Memoirs of Adventure Creative Writing Contest (NA) - Discussion/Practice Thread

[Chaude]

Bottle Up The Upside-Down Smile

EDIT: Submitted on page 13. Thanks for reading. : )

[Loganight]

Not too long before writing this my future looked bleak and hopeless. I have faced foes and traveled to places that I could never have imagined possible, seen horrors that have made me question my very existence. My world had been drained of color and shadows quickly began to close in around me. Amidst that lifeless wasteland I wondered if there was any point in continuing to fight. I returned from that world beyond our own back to a lonely home that I had built for myself. No one and nothing was waiting for me there but a creaky old cot who could no longer support the weight of all I carried with me. I removed my battered armor and laid my weary body down for what I prayed might be the last time. Come morning, however, something within me stirred. It willed me to leave that dreadful place and carry on about my day. With some strange fleeting hope within my chest I barged outside, through The Goblet’s vigilant gates, and into the searing heat of the Ul’dahn market streets.

I passed by all kinds of people, each working hard to protect their own way of life. I thought back to what that man had said to me in that illusory city and wondered if maybe he was right. I thought long and hard about all of it until I realized I had come face to face with the airship landing. I locked eyes with a man in a garish outfit as he beckoned for me to come closer. He spun for me a gilded tale of a place filled with vibrant lights and colors where dreams come true. Without much else to do, I took the man’s advice and boarded an airship for The Golden Saucer.

Everywhere I looked I saw joyous crowds cheering and laughing set on top of a glowing golden backdrop. I thought that maybe if I came to the place the man had described, the brilliant golden light there would cast away the shadows looming over me. But on that day it was not the shine of a merchant’s forfeit coin nor the glow of the sweltering lamps hanging high above that shined a light on my life once more. Through all the noise and commotion it was you. You, the one who saw me and only me amongst the crowd. Out of everyone there that day, you only chose me. You reached out and took me by the hand, like you could tell just by looking at me that I was drowning. You led me out of that place where we met and I’ve never looked back since.

You came home with me and breathed new life into the house that became ours together. Every day you have inspired me to be better, to do more. Hand-in-hand we built a new life together and continue to be one another’s light at the end of the tunnel. No matter what adventures we go on or challenges we face along the way we can find the strength to take them on knowing we do so together. With any luck you’ll end up back on this beach where we spent the Summer together some day. If you do I pray you’ll find this message along the shore waiting just for you.

-Your Paladin

(Gaelicap)

[Meillquei]

Testing before I submit. Hopefully this works!

[brett450]

I debated for some time the memory I would choose to write about. Ultimately, I was drawn to a moment very personal and dear to me.

Sharla tightened her grip on her bow, never wavering as she loosed arrow after arrow at the great beast, her comrades fighting equally as valiantly as they took cover from the dragon dive-bombing their position, the dragon Twintania.

My best friend and girlfriend, we had known each other for sixteen years, had been dating for eight, played this game together often. When she left me I was devastated. I knew in her mind she was trying to make things easier for me. There were circumstances surrounding her decision and I knew it wasn’t out of malice or anger, but it hurt all the same.

It’s infernal dive-bombing ceased, Sharla had only a moment's reprieve before the dragon summoned three massive pillars of wind, instantly knocking three of her comrades down, their bodies lying motionless on the scorched rock. Gritting her teeth and attempting to escape the vicious creatures that had joined the battle, Sharla let out a shout that became a song, allowing her aether to flow from her voice to her ailing comrades, bolstering their strength and steeling their resolve.

We didn’t speak after that. A relationship of sixteen years, over half my life, had suddenly ended. I felt lost, angry, sad, bitter, empty, a cavalcade of emotions I had no idea how to deal with. In truth, I thought about leaving this game, this game that she introduced me too, that we had shared together. It was a mutual friend that convinced me to stay, and I’m glad I did.

The twisters gone and its Dreadknights dealt with, Twintania’s aether began to seep into the ground beneath their feet, forming pools of molten rock. Sharla ran as fast as she could, the pools of hell opening up beneath her always just a half step behind. Still, she forced herself to keep singing, to keep her aim locked on the great dragon and her arrow’s true. She could see its strength was fading, its wings beat with less vigor than before. Still, with three members down and the others nearing defeat themselves, she knew it would take something more than song and arrow to turn the tide.

Two years later that same mutual friend asked me to join in running roulettes one day. We had run hundreds before but this time they were playing together and invited me to join them. For the first time in two years, I heard her voice. I heard her laugh. For the first time in two years, I remembered how important that friendship was to me. Though our relationship had changed, I realized then that it didn’t necessarily need to end.

“Y’akasha now!” Sharla cried. The Miqo’te’s ears twitched in response as she slammed her staff into the ground. The resulting burst of aether that enveloped the group truly did feel like its name implied, the Pulse of Life. Standing together once again, Sharla smiled and tightened her grip on her bow.

(Noble Barding)

[Turqblue]

My all-time favorite memory of my life here, on a world called Famfrit, in the Land of Eorzea, is the day I first bought a house of my very own. I had sought long to find a place to belong, with friends close enough to be family - but, especially, a place I could really call "home." For I remembered none.
My name is Belinda. I took the surname Forrest, for I seem to remember a beautiful place, with great, red-barked trees with feathery, evergreen foliage that I loved. But I seem to have lost that place, along with the memories of my life before I came to Gridania almost two years ago. I wanted to find a place where I could support myself, and knew I had the skills, maybe even the magic needed to be a good healer. I was seeking - something, but I knew not what. An elderly gentleman on the coach bringing me here kindly told me about the new city I was entering. He is, and remains, my earliest memory now - all else is a haze, that, and visions of a great crystal of loving light.
I did well in Gridania, learning the skills of a conjurer, a healer with defense training, and was promoted to White Mage in less than a year. I learned how to fight in partnership to defeat enemies, those who would hurt the innocent. Even better, I found a wonderful home with a small Free Company, who welcomed me & helped me learn many other things I needed to not only survive, but to thrive in this world, & I found myself fighting to defend this way of life. I visited and fought for the three great city-states, then others, but they were always new to me - a place I had never seen before, had no memory of. Yes, I had found a noble cause to defend in Eorzea - freedom of its peoples, and respect for the cultural diversity of this world. But it was always their homes I was defending. Where was mine?
So, in my journeys here, the best memory I have yet had was when, with the help of a generous gift of gil from my FC's leader, I was able to buy my very own cottage in the Lavender Beds. At last I felt I really had a home - a house of my own! Now I not only had friends to stand with, fight beside, and to defend, I, too, had a home among my friends. As I planted my very own garden for the first time, I watched the sun set over the lake, surrounded by great trees of ancient lineage, and knew I was home at last.
I was full of joy as my house slowly filled with items of comfort and peace. I love this place, Eorzea, and have become a useful part of my FC, although I still have many things to learn, as I grow both my crafting/gathering skills, and expand my fighting & defense skills. But it is always good to come home at night, back to a place of peace and beauty, humble though it is - a real home. There are two great gifts to give a child, and as a new citizen in Eorzea, I have been given both by my new friends - roots and wings. I feel both as I enter my door.

[NeriaAshdale]

The blizzard accompanying my return to Ishgard was no more welcoming than the one which cast me out. It’d been a year since I’d fled, abandoning everything I knew in search of a fresh adventure in Gridania. So far had I departed from the prim dinner parties, the services in Saint Reymanaund’s Cathedral, the slight cling of high Ishgardian collars against my throat that I no longer felt as though I was returning somewhere familiar. I was different, now. Cast out yet again, but stronger for it.

Ishgardian spires rose into a hazy gray sky, prickly as its denizens. I shuddered with cold as I passed through the gates. Haurchefant bade me welcome here under the care of his father, Count Edmont De Fortempts, and my Elezen appearance no doubt allowed me to seamlessly blend in. But that I was known here did not escape me. Some would have questions. And if asked, I would answer.

The Dragonsong War had cost Foundation so much. Dilapidated buildings at the city’s entrance crumbled. Smoke rose from the Brume in thick dark plumes. The separation of excessive wealth and dire poverty echoed stronger than ever in the eyes of the orphans who glared with our passing, dirty with soot and exhaustion.

Once welcomed by the Count my companions seated themselves to take tea by the fire and warm their bodies after the long journey from Camp Dragonhead. A lifetime in the cold afforded me less recovery time. Following yet another round of thanks I departed to investigate the city once more, Haurchefant’s inquiring eyes following me though he said nothing.

I headed up the long set of stairs leading up to the cathedral as I’d done so many times in the past, the bell tower and stained glass windows becoming more apparent the closer I drew. A beacon in the frigid snows, a symbol of Halone’s power and authority. As if anticipating my arrival, the bell struck, ringing out through the streets. Once, twice, eight times before silence descended once more.

Despite everything, for but a moment, I was a child again. Garbed in a holy rainbow dress, clutching my mother’s hand as my father laughed with Count Durendaire and reflected on the day’s sermon. Eager to play, to descend into the snow, to fire a bow or wield a lance like the enormous statues towering over the city below.

I breathed in the frozen air and let the snow melt against my cheeks.

Home. I was home.

[Bluebird Earrings please! Thanks for reading!]

[Jaywalker]

The Hero's Confession

Posted page 15!

[pochaocco]

Ready for submission.

[Sicycre]

Question, is it against the rules if a friend helps you illustrate your story?

This is absolutely fine so long as the written entry itself is your own.

3,000 characters is the limit right?

That is correct according to the official rules found here.

Does the 3000 character limit take into account spaces, page-breaks, and indentations?

Yes, the 3,000 character limit also counts spaces, page-breaks, and indentations.

[Kytrin]

This is absolutely fine so long as the written entry itself is your own.


That is correct according to the official rules found here.


Yes, the 3,000 character limit also counts spaces, page-breaks, and indentations.

Wonderful! Thank you for that clarification.