City of IF

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

Bringing you the News The Old fashioned Way





In the Spotlight!
Last month saw one of the fiercest spotlight battles in a long time! Veteran IFian Chinaren nets yet another trophy with last month's Spotlight Competition. Read all about it in an exclusive interview with the mogul in our Spotlight section bellow.


Fads and Fun Stuff
Story by PopeAlessandrosXVIII

A new little fad has broken out across IF. Many IFians can be spotted wearing a new form of signature decoration - Dragons. Started as a little fun game by Thunderbird in the Fantasy Guild, several other IFians have begun experimenting with these little tykes and we, here in the City, are amassing our own little collection of Dragons! They can be collected, hatched, grown, bred, and have their own stories like the ones found here at Pope's Dragon Tales – Challenge.

And from there, many new fun areas have been created, such as the Dragon Army Headquarters in the Fantasy Guildhall, and the Dragon Daycare, also in the Guildhall. But, fear not, all this dragony fun is not limited to the Fantasy Guild. The Dragon Daycare for the masses is free and open in the Fantasy Forest.

These little guys are cute, and fun, but please do not take them in unless you are willing to do some work! While the daycare will ensure no broken eggs or dead hatchlings, it's so much more fulfilling to raise these little ones for yourself. They feed off of Clicks, Views, and Unique Views. So, if you've found yourself falling behind in posting, one of these cute little medieval monsters can act as reminders to get out there and keep up with your writings, as well as that rewarding feeling of seeing them grow into full and glorious adulthood! Here are just a few of the dragons grown by IFians thus far.



And that is just a small selection of the dragons available! One PopeAlessandrosXVIII is working on a comprehensive egg chart so that you know what dragons to expect from your eggs! More on that in the next issue of the IF Quirer. So pick up your own scroll today and begin building your own Dragon Army!


If Only Wordfind
The first three IFians to find all the words, mail PopeAlessandrosXVIII and you shall be rewarded from the IF Treasury!



Word Find Words:

Stein
Shady Stoat
Headeaters
Writers Arena
Control
Death Day
The Color of Sound
Interfable

Wordfind Winners from last month:
1st: Shillelagh
2nd: Lilith
3rd: N/A



Story by PopeAlessandrosXVIII

Heavy Metal – Thunderbird – 8
Tempora Crepusculi – Shillelagh – 7
SparkleSteps – Tikanni Corazon – 7
Run. - Chinaren – 6
Escaping Eternia – misterbiz – 5

Still holding it's own in first place is Thunderbird's Heavy Metal. Also holding steadfast, in second place we have Shillelagh's Tempora Crepusculi. Moving up a “step” this month is Tikanni Corazon's SparkleSteps. Slipping into fourth place is our recent winner of the Spotlight Competition, Chinaren's Run.. Finally, taking over fifth place is misterbiz's Escaping Eternia.

All of these are dually recommended by this editor!


Top 5 Peek

Story by PopeAlessandrosXVIII

Some tough decisions have come to bare in Thunderbird's epic tale Heavy Metal, for both readers and characters alike, making you take a good look inside for the right way to go, not just for the story, but in your heart. Shillelagh gives his own version of teen angst and mythical convergence in his tale Tempora Crepusculi with quite amusing results. Tikanni Corazon's occasionally long winded, but always spectacular tale SparkleSteps seems to be coming close to what’s sure to be its epic conclusion! Shifting into a more serious venue, Chinaren has several people on the edge of their seats with his time travel thriller, Run. misterbiz gives us zombies, guns, zombies, chicks, zombies, and now a madman with his post apocalyptic wonder, Escaping Eternia.




Story By PopeAlessandrosXVIII

This last Spotlight competition saw some excepional entrants as well as some fierce voting. According to sorces, a competition like this hasn't been seen in quite a while. With 6 votes, taking first place and an honored position on the front page for what appears to be the 8th time in his career, is Chinaren and his speed game Run.. In a short conference, our ace reporter Stein was able to catch up to this writing wiz in his private home. Here is what he had to say.


Spotlight winner interview: Chinaren


Stein: Thank you sir. I'm glad you agreed to the interview. Ready Rover?


Chinaren: Who you calling Rover?


Rover: Wuff *Brings ears to attention*


Chinaren: Oh, I thought he was some kind of large carpet bag.


Stein: Good. Now, first off, How does it feel to have won such a prestigious competition?


Chinaren: I'm always happy to add another trophy to my collection. It's been some time since I won something on IF, so it's nice to see I've still some small skill left in my tired old bones.


Stein: I see. What inspired this story, Run.?


Chinaren: My speed stories generally don't have any inspiration except some itchy writing fingers. I just start writing and then see where the readers' suggestions take me. It usually works out quite well I've found. I've had some good ideas on IF and Tome for this one.


Stein: Ah, very interesting. I know this is a Speed Game, so I have to wonder, how long do you see this story continuing? Do you think that's up to the readers?


Chinaren: Kind of. My speed stories usually last about 30k words (though sometimes I've limited them to five chapters, about 10k words). However, recent Suggestions have made this one get more complicated, and hence longer. It's about 35k words as of the latest chapter (24). I think we're entering the start of the endgame now. Maybe another five chapters? We'll see.


Stein: Yes yes...Would you tell us a bit about the story itself? A little sneak peek for those who haven't read it yet.


Cinaren: Sheesh. Not so easy to do with this one. It's a time travel story, which makes it kind of twisty. Not very easy to summarize without spoiling the plot. Let's just say the 'hero' is dragged into the future where he's wanted by the ruthless dictator of the time for some reason. There are a few surprises in store for sure later on.


Stein: Thank you. Lastly, would you like to say anything to your defeated competitors?


Cinaren: Ha! Sucks to be you! In your face! lol. No, seriously, I didn't think I would win this one. All the entrants are great writers, nearly as good as me even. ;)


Stein: I thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer these questions. *Bows* I shall take my leave. Please make sure to check out the next edition of the IF Quirer! *Wanders off towards the Inn*


Chinren: Sure, and if you find any Fables in the IFQ offices they're mine that I lost there. Get lost Fido.


Rover: Wuff *Follows Stein*


Chinaren: Finally, thought they'd never leave. Now baby, where were we? No, don't speak with your mouth full...


Now, let us not forget our other entrants. With 4 votes misterbiz's Escaping Eternia gave Run a “run” for it's money for a time. Line of Kavanagh by Andolyn netted 3 votes, followed closely by Control by Tainted Biohazard with 2 votes. Watching happily from the back row, PopeAlessandrosXVIII's To Be A Knight waves away at the winner with 0 votes. Let's give it up for all of our awesome contenders!

The next spotlight competition is getting moving behind the scene, so lets get up on our readership so that we can have some informed voters, shall we? Until next time, this has been the Spotlight competition report.


The Guild Draw Reports

Story by: PopeAlessandrosXVIII

The newly opend Guild have begun showign a fine aray of games and debates within their walls. As such, ace reporter Stein found his way into a few of the guilds and managed to capture a sales pitch from them!


Horror Guild
Come one, come all into The Darkness. Come and see the sights, partake of the glorious mayhem that is The Horror Guild. Inside you will find a wretched little family of oddballs and weirdos willing to accept you with open arms for the small price of 201 fables. Yes, yes. For that small fee you may enter and join in the ongoing discussion of what is evil and the soon to be unveiled villain creating competition. Monthly fees are a simple 50 fables unless of course you have an active storygame. So please...come and join in the madness...if you dare!



The Fantasy Guild ~ An Excerpt

Ladies, gentlemen, friends, neighbours, and all those nestled in between, I would welcome you one and all to the Fantasy Guild. For a mere 333 fables, and 33 a month thereafter, you can become a member of my fabulous Guild, and partake in all the stuff that we have going on at the moment. Current projects include a discussion on what makes a good hero/heroine, a short story competition (the current genre being horror/fantasy), and a soon to be opened Potions Exam, another competition, which walks hand in hand with the building of both a Spellbook thread, and Spell-Elements thread. Plus, the current members and myself are working on creating a 'secret' Dragon Army...oops! I let the cat out of the bag! Silly me! ;) And there is much more to come in the future too.

Yours Sincerly

Tikanni Corazon ~ Fantasy Guildmistress

I'm sure by the end of the next month, the talented Stein will be able to nab the rest of those reports up!


Business

Story by Kang

FBIA- The Fatback lost some major ground as not only has the summer heat gripped the real world but has caused a slowdown in the Ifian realm as well . The fat back was -43.77 (-2.06%) to fall to 2084.23
SGM- The Idearium flooded the gems as the index rose 31.41 (+6.32%) to close at 528.03
LGND- Legends this month fell slightly by -2.94 (-8.32%) to 32.36

Oddling average- The Oddling report shows that there was no sigificant change to the oddlings in IF the Oddling average is at 66.92%

Deadweight The ASS reports that the deadweight average is slightly lower to 12.35% this month


Happy IF Day!
This months IF days include a few veterans hitting big days. They are:

geek_girl72 6 years

those Celebrating 5 years are
Smudger
solus.serpen
Jezsharp

and Shadowraven for 3 years

Congrats to all and Happy IF Day



Words O' Wisdom

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night.”- Edgar Allan Poe




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Look here for more information!

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

I know kinda short *Bows* Sooo sorry! *Bows repeatedly* I'll get working on stuff for the next one right away! *Runs off to go beat Stein over the head with heavy object*

[Amichan]

you will have months like this so dont fret over it

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

Oki... So no one's going to comment on our short little issue here?

[Thunderbird]

Well... I read it and enjoyed it and thought it was a good issue. Its size was comparable to the amount of activity we've seen overall this month so it was appropriate.

[Kalyssa Summers]

Love the issue!! Very useful actually...and I had no idea we had a stock market :o what perittent threads may I refer to to be educated on it, and perhaps, invest in a stock or two?

[Amichan]

Kalyssa Summers wrote: Love the issue!! Very useful actually...and I had no idea we had a stock market :o what perittent threads may I refer to to be educated on it, and perhaps, invest in a stock or two?


well the Stocks rise and fall with participation in Sg's and Rp's your "share " is what you have in terms of fables stat gems and Legends

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Where's the September Issue?!

[Kalyssa Summers]

Kang wrote: Kalyssa Summers wrote: Love the issue!! Very useful actually...and I had no idea we had a stock market :o what pertinent threads may I refer to to be educated on it, and perhaps, invest in a stock or two?


well the Stocks rise and fall with participation in Sg's and Rp's your "share " is what you have in terms of fables stat gems and Legends

cool- and i guess Pope gets the stats from you every month?