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Apr-25-2012 16:52

May-9-2012 19:01

for silence, she groped for its edges and slid it out of the column. There, just behind it, winking at her in its obscenity, was the bejeweled artifact. She grasped it and passed it to Thomas without a moment to spare, rising as he dropped it into his satchel. She turned to him with a triumphant look and suddenly registered the eerie silence, and Thomas’ pale face in torchlight that was suddenly too bright.
“Well done, my darling wife.” Came Jack Billings voice, and she spun on her heel to find her husbands handsome face an inch from her own, as was the pistol he had aimed at her. “Now hand over the ankh, and I won’t have to become a widower.”
“Don’t do it, Thomas.” She said immediately, but concern for her well-being won out, and Thomas handed Jack the satchel.
“Good man.” Jack said casually, and then shot him between the eyes. The men circled around the scene chortled at Molly’s scream. “Tell you what, dear. We’ll give you a fighting chance. You’ll get a three minute head start, then we’ll be after you. We’ll see how long you can last in the desert without your faithful assistant.”
Tears streaking down her cheeks, Molly wasted no time, turning on her heel and fleeing as fast as she could. As she darted down the terraces towards the horses, she prayed to God for Thomas, and for the strength to face her husband some other time, in some other place, and regain the cursed treasure her friend had died for."

To be continued... on the RP Board under Nine Lives! ;D *mugs for invisible cameras*

May-9-2012 23:38

So it has been brought to my attention about two particular posts. I didn't say anything and I should have when it first appeared so I do apologize about not saying anything at first.

I regret to say that Ms. Ivy Spini, you are hereby disqualified from this competition. The rules specifically stated that the posts begin on Saturday May 5 and your post was on Friday May 4th. Your post is also more than four posts long.

Also I regret to inform Ms. Molly Maltese of the same thing. Your post says that it is to be continued on the RP Board, making it more than four posts long as well.

Although you both have had great posts, I do apologize but the rules are rules.

May-10-2012 05:06

What a pity Marc - but I understand you have to make it completely fair.

But couldn't Molly and Ivy resubmit their entries with amendments? If they are able to make their entries short enough to fit the 4 posts rule won't that be okay? Hope so because they both have some great - albeit very different styles of - creative writing!

May-10-2012 06:57

Rules are rules indeed. Wouldn't want to beat the dead horse, but I can resubmit. There are 6848 symbols in text, and the length is less then 4 posts. I wanted to have some structure in spacing and made a mistake.

May-10-2012 07:48

Plus, in the beggining Marc, yourself said is a very good post (Ivy's) and you are waiting for more posts from other players. In a way, you legalised Ivy's post. It's just fair to reconsider your position towards her writings. She put in some effort and we have to appreciate that. I say we allow Ivy to compete, as she had the greatest courage and start this contest :D
She is a good writer and you have to give her a chance for the contest.
Molly also wanted to populate this contest, make it more interesting, with more stories for the judges to choose from. In the end, you judge here the best post and makes no sense in not allowing people to give their best shot. These contests are for Sleuthville's fun and everybody should be encouraged to write. I am for admitting them both in the competition.

May-10-2012 07:51

Oh my, this is certainly interesting. Technically however, this story isn't to be continued on the RP board, its a poor word choice. This is the prologue, the separate back-story that I liked so much I decided to provide as a basis for another activity the Sleuth community adores so much. This line, set in Deir el-Bahari, will not be continued. Everything on the RP board continues in a present time, so TEEEEECHNICALLY, it won't be continued.

However, if this is really too much, you can have an editor strike my last post from the board, and I can resubmit it without mention of another community activity now available. *eyebrow wiggle*

Do let me know.

May-10-2012 07:52

Thank you for the support Cekuray, that is kind of you. :)

May-10-2012 08:24

As a contestant-who-has-not-yet-submitted, I do believe that Marc is correct that rules are rules. If we don't abide by them, then chaos prevails. It is also unfair to those who do follow the rules.

With that said, it seems to me that Molly's submission followed the rules in that her submission on this thread was within the time frame allowed, and stayed within the 4-post limitation. It seems fair to judge her submission "as-submitted". If the judges deem it incomplete due to the reference to continuation on the RP Boards, that is certainly a fair assessment, but the submission is still within the 4-post limitation. With that being said, it would be unfair to the rest of us if any RP postings on this story are judged for the contest.

As for Ivy's submission, if her submission is disqualified for being too early, then its being too long is a moot point. Then the question arises as to whether she can still submit or not. There is nothing in the rules saying she can't. But the judges may indeed rule on whether she can or can't since only Marc knows the intent of the submission time frame.

No matter how the judges ultimately rule on this (although Marc seems to have ruled already), I just hope the rules are followed with common sense prevailing.

In any case, I simply adored both Molly's and Ivy's submissions. These submissions did indeed contribute to the quality and betterment of Sleuth Noir. I applaud both of you for taking the time to write so wonderfully.

May-10-2012 08:41

Now my request.

I intend to submit within the 4-post limitation and before the deadline. That would be the narrative only.

My question is, may I include a 5th posting that is a disclaimer from any real persons that the narrative may refer to? I would also like to separate fact from fiction since I will be intertwining real history with fictional, events. The reason is that is I don't want to unfairly cast a bad light on still-ongoing organizations. And since this narrative will be about contract murder, negative implications cannot be helped.

May-10-2012 08:56

Okay everyone. I've been thinking after seeing these posts. I've decided to accommodate them both. Reason being, if Molly's post is just a background post for a story that's fine. It isn't fair for me to disqualify Ivy for posting 1 day early, 6 days after it is posted.

I do apologize about the inconvenience and I hope we can move on with this competition.