Anniversary Contests

[Sly Eagle]

Well, then. January 8, 2007 marks Ambition's first birthday. Wow...the comic'll be a year old. Well! As celebration, we're holding a few contests for y'all to participate in.

In the name of the gods...
Some of Oris's mythology is laid out on this page, including the names of the seven Founders of the World. We're letting a little something slip here - six of the seven are named after typos. That's right: typos. The point of this exercise is to determine who is the odd god out, and furthermore figure out what the names of the others were typoed from. Send your answers/entries to theslyeagle@gmail.com with "contest" or something in the title. Correct answers will be entered in a drawing for a free print. One entry per person.

Name that Griffon.
We have a minor character that is in need of a name. I will post pictures of him here soon. He's a golden griffon: a large griffon the size of a large horse that is used by an order of templar in the Church of Alos as an aerial mount. His rider's name is Marcel, and he's a stately, quiet beast who aims to please and likes lemonade. He'll appear in chapter 5. Send your name ideas to theslyeagle@gmail.com with "griffon name" or something in the title. The winner...well, has named the griffon, and that will be his name in the story. Feel free to post any questions about him in this thread - I will answer. You may suggest as many names as you like, but please don't waste both our time with silly names like "Bob." We're looking for a suitable one.

Fanworks
We were just going to do a fanart contest, but that didn't seem fair to those of you who can write, but not draw. So. We'll do a fanworks contest instead. If there's enough entries to split them into fanart and fanfiction (I somehow doubt there's enough content for people to work with for the latter at this stage in the story, but the option is available), we'll do that and award a first place winner for each. Winners will receive a free print.
The rules for this is simple - send a copy of your art or prose to theslyeagle@gmail.com with "contest" or something in the title. Photos of art is acceptable, but it's better if you can scan it. JPGs are also preferable, but .png and .gif is fine. I will not limit the file size, but PLEASE keep it on the lowish side. For prose, .rtf or .html if you would, but .txt is also acceptable. Fanworks must be of Oris and our characters - I can't accept random or original elves and whatnot. Crossovers are fine, but make sure our characters are central to whatever's going on (it is Ambition "fanworks" after all). You may enter as many pieces as you like, but we're going for quality over quantity, so taking your time on one piece gives you a better chance than giving us a large number of lower quality ones.

On a final note, all entries must be sent on or before January 22, 2007. If I don't get very many entries, I may extend or grant extentions to people who aren't quite done. Feel free to ask questions if you have any!

[karnanyd]

Ooh! Sounds like fun! If I get some time in the near future (AHHHH! CHRISTMAS IS COMING!) I will certainly try to enter these.

And congratulations on one year of fabulous webcomicing!

[mjkj]

Ok, I sent my entry

I hope all is right


mjkj

[mjkj]

Name that Griffon:

Known facts:

- race: Griffon
- sex: male
- color: golden
- size: of a large horse
- rider: Marcel - order of templar, church of Alos
- character: stately, quiet, aims to please and likes lemonade
- first appearance: chapter 5
- name: to be suggested - suitable - but not Bob!

Questions:
- How old is he (is he considered an adult of his race)?
- what is his favourite meal/food?
- what creatures can't he stand?
- what is he afraid of?
- how fast is he?
- siblings?
- ancestors?
- relationship to dragons (fears them, equal, shuns them, etc.)?
- can he talk (what languages - is there also a Griffon-language)?

Ok enough for now

Looking forward for your answers


mjkj

[Sly Eagle]

All right then, more about our griffon:

He's on the larger side, at 5' 5" to the secondary (cat) shoulder. His coloration is normal for his species - that's actually more tawny than the color gold. He's a keythong, that is, a male, so he has something of a mane. The mane, and the primary feathers on his wings are dark brown.

Age - He's in his sixties. Golden Griffons are sexually mature at 6 years of age, but usually need at least seven years of training (ten is preferable) before they can safely be ridden in the air. They can live 200 years, usually more, but are usually retired by the time they reach 150. Carrying a human, as well as themselves, in the air is stressful. Marcel is the second knight to be his rider. His first was also a human.

Favorite food - He's partial to rabbit, but is happy to eat what he's given (besides, a rabbit is little more than a snack.) While carnivorous, he rarely needs to hunt for himself, as they provide meat for him at the temple.

Creatures he cannot stand - As with most griffons, he dislikes horses and prefers not to be near them. He also prefers to be not in the immediate vicinity of camels and llamas, but will bear all three if his rider deems the proximity necessary.

Things he's afraid of - Unknown. Rather little seems to ruffle his feathers, much less make him nervous. He's never been in a particularly dangerous situation (to him, at least) and he has no irrational fears.

Speed - His average flight speed is 30-35 miles per hour, but he may fly up to speeds of 50 mph for a short period of time.

Siblings - He was born in a clutch of five. Three besides him survived, and one other is also a templar mount. One is now a temple guard and the remaining one is part of the breeding program.

Ancestry - Griffon breeding is overseen by an organization within the Temple of the Sun. He comes from strong lines among the larger griffons - the ones suitable for riding.

Dragons - He's been fortunate to never have to share the skies with one. If he did, he'd have to hope that his rider would be the better spellcaster, because, loaded as he'd be, he'd have little hope for escaping an aggressive dragon. Fortunately, he mostly flies Cerisian skies which, seeing as there is a large density of humans on the ground, sports very few dragons.

Speech - Griffons claim intelligence on par with wolves or dolphins. However, they do not claim sentience. Griffons cannot speak, but communicte like animals. They usually learn to recognize a goo deal of human speech - in our griffon's case, he understands a goodly amount of Orisian, particularly "taking a break" and "food" and the like.

[mjkj]

Thank you Sly

For the very detailed answers, the only thing missing is now: the image of him.

By the way, I just send you the first set of names (or better of name-suggestions) and hope that you will find at least one that fits

But for more imagination I need an image of him that can stir that up.


mjkj


And enjoy your days off

[karnanyd]

Sly: I sent you an email with my griffin name suggestions. If you don't receive it because of spam filters or something, let me know.

[Sly Eagle]

Both e-mails have been received. Thank you for your participation!

[Soul Seeker]

I was wondering, could I send a fanart and also the names of the gods? I would like try to guess the names of the gods, but if it's a no-no I'll only send the fanart.

[Sly Eagle]

You can enter all three of the contests. So, yes, go ahead and do both!

[canterrain]

Ok, sent a fanfic thing just for the fun of it. (Never wrote one before to be honest)
Now... to work on the names of the gods. I have it narrowed down to two...

[varethane]

Ooh, a contest! *plots out Than fanart*

Edit and sent!

[mjkj]

Well, I submitted my (most probably) last part of the contest. (I do not know if I am able to submit (or better create it at first) some fanfic/fanart stuff)


mjkj

[Soul Seeker]

I've send the fan-art, hope you've gotten it.

[Jaibyrd]

Greetings all! First post on this board here!

Hope you got my submission of art and a crack at the Griffin's name. Thanks and good luck to all!