Samanayrs

It’s time! A writing contest in celebration of Sushi and Samanayrs is upon us! This day has been eons in the making!
We all know that one Samanayr that thinks they can tell the best story in all the world (be they a true storyteller or not). But sometimes, a Samanayr just needs to prove them wrong… by telling the best story they possibly can. Just the other night you heard that one Samanayr trying to tell a story about ancient Sams that looked very different than the wide variety we now see today.


Your mission: Take one of your Samanayrs (foal or adult, even a foal version of your favorite Sam) and have them tell a story about a prehistoric Samanayr. Try to use the prize Samanayrs in this event as the subject of your story, but you can, with great big basket of cookies for yours truly, use the other prehistoric Samanayrs that were just shown in the recent events. These stories can be about anything – day to day life, a tremendous life change, or maybe they almost got eaten. The tone can be happy, funny, sad, and downright crazy – what speaks to you is what you should write!

Don’t limit yourselves to what I’ve said because you’ve got a whole lot of time to shift through and pick out something special to write about!

And if you want to make a little ‘cave art’ to go along with your story, that would be exciting to see but it does not mean that you’ll have a leg up on someone who didn’t do any art.



Prizes
Here are the prizes for the three best stories! These prizes will be randomly assigned to the winners by the wonderful random.org.

The top three and the runners up will also receive random prizes for their participation in this event!

How to enter
Send a message to my account, SilverDapples, (messages sent anywhere else will not be accepted) titled Written in Stone, in that message, make sure to insert your story or a link to wherever your story is being hosted.
This contest ends on Friday, September 12th at 11:59 PM PST. That means you can send your stories in right up to 11:58 PM PST if you’re a daredevil!


Rules and other info
- There is no minimum word requirement, but in this sort of event and the amount of time given, you can easily write a fair amount of words for this story telling experience.
- There is a limit to one entry per person.
- If you prematurely send your story and wish to change things before the time is up, resend the story with a little note at the top explaining what happened.



I highly endorse at the very end of the event, after it has ended, to post your story, because the whole reason is to write something fun (or sad, or scary) is to have other people read it!

If you have any questions, message me or comment below!

Woohoo. I think I already have an idea.

I have an idea! xD I have been obsessed with the movie "The Croods" >_>;;; It is like, the best movie, EVER! lol Lots of cave drawing in that movie ^^

I strongly suggest everyone watch it... kind of gives you a different out look on what animals could have been... so much imagination. ^.^ And the kitty! D8 Oh the kitty!!!!!! ^.^

<3333

Seren or anyone else feel free to use any of my sam's, Just shoot me a pm to let me know. Tasmin on PI

I might have to enter this one!

And I loved the "Croods"! Everytime I play a game, then, gasp or sigh, my daughter asks, "Did you get curious, and DIE?"

I've been mulling over this one. I intend to enter, but I haven't had a spark of inspiration yet. I enjoyed the Croods; it was hilarious and pretty sweet too.

I do not own a Samanayr, may I use someone else's so that I can enter?

Spiede wrote:I do not own a Samanayr, may I use someone else's so that I can enter?

You can use my Keeper, if you'd like. I don't have any particular ideas for her personality yet, so feel free to come up with whatever sounds fitting/interesting.


I'm reserving my other three, because I'm still debating on which one I intend to use as my storyteller. Scaling might feature in it as well. o.o ^_^;

With the contest being over, so comes the results! I have to say, I really did like all the stories, and I wish that there were prehistoric Sams for everyone who entered, because that'd make my heart happy.


Results
Kentouma, Janalee, and Seren are our winners! They each had wonderful stories, with equally wonderful ways of telling those stories; each had different methods and styles of telling the stories, which was extremely exciting to read (and I seriously urge you three, and everyone else, to post those stories for everyone else to read).

The prizes have been rng'd as the following!
goes to Kentouma
goes to Janalee
goes to Seren




With all the tradeable items and four modiems up for grab, rng Gods decided the following:
Janalee recieves a Gleamstone
Kentouma recieves a Sweetscent Flower
Operetta recieves a Color Modiem
Yildun recieves some Tandil Berries
silvermoondragon recieves a Brown Lamanayr Feather
RikkuGirl recieves some Rosa Berries
Seren recieves a Pattern Modiem


Screencap of the results: http://sta.sh/0k7pzk6zubg

I'll be messaging Sushi momentarily to give the prizes to their respectful new owners c:


I hope everyone enjoyed their writing, because I know I certainly enjoyed reading the stories!

eeeeeh I am honored to have such a cute little pachyderm! I think I know who I'd love to see her with already... XD I can't help it!

Thank you for the modiem as well! I will probably post my story if I can try to finish my sketch! ;3

Whoo! Congrats everyone.

Here's mine. ^_^;

"How did you do it?" Snared in Timeless Amber asked. "All of my feet felt so heavy and useless, compayred to the leaps and bounds everyone else was making!"

She sat upon a fallen, crumbling log, scraping off some of the moss in her agitation. Her antenna flicked as she looked up at Scaling of the Lush Jungles, who sat upon her tree branch, inclining her head to one side, and smiling. She shrugged her feathered arms awkwardly, but Snared narrowed her glimmering eyes and refused to accept that as an answer.

"You flew! Youyr wings seemed more useful. The most. Even the otheyrs with wings couldn't beat you."

Scaling nodded, and scratched at her chin with one of her hooks.

"I had a lot of luck and suppoyrt, fyrom my fyriends and the wind."

Snared lifted herself up onto all six legs as she peered at Scaling more intently.

"The wind?" she scoffed. "The magic, you mean."

Scaling shifted on her branch and smiled knowingly. "Pyrobably. Eveyr since I was small, smalleyr than now... Ever since my biyrth song showed me the rituals, I have tyrusted in the wind. Isn't it the same thing as using magic?"

Snared looked down and scratched behind one ear, not knowing what her companion meant.

"How?" she asked. "Why?"

Scaling hopped down onto the mossy bark and looked more earnest as she vaguely gestured, spreading her feathered arms wide and waving them around in the air.

"The wind is all ayround us! It byrings the rains and the currents that rise under my wings as I glide. By respecting it, and telling it so every morning when I rise, I have seen feweyr stoyrms so styrong that it seemed like the whole foyrest would come cyrashing down!"

This sounded more believable to the hesitant mare, but she remained uncertain and idly tapped one of her front hooves against the bark, leading to a soft, hollow echo underneath her.

"Maybe," Snared said. "Why would the wind listen to you?"

Scaling shook her head. "It listens to all of us! It's really only luck to have it's favoyr at the right time, or to even see much of a diffeyrence without looking for it. All I know is the wind lifted me up by my wings as I ran, climbed, and jumped my way oveyr the obstacles in my path."

Snared fell silent and Scaling became even more earnest, though it was a quiet sort of pleading.

"I offered it some of my fruit that moyrning, and all week befoyre the special day. I even scyratched a pictuyre of my victory into the bough under my nest and the rustling leaves seemed to sing. In retuyrn, I had the wind at my back as I ran. It filled my lungs and kept me going when they ached. I have had nothing, but good tidings lately."

Snared nodded, but frowned. "Eh. I think I'll find a way to skip the wind and go styraight to luck, then. It seems to be the better decideyr in what matteyrs the most. Do you know how to reach it's ear?"

Scaling sighed. There was very little she could refute and even less advice to give. So, she shrugged.

"I wouldn't know, but tell me if you meet it on youyr way to the wateyring hole. It couldn't huyrt to find out what it wants in return."

Then the mini mare hopped along the log, pounced on the trunk of the tree she'd been using as a perch earlier, and climbed back up into the safety of the high branches. The breeze ruffled the leaves and Scaling smiled, even as Snared decided the conversation was over and wandered off to find her supper.

Congrats, winners! Thanks for the modiem!

Congrats everyone! I had hoped to enter this but time just wasn't on my side. But do hope you all post your entries so I can read them though!

*laughs* Snared, long time, no see! XP Hehe, and a gleamstone too! Thanks Dapples, and congrats to all the winners!

Aw, and a conversation between Scaling and Snared! :3 Thanks for sharing Yildun! I suppose I could post mine as well, just so everyone can see how self-referential I am... *crooked grin*

__________________

A History Lesson





"The old world was nothing like the one we have now; it was-"

Unfurling of a Bygone Era paused dramatically, her Storyteller training naturally kicking in to cover her confusion. She'd been daydreaming, and started telling a story she knew well- unfortunately, it also had nothing to do with the question the foal had asked her. It seemed rather silly now, but she never had given any thought to the prehistoric Samanayrs before. Were there actually any stories about them? She'd have to ask some of the other Storytellers that sometime, but for now...

The Storyteller flashed an encouraging smile at the impromptu gathering of foals before her- it was a good thing most foals loved to feel helpful, really. It'd be a lot harder to pull this off at a formal telling, or even with a group of adults around her.

"Well, you look like such a bright group- why don't you tell me what you think it was like first?"

The foals all seemed to blink in unison, their faces taking on looks on intense concentration or lively imagination, depending on their nature. Unfurling spread out her wings, letting the florae fall in a line behind her head like the backdrop to a play- a world full of rustling ferns and bone, for those who needed a bit of a hint first.

"Was it covered in ice?"
"Or in splinters of rock?"
"No, it was covered in Sam-eating plants!"

The mare couldn't quite stifle her laugh at the last answer, but she let it flow naturally into her praise of the little filly, who seem destined to either become a Storyteller or a habitual liar.

"How did you know?! You don't look quite old enough to have seen it yourself!"

The filly beamed, as the others in the group gasped in admiration at her assumed knowledge. Unfurling's smile was hardly less wide than the foal's, as she looked sweetly over the gathering before her- she was actually kind of glad she hadn't had a story on hand now, or she would have missed getting to interact with them like this. It reminded her of when her own children had been foals, long ago through it was. Maybe it was time to find another stallion again...but there she was, daydreaming again. And right after it had nearly gotten her in a mess in the first place, too! With a nearly imperceptible shake of her body, which made the bones and metal of her costume clank against each other with sudden, sharp sounds, she shook her inattention away from her, and took control of the group and the story again. With an appreciative nod to the first two foals who had answered, she continued on with the telling.

"It's true that some places were covered in thick layers of ice, which drove the Samanayrs before it as it slowly moved down the land. And near the volcanoes, sharp shards of sand and boulders from the cooling lava did make for places where only the toughest Sams would dare to go. But for most of the Sams, which lived between these two extremes, the plant-life was the biggest problem of all! Can you imagine! Some of them just had sharp thorns and leaves-"

She moved her florae forward so that the fronds fell among her horns to mimic her words, before playfully nudging them towards the nearest listener.

"-with which to jab any Sam that tried to eat it. But some of them could actually move on their own! Their branches would tangle around an unsuspecting Sam-"

The ferns shifted from the horns until they hugged tightly around her body, while Unfurling shivered in mock fear over her 'capture,' making some of the foals giggle loudly.

"-and before they could get away, the plant's sap would flow over their victims, trapping them forever! Have you ever gotten sap on you?"

Unfurling moved her forelegs as if stuck in the substance, her tongue stuck out in disgust.

"And that was probably just a little bit of sap! If it was a whole river of the stuff- well, you'd really have to find some way to get away if you could. So, how would you want to escape?"

"I'd want to run really fast!"
"No, it'd be better to slash the plants right back!"
"Or maybe have skin that the sap would slide off of!"

The mare nodded seriously at all of their suggestions. Yes, all of those should work nicely to answer that original question- what made the prehistoric Sams so different?

"Yes, many of the old Sams excelled at running- some had multiple legs, and others were bipedal with long, long legs to let them take even longer strides to get away. And some had incredible tusks or sharp talons-"

Her costume proved especially worthy for that second point, the saber teeth and scythe claws fighting valiantly against the imaginary plants. She'd have to remember to thank her teacher once again for her excellent choice in materials and design- it just seemed to fit any story, even an impromptu little history lesson about something she knew next to nothing about.

"-which they used to battle the branches and escape. And others had thick, slick armor on their back and heads, so they could pull away from the sap when the chance arose. Most, really, probably showed all three of those traits, which is why the prehistoric Sams looked so different from most of the Sams today! You can still see Sams with some of those traits today though, to honor those old ancestors."

"But why do we look different today? Wouldn't those all be good traits to have?"

A good question- but Unfurling was pretty sure she knew the answer to that one.

"Well, after the Sams got so good at escaping, the plants weren't able to eat anyone any more, and they starved. And once they were gone, most Sams lost their fierce traits, because it's much more comfortable to cuddle with your dam when everyone is soft and fluffy! Speaking of whom-"

Unfurling pointed at the rise of a nearby hill, where the dams had just come into view from their own gathering.

"-why don't you run over, and show them that that fast trait definitely stuck around in all of you!"

With a chorus of squeals, and a few bets about who was fastest, the foals took off, happy enough to show off after sitting still for so long. The Storyteller smiled wistfully after them, before returning to the daydreams the group had interrupted. She had to get ready for the tellings tonight, after all- and maybe figure out how to tell a story about a prehistoric Sam, when the very word 'prehistoric' implied that their stories hadn't passed down. Could an Elemental time travel, maybe?

eeeeee berries!!! thanks dap!! that was fun. when i have a chance, ill poat mine ^^ woooo. congrats guys!!!

Congrats, you guys!

O.o I forgot about this! XD
Yay sag'risayr girlie! And my first non-Sushi sam to boot! Ironically enough... Also the only sam from the three prizes not to be explicitly mentioned by name in my story! XD Which I'll try to remember to post when I get home to a computer... Someone one me if I forget! XD

Congrats other winners as well!