Note: This tournament is invite only, please do not ask to be invited as there quite literally isn't any more room.

The Story:
The grand city of Taitle, once bustling with life and thought and steam-powered inventions, stands deserted save for the stray passing inventor salvaging scrap metal from its workings and a stubborn old man i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb… who has lived on the same plot of land his ancestors have all his life.  He didn’t mind the old abandoned buildings, the winding Victorian architecture that was crumbling in places, or the almost rhythmic release of steam from street vents.  No one knew where the vents went, or why they were there, or even how to properly begin to repair the city’s maze of architecture to make it living again, but the vents are there, leading to nowhere, and the city is there, and had, at one point, worked for the people in it.  All it works for now, other than the old man, were the little robots, left behind by careless people passing through and repaired by the old man, set free to wander the city and make their own homes for themselves.  The city itself is like a time capsule, fallen into disrepair but stuck in this era of steam-powered technology, stuck in the same culture it has been since it was last bustling with signs of the lives of its citizens because of the influence of a strange new physical law, dubbed Law of Talos by its discoverer, the old man.  The city functions only on steam power, despite its neighbors having modern technology already.  Said technology stops working within the city grounds, and there is a presence that is nothign short of magical in the air.  The Law of Talos has been around ever since the first person had set foot in the city, it seemed, even while it was bustling with the life of its inhabitants, before it was abandoned.  Since then, the city has been unpopulated.  That is, until now.  Now the town is overrun by people scouring every inch of the city for all the broilers and gas tanks and engine parts that have been left lying around, and building high glass domes on metal stilts.  All in preparation.  The town was going to be alive again, but not for its usual purpose.  It would live for a tournament.

The stubborn old man had finally done it.  In his workshop stood the world’s first, and, indeed, only wishing machine.  Steam and smoke poured out of the contraption, and things spun at seemingly random times, and a small gauge on the front, going from 1 to 10, was now pointing at 1.  Whatever it was that was making the machine work (for the old man wasn’t sure of it himself.  When pressed, he'd simply answer "Oh, it must simply be a use of the Law of Talos, but of course," but never expands on said law.) was allowing for one more wish.  And the stubborn, but nice and friendly old man, had decided that now since he had hair again and had his fun wishing, it was time to give the last wish, however big or small it may be, to someone who is willing to go to any length to prove he/she deserves it.  And it was his nephew, hanging around the shop one day, who suggested the idea of a tournament.  So the city had become alive once again, bustling with the sound of workers preparing for said tournament, ready to welcome the competitors and building observation domes for the spectators at either end of the city.  Because, as the nephew pointed out, a little monetary profit never hurt anyone.

The idea was simple.  People who heard of this machine, be it by technology like the internet or carrier pigeons, were told to gather in the city if they were interested.  Bring yourselves, it said.  Bring courage and the will to win.  And bring your greatest desire, because fulfilling it is your prize.  Once it starts, step outside Taitle, and you’re out.  Be defeated by your set opponent and you’re out.  And when you’re out, you forfeit everything you have collected over the course of the tournament to the winner of your match.  Since it wouldn’t be a proper tournament in the old man’s eyes if it didn’t allow for some inventiveness, he will give each contestant a set of tools, the most unique and important of these being the boiler, the gas tank, and the engine parts.  Metal, pipes, chimneys, everything else could be scavenged.  But those parts you could only get by defeating your opponent, and it is with those parts that you can build bigger things, or many small things, whichever you prefer.  And it is those parts you forfeit when you lose a match.  Do you have to use the kit?  No, of course not.  The old man simply wanted to give everyone the fair option to.  Just keep those vital parts close, because even if you don’t want them, leaving them would give a huge advantage to whoever finds them.  The goal is to be the last one standing, brought in front of the wishing machine and given the chance to make your deepest desire come true.


The Process:
Your OC will arrive in the city, at which point they will discover that any technology they may have that isn't steam-based (or, at least, after the steam era) does not work in the city itself, due to the Law of Talos's influence.  Therefore, they must enter city grounds on foot in designated areas, passing the ring of tournament officials around it making sure that the contestants stay inside the city.  Once your OC is entering the city, they will be handed a basic kit by a tournament official.  The kit will contain a decently-sized boiler, a full gas tank and several sturdy pipes needed to link the two cylindrical objects.  Those are the most important pieces, because they cannot be found anywhere else in the city - except in the hands of another contestant.  The rest of the kit is rudimentary engine supplies, governors, water tanks, valves, insulation, gears, pieces of metal and bolts, safety goggles and basic tools.  Everything, aside from the boiler and the gas tank, can be dug up in various places in the city.  Old factories that would make metal still have scraps of it lying around.  Gears are in no short supply, big or small.  There are several big pieces of machinery abandoned, no fuel supplies to speak of, but working pipes and wheels/treads.  Even the buildings themselves can serve as supplies as needed, with their high ledges and tall spires, working chimneys and wooden planks.  Once the kit is received, regardless if you want it or not, you are officially a contestant, and are to assume that anyone you meet in the city wandering freely is also a contestant. You are not required to use the kits, but you are required to keep the boiler and gas tanks safe (be it with you in a machine or in a safe hiding place), which you only part with if you lose a match, and surrender them to the winner.  If you are defeated, you will be escorted to the modernized and out-of-place observation deck, from which you are not technically allowed to move for your and other's safety, as freely wandering people are assumed to be contestants (though if you listen to the rules or not is entirely up to you).  
A very useful site about the workings of steam machines that I've come across is: www.crabfu.com/steamtoys/diy_s…
And another, pointed out by auryn for the fashion styles of steampunk, is community.livejournal.com/stea…

Each round, the artist will be required to depict their character defeating their opponent's in some way.  It does not necessarily have to be a death match of pure strenght, of course.  It is, often times, more impressive to find a different route to defeat your opponent than the ol' hack-n-slash.  At the end of the round, the winner gets all of the loser's gathered supplies, most importantly, the gas tanks and boilers.  More of these allow you to build bigger things, or simply more thing than you currently have.  The intro comic/image should show your character arriving and receiving the kit, which makes them officially a competitor.  The matches will be randomized each time, and will go up a day after the judging has been announced.

Spectator Entries:
If you'd like to make spectator entries to show your support of contestants but are not a contestant yourself, feel free to have your character enter the city and go into the observation dome, where all the spectators gather.  (If they stay in the dome or not is up to you, but remember, anyone in the city is fair game to the contestants.)  Please note me with spectator entries, I'd like to display them in my journal as the tourney goes on.


The Judges:

What we're looking for:  Creativity!  Originality, an engaging story and an appealing execution of said story.  What the story is and how its told takes precedence over art quality of the entry, as it is, in the end, what helps us get to know your character and what propels the story forward.


The Prizes:
The winner will get a commission from each of the contestants who have agreed to participate in contributing to this prize (which is, essentially, all of them).  The commission itself is up to the contestant and how much time they have, be it a pencil sketch or a full-color extravaganza.

And, of course, the winner will also receive a full-color commission from yours truly, the host.


The Rules:

Characters:

1. Fancharacters will be turned away at the door. Nothing from any popular franchise’s universe, unless of course, it is your own franchise. :3  OCs of any kind are allowed.  As mentioned before, using the kit is not necessary, so someone who knows nothing of steampunk machines can enter and kick butt with their own special skill if they’d like.  Magic is completely allowed, and infusing your steam machines with it is also allowed, should you choose to do that.

2. Characters can use familiars, summons, dopplegangers, separate entities, etc.  Squads of OC’s squishing into ‘one’ combatant slot are allowed, but each fight must feature one main OC which will be the fighter, and the others may offer only minimal support. The focus should always be on your main combatant.

Battles:

1. Battles can be done one-shot portrait style or in comic format. Though there is a trend of comic format entries always doing much better, so just realize from the get-go, that’s the type of thing to get noticed. They are encouraged. This contest should be, after all, about expanding your artistic horizons, and there’s nothing like trying your hand at comics to learn you a thing or two about perspective, composition, pacing.. and of course backgrounds.

2. Comics don’t have to be in color. Of course a masterfully colored/grayscaled entry is going to stand a much better chance than flat pencils, but it’s entirely up to you and what you feel most comfortable with.

3. Battles don’t necessarily have to end in death. Nor are they going to be judged by gore, badassery or cleverness alone. It just needs to be a ‘defeat’. We’re looking for creativity here, an overall high standard in all categories, or whatever makes your art ‘you’. If you err on the side of comedy, be funny. If you like super gore, go for it. (Try to stay decent with accordance of the rules on DA..) The main thing is, bring yourself to the table here, with your own cards laid out, the way you want them. And do it with some pizzazz. XD
Long story short, just show your original character defeating who you are matched up with. And make the judges want to see more.

4. 32 combatants means five rounds. 32 - 16 - 8 - 4 - 2 . You will have a full two weeks to submit your entry, in an effort to encourage working at your own pace and giving it your all. However, in the later rounds, extensions are more likely due to school starting and the like.


The Contestants:
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Mature Content

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(Reference materials will go up after the deadline has passed.  Many of the introductions have multiple parts, but I have only put up the first page.)

You will have until midnight EST July 30th to get up reference sheets and an intro comic (single images or flash animations are also allowed :3).  On July 31st, matches will be announced, and Round 1 will begin!  Good luck :3

_{This journal was very closely structured to Endling's Endzone launch journal, and the rules have been practically lifted off of it word for word. Don't mess with a winning formula, I say <3}

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Much thanks to terriblenerd, whose vast artistic talents were put to use to make my avatar, and I am wildly lucky for it. I loves you, Lil <3

_{Journal CSS code is an adaptation of a code of mynti's.}