The Bardic contest is back! Please don't send bardic works by e-mail
though; it works a bit differently now:

The first step in joining the bardic ranks of the Fellowship of Iosyne
is simple: just write a book and have it put on display in any library.
Then, anyone who reads your book from the library and is impressed by it
may use their esteem points to support it as a candidate in the Bardic
contest.

To register your vote of support for a book in a library, simply stand
in the library and "EXPRESS <quantity> ESTEEM FOR <book #>" - almost
exactly the same as expressing esteem for a person. Books that accrue
the most supporting votes will come to the attention of the gods, who
ultimately decide which books are worthy of the Fellowship of Iosyne.

Those books that are selected as Bardic contest winners will not only
earn credits and fame for their authors, but will also be moved to the
shelves of the Grand Aetolian Library, becoming recognized documentation
of Aetolia's history. The Bardic contest is no longer a place for
whimsical poetry and fanciful autobiographies, but for bards and
researchers to dig deep into the roots of Aetolia and chronicle the
events and knowledge of years and ages past.

The stories of one era are the history of the next. Ever wondered who
the first Tekal was, in the First Mortal Epoch? Or who the key players
in the first Ankyrean War were, and what roles they played? Or who the
mortal was who was trapped by Chakrasul and eventually became the god
Rahn? Or how Numerology was originally invented? The Bardic contest is
your chance to find an unexplained niche in Aetolia's history and pen a
story to fill it. If your story inspires others to support it and passes
the scrutiny of the gods, you will forever be known as the bard who
found and told that story.

When enough candidates surface that we're nearly ready to judge the
first iteration of the new contest, I'll write a help file detailing
more specifics. There are some details I won't have decided until I have
a better idea what kind of turnout to expect.

(A word of advice: don't try to vote for your own books. It won't help
you.)

I'm really looking forward to seeing the first batch of qualifying
works. I can think of a couple existing volumes already that I know will
do well. Oh, and one final note: libraries from which winners are
selected will be compensated for the loss of the winning work. So it's
in library-equipped organizations' best interests to not only recruit
aspiring bards, but encourage people to come to your libraries and enjoy
the original works therein.

-Varian

Penned by my hand on the 22nd of Slyphian, in the year 121 MA.