Spring Ceramic DM™: WINNER POSTED!
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
Marids are also a D&D monster in the genie family, the watery equivalent of the fiery efreet, the earthy dao, and the airy djinn. The name telegraphed his true nature to me immediately, although I thought he might be an acquaintence of the djinni pursuing his own agenda. It never occurred to me that this immediate revelation wasn't intentional on your part. I'll have to read it again with this in mind, and see if the story is stronger or weaker as a result.
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Macbeth
First Post
Hmmmm, I guess it did sound familiar... Was the Marod in the Manual of the Planes? I don't have that book on hand, but now that you mention it, it seesm familiar... Good thing they happened to be the water genie!Piratecat said:
I ment for it to be possible to figure it out based on the name, but I didn't want the name to be galringly obvious. I guess I should have thought about the fact I'm writing for a group of D&D players....
I was shooting for an effect similiar to what you find in alot of literature: names that give away something about the character if you put some thought into them. There are any number of exmaples of names hinting at a character's true nature, just look at Dostoyevsky or Camus or Tony Morrison, or Alan Moore (I particularly like Ozymandius in Watchmen), but the one most recently in my head was American Gods by Neil Gammien, since I'm still readin that (nice long book). Google the name of pretty much any one of the gods, and suddenly all this little bits of description make sense. I even knew who Wednesday was within a few pages. Between the name of the book and the knowledge that Wednesday was named after Odin(Woden), it's very easy to see who he is from his irst appearence.
mythago
Hero
Zhaneel warily stepped into the shadowy arena. She patted the pouch at her side, replete with phrases; she'd had to use a lot of them to get past the other opponents, but there were still plenty left. Enough for two more rounds, she hoped.
"Far enough," called a leering voice behind her. Zhaneel spun around. At one end of the arena, on a high dais, a wide black throne squatted like a gargoyle. Across the throne sprawled a man whose every atom radiated pure evil. He gazed down at her arrogantly with his one good eye; a black patch obscured the other. The long-haired white cat on his lap raised its head to regard her coolly, then went back to sleep. To one side of the throne stood two men; she couldn't see their faces, but they radiated menace, barely kept in check and waiting only for the word of their leader to be unleashed.
"Piratecat," Zhaneel called. "I'm ready for your third challenge."
"Ready, you say? You've done quite well, for a newcomer--and I do so love blooding newcomers. Let's see how you fare against a more...experienced foe." Light glittered off the tip of the steel hook that formed his hand as he pointed across the arena. "Mythago! Kill, or be killed!"
Stone ground against stone as a hidden door gaped. A hideous figure lumbered forth. Zhaneel was hopeful when she saw this one seemed tired and bruised. Then Mythago reached over her shoulders and drew a pair of matched semicolons, as long as Zhaneel's arm. Their razor edges seemed to spark in the air as Mythago whirled them in a dizzying pattern of attack, shuffling forward toward her would-be prey.
Zhaneel said a quick prayer to her Muse and reached into her bag of phrases...
"Far enough," called a leering voice behind her. Zhaneel spun around. At one end of the arena, on a high dais, a wide black throne squatted like a gargoyle. Across the throne sprawled a man whose every atom radiated pure evil. He gazed down at her arrogantly with his one good eye; a black patch obscured the other. The long-haired white cat on his lap raised its head to regard her coolly, then went back to sleep. To one side of the throne stood two men; she couldn't see their faces, but they radiated menace, barely kept in check and waiting only for the word of their leader to be unleashed.
"Piratecat," Zhaneel called. "I'm ready for your third challenge."
"Ready, you say? You've done quite well, for a newcomer--and I do so love blooding newcomers. Let's see how you fare against a more...experienced foe." Light glittered off the tip of the steel hook that formed his hand as he pointed across the arena. "Mythago! Kill, or be killed!"
Stone ground against stone as a hidden door gaped. A hideous figure lumbered forth. Zhaneel was hopeful when she saw this one seemed tired and bruised. Then Mythago reached over her shoulders and drew a pair of matched semicolons, as long as Zhaneel's arm. Their razor edges seemed to spark in the air as Mythago whirled them in a dizzying pattern of attack, shuffling forward toward her would-be prey.
Zhaneel said a quick prayer to her Muse and reached into her bag of phrases...
Ao the Overkitty
First Post
congrats macbeth.
looking forward to see what devilish creations get posted in the next fight.
looking forward to see what devilish creations get posted in the next fight.
BSF
Explorer
Sialia said:
Umm, I don't bet against Mythago. Even if she is fooling around, I expect that her brain is simmering on something that is going to pop out and be ... frightening.
Besides, did you see the size of those semicolons?
Of course, Zhaneel comes up with some great stuff too. It's going to be a brutal blood match. I am eagerly looking for the stories.
