Dueling Clans -- Character Try-outs January 15, 2008 - April 15, 2008

Reading and Deliberating

Details

The purpose of this contest is to assemble a group of willing writers to contribute to a crazy idea for a project of mine. Don't pay too much attention to winning a prize ribbon, what you're really competing for is an invitation to the group. And as the name formerly suggested, I want only the best. Your premise: in an alternate history, the Warring States period in Japan is drawing to a close. Two bohemoth clans now contend for dominance over the remainder of the war-torn archipelago. Paralleling their massive armies, the clans are each in possession of smaller elite units known as the Banners. They exist for covert warfare and assassinations, and are the most elite of all warriors. As the military strength of either clans succumbs to attrition, their reliance on their Banner warriors grows. Now, as the end draws near, the Banner troops will decide the fate of the world.

For this contest, you must submit a warrior for the Banner force of either the Oda clan or the Tokugawa clan. Don't concern yourself for now with the ultimate mission -- I want your original work, created specifically for this contest (note that somewhere, I don't really care where), and your original character.

Use prose to tell me about your character's training. Important things to note would be the character's motivations, physique, skills, personality, and weaknesses.

I'm not looking for superheroes -- in fact, to the contrary, the ultimate goal is a character-driven action plot about the spiral of death as the two clans lock in total war. Your characters should be REAL. That said, I more than welcome the badass, the natural leader, the ninja, the gun-for-hire -- the more original you are, the higher your chances are of receiving an invite. While there will be only one winner of the contest, there is no limit to how many people I will take in the group, so don't give up on yourself! Invitees are guranteed to have fun for as long as they stick with the group, and the sky's the limit for how far we take it.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I'll answer any question -- just might take me awhile.

edit 3 Feb 2008 -- changed contest title, because people were either taking it way too seriously or operating on a level of sarcasm beyond even me. C'mon now, it's all in good fun, right? Disclaimer, I'm not that awesome a writer myself, I'm just looking for people as crazy as I am -- that said, I'd much appreciate it if submissions not following the contest rules be kindly removed.