Still waiting on stories from both players. There's no problem with needing more time--the remaining players simply need to let me know they still intend to submit something.

I am working on finishing my story and hope to have it for you by this evening, so as to keep with the Friday deadline.

I just sent mine in. One way or another, IT ENDS TONIGHT!

Indeed it does, Monsieur. Indeed it does....

Story submitted.

Cry HAVOC and let slip the dogs of war!

Here are the final stories from Charlesx and St Dumas, presented in randomly determined order:

Plot #1:

Call me Fishma-Zell.

It was in the years of my youth that the gleaming city of Atlantis was challenged for supremacy of the undersea by the rogue nation of Lemuria. This was a conflict that had been in the making since the days of the Succession, when the old Atlantean monarch, Char-Bell, had died without an heir apparent. Although the Council of Houses had done its best to settle the matter without bloodshed, the Lords of Lemuria had taken umbrage. Claiming a bloodline that spanned both realms, an envoy had been dispatched to the Atlantean court to deliver Lemuria’s declaration of its right to rule. The response to this bold and reckless act had been simple. The envoy had been sent back in carefully dissected pieces. No sooner had the ocean currents changed due to seasonal tides than the armies of Atlantis and Lemuria clashed in combat under the cold and dark waters of the North Atlantic.

Norr-Tonn of the Trenches was the Lemurian Grand Admiral. “The Devil Ray”, they called him. He was ruthlessly efficient. Often faced with Atlantean forces that were greater in number, the Devil Ray’s military genius found his opponents’ every weakness and used it to gain the upper hand. Atlantis had been certain that this would be a short and bloody war. They had been only partially right.

It was about this time that I, having little or no seashells in my purse and nothing particular to interest me at home, thought that I would join the undersea navy and see the watery part of the world. I soon was an ensign aboard the Atlantean armored vessel Jawa-Spayess when the war took a shocking turn. I was in restless slumber, in the middle of the rest period, when we were all rudely awakened by the voice of Captain Saynt-Dumah blaring over the loudspeakers.

“Now hear this! Now hear this! We have received word from Command Central that a major engagement is taking place in the vicinity of the forbidden ruins of sunken R’lyeh. Naval Intelligence suggests that the Devil Ray has finally been cornered by a combined task force led by Admirals Khal-Ell XXI and Akwa-Hoff. This is our chance to strike, lads! All vessels have been ordered to converge and hammer a fell blow to the hated Lemurians! Down with Norr-Tonn!!! Down with tyranny!! Long live the Gleaming City!”

Cheers resounded throughout the Jawa-Spayess and we said our prayers to the Great White Whale as we went to battle stations, sharpening scyblades and loading assault proto-rifles for what we hoped would be the decisive moment in the war. And so it turned out to be.

Interlude – from the works of Herman Melville…

“Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!”

Epilogue

On the second day after the Battle of R’lyeh, a medical vessel drew near, nearer, and picked me up at last. I was one of a handful of survivors, all of us jarred to the very core by the carnage that had ensued and the apocalyptic ending of the war. For with these eyes I had seen the corpse of the Holy Great White Whale fall upon the enemy from above, from the surface world. We had seen its mighty descent detonate the endless mine fields of R’lyeh and unleash an explosive chain reaction that destroyed both fleets. I shall relive the nightmare to my dying day.

And yet in part I must be thankful for the horror that I witnessed. Had the Devil Ray not been extinguished then and there, where would his ambitions have led him? After conquering Atlantis, would Norr-Tonn’s greedy eyes not have turned toward the surface dwellers after all? Had the Holy Great White Whale’s death not only decided the outcome of the war, but also the fate of the entire planet?

These are considerations too great for me to entertain, alas. The drama's done. Why then here does any one step forth but I?

Plot #2:

"…to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee."

Those were the last words of the mad Captain Ahab, before he lodged his harpoon in the flesh of the mighty white whale Moby Dick. As the beast, dove, however, the rope of the harpoon became wrapped around Ahab's neck, and dragged him beneath the waves.

Other men would have been blinded by the dark and the salt water, or made motionless by the choking of their neck and the cold of the ocean, but Ahab's fury gave him sight, and his hatred gave him warmth. The captain pulled himself towards the whale on his own noose, his only goal to end Moby Dick's life once and for all. However, even hatred can only keep a man alive for so long, and Ahab's life of revenge and obsession came to an end, just as he saw the gleaming lights of an undersea city.

And it came to pass that Captain Ahab became the first human to discover Atlantis.

The mythical city was currently engaged in a brutal civil war for control of the throne, with the aristocracy of House Poseidonis opposing the barbarian hordes led by Warlord Oceacrotes, when the wounded white whale landed in the center of their battleground. The noble king Teano IV ventured out onto the battlefield and asked his longtime friend what base creature had done this to him. And with a weak breath of water, Moby Dick coughed out a single, Atlantean word:

"Man."

Atlantis knew the surface dwellers were a dim race, violent and short-sided, but never hostile towards the undersea kingdom. But now, one of their most valued citizens had come under fire, and the Atlanteans knew there was a greater threat above the waves than beneath them. The royals and the barbarians took their arms and left the field, preparing for a new war on land. Only the king and the whale remained when all others had left.

"Did we succeed?" Moby Dick asked.

"We did," the king answered. "The civil war has ended. The barbarians have turned their attention towards the surface. Our plan worked perfectly."

"I am proud to serve thee, my king," the white whale said, a malicious grin curling at the corner of his mouth.

The king turned his attention to the now stiff corpse of Ahab, pure hatred still burning in his lifeless, salt-burnt eyes. "What shall we do with this one?" Teano asked.

"Find a pit to throw him in," Moby Dick spat. "And let his madness never again profane our oceans."

END

All other players can vote and the contest CAN end in a tie.

I'll make the voting deadline this coming Wednesday.

Hollllleeeeee shiztnoids. Both stories were great!

Oh man, how can I choose!?! Both were brilliant in their way.

I vote #1

I am going to have to vote #1, but it was a tough call.

I'll add a vote for #1.

Vote: #2 please.

#2 gets my vote.

That puts all the pressure on wintremute for the final vote. Either #1 will win or there will be a tie.

Why am I always voting last!?!? Can't you guys decide and then wait for me to vote?

I vote #1. But barely. And I since I read the page in order, I already knew my vote before I read the other votes.

So Plot #1 wins.

And the winner of the game is:

CHARLESX

All bow before the master storyteller!

Congrats CharlesXs

Not to rain on my own parade, but I wrote Plot #2.

So congrats to charlesx, for truly writing the superior story. I tip my hat to thee, sir.

Also, cheers to all of the participants, who wrote great stories. And to Kal, for running this show.