Deadline: All entries will be posted sometime Thursday, so please have them in no later than midnight, Wednesday May 25th.

Mailing Format: Email to merryfield (at) shaw.ca with "First 13" and your Hatrack Nick in the subject line. (This will allow me to run a search through my email.)

The polls will close the following Tuesday at approx. noon, with results posted that evening.

Rules:

• You can begin the story from any chronological part of the synopsis.

• Ensure it is only 13 lines. Read this thread for instructions on how to be certain.

• Any details not specified in the plan can be made up as long as they do not SERIOUSLY alter the story.

• Include all italic and bold formatting code in the text so the moderator can just cut and paste the text when he/she posts them.

• Remember, this contest is ABOUT mastering the hook--so have one.

• When you have finished email it to the moderator (by WEDNESDAY). The moderator will then assign it a number and record the authors name next to it. The moderator will then post it with the number only, not the name, in a separate thread from the story outline thread as he/she receives them.

*PLEASE don’t look at what other people have done until after you have sent yours to the moderator.*

• Edit your work before sending it—no corrections will be made after it has been emailed, and email it only once. Put your HATRACK name at the top of the 13 lines, the moderator will remove it before he posts it, replacing it with a number.

• From Thursday onward voting/analysis can begin. Vote for the first, second, and third place entries, as well as best title. Winner is judged to the the entry accumulating the most points given that a first place vote is worth 3 points, a second place vote is worth 2 points, and a third place vote is worth 1 point. Title contest is strictly majority rules. **No voting for yourself**

Then a new moderator volunteers (it’s not much work--unless you consider creating the outline difficult) and then we start again.

Future moderators

1) Bentree
2) Doctor
3) Tiergan
4) illiterate
5) skadder.
6) Annepin.
7) JustInProse

Synopsis:

quote:

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1258 AD. Baghdad is the center of educated civilization. Scholars from across the Islamic world have flocked to the fabled Round City for centuries to participate in one of the most educated, liberal, advanced societies the world would had yet seen, or would see again for many centuries. The caliphs have ruled fairly and honorably, though in recent years there has been some political strife and confusion. In this year, the Mongolian army, 120,000 men strong, appeared before the gates of the city and, when their demands for surrender were rebuffed, they attacked and decimated the city. Over a million Islamic souls passed through the gates of night in that battle, most of the population of the city, and the buildings and structures themselves were ground under the boot of Mongolian tyranny into so much dust and rubble.

Escaping from the dust of the battle, two old men hurried down a narrow tunnel beneath the Golden Gate Palace. They carried between them a large box, in which resided the Crystal of Abu Bakr, first of the caliphs. The crystal, an unadorned gem taken during the Ridda Wars and set in a plain gold necklace, has been secretly passed from caliph to caliph as a memento of the first mighty victories of the Islamic Empire. Myth and legend among the highest of the Abbasid scholars tell that the crystal was a sign of Allah’s protection over and defense of the Muslim people. At the sign of sure defeat before the Mongol horde, the caliph Al-Musta'sim sent the crystal into hiding, until such a time as a hero of all Islamic people will rise and reclaim the caliphate and unite all Islamic people everywhere.

2008 AD. As Baghdad suffers under the weight of a second invading force, and Shi’a and Sunni militias fight openly in the streets against both American forces and one another, rumors of the crystal’s final hiding place surface.

The players:

John Meechum: Independent Photojournalist. Has made his living working independent of official security arrangements and pursuing his own investigations. In 30 years on the job, he has been nominated for a Pullitzer on multiple occasions, never winning.

Staff Sergeant Carol Patterson: A career Marine, she find herself in charge of a patrol in the Al-Baya section of Baghdad, a calm and relatively low-risk assignment. Tensions have been high in recent weeks as the fighting moves closer, but still, she finds herself bored.

Ayad Lafta: A successful Sunni merchant. Shi’a insurgents destroyed his store, and his family has fled to relative safety living with relatives in a small town in southern Iraq. He has remained behind in Baghdad due to dreams he has been having recently that make him feel that he needs to be here in Baghdad, that something large is coming that he is to be a part of.

Ali al-Suwaji: Shiite militiaman. Leads a small group of fanatical soldiers, and himself is devoted to Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr. He has had visions in recent weeks, waking dreams of a weapon of unlimited power, and has seen a man wielding it. Though he hasn’t seen the man’s face, he knows the man is Muqtada al-Sadr, and is driven to find this weapon and bring it to his beloved leader.

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Oof.... that's a big one. Sorry. I hope it's more open ended for everyone, and not overwhelmingly big.

Jayson Merryfield

Sorry about the delay. This outline I had to come up with from scratch, whereas I had a while to build the other one.

I have no problem with people choosing the synopsis they prefer,but I would vote for one entry per person.

Due date is WEDNESDAY, MAY 28.

Jayson Merryfield

Speaking of which, I've received only three entries so far this week. Considering I had more than three requests for a second synopsis, I hope that a few more entries will begin pouring into my inbox post haste.

I'll begin posting shortly.

Don't forget to post the up-to-date list of moderators.

Adam