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: To Ride a Steel Horse
Author: Stephanie A. Cain
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Aenbharr of Manannán
Species: Each Uisge
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 16
Intellect: 14
Charisma: 18
Special Attacks: Sharp teeth for ripping flesh; sticky skin to capture rider; eats cattle and humans.
Special Defences: Can shapeshift between enticing human form and dangerous equine form; is an extraordinarily fine riding horse when it can’t see salt water.
Story Title: Different
Author: Sandra Wickham
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known):
Species: Unicorn
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 15
Intellect: 16
Charisma: 17
Special Attacks: Rising up on forelegs, Stabbing Through the chest with horn
Special Defences: Any touch to the unicorn burns victims
And
Story Title: “Rue the Day”
Author: Laura VanArendonk Baugh
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Nova & Reaver (they’re a team)
Species: Unicorn
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 17
Constitution: 16
Intellect: 11
Charisma: 18
Special Attacks: Goring Horn (+8), Striking Hooves (+4)
These specially-trained war unicorns are skilled in the “airs above the ground,” or in RPG terms Acrobatics, and thus can Rogue their way across a battlefield to stomp you dead while simultaneously stabbing your buddy. And there’s not a thing you can do about it.
Special Defences: Magic Circle Against Evil, Too Damn Pretty To Die.
Evil Alignment creatures have difficulty closing distance against a unicorn. They also are a natural example of Reynolds’ Law, being Too Damn Pretty To Die.
Story Title: “Eel and Bloom”
Author: Diana Hurlburt
Equine Combatant’s Name (if known): Eel
Species: limerunner (native Floridian cousin to the Scottish kelpie)
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 17
Intellect: 8
Charisma: 12
Special Attacks: Overrun (limerunner hooves are sharp and their kick can exert more than 200 PSI); Jawbreaker (limerunners have carnivorous teeth and strong jaws).
Special Defences: low-light vision, keen sense of smell, heightened stamina for long-distance running and above-average speed (~40 mph) for distances under a mile, dexterity in water or on land.
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.
