Feel free to skip the story and go to the next heading (Your Quest: Rules and Forms) if you want to get straight to the rules, quest, and eligible stories.
Asher Gargoyle Slayer
You stroll along the street. Such an odd night, but something tugs you to keep going. It’s like you’re being called.
There’s a strange house up ahead, nestled in a dark bubble amid the neon lights and towering skyscrapers. As you get closer, the city seems to fade, and the house itself gets clearer. It’s a simple house yet somehow both modern and old with long windows that glow and veiled curtains that just barely obscure shadows inside. Eerie orange light spills from the windows, and it smells like a pungent combination of old pumpkins, beeswax, electricity, and smoke.
Purple fog swirls about the ground and coils up into the sky. As some of it brushes past your face, that scent of smoke and electric intensifies.
“Hey you.” A tall lean man steps out of the shadows, his dark eyes sparkling with interest. A baseball bat rests on his shoulder. “You here to help me with the monsters?” He extends his hand and gives you a strong handshake as his crooked grin widens. He’s surprisingly well-dressed, and his black hair is short and neatly styled. He has a strong brow and pronounced jawline with a manner that suggests he’s a bit of a tease. He wears a spicy cologne with notes of green apple, cardamom, and cedar.
While being approached by a man with a weapon would ordinarily cause alarm, you find yourself charmed by this man. He’s got a great handshake, and those eyes of his promise stories, jokes, and puns. “You planning on hitting some home runs or something out here?” You nod toward his bat.
He laughs good-naturedly. “Nah. I’m here to deal with the monsters. It’s the week of Halloween, and everything’s getting all tense and toothy. And not the good kind. What’s your name? I’m Asher. Asher Gargoyle Slayer, to be a bit more precise.”
You smile, trying to keep a straight face. “That’s not your real name, is it?”
“Sure isn’t.” He grins and then points at you. “You’re a sharp one though. You got a fake name I can call you by or something?”
You give him a crooked smile and shift your weight to your left leg. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”
“Well, we’ve got time. Maybe we can come up with something.”
“If there are monsters to be dealt with, shouldn’t they take priority?” you ask.
Another easy laugh follows. “I can do more than one thing at once, cutie. But you’re interested in hunting monsters? For real? Cause I am looking for a fellow slugger for some supernatural showdowns. You in then?”
The way he speaks is just infectious. “I might be. Do I have to fight with a bat?”
“You can fight with whatever you like. Just as long as you stay alive. That’s the number one rule in monster fighting, you know. Stay alive to stay in the game.” He winks. “But actually, right now some associates and I, we’re trying to keep Halloween from being ruined. That house up ahead? Well, it’s a portal into the Abyss of All Consuming Evil and Enormous Inconveniences.”
“That’s a bit of a mouthful.”
“Really?” Who’d have thought?
“Yup. And the wards are weakening. We need to get them back up to full strength without letting any of the abyssal creatures out. I’ve been doing all right keeping knocking the monsters back, but the wards are weakening. If you could get me the items I need to bolster the ward, I’d be extremely grateful.”
“Sure.” You nod eagerly. “Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I’d hate to see anything ruin it!”
“Nice. Mine too. Just can’t beat it, can you?” He fishes a piece of yellow paper out of his tight pants pocket. “If you’re serious about helping, this is what we’ve got to do. We need stories to figure out what we’re dealing with here. I need you to find me love stories that fit in our world and meet certain tropes or themes. Think you can help me with that?”
“I sure can.” You take the list and look it over. Even blue script spells out the requirements. Easy enough. “I’ll get right on this and be back before you know it.”
“Cool.”
Something screeches in the house. He sighs, then shakes his head as he grins at you once more. “Job’s never done. See you soon, darling.”
You watch him go and give a little nod to yourself. Time to get started. This list has some nice variety to it, but no one knows fantasy romance, paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance, and monster romance like you. You head off down the path in search of the books, determined to return in time and save Halloween.
Your Quest: Rules and Forms
Prizes
Everyone who turns in a completed Our World Quest Form will get access to the Our World Treasure Room, which is a series of digital prizes ranging from ebooks to prints. (You’ll get a link after the event closes. A few items may take some time to arrive after the event.)
Right now the Our World Treasure Room will include
- (will be updated as the event continues)
There are also three additional prize packs. You need to be in the US, UK, or Canada for shipping unless otherwise noted.
- First Place Prize Pack
- winner’s choice of sweet or salty treat (no more than $10)
- winner’s choice of tea/dry packaged beverage (no more than $10)
- $25 Amazon or online bookstore retailer gift card
- Second Place Prize Pack
- winner’s choice of sweet or salty treat (no more than $10)
- winner’s choice of tea/dry packaged beverage (no more than $10)
- $15 Amazon or online book retailer gift card
- Third
- winner’s choice of sweet or salty treat (no more than $10)
- winner’s choice of tea/dry packaged beverage (no more than $10)
- $10 Amazon or online book retailer gift card
Rules
To complete the Quest, you can only use stories that are included in this event. (All of the Our World stories are included on this page.)
You can only use a story for one element on the list in each quest.
As part of the point is to read new stories and celebrate ones you’ve already read, we’ve got a fun little tweak. If you know or discover that a listed story fits one of the items on your quest (even if the trope card doesn’t include it), you can put it on your list.
So, for instance, if you’re looking for a fairy tale retelling and there’s a story on the list that you know is a Beauty and the Beast, you can list that story as fulfilling that requirement even if it isn’t listed on the story’s trope card. You can also read the book’s blurb for added clues.
Be kind to your fellow readers and other authors.
The Forms
Your parchment includes the stories you need to find. You can download it as a PDF or you can fill out the Google Form. The prompts are the same.
(If you download it as a PDF and fill it out on your device, make sure you save your answers.)
Bonus Tokens
In addition to the regular tokens, you can get bonus tokens by completing the following acts.
One extra token for every story you share in an individual social media post except for the story with a trope, theme, or element that you think should get more attention. (Yes, you can post on multiple platforms.)
Two extra tokens for sharing on social media an individual post about the story with a trope, theme, or element that you think should get more attention. Be sure to state what the trope/theme/element is in your post and why it matters to you.
Use #ourworldbonus (and if you want to absolutely bless me, save off the links and paste them in the forms or an email to make sure we definitely see them).
(We have graphics of all the authors and stories here so you don’t have to make something separate. Just look look under the author’s last name to find the stories.)
Submitting Your Form
Once you’ve gathered up your collection of stories, you’ll need to turn them in so we can verify.
You can turn your stories in three different ways.
- Complete this form and directly post your answers (if you do this, you don’t need to turn in anything else. The form will allow you to return to it and edit your answers).
- Save and fill out the PDF and then upload it to this form.
- Directly email the form to faeornofae@farofeb.com. Make sure to include any of the bonus activities you have done as well.
Make sure to submit your completed form by October 30 at 11:59 PM EST.
If you have any problems, please feel free to email faeornofae@farofeb.com.
Ready to get started?
Great!
[Once you’re finished, be sure to see the conclusion of your quest with Asher Gargoyle Slayer.]
Heat Levels
All stories are ranked on a romance scale of one to four chili peppers to indicate spice levels. We use the Heat Levels Guide depicted here.
This graphic has also been saved in the Graphics Folder for the event in case you want to share it as well.
Stories in Our World
