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Post by Admin on Feb 23, 2020 14:20:01 GMT
This will be unlocked on March 1st
Please post your submissions as a reply under this post to have it entered into the March Contest. All submissions must be posted by March 20th to be considered for the contest voting.
Thank you and Good Luck
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Post by Lightspeed Inc on Mar 1, 2020 21:29:09 GMT
Author’s Note:
Welcome to the Alderbrook story-verse, an alternate SC-themed fantasy reality based on real world geography. I love community writing projects where many different authors collaborate on a fictional universe together. Previously I’ve only participated in a group to create fiction for an MMORPG with a pre-existing world/lore, so SC’s lack of game lore is a bit daunting, but it means we can create a whole universe from scratch. The sky is the limit!
Rules of Engagement: Jump in! Any characters or ideas in works tagged with the Alderbrook story-verse can be used by other authors to build upon or expand the universe in new directions. Invent some lore! Shamelessly promote your company! Let’s have creative fun together! However, since this is a game community where minors may be present, please avoid explicit mature content or themes in your work.
Our contest prompt for this month is “spring”. Vaguest prompt ever! Who voted for this, oh wait, I did. I’m an idiot lmao!
****
A soft breeze stirred the limbs of the apple trees overhead, sending a cascade of dappled shadows onto the auburn hair of the woman passing below. To the west, fields of golden grain ripple in the same breeze, stretching almost as far as the eye can see. To the south, rows upon rows of neat trellises hold Lightspeed Inc’s famed grapes.
Ash nods her head in satisfaction as she finishes her inspection of the apple orchard. Rodney McCain, the irascible head of Research and Development for Lightspeed Inc, promised her bigger, better quality delicious fruit with his latest fertilizer. Sure enough, the new fruit crop appeared to be growing in nicely this spring season.
A melodic chiming sound breaks the quiet. Ash pauses and taps her smartwatch. A tiny blue hologram immediately emerges, butterfly wings drifting slowly through the air.
“Hi Tina” Ash greets her tiny winged personal assistant with a smile.
“Ashley, the Orion State Festival Wine Tasting event is in two hours. Your husband says to tell you he’ll see you there.”
Ash rolls her eyes. Of course Connor would be too busy working before the biggest agricultural festival on the northwestern seaboard. James Connor Riley, CEO of Lightspeed Inc, built his company from a single plantation to a multi-faceted corporate conglomerate dabbling in agricultural, mineral and petroleum-based products. With Rodney’s help, the Orion State Festival was to be the debut of Lightspeed’s latest offering, a vintage wine distilled from the company’s proprietary breed of grapes. If all went well, distributors would flock to sell Lightspeed’s new product all across the United States of Alderbrook.
A few minutes later, Ash let herself into the sprawling farmhouse at the top of the hill. Built by Connor’s family when they first settled the land nearly a century ago after emigrating from Eyreland, the farmhouse expanded over the ensuing decades in several different directions not intended by the original builders. The roof perpetually leaked where the gable met the chimney and the red shutters on the second floor did not match the rest of the house. Personally, Ash rather thought it gave the place character.
The interior of the farmhouse was still and quiet. Ash immediately headed for the graceful winding staircase to the second floor, trailing her hand across the soft silk of the colorful ornamental kimono decorating the wall as she went. A vacation souvenir from their trip to Yapan last year. Swinging open the door to the master bedroom suite, Ash stumbled to a stop with a gasp. The room was filled with lit candles, throwing a warm flickering glow across the rose petals scattered across the bedspread and perfuming the air with an enchanting jasmine scent. A strong masculine arm slipped around Ash’s waist from behind and her husband’s lilting Eyrish drawl whispered into her ear: “Hey darling. Missed you.”
Oh, they were so going to be fashionably late to the Orion Festival wine tasting event.
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Post by Silicon Consolidated Products on Mar 18, 2020 19:12:21 GMT
Preface: I knew I had to write something once I saw this contest, specifically once I saw Lightspeed's entry I was planning to release all 4 parts at once, but due to RL events and my laziness I put it off and hadn't finished the last part yet. I'll finish that one later and post everything once it's complete.
For now here's the first part.The Founder's Fortune
1 - The Egg
It was around the yearend holidays when I got the letter.
I was taking a nap one late afternoon when suddenly there were three sharp knocks at my door. I almost didn't answer, thinking that I was not expecting anyone I know to come and visit me at this time, but I opened it anyway. I opened the door and there was no one there. Just when I was about to go back inside, I see this black envelope taped to my door. I was about to remove it when I hear the screeching of tires, and I see this heavily tinted black car speed past my front door. It took me a few seconds to regain my composure, not only did I not expect any visitors today, I certainly didn’t expect a suspicious looking car leave something at my door and then disappear in a spectacular fashion. I don’t even know if the car I saw had anything to do with the knocking and the black envelope, but I thought I saw somebody looking at me from the back of the car as it was speeding away.
The envelope itself is another mystery, with my name expertly calligraphed at the front in exquisite gold ink with a red wax seal at the back. I can’t help but smirk a bit when I saw the wax seal, who sends a written letter nowadays, not to mention sealing an envelope with wax? I didn’t recognize the pressed image on the seal, although I could make out the dollar symbol and the capital letter C.
I sat back down in my couch, opened the letter and read:
Your 21st spring in this world is fast approaching, as such we feel that it is time that you know.
Your father and grandfather have gone through the same process before, and now it is your turn.
Attached are the instructions and documents needed for you to start your journey, including proof that will erase any doubt from your mind about this very serious matter.
Please follow them to the letter, which I am sure you are capable of.
Yours, P.
I was stunned. Attached to the letter I received is a picture of my father and my grandfather, looking very distinguished inside my grandfather's old office. In the background, locked under a display case was my grandfather’s treasure, a normal looking egg with seven stars drawn on the surface in black sharpie.
I never got to know the real reason why he kept that egg, or why it is kept inside a sealed display case. He told me that he got it from some schoolchildren he donated some food to decades ago, and based on the crudely drawn stars I can tell that they were drawn by children, but when I asked my father he just smirked and nodded his head, saying I would know the truth when the time comes.
At the back of the photo was a note addressed to me from my father:
Hey, I’d give anything to see the look on your face while you’re reading this, but I can’t be there right now.
If you want to know the story of the egg, and the reason why it’s still around when the insides of that thing has probably rotten away decades ago, then follow the instructions included with this picture.
I have no idea what these instructions are, as I’m sure it will be different for you, but don’t worry, everything will turn out fine!
Dad
Now I’m even more confused. What does this all mean? Minutes ago I was just taking a nap and now there’s some sort of trip that I had to take?
I immediately dialed up my father. From the tone of the note it was almost as if he’s been dead for years, but in reality he’s on vacation to some island in the southern hemisphere to escape the cold. I told him about the envelope, and before I can even tell him about the picture he laughed so hard he could barely talk, all he managed to say was “follow the guide” before he hung up.
I didn’t even try to call him back, knowing my father I knew it would be useless, for now I’ll just have to wait until spring and hopefully get some answers.
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