Yep, this is like just over 30 hours after the event closed and yet, here's what you are waiting for.

After a few really lengthy sessions of reading, re-reading (35th and up I really had to go through more than once) and grading poetry - many, many

thanks to Muz BTW for helping out actually getting this done - here's the first winners of this war.

Since we had a record-breaking participation of one hundred and four (yes, 104 - a triple digit number!) valid entries (plus one

disqualification), I had to dig quite deep in my scoring table to find the right numbers for the winning points. But I love when you guys make me do

this.

I also want to thank everyone for making the choices very difficult at all levels. In summary, we have the following distribution for points:

1 member at 2 points

3 members at 4 points

10 members at 5 points

1 member at 6 points

Pretty much all of these reflect mere token efforts that won't get much in terms of participation points. You've been warned this would happen - so

next time, put in a bit more oomph :). BTW: When I saw the submission count, I was expecting this group to be very large, the majority proved me quite

wrong by having only 15 people down here.

1 member at 8 points

3 members at 9 points

4 members at 10 points

14 members at 11 points

The middle field - either you should have added more substance or we were pretty much looking at attempts that didn't quite work out (folks, when you

have a good idea, stick with it. I so often gave out points for a creative idea just to have to dock them again because it messed up the structure of

the poem. And count your syllables and metrics - it just reads better :) )

16 members at 12 points

16 members at 13 points

8 members at 14 points

The "could have placed" brigade. In a poetry competition with average quality, each of these would have been a candidate for a placement (I've seen MT

winners worse than these). However, since this competition was significantly above average quality all across the board, you'll have to contend with a

pat on the back and a "well done".

And, then

27 members at 24 to 337 points: The winners.

And I'll give you those one by one :)

<table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="2" width="609"> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Rank </td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16">

PIN </td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Name </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Clan </td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Pts </td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 27</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 7172</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Protector Darne Seign </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 24</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 26</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 191</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Battlemaster Scithe </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 34</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 25</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 4856</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Battlemaster Mononoke "Macron" Keibatsu-Goura </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 44</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 24</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 3415</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Epis Nekura Manji Keibatsu </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 54</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 23</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 4851</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Protector Vexer </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 64</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 22</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 2706</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Exarch Benevolent Taldrya Whiner </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 74</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 21</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 3206</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Battlelord Welshman Corsair Tarentae </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 84</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 20</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 3659</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Dark Jedi Knight Tiberius Serpentium </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 94</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 19</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 4438</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Dark Jedi Knight Uzbad Zol Tamalar </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 104</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 18</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 3728</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Dark Side Adept Korras </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 114</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 17</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 7370</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Jedi Hunter Rasilvenaira StormRaven </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 124</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 16</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 6389</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Warrior Tek Cicero Dantes </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 135</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 15</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 7289</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Guardian Scorpion Bruth'Kothae </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 145</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 14</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 2556</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Prelate Shaithis Var'rek </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 155</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 13</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 299</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Archpriest Raistline Majere </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 165</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 12</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 1874</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Priest Ktulu Mizheray Xyler </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 175</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 11</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 2563</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Dark Side Adept Dalthid </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 10</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 3931</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Templar Chaosrain </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 185</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 9</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 5023</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Priest Virulence Bezatyne Isradia </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 196</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 8</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 3729</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Jedi Hunter Vodo Biask </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 206</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 7</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 269</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Pontifex Betja Jun </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 216</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 6</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 4808</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Archpriest Kat Pridemore </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 226</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 5</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 50</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Dark Jedi Master Mejas Doto </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 237</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 4</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 5552</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Jedi Hunter Devani Maharet </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 257</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 3</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 5055</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Jedi Hunter Shuang Long </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 277</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 2</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 295</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Dark Jedi Master Alanna Taldrya </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 297</td> </tr> <tr><td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 1</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 7656</td> <td width="52%" valign="TOP" height="16">

Pontifex Troutrooper </td> <td width="7%" valign="TOP" height="16">

</td> <td width="14%" valign="TOP" height="16"> 327</td> </tr> </table>

Which brings the Clan scores (after 1 event) to:

6th place - Clan Scholae Palatinae - 351 points

5th place - Clan Plagueis - 515 points

4th place - Clan Tarentum - 640 points

3rd place - Clan Arcona - 793 points

2nd place - Clan Naga Sadow - 969 points

Leader - Clan Taldryan - 1,556 points

The complete score sheet with all grades to the third decimal, places and Clan points can be found HERE.

And, for those not yet tired of reading my posts, a few short words on the top six since I believe these all deserve a special mention:

6th (Kat): This poem scored the only perfect "10" on the emotion category. Like many, its chosen state of emotion was that of the intense, painful wait that accompanies periods of cold war and terror like we have seen in the last week in the DB, but this one just did it best.

5th (Mejas): Oh what a beautiful, poignant idea to build tension and language in your ascending order of 1-2-3-4... lines per stanza. This poem told a whole story and it would probably have placed even higher, had there not been a tiny mistake that somewhat weakened your idea: You jumped from 6 to 8, omitting a whole stanza.

4th (Devani): You have to see this one to believe it, it was one of the most beautiful language puzzles I have ever seen solved. Your clever use of repeating lines that gain a completely different but always fully valid sense in each context gains you a lot of points and the unfortunate "I was sooo close to a Nova" place.

3rd (Shuang): Two words: "Tick Tock". The emotional density of the clock ticking away was what brought this so far into the front of the standings. Extremely powerful language earns this one a Bronze Nova.

2nd (Alanna): One word: "Lannie". The mistress of poetry strikes again and she does it with a vengeance. The only example of classic, rhyming poetry in the top, it deserves its place by just being perfectly executed. Not one syllable out of place and a silver Nova is the

reward.

1st (Trout): What can beat a perfect piece of rhyme and rhythm ? Well, the only thing that can do is a completely creative reading of the event rules. When I saw his work first I was like "Doublejuu Tee Eff". Then it was... wait a minute. Trout's interpretation of my very words "You are using language to paint an image..." was just... unique. (It would have scored pretty well even in traditional layout). A gold nova for the chutzpah and creativity that made such an exceptional entry happen.