked against them at least a hundred to one. Will it be enough? Find out in Mossflower Odyssey V: Heaven-Sent

Hello everyone and welcome to Mossflower Odyssey V: Heaven-Sent. I'm Airan, forum administrator for Redwall Survivor and the coordinator for this shindig. Namely, I will be working to answer questions, post up announcements, as well as handle all of the backroom planning of the contest proper. If you have any questions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to ask, whether through PM or through a thread. For now though, I'm going to try my hardest to explain all of this to everyone, new and veteran alike.

So, without further ado-

What is a Redwall Survivor Contest?

A Redwall Survivor Contest is basically a collaborative story set in the Redwall universe in which a number of different writers will each take control of and write a character of their own creation, all interacting with one another and pushing the plot forward until its inevitable ending. While similar to one, this is not a Role-play, but rather a long form, collaborative narrative from the perspective of multiple characters by multiple writers. To explain, each Redwall Survivor Contest is broken up into a number of Rounds, each lasting a little over a week, where the writers involved must write at least one chapter from their character's perspective. This chapter will be based in continuity, often starting where another writer's chapter may have ended, or leading into the one after it. As an example, say your characters are exploring a cave system looking for treasure. Jim might write about his character coming across the cave, telling his companions and setting the plan to get the treasure inside, while Sue might follow up with her own character leading the party into the cave, encountering whatever dangers might lurk inside, and finally finding the treasure.

Now here's the fun part. What exactly does 'Survivor Contest' entail? Well, let me explain. Every week, after the contestant's have all finished posting their respective chapters, the audience will then vote for their LEAST favorite character of the group. The votes will be tallied, and whichever writer's character receives the most votes, must be killed off or otherwise removed from the story. This continues every Round until only three characters remain. After one final round with the remaining three survivors, the audience will vote one last time, but this time for who their MOST favorite character is. The winner of this vote will be the crowned the official winner of the contest, and together with the other members of the Top 3, will finish the story and congratulate themselves on a job well done.

So, how do I make it into one of these contests?

Before the final characters are chosen, they must first go through the application process. During the application process, you will write a short blurb about your character, which must fit one of the pre-selected categories. This is not to say that you write a bio like you would for an RP, where you describe their physical appearance, likes and dislikes, favorite color, etc, but instead, think of it like a short story, where you will write a scene showcasing who they are. Maybe it's just a regular day in the life for them, or maybe it's a defining moment of their entire existence.

While some of it doesn't apply to this contest, Tara has written a very good guide to writing applications here:  http://redwallsurvivor.com/forums/index.php?topic=420.0

After you've submitted your application(s) and the application inbox closes on February 17th, the other judges and I will vote on the top 3 best applications for each of the categories based on the following criteria- Character, Story and Scene structure, and Writing Skill. The surviving applicants from each category will make up the Semifinalists. Afterwards, these characters will be put up to a vote by the rest of the audience and community, and the application with the highest number of votes from each category will then ultimately become a member of the main cast, and the story will begin.

For now, that's all the information I can give you. If you're interested in applying, you can head to the signup thread to get your Identification Number- http://redwallsurvivor.com/forums/index.php?topic=1799.0

Or if you've already done that. You can look at the rules for submission. The application categories are there too, so you can start speculating on your characters and get to writing. - http://redwallsurvivor.com/forums/index.php?topic=1800.0

I look forward to reading everything you all come up with. Happy writing :)