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This is a roleplay contest open to everyone, no matter your roleplaying style. The winner will be chosen by group vote after the completion of everyone's roleplay. The prize will be five premade edits or a Thank You edit credit.

[edit 09/30/06] I don't know whether to be more shocked that no one has finished yet or that some people are still roleplaying. XD The prize-granting premise is obviously not going to pan out, so this is now a just for kicks thing.

Roleplay Rules: One character with one roleplay per player. Interaction is optional. Fighting is allowed, but make sure you discuss ground rules before you begin fighting. No god-moding (ridiculously overpowered character) or time-maging (too many actions in one post, as if other characters are frozen in time). Character bios should be posted to the character bio thread. Out-of-character chatter pertaining to the roleplay may be added to the end of your posts, but please make it unobtrusive in some way (ooc: like this, for instance) so that it doesn't distract from the roleplay text. Chatter not directly relating to a storyline (i.e., questions about the rules) should be posted in the Chatterbox.

Character Creation Rules: It's fantasy, but it is realistic, non-cosplay fantasy. If my character wakes up tomorrow and finds herself surrounded by a fallen-angel/fox-demon hybrid named Sesshouyasha, a magical princess named Sakura no Ai no Hime with cerulean eyes and ruby lips and beauty wonderful enough to blind a man, and a werewolf-vampire-tiger-succubus-unicorn-lichlord riding a gryphon and wielding a holy sword and level 99 dark magic that he learned at Hogwarts I am going to be extremely unamused. Clear?

Roleplay Setting: A world similar to Earth. Technology / civilization level is roughly late medieval, early Renaissance (14th century). Magic exists. Think Middle Earth.

Roleplay Premise: Roleplay begins with your character setting out on a journey. The main objective is for your character to find a shiny of some sort and then travel to...uh...the ancient temple at the top of Mount Kiadawel. Yeah. There must be both a positive and a negative aspect to carrying this shiny around. Those are the requirements. You decide all the character backstory, reasons for travel, and details about the shiny. Roleplay ends with your character's arrival at the temple. *

* Or at least, the voting can begin once everyone's character has arrived at the temple. If we want to continue roleplaying, that's fine with me. :3

It was raining, and it was raining so blessed hard that a rockslide could have hardly done more damage to Merro's emotional and physical well-being. Having been confined to the private grounds for most of her life, she soon found herself completely lost even though she was most likely still within five miles of her own bed. If she had gone in a circle, possibly within five hundred feet. Nothing had gone as planned this night.

It was all her father's fault, of course, that all her secretive scheming had come to naught. Right in the middle of the soup, that misbegotten toad had announced quite casually that she would be given over to the care of m'Lady Dunthorpe for the next two years after dessert. Sort of a parting gift for his guest of honor. Ostensibly it was to give the polish and gentility to Merro's final years of education that a widower could not possibly give, but Merro had guessed that she was simply being moved across a gameboard. She hadn't stopped to ferret out the exact plot her father was hatching, for be it a marriage contract or ploy to place a spy with an ally, the main point had been that she would be removed to a secluded little townlet near the sea where she would be watched over with far greater care than she'd ever received in all her years at home. Escape would have been near on impossible.

And so she had fled upon being commanded to fetch more wine. A quick and meaningless harangue with the steward had sent the man himself for the wine and if the Saints were kind for the once, His Toadship would simply assume that Merro was off sulking and forget about her until the close of dinner. The Saints hadn't done much for Merro ever since her birth. It was time they ponied up a little bit of mercy.

Now, instead of the sturdy pack with her secret cache of clothing, food, maps, and valuables, Merro was fleeing from her home with nothing but a few pearls and a mismatched set of clothing. Her best silk blouse clung to her like a second skin. Her second best silk skirt was currently in shreds and bound about the guardsman whose clothing and dagger she had stolen after laying the man low with a smack from a fire iron. Blinking a bit of rain from her eyes, she wondered suddenly if he had perhaps died. She blinked again and decided that it didn't really matter.

Clawing back dripping strands of hair from her face, Merro tried to peer around her but with the clouds obscuring all light, she might as well have been blindfolded. Picking a direction at random, she stumbled along for a while, trying to get her bearings, but one tree felt like any other, and she hadn't spent so much time outdoors as to be able to tell soaked garden mud from soaked riverbed mud. Any other gentleborn nineteen year old might have broken down and wept or simply fallen to their knees and prayed for death to deliver them. Merro kicked at the next tree she encountered.

...and missed it by a few inches thanks to the darkness, staggered and swayed a bit thanks to the unsteady footing, and to her surprise, brought her foot down on empty air and fell right over. Probably thanks to the Saints. They hated her.

ooc: Six paragraphs and my poor character didn't actually get anywhere. ^^; Diarrhea of the keyboard strikes again.

Shoneya snuck out of the palace as she did every day. She started creeping toward town when she felt something hit her head. She looked up. It seemed that it was raining.
"Ugh, just great. A stom approaching. Now my father will throw a temper when I get home late."
She headed toward the little shops that sold pastries and things like that. She opened the door to the shop titled "Gallak's Goods". She walked up to the counter. Working at the counter was a young man, about Shoneya's age. He had chestnut brown hair and sparkling green eyes. His triangles on his forehead were blue. He noticed Shoneya and turned to face her.
"Hey Shoney. What's up?"
Shoneya knew this young man. He was Shoneya's best friend who she grew up with. Every day she visited his shop and ordered something. On his break he would sit with her talking over some Sprite. His name was Theodore, or Teddy.
"Hey Teddy. I'll have some lemonade and a salad, please."
Teddy went over to get the salad on the shelf. He took it down and grabbed a cup of lemonade from the refridgerator. He came back to the counter and handed it to her.
"Here you go. That'll be 5 treckles."
Just in case you're wondering, treckles are like dollars in her kingdom.
Shoneya handed over her 5 treckles and took her purchases.
"Thanks. Sorry, I can't stay today. I have to get home before the storm gets more violent. Dad would kill me if I got lost in the storm."
"Oh, ok. Well, how about this. I'll call you when I'm on my break and we can chat over the phone."
"Great idea. I'll talk to you later!"
Shoneya waved goodbye and walked out the door. She carried her bag that had a salad and lemonade in it and ran home. She walked in the door and hung up her cloak. She ran up to her room and sat down in her chair next to her phone and started to eat her salad.

To be continued later....

Sunny walked into the village her hat kept the rain from falling on her face sshe looked around every street. Not many people came near her most steared around her or whent the other way. she came to a small taveren The bell trilved as she opened the door.
The male at the tavern saw her and she Goes to the counter.

He notices her and walks over behind the counter. "nice to see you again Sunny The normal,"

Her smile was the only thing that was seen, "That would be great, You know how people love to be around me." She said in a calm voice and took her hat off to show her silver hair,

He put a glass befor her. "So why are you in this end of the neighbrohood?" He watched as she put some coins on the table.

"I am looking for something." She spoke leaning her staff agenst the counter, "Well That and may be a companion or two." She took a few sips.

"Sunny People are always comeing here so you may know a thing or two," He then added "You are always looking for some thing. but you look tired." he noticed the bags under her eyes, "How long have been at this,"

"around two days to get here nothing big you know." she yahned, "I will be fine," She said waveing him away.

"Come on There is a room that you can stay in," He walked around the counter to the room she falowed him and closed the window and left her to sleep

Sunnys sleep was filled with images of darkness people yelling out her pushing her out of the way, untill for some reason they all stopped every one seemed to not talk to her or tuch her. she felt safe until she felt a cold hand of some one it all whent black,
Sunny woke with a start the rain was still going out there. She herd the sound. but what relly bought her attention was that the scar on her leg was hurting, She whent into a pouch that was by her cloak and hat and staff and pulled out some leaves and a small liquid. She poured the liquid onto the leaf makeing the leaf shine as she wispeared a spell on to the leaf, Her hands made a few quick movements and then the leaf let off low blue glow. Takeing the leaf again she crumpled it in her hands and then used the how smashed up leaf on the wound on the back of her leg.
She whaited in calm meditation as the leafs powers took affect. she sat like that until she fell asleep sitting on the bed with her legs crossed.

Shoneya was sleeping on the table when the phone rang. She jumped up, surprised. For a moment there, she thought it was her alarm clock, but it wasn't. She picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

For a second there was no answer then she heard a crash. Then suddenly a blood curtling scream. Finally she heard a cackle of evil laughter.

"Teddy?!"

Shoneya was scared. What happened to Teddy? Was he alright? Did he get murdered? Was he injured? Shoneya decided it was time to find out.

"Time to save the kingdom!"

When Shoneya shouted that, it means she's getting into her saving the kingdom mode!
A burst of light shot out from her heart. She began to change into a purple vest with a long white shirt with black stripes on it underneath. At the edges of the sleeves were gold trimming. The vest had a Yin-Yang sign on it. Her shoes turned into elf-like shoes. Her magenta skirt turned into tan cargo pants.
When she was ready she flew out her window. She flew to Gallak's Goods as fast as she could. When she got there, everyone deserted the place.
She walked into the store and looked around. She didn't see anything suspicious....untill she saw a note on the counter! It said:

Bring me 5 million treckles on Sunday
You'll find me at MenanRock Castle
You better come,
Or your friend Theodore here gets it

Shoneya was scared. A ransom! Just thing that people always do. She had to save Teddy! She started to run home crying she started to transform back into what she was wearing. She flung the door open. When she heard a bang, she guessed that she had startled her father and he fell off his chair.

"Shoneya! What's wrong?"

Her father noticed her tears. She began to cry even harder.

"Dad! They have Teddy!"

"Who? Who has Teddy?!"

"I don't know! There was a ransom saying to bring 5 million treckles near the MenanRock Castle! I need to save him!"

"Right! I'll go send out a search party."

"Dad, no! I need to get him myself! MenanRock Castle is in the human world! I'm the only one who knows where it is!"

There was a big silence. I guess he was thinking.

Later to be continued.....

It seemed to take a long time for her to come into contact with the earth again, and when she did the sudden slam against solidly packed mud took her breath away and left her so dazed that she barely noticed the rest of her tumbling descent. Merro rolled and slid, picking up mud, pebbles, and random flora until she was as completely covered in muck as if an earth golem had been battering her up for its frying pan. When she finally came to a stop, she was lying spread-eagled on her back and gasping. Rolling over and getting to her feet seemed much too energetic a proposal, and so she merely raised one hand over her face to try and keep from drowning in the downpour when a flash of lightning suddenly lit the sky to brilliance.

Instinctively she jerked both arms over her face, but not before she'd caught a glimpse of her surroundings. She seemed to be in a ravine of sorts, and as there were no such unseemly gouges in the earth in her father's private grounds she was instantly reassured that she hadn't simply wandered around in circles for the past couple of hours. The rain was coming down so hard that she would have had to been cutting down trees as she walked in order to leave a trail that could be followed, so for the moment, she was secure. More importantly, however, there seemed to be a hole in the earth wall that rose high above her. Merro lowered her arms as thunder growled overhead and stared hard into the darkness, blinking the rain away as best she could and keeping her eyes fixed on the spot where she thought she'd seen the hole.

Her vigilance - or perhaps just desperate clutching at straws - was soon rewarded with another blast of lightning. There was definitely some sort of depression in the cliff wall, and Merro fixed her eyes upon its exact location eagerly. Whether it was a cavern or merely a shallow scoop it would provide her with shelter, and as lost as she was right now, odds were that further plunging through the darkness would only bring her closer to her home instead of to escape.

As she struggled to pry herself loose from the sucking mud she realized that at some point in her descent she had lost one of her boots. With an angry kick the other one went flying as well. The oversized things had given her blisters anyway. She squelched her way closer to the hopefully-a-cave and nearly lost her footing once more as the ooze gave way to ooze set with river stones of varying sizes. Merro glanced down automatically and then hissed angrily at her stupidity. She cautiously moved forward a few more steps, patting around with one foot before setting it down to "see" with her toes what sort of footing she was dealing with. The slippery terrain seemed to lead downward a bit and then she stepped into a large puddle. She took a few more exploratory steps. The puddle got deeper and acquired a current. A third blast of lightning confirmed her suspicions. She was wading in a river.

It made sense. Ravine. River. Merro cursed the river anyway. The river didn't seem to care.

With her luck, there was no chance that the cavern would be accessible without crossing this river, so Merro gritted her teeth and plunged ahead, simply keeping the current's push directly against her right side in order to keep her in the proper direction. Though the hard rain was likely swelling the waterway, it was not so swift or deep that the young woman had any major difficulties crossing. She took a few dunks whenever her bare feet slipped on the mossy rocks she was pushing against but arrived safe - comparatively - on the opposite side within minutes. The runaway stood shivering and wavering between misery and anger as she waited for the next lightning bolt to send her on her way. As she wondered morosely what to do if the storm decided to quiet down, the clouds obligingly spewed forth a volley of bolts one after the other.

The cliff face was thrown into stark relief, and Merro could see that the hole she was headed for was at least a few feet deep. Spurred on by the idea of getting out of the rain, she practically flung herself at the side of the ravine and began scrabbling for handholds. Going up took much more effort and time than coming down. Her cold-numbed fingers could barely get purchase upon the rocks and roots, and her legs trembled with exhaustion and threatened to send her tumbling back down the way she'd come. Whatever muck and mire had washed off the front of her during the river crossing was replaced as Merro squirmed and slithered her way slowly up the muddy wall, making her slippery ascent even more hazardous. Sure knowledge that if she fell now she'd never have the strength for another go and plain old irritation kept Merro going just long enough to gain her goal. Once she'd clawed her way onto the level surface of the cave floor, she crawled just far enough within to get out of the rain and promptly collapsed. She fell asleep so quickly despite the cold and wet and dirt and clamminess that it was technically a faint, though Merro was not quite delicate maiden material.

ooc: Alex: Well then here are some more long paragraphs for you. *lol*

Marion: Bloody is fine. I'm planning on some bloody, in fact. X3

It was a hot night. Rainy, sure, but hot nonetheless. Joeye sat on the floor of the shed, furiously fluttering her tiny wings to cool herself. She left the door slightly ajar to let in some air, but it was still incredibly stuffy.

"Joeye!" came her mother's voice. She silently watched as her mother stuck her head out of the window and called again. "Joeye! Come inside! It's late, and the storm is picking up speed!" Her mom sounded like she was just calling Joeye inside for dinner, instead of combing the manor for the past hour in search of her. But Joeye knew. She could see everything from the crack in the shed door.

It was really stuffy in the shed. And the rain made the ground release this damp, dank, ground smell. Joeye tried to telepathically reach her mother. Go to Master Dobbs' fighting hall. I'm there, sulking.

Unfortunately, either she's hopeless at telephathy or there's no such ability. "Joeye!" her mother called again, now sounding hoarse after yelling for an hour.

"Joeye!" came a deep baritone. "Are you there?"

Her eyes narrowed. You'd really think I'd show myself to you? She watched Teve open the kitchen door, look around with a worried expression, and go back inside the manor.

Joeye shifted. Her left buttcheek had fallen asleep. As she did, her halo dropped and dangled over one eye. Softly snarling, she yanked it up so it would hover over her head again. And then she fluttered her wings harder than ever, trying to generate as much breeze as she could.

The sound of footsteps close by made her freeze. She stopped fluttering her wings. "Mom is really worried sick, you know."

Her eyebrows drew together. Leo! It infuriated her how he easily referred to her mother as "Mom," like they've known each other for years instead of only a few weeks. But she said nothing.

"I know you're upset about Mom adopting Teve, and then adopting me. But you have to understand that she never did so to hurt you. Actually, she's concerned that you're always by yourself. And it's not like you'll be forced to move into the shed because there's no more room for you in the house." There was a meaningful pause. "Unless you choose to move into the shed."

Joeye remained silent, malevolently wishing Leo would go away. She could visualize him standing outside the shed, with a nice umbrella over his head. As soon as he goes into the house to tell Mom where I am, I'll run out of the gate!

"Having more children doesn't mean you divide your affections among them. Rather, your love multiplies. Mom doesn't love you any less just because Teve and I are around."

"Leo!" came their mother's voice. "I'm going to Master Dobbs to see if Joeye's with him. Teve will be staying here to wait for her in case she comes home!"

And to Joeye's surprise, Leo said, "I'll come with you, Mom!" And then in a lower voice, he said, "I won't tell them where you are, Joeye. But think about what I said. I think we will have lots of fun as a family if you'll only give us a chance." And then, Leo walked away.

She had to go. Now. It was beyond her why Leo didn't give her away, but there was no time to mull over it. Joeye waited for a few more minutes, until she was sure he's gone. And then she got to her feet and tiptoed over to the door. A quick look around told her that she was by herself in the backyard. She then hurried to the back gate, almost oblivious to the rain spattering her. The lock was incredibly rusted, and it had never been opened for as long as she could remember. She clumsily climbed over it and fluttered her wings hard as she jumped, so she landed on her feet. And then she disappeared into the night.

ooc: argh. forgot about the rain. just included it >.< sorry it's a little long. i'll use the excuse that i have a ton of short paragraphs >.<