"Once upon a time.." - results!

[Sushidragon]

First, I'd like to thank everyone so much for all your entries I always love reading everyone's interpretations of the Samanayr world and seeing the lovely and creative images you all come up with. Thank you for coming to play in the Samanayrs' world!

You guys also write and draw a lot XD Sorry it took me so long to get through all the entries, but there was a lot to read! And then when I was done going through the entries.. I had to judge them! Agh! That was much more difficult than reading everything XD

I did it eventually though, and here's the results!

First place - Pristine with "From Whence the Rains Came"
This touching tale of gods, mortals, and how the world came to be was accompanied by a gorgeous image. Please let me know which prizes you'd like from the prize pool!

First runner-up - oakleafwolf and amazondreamer with "Sa'Krien"
This tale follows the creation of the Sa'kriens and how they made their way into the wide world, accompanied by a series of images rendered in such a way that I think goes quite well with the story.

Second runner-up - Janalee with "The First Hotspring"
A world origin myth in which two Mysteries are responsible for making the world the way it is.. and the consequences of their actions. The image is very unique - cut out of fabric and sewn!

Congrats to all of our winners All of your stories and images will be featured on the new Encyclopedia Samanayrica, a sister site that will hold the bulk of the info and creative stuff for Samanayrs. And actually, I'd like to add the stories of all entrants to the site as well There were some themes that were entered more than once (world creation, etc), so they'll be listed as regional myths, or myths as told by a particular species, rather than general to all Samanayrs. ..if that makes sense XD;

And what about those other prizes? Here they are

The randomly-selected winners of the pets are:

Origami_Dragon


Seren


Zephyr


silvermoondragon


amazondreamer

And the participation tradeable items:

ShayBaby - Silver bark
Origami_Dragon - Rainbow Lam feather
LvSoulFriend - Rainbow Lam feather
tbiris - Tandil berries
Seren - Rosa berries
SilverDapples - Gleamstone
Zephyr - Silver bark
silvermoondragon - Brown Lam feather
Pristine - Sweetscent
oakleafwolf - Gleamstone
amazondreamer - Brown Lam feather
Janalee - Sunsnap flower

I'll be adding the items to everyone's inventories shortly Thanks again for participating!

Just a few more days until June, I wonder what will be happening then? Hmm..

--

The Festival isn't just a time to present new foals, dance, and feast (or dig holes, this year at least..). It's also a time for storytelling, sharing old favorites and learning new tales. As the evenings fade to darkness, before the dancing begins, the Samanayrs gather in groups and the quiet songs of the stories begin..

--

There aren't a lot of Samanayrs myths and legends developed yet, so I thought it would be a good time to change that Your task is to come up with a Samanayr legend, folktale, or myth! But you won't just be telling the story, you'll also need to illustrate it with a picture of a scene or character! Seem like a big job? You can work with a partner if you want to! Winners will be chosen based on quality, creativity, and originality, and the story and image will be judged together as a single entry.

There will be prizes for first place, first runner-up, and second runner-up. In addition, each entrant will receive a random tradeable item, and there will be other randomly-selected prizes as well

Rules and info!

- There is a limit of one entry per person/partnership. Each entry will consist of a story and an image.
- You can only be on one team, or working as a solo entrant.
- Entries should tell the story of a Samanayr myth, legend, or folktale - so, an event or character set long ago that may or may not have happened. If you have any world-related questions please let me know!
- If you decide to work in a partnership, you'll have to decide between you which main prize each person will get, and also how to divide up the work.
- All work must be your own!
- The image should be based on the story, and vice versa.
- There's no mnimum or maximum number of words, and images can be in any medium.

And how about some fantastic prizes Each prize will have two main prizes and some items, the number of which depends on if the winner is a single entrant or a partnership. So you'll get more in the way of main prizes if you decide to enter by yourself, it'll just be more work!

First place
- Two selections from the prize pool -
- Single entrant: a dog collar and a modiem of choice -
- Partnership: a dog collar and a modiem of choice, each -

First runner-up
- Two selections from the prize pool -
- Single entrant: a dog collar and random modiem -
- Partnership: a dog collar and random modiem, each -

Second runner-up
- Two selections from the prize pool -
- Single entrant: a dog collar -
- Partnership: a dog collar, each -

Each participant
- A random tradeable item -
(this is per person, not per partnership, so everyone gets one!)

The dog collar (which I still need an image for) is a small accessory that looks like a dog collar. When equipped to a Samanayr, their foals will receive one of the following traits:

- Canine tail
- Curled tail
- Wedge canine ears
- Folded ears
- Paws
- Canine nose

There's also five Mage Construct pets looking for homes They'll be given away to five random participants!

Oh yes, and here's what in the prize pool!

To enter, please send me a PM with the subject "Once upon a time" and the following information (stories and images can be linked to or put right in the PM):

Username:
Partner username (if applicable):
Legend/myth/folktale title:
Story:
Image:
If you win, would you mind if your story and image were added to the Samanayrs website?
Anything else?

If you're working in a partnership, only one of you needs to PM me. Entries will be accepted until May 22, 11am PDT/18:00 PI time. Good luck!

[Jennalyn]

...would any artistically inclined individuals care to partner up with a writer for this event? <3

[HybridSiren]

Jennalyn, go ahead and PM me? 8D;

[Jennalyn]

DONE!

[Origami_Dragon]

Oooh, this would be a good chance to actually poke Spectrum and get that story she's been telling me bits of out of her in its entirety!

Question...are we illustrating the entire thing comic style, or are we just doing a single scene out of the story?

[Seren]

So much fun! ^__^

Dapples and I are partners! Wheee!

[Jennalyn]

Question...are we illustrating the entire thing comic style, or are we just doing a single scene out of the story?

I'm guessing we can do whatever strikes us, from traditional illustration of any sort to sculpture to caught-on-tape interpretive dance. Which... I would give somebody props forever on.

[LvSoulFriend]

*partners up with tb-name twin*

Now to figure out what to do o.o

[Pristine]

Oh goodie, this should be great fun! I LOVE writing stories about mythology. It's probably my favorite part of creating new worlds. XD

I like the idea of doing the writing AND the art so much I think I'm going to have to go solo on this one! Time to go read up on Samanayrs to get my memory all refreshed...

[Sushidragon]

Question...are we illustrating the entire thing comic style, or are we just doing a single scene out of the story?

Sorry, I should have clarified that! You only need to make one image. It can be a scene from the tale, one of the characters, or even something comic-style if you're feeling really creative!

I'm guessing we can do whatever strikes us, from traditional illustration of any sort to sculpture to caught-on-tape interpretive dance. Which... I would give somebody props forever on.

A Samanayr interpretive dance would be a sight to behold XD

[Seren]

We are welcome to post world-related questions on here, right?

Also, I know that the Samanayr world has gods- if we have no idea what the gods are like, can we use creative license? XD Also, there is a wide world beyond the Hot springs, correct?

And, lastly (for now), are Enekyns carnivores, and would they possibly eat Samanayrs/be a danger to Samanayrs?

[Sushidragon]

Creative license is fine! The gods that have been referred to before (the two-headed Sams) are only worshipped as such by a small group of Samanayrs that don't reside near the Song of the Rainbow Hotsprings. The main gods to know are Sun and Moon, the elemental gods of the sun and moon (whether they actually exist or not is unknown at this point).

There is indeed a wide world beyond the Hotsprings! There's a map of the surrounding area on the RP board, and again you can use creative license for areas beyond. What you do need to know is that the Samanayrs live in the Sharian realm, which is on the westernmost part of the continent. Everything known to the east is human and other territory.

Enkeyns are carnivores, but they'd never dream of harming another creature without cause, and they'd certainly never eat a thinking being. They came to the area after the Samanayrs so were well aware of them before they actually arrived (the Sharians seem to be using this area as a haven for lost creatures and races).

[Seren]

Fantastic, thanks so much for the long reply Sushi, that helps a ton! I think this legend will probably take place during the time when Samanayrs had run away due to being hunted.

Ah, okay, that works into an idea I've been having. Thanks again Sushi! <3 This is a great event idea!

[Aranea]

Hmm, it's tempting to try soloing it, but I don't really have any story ideas right off the bat. I must deliberate on this.

[HybridSiren]

*now wonders very much on samanayr interpretive dance... wonders if she could use her cats in place of herself since it would probably look silly on a human*

[RikkuGirl]

OH BOY! This looks like so much fun ^_^ I already have my idea for my entry. I am however going to do mine alone as I dont want to chance anyone being my partner then a random hospital visit is in order and well... :/ thats not fair. ^^;;;

Soooooo! Eeeeeeeeeee this is so awesome I cant wait to see what everyone does! I want bark SOOOoooo bad he reminds me of my puppy D:

[Pristine]

I'm starting to think it may have been a bad idea for Sushi to say there is no word limit on the writing entries. I promise I'll try to keep this from being a novel but I'm eight paragraphs in and have only just now introduced all of the characters. :I Sure hope I get the time to even do the drawing (especially with Diablo III coming out tomorrow..........)

[Pristine]

Phew, this art is slow going. I hope I don't have to turn in something unfinished T.T *scribbles madly*

[Zephyr]

I have a half-written story and sketched art I'm trying to finish, but....there's so much I don't know about lore V_V Anyone around/online to answer questions as I rush to finish?

[silvermoondragon]

I'm around and can try to help, feel free to send me a pm

[Seren]

Sent mine and Dapples'... this one really snuck up on me, I had to rush some parts of it, and we didn't get all the art we wanted to do. :/ Real life calls!

Oh well, this was a fun event, It'd be neat to do another one in the future! I'm excited to see what others have come up with!

[Pristine]

Just sent in mine!

You're not alone, Seren; I actually had all my picture's Sams drawn and blocked in, but the coloring and shading/highlighting just took too long (especially with all of the HAIR I put on one of my Sams, erk!) and I ended up rushing some of it. :/ At least it's pretty much finished. Was silly of me to try this alone, I think I would've gotten it done if I'd only done one-half of the work XD

Thanks for the event, of course, Sushi. Good luck with the judging Will we be able to post entries somewhere, or will they get posted once the event is judged..?

[Jennalyn]

Sadly, RL got in the way of our plans and we were unable to submit an entry. But I cannot WAIT to see what some of you have thought up! <3

[amazondreamer]

Oak submitted ours at 10:58, got in just by the skin of our teeth. She ran in to some snarls with formatting and uploading images but managed to get it sorted out. It would be amazing to see all the stories, but I expect that might have to wait until the judging is complete.

Good luck everyone! And good luck with judging Sushi!

[Zephyr]

I liked how my story came out, but the art was rushed V_V I couldn't figure out how to illustrate the story. And the story isn't really....legendary-like :S Ah well! I had fun writing it, but I ran out of time while editing in the 'yr' bits XD So it lapses back to regular spelling some paragraphs in. :X