Negotiations are underway to acquire a few summer-y landscape paintings for the guild's sitting room. Poor Constanze misses the outdoors.

Thus, a contest! I am looking for painting submissions. There should not be any people or people-adjacent creatures in the painting. (E.g. huntable creatures, alfar, cavorting halfings, etc.)

1. The submitter must have an Empath of at least 15th level on their account.

2. Your artwork should be in good taste and adhere to general DR policies. Anything graphic, vulgar, or generally in poor taste will not be admissible.

3. There is no guarantee that any submission will actually be used.

4. Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries. All three prizes are an alfar alteration. If an Empath who already has an alteration receives the prize, they may feel free to give or sell it to another Empath, but will not be allowed to receive a second alteration. It's not possible to have two, and I want to make these available to people who may not already have them or the means to purchase them at auction.

5. Each account may only submit one design. Please email entries to DR-MELETE@PLAY.NET with the subject line, "Empath Sitting Room Painting Design Contest Entry." Please include your account name, character name, and instance along with your submission. Please include the design in the body of your email, not as an attachment.

6. The deadline for entries is 11:59 p.m. EST on September 30th. Winners will be announced after being judged shortly after.

If you have any questions, feel free to post here and I'll answer as I'm able. Good luck!

An example of what I'm looking for, format-wise (minus the people!), follows:

Framed in a square of gilded oak, the picture is matted by a hand-wide strip of blue-grey paper. In the foreground, the artist has sketched the figure of a young girl and an adult woman in simple strokes of violet, black and white. A riot of color surrounds them as they ramble through a grassy meadow strewn with blooming wildflowers. Lacy white clouds touched with gold and silver contrast prettily against a deep, cornflower blue sky. In the distance, numerous dark green trees can be seen bordering the lush, flowered meadow, their leaves the merest suggestions, yet seeming to move in some unseen breeze. Vivid crimson poppies dominate the sloping hillside, the careless daubs of carmine paint suggesting flowers rather than depicting them in lifelike detail. The brilliant red of the blossoms contrasts against the more subdued green of the grassy meadow, brightening the dull colors of sun-touched summer grass and rendering it more lush and verdant seeming. The woman, her face hidden by a wide straw hat, holds a parasol carelessly in one hand, allowing it to droop uselessly over her shoulder.

Melete

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Nature, it seems, is the popular name
for milliards and milliards and milliards
of particles playing their infinite game
of billiards and billiards and billiards.

Basically looking for straight-up landscapes. There can be creatures in the landscape, but they shouldn't be the focus of the landscape. And definitely not any sentient creatures (e.g. a troll family cavorting in a stream.)

Melete

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Nature, it seems, is the popular name
for milliards and milliards and milliards
of particles playing their infinite game
of billiards and billiards and billiards.

I'm not sure about a character limit, I want to say it's at least 750 characters. If you go over though I'll just edit it rather than reject your submission, so don't worry about it too much.

Melete

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Nature, it seems, is the popular name
for milliards and milliards and milliards
of particles playing their infinite game
of billiards and billiards and billiards.

The winners have been decided, and everyone who submitted an entry should have an email from me letting them know if their submission was chosen or not. Again, you may not see your entry in the sitting room, or it may not be exactly as it was designed by you, but you've given us some really quality prose to work with for which I am very grateful.

I want to reiterate my thanks to everyone who submitted an entry. I was very impressed by the quality and thoughtfulness of every entry -- every last one. I had no idea that the designs would be so good and you all made my job -- and the panel of GM's who voted -- very difficult indeed. I know this may sound like I'm trying to make everyone feel like a Unique And Beautiful Snowflake, but I'm really really not. I can be kind of jaded when it comes to some things, but you guys genuinely impressed me.

We have some quality writers in this game -- thanks for sharing that with me.

Melete

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Nature, it seems, is the popular name
for milliards and milliards and milliards
of particles playing their infinite game
of billiards and billiards and billiards.