(clandestine) competitive gnome throwing

[grumpy cat]

(CLANDESTINE) COMPETITIVE GNOME THROWING

You’ve heard the rumours about the secret tradition of the Wizarding Universiade but now you've officially been shoulder-tapped to participate in this underground contest of competitive gnome throwing.

The unique gnomes are the unofficial mascots of each University, and the one wandering your University Gardens is no exception. It came up to you carrying a parchment tied to one of its legs with a challenge:

Your athletic accomplishments are well-known, but in this contest you will need to put all of your sneaky wits to work! The mission is simple: steal a gnome from the opposing University Gardens, manage to throw it across the King Leonides Bridge, and acquire eternal glory. But keep in mind that to sneak into the garden, you will need a password.

After some careful spying and researching the Universities and their namesakes, you think you have managed to discover how to decipher the passwords that you need.

Universitas Corvi
In mystery lies the answer,
The nemesis spouts slander,
Of melancholy and madness.

Universitas Hydrae
The lone wolf, the backbone,
To aid the glowing,
I suffer the scorching.

Universitas Lyrae
A mournful tune,
One look,
And death forever,
Never to return.

Universitas Persei
The mythical and divine,
Pure and soaring through the skies,
Born of the slayed snake,
Child of the sea.

If you need a little help cracking the passwords, you may ask the Arbiters of Chaos for one hint per riddle.

no gnomes are going to be harmed during this competition. they enjoy being thrown into the water and every time someone succeeds they yell 'whee!' and cheer on their universities. they've even got a betting pool between them.

---

rules and points:

• this game consists of two parts: stealing the gnomes(s) and throwing the gnome(s) - there is a thread in your common rooms for both parts of the game
• to win the points you will need to finish both parts of the game
• to steal a gnome from a university, you will need to solve a riddle to uncover their password
  • stealing a gnome gets progressively harder because word gets around that somebody is stealing the gnomes
  • you will have three tries to steal the first gnome, two tries to steal the second gnome and one try to steal the third gnome
  • you can choose whether to steal one gnome, two gnomes or all three gnomes. you can also choose to not steal a gnome - consider the risks, requirements and rewards
• to throw the gnome you have to leave reviews and fic recs for the university from which you stole
  • gnome#1 - 10 reviews on 10 different fics by members/prefects/staff/gamekeepers from that university + 5 fic recs out of those 10 you reviewed
  • gnome#2 - 15 reviews on 15 different fics by members/prefects/staff/gamekeepers from that university + 7 fic recs out of those 15 you reviewed
  • gnome#3 - 20 reviews on 20 different fics by members/prefects/staff/gamekeepers from that university + 10 fic recs out of those 20 you reviewed
• reviews must be a minimum of 500 characters, largely related to the fic
• if you rec the same story in multiple categories, those count as separate fic recs
• point structure
  • if you try and fail to steal a gnome, the university from which you tried to steal gets 5 points for successfully protecting their gnome
  • for successfully stealing and throwing gnome#1 - 90 points
  • for successfully stealing and throwing gnome#2 - 115 points
  • for successfully stealing and throwing gnome#3 - 140 points
  • if you use a hint, your point value will be reduced by 15% (77 points for gnome#1, 98 points for gnome#2, 119 points for gnome#3)

deadlines:

• gnome throwing competition will last june 20, 4 pm gmt - june 23, 11:59 gmt

[just.a.willow.tree]

Just wanted to clarify -- are there penalties for hints?

[grumpy cat]

2 minutes ago, just.a.willow.tree said:

Just wanted to clarify -- are there penalties for hints?

only your hc point value will be lower by 15% - you would win 77 points for gnome#1 (instead of the full 90), 98 points for gnome#2 (instead of 115) and 119 points for gnome#3 (instead of 140). so it goes by riddle - you could ask for a hint on a riddle for your first gnome, have those points reduced, but you could solve the other two without a hint and get the full point value. let me know if i need to clarify more

[Guest pookha]

Sorry, it says you have to complete both parts, but it also says that stealing a gnome is optional. I don't get it.

Also, how do you steal a gnome? You solve the riddle; it's a password, but for what? I see we put it in our common room thread, but what then?

 

I am totally confused by this.

[grumpy cat]

Just now, pookha said:

Sorry, it says you have to complete both parts, but it also says that stealing a gnome is optional. I don't get it.

Also, how do you steal a gnome? You solve the riddle; it's a password, but for what? I see we put it in our common room thread, but what then?

oh, sorry this is unclear, but optional means you don't have to participate in this game if you'd rather not (for example, if a university deems it unachievable to both steal and throw a gnome (solve the riddle and leave reeviews and fic recs) - there's no penalty for not doing any of it as opposed to trying to steal a gnome but failing where the other university gets 5 points if that happens.

to win the points for each gnome you have to finish the entire game - solve the riddle and leave all the reviews and fic recs that are required. there are no half-points for just solving the riddle.

to steal a gnome, you have to solve the riddle - post the answer in the common room thread and if it's correct (one of the gamekeepers will confirm), you can continue with the game and throwing the gnome (leaving reviews and fic recs)

[Guest pookha]

So, it's not actually a password to anything then? It's just a riddle answer? Sorry, still don't get it.

[grumpy cat]

Just now, pookha said:

So, it's not actually a password to anything then? It's just a riddle answer? Sorry, still don't get it.

yep, just the riddle answer! the password is simply part of the narrative in sneaking into another university.

[Guest pookha]

once we steal a gnome, how do we know who is in the house of the gnome we stole? I don't see anywhere that lists which house corresponds to which university?

[grumpy cat]

Just now, pookha said:

once we steal a gnome, how do we know who is in the house of the gnome we stole? I don't see anywhere that lists which house corresponds to which university?

you can see which house is in which university in +this post!

[grumpy cat]

some clarifications:

there are no gnome "claims" - in other words, universities can steal the same gnome.

and, if you are submitting guesses for multiple riddles at once, the way you ranked your guesses (gnome#1, gnome#2 and gnome#3) means those are the requirements for reviews and fic recs that you will need to fulfill, even if you guessed gnome#3 before gnome#1

[magemadi]

Question! For the fic recs, are there length requirements at all for the "reason for recommending" or anything? 

[grumpy cat]

1 minute ago, magemadi said:

Question! For the fic recs, are there length requirements at all for the "reason for recommending" or anything? 

nope!

[mydearfoxy]

Just to be safe - the house associated with a fic is based on the member's current forum house, not what it's tagged on the archive, right? We've had some people switch recently.  

[batsam]

2 minutes ago, MuggleMaybe said:

Just to be safe - the house associated with a fic is based on the member's current forum house, not what it's tagged on the archive, right? We've had some people switch recently.  

That is correct

[VaguelyCreativeName]

Question! Does a story have to be recommended by the same member that reviewed it? Or could we theoretically rec a story that one of our housemates reviewed?

[grumpy cat]

Just now, VaguelyCreativeName said:

Question! Does a story have to be recommended by the same member that reviewed it? Or could we theoretically rec a story that one of our housemates reviewed?

you can rec a story that another housemate reviewed for this event

[lostinthelightss]

If a review for gnome throwing is posted and then the story is deleted, the review is also deleted. Will we have to make up for the deleted review?

[grumpy cat]

2 minutes ago, maraudertimes said:

If a review for gnome throwing is posted and then the story is deleted, the review is also deleted. Will we have to make up for the deleted review?

since it's not your fault that the story got deleted, you don't have to make up for it, especially if it's already been noted in our tracking spreadsheet.