Chapter Three

Introduction

Deep in Eclein’s northern wood, beyond the caribou tracks and the lights of men, a great bear lumbers across the frozen ground. She is in perfect condition, a true credit to her species; over seventy stone of muscle and fat with a paw thrice the size of a man’s. Claws (the littlest among them a good substitute for a paring knife) leave deep grooves in the snow as she crunches over frozen undergrowth. The air is clean and bitter cold.

All the scurrying things of the cold forest, the mice and the voles, the snow hares, the ptarmigans in their nests, hold themselves still for fear of her. Snow whirls. She passes through a grove of young spruce and ambles toward the crest of a nearby ridge, drawn by some primal instinct.  At the top, her tread slows. The land slopes away to a valley and a distant, humble village. Smoke curls up lazily into a darkening sky.

The bear watches undisturbed. Lungs like forge bellows breathe in, and a warrior breathes out. Winter winds whip away her icy exhale. Inanke the She-Bear, the Great Protector, stands tall atop the rise. A shaggy mantle of bear fur drags around her shoulders.

Dusk falls. Inanke observes the village with a god’s eye, her expression unreadable. Snow whirls, tugging at her hair and furs, whistling mournfully through the valley below. She seems a part of this harsh land, as immutable and eternal as the ancient peaks themselves. 

Do you feel it?

Inanke does not turn. She is unsurprised by the appearance of Osdohr, though his coming had not disturbed a single snowflake upon the ground.

Yes.

She turns to look at him, then. Dark eyes reflect a primal hunger and a purpose as ceaseless and unyielding as the ice itself. An ancient man stands hunched at her side, his back bowed by the weight of countless years. Arthritic knuckles grip a worn oak staff pitted with shallow grooves. Inanke tilts her head, considering. An interesting choice of form.

Something is wrong.

Main Objective

Throughout chapter three a series of events will take place, some blanketed across the continents and others contained to specific localities on the map, by which your character may be affected. To what capacity, and how they choose to respond, however, is entirely up to you.

Their path is yours to decide.

But beware...

The Guardians are watching.

Prompts

How To Participate

There is NO pre-registration, but you must have an approved and uploaded rider in order to participate. The rider must be your own.

You may enter the event with all your riders, but they will each need their own separate entries to earn awards. You may depict other characters in your entries for story purposes.

Collaborations may have 2 participants contributing 1 Rider each.

Mounts are optional.

All entries should have the following information in the artist comments:

Link to Rider Import:
Link to Horse Import: (if applicable)

All participants will qualify for Pathfinder, The Chosen One, Birds of a Feather, Tireless Traveler and Faithful Steed based on completion.

Master Painter and Master Storyteller will be chosen by the Judges based on personal effort, accuracy to the story, attention to detail, and how moving and impactful your entries are.

The People's Choice will be voted on for effort, style, story and creativeness by the members via public poll.

Loot Box Contents

Completing the optional prompts drop loot boxes with a chance of containing the following:

Bonus Item Bundle

Breeder's Bundle

Companion Bundle

Decorator's Bundle

Tack Bundle

Stat Token Bundle

Each optional prompt also presents the chance to roll one of the following prompt exclusives, only obtainable through completing the prompt before its deadline:

Have an opinion you'd like to share with the development team? Have you noticed an error or inconsistency in the game mechanics? Are you finding something irresolvably befuddling and would perhaps like to seek some anonymous clarity? Maybe you just want to let us know you're having a great time! You can use the form below to let the team behind the Living Story know how your experience is going, whatever the case may be!