Admiral:
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Chaos Dwarfs Online Presents: The 9th Scribe’s Contest writing competition on Chaos Dwarfs Online!
We are pleased to announce that this Scribe’s Contest has been sponsored by Zealot Miniatures and Admiral. There will be one prize of this unpainted Dungeon Oddities - Dungeon Clutter resin kit for the Gold winner:
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“The dark empire of the Dawi Zharr stretches across the Dark Lands, yet in most places it is stretched thin, anchored firmly only by forts and major strongholds such as the Tower of Gorgoth, the Black Fortress, Uzkulak or Daemon’s Stump. Between these towering citadels of power and the teeming crater Plain of Zharr, enormous empty areas stretches for hundreds of leagues; ashen wasteland and volcanic hellscapes roamed by barbarian Greenskins, migrating Ogres, restless Undead, vicious beasts and ravenous monsters alike. Between the major strongholds there exist a plethora of strategic locations such as river crossings, bottleneck valleys, trade and supply routes, where the Chaos Dwarfs have erected forts, and clans occasionally have settled, in order to control any movements in the Dark Lands and to carve out their own corner in the worldly domain of Hashut. Taken together, these forts and strongholds resemble islands of harsh order in a wild and raging sea untamed.
These strongpoints are linchpins in the slaving expeditions and the eternal warfare against the feral Greenskins, yet many such outposts are to some degree dependant on supplies brought in from the thriving centra of population and production in the infernal realm, and likewise garrison rotations and reinforcements are necessary to uphold power in the Dark Lands. For these ends, hundreds of smoke-belching mechanized caravans traverse the vast distances between remote outposts, armed to the teeth and hauling supply wagons while pack animals, warrior escorts and slave chain gangs accompany the supply trains on foot. And all around the smoking caravans, Hobgoblin outriders scout for dangers or groups of Orcs and Goblins which would make easy targets for enslavement.
These mechanized caravans may often be small armies in their own right, in terms of firepower if nothing else, yet such might is crucial to survive and traverse the perilous Dark Lands, for every now and then precious steel caravans disappear down the maw of monsters or barbarians or the violent natural disasters which frequently strikes the volcanic landscape. For long weeks need the mechanized caravans trudge on amid monotony and labour and hardship and the misery of the thralls, while isolated garrisons stare out into the savage wilderness, having neither heard nor seen anything from their fellow Chaos Dwarfs for very long while awaiting replenishments, reinforcements and a journey back home which was due to come months, years or sometimes even decades ago. Slowly grinds the wheels of Dawi Zharr empire, yet such sacrifices of lifetime and blind obedience to duty are devoutly righteous to the children of the Father of Darkness, and so they remain at their watch, waiting. Forever.
These are the words of the Remote Ones.”
Subject Matter: Farflung Strongholds - Distance & Remoteness in the Chaos Dwarf Empire
The theme for this writing competition is remoteness in the Dawi Zharr dominion, with all its aspects of logistics, supply caravans, ambushes and other perils, and waiting alone unto death. This is an open format theme, meaning that almost any type of background text and fiction about Chaos Dwarfs and Hobgoblins and the problems, perils and solutions dealing with the vast distances of their dark empire will be accepted.
Your entry could consist of a ferocious Greenskin ambush of a Chaos Dwarf supply caravan or returning slaver expedition; a Sorcerer-Prophet attended by scribes planning out bizarrely slow and long caravan routes; the sacrifices and hardships of a caravan caught in a quagmire, earthquake or landslide; a Manling emissary from the Marauder tribes up north who is struck by the sheer vastness of the Chaos Dwarf domain; a Hobgoblin Wolf Raider running away from his caravan with stolen riches, oblivious to the lethal dangers of the savage landscapes in which he intends to disappear; an old Chaos Dwarf telling stories of caravan treks in a tavern; a “facts-book” description of some caravan route; a slave’s horrible perspective of misery and exhaustion without end, chained to the horseless metal behemoths which rolls on for days without end, never seeming to reach their destination; a collection of quotes or a song on the subject; a Dawi Zharr watchpost awaiting replacement; or something else entirely.
Writing Rules
The word limit for each entry is 10-650 words in total. Since this is an open format theme, you may write your entry as one or more quotes, proverbs, tales, songs, stories etc. Descriptive background texts about logistic troubles, mechanized caravans, isolated forts and run-ins with roaming Greenskin tribes and monsters (of the kind you may find in any Warhammer army book) and fiction from the perspective of one or more characters (of the kind you may find in any Black Library novel) are allowed. Age of Sigmar entries are of course welcome.
All entries are to be written “in-universe”, meaning no lines about D6s or green stuff are allowed. See the General Rules.
You are encouraged to ask Admiral about whether your entry meet the requirements or not, should you be unsure.
Spellcheck
Please spellcheck your entry before submission. Even so, to help even the field for the non-native English speakers, Admiral may correct grammar and spelling mistakes within the limits of his grasp of the English language.
Inspiration Sources
Anything can be your inspiration, including your latest tabletop game. See the Guidelines, and Chaos Dwarf Stories & Background Section. (You are not allowed to copy someone else’s work!)
Please read the full rules and guidelines that apply to the Scribe’s Contest competition before submitting your entry!
Deadline: 11:59 PM Oct 19h 2016 EST (Eastern Standard Timezone)
Submit your entry by PM to the Scribe account before the deadline. Entries will not be accepted after that date and time regardless of how cool your submission is. (You have a little under 2 weeks to complete your entry.)
If for some reason you are having trouble with your submission, contact one of the Staff before the deadline. In order to avoid problems, we strongly advise entrants not to wait until the very last minute to submit their entries… As things can and do go wrong at the last minute. Please do not send entries to individual Admin or Staff members to submit on your behalf as they may not check their PMs!
How to Enter
Write one or more pieces of fiction or background about Chaos Dwarfs as seen through the eyes of others, invented by you, and send a PM to Scribe (a special user that all Staff have access to) containing the entry. The moderator organizing the contest will then check the inbox one or a few days before deadline and verify to each entrant that their submission was received.
If you win
- Take your place in the upcoming Scribe’s Contest Hall of Fame (to be created), where your glory will be remembered for years to come.
- Receive the Scribe’s Contest medal for your online persona:
- Everyone who enters gets a number of slaves equal to the number of entries. If 40 people enter we award 40 slaves to each person who entered.
- If you win Gold, you’ll win a dungeon clutter model prize, courtesy of Zealot Wargames.
Entries will count towards a participation medal, which is the simpler Scribe’s Contest equivalent of Artisan’s Contest and Golden Hat veteran medals.
As usual once all entries are received a voting thread will be created. If there are any questions please PM me, another Staff member or post them here.
Summary
Subject Matter: Farflung Strongholds - Distance in the Chaos Dwarf Empire.
Deadline: 11:59 PM 19th of October 2016 EST (Eastern Standard Timezone)
If any forum members would like to aid Scribe’s Contest by donating models or other materials as prizes for future competitions, feel free to contact myself or one of the Staff to help sort out details.
Now, carve your tablet. Sharpen your pen and dip it in fresh slave blood, for Hashut demands words!
The Staff
