[Last Edit for real this time: Clarification: Okay, there seems to be a lot of confusion about when the entries are due. It's due on midnight AT THE END OF THE DAY on March 31st (which is today). A lot of people thought I meant midnight at the start of the day, which is not the case. If you're confused, just think of the entries due at 11:59 PM (pacific standard time) on March 31st. So you've still got the whole day to finish. I just wanted to make that clear since a whole lot of people have been confused about that.]

[The Last Edit: Holy crap, there's only one more full day left till the deadline for Oberon's Garden. The entries will be due by March 31st by midnight (by PST). Make sure your all get your audition and reference sheets done today. When you're done, send me a note with a link to both your reference sheet and your audition included. MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T FORGET TO SEND THE NOTE BEFORE THE DEADLINE! If you don't send it in, I'll have no way of knowing you'll be entering, so don't forget. Get what you can get done done and send it in as soon as you're finished. Good luck and have a nice day.]

[Edit: Attention! By request, there is now an Oberon's Garden chatroom for you guys to hang out and discuss. I'm not sure how often I'll be in there, but I'm just putting it out there in case you guys want to use it. Here's the link, so come by and say hello: [link] ]

The time is now. Oberon’s Garden is officially launched!

As stated before, this OC tournament (which is your typical comic-based OC tournament affair) will take place in a high fantasy setting, with elves and orcs and the like. However, since I personally despise how 90% of high fantasy novels are essentially Tolkien fanfiction, the setting itself has many elements that lampshade and straight up parody traditional elements of generic fantasy. The exact tone of the setting will be made clearer below.

Now, why don’t we get started…

Storyline
Far away, in a far flung dimension, there is a world where fantastical creatures, from elves to dwarves to humans to orcs then once more back to the elves, dwelled all upon a single continent. This world was known by its people as "the World," primarily because the ancient inhabitants weren't that imaginative.

And, pretty much since the world's creation, the races of dwarves, men, elves, and orcs have lived together, each having its own unique differences but each the same in a many ways. Since they're not that different, naturally they all hate each other and go to war with some degree of frequency, sometimes for no real reason. One ancient war between the humans and elves that lasted almost a decade was started, as the history books state, by "a grossly misinterpreted wedding invitation."

Following the last war, known by most people as "The Last War" and informally known by the orcs as "Orcs Vs. Everyone Else: Summer Smackdown," the elegant ruler of the elves, Lord Oberon, invited representatives from all the other races to his palace, built within the giant World Tree. There's a few things you should know about Oberon. First, he's considered by the elves to be a benevolent ruler, who is polite, handsome, and an all around stand-up guy. He also just happens to be a highly intelligent, manipulative, and patient chessmaster with a hidden agenda who manages to fool almost everyone, including the other races.

Oberon cheerfully suggests to the representatives that, in celebration of this newfound peace, they hold a grand tournament as a show of good faith and to put on a grand show for all the people of the world. When one of the representatives points out that having their people bludgeon each other for sport might go against the whole "peace" thing, Oberon says "That's why the contestants will not be of this World."

He gives each of the representatives a shard of a magic mirror, which can peer into other worlds. He tells all the races "Find as many warriors as you like and the magic mirror will bring them here. Explain to them this game and if they agree, let them fight." Another representative points out that this is simply kidnapping and asks why anyone in their right mind would agree to this. Oberon smiles and tells them the grand prize for the winner of the tournament: anything they want. When asked what sorcery could possibly be powerful enough to grant the contestant's greatest desire, Oberon give a small, polite smile and says "Oh, we have our ways." He promises the tournament will be grand and beyond anyone's greatest imaginations (all while probably laughing manically in his head).

After much deliberation, the representatives hesitantly agree and tell them they shall select contestants, as will Oberon. Little did they know, this was all a part of Oberon's cunning plan that will shake the very foundations of the world. Cue dramatic cord and fade to black…

The story is continued in the prologue, located here: [link]

General Rules

1. You have to enter an original character. That is, no fan characters and absolutely no characters from any other artist or intellectual property.

2. Aside from the fact that your character has to be original, there are no other character restrictions. YOUR CHARACTER DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LIMITED TO THE FANTASY RACES OF THE WORLD. I cannot stress this enough. The story of the tournament is that you were pulled from another dimension. You are not simply limited to elves, orcs, humans, or dwarves (although if you wanted to enter a character who happened to be one of those, that’s fine too). [EDIT: I've gotten a few questions about if its okay for a main character to have "sidekicks" on the sidelines with them. Yes, it is absolutely fine for your character to have one or two people accompanying them as long as your main character is the focus and you include the sidekick in your reference sheet]

3. Your entries must be in visual form (ie comics, Flash, etc.). The only thing not acceptable in visual form is a single one-panel image for your entry.

4. Teaming up with another person to make your entries is fine (ex. If you wanted to write you entry and have someone else draw it. There’s no problem with that).

5. This world is a fantasy world and, thus, the technology in it is a bit limited. There is no electricity in the world. There is a bit of magical technology (Or Magitek as I’m sure all you Final Fantasy 3/6 fans will call it) but not a lot of it. While using a character who uses technology is not expressly forbidden, it kinda goes a bit against the tone of the setting. Besides, from a logical standpoint, if you enter your space marine with power armor (cause we SURE don’t see enough of that) and it runs out of juice, where’s he gonna more energy? He’d be a sitting duck and orcs would totally beat him up and laugh. You don’t want that. So if you’re going to use a character whose technology dependent, incorporate some magic into it or at least be creative about it so it fits in with the world.

6. The same rule above applies to characters using firearms. The World is pretty much still limited to swords and bows, aside from a few Magitek gadgets. If you had a character with a gun and he runs out of ammo, he’d best get ready to go to the dwarves and brush up on the blacksmithing trade, since he’s not gonna find bullets anywhere unless he makes them. So firearms, like tech, are kinda out of tone for the setting, but are not forbidden. If you have to use them, be creative about it.

7. Magic, psychic powers, supernatural powers and other forms of wizardry are not only allow, they are encouraged.

8. You can incorporate the major NPCs in your entries and make a few of your own up. That’s what they’re there for.

9. Can you kill your opponent? Well, yes, you can. However, it is advised if you have to kill a character, you do it tastefully in a well done way because opponent death has a tendency to turn some people off (including, in some cases, the judges if it is done really badly).

10. After one rounds deadline, the winners will be posted several days later. The matchups for the next round will likely be posted not long after that, along with a short written scene depicting some of the events of the word that are going on in the world, mostly involving the NPCs and how the actions of the round’s winners impacted other people.

11. Grand Prize: Immortality…in written form. The winner will receive a written epilogue (roughly the length of the prologue) in which your character attains their wish (I will not you for clarification on what that wish is), ties up all the lose ends of the tournament storyline, and save the World…or rules over it as a malevolent god if you’re the more villainous type. Basically, a proper ending for your character’s epic tournament story. It might not be the best prize ever, but like most tournaments of this kind, the main prize is bragging rights.

12. THE DEADLINE FOR AUDITIONS AND REFERENCE SHEETS IS MIDNIGHT ON MARCH 31. That's 12:00 AM by PST (which is 3AM EST). If you need to make sure what time it is for you in PST, use this clock [link]

Audition rules

Read the Oberon’s Garden prologue before making your entry. It will give you an idea on how the NPCs act and what’s going on in the World. This tournament is meant to feel like a fantasy-style epic for your character, so reading that will give you a lot of stuff to work into your entry to make it as good as possible. The prologue is here: [link]

In order to enter, you must have a reference sheet and an audition entry. If you do not have both, you will not get in and you will be a sad panda.

The reference sheet should include a visual reference of your character for your opponents to use, as well as useful information about your character’s personality, background, and powers. It should also say which one of the four races the character was chosen by for the tournament [See Races at the link at the bottom of this post for more details]. Here are a few examples: [link] [link] [link]

The entry must be a picture, comic, or etc. which introduces your character and shows how he enters the world tournament. You must show your character entering the World via one of the magic mirrors, which is held by the ruler of that particular race.

The mirror your character is teleported from must be held by the race you choose to ally with [See Races at the bottom of this post for more details].Once again, the race you ally with has no impact on the tournament; it is simply there to enhance your characters narrative.

Besides that, you can incorporate anything else. You can show what your character is doing before being teleported and what they do immediately after.

When you have finished this, send a note to me with a link to both. Only send me the note once you have both completely finished.

TO REITERATE, THE DEADLINE FOR AUDITIONS IS MARCH 31. After which time, the top 64 contestants will be chosen by me and get a chance to battle in the tournament. Shortly thereafter, matchups will be posted, as well as a deadline for everyone’s next entry. Sound good? Just remember that auditions and reference sheets are due MARCH 31

Helpful Tips

In this tournament, storytelling, characterization, and plot are strongly encouraged. Think of this audition as your character’s story kicking off and treat every other entry afterwards as building on that story.

Remember, the NPCs are there for you to use as you see fit. And, also remember, that you are encouraged to make up your own NPCs if you feel the need.

One helpful tidbit to keep in mind: The All-Seeing Eye artifact Oberon has allows him to broadcast his image to anyone in the world, including your contestant. Since he has the main magic mirror, he can easily keep track of anyone that passes through one of its shards. In short, he knows that your character has entered the tournament even if he’s leagues away and will even project him to you if he feels the urge. Basically, if you wanted to put Oberon in your entry somewhere, this is a good explanation for how he can show.

In case I didn’t mention it earlier, THE DEADLINE IS MARCH 31 AT 12 MIDNIGHT PST FOR YOUR AUDITIONS AND REFERENCE SHEETS.

If you have any questions, please feel free to note me about them.

THE DEADLINE IS MARCH 31. AT 12:00 AM PST..

Good luck everybody.

Judges


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Oberon's Garden
Introduction and Rules: You are here.
Prologue: [link]
Races: [link]
Locations: [link]
NPCs: [link]