We're trying to clean up the Adventure a bit and keep track of who is and isn't involved, so if you are currently involved in the Adventure, there are a few things you need to get done:

- If you have submitted a character sheet to SFF, you MUST post it on SF3 as well for official validation! Post it in the Character Discussion board.

- If you have submitted a character sheet to SF3 and it HAS been accepted, you MUST post it on SFF as well! See this thread for more details- and hurry, because to stay active, you must post it on SFF within two weeks! (by October 25, 2009)

- If you have submitted a character sheet to both SFF and SF3 and BOTH have been accepted, you need to finish and submit Challenge #1 on SFF. You will need to complete this within one month. (by November 11, 2009)

Failure to complete any of these three tasks will result in your character being labelled inactive! This will mean you will be unable to participate in roleplaying, will no longer be eligible for receiving any Player Points, and cannot participate in Tasks, Riddles, or Challenges. If you need more information or would like to request an extension, PM Swenson on the forums, or send an e-mail to shurtugalfanfiction (at) gmail (dot) com.

There's a new contest in town! This one will work a bit differently from our usual format- instead of being a standard writing contest, this contest is specifically for the Shur'tugal Fan Fiction Adventure (more information here), SFF's on-going writing-based role-playing adventure. In this contest, you have the chance to become a part of the Adventure by designing and describing a part of Therinsford, where the Adventure is currently at. For those who don't know, Therinsford isn't a nice place- it's filled with warring gangs and ruled by a draconian Duke and his Council. But what is it really like? That's where you come in.

Starting now, we will be accepting submissions for detailed descriptions about an area of Therinsford. The contest will end in one week's time- any entries submitted after 1:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, October 8 will be invalid for judging.

Official Rules:

You may describe any area of Therinsford on the map (found here), including the arena, the village, the fort, the bazaar, the surrounding forest and mountains, and any other place on the map.

You must describe the physical detail of the location, but you should also include other aspects- the people that live there, the history of the place, how it got the way it is today, and so on. Include information on the gangs (information here) if you think it is appropriate.

You do not have to be a current participant in the Adventure to enter! All you have to do is submit your description.

The more detail and creativity, the better! If you simply restate what's already posted here, your description will not win. Instead, go more in-depth- take a different spin on your chosen area, look closely at a particular aspect, or talk about the people, culture, or history of the area. There's no such thing as being too detailed!

You're free to use any information on SF3 for inspiration, including the original maps by Shadowjhunter and amardatar, as well as the  gang descriptions.Submissions may be PMed to Swenson through the forums, or you may e-mail them to shurtugalfanfiction (at) gmail (dot) com.

You are welcome to submit entries for more than one area, but you will only be able to win for one of them.

The contest will run for exactly one week, officially beginning at 1:00 AM October 1, 2009 (EST) and ending 1:00 AM October 8, 2009 (EST). If your entry is received outside of that timeframe, it will not be accepted, so watch your clocks and be sure to convert to Eastern Standard Time!

Format:
The format for this contest is open- all that is really required is your username and the description you're submitting. The length of the description is also up to you. Obviously, we're looking for something more in-depth than a hundred words, but any length will be accepted. Write a book about it if you like!

Pictures, maps, diagrams, or other supplementary material are not required, but are welcome. (If you submit your entry by e-mail, please attach any extra files. If you PM it, upload the pictures or other material to an online website and include a link to it in your message. If you need help with this, PM swenson or another moderator for instructions.)

Prizes!
Wait, so not only do you get to participate in an awesome contest, but you get rewards, too? Of course you do!

The best entries will be chosen to become part of the official descriptions, and will be used for future SFFA chapters, gang information, and roleplaying. The winners will also receive 100 Player Points (which may come in handy sometime soon, if you participate in the Adventure!) and permanent bragging rights.

If there's some entries that are almost as good as the winners, but just aren't chosen as the best, they will be designated runners-up. Runners-up will also get bragging rights, as well as 50 Player Points.

Finally, everyone who participates in the contest will receive 30 Player Points automatically. If your entry does not fit the guidelines, you will not be awarded the points, but otherwise, they're yours just for writing a quick description of part of Therinsford.

If you have comments or more questions, see the official contest thread on SF3. Good luck!

This is my official announcement that tomorrow (Sept 18) I am stepping down from my position as co-admin of SFF and SF3.

I am not completely leaving – I just feel like it’s time to hand over my responsibilities to people with more time and energy for leadership than me. Next Wednesday, I’ll be starting my senior year of college, and I expect my homework and classes to take up a lot more of my time. I’ll still come on here when I can, to post stories and bother people with my weird ships; I just won’t be able to offer administratorly guidance or technical help anymore. For that, you’ll have to ask Swenson or the rest of the awesome moderating staff.

You’ve all been great to work with, and I hope to keep seeing you guys when I’m just a plain old member. :)

--QueenMindi

It's time for the news you've all been waiting for. After deliberation by the moderating staff, the winner of the Back to School Contest has at last been chosen. Your winner is

echo_sackett's Blonde and Purple, a story portraying the relationship between Angela and Elva! As the contest winner, echo_sackett will receive a lovely banner for her forum profile and her story will be featured next week.

Our runner-up was helvengurl's (Im)Proper, an Angela story that brought tear-inducing laughter to most of the staff.

Congratulations to our winners and thanks to all who participated! I can't wait until the next contest is up and running.

Well, after three weeks of great writing and new beginnings, the time has come to officially close the Back to School Contest. Subsequent chapters of unfinished stories should be submitted to General Fictions - Inheritance Fiction, as the Back to School Category is now locked.

Thanks to all who submitted a story and to all who faithfully reviewed those stories. Your participation made this all worthwhile.

Now just sit back and before you know it, we'll be announcing the winner!

The latest round of Validated authors are in- and this time, we've got six new ones, our largest batch yet. Congratulations to Murtaghrider, Saphira and Shruikan, Jarla, Lya, Princess Sierra, and echo_sackett!

For those who submitted last-minute applications, don't worry if you don't see your name here and haven't gotten a letter yet- we have gotten your applications, but we haven't finished looking them over yet. And for those who missed the opportunity this time around, don't worry! We'll have another round of applications available soon. Get working on your stories if you want to apply!

 For most of us here at SFF, the end of August brings to mind one thing: School. From just outside of middle schools to the hallowed halls of universities all over the world, we're gearing up to return to the daily grind of the twin wheels of our education and training for the future stages of life. Our earliest memories and our immediate struggles often return to the theme of school. Sometimes it feels as though someone has pushed the "Pause" button on life and we're missing something really important while teachers are catching us up on something we aren't all that interested in to begin with.

Education is also a vital theme in the Inheritance Cycle, taking up entire chapters of Eragon's journey and pages in other chapters where he learns important snatches of information in unusual ways. But what happens behind the scenes when all this learning is going on? What's really going on in the characters' heads while tons of obscure facts are getting dumped on their heads? And, perhaps most important, what in the world is going on in the real world while key characters are back in "school"?

To kick off the beginning of what is sure to be a great school year, we invite you to explore the background of Alagaesia's education scenes. Tell us a story about what happened during Eragon's training during Eldest, which is the most "school-heavy" of the Inheritance books. Take us inside a character's head whose perspective seems missing while Paolini was writing about such things as the secret life of ants. Give us some action, romance, comedy, or conflict that took place during the missing months.

 Story Requirements

1. Your story must be from 1-5 chapters long, with at least 500 words per chapter.

2. Your story must take place during the timeframe of Eldest, as stated above, but doesn't necessarily need to follow Paolini's storyline.

3. Your story must be from the perspective of A) any Inheritance character but Eragon or B) an original character.

4. Your story must include education as a major theme/plot point. Be creative.

5. You will need to write a new story for this contest. Resubmitting an old one won't count.

The contest will run from  12:00 AM EST August 15, 2009 to 12:00 AM EST September 5, 2009.

Have a great school year and happy writing!

We're now accepting more applications to the validated category! Being validated means that not only do you get a special category for your stories, but you also get to skip the queue and have your stories posted right away. For more information on how to apply, go here.

For those of you who have been keeping up with the Shur'tugal Fan Fiction Adventure, the gangs are now open! If you have completed Challenge 4, you are eligible to join one of the four gangs: the Brawlers, the Council, the Lurkers, or the Rogues. Each gang has a unique style and goal, so be sure to carefully choose which one to join. For more information about gangs (and for joining up), visit the forums here .

For those of you who have not yet entered the SFF Adventure, why not sign up today? The Adventure is a combination roleplaying and text adventure that follows the troubles of the people of Narda, driven from their home by the evil Rider Lord Iris. Participants in the Adventure create a character and, through many writing challenges and other tasks, guide their way through the unfolding world and story. To begin, all you need to do is go over to the Character board on the forums and create a character of your very own! (And don't worry about signing up for the forums- if you already have an SFF account, you automatically have a forums account.)

Congratulations to the following new Validated Authors:

Ceranthor
Wutus
EmeraldDragonRider
ColumbiaPhoenix

They will now be posting in the Validated category and can skip the queue!

Want to be Validated? Or wanted to apply this time but weren't sure if you were ready yet? There will be another opportunity to apply about a month from now, so in the meantime, here's the list of things to do to prepare to apply.

—Not enough chapters? Keep posting!
—Grammar isn’t so great? “Hire” a beta reader and make them double check your stories. Edit old stories to fix past mistakes.
—Remember: you can ask your beta to help you with plot and characterization too!
—Show what an awesome user you are by reading and reviewing on SFF and participating helpfully in SF3 discussions.

   Picture this: You had an idea. A seriously amazing, AWESOME idea. You start daydreaming, then doodling, then outlining. Finally, you have the guts to start a writing your story. A few sentences becomes a page and then a chapter. Your characters come to life before you and suddenly you realize that you've created something all your own. You want to share your story with your friends, and hope to find a few new readers who will help you get better and enjoy your work along with you.

   Exciting, isn't it? 

   Now, try this image: You're online, still excited about your story. You decide to google it, or look for other stories like it. Suddenly, the search page comes up and you see your story. It's on the wrong website. It's by the wrong author. Someone stole your work and claimed it as your own - all your ideas, all your hard work. 

   Not so exciting, huh?

   Recently, the SFF moderators have been contacted about a user doing exactly this: stealing stories and posting them, word for word, as her own. For anyone who's read the site rules or simply written their own story and been afraid of plagiarism, you KNOW this is not cool. SFF is a site where we can enjoy stories based on the Inheritance series and even a few original works too. It's a place for authors to grow and be encouraged and get better. But this is not going to happen if their work is being stolen. Not only is this simply wrong, but they are missing out on a chance to improve their craft or find people to share in the excitement of writing.

   This is a VERY serious offense. Anyone who thinks they can get away with this needs to know that your entire account - even if every other story is something you've written - will be deleted and you will be permanently banned from the site. The moderating staff has zero tolerance for plagiarists and we will not hesitate to kick you off if you're caught. 

    If you're concerned that your story may fall under this category - PLEASE review the rules, especially these points:

   - Stealing another fan's work in it's entirety (whole chapters, scenes, stories, etc... this INCLUDES edited stories with different character names or only slightly adjusted facts)

   - Do NOT post stories you did not write - this means you can NOT post stories for friends

   - Borrowing any small elements of another fan's work (ie a specific plot point or a character) may be done but only with specific permission from the original author and a clear reference to their story

   In the mean time: if you see anything that looks suspicious or if you catch anyone plagiarising, notify the moderators immediately! Unfortunately, we have missed this once before and it can certainly happen again even if we are on the lookout for this. And if we can help it, we want to make sure it is not the author themselves who has to step forward and provide proof of their own hard work. There is nothing acceptable about that. 

   Thank you for your cooperation!