Wintersday Workshop 2011!

KiyaKoreena

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

USA

Kirins of Holy Light

09 Dec 2011 at 21:49 - 362

More progress between work shifts. Need to fix some textures and I'm not quite happy with its back hair.

I will have to prop its ears up when it goes in for baking.

BadDrizztfan

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2007

[ASSA]

09 Dec 2011 at 21:49 - 363

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tommy's

I can already see by the way you sketch that either you choose is going to be awesome, but I like the originality of the second one, so I'd suggest you go with that. I haven't seen any work of you so far, but I sense this is going to be positively EPIC! Haha thanks! I'm more active on the GW2 forums, I got a thread over there

Anyway, interesting that you prefer the second one! I'm gonna wait a bit and see what some others may say before I make my decision though!

KiyaKoreena

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

USA

Kirins of Holy Light

09 Dec 2011 at 22:14 - 364

@BadDrizztfan: Grentchs pose is going to be adjusted a bit once I get the backdrop done so it has a little more movement to it. Right now it is based off the at rest crouch they seem to have.

I like both of your sketches. In fact I am greedy and would like to see both completed along with a third because I see this kind of triangle going between them that just begs for a third picture to complete the shape.

But if you only want to do one I would like to see the second finished.

Thistle Xandra

Site Contributor

Join Date: Aug 2010

09 Dec 2011 at 23:15 - 365

Quote:

Originally Posted by obastable View Post

Progress gallery link: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjxfkpGk

Let me know what you want me to put for "title or idea" since I still have you as TBA

Also, to stick with the GW or GW2 theme, are you planning on making her a Jingle Kitty (hope I didn't jump the gun and spoil the surprise if that was what you are planning on doing :O )?

Quote: Originally Posted by Iceblue View Post

Not sure if I should edit my original entry or not, but figured it might get lost in the shuffel of things.

My gallery is here... so far i've only collected things for inspiration. I hope to start drawing this week.

http://iceblueguildwars.deviantart.com/gallery/ You can always copy and paste a new entry and I'll make the edits

(or post @Thistle to get my attention or PM me, just don't ninja edit the original entry you made without letting me know, because then I'll never notice it

)

Quote: @Thistle Haha yes, it will be a Jingle Kitty!

Also, as she is the only 1 of our 3 cats that will put up with this AND purr in the process:

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

11 Dec 2011 at 20:47 - 386

Alright, so I don't have anything but I'm going to decide to commit to the workshop anyways so!

☆Aye, Thistle! I want to participate in de workshop gurl!☆ (obligatory changes made)
Name: Death By An Arrow
Idea for entry: Non-existant
Art form type: Traditional! Acrylic Paint on Real Canvas this time (yay )
Progress Gallery Link: Look how commited I am! A gallery full of my non-existant ideas!

So yeah, still no idea what I'm doing. I want it to be very festive, very 'warm' but still cold and wintery.

Okay, so I do have some ideas. But I want to go all out, and I want it to look really good.

So heres how I expect things to play out:
I will not likely get anything done this week.

I have two paintings to do before this (ahah...hah... .___'), so yeah. FUN. I also had this long winded explaination of other things but it sums up to

School: Slack should begin the night of the 19th as its the last week before holidays and no tests should be had (okay maybe one.) Then I have to do one painting (its an xmas gift) and the other is very high priority to me personally.

Once my holiday break begins and christmas is out of the way (see: december 26th) I can begin my painting. I will aim to have a sketch of what is going onto the canvas and in a completed state for the 26th.

That doesn't exclude me from the '7 day rule' does it?

Charlie Dayman

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2009

Trifecta Luminati [TRI]

W/

11 Dec 2011 at 23:49 - 387

HAI GAIZ, WUTZ GOING ON IN DIS THREAD?

Classes have been kicking my butt, so I've not really checked out the Nolani boards in a while. Debating on entering, but I have no idea when the deadline is. Any of you fine citizens have a date for that?

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

R/

12 Dec 2011 at 00:02 - 388

CHARLIE! Summary:

No official contest, Anet made a donation (is that description better thistle? Last time I tried I sort of said it the wrong way :X) and as such there are a few extra goodies for the workshop prizes. Deadline is the wintersday finale since there is no official contest deadline anymore.

So yeah, the first post says around Dec 31st/Jan1st. Don't know if theres a specific minute or hour though.

Doctor Overlord

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2011

12 Dec 2011 at 00:04 - 389

☆Hey, Thistle! I want to participate in the workshop!☆
Name: Mistletoe
Idea for entry: I don't know if anyone has posted this idea in a past contest. I just wanted to give chuckle and the Mad King seemed like the one who would do something like this.
Art form type: Digital Art
Progress Gallery Link:
http://imageshack.us/g/705/wintersdaysketch01drove.jpg/

Hi everyone!

I saw the link to this over on GW2Guru and I've heard about the Guru workshops and they sound really fun. First time doing this, so please let me know if I messed up on the format.

Naturally the one time I try to do an entry is when there's no official contest but it is very cool for ArenaNet to donate prizes. Some of the contest entries I've seen in the past are really impressive and I know I'm not in their league but I thought what the heck. Plus it would be fun to do a full picture of these characters

Unfortunately my time is so impacted I don't know how much work I'll be able to put into the pic. I intend to ink and color it but I'll probably end up working on it right up to the very last minute

Edit - One lore question, anyone know how tall Dwayna is (in relative terms)?

Konig Des Todes

Ooo, pretty flower

Join Date: Jan 2008

Citadel of the Decayed

The Archivists' Sanctum [Lore]

N/

12 Dec 2011 at 00:15 - 390

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doctor Overlord
One lore question, anyone know how tall Dwayna is (in relative terms)?

The height of any god is unknown (excluding Abaddon and Dhuum). I'd use Abaddon and Dhuum has a guess. Oh, and this concept art, depicting King Doric with three of the gods (Dwayna, Balthazar, and Melandru).

There is evidence - and it is my personal belief - that the gods can alter their size; see: Scriptures of Lyssa and Melandru (primarily Lyssa). And to further that, I doubt Balthazar can play a board game with a puny human ritualist while being wtf huge.

Should be noted that Dwayna's scriptures support her being large.

Thistle Xandra

Site Contributor

Join Date: Aug 2010

12 Dec 2011 at 01:51 - 391

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frozen_Chips
Progress Gallery Link: (spoiler below)

Originally Posted by Penguin oO

cool prizes but the only one i want is the reindeer. I wont be entering this year cuss i think that there is no chance of me wining it QQ. Competition seems fears. i shall save my big guns for gw2

btw did Anet graved u guys 3 codes of reindeer's or just tonics. OMG i cant imagine that tonic in Pre ... drools Bah, that's no reason to sit back and not enter XD Anyway, Kvinna mentioned codes, but as of now I have nooooooo idea otherwise how the ingame tonics will be given.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

10 Dec 2011 at 01:12 - 366

@Kiya That grentch is looking positively amazing. I really enjoy the texture of the clay now; I originally didnt think youd need to change it but the different is very noticeable. Unless you didnt change it and I'm going crazy. o___O
Also, the hair on the back is well textured as well.

@BadDrizztFan Both of those sketchs look positively amazing! I prefer the second one as well, simply because you don't see much Freezie fan art. Especially none as menacing as that. I don't know why, but for somereason the snowman in your painting reminds me of the snowman from Clay Fighters.
http://cdn.gamerant.com/wp-content/u...Fighter-63.jpg

So nostalgia from that too... somehow. They look nothing a like but I can't help but feel theyre connected.

Plus I like the colours you have laid down; theyre easy on the eyes.

Widowmaker

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2008

10 Dec 2011 at 01:59 - 367

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadDrizztfan View Post

Hi everyone!
Like I said in my first post, I scribbled around a little to get some ideas... well, here's what I ended up with:

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/2662/wintersdaya.jpg http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/9161/wintersday2.jpg

I would like to know which one you prefer... Personally, I think the first one has the potential to be the stronger piece.

Sasultra

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2010

I live on earth...I think oO

(ULOB)

Me/

10 Dec 2011 at 05:02 - 368

@Morag D

Thank you for telling me about that program I downloaded it, and will see what I can do to improve my entry.

Thanks

Draken Burst

Academy Page

Join Date: Jun 2008

Flordia

[EPIC]

D/A

10 Dec 2011 at 12:29 - 369

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

My hand should be okay for inking now, ( Still hurts some but I'll power through it LIKE A BOSS.) Sorry, I'm excited. I still may have time to finish my piece after all.

Will try to update soon.

Update: Started inking and coloring again, made some major changes.

Here's the previous update.

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

10 Dec 2011 at 16:32 - 370

bahah, great use of farnsworth. I read it in his voice, then saw the pic. So great.

Awesome job so far Draken, keep up the good work

Just a note; I think you missed a spot on gwen's face (unless thats a hightlight, then carry on) Just seems a tad out of place ^^#

cosyfiep

are we there yet?

Join Date: Dec 2005

in a land far far away

guild? I am supposed to have a guild?

Rt/

10 Dec 2011 at 17:45 - 371

nice to see you back up and ....inking! Draken

BadDrizztfan

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2007

[ASSA]

10 Dec 2011 at 20:14 - 372

Quote:

Originally Posted by Widowmaker View Post

Personally, I think the first one has the potential to be the stronger piece. Thank you all for the feedback!
Interesting to see that most actually prefer the second one... well, I guess I will go with that one, then

(altough I really agree with Widowmaker, I think the Dwayna/Grenth one could be a lot stronger)

@Death By An Arrow:
That Clay Fighters snowman is amazing! I love the design of his hands! Might have to incorporate that haha

@Koreena:
First off thanks for the feedback! That triangle idea is awesome but... we don't have limitless time for this contest, besides I'm not sure if a triptych would actually be considered as "one entry" or if I would exceed the two-entries-only rule! xD So yeah, I think I will decide on one picture and try to polish that one up as much as possible!
And good to know about your Grentch

@Draken:
Good to hear your hand has recovered (somewhat). Just take care, your health is more important than a single contest (especially if it's concerning your hands. You are a artist, damn! Treasure 'em!). Anyway, I hope it will stop hurting soon!
Concerning your painting, I love the addition of the jingle moa. And is that a snowcharr? :O As for actual critique: You should try to find a way to make sure people can see that the charr is standing in front of the moa. Right now, you have very minor overlaps, i.e. his teeth and his nose. But the problem with those is that the overlaps are so minor that now it looks like the charr's outline is actually the moa's outline! Right now, the impression created is that the moa is actually standing closer to the viewer, not the charr!
(I hope you can make sense of this... 'tis a bit difficult to describe. In the worst case I'll have to draw a little something to illustrate it for you

)

Some "progress" of my own:
Since the majority here seemed to prefer the action-y sketch with a huge freezie, I decided to try my hand at a second sketch depicting the same scene. It's a really very fast sketch showing off composition and general forms - so far no colours, and no actual values!

So, composition-wise, do you prefer this one or the first sketch?

Please keep in mind that the new sketch is not very polished! Just try to imagine how both of these could look like and tell me which one you would prefer!

(personally, I prefer the immediate combat feeling of the new sketch - the previous one seemed more like a face-off before the actual battle!)

Death By An Arrow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2009

The Kurzick Mob [Mob]

10 Dec 2011 at 20:58 - 373

@Drizzt I still personally prefer the second one, for the exact way you described it. The way I imagine it in my head is as such:

-Heroes arrive to reap wintersday rewards.
-Out of some sort of crevace of some kind, this GIANT ASS snowman comes crawling out.
-He gets a little closer, and then SLAM! -snow flies into the air, snowman gives fearsome roar-

Or, atleast thats what I'm getting from it. From the newest sketch, it's like you miss ALL that intensity, all that build up, and your just in a boss fight. Sure, the boss fight can be intense but I don't get the same feeling of "Holy shit, whats going on!?" that I do from the initial one.

I could probably summarize that as the original feels like it has more movement and drama than the new one.

Just my opinion

Morag D

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2007

UK/Austria

[bone]

10 Dec 2011 at 22:06 - 374

I agree with the above

Widowmaker

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2008

11 Dec 2011 at 01:42 - 375

I prefer the original sketch over the new, though I might be tempted to lower the angle a little to get that feeling of him looming over the viewer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Draken Burst View Post

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I laughed.

unraveled

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Dec 2010

11 Dec 2011 at 01:49 - 376

☆Hey, Thistle! I want to participate in the workshop!☆
Name: unraveled
Idea for entry: Wintersday Carol Contest over at GW2G
Art form type: erm... parody of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. So... literature?
Progress Gallery Link: Words are here:

'Twas the Night Before Beta by unraveled

'Twas the night before beta, when all through the forum
Not a user was sleeping, not one bit of snoring.
The characters were planned out on paper with care,
In hopes that St ArenaNet soon would be there.

The mods were main-lining coffee and meds,
While visions of flame-wars danced in their heads.
And mesmers with bukkits, or was it a cake,
Had just settled down for a well deserved break.

When on the News forum there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the mod chat to see what was the matter.
Away to my Firefox I alt-tabbed in a flash,
Clicked the Guru tab and refreshed the cache.

The thread on the top of the News forum page
Had the lustre of undying and poorly-spelled rage.
"Teh Beta is Delaiyed" - I don't even... what if,
Click 'Show Spoiler' - ******* trollface.gif

With a reply from Martin, the haters stopped hatin',
"The beta is on time, no more iteration."
More rapid than a spammer the users replied,
"About ******* time!", though the fanbois just cried

"Now charr, norn, asura! now, sylvari and human!
On, servers! On, logging! On reports and parsing!
To the top of the mountain! To the top of the wall!
Just walking along... **** I fell through the floor.

The weekend went quickly, with no time to rest
PvP was the focus, which profession was best?
Up the top of the hate list elementalists flew,
With the thieves and the guardians, 'cause they're OP too.

And then, in a twinkling, it ended with a tweet
"Beta successful, same time again next week".
As I closed down the client, and was going to sleep,
Thunderbird called out with a new e-mail beep.

"The male armour's all fur, from his toes to his chest,
But the female 'equivalent' barely covers her breasts!"
"DE's are alright, but I want my own version."
"There's no /sneeze emote and it breaks my immersion!"

The flames-how they crackled! The insults were crass!
"But I like sexy armour, my toon's got a cute ass"
I got to work modding and reading reports
Delete, warn, infract, [insert witty retort]

The forums went nuts as the mods ground their teeth,
Smoke from their ears circled heads like a wreath.
Trolls left their bridges and camped all the threads,
Twenty seven mod desks met twenty seven mod heads.

It was chaos and mayhem, a right old fustercluck,
Til the server fell over, thank you Lady Luck!
A nod to the heavens and a palm to the face,
The mods took a breather, near dead from the pace.

The respite was short lived, the server revived
When would the feedback from St ANet arrive?
The users grew restless, the mods hit the drink
Hey! Eric's logged in, is this it do you think?

He sprang into action, to the fans a quick post,
"Here's the answer to that question you all ask the most!"
OMG! Can it be? The release date is nigh!
"Happy Christmas from Colin, and he swung it three times!"

And (Gods help me) the recording is here (naughty words are not censored) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=12rwy_RhsoY

If it's not Guild Wars related enough feel free to can this post

Ariena Najea

Silence and Motion

Join Date: Jul 2006

Buffalo NY

New Horizon [NH]

11 Dec 2011 at 02:18 - 377

Quote:

Originally Posted by unraveled View Post

☆Hey, Thistle! I want to participate in the workshop!☆
Name: unraveled
Idea for entry: Wintersday Carol Contest over at GW2G
Art form type: erm... parody of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. So... literature?
Progress Gallery Link: Words are here (naughty words are censored) - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/52889262/Twa...ore%20Beta.doc
And (Gods help me) the recording is here (naughty words are not censored) - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/52889262/T%2...ore%20Beta.mp3

If it's not Guild Wars related enough feel free to can this post

LURKER

Also, I am really behind, done a few sketches of the components but need to get to a scanner.

BadDrizztfan

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2007

[ASSA]

11 Dec 2011 at 02:39 - 378

Geez, something has to be wrong with me! haha Thanks for the feedback!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Widowmaker

I prefer the original sketch over the new, though I might be tempted to lower the angle a little to get that feeling of him looming over the viewer. That's a really nice idea. I think I will go with that

Thistle Xandra

Site Contributor

Join Date: Aug 2010

11 Dec 2011 at 02:52 - 379

Quote:

Originally Posted by unraveled View Post

☆Hey, Thistle! I want to participate in the workshop!☆
Name: unraveled
Idea for entry: Wintersday Carol Contest over at GW2G
Art form type: erm... parody of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. So... literature?
Progress Gallery Link: Words are here (naughty words are censored) - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/52889262/Twa...ore%20Beta.doc
And (Gods help me) the recording is here (naughty words are not censored) - http://dl.dropbox.com/u/52889262/T%2...ore%20Beta.mp3

If it's not Guild Wars related enough feel free to can this post Since you've posted, welcome to the workshop I do have concerns with you entering something that you're entering in another forum contest, and in general, I would really like to ask you and any future participants thinking of joining to please, please don't submit something you've used in another forum contest into the Wintersday Workshop It kinda takes away some of the fun and is unfair to both forum contests. Also, for the workshop, please provide links to youtube or directly copy and paste into posts so that others don't have to download your stuff

I still love the idea of a christmas carol parody as long as it's different than the one you're submitting for GW2G or at least significantly changed (based on workshop feedback, but that's still pushing it, especially if you don't get much feedback or don't like and reject the feedback you get) from the one you're submitting or GW2G

I'm not going to add the entry as is, but I'm happy to add a modified version if what I said works for you

Konig Des Todes

Ooo, pretty flower

Join Date: Jan 2008

Citadel of the Decayed

The Archivists' Sanctum [Lore]

N/

11 Dec 2011 at 04:51 - 380

May have to pull out on this one, as my new computer is hating word documents it seems (and that's what I'm used to >.>). May get around to writing my story up on wordpad or something though.

Edit: As if to taunt me, my computer started reading word docs accurately just after I posted. >.>

Frozen_Chips

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Mar 2011

11 Dec 2011 at 06:36 - 381

☆Hey, Thistle! I want to participate in the workshop!☆
Name: Frozen_Chips
Idea for entry: 'A Wintersday Carol', a Guild Wars tale heavily inspired by Dicken’s classic, A Christmas Carol. On a fateful Wintersday eve, a cantankerous Asura receives a number of visits from spirits of the past, present, and things yet to come, who give him a stark reminder that there’s more to Wintersday (and what’s more, dungeon delving) than counting up platinum.
Art form type: Literature
Progress Gallery Link: (spoiler below)

Because the workshop is all about incorporating feedback, I’ll be posting updates in the form of first-draft chapters to (hopefully) generate some pointers and opinions to guide me as I write the rest. Once it’s done, I’ll then post up a complete, finished version as my official entry.

Well, need to start somewhere, so here’s the first draft of the first chapter:

Part One

Zaac was cold, quite irrespective of the chilly draft that snaked its way through his office late at night. It could have been noon on the summer solstice and no ray of sunshine would have eased the scowl from his face, nor would any dazzling heat compel him to open his stuffy sanctuary to the outside world. More relevantly, perhaps, Zaac was equally untouched by the winter that iced the streets outside his door and, when the wind was particularly ardent, slipped through his window panes to cut through his office, as it did presently. And why shouldn’t he be unaffected? There was certainly no morning chill as bitter as him, no sleet as bleak. His heart possessed an iciness that could rebuke even dark nights of winter… or would have, save for the fact that Wintersday eve had filled the streets with a merriment that defied the frosty weather.

Wintersday! How Zaac loathed it. Throughout the rest of the year, he could walk the length and breadth of Lion’s Arch and not a soul would stop to ask of his wellbeing. Bookahs would carefully avoid catching his eye as he approached, his fellow Asura would surreptitiously detour to avoid crossing his path (though not so surreptitiously that he didn’t notice), and even the lean but cheery dogs who trotted around the city would sooner slink into shadows and doorways than greet him. It was little enough of a burden for Zaac, who in fact derived a silent satisfaction from such reactions. For him, there was no amenity greater than having a crowd part out of his way, no convenience more sought than the outside world keeping its distance. Wintersday’s approach brought such contentment to a sudden and unwelcome end, however, as carollers and revellers took it upon themselves to spread their cheer unto Zaac, which was met with as much welcome as a virulent disease.

So it was that while the rest of the city’s residents banded together in song and goodwill or darted about the markets in eager anticipation of a family feast, Zaac spent his Wintersday eve in much the same fashion as every other night, rambling around his office alone. There were usually figures to scratch into ledgers or inventory lists to scrutinise, and certainly subordinates that needed castigating, for Zaac felt that he was utterly isolated in a world filled with lazy and insolent others. Once – just once – Zaac had found a kindred spirit in his business partner Maarl, but he had perished some seven years earlier after succumbing to old age. To say that he missed Maarl’s company would imply a sense of sentiment that he utterly lacked, but he did miss the other Asura’s presence – which is to say he’d been grateful not for his personality, but his lack of personality. They alone seemed to appreciate the significance of a cashbook’s bottom line, that money equalled worth, and that by extension anything which detracted from the earning of money was, by definition, worthless. But alas, Maarl was seven years deceased, and Zaac then found himself quite alone with his austere principles.

Zaac could have spent the rest of the evening, and even the rest of his living days, engrossed with his work and unvisited save for the occasional cowering worker that was compelled to report in. He could have worked well into the night, grunting approvingly at profits and sneering resentfully at expenses, lost in his sterile little world of numbers and budgets. But for all Zaac’s desires to be left alone, the outside world had plans of its own that fateful night…

The front door to the office suddenly reverberated in its frame as some enormous force hammered a quick staccato on it, the crunching of wood snapping Zaac from his reverie. Forever wary of carollers and charitable petitioners, Zaac did not approach the door directly but instead stalked over to small mechanical assembly affixed to the wall. The device, complete with a periscope and speaking tube, was designed to minimise contact with the outside world. As he peered through the glass he’d expected to see the usual herd of rosy-faced carollers, grinning inanely with the cold somehow forgotten amidst their glee, but instead saw the figure of a hulking man looming over his doorstep, his face festooned with piercings and head bereft of hair. It was, in fact, hard to tell whether he was an exceptionally tall human or impossibly squat Norn, though it made little enough difference to Zaac. He would have ignored the visitor, as he did with all petitioners, were it not for the fact that the man was raising another club-like fist to batter the door again, and there was some doubt as to whether or not the door would hold. Zaac bellowed down the speaking tube, his first contact with the outside world for some days:

“Don’t! Not unless you care to pay for a new door to replace the one you dented. Just speak into the tube, and make it quick.”
The man looked up to the glass telescope. “’ere! It’s an ‘aunting, innit?”
“… what?”
“An ‘aunting? You know, from them dead ghosts, like.”
“What the hells are you talking about, you hare brained, hairless lout?”
“We got a message from your business partner, Maarl, right?”
“Maarl’s been dead for years, you detestable imbecile!”
“That’s the whole point of an ‘aunting, innit! He got us to write a letter for ya. That’s how we do business these days, can’t have ghosts running about the streets ‘ere. The Charr in particular get jittery ‘bout ghosts, like.” The skinhead energetically waved a piece of paper in front of the looking glass.
“Oh, for crying out loud… whatever it is, just put it through the damn letter slot already! I don’t have time for this nonsense! I need to make sure everything’s in place for tomorrow’s project…”
“Wot, you’re working tomorrow? On Wintersday?” His brows creased in confusion, an expression that probably came naturally to many bookahs. “Must be pretty important if yer working on Wintersday.”
“Trying to explain my job to someone of your intellectual stature would involve demeaning myself in ways I am not prepared to stoop to. Now, get off my doorstep and be gone with you!” Zaac was about to put the speaking tube back on the hook when a sudden thought occurred to him. “Actually, wait!”
“’ere, wot?”
“Am I to understand from your hateful babbling that there’s some ridiculous bookah tradition of not working on Wintersday?”
“Right gov.”
“Hmm. Well then, I might have an urgent message of my own that need delivering to my workshop downtown.”
The brow creased again. “’Ere, we usually only deliver letters from ghosts and spirits…”
“You’re a messenger, and I have a message. Just be silent and do your job!”

***

The Zaac and Maarl Adventuring Company (now bereft of its latter partner) considered itself to be a top tier setup, as evinced by the fact it did very little adventuring and a great deal of crafting, buying and selling. Weapons of the very rarest designs would exchange hands for incomprehensible sums of money, the ‘cool down’ phases of crafting machines were painstakingly timetabled and byzantine essays were published about the correct way for others to do things: all hallmarks of hard-core adventurers. To his unending regret, however, Zaac was not able to master every art on his own, and thus was compelled to hire two workers: Pentol (female Sylvari, jeweller) and Foskett (male human, weaponsmith). If they had qualities beyond their basic physiology and their trade, Zaac had never bothered to enquire.

Diligence was one of those uncelebrated qualities, as both workers were busy tinkering away in the ZM workshop. The air was frigid, for their master was infallibly stringent when meting out coals for the fire, so the two of them were forced to drag their workbenches over towards the smelting furnace for warmth. Neither complained though, as times were lean and each of them was grateful for any coin that graced their palm, whatever the work and whoever the taskmaster. There was only an hour left until closing but neither dared lay down tools as Zaac was forever breathing down their necks (figuratively, of course, as he was typically locked away in his office and, in any event, was three feet too short to breathe on bookah necks), so each worked on. Pentol busied herself adding some finishing touches to a light-emitting necklace, hoping to have it finished by the day’s close. Foskett’s diligence had admittedly wavered somewhat, and he was watching the clock so intently his smithing hammer had drifted off the brace he was holding and was instead tapping lightly on the wooden table top. With a meagre twenty five minutes left to go, however, a thundering on the door interrupted the countdown to closing.

Foskett glanced towards his colleague, whose slender frame was still hunched over her desk, engrossed in work and oblivious even to the report of the door being battered. Rather than disturbing her, Foskett gently scraped his chair back and trotted over to see who the visitor was. He flung open the door, expecting some Wintersday revellers, and was instead greeted by an enormous set of muscular shoulders that blocked out the view beyond. From somewhere far above a shaved, pierced head bellowed down:
“’ere! It’s an ‘aunting, innit?”
Replying to such an inscrutable remark from a presumably dangerous stranger proved to be something of a challenge for Foskett. At length, he craned his head up and managed a feeble “Oh, really?”
“Yeah!” The stranger hesitated, “’cept nah, it isn’t, cause the bloke sending the letter is still alive.”
“Ah. I see. Well he must be happy about that…” Foskett glanced back towards his colleague, desperately trying to summon some help. Meanwhile, the skinhead cleared his throat and carried on.
“Sorry ‘bout that, force of habit wif me customary greeting, and all. Right, well there’s no ‘aunting after all, but yer boss sends a message.”
Foskett’s blood turned cold. Having a maniac barge into your place of work to shout hysterically about dead people was bad, sure, but receiving a message from Zaac on Wintersday eve was appreciably more ominous. “Oh dear…”
“Yer boss says…” The man produced a small card, and read it aloud with sudden eloquence, “I am lead to believe you borderline worthless drudges had ambitions to shirk tomorrow’s workload on vaguely defined cultural grounds, namely Wintersday celebrations. Well guess what you craven slobs, I’m moving ‘the project’ forward to tonight. Consider this a pre-emptive strike against your laziness and impertinence. If you want to see a paycheque again, you’ll actually have to earn it. You have one hour, minus however long it took this knuckle dragging simian to deliver my message, to get over here. With the utmost sincerity, threats and all, Zaac Ebenezer.” The man glanced up. “End of correspondence. I mean… that’s all, innit?”
“…is it?”
“That was rhetorical, innit?”
“Uh…”
“Best get going, I reckon. Yer boss doesn’t seem like the forgiving type.”

It was something of an understatement. The messenger lumbered off without another word, leaving the door ajar as a deathly blast of cold air slashed past. With a resigned sigh, Foskett fetched his thin jacket from the rack and went to deliver Pentol the grim news.

Criticism, comments and general opinions are welcome! In the meantime, I’ll be going over the thread as seeing if I can’t offer some feedback of my own.

` Marshmallow

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2009

Canadaa!

Last Friday Night [TGIF]

E/

11 Dec 2011 at 09:34 - 382

I keep getting distracted by fable D| MUST WIN. Als o Ihave 3 days off (yay~) so i need to get as much as i can done !

@Kiya wow that grentch looks......good XD augh they creep me out lol but srsly tho, looks amazing:3

@Draken XD Farnsworth <3 and wow thats really coming along! the charr fur is srsly too good ;_; -jelly-

@Drizzt - Ouu I like the second one a lott

` Marshmallow

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2009

Canadaa!

Last Friday Night [TGIF]

E/

11 Dec 2011 at 10:53 - 383

oh I also livestreamed a little xD

http://www.justin.tv/trishietehfishie/b/302297985

its kind of long D:

bebe

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jun 2005

http://tinyurl.com/4g5ueb8

Put the peanut in the peanut hole!

11 Dec 2011 at 17:12 - 384

Trishie makes me want to learn how to draw.. FUUU!!! D:<

-wantstocatchthenextlivestream<3

obastable

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Nov 2005

Mo/

11 Dec 2011 at 18:51 - 385

Quote:
Originally Posted by Thistle Xandra
Let me know what you want me to put for "title or idea" since I still have you as TBA Also, to stick with the GW or GW2 theme, are you planning on making her a Jingle Kitty (hope I didn't jump the gun and spoil the surprise if that was what you are planning on doing :O )?

Welcome, Frozen_Chips! I added your entry but not your progress gallery link since I wasn't sure if you actually wanted me to link that specific post as your gallery (as others have) or if you were just showing your first draft. If you're planning on making that specific post your progress gallery, I just wanted to warn you and give a heads up that there is a word limit on posts that depending on how detailed you want to go in your progress gallery, you mind end up hitting it :O (It's something like 7000 words so those doing art pieces shouldn't have to worry about it, but lit writers putting several draft versions might.)

If you think the word count might be an issue, consider using wordpress.com, another blog site, or PM Sierraa since she's awesome and has offered to host galleries

Let me know what you decide and I'll update your link!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Death By An Arrow View Post

That doesn't exclude me from the '7 day rule' does it? You're more than fine :P The 7 day rule isn't for you to get an entry in by 7 days before the end of the workshop. It's just that you need to show you're up for being involved in the workshop (posting in the thread, donating, etc before 7 days by the end of the workshop) and as a reward get a vote in "The People's Award."

It's a pretty laid-back rule XD (P.S. for other post: much better description :P)

Quote: Originally Posted by Charlie Dayman View Post

but I have no idea when the deadline is. Any of you fine citizens have a date for that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Death By An Arrow

CHARLIE! Summary:
Deadline is the wintersday finale since there is no official contest deadline anymore.
So yeah, the first post says around Dec 31st/Jan1st. Don't know if theres a specific minute or hour though. Timewise, it's noon PST (keeping up with traditional official GW contest deadlines). Daywise, it's tentatively the day of the last Wintersday Finale event (worded that way because last year it looked like the last event was 12:01am PST). This will be finalized when they announce Wintersday, but Jan 1st, noon PST will be the earliest deadline (I'd rather err on the side of adding a day than removing a day).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doctor Overlord

but I'll probably end up working on it right up to the very last minute

Lol, that's so me, too.

@ Marsh: Oooh a vid!

<3

@ Obastable: rofl, must do that to my cat and see what she does XD