Seasonal Skill Prompts - Winter, Year 12

<div align="justify" style="padding-bottom:10px; padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px; padding-top:10px;"><div class="thead">Seasonal Skill Prompts</div>
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Skill Prompts are a monthly feature that allows your character to gain skills in different ways. <b>Each character can only complete ONE prompt per season</b>, and can be completed either in a solo post or in a group thread. You cannot claim these posts for other skill points. Please note that as long as you complete the objectives, you're free to be creative with your posts and have some fun with these prompts!

For <b>solo posts</b>, you must complete the entire prompt in <b>one post</b>. Of course, you can use these posts as thread starters and continue the thread as usual, but no other skills may be claimed by you from that thread.

For <b>group threads</b>, the word count is <b>cumulative</b> and will be taken over all participants. However, participants must be ACTIVELY trying to complete the skill prompt for their words to count. <u>Note that group threads have a maximum of 3 allowed participants unless otherwise specified.</u>


<div class="thead">Winter, Year 12 Seasonal Skill Prompts</div>

<div class=tcat>Fighting</div>

<u>Feeding Frenzy:</u> With the onset of winter, prey has started to become scarce. As the season wears on, predators become desperate to find their next meal. You were lucky enough to take down some prey for yourself, but unfortunately the scent of the kill was enough to draw the attention of more than one hungry mouth. If you want to keep your meal, you are going to have to protect it.
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<b>Goal</b>: Square off against a pack of coyotes, mountain lion, or other hungry large predator. Defend your kill by driving the other predator away, or perhaps you are not so lucky and end up getting chased off instead.
<b>Word Count</b>: 800 (Solo) or 1500 (Group)
<b>Location</b>: Boreas
<b>Tasks</b>: <div align="justify" style=" padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px;">1. Begin your thread after the kill has been made.
2. Detail the conflict between you and the rival predators. Be mindful of defensive versus aggressive actions.
3. Resolve your post/thread by either successfully defending your kills or being chased off.
</div><b>Reward</b>: 30 Fighting Skill Points (+5 Bonus Points if a permanent scar is earned/noted on your character's profile)
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<div class=tcat>Hunting</div>

<u>Winter Wardrobe:</u> Prey animals must have a pocketful of tricks to evade Ardent’s many predators, especially in winter when the stakes are highest. Several species have chosen camouflage during these months, hoping to hide amongst the sea of white. A hungry wolf must be able to spot them even when wearing their winter best if they want to keep bellies full until spring.
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<b>Goal</b>: Stalk a prey species that uses the winter landscape to their advantage. Snowshoe hare, ptarmigan, lemmings and weasels all turn white to hide against a backdrop of snow. Show the challenges of your character tracking prey in winter, especially when they are hidden so effectively.
<b>Word Count</b>: 800 (Solo) or 1500 (Group)
<b>Location</b>: Northern or Eastern Boreas
<b>Tasks</b>: <div align="justify" style=" padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px;">1. Be clear about what prey species you are seeking out.
2. Clearly discuss the specific challenges related to hunting that species in winter.
3. Show the entirety of the hunt, whether the prey is successfully caught or not.
</div><b>Reward</b>: 30 Hunting Skill Points
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<div class=tcat>Healing</div>

<u>Stocking Up:</u> With Boreas now in the grips of winter, healers might choose to travel south to more pleasant climes. Many species of plants continue to grow during Auster’s dry season, especially after the favorable conditions felt in the season before. Resourceful healers know that Boreas will soon be in need of remedies for colds, flu, coughs and other common winter ailments. Best to begin seeking out these useful plants as soon as possible.
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<b>Goal</b>: Seek out plants where they are still growing, with the goal of combating common winter symptoms. Good options might include alfalfa, boneset, elderberry, ginseng or lavender, but this is not mandatory. Locate, harvest, and discuss what plans your character has for the herbs they have found.
<b>Word Count</b>: 800 (Solo) or 1500 (Group)
<b>Location</b>: Southern Boreas or Auster
<b>Tasks</b>: <div align="justify" style=" padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px;">1. Locate plants that are still fresh enough to be effective
2. Discuss how your character harvests them. Be aware of what parts of the plant are used for what you have in mind.
3. Discuss your characters plans to transport them and what they will be used for
</div><b>Reward</b>: 30 Healing Skill Points
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<div class=tcat>Navigation</div>

<u>Spectral Spectacle:</u> A beloved winter phenomena has returned this year to the northern reaches of Boreas and the southernmost reaches of Auster. In the evening sky, if you’re lucky, you might be treated to a spectacular light show. Never twice the same, it is an event no wolf should miss seeing in their lifetime. Choose to experience it alone or share the experience with others.
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<b>Goal</b>: Show your characters watching either the Aurora Borealis or Australis on a clear night. They can be partaking in other activities at the same time (i.e patrolling, navigating by the stars, potentially <i>very</i> lost?) .The aurora should still feature frequently in conversation and descriptions. Your thread may include up to three wolves.
<b>Word Count</b>: 800 (Solo) or 1500 (Group)
<b>Location</b>:
Boreas: All lands north of Devil’s Spout
Auster: All lands south of Grapevine Cathedral
Click <a href="https://i.imgur.com/PjQpI5C.jpg">here</a> for a visual diagram.
<b>Tasks</b>: <div align="justify" style=" padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px;">1. Start your thread any time during the evening/predawn hours.
2. You may choose to have your character see the aurora at any point during its display, from just beginning to nearly gone.
3. Be descriptive in its colors and behavior. Feel free to get creative with how your wolf interprets this.
</div><b>Reward</b>: 30 Navigation Skill Points
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<div class=tcat>Intellect</div>

<u>Long Winter Nights:</u> GROUP ONLY. Your character finds themselves holed up in a fierce snow storm. Luckily they have company with them, and what better way to pass the time than to share stories and pass down histories? Spend a thread either telling or listening to some sort of story while you wait for the storm to pass.
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<b>Goal</b>: Show your characters sheltering from a fierce winter storm, and choosing to pass the time by sharing stories, myths, and legends with one another. Players are free to use both original creations and known legends. If you choose to retell or adapt a myth from human history, players are encouraged to cite the title and culture it came from for readers who might want to investigate further!
<b>Word Count</b>: 2000 (Group)
<b>Location</b>: Northern and Eastern Boreas
<b>Tasks</b>: <div align="justify" style=" padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px;">1. Detail the environment around your characters. What is taking place that caused them to take shelter?
2. Pass the time by sharing stories. This is open to creative interpretation, but make sure all characters remain actively involved.
3. At least one story must be told from beginning to end.
</div><b>Reward</b>: 30 Intellect Skill Points (+5 Bonus points if the entire audience is under 1 Year)
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<div class=tcat>BONUS PROMPT : Hunting/Intellect</div>

<center><b>Only one bonus prompt per PLAYER allowed each season.</b></center>
<u>Far Frigid North:</u> GROUP ONLY. The extreme north of Boreas during winter is a harsh, unforgiving place. To survive here during this season a hunter must have keen instincts, endurance, and the occasional burst of creativity. When protein and fat are both hard to come by, there are few prey items more appealing than a seal. Use a mix of hunting and intellect skills to earn yourself or your group a feast.
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<b>Goal</b>: Show your group locating either a seal’s air hole out on the ice, or a group of seals basking on a beach. Use a combination of wit and skill to earn a meal. While the hole in the ice takes patience and the seal is at a clear advantage, most wolves know better than to get on the wrong side of a colony's beach master. Both scenarios provide their own set of difficulties.
<b>Word Count</b>: 2500 (2 wolves); 3500 (3 wolves): 4500 (4 wolves)
<b>Location</b>: Northern coast of Boreas
<b>Tasks</b>: <div align="justify" style=" padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px;">1. Choose the location of where your hunt will take place (Sea ice, or Beach)
2. Detail your group’s strategy, be clear about the thought put into the challenges that you face.
3. Players are encouraged to use the expanded word count to make creative choices and pay attention to detail.
4. Success is determined by the players. Show whether your wolves succeed or fail, and what consequences they may have sustained in the struggle.
</div><b>Reward</b>: 30 Hunting Skill Points & 30 Intellect Skill Points
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<center>OR</center>

<u>Conserving Calories:</u> SOLO. When the days are short, the weather is brutal, and the prey is scarce there are few things a predator wants to do more than waste a few precious, precious calories. For wolves hunting on their own this becomes a bit of a challenge. Your character, however, has a different idea. Show your character constructing, placing, and checking on a series of traps in the hope of catching an easy kill… And getting to it before something else does. Use a mixture of hunting and intellect skill to accomplish this, and fill your belly without breaking a sweat.
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<b>Goal</b>: Show your character creating their traps and explain how they are meant to work. Detail them choosing the best locations to place them, and any extra actions taken to mask scents or camouflage the traps themselves. Show what they find when they return to check on them. Success, failure, or maybe an unwelcome visitor waiting for them?
<b>Word Count</b>: 1200 (Solo)
<b>Location</b>: Boreas or Auster
<b>Tasks</b>: <div align="justify" style=" padding-left:20px; padding-right:20px;">1. Design and create your traps. Remember to be realistic about a wolf’s physical limitations.
2. Set up your character’s line, detailing the thought process on why they have chosen to place their traps in each particular location.
3. Show any extra actions your character might take to help ensure their success
4. Show your character going back to check their traps, and what they find. Success is determined by the player.
</div><b>Reward</b>: 30 Hunting Skill Points & 30 Intellect Skill Points
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<center><b>Redeem prompts as usual in skill claims!</b></center>
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