Fourteen Equus contributors have agreed to pit the equine in their story against all the other horse-like creatures in the anthology and fight it out until only one is left standing. That victor shall win bragging rights… and maybe I’ll make a little ‘I won!’ graphic of some sort 😛
How it Works:
Each Tuesday the competitors will be announced and voting will open. Every vote a story receives counts as one point.
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the competitors will each roll a twenty-sided die. The resulting number of points will be stolen from their competitor and added to their own score. I will update the scores via a comment on the blog post and social media.
Voting closes on Sunday at midnight MST.
Monday the winner (the story with the highest score) will be announced and move on to the next round.
Story Title: A Glory of Unicorns
Author: Jane Yolen
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): A glory of unicorns
Species: Unicorns
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 15
Intellect: 16
Charisma: 16
Special Attacks: Can hypnotize with the rhythm of their hooves, are a tempest of flesh and blood, sinew and horn. The herd can trample and pierce, turn like a page and appear anywhere at a thought.
But their horn is proof against poison and can cure any ill-gained wound for foe and friend alike, especially if it is brought against a young horse. Or young page.
Special Defences: Have the ability to mesmerize lesser beings and make them question their reality (and the unicorn’s very existence). Run in a herd making individuals difficult to target. Vanish in a heartbeat.
Story Title: Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray
Author: M.L.D. Curelas
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Beezus
Species: Thoroughbred cross
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 12
Intellect: 7
Charisma: 12
Special Attacks: Beezus’s Thoroughbred blood has gifted her with speed. She can start and stop on a dime. She also uses her fast breaks for surprise attacks, quickly closing the gap between her and her foe. Once Beezus has brought the battle to her enemy, she will crush their skull with her hooves. Beezus’s speed also makes her ideal for delivering payloads.
Special Defences: Beezus has highly developed senses, especially her hearing and sense of smell. Those senses aid Beezus’s tactical skills, helping her choose the ideal battle grounds. Her natural agility, honed by her field-hunting training, allows her to elude attacks. In tight situations, Beezus will employ deadly force with her teeth and hooves.
And
Story Title: Lightless
Author: K.T. Ivanrest
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Sona
Species: Selphoros (space pegasus)
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 12
Intellect: 5
Charisma: 10
Special Attacks:
Wing Strike: A strike to the opponent with the wing(s); can only be used while the selphoros is on the ground
Capriole: A midair strike; the selphoros leaps into the air and strikes out with the back hooves
Plummet: A flying attack in which the selphoros flies above her opponent and drives downward—can be used to knock a flying creature off course, or to crash down upon a creature on the ground. It hurts. A lot.
Special Defences:
Starfire: A selphoros’ fiery coat will burn any creature which comes into contact with it; the longer the contact, the higher the damage
Story Title: The Boys from Witless Bay
Author: Pat Flewwelling
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): unknown
Species: Kelpie
Strength: 13
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 12
Intellect: 16
Charisma: 16
Special Attacks: Super sneaky musical abduction attack! Underwater zombification of enemies!
Special Defences: Superglue skin, now with more hazardous waste slime!
How to Vote:
Comment on this blog post with the title of the story/stories you are voting for.
For example, if this week’s competitors were:
Star Wars vs. Star Trek
and
Pirates vs. Ninjas
and you wanted to vote for Star Trek and Pirates you would leave a comment that said, “I vote for Star Trek and Pirates.”
And you don’t need to vote for something in each bracket–if you didn’t have a preference between Star Trek and Star Wars you could totally just vote for Pirates.
It’s just that easy.
Cast your votes now, and may the best equine win!
Oooh. Voting for Beezus (Thoroughbred enthusiasts unite!) and Selphoros.
Moar kelpies! I vote for the spooky green kelpie and that awesome horse, Beezus.
I vote for ‘Glory of Unicorns’ and ‘Boys From Witless Bay’…. Though these all look AMAZING, you guys! *heart-eyes*
Voting for
Glory of Unicorns
The Boys from Witless Bay
I’m biased, so I can neither vote for me nor against me, but I surely can vote for Beezus! I always cheer for the underdog.
For what it’s worth I think you can totally vote for yourself 🙂
Well, in that case… If I don’t vote for Whoa Nelly, or whatever his name is, he might get his counterpart from Lake Ontario to nab me in the night, so…go Boys from Witless Bay!
Can I vote for both Beezus and the Kelpie? Or is that cheating?
Go thoroughbreds!
Totally not cheating 🙂
I vote for The Boys from Witless Bay!
Lightless vs. A Glory of Unicorns…But all seem great!
I vote for The Boys from Witless Bay
Voting for Boys from Witless Bay and Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat Ray
I vote for Glory of the Unicorns and The Boys from Witless Bay
Lightless
I vote for The Glory of the Unicorns because unicorn s and the B’ys from Witless Bay because Newfoundland.
voting for Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray!
I’m not sure anything is better than a space pegasus. I’m going to have to vote for Beezus and the space pegasus. 😀
Voting for Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray and
The Boys from Witless Bay.
Lightless and Neither…
Ooh, I’m voting for Lightless!
The Boys from Witless Bay!
“A Glory of Unicorns” and “The Boys from Witless Bay”
Weeeeelll, if Pat’s voting for herself, then I’m going to vote for myself! XD And for Beezus, because underdog.
Seems fair to me 🙂
Feel free to check my math but according to my count the current standings look like this:
A Glory of Unicorns – 6
Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray – 9
Lightless – 7
The Boys from Witless Bay – 12
These will change momentarily when I factor in everyone’s rolls for today ðŸ™
First thing you need to know, I’ve made an executive decision that no participant will ever have a negative number of votes. That is completely contrary to the spirit of this competition. We introduced the dice rolls in order to add a bit of randomness but it wasn’t intended to push people into negative numbers.
Now to the dice rolls 🙂
A Glory of Unicorns rolled 20
Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray rolled 2
Lightless rolled 14
The Boys from Witless Bay rolled 15
That means that the current standings look like this:
A Glory of Unicorns – 24
Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray – 0
Lightless – 6
The Boys from Witless Bay – 13
Are your favourite equines winning? If not, vote. If you’ve already voted tell your friends to vote 🙂
Voting for Beezus and Kelpie, because under dogs and under water horsey things are cool (and sticky).
I vote for The Boys from Witless Bay
Todays rolls were:
A Glory of Unicorns rolled 7
Neither Rain, nor Snow, nor Heat-Ray rolled 4
Lightless rolled 6
The Boys from Witless Bay rolled 10
That means the standings currently look like this:
A Glory of Unicorns – 25
Neither Rain, nor Snow, nor Heat Ray – 0
Lightless – 2
The Boys from Witless Bay – 19
That means none of these are decided yet. Tomorrow’s dice rolls can make a huge difference still (increasing one score by as much as 20 and decreasing their opponents by the same amount) but your votes can also have an impact. If the equine you’re rooting for isn’t winning give them a vote. Get your friends to give them a vote. And if the one you’re cheering on is ahead, well, you may want to wrangle some votes for it too to help keep it in the lead!
Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray and The Boys from Witless Bay get my votes!
Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray and The Boys From Witless Bay!
The Boys from Witless Bay! Because kelpies are cool. 🙂
The final rolls for this round are in and they look like this:
A Glory of Unicorns rolled a 5
Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Heat-Ray rolled a 19
Lightless rolled a 12
The Boys from Witless Bay rolled a 16
Thus, the standings are currently:
A Glory of Unicorns – 11
Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Heat-Ray – 16
Lightless – 0
The Boys from Witless Bay – 26
Are your favourites winning? If not, it’s time to ask your friends to come and cast a vote! 🙂
This is a tough round!
I’m going to vote for Beezus and Sona. Field hunts are great for building quick reactions, and SPACE PEGASUS. With REAL STARFIRE.
Glory of Unicorns and Lightless
I vote for Lightless!
Glory of Unicorns and Lightless for the win!
I’m closing this round now. All votes cast before my posting this will be counted and the winner announced tomorrow.
Thank you everyone for participating!
Final Results:
A Glory of Unicorns – 13
Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Heat-Ray – 17
Lightless – 4
The Boys from Witless Bay – 26