assault

Fourth choice: Sister Ianthe is one of the Great God's priestesses, dedicated to keeping the Sacred Flame alight. She is also of noble birth, and in line to become the Queen/High Priestess of Ytic. As such, it matters if, or who, she marries. Naturally, she has suitors, seeking the advantages of such an advantageous match. (The Queen is only married to the King/High Priest in a ritual sense.) Equally naturally, she has her own opinions of the matter. Currently, she uses the excuse of her duties to keep them at bay, but eventually that will wear thin. Other priestesses who could take over her duties are coming up. She has a secret: out of the kindness of her heart, she let a cat enter the Temple. She didn't imagine that it would choose the holiest place in the entire world as its favourite napping place. She dreads the possibility that will be discovered, as well as the potential spiritual ramifications of what she still regards as blasphemy. Still young, she hasn't yet realized her potential as one of the inner circle of priestesses of the Great God. Person(s) in need of help pick: Sister Ianthe, Keeper of the Flame.

Doom draws nearer. The fourth seal is broken. Time to post again, in other words.

State of Origin live updates: Queensland Maroons win decider at Lang Park, beating NSW Blues 22-12

Wrong thread.

A logically true statement, although dependent on the value of "we".

Example: The Sun Travels across the sky each day, bringing Light to the world, and ferrying the Dead to the underworld. Actually an easy example, although not so much if you have established the Sun as a separate domain from Light. Poseidon was a neat historical example: the Sea, Horses and Earthquakes.

Damn. I forgot to swipe the palindromedary.

This will bring me up to date. --- Cats will be cats. The priests of the Great Temple were horrified when they first saw the cat sleeping on the Great Ark in the Most Holy Place. But what could they do? The Most Holy Place can only be entered by certain people on certain occasions, so they could not enter to shoo the animal away. Bringing in eminent theologians, they concluded that since the cat had not been struck down by divine wrath, it was there by permission. But what was its nature? Was it a mere beast, or a divine manifestation? Noting that it hid during worship services, the theologians determined it was the former, finally concluding that the Great God just liked cats. Since then, the popularity of cats as pets in Ytic has boomed. --- Location Pick #2: The Great Temple. Located on a hill in the centre of Ytic, the Great Temple dominates the city's skyline. It is built of marble, in a vaguely Hellenistic style. Aside from the Great Ark - a combination of reliquary and divine throne - the Temple is also the location of a Holy Flame, which priestesses of noble birth are charged with preventing from ever going out. The hill it is located on also serves at Ytic's citadel, and contains granaries designed to feed a garrison in times of siege. Granaries attract vermin, and vermin attract cats...

This should have been my first pick. Naughty me. --- It is generally accepted that, save for his unfortunate profession, Surga the Dark Lord is quite a pleasant fellow. His exactions are modest, and his manners are pleasant. Furthermore, he is diligent in halting the depredations of lesser fiends. All up, he is the kind of Tyrant that you would most like to suffer under. He appears to be a middle aged man of medium height, bearded and with dark wavy hair. Some say that he is younger than he appears - others that he is much older. He tends to dress in comfortable robes, befitting the weather, although he has been seen on horseback in barbarian-style breeches. He is, it is said, an excellent cook. Protagonist: Surga the Dark Lord.

I meant to post this two and a half hours ago: --- There came the sound of slughorns and tocsins, of wailing priests, and of the great gates opening. It was the dawn of the Third Day. --- Aside from being a notification that it was time to post again, this is a Location pick: The City of Ytic. A large coastal city state, with a substantial rural hinterland. --- Yes, I know I haven't done my initial protagonist pick yet. The League Tyrant has chastised me. And calling a city "Ytic" is horribly lazy - but it actually kind of works. My other two picks will be along soon.

Anytime. Technically about 8 hours ago,if that helps.

All good. This is pretty snipe proof. Now, personally, I keep running into ideas that should be poetry. That's not going to happen. The other thing I keep running into was that I should have left it at six picks, and made five philosophy jokes with a Rocky Horror punchline. Yeah. Writer's block. And I'm the idiot that set the rules...

The Dark Lord looks at his speech, frowns, and causes it to burst into flames. Instead, he mutters: Go!

I probably won't post straight away, even though I set the time so I could before I go to work. Looking at a time zone converter, and assuming I used it right (not guaranteed!), the start time in Sweden would be 10 PM, 9 PM in London.

Eek! I meant Friday July 8th, and Saturday July 9th. Corrected in original post.

You live in a town that has salties in the harbour, don't you?

Including enough options that it's not a railroad. Railroads are actually good for some purposes - a GM who genuinely doesn't have much time or experience - but the term is derogatory for a reason.

Option Pick: It's a musical. Of course it can be boring, but I expect that the players will ensure it isn't. It's not a true draft, of course, but neither is the world creation one. I'm a bit bothered by the lack of scope for interaction between players, but I can't see anyway around that except making it a shared world, and replacing one of the choices with an interference. That could work, but I would have to make my mind up soon.

We are happy to report that no, sharks are not swimming in flooded Sydney train stations

Yes. And you could use a location pick to say that he is from Blimeria (and describe it), and your Deity pick to say that he swears by Flom. I guess the point is to allow you to sketch out that S&S story that you never quite got around to writing.

Mmm. S&S-appropriate superpowers, I suppose. EG: Herculean strength, little wings on your ankles allowing you to fly, etc. Magic rings are McGuffins/Gadgets. Mjolnir too, I suppose. But basically, it's meant to be your own characters. It looks like I wasn't clear about that. I'll fix that.

Reserved for Rosters. Player: assault Protagonist: Surga the Dark Lord. Ally/Companion: Alnar of the North. Primary Antagonist: Tribune Flaccus. Secondary Antagonist: Latro the Conqueror. Person(s) in need of help: Sister Ianthe, Keeper of the Flame. Monster: The Hellhound. Location One: The City of Ytic. Location Two: The Great Temple. Location Three: Mountain of the Sisters. McGuffin/Gadget: The Sword of Destiny. Deity: The Great God. Option: Korus the Bard. Player: Bazza Protagonist: Stephanos Strange Ally/Companion: Primary Antagonist: Ewing Burns Secondary Antagonist: The Nazzgals. Person(s) in need of help: Eleven-Minus-1. Monster: Location One: Location Two: Location Three: McGuffin/Gadget: The Tetractys. Deity: Option: Player: Cancer Protagonist: Akhar the Orc Ally/Companion: Farstar the Wizard Primary Antagonist: Hadesh the Motherless Secondary Antagonist: Qnurfu, Empress of Necromancy Person(s) in need of help: The Hamlet of Lmuma Creek Monster: plague of undead & hell hounds Location One: Hamlet of Lmuma Creek Location Two: Lonuwei Island Chain Location Three: Central plaza of Lonu Center, island of Lonuwei McGuffin/Gadget: Farstar teleports population of Lmuma Creek to Lonu Center as zombies enter Deity: Vulture, patron of Akhar's kindred of Orcs Option: Unexplained magical manifestation, statue in Lonu Center Player: csyphrett Protagonist: Mr. Straw Ally/Companion: Charonus Primary Antagonist: Lord Runnymede Secondary Antagonist: N'Shalla the shaman Person(s) in need of help: Lady Macklemore Monster: Birds of Cawdor Location One: Corn River Location Two: Crow Cove Location Three: McGuffin/Gadget: The Ring of Cawdor Deity: Cawdor Option: Minions for Lord Runnymede commanded by Colonel Geoffrey Everstone Player: death tribble Protagonist: Macrus, Knight Initiate of the Order of the Rose Ally/Companion: The Most Reverend Pelas Quorl of the Sacred Order. Primary Antagonist: Jaleeka of the Night Fortress Secondary Antagonist: Velath of the Three Fold Way. Person(s) in need of help: Hes-Tha, illiterate thief who has the scrolls Monster: The Beast of Grantham (a giant Chimera) Location One: The Pit Between the Mountains Location Two: The Grand Library of Urdman Location Three: Haunted City of Meera McGuffin/Gadget: The Scrolls of Aldorius Deity: Gideon, Lord of Trickery Option: The Rose Oracle Player: fdw3773 Protagonist: Jantavia Sunmane Allly/Companion: Donegan MacLyr Primary Antagonist: Necrotor. Secondary Antagonist: Lucio the Magnificent Person(s) in need of help: Fraternal twin sisters Rebekah and Aisleen McGuffin/Gadget: Magic Cauldron Monster: Gorath Locations: Eleria (kingdom) Oresia (continet) Free City of Weyliff Setubal (fallen city) (counting as Option) Deity: Mordrogor, Lord of the Hellspawn Player: L. Marcus Protagonist: Eda the Journeyman Wizard. Ally/Companion: Primary Antagonist: Secondary Antagonist: Person(s) in need of help: Monster: Location One: Location Two: Location Three: McGuffin/Gadget: Deity: Option: Player: Lucius Protagonist: Sinosky the Bloodlock. Ally/Companion: Xanthrax the Drakine Warrior Primary Antagonist: Secondary Antagonist: Person(s) in need of help: Arduna Monster: Location One: The Turakian Age Location Two: Location Three: McGuffin/Gadget: Deity: The God of Curses Option: Player: Old Man Protagonist: Okinyan Wahukheza Ally/Companion: Primary Antagonist: Secondary Antagonist: Person(s) in need of help: Wiyukcan of the Black Dog people Monster: Location One: Location Two: Location Three: McGuffin/Gadget: Deity: Option: Player: Pariah Protagonist: Kevin Thomson Ally/Companion: Drin, son of Alon Primary Antagonist: King Dineev Secondary Antagonist: Person(s) in need of help: Monster: Location One: A cave in the mountains of southwestern Montana Location Two: The Town of Windsong Location Three: McGuffin/Gadget: The Stones Deity: Option: Jonna, daughter of Alon Player: Pattern Ghost (retired due to injury) Protagonist: Mortimer "Morti" Whynter Ally/Companion: Primary Antagonist: Secondary Antagonist: Person(s) in need of help: Monster: Location One: Location Two: Location Three: McGuffin/Gadget: Deity: Option:

OK, I've got the rules up. All we need are players...

Sword and Sorcery Superdraft. We are building new fantasy Sword and Sorcery series from scratch. Worlds will be separate, except that elements can be shared if another player agrees. You must create your own characters and other elements, not draft them from elsewhere. Close analogues are fine, so you can have characters like Conan, Elric, King Arthur, Thor, Hercules, etc., but not the actual characters. The setting is completely blank. You will need to contribute your ideas to build your setting and populate it with a variety of life. Here's what you'll need to choose. Protagonist: This is the main character in the stories. They may or may not be heroic. Ally/Companion: This character assists the Protagonist, but may be an equal Protagonist in their own right. (Fafhrd/Gray Mouser style.) They may be a regular partner, or someone who just shows up and gets killed off. Primary Antagonist: This character is the primary opponent of the story/series. Secondary Antagonist: May be a lackey, rival or someone unrelated to the above. Person(s) in need of help: Somebody who needs the Protagonist’s assistance. Monster: It’s not Sword and Sorcery without a Monster. Locations: You get to choose THREE (3) Locations. These may be continents, countries, cities or individual sites. Build your world! A McGuffin/Gadget: A thing to help drive the plot. A Deity: They might be driving the action, a name to swear by, or anything else. Option: Anything else your fiendish imagination comes up with. Round one will be your Protagonist, but the rest can be selected in any order. --- We will begin Saturday July 9th, 6 AM Australian Eastern Standard Time, which is 4 PM, Friday 8th, Eastern Daylight Time in the States. We take the US weekends off. (So the first post is a Saturday in Australia, the second a Tuesday. That’s a Friday and a Monday in weird US time.) Format copied from earlier Superdrafts, naturally. Ask for any clarifications you need, obviously.

It's all time. Fine, 9 AM me being at work time on Saturday. 8:30 Bazza time. Sometime Friday for the barbarians. Does that help? (I'll work it out properly when I get round to it.) Incidentally, Bazza, you have to play now!