Admiral:
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Chaos Dwarfs Online Presents: The 8th Scribe’s Contest writing competition on Chaos Dwarfs Online!
This Scribe’s Contest has been sponsored by Admiral. There will be one prize of an unpainted kit of War Booty of Ancient Times miniatures for the Gold winner:
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"The Dawi Zharr are infamous torturers and destroyers and slavers, and their dark deeds and megalomaniac wonders and dire secrets are the stuff of legend and horror half the world over, barely believed and more often than not thought to be lies and fantasies. Despite their mysterious reputation, the Chaos Dwarfs are a race of mere flesh and blood, alive until death claims them, and how could other mere mortals be so very different from ourselves? Yet to hear a Dawi Zharr tell of what is good in life, is to gain a raw glimpse into the cruel and enigmatic minds of the Chaos Dwarfs. It is to view naked their fiery hatreds, their contempt and slavish obedience, their fanaticism and their dark genius. It is to grasp the bottomless hunger for power, the will to trample underfoot and the ruthless greed driving the ambitions of these black-hearted creatures. Yet their thoughts on life may pale in comparison to what comes after death.
To hear a Dawi Zharr tell of the afterlife, is to be thrown into a well of madness, for oft-times their beliefs are closely connected to the surging Realm of Chaos, and many sects claim that the Father of Darkness dwells within it, with a dark and fiery court. Many sects claim that cages and flames and slavery and darkest torment awaits most souls upon death, yet others speak of blissful promises and seductive rewards for a life well lived in servitude to Temple and Hashut. For these are beliefs bred in insanity and birthed by Dark Gods of lying tongue. For these are beliefs nurtured by madmen and raised in hell, and woe betide the sinner or wrongdoer or heretic or slave. In life, they lord it over a dark empire of mass slavery, oppression and heinous sacrifice, where cruelty is law and life is dirt. In death, the Blacksmiths of Chaos face a stark finality which more than a few among them secretly longs to escape with concealed inner panic.
These are the words of the Doomed Ones."
Subject Matter: Beyond the Grave - Chaos Dwarfs and Afterlife
The theme for this writing competition is Chaos Dwarfs and afterlife, in which you’re free to explore some of their convoluted and mysterious beliefs on what happens after death. Contradictions are welcome, these are fanatic devotees of mysticism and prophecies born out of madness and the Realm of Chaos after all!
This is an open format theme, meaning that almost any type of background text and fiction about Chaos Dwarfs and Hobgoblins from the perspectives of outsiders will be accepted, within the rules detailed below.
You could e.g. write your entry as an ancient myth, or a prophecy (mayhap uttered by your army general?), or the raving mad ramblings of a possessed, ecstatic or insane Chaos Dwarf, Daemon oracle, captured mystic or likewise. You could write it as a discussion, a tortuous interrogation or as an elder or hag telling the beardlings about it. You could write your entry as a vision, akin to those of the dying Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh, or as a journey into the afterlife awaiting the Chaos Dwarfs, a bit like Dante’s Divine Comedy. You could borrow heavily from the Liber Chaotica. You could write about dead Chaos Dwarfs denied their promised afterlife by meeting undeath to haunt the mortal world as shambling corpses or vengeful revenants. Or something else entirely!
You could write about what kind of afterlife awaits people depending on their conduct or status in life or burial rites. What happens to wretched slaves and lesser races after life? To fruitful mothers? To sinful doubters? To sorcerers blessed with petrification? To Bull Centaurs and other holy creatures? To misers? To shamed Infernal Guards? To pious sacrificers? To warriors dying with axe in hand? To adherents of rival sects and heretical cults? Is it all darkness and fire and shackles and chains and torment and horror eternal awaiting a Chaos Dwarf, come death, or is there something more?
All this and more is up to you explore in this contest. Tell us your vision of the Dawi Zharr afterlife!
Writing Rules
The word limit for each entry is 50-800 words in total. Inventive ways to write entries are encouraged. You may write your entry as it would have sounded if told by a Chaos Dwarf elder; or as an inscription or actual text on some scroll or tablet. You may write it as a collection of broken passages from a shattered monument, or as an insane vision of some mystic or another. You may even write a foreign myth or legend concerning the afterlife of Chaos Dwarfs. Likewise, you may write your entry as a descriptive overview of a myth or legend, with as little or as many details as you like to include. Your entry need not be a complete tale from start to finish; fractions of a full tale is sufficient. 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 July 11th 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 about 3 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 Chaos Dwarf mythology or tales of legend, 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 model prize, courtesy of Admiral.
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: Beyond the Grave - Chaos Dwarfs and Afterlife.
Deadline: 11:59 PM 11th of July 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
