The Campaign Builder's Guild

Get ready for this.

I'm hosting a contest for the CBG. You want to enter this contest.

What You Submit:
I want a piece of poetry or music from your world. This should be an in-world composition, written by some inhabitant of your setting world. (The writer/composer need not be named; an anonymous in-world point of view is fine.) This should be the sort of epic tale that storytellers in your setting might recount, a poem from a published anthology that might be purchased in an in-setting shop, or the sort of song an adventurer might hear while visiting the local tavern between journeys.

All sorts of formats are fine. Song lyrics are fine by themselves (melodies and other musical data aren't necessary). You can submit anything from the haiku-wrapped wisdom of ancient orders, the Beowulf-length saga of a legendary hero, or the bawdy and lascivious verses to a popular drinking song. Go wild!

Submit your entries by posting in this contest's Entry Thread.

The Rules:
- Your submission must be original. Of course.
- Your submission must be new. Don't post something you've got laying around already. I want to put everybody on an even footing, without giving an advantage to people who already have tons of in-world poetry stashed on a hard drive or a website. Honor system, folks.
- Your submission must be in-world. As described above, this should be written from the point of view of a character. Do not break the fourth wall (unless, of course, consistently breaking the fourth wall is somehow a staple feature of your world.) Use your own setting, please, not someone else's (even if your own setting hasn't been posted yet on the site.)
- Your submission must be posted by March 31, 2009. The deadline is midnight, EST (GMT -5). Don't be late!

The Judging:
I will judge entries myself. Entries of any length are acceptable. Any ancillary material (musical recordings, musical notation, artwork, et cetera) will not be considered and will not affect the contest's results.

The Prizes!
The winning entrant will receive the following fabulous prizes, each one lovingly handcrafted by yours truly:
- An attractive award image to be placed in your signature!
- An original musical setting of your winning submission, composed by me! Your musical setting of your poem or song will be beautifully scribed in ink on high-quality paper, and will be digitally scanned and posted here, for your use in setting threads, websites, wikis, et cetera. The music will be playable/singable by anyone who can read music. At my option, I may choose to include accompaniment parts for guitar (in-setting, perhaps a lute-like stringed instrument) or piano (in-setting, perhaps a harpsichord-like keyboard instrument). If your submission is particularly lengthy, I may set only a portion of it.
- A letter in the mail! After scanning your music, I will carefully shove it into an envelope and mail you the original manuscript, for you to frame, put on your mantelpiece, and cherish forever. At your option, I can autograph the work with a small, tasteful "-LC". (If you have a problem with giving out your mailing address, we can skip this whole part.)

Ask questions in this thread. Go!

Awesome sauce!

This is kick ass!  Definitely participating in this one once I can cook something up.

Agreed.

OK.  Monkey wrench time.  Can My PC's contribute?

Vreeg, here's my guess on that:

Quote from: Luminous CrayonThe Rules:
- Your submission must be original. Of course.
- Your submission must be new. Don't post something you've got laying around already. I want to put everybody on an even footing, without giving an advantage to people who already have tons of in-world poetry stashed on a hard drive or a website. Honor system, folks.
- Your submission must be in-world. As described above, this should be written from the point of view of a character. Do not break the fourth wall (unless, of course, consistently breaking the fourth wall is somehow a staple feature of your world.) Use your own setting, please, not someone else's (even if your own setting hasn't been posted yet on the site.)
- Your submission must be posted by March 31, 2009. The deadline is midnight, EST (GMT -5). Don't be late!

Since a PC is, indeed, a character, I'd say sure. Obviously it's not my contest, but that's my guess.

Quote from: Vreeg's BaroloOK.  Monkey wrench time.  Can My PC's contribute?

As long as it's in-world, that's fine.

Cool.  My bardic Wunderkin will be thrilled.  Or not.  But I figures, why not?

Yo! Read this thread, folks!

Oh, thanks, I was just thinking that I need to get started on this and read the thread again.

Ask and you shall receive, I guess.

Sweet as pie.

Best. Idea. Ever. I'm in. Is there a deadline for entries?

Quote from: KindlingIs there a deadline for entries?

Quote from: LCThe Rules:
- Your submission must be posted by March 31, 2009. The deadline is midnight, EST (GMT -5). Don't be late!

first entry posted!^^
the ballad of king roland tells of how the Last King came to the land and how he died. it's an ancient traditional without an in-world author and some of the lyrics are no longer understood. it can be either played to a dancing tune as a morality tale for the kids (i wrote it to more or less fit the tune of "farewell and adieu (to you, Spanish Ladies)"), or as a melancholic song to sing for the old folks and remember the old days.

Wonderful to get an entry! Hopefully there will be many more. (After all, there is certainly plenty of time remaining.)

In the meantime, I'm enjoying reading Roland's ballad. Thanks for that!