Winter Festival - Serene Storytelling

The objective of this game is to create an original Winter-themed story while using the keywords that are provided in this post!

Rules

1. Create your own Winter-themed story using EXACTLY 12 of the words from the following list. You MUST Bold the words that you use within your story. Once you use a word, you CAN use it multiple times.

Attacked / Caught / Fled / Negotiated / Slept / Snuck (Pick Only One)
Aurora
Avalanche
Blizzard / Heat Wave / Rain Storm (Pick Only One)
Cabin / Cave / Ice Flow (Pick Only One)
Candy Cane
Chime
Fireplace
Gingerbread
Goose / Polar Bear / Reindeer (Pick Only One)
Hot Cocoa
Ice Skating
Icicle
Midnight
Nutcracker
Shovel
Singing
Sleigh
Snowman
Star

2. Your story MUST be related to Sylestia and take place within the world of Sylestia. Your story CAN be in the form of a song or poem if you wish.

3. Your story MUST include at least one reference to a Sylesti (individual pet or species).

4. Your story MUST include at least one reference to a location within Sylestia (zone, region, dungeon, etc).

5. DO NOT post any images with your story. This is strictly a writing only contest.

6. You must share your entire story as a post in this thread. Providing a link to your story off-site will not qualify.

7. Please try and keep your story to a maximum of 1,000 words. This is not a strict rule, but if your story is clearly well over 1,000 words, we may just skip over it and not read it and you will not win any prizes.

8. Please DO NOT use AI to write your story. We want to see YOUR creativity, not ChatGPT's.

9. Your story must be site appropriate (PG-13). Any content that is inappropriate will disqualify your entry and be removed.

10. Please check the Festival Overview Thread for the listed End Time for Forum Games. Any entries posted after this time will not qualify.


Prizes

Everyone's submissions will be judged by the admins and we will select 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners based on creativity, effort, and appeal. It is possible for there to be more than just 3 individual winners.

There will be a Participation Prize as well for valid entries.

Have fun and enjoy!


1st Place Winner(s)
Winner(s):
Prizes: Free Stable, [Peerless Avatar Token] x1, 3-Visible Winter Festival Themed Pet of Choice (2-Vis if Majestic) x2 OR Frost Essence of Choice x2, [Expedient Ice Sculpting Agent] x1, [Premium Ice Water] x3, [Box of Ice Sculpting Supplies] x1, [Box of Ice Sculpting Agents] x3


2nd Place Winner(s)
Winner(s):
Prizes: Free Stable, 3-Visible Winter Festival Themed Pet of Choice (2-Vis if Majestic) OR Frost Essence of Choice x1, [Expedient Ice Sculpting Agent] x1, [Premium Ice Water] x2, [Box of Ice Sculpting Supplies] x1, [Box of Ice Sculpting Agents] x3


3rd Place Winner(s)
Winner(s):
Prizes: Free Stable, [Majestic Frost Essence] x1 OR [Fabled Frost Essence] x1, [Expedient Ice Sculpting Agent] x1, [Premium Ice Water] x1, [Box of Ice Sculpting Supplies] x1, [Box of Ice Sculpting Agents] x3


All Participants
With valid submissions

Prizes: Title: Serene Storyteller, [Fabled Frost Essence] x1, [Box of Ice Sculpting Agents] x2, [Avatar Item (Winter - Retired)] x3, [Frost Token] x1,000

One night, when the Blizzard came to the small town in Sylestia called Fungus Grove, was the year everything changed! for good and worse... it started the night everyone should have been sleeping but... one little Reindeer, couldn't sleep, that was the only one awake while the others good little Reindeer slept throughout the night. But this one little Reindeer was too excited so decided to go out side from he cave, where all the other siblings where sleeping, to explore Sylestia. He wanted to see it all at night. He heard that cool things happened in Sylestia at night! Like, the time his uncle told him about these cool Auroras that you could see in town, or the time his aunt told him about the Avalanche that changed the town for ever! But tonight He didnt want any of that, no, tonight he wanted to see the cool Snowman that his grandma told him about, she said they looked like the other citizens of Sylestia, which, the Little Reindeer never seen before and wanted to. His grandma said, with that look of hers, when she day dreams, that there was lots of different Snowman they built, like these creatures called; Ryori, which the way his grandma talked about them he thought they was so cool, that he wanted to see them too! So, he went out in the worse Blizzard of the season yet, just to look for them. So down to Sylestia he went. When he got there it was so busy, that he thought he was dreaming! Why would the creatures of Sylesta be up this late? I'd better check it out! So he did, and, he saw everyone doing christmasy things like; singing carols and Ice Skating. He made some friends with the creatures that his grandma told him about that made the Ryori snowman. He was so excited that by the time the sun came up he realized he'd stayed out all night! So, after the Ryoris gave him some gifts, he headed back home to tell his family the good news, and to also give some of the gifts to his grandma, which the Ryori said, she would know what they meant. So, as soon as grandma saw him, and saw the gifts, she smiled, and said "thats my boy! i knew you'd find them!" So, they sat around the Fireplace with Hot Cocoa and Gingerbread, and opened gifts and heard the new story from the little Reindeer...
i hope thats ok Krin! if i miss understood anything tho! please let me know and i can fix it! i cant wait to see everyone elses ideas/stories! and happy holidays everyone! :)

Winter had fallen in the fields boarding the dark forest. The winter this year was fierce and frigid. Ice coated some of the trees, looking as if they had been coated in glass and snow had built up along the paths we were barely able to keep clear.

As the sun dipped low, a fierce blizzard raged against our cabin. Our stockings hung neatly above thefireplace as the flames cracked merrily, filling the cabin with warmth and cheer as mother mixed the molasses batter for the gingerbread cabin pieces, snowman and reindeer cookies.

I watched Belladonna, my Zolnixi, cuddle bside Starlight Blaze, my mother's griffi as the gingerbread baked. Bella batted at one of the silver sleigh bells that Blaze wore.

By the time the gingerbread was finished, it was nearly midnight. Mother had crushed a large peppermint candy cane into pieces to decorate the gingerbread with, along with cream cheese frosting to hold the gingerbread cabin together.

Mother took the pans out to cool, and I made us hot cocoa before noticing thatthe howling winds outside had stopped. Curious, I ran to the door. When I opened it and took a few steps out into the snow, I could see an aurora in the north, far beyond the Umbra Forest where the elves lived.

As I watched, Bella and Blaze joined me just outside the door. As mother joined us, she gasped at the sight of the night sky- so clear after the storm. A brilliant star shone above, brighter than any other.

"The guiding star..." Mother breathed.

Blaze's sleigh bells rang out as she stepped, the crystalline ring sounded as though the bells were singing. The sound made me want to sing, too.

"It has become a truly gorgeous night." Mother said. Blaze made a melodious chirp in agreement. "I wanna sing, mom!" I said eagerly.

Mother laughed. "Of course, dear. We can sing as we make the gingerbread cabin."

"Yay!" I exclaimed, before running back inside, with the sylesties following more placidly as mother followed, closing the door behind her.

"Jolly Old Saint Nicholas,

Lean your ear this way!

Don't you tell a single soul

What I'm going to say;

Christmas Eve is coming soon;

Now you dear old man,

Whisper what you'll bring to me,

Tell me if you can." I sang as I waited for her to join us.

Word count (without this note): 398

"It was a dark and stormy night, a blizzard tearing through the land."

"Is a blizzard a storm?" Vanilla interrupted. "Or is it its own thing?"

"What? How is that -" Equinox began, disgruntled, before pausing with a soft sigh. "Yes, blizzards are a specific type of snow storm, which are storms. It's in the name. As I was saying..."

"Ahem, it was a dark and stormy night, a blizzard tearing through the land. It's easy to get lost in Umbra Forest even without such bad weather, and by midnight the little Ryori was so turned around that-"

"Is there anything softer in here?" Vanilla interrupted again, this time with a petulant whine as she padded about the small shelter they'd found in the Enigmatic Grotto, sticking her nose into every nook and cranny. "How is all the moss in this cave so un-mossy?"

"You can grow thorns all over your pelt, but Faerina forbid you sit on the ground without your favorite cushion," Gerais grumbled. She probably rolled her eyes, too, though it was hard to tell given the fact they all lacked pupils. "Angelbite fell asleep as soon as we got here. Why are you two still awake?"

Angelbite, who took a fireball to the face after trying to avoid a group of undead by hiding in a log, slept soundly despite her party's bickering. Getting hit with a fireball does that to you.

"Vanilla can't sleep without her bedtime story," Equinox explained with the patience of someone who had gone through all five stages of grief and accepted that this was his life now. Babysitting a grown Ryori that could tank an entire army's worth of enemies, and yet needed a bedtime story to fall asleep. "That or warm milk and Angelbite singing her a lullaby, but that one's out of the question."

"It's holiday season! I wouldn't be drinking warm milk!" Vanilla reared back, affronted. "I'd have gingerbread cookies and hot cocoa by the fireplace! Preferably on my cushion at home, with Angelbite petting my head, and my gifts under the tree, and - where are you going?"

"I would rather go outside and find a polar bear to fight than listen to you complain." Gerais got up, quietly making her way to the entrance of the Enigmatic Grotto. Icicles hung amongst and from the stalactites above, giving the whole thing a very ethereal appearance and a very cold temperature. Outside, the sky lit up with twinkling stars and the faintest hint of the aurora borealis visible from way up north, where the mountains began.

Not a Sylesti, nor an undead, nor a troll in sight - it seemed to be a very silent night, a boon after the day they'd had. Gerais watched the sky for a moment longer, ear flicking in acknowledgement as two sets of footsteps approached. Vanilla and Equinox settled beside her, entranced by the light show above.

"That's the north star," Equinox pointed out, using his claw to direct their attention towards the bright point in the sky. "It marks true north. If we go that way for long enough, we'll reach the mountains, and we'll be able to see the northern lights even better."

"Maybe we'll go there some day. We seem to be making our way across the whole continent, anyway." They stared until the aurora disappeared, quietly getting up and sneaking back inside to avoid interrupting their owner's sleep. "I think it'd be nice, if a bit cold."

"It's already cold. Now, settle down, and let me finish my story." Equinox waited for the two to curl up beside Angelbite before clearing his throat, and beginning for the third time. "It was a dark and stormy night, a blizzard tearing through the land. It's easy to get lost in Umbra Forest even without such bad weather, and by midnight the little Ryori was so turned around that they couldn't tell up from down or left from right. The only thing they could do was trudge onwards, towards the..."

He trailed off as two soft snores caught his attention, Vanilla and Gerais having drifted off to sleep. With a soft, fond sigh, he also tucked himself against Angelbite's side and closed his eyes. "The little Ryori found his friends, and he was never lost again. The end."

-

Word count estimate (not including this note): 710~

Ice skating through a midnight run
A blizzard on the way
An avalanche of snow and fun
From the land of cunning fae

The Winter Fest is here at last!
Sylestians abound a' singing
Summer's star has fled, aghast
Now sleighs lead with ringing

Aurora's majestic web is spun
A celestial grand overlay
Howling Pass' magic now redone
Filled with griffi white from play

But in spaces no fae has trespassed
A fireplace lives safe and roaring
In a cabin of mortal cast
Bound by a door with iron flooring.