TCoD Contest - WINNERS!

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

Best Comic:

KelpGull's "Tooth of the Worm". Erica's story fits so well into The Chronicles of Dru! The tone is mysterious but playful with some laugh out loud moments as well as some of genuine emotion. Erica also added great snipets of lore that link Worms to the Elfs that will be fun to play around with in future chronicles. Amazing stuff all around. We can't wait to illustrate the cover and bumper for these wonderful characters.

Start reading here:




Best Written Story:

rachelillustrates's For Fairy Love is another amusing story that not only adds lore to Dru, but also the species of Gnomes (to which we said heck yeah!) The story is simple and sweet, offering somewhat of a bedtime-like story with a solid moral for the main characters to learn.

Star reading here:
CoD contest entry - For Fairy Love~** For Fairy Love**~
A tale for "The Chronicles of Dru"

~
Navaie the Elf Witch left Elf Port well over a decade ago, and had no intention of ever going back.
She lived in Cliffside City now, which suited her better. Much, much better. Her shop was small, but provided a comfortable life from sale of her custom spells - mostly hexes, minor charms.
It was a simple way to live. Quiet. Alone. She liked it.
That morning, she began the day like any other. She grumblingly got out of bed, braided her long white hair – dyed for effect - polished her spectacles and dressed in the many dark robes that (she hoped) gave her that extra air of powerful menace. Then she breakfasted, crumbling dried vegetable jerky between her perfect teeth as she looked over the shop and finally switched the sign on the door to ‘Open.’
That, however, was where the day’s normalcy ended.
It was raining, hard. Hours passed with no



Additional Winner:
Because we got more entries than we thought we would (seven people made seven whole short stories for this contest. I'm impressed!) we decided to have one more winner for the contest. Truly we wish we had time for all of them, and in the past when we had more time we surely would have made them all winners. C'est la vie!
The third place winner is:

IndigoIdelle's, The Stargazers, which we adored for multiple reasons: Marieke introduced not only diviners into the world of Dru, but also an astronomer, adding a bit of science into this mostly fantasy world. It's funny with sharp wit, and the characters are some of the most endearing entered in the contest. Amazing work!

Start Reading here:
The StargazersExup. It sounded like a soap brand, but it was a town in the Land of Eledus surrounded by tea and coffee fields. They could use some soap though. Farming was not exactly a clean job and neither was their experience with merchants. There had been a… situation recently.
You see, Exup was not famous for its tea, coffee or lack of soap, but for the highest concentration wizard wannabees of the kingdom. According to the only astronomer in town that is. The wizard wannabees did prefer to be called diviners though. And as regular wannabees are already annoying, these star gazing, crystal ball juggling, cheese watching, tarot reading, tea and coffee divining wizard wannabees were even more so as they were cocky, know it alls and the worst of all: they were right.
But fate works in mysterious ways and sometimes there are different answers on one question. This meant that the fortune tellers could not always tell the truth, because they could not see all the masks of fate. One of those mas



And that's all, folks! This may become a yearly contest, so keep an eye out and read a tale from Dru once in a while if you'd like to participate next year.
We truly appreciated all those who put entered--putting your time into a full story for us... it just brings tears to the old eyes.

We'll be contacting the winners about prizes... oh, probably next week. Keep an eye on that inbox!

~~~~~



Chronicles of Dru Contest

Concept

As some of you know, me and my sisters, DrMistyTang and ratscout have been creating short stories for a little world we call "The Chronicles of Dru". It’s a series made up of short stories that are either in written/literature form or in comic form.

We are looking for new Chronicles from different voices to include in our series! Your task for this contest is to write a short story (or poem) or draw a short comic that could fit into this world. It's especially a good opportunity to writers who've always wanted to have something illustrated!

As a side note to writers: If you're worried about not placing because you don't have the best grammar, don't sweat. Me and my sisters are looking for great stories--we can always assist you in editing if you win.

If for any reason you can't submit your entry to DA, please send to zimeta08@hotmail.com

 

There will be both a literature and a comic section for winners. (There will be potentially more than two winners per section, depending on how many entries we get.) The winners will be accepted as CANON for our Chronicles of Dru series.

Best literature: Your written work will be illustrated by DrZime and DrMistyTang and will be included in the Chronicles of Dru webpages with a link to your DA page and whatever other webpages you have.+one sketch illustration of whatever you want from DrMistyTang.

  Best Comic: DrMistyTang and DrZime will draw a cover pages and ending bumper images depicting your characters. Your work will be included in the Chronicles of Dru webpages with a link to your DA page and whatever other webpages you have. +one sketch illustration of whatever you want from DrZime.

Examples of illustrations:

 July 30th, 2017

There will be no extensions, except if there're no entries.

Write a short story or draw a short comic for The Chronicles of Dru.

For literature: Preferably under 15 pages with 20 being the max. Can be as short as you wish. You’re even allowed to write a short poem instead if that’s your game!

For comics: Preferably under 25 pages with 30 being the max. Can be as short as you wish; even one page if you can manage that!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DRU:

The following information is to help you write a story that will fit into our world of Dru. It’s a pretty new series, and we only have a few tales so far, so it won’t be difficult.

Tone: Dru is usually lighthearted and fun. However, darker tales are also welcome. Part of the fun of Dru is the wide array of stories it can have! Adventure, romance, horror, comedy--all are welcome! Also, please glance through our established tales if you want some examples of tone: mistytang.deviantart.com/journ…
All tales should be rated PG13.
The most blood you can show/write are cuts with bleeding. 
The most sex/nudity: cleavage is okay, but no nudity. Pillow talk is fine, but once again the bodies have to be covered.

Canon: We don’t have too much canon to go on since we only have about ten tales up. This is a great time to add your own unique twists on magic and fantasy into this world. Again, we're looking for more voices to add to the color of Dru!

We DO however, have some preset countries and species/people off of which you can get some ideas:

>>> Countries of Dru/ Map

>>> People of Dru

>>> If you’d like to know more about how magic works in Dru, read Woemfol’s Cage

>>> If you’d like to know more about how fairies work in Dru, read The Enigmatic Insect

Established characters: We have several established characters for the Chronicles of Dru, and you are allowed to include them in your Chronicle (example: you want your character to have a chat with Wizard Woemfol)--however, they should only be in the background or side characters. We primarily want NEW creations! But if you choose to include one of the established characters, feel free to consult one of us if you're nervous about keeping them in character and such.

Aesthetic information: Dru is inspired by ‘80s fantasy movies like The Princess Bride, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Return to OZ, Willow, etc. And also B movies… which are hard to list because not a lot of people watch them. XD If you don’t get any of these references, no worries! Overall we want there to be a certain mood and air of charm or quirk to Dru. Just aim for whatever fantasy you like mixed with the information listed under “canon”.

Questions? : Like we said, we haven’t written too much for this series, so just scout about the Chronicles of Dru pages (Smackjeeves is particularly maneuverable) . And if you have any questions about countries or species, just ask! Or, if you don’t feel like asking just guess! Now’s your chance to add to our canon.

Website:  As always, we encourage people to check out our SmackJeeves page for TCoD, as that is the best place for ease of reading of the various installments of The Chronicles of Dru.

We do also have an archive here on DA if you prefer to stay on-site to read some of the installments.

Other information: When starting, we suggest coming up with a simple idea that would be fun to explore based on the outlined countries and species of Dru and then flesh it out!

Examples: (feel free to steal these)

-- What if someone was allergic to magic?

--What if a baker had to deliver a cake to the Dark Lord?

-- What is the story of the first King of Dru?

-- What if a mouse had to cross the plains of decay?

-- What if someone got only one wish from a Genie?

So basically just go for it! Make some characters and an amusing story and have fun!


If for any reason you can't submit your entry to DA, please send to zimeta08@hotmail.com

01.)

02.) Mister Marrow and the sparrow"I'm sorry, John." The baker sighed, passing a basket of bread to the elderly scribe. "Hannah will be missed."
"Yes." John took it with both of his ink-stained hands, clinging to it, as if just to be able to hold something. He watched as the baker retreated back down the road, then closed his door with a sigh. The ivy-covered brick cottage was quiet, empty. Another book was on his desk, waiting for him to finish copying it in the elegant script with golden embellishments he was known for.
As if anyone read the books. Now a days, once completed, they were relegated to the back shelves of some collector, hidden away from light and life to remain pristine. Never seen, never read, never enjoyed.
The hunched, bald old man set the basket down on his desk, pushing his thick glasses up his nose. The afternoon sun was filtering in the open window beside him, but it wasn't bright enough. Not for his old eyes. Not anymore.
He reached for the lamp on the desk's corner, tapping the shade to make it

03.)

04.) CoD contest entry - For Fairy Love~** For Fairy Love**~
A tale for "The Chronicles of Dru"

~
Navaie the Elf Witch left Elf Port well over a decade ago, and had no intention of ever going back.
She lived in Cliffside City now, which suited her better. Much, much better. Her shop was small, but provided a comfortable life from sale of her custom spells - mostly hexes, minor charms.
It was a simple way to live. Quiet. Alone. She liked it.
That morning, she began the day like any other. She grumblingly got out of bed, braided her long white hair – dyed for effect - polished her spectacles and dressed in the many dark robes that (she hoped) gave her that extra air of powerful menace. Then she breakfasted, crumbling dried vegetable jerky between her perfect teeth as she looked over the shop and finally switched the sign on the door to ‘Open.’
That, however, was where the day’s normalcy ended.
It was raining, hard. Hours passed with no

05.) The StargazersExup. It sounded like a soap brand, but it was a town in the Land of Eledus surrounded by tea and coffee fields. They could use some soap though. Farming was not exactly a clean job and neither was their experience with merchants. There had been a… situation recently.
You see, Exup was not famous for its tea, coffee or lack of soap, but for the highest concentration wizard wannabees of the kingdom. According to the only astronomer in town that is. The wizard wannabees did prefer to be called diviners though. And as regular wannabees are already annoying, these star gazing, crystal ball juggling, cheese watching, tarot reading, tea and coffee divining wizard wannabees were even more so as they were cocky, know it alls and the worst of all: they were right.
But fate works in mysterious ways and sometimes there are different answers on one question. This meant that the fortune tellers could not always tell the truth, because they could not see all the masks of fate. One of those mas

06.) The Country Of Jane (TCoD contest submission)Far west, much further than anyone would want to go, there is a strange place, a place where magic is nothing but illusions, and everything is a steady constant. For the People of The Country of Jane are a very steady and constant people.
Unlike the marvelous Kingdom of Dru, there is only one race, one government, one identity for all of the Country of Jane to share. Though, it isn’t a harsh place, nor an unpleasant one, it is simply unimportant. No one in Dru would even imagine Jane existed, just as no one in Jane would consider the existence of Dru.
That is until a Genie stood on a beach of perfectly white sand, overlooking an ocean so blue it was black, her tongue between her teeth and her amber-yellow eye’s resisting the temptation to close. The heat was pleasant and washed over her like sleep would. The only discomfort was an anxiously jumping goblin next to her, a goblin that was her master for however long it took him to make a wish.
Harold Gregshire had a contract f

07.) The Warrior and the Wizard, Part One    One cold, wet spring day in a time long before Dru, the warrior Arnast, with his brother, the wizard Dheodoros, rode into a moderate-sized village in the Great Forest of Eledus; Arnast in search of adventure, and Dheodoros in search of a cup of wine, a hot meal, and a warm bed for a change.
    Dheodoros found his objective first, at the small but reasonably well-kept inn near the center of the village. He lingered over his cup of spiced mead - normally he despised mead, but this wasn't bad - and watched his brother chat with the innkeeper.
    "We're in luck, Dheo," Arnast grinned, coming back to their table and sitting across from him.
    Dheodoros groaned theatrically and rolled his eyes. "Luck to you is trouble to me. Can't we enjoy two days of peace together without yet another bothersome quest?"
    "You're the one who insisted on tagging along," Arnast reminded him.
  The Warrior and the Wizard, Part Two    "A toast, to the end of our troubles." The King raised his wine glass, Arnast and Dheodoros followed suit, and all three drank.
    "Can you tell me anything about the disappearances, Majesty?" Dheodoros began. "Is there any commonality between them?"
    "None," Kanamit answered with a slight smile. "I've been most careful about that."
    Arnast suddenly slumped over his armrest. Dheodoros leapt up and made to go to him, but was stopped by the King's vice-like grip on his wrist. "Merely a sleeping draught," he told the wizard. "No sense letting him go to waste."
    "And myself?" Dheodoros growled.
    "Oh, you'll have your use as well. But regretfully, you'll have to be awake for it." He slapped a set of manacles on the wizard's wrists. Dheodoros recognized the symbols etched into the metal and knew he wouldn't be able to break out of them. The king shoved him towar