Writers' Study Yearly Awards 2017 - The Awards Ceremony
Writers' Study Yearly Awards 2017
The Awards Ceremony
by Caillagh de Bodemloze and Alwyn
The Great Hall is thronged with guests from all over the Writers' Study. Authors and readers, nominees and those who made nominations, voters and spectators - possibly even a few passers-by. The imps have decorated the Great Hall to within an inch of its life. Ribbons, and bunting, and tinsel, and streamers, and banners in assorted vibrant colours, and huge bunches of flowers occupy almost every inch of available surface and quite a lot of the air-space, making it difficult for most people to see the stage at all. In one back corner, there is a table crowded with imps and loaded with mugs of coffee and plates of biscuits. It seems that the work for the Awards Ceremony is not yet finished, for several of the imps are frantically punching holes in sheets of paper and carefully placing the pages into ring-binders. The cord for releasing the balloons has been placed under armed guard; the Writers' Study staff stand around it, each holding a scroll with which to bop on the head any imp who tries to pull the cord too soon.
Even the busy imps stop work and join in the applause as the Writers' Study Director, resplendent in his ceremonial robes, and preceded by a very proud imp bearing the Director's staff of office, approaches the lectern.
Newcomer of the Year
Our 2017 Newcomer of the Year is the author of the popular Medieval II AAR Tales after the Crusade, the second-place winner of MAARC LXXIII, a writer for Tale of the Week and a creative writer. He contributes to the community of writers here by encouraging others. With all of these contributions, he is a worthy winner of this award. This award earns him 1 Writers' Study competition point; when he has earned three more points, he will qualify for a bronze Writers' Study Competition Medal. Please join me in raising a glass to NorseThing - our Newcomer of the Year!
There is enthusiastic cheering and clapping from the imps' table, where one imp has produced a bottle of wine from beneath the table, and is now passing this round. The imps who are still working shake their heads and wave the bottle away, but the others seem quite keen...
Creative Writing of the Year
Our third place winner in Creative Writing of the Year is ...
AD USQUE FIDELIS by ♔Old Dragoon♔. In a hot summer in Constantinople, two friends meet in a sordid drinking den and remember their military service together. In this tale mysteries multiply: there are mysteries about a coin, about the past of a character and about testimony to be given in a court case.
With this win, ♔Old Dragoon♔ earns 2 Writers' Study competition points and is now just two points away from a silver Writers' Study Competition Medal!
Our second place winner in Creative Writing of the Year is ...
Words of the Forgotten by Admiral Van Tromp. Readers benefit from Admiral Van Tromp's seven years of work in developing his fictional world. In addition to a well-developed world, in this tale we find well-developed characters; we agree with Axis Sunsoar, who commented on the "excellent character development".
With this win, Admiral Van Tromp earns 3 Writers' Study competition points and now qualifies for a silver Writers' Study Competition Medal! 
Our first-place winner in Creative Writing of the Year is ...
A rumbling sound can be heard from the imps' table. The imps are beating their hands against the table and their feet against the chairs. Apparently they feel a drum-roll is required.
A Conquest of the Stars by Tigellinus. Eleusis and Kaldratos are rising stars in a wide-ranging interstellar war, champions of their respective factions - and brothers. Meanwhile, Risa is caught between her fear of death and her loyalty to those who saved her when her home was destroyed. The drama and excitement of this tale is shown in this moment from Chapter Seven:
In space men and women die in silence. Hundreds. Thousands. Ships with civilians huddling in fear are evaporated in seconds. I can picture their cries; not only in fear, but in the realisation that their Imperium has been bested, that their invincible Armadas were no longer so. I am victorious.
Not for a second do I think it is worth it.
With this win, Tigellinus receives 4 Writers' Study competition points and joins the band of writers who have earned a silver Writers' Study Competition Medal, congratulations!
There is a pause as the envelope listing the next set of winners is presented to Alwyn. In the comparative quiet, a squeak is heard, and a somewhat embarrassed imp scuttles back to his seat, having been intercepted on his way to the balloon cord by theSilentKiller.
AAR of the Year
The third place winner in AAR of the Year is ...
Dreadbolt by Alavaria. With brevity, style and wit, Alavaria shows us Pisa's rise to power. Other nations might bring strong infantry or cavalry or archers, but the strongest enemies with wither under the deadly rain of Pisa's crossbow bolts. This tale offers insights into a successful campaign and an element of mystery through the intriguing character of Our Lady.
With this win, Alavaria earns 2 Writers' Study competition points and now qualifies for a bronze Writers' Study Competition Medal! 
A muffled bumping sound is heard from the balcony. At a barely perceptible nod from Alwyn, Axis Sunsoar sets off to find out what's going on...
The second place winner in AAR of the Year is ...
An Orcs Tale by Maltacus. Malthus is a crafty orc of Mordor, who rises to command an army. Told through the perspectives of Malthur, the orc general, and Cirion, the terrified survivor of an army from Gondor, this AAR offers authentic-sounding orcs, growing tension and (as one reader, Socrates1984 said), "explosions of action".
With this win, Maltacus earns 3 Writers' Study competition points and is now just two points away from a bronze Writers' Study Medal!
Once again, the imps provide a drum roll. Encouraged by the wine, this time it's even louder than before.
The first place winner in AAR of the Year is ...
Nous Pauvre Couillon de Front by theSilentKiller. At 22 years of age, Thomas Rampasse hadn't achieved anything and didn't know what to do with his life. When war began, he volunteered for the Army and was sent into the carnage of the Western Front during the First World War. With historical details and events - such as the transport of thousands of soldiers from Paris to Sèzanne in Parisian taxis - this gripping story takes us into the clamour and terror of trench warfare, in which disobeying orders might be the only sane action at the time, but an action which could expose Rampasse to more danger:-
... while I was thinking why he might have summoned me he proceeded with: "We have been told that during the advance towards Dommartin-Dampierre you took command over several men, not only those of our squad but also from others, and disregarded the orders of your captain to hold out until a move order is given. Is that correct?"
With this win, theSilentKiller earns 4 Writers' Study competition points and now qualifies for a silver Writers' Study Competition Medal, congratulations!
Alwyn processes majestically to the cord, and pulls. A mass of balloons in every colour imaginable floats down from the ceiling as the audience (and the imps) applaud.
As the balloons land, and people start to throw them around, several giggling imps pop up around the balcony, and throw... something... over the railing. It looks almost like snowflakes, but surely even the semi-magical Writers' Study imps couldn't manage that? No... it's the little tiny bits they've punched out of their sheets of paper. Some of them are round, some star-shaped, and some shaped like a quill. The imps, clearly overjoyed at their success, jump up and down, and hug each other, and wave at the audience, and the winners, and the other imps, until Axis shepherds them back towards the balcony exit.
The Writers' Study staff (and imps) would like to thank everyone who has taken part in this Writers' Study Yearly Awards, whether by nominating someone, being nominated, or voting. Congratulations to all the winners, and to all the nominees.
Last edited by Alwyn; March 03, 2018 at 06:11 AM.
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