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Description

“Study the past if you would define the future.” - Confucius
History is critical part of everything we do and everything we are. We compile our knowledge from our past, and wield it as a tool to craft a better tomorrow. We can observe history from a multitude of lenses and scopes, and for this challenge we are setting a specific scope- a single organization. Tell us of a specific organization in your world. Regale us with the tale of how it rose, or perhaps how it fell! Time to dive into the History Challenge! We at WorldAnvil have brought in the amazing Ademal of Ethnis and Nick of ArcLands, and we would like to hear about an organization in your world and the history behind it! This organization can be of any size, any status, or in any setting. The catch is, it must have a good history to it and include a timeline! Create the timeline of the organization and include a variety of interesting events that can be of any type; new discoveries, new locations, massive growths, or conflicts for example. Once you have a timeline, add the timeline in your article. Dig into it a bit as well as tell us about the organization you are exploring! The more detail the better!

Standard League Winner
Errandir

Premier League Winner
Darkseid

Prizes

All participants will receive the challenge participation badge. The winner will receive an extra shiny badge, have their article featured, and will be shouted out on the weekly World Anvil update stream and on the official World Anvil social media accounts.
The Winners of the Premier and Regular league will get be receiving Steam gift card with a value of 25$ each, a portrait commission from Katya (The Artist for Arclands!), and a copy of the Arclands Players Companion. Winners of the Regular League will be receiving an in-depth critique and feedback of their work from Ademal himself! There will also be a Guild Member-only Prize Draw for all entrants, no matter if they made it into the shortlist or not! The Raffle of this competition will be a 25$ steam gift card! World Building Magazine Feature!
In Addition to the amazing prizes already on the table, the winners of the leagues will have a chance to be featured in the Worldbuilding Magazine! This not only includes having your work published, but also the ability to have your work edited by the professional folks at WBM! Premier League Features
Every week following the adjudication, a Premier League entrant who made the shortlist will be featured on World Anvil for a week! We'll shout out and showcase these fantastic entries on the weekly update stream!

The Brief

World Anvil, the Master of Games, Ademal, and Nick want to read about the history of an organization of your world and all that they have achieved in their time! First step is to create your timeline and organization article in World Anvil! Give us a good summary of the organization, and make sure to add the timeline within your organization article. Make sure to use plenty of events and event descriptions to populate the timeline! Keep in mind you don't have to use the templates of the Organization chart, just make sure you add that timeline! The organization can be in any state or of any type. It can be a secret organization, who has operated in the shadows for centuries. It could be a government that has held dominion over its people as long as anyone could remember. It could be a rebellion that has only started its rise to power. It could even be an influential guild of craftsmen, whose work has become legendary over its span of existence. Your organization can be within any setting, be it fantasy, modern, sci-fi, or anywhere in the middle. Please make sure to add your timeline into your organization article. Organization articles without a timeline will not be eligible to win.

What to include in your article

A Timeline

Exploring history without a timeline is akin to eating a spaghetti without utensils, possible but messy. As part of this challenge, we want a timeline to be attached to your article. This timeline needs to be filled with events, though keep in mind text within the timeline events will count towards your word count limit!

An Organization

You're going to need a fantastic article to play host to your amazing timeline! The organization that you write about should also be the focus of the timeline that you attach. This organization can be of any type and it can be in any status, meaning it can be currently standing, long gone, or just created.

Historical Focus

With the two above requirements, it is crucial that you write your organization from an historical standpoint. Delve into the timeline a bit in your article. Take a good chunk of space to dive into some of the more critical events that you list in your timeline. This does not mean ignore the rest of the organization such as overview of what they do, who they appeal to, etc.

The Rules

How to Enter

Firstly, all competitors will need a World Anvil account (don’t worry, it’s free!) to get started. Once you’ve logged in and created your first world, you’re ready to enter the competition. Write your entry using the Organization template on World Anvil. Be sure to create a timeline and attach it to your article. Once you have finished your entry and are ready to submit it, make sure that your article is not a draft and then click on the button on the right-hand side to submit it to the challenge.

Adjudication Criteria and Process

A shortlist of the top twenty entries (as organized by community likes and ten from each league) will be compiled by the Master of Games. The Guest Judges will choose the winner. The winner will be announced by the World Anvil Team on the following weekly update stream. Entries will be judged on a number of criteria, including originality, presentation, and thoroughness. Any work you submit, as long as it was owned by you originally, is still owned by you even if you win!

Timeline	Event
May 3rd - June 7th	Competition is active and opened!
June 7th - June 14th	Sharing period, give feedback, make minor edits.
June 14th - July 4th	Adjudication and Judging
July 11th	Winner Announcement Date! (Subject to change)

Guest Judges

The Guest Judges for this challenge are the Legendary Ademal of Ethnis Studio and the amazing Nick from Arclands - both professionals in the field of history and world building! Don't miss out on the chance to get your work judged by these fantastic world builders!

Other Rules

Articles for Submission must use the Organization Template
Articles for Submission must have an attached timeline
Articles must be submitted before the closing time, else they will not be judged
Articles will be taken from a shortlist of likes, the top ten from each league will be judged by the Master of Games or a guest judge.
Guild Member submissions will be added to a raffle pool, this can be won even without entering the shortlist
You will be able to submit your article only if it is public!

Only one article may be submitted per author, this does not mean one article per world. Think of the Coauthors!
Articles will have a week-long period after the deadline to make small edits, share, and get feedback from the community. This period will end when the shortlist is compiled. The purpose of this deadline is to let people focus on writing and sharing separately.
Articles can be no longer than 2500 words in length!
Word Count will be counted by copying all words present in the article's body and sidebar into a word counter. The Timeline will also be added in the word counter. BBCode does not impact word count, attached articles do not impact word count.

For any further questions or clarifications about this challenge, message the Master of Games, Barron, on the World Anvil Discord!

Social media sharing

Because community likes are an important part of the competition, competitors may wish to share their entries on social media to garner more interest from the community. Entries which are tagged with #HistoryChallenge and mention @WorldAnvil might get shared by World Anvil social media!

Leagues

There are two leagues that will be independently judged. The Regular and the Premier League. The Premier League consists of all the authors who have previously won a competition. Winning a competition in the regular league will promote you to the Premier League for future challenges.

Useful Resources

Make sure to check out our codex article about timelines!

Timelines

Generic article | Mar 1, 2024

Learn how to create and use timelines on World Anvil.

Looking for inspiration or seeking some ideas?
Check out Worldbuilding Magazine's fantastic publication all about history!
Read all about it here!

Timeline

May's Competition will be open on 3rd of May at 2000 London Time and closed on June 7th at 23:59 London Time. The Shortlist will be compiled on 14th of June!

The History Challenge

The History Challenge

Description

Standard League Winner Errandir

Premier League Winner Darkseid