Chatterbox: Crowd Sorcery

Villain Vote!

Fred and Emily have now carefully reviewed all the terrific villains you've posted on Crowd Sorcery.  After much discussion, they've narrowed their many favorites down to 12 for you to vote on. Thanks to everyone for creating such an amazing assortment of evildoers!

The voting booth follows the list of villains. Read through the list, then vote for the three you like best. The villain with the most votes will join our heroine, Fable Thatcher, in the Crowd Sorcery story coming in the November/December 2014 issue of Cricket. 

You have until Monday, July 21, to vote for villains. You're welcome to discuss the villains on this thread and give reasons for your choices. Who do you think will make the best foe for Fable Thatcher?

Some of the villains you've created, with sketches by Emily, will appear in the September issue of Cricket. We plan to feature your sidekicks in the October issue.  

 

Sidekicks Update

You can add to the Sidekick thread until Monday, July 14. Voting for Sidekicks will begin Friday, July 18 and be open until Monday, July 28.

July 14: Last day to create a sidekick 

July 11-21: Vote for villain

July 18-28: Vote for sidekick

 

Thanks again so much for the enthusiasm you've shown for Crowd Sorcery. You fantastic ideas and characters are really inspiring Fred and Emily's imaginations! 

 

***

 

1. Name: Aciere Steele

2. Physical appearance: She has long blonde hair, usually pulled up into a bun or something more practical. Has gray eyes. Aciere has a mechanical arm and leg, which don't look like our modern prosthesis(es? prosthesi? prosthetics?). They're significantly more bulky and metallic. Probably have visible gears. Strikes a rather imposing figure, as Aciere is unnaturally tall. She wears very mad scientist-esque clothing. (Probably 20-something.)

3. Background: Aciere was born in Weldona, (see my entry over in the words thread) and grew up with a passion for science. Of course, her obsessive personality turned her passion into a mad dream. Aciere began to believe that humanity could be improved with mechanical augmentations. This idea was too radical, even for the inhabitants of Weldona. Aciere abandoned her birthplace, and set out on her journey to... "upgrade" humanity.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): A labratory nestled deep underground, next to a massive mineral deposit.

5. What is the villain’s goal? To improve humanity to the point where they are simply machines, and are no longer human. Machines aren't flawed, after all.

6. Attitude toward hero: A pest. Eleanor disagrees with Aciere's philosophy, and seeks to stop it. Of course, Aciere doesn't see Eleanor as a threat. What can magic do against technology?

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? With her augmented limbs, Aciere is literally stronger than Eleanor. Also, she has an incredible will and drive to get her dream done. Aciere will go through almost anything, perhaps even her demise, to make sure that her dream is fufilled.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? If her goal (improving humanity) is made impossible, Aciere would probably break down. It is her life's work, after all. Breaking/disabling her mechanical limbs is her physical weakness. Can't deal with being defeated, and would either break down or fly into a rage if that occurs.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? Eleanor believes firmly in magic over technology, and finds Aciere's quest immoral. Aciere has to improve every member of humanity, and that includes Eleanor. Whether by persuasion or force.

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): The labratory's machines hummed with energy. Aciere sat nestled between several large machines, fiddling with a few tangled wires. This was her base of operations.

 

Elise L., age 14, Washington

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Has no name, people refer to it as "Whisperer."

2. Physical appearance: Can take any form of nature often appears as wind or shadows. But may inhabbit human bodies (though when doing so it acts very weird).

3. Background: After loosing thousands to the Great Shang war, King Flinn decided to create an adviser who would always know best. He took the twelve highest advisers and transformed them into one being. After a while the Flinns' adviser saw that the world was a twisted place and declared to take it over and build it again in its image. Thousands disagreed with it, and it turned against them, becoming darkness.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): It lives mostly down below, in an underground cavern.

5. What is the villain’s goal? To gain control of the world, destroy it, and remake it in its own darkness.

6. Attitude toward hero: Thinks the hero is weak and not a threat to its plan. It also sees every person as an object to use as it wants.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? Whisperer has ultimate knowledge, and can easily plan around "obstacles;" it also can confuse and twist minds.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? It can be damaged when in the mind of someone else, and since it is many minds in one it can have trouble on deciding some things. It also underestimates the hero.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? Hero wants the world to see him/her as a true hero, villian sees (later on) hero as the only flaw in its plan.

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): It was happening, Whisperer laughed, it had finally destroyed every flaw in its perfect plan. The world will be as wonderful as it should be. The Earth shook in terror.

 

E.m.i.l.y., age 12, Some Where, Indiana

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Margaret O'Shanahan

2. Physical appearance: green eyes, red curly hair, average height, looks about 18

3. Background: Her father, Sean O'Shanahan, was the fiercest pirate on the seas.  When she was born, he was so disappointed she wasn't a boy to carry on his legacy that he ignored her and just kept telling her she wasn't good enough to be a pirate.  She ran away when she was 14 to try to prove him wrong.  Four years later, she's the fiercest pirate not just on water but on land too as her ship has been given the ability to fly.  And nothing can stand in her way.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): Her lair is a ship named "Bonny Blue". One time, she tricked a sorceror into giving it the ability to fly, so it can now go over the land as well as the water.  She rides around the world of the story with her crew, bringing terror with her wherever she goes.

5. What is the villain’s goal? To prove to her father that she can be the best pirate out there since he's still not convinced after these four long years.

6. Attitude toward hero: The hero is the first person she has come across that she has not been able to outwit or charm with her good looks and she resents that. She sees the hero as an obstacle to her goal as she can't possibly be the best pirate if she can't bring him down.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? Her reputation is enormous and she has a fiercely loyal crew of hundreds.  She is incredibly manipulative and knows how to turn almost anyone in her favor.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? She has a big ego. The easiest way to beat her would be to either appeal to her hubris or her father.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? The hero needs something from her for a quest and Margaret needs to beat them to keep her status as the best pirate out there.

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): The village still tells stories of her, the terror of the "Bonny Blue". It's been years since the Blue floated in, but they all remember her. How when she stepped out, her red curls spilling from her hat, she looked even prettier than Elizabeth Collins, the prettiest girl in town. How Elizabeth's betrothed took one look at her and ran away to become a pirate. Whenever you pass Elizabeth now, she still weeps and screams her name out, "Margaret O'Shanahan!"

 

Melody, age 15, Disney

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Khaos

2. Physical appearance: He is the spirit of a wicked sorcerer who died in an attempt to rid the kingdom of those who opposed him. He can make himself look like various animals when traveling low-profile but is usually in human form. He is around six feet tall with a disturbingly handsome figure. He has slicked back deep brown hair and reddish brown eyes. He tends to strike an imposing figure in any situation. Khaos wears a black crown made of his father's bones. His cape was made of shadows and trailed behind him as he walked. He has a blood red robe set with with inlaid ebony around the hem. He goes barefoot. 

3. Background: Khaos used to be a young sorcerer by name of Lif Kann. He grew up in a shack with a drunken father and distant mother. He grew up highly intelligent and resented everyone but himself. He eventually grew to loathe the government and, vowing to change it, vanished. Eight years later he led a vicious army to attack the kingdom. Being the new king of the monsters in the army, he adopted the name Khaos. In one climactic battle, he was killed in the middle of a huge battle that wiped out his monsters.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): A huge, ancient cave -- it is a shrine for worshipping Mael-Koth, the pagan god of death.

5, 6, 8. What is the villain’s goal? To kill the son/daughter of the man who killed him in battle, as he believes that some monsters will allow him to be their leader after that. He believes that he will save the kingdom by becoming its ruler.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? He has determination and incredible magical power.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? He is conceited and vicious. 

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): Khaos drifted slowly along the musty, forgotten halls of his cave. The rusting idols leered out from dark corners as though they were waiting for something. Khaos knocked one over as he glided by. Soon (insert hero/heroine's father's name) would regret killing him.(insert hero/heroine's father's name)  would regret everything. 

 

Brooke E., age 11, Arkansas

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Valencia Emmeline

2. Physical appearance: Tall and regal, beautiful. Olive skin. Long elegant black hair, now tangled. Dark blue eyes. A long red dress with gold and black, very elegante and old-fashioned, sort of medieval. Long red nails and lips. A line-less face of a young woman, but...old. She looks like she's lived centuries. She probably looks pretty put of place.

3. Background: Valencia was once the queen of a vast kingdom. She was a force to be reckoned with, a just, but cold, ruler. She did what she had to do for her people and made difficult calls. Her kingdom was at war and she did what she had to do. She was an enchantress, holding the same magic that the one on throne had always held, with a little something extra from herself. Ahe wasn't born a princess, but she had been found worthy by the prophecy that fortold all rulers. The tapestry on which it was written cut off after her name, seemingly burnt... At the height of the war, when Valencia was the one force between her empire and destruction, (and, you know, an army, but they wouldn't have lasted long without a guiding force), she was cornered by her chief advisors and a number of her guards. The three advisors had each been bribed by the opposing nation with something they desperately wanted...more power, a loved one brought back, a cure...They cornered her in the lowest room of her castle, near a giant crystal through which the Queen got her power through. She warded them off easily, screaming about their betrayal, but what she didn't know was that they had mages working in the tower. With one false step she fell and was imprisoned by her very own crystal. She didn't awaken for more than a hundred years? The crystal had been moved, and no one knew what was inside. She was saved by a curious nobel, in a new castle. When she stumbled out she realised her kingdom was gone, replaced with a new power--run by someone else. She grew angry, her kingdom had fallen, her people, her land! This new kingdom, this silly little kingdom...it was hers. She ran and hid herself away, plotting to take back the land that was her right and rebuild the kingdom she had lost.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): When she ran away she found her old castle, now decrepit and covered in vines, hidden by foliage. She paces the wide halls alone, plotting, seething.

5. What is the villain’s goal? To take the new kingdom and make it hers, possibly reforming it into the one she once ruled.

6. Attitude toward hero: Not quite sure who the hero is, but she seems him/her as nothing. An annoying gnat standing in the way of justice and her plans.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? She has powerful magic, she has an entire castle at her disposal, she is cunning, smart and intimidating. She knows how to get what she wants. Conviction. She has experience--she used to run a country, after all.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? Valencia is angry, bitter, and a bit...unstable.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? She will do whatever she has to to get the kingdom. The hero doesn't want this, as she's causing a lot of harm. However, Valencia is willing to do anything, and she may be able to offer the hero some help with their goal if they help her...Will their conviction stand or will they give in? Will Valencia gain control of a nation, over-throwing a nation and ignoring all order to make herself the prime power and gain controll, including melding the new kingdom in her image? Or will the hero stop her in time?

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): "You betrayed me!", screamed Valencia. She waved her arms wildly in the dim light, her voluminous sleeves flapping. She backed away from the guards' swords, her hands pulsing with a purple light. As she wrapped it around herself, she went on. "You-This kingdom is mine!" She glared at her ex-advisors, her voice laced with anger and pain. "I earned it! And it will always be mine! You are noth--" Her words cut out, for just as her heeled foot stumbled over a crack on the concrete floor, the crystal behind her seemed to melt itself a door, and Queen Valencia Emmeline was trapped forever in the blue stone, her mouth frozen in a silent scream.

 

Kiki, age 13, Oregon

 

*** 

 

1. Name: La Scientifica A.K.A. Lucy Borgmann

2. Physical appearance: She has ice blue hair reaching to her shoulders,(A result of the scientists) and rather dark skin with pirceing black eyes. She is tall, and wears a blue wolf skin shawl over a knee- length black dress. Her fingers are unnaturally long, and she has very sharp fingernails. She wears an animal call for when she speaks to her animal slaves.

3. Background: Grew up extremely poor, and under a particularly mean ruler. She learned to resent royalty. Her parents abandoned her at age 9 and she was taken hostage by aforesaid ruler, who then proceeded to force her to be the victim of many scientific experiments changing her for the worse. Lucy, now 19, abhorred all mankind. She escaped from the palace of experiments and went into the woods, where she began enslaving animals and building up her domain. 

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): Her lab is under a magic waterfall, which emits precious water diamonds every two weeks. These, she uses in her lab to bind the animals to her.

5. What is the villain’s goal? To use her animals as a means of destroying mankind.

6. Attitude toward hero: Lucy thinks he/she is dirty human scum, and believes he/she is not capable of overcoming her force of animals.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? She possesses the magic water diamonds, which, when wished upon, grant every wish except one. This one wish is to destroy mankind.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? She is quite lonely for human company, and as a means of soothing this loneliness she injects herself with abhorrence. When deprived of her abhorrence, she will go into a trance.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? Lucy is mangling the animals with her binding potion. The main character befriends the animals instead, making them feel more loved than with Lucy. Lucy has been so twisted by the palace scientists, she can't bear the thought of an opponent. She also is scarred by the kindness the main character showed upon their first meeting. 

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): Lucy winced. Her needle was getting dull again. As the abhorrence flowed into her bloodstream, she felt something odd. It hurt her, but with a matter she had not felt for years. Tears flowed down her cheeks. They were ice cold, yet felt like a hungry fire. Suddenly she was gripped with fear. It was the human! That little wrech! It had mixed happiness into her abhorrence! As she fought back the happiness, she saw one of her animals. This one was a wolf. But it had changed. It was now backing away from the coldness of her lab. She wondered why. But then she saw it. It was a spark of happiness in the wolf's eye. At once she knew. That kid was serious trouble. The little fool! How dare it tamper with her mechinisms! She stood up and roared with the power of a dinosaur. She would have to take down that fool of a child.

 

Puff the MagicDragon, age Is UNKNOWN, Hannalee

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Estrella

2. Physical appearance: Before she cursed the hero she was the most beautiful woman in the land. She had straight black hair that she wore in a complicated up do on her head. Her skin was pale and her eyes were a bright green. The dresses that she wore were mostly in dark colors such as navy blue and deep purple. She always wore her black cape pinned around her shoulders with a golden brooch. After she cursed the hero she was transformed into a hag with a long warty nose, ragged tatters of clothing, and a hunchback.

3. Background: When our hero was only a baby, Estrella put a curse on him/her. However, what she didn’t know was that in doing so she would turn herself into an old, ugly hag. Desperate, she went to the ends of the earth to find the cure for her ugliness. Finally she found the answer in the ancient scrolls, the cure was to track down the baby she had cursed years ago and kill him/her to restore her beauty.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): Estrella lives in an enormous castle in the hills on the outskirts of the city where our hero lives. This castle used to belong to the king, but Estrella thought it would suit her purposes so she took it over and there wasn't very much anyone could do about it.

5. What is the villain’s goal? Estrella's goal is to kill the hero. If she kills the hero then she will be returned to her former beautiful state.

6. Attitude toward hero: Estrella doesn’t really know the hero, she just views him/her as something standing in the way of her beauty.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? Estrella is stronger than the hero because she is a powerful sorceress with millions of spells at her disposal.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? When Estrella cursed the hero she accidentally gave him/her some sort of power that she can’t control.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? Because Estrella cursed the hero but if Estrella kills the hero she will be beautiful again.

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): Estrella woke with a yawn and looked into the mirror and expected to see her flawless smooth skin, but instead she saw the face of an old hag. Right, that stupid curse. Estrella had searched through every ancient scroll and every book of spells she had. But then it hit her, the one scroll she had not searched through, The Scroll of Darkness. It contained thousands of forbidden spells and remedies for curses. Estrella pored over the pages for hours, trying desperately to find the solution to her predicament. Finally, there it was, Side Affect Ugliness: To be restored to their former self any witch or wizard who has become ugly because of a spell they cast must find the person they put the spell on and kill them. Ahh, thought Estrella, I must kill her.

 

submitted by Watermelon

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Callia Nightstar 

2. Physical appearance: Long, flowing back hair that cascades down her back, a very fair complexion, and radiant green eyes that seem to pierce the night, she is also very tall. She is young, but her hands are weathered and she is often the victim of fatigue. 

3. Background: Once a care-free maiden filled with great power and a vivid imagination, Callia Nightstar was a sensation in the quaint village of Anarak. She would perform spells for little village-children and would conjure potions for the aging or ailing. One fateful day, she was performing her legendary “CloudSwirling” spell when something went horribly wrong! Her powers faltered and the clouds that she once controlled, raged into a horrifying twister. The sky turned ashen, with a radiant green ribbon. The twister destroyed much of Anarak, and Callia was banished into the hills. After months of unsuccessfully casting spells, she realized she was losing her powers. She needed the help of someone talented, someone like Fable Thatcher! 

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): Cave in the Hills of Horror and Hodmoth (Hodmoth being a creature known to haunt the homes of many in the valley) 

5. What is the villain’s goal? The villain's goal is to use Fable Thatcher's power (greedily) to regain her lost powers and avenge herself by gaining control of many poor, innocent souls. 

6. Attitude toward Heroine: Callia feels that Fable is integral to her plan.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? Callia is stronger than Fable, because she has more experience with powers and magic and she uses Fable's powers to her advantage by advertising a competition for aspiring young authors which attracts Fable and her magic. She then designs the contest in a way that allows Fable to write a story about Callia, ending with Callia getting her powers restored. 

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? The villain is weak and vulnerable though because she is caught up in her greed and underestimates Fable’s mind, for fable soon finds out what their “Contest Judge” is up to.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? Fable confronts her, attempting to stop Callia, and they have a huge battle in which Callia has the upper hand, but ultimately Fable prevails.

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): "Callia Nightstar was an outcast, lost and confused. She needed the help of someone. Someone like Fable Thatcher..." 

 

Olivia G., age 11, Silver Spring, MD

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Khala Evorsca, Queen of Faeries (not Fairies)


2. Physical appearance: Tall, thin, and very pale (her skin is almost translucent), with a flowing sheet of blonde hair falling to her hips. Very, very, very light green eyes that are almost white. Her face has an almost carved quality, eerily flawless. While she might once have been very beautiful, now her long nose is always seen wrinkled in hatred, complexion distorted by a wild emotion none would recognize on her: Fear. Lips are thin and pale, almost disappearing into her face. Her ears are elongated and pointed at the tops, like an Elf's. She wears long dresses made out of a thin, silky material in low, smoky colors. She has wings, and even though they are useless to her (she can’t fly with them) they’re breathtakingly beautiful, a stained glass collage of icy pastel colors; blue, purple, pink, green, periwinkle, and white.


3. Background: Khala was born with special powers that were beyond anyone's ability to control or stop, including herself. She was born with the power to change memories. She can wipe the person completely clean of the memory, back to the clean slate it was before, mercifully (or painfully) blank, or she can alter it. Incite fear in peaceful memories; make people fear a certain place, person, object, time, or even idea. She also has the ability place tranquility or peace in a memory, calming a worry, a fear, or a stressful idea. She can even place or remove love in certain memories, one of the most powerful and dangerous forces to reckon with. Shortly after she was born, a war was started between Faeries and the Humans. On her 13th birthday, Human soldiers forced their way into her parent's castle and killed Khala's parents and sister. Traumatized, scared, and angry, Khala cast her power over all of Humanity, removing all Human's love for anything. Humans could no longer love, and had no memory of how to. But Khala, unable to control her anger, accidentally cleared every Human's memory of the war. Scared about what she had done, she fled Faerie land. Since then, she has worked hard to make the Humans pay for what they had done, but as no living Human had any recollection of what they had done, she was seen as mad, executing and murdering innocent people unprovoked, with no thought or shame.


4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): Cold stone castle in the middle of an old, mossy forest overgrown with vines.


5. What is the villain’s goal? To make Humans pay for what they did to her people, especially her parents and sister. However, she is not aware of what the Faeries did to the Humans during the war. In her mind, she has no cause to find out, because none of the Humans can remember it.


6. Attitude toward hero: Angry, spiteful, hateful, fearful, and curious because the hero can love, and she is a Human. Khala cannot understand why the hero has the ability to love, and is frightened of it. But she also wonders; if this Human can love when I erased that memory, can she remember the war? Can she remember what she did to my people?


7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? As Khala is the last living descendant of the Faerie royalty line, she is the Queen of Faeries. An ancient Faerie law states that the Queen is the only one with the power to change her surroundings, for security reasons. This makes Khala very hard to track down. She also has a tendency to do and then think, which can be very dangerous, combined with the fact that, as previously mentioned, she can change memories.


8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? She operates alone, and is secretly afraid of what she cannot understand. Her tendency to do and then think is one of her weaknesses, as well.


9. Why are the main character and villain in conflict with each other? The main character is Human, and Khala wants to return the “favor” of them (the Humans) destroying half of the Faerie race.


10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): Khala paced the echoing halls of her ancient castle impatiently, her silken slippers whispering softly against the cold, hard, unyielding stone floor.
Suddenly, randomly, a white, innocent, cottonwood seed memory floated through her mind. Of Kaitlyn. Sweet, pure, beautiful little Kaitlyn. She was running through the wide open, airy halls of her parent’s old castle. The windows were open, rayon curtains fluttering in the breeze, the sweet perfume of lilacs drifting through the place. Kaitlyn was laughing as she tried to run backwards, away from Khala but always watching her, trying to be more like her. Her little feet were dancing around in those silken slippers, making the exact same whispering sound Khala’s were now…
Khala stopped dead. Crying was no use, crying would not bring Kaitlyn back, would not bring her parents back. Crying would not help her avenge their deaths. It had been 14 years since she had last cried. Crying was no use, crying was no use, crying was no use. And yet as Khala was thinking this, she felt the salty teardrops pooled in her eyes give way…
Positively disgusted with herself, Khala managed to pull herself together and resumed her pacing of the deserted hallways.

 

Sarah H., age 12, Michigan

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Derek Nightshade.

2. Physical appearance: He is completely bald, rather tall, and has milky white eyes because he is blind. Because of this, he carries a magic cane with a helpful talking skull (who can provide comic relief) on the end of it everywhere he goes.

3. Background: The reason for his blindness and baldness is because of a fire that started on an old dusty book in his home when he was just a boy. Both of his parents died that day.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): Derek's lair is a big house on the very peak of a mountain. The house, as well as many of his belongings, is made out of stone, because he has had a strong fear of flammable things ever since the day he was blinded and his parents died.

5. What is the villain’s goal? Derek's goal is to regain his hair and sight. His cane, possessed by evil spirits, told him an ancient prophecy: To gain back his sight and hair, he must find and kill the descendant of the author of the book that caused the lethal fire.

6. Attitude toward hero: Derek's attitude toward the hero is deep hatred. He does not know the hero personally, but is desperate to regain his sight and hair, and is blinded by the prophecy. It would be useful if the hero was somehow related to books or writing.

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? Derek is stronger than the hero because of his cane, which can guide him to do terrible but incredible things.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? Derek is weak because of his blindness and ridiculous fear of fire.

9. Why are the main character and villain in conflict with each other? The hero is in conflict with Derek because he\she cannot let the prophecy happen. If it comes true, not only will the hero die, but Derek will become so powerful that he will have the ability to conquer the world!

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): The cold stone floor of Derek's eerie house was almost enough to drive any traveler off the mountain. The footsteps of the old man could be heard tromping across it for miles across the land. Foolish villagers had created legends about it, saying there were dragons or ugly trolls atop the mountain, but wiser and more experienced villagers knew the truth; that dangerous mountain had only one inhabitant; a blind old man with a dangerous cane. He had been perched on that mountain like a curse upon the village for what seemed like forever. Ever since that one little house in the village square had burned to the ground many years ago...   

 

John E., age 12, New York

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Gavin Squall 

2. Physical appearance: He has raven-black hair, and lost, ash-blue eyes. His clothes consist of a violet cape, tan-white shirt (ripped at the sleeves) straw yellow pants (kind of like a scarecrow) and brown boots.

3. Background: He was considered an dark child, and no-one dared look at him, except for Schell Pottenhapper.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): An abandoned, burnt house

5. What is the villain's goal? To heal Schell, who is fatally ill 

6. Attitude toward Fable: He doesn't blame her for going against his darkness. His darkness is furious with Fable though...

7. How is the villain stronger than Fable? He isn't too much more powerful, but he can heal people, at the cost of his life force. His darkness has a staff that can steal others life force, however 

8. How is the villain weak/vulnerable? He can't control his darkness, and his healing power costs him his life force; which is almost gone completely

9. Why are Fable and the villain in conflict with each other? His darkness is, not really him, but he doesn't blame Fable, for he is mad with himself as well

10. Your Crowd Scorcery Sentence(s): He was circling the burnt house, thinking deeply. He can't lose it this time. He has to try. The darkness in his heart cannot be unleashed again. Never. As he snapped out of his thoughts, he found himself walking towards the nearest town. 'I need to find someone, who can stop this. This can't happen anymore, or the world would go to ruin.' As he thought this, a piercing screech resonated through the air. 'No! It can't! Stop!' His head pounded. It was getting closer. He looked up, and there it was. It had found him.

 

Rebecca D., age 12, IN

 

*** 

 

1. Name: Darkshroud

2. Physical appearance: Tall and mysterious. Beady, shadowy eyes that appear as if they are horrible black holes, pale white skin.

3. Background: Originally called Steven, he was raised in a castle as a prince, but became too greedy. His parents eventually started giving him anything he asked for. A jealous paige boy eventually tricked him into getting lost in the woods. He was raised by a band of wolves who named him Darkshroud, the wolf word for "Lost in the Woods". They had the ability to transform into a band of human thieves. These wolves brought him anything he wanted, and trained him to be a powerful warrior. Leaving Darkshroud in the woods had not turned him into a better person, but a greedy powerful thief.

4. Lair (Hut? Castle? Cave? Ship?): His lair is a cave in the middle of the forest. It is littererd with his stolen hoard of weapons and treasure.

5. What is the villain’s goal? Darkshroud's goal is to kidnap Fable Thatcher and keep her as a slave in his lair. He wants to force her to create things for him, via her writing powers, so he doesn't have to steal things anymore. His ultimate goal is to have Fable create an army of undead soldiers that will help him take over the realms and claim their treaasures.

6. Attitude toward hero: Darkshroud is not very fond of Fable, but treats her gently, because if he kills her, he will not have anyone to create his army. 

7. How is the villain stronger than the hero? Darkshroud is stronger than Fable because he has a band of powerful wolves and a cave of weapons at his dispossal. H is also a master burglar.

8. How is the villain weak or vulnerable? He will not in any means harm Fable, or he will lose his chance at world domination. This will make it easier for her if they ever fight.

9. Why are the main character and the villain in conflict with each other? Because h wants to kidnap her, one way or another.

10. Your Crowd Sorcery Sentence(s): Darkshroud scanned the horizon of his vast hoard of treasure. He had every treasure in the land, but he still knew he was missing something. A girl with sea blue eyes and a magic power.

Kinkra, the leader of the wolf pack, strolled up to him in human fom wearing a red hat. "Greetings, my lord." he said, bowing low to take off his cap. When he found there was no cap there, he looked up in alarm. The cap was resting on Darkshroud' s lap.

"How did you," stammered Kinkra

Darkshroud chuckled. "You've taught me well, old friend," he said, "But too well."

 

J.B.E, age 12, United States

 

***

 

Please cast only one ballot per person. The software won’t count repeat votes, but attempts to vote more than once can create problems for the system.