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 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: Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray
Author: M.L.D. Curelas
Equine Combatant’s Name: 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.
Story Title: Riders in the Sky
Author: V. F. LeSann
Equine Combatant’s Name: Peregrine
Species: Damned soul
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 16
Intellect: 13
Charisma: 12
Special Attacks: Iron hooves that get red-hot for kick attack. Stubborn horse-logic. Flame mane and tail for striking. Occasionally bursts into flame and moves at ghost-speed. He will bite. Plus when fighting demons.
Special Defences: Soul-bound and telepathically linked with a fully-armed and generally cranky Rider. Shared health pool with the Rider. Can look in someone’s eyes and judge the weight of their souls. He is not considered a living creature (damned/undead)
How to Vote:
Comment on this blog post with the title of the story you are voting for.
For example, if this week’s competitors were:
Star Wars vs. Star Trek
and you wanted to vote for Star Trekyou would leave a comment that said, “I vote for Star Trek.”
It’s just that easy.
Cast your votes now, and may the best equine win!
Beezus, of course. 🙂
I vote for Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray!
Voting for the kids!
Haha, is that us???
I was going to ask that too. That would be my interpretation though, so it’s what I’m going with unless I’m corrected LOL.
Peregrine…. I love you!!
I vote for Riders in the Sky.
I know I’m going to run into a very cranky damned soul one of these nights, but I’m going to have to vote Beezus, because reasons were invoked and there may or may not have been bribery involved, which I can neither confirm nor deny.
Peregrine, please!
Before dice were rolled today only one vote separated Peregrine and Beezus:
Peregrine – 4
Beezus – 3
But a critically bad roll has made the point spread much larger than that:
Peregrine rolled 15
Beezus rolled 1
Now the totals stand at
Peregrine – 19
Beezus – 4
Hm. Flame mane and tail do sound amazing, but I confess to a long history of admiring hunters’ athleticism, so I’m voting Beezus.
I’m sticking with Beezus!
OH NO! Beezus has stumbled again, poor thing!
Before today’s dice rolls the standings were
Peregrine – 19
Beezus – 6
But a critically bad roll has made the point spread much larger than that:
Peregrine rolled 8
Beezus rolled 1
Now the totals stand at
Peregrine – 27
Beezus – 7
Come on, Beezus. I’m rooting for you!! Get that natural 20!!!
I vote for Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray
Beezus to win!
Before today’s dice rolls the standings were
Peregrine – 27
Beezus – 10
Then the dice hit the table and…
Peregrine rolled 12
Beezus rolled 19
Now the totals stand at
Peregrine – 39
Beezus – 29
That’s it for the random numbers, now it’s all up to the votes to decide who will move on to the semi-finals!
“Neither Snow, nor Rain, nor Heat-Ray”
Beezus for the win!
I asked Siri to choose a winner and he chose you. Congratulations! Please drop me a line (wherever you’d like) and let me know which book you’d like to claim and where I should send it. Available for you to pick from are:
A is for Apocalypse
B is for Broken
C is for Chimera
Aphanasian Stories
Metastasis
Corvidae
Scarecrow
White Noise & Waste Not (the zombie pair)
I grew up on books like Man O’ War (and also Beverly Cleary books) so I’m gonna have to vote for Beezus.
“Neither Snow…”
Riders in the Sky!
Closing votes