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CHARACTERRace/Class
Read a book from a genre you usually don't read.
This will determine your race/class.
Book: Fire Study by Maria V. SnyderDate: 2/10 3.5★
Task: Read a book from a genre you usually don't read
Fit: I usually avoid YA
Halfling ClericYou are lighthearted and kind, bringing warmth and hope to all around you.
Advantage: “Healing Hands” – Once, you may “heal” a failed attempt (if you start a book but can’t finish, you can count it as completed).
WeaponRead a book and tell me the page count and format.
This will determine your weapon.
SwordBalanced and reliable, a hero’s classic weapon.
Advantage: “Parry” – Once, you can deflect a prompt you dislike and swap it for a random new one from the DM.
CompanionRead a book that meets the guidelines.
The title will determine your companion.
Book: Three Wishes for Miss Winthrop by Shirley KennedyDate: 6/10 1.5★
Pages: 240
Fit: meets guidelines
Stag 🦌Noble and guiding.
Advantage: “Guiding Horns” – Once, push a prompt into the future (postpone it).
🌄 The First Quest: The Call to AdventureThe air is crisp as dawn breaks over your quiet village. Life has always been simple here — until today. A mysterious figure in a dark cloak arrives at the village gates, carrying a scroll sealed with an unfamiliar crest. They call for brave souls to leave the safety of the village and journey into the unknown.
As you step forward, the figure hands you the scroll. Inside, it reads:
“Choose your first step wisely, for your path will shape the fate of your journey…”
⚔️ Choose Your Path (Read one book):
The Forest Path 🌲
Prompt: Read a book with green on the cover.
Outcome: You follow winding trails into the forest. Strange whispers echo among the trees — something magical is watching.
The Mountain Pass ⛰️
Prompt: Read a book over 400 pages.
Outcome: The climb is harsh, but the view is breathtaking. High above the world, you find ruins carved into the cliffs — but they’re not abandoned.
The River Road 🌊
Prompt: Read a book set in another country.
Outcome: You journey along rushing waters, where merchants and wanderers trade stories. Yet rumors of bandits make every crossing dangerous.
The Shadowed Alley 🌑
Prompt: Read a book with "shadow" or "alley" in the title.
Outcome: You slip into the backstreets of a crumbling city. Eyes follow you from the shadows, and a dangerous secret is about to be uncovered.
Book: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard OsmanDate: 7/10 4.5★
The River Road: Read a book set in another country.
Fit: set in a country not mine
The River Road 🌊The river’s song guides you forward, but not all currents are kind. Travelers whisper of strange happenings further along.
The Merchant’s Crossing 🛶
Prompt: Read a book under 300 pages.
Outcome: You trade stories with merchants on a raft — but one of them hides a dangerous secret.
The Drowned Temple 🏛️
Prompt: Read a book where water plays a role (sea, river, rain, etc.).
Outcome: Submerged ruins call to you — but something stirs beneath the surface.
The Merchant’s Crossing 🛶Prompt: Read a book under 300 pages
Book: Death of a Swagman by Arthur W. Upfield
Date: 24/10 3★
Fit: 255p
The Drowned Temple 🏛️
Prompt: Read a book where water plays a role
Book: Melaleuca by Angie Faye Martin
Date: 29/10 4★
Fit: the murdered woman's body was found by the river
I wasn't sure whether I had to do both tasks, or not.
You only have to do one of the tasks :)Which route would you like to take?
The Drowned Temple 🏛️The river deepens until it swallows ancient stone columns. Echoes of prayers long forgotten ripple beneath the surface.
The Sunken Library 📚
Prompt: Read a book with “library,” “book,” or “archive” in the title.
Outcome: You find shelves of waterlogged tomes — knowledge preserved by magic.
The Siren’s Call 🎶
Prompt: Read a book with a song, music, or sound motif.
Outcome: A haunting melody rises from the depths, drawing you closer to danger.
The Sunken Library 📚Prompt: Read a book with “library,” “book,” or “archive” in the title
Book: Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl
Date: 10/11 3★
Fit: book in title
The Sunken Library 📚Waterlogged books crumble at your touch — but some pages still whisper knowledge.
The Forbidden Tome 📕
Prompt: Read a banned book or one with controversy.
Outcome: The book seeps into your mind, unlocking truths better left buried.
The Book of Tides 🌊
Prompt: Read a book with the sea or ocean as a theme.
Outcome: A waterlogged volume glows, and the tide itself answers to you.
The Forbidden Tome 📕Prompt: Read a banned book or one with controversy.
Book: The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
Date: 20/11 4.5★
Fit: set in the 1950s, time of McCarthyism, when almost everything was controversial & people informed on their neighbours - topics include communism, birth control for women, homosexuality, interracial relationships, domestic violence
The Forbidden Tome 📕The forbidden book thrums — it repeats one word endlessly: Tower.
Task: Read a book that has been banned, challenged, or controversial.
The Forbidden Tome 📕Task: Read a book that has been banned, challenged, or controversial.
Book: An Author Bites the Dust by Arthur W. Upfield
Date: 3/12 4★
Fit: Controversial at the time as it was written in response to a movement to ban overseas books in favour of Australian writing & as a satirical and autobiographical novel to critique the critics who wanted to silence the author. It sparked a debate in the Commonwealth Parliament but was was never officially banned; instead, it proved a witty and aggressive defense of Upfield's work and the broader topic of literary authenticity.
A major theme within the book is the difference between literature with a capital L & commercial fiction - i.e. stuff that actually sells like Upfield's did.
🏰 The Tower — Interlude QuestThe journey has led you here. Rising higher than the clouds, the Tower looms like a wound against the sky. Its walls are black stone, carved with runes that shift when you look at them. You are not alone: whispers of other travelers, shadows of past adventurers, even echoes of your own footsteps gather here.
The gates creak open with a groan that shakes the ground. Inside, four corridors spiral upward. Each pulses with a different energy. The choice is yours…
✨ Choose Your Path (Read one book):
The Library of Whispers 📚
Prompt: Read a book about books, libraries, or knowledge.
Outcome: Shelves stretch beyond sight, filled with tomes that whisper your name. Some knowledge is a gift… and some a curse.
The Hall of Blades ⚔️
Prompt: Read a book with a weapon, warrior, or battle theme.
Outcome: The air hums with steel. Swords hang suspended mid-air, waiting to test your worth.
The Chamber of Shadows 🌑
Prompt: Read a book with MPG Horror.
Outcome: Darkness pools in every corner, moving as if alive. To enter is to risk being swallowed whole.
The Garden of Echoes 🌿
Prompt: Read a book with nature, plants, or animals playing an important role.
Outcome: Overgrown roots split the stone, flowers bloom in impossible colors, and every leaf whispers forgotten secrets.
The Hall of Blades ⚔️Prompt: Read a book with a weapon, warrior, or battle theme
Book: Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K. Hamilton
Date: 7/12 3★
Fit: MC Anita is a warrior
The Hall of Blades ⚔️Steel sings in the air, swords circling slowly, awaiting challengers. The stone floor bears the scars of countless battles.
The Duel of Echoes 🗡️
Prompt: Read a book with a duel, fight, or rivalry.
Outcome: A figure steps forward, mirroring your every move — you must fight yourself.
The Blade of Ages 🪓
Prompt: Read a book set in a different historical period.
Outcome: One ancient sword glows among the rest, its edge humming with time itself.
The Hall of Blades ⚔️Prompt: Read a book with a duel, fight, or rivalry
Book: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
Date: 10/12 5★
Fit: Peter & Miraz fight in single-combat
The Duel of Echoes 🗡️Your mirrored opponent bows, ready for another test.
The Broken Sword ⚔️
Prompt: Read a book where the main character fails or falls.
Outcome: Your echo cracks, showing weakness you can exploit.
The Champion’s Laurel 🏆
Prompt: Read an award-winning book.
Outcome: Your echo dons a crown of laurels, but you may yet claim it for yourself.
The Broken Sword ⚔️Prompt: Read a book where the main character fails or falls
Book: The Mountains Have a Secret by Arthur W. Upfield
Date: 15/12 4★
Fit: MC Bony fails to stop the plane with the kidnappers & strange box on board, & almost dies in the effort
The Broken Sword ⚔️The shattered blade hums, vibrating with hidden strength.
The Smith’s Forge 🔨
Prompt: Read a book where a craft, trade, or skill is important.
Outcome: Sparks fly, reforging the blade in your hands.
The Ashen Edge 🪶
Prompt: Read a book under 300 pages.
Outcome: The sword reforms, lighter, quicker — a weapon of speed.
The Ashen Edge 🪶Prompt: Read a book under 300 pages
Book: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Date: 20/12 5★
Pages: 253
Since I'm on a little Christmas vacation, you can read one book that meets the general guidelines for an extra point until I can post the next task :)
The Ashen Edge 🪶The blade dissolves into ashes that scatter, revealing a glowing path inward.
Task: Read a book under 200 pages.
The Ashen Edge 🪶Task: Read a book under 200 pages
Book: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
Date: 1/1 5★
Fit: 128p
💖 The Tower Heart — Grand FinaleThe Tower trembles as you step into its core. A vast chamber opens before you, lit by a pulsating crystal heart the size of a mountain. It beats like a living thing, casting shadows that twist and stretch. The whispers you’ve heard all along now roar into a single voice:
"You have come so far. But how will you face the Heart? With strength? With cunning? With compassion? Or with fire?"
Four glowing paths spiral out from the chamber, each leading to a different fate.
⚔️ The Path of Battle
Steel sings, and weapons materialize around you. The Heart dares you to fight.
Task: Read a book with an epic battle, warrior, or soldier.
Outcome: You raise your weapon high and strike at the Heart. Win or lose, your courage echoes forever in its chambers.
🕵️ The Path of Secrets
Shadows ripple, and the Heart hides riddles in its glow. Only the cunning may pass.
Task: Read a thriller or detective novel.
Outcome: You unravel the final secret, and the Heart shudders as knowledge pierces deeper than any blade.
💞 The Path of Compassion
The Heart’s glow flickers, as though longing for something more than conquest.
Task: Read a book centered on friendship, love, or family.
Outcome: You extend a hand — and the Heart softens, its darkness breaking in the light of connection.
🔥 The Path of Chaos
Flames crackle, and the Heart laughs, daring you to destroy it.
Task: Read a dark fantasy or horror book.
Outcome: You embrace chaos — the Tower shakes as fire consumes it, leaving behind ashes from which something new will grow.
💞 The Path of CompassionTask: Read a book centered on friendship, love, or family
Book: Ming and Flo Fight for the Future by Jackie French
Date: 10/1 4★
Fit: MPG family
🌌 The EndingNo matter which path you choose, your story is written into the Tower’s memory.
Some fought. Some uncovered. Some healed. Some burned.
But all stood before the Tower Heart — and few can say the same.
The Tower crumbles, or renews, or shifts into something else entirely. The world will remember.
And so will you.
Congrats, you completed the challenge!
Bookish Challenges
Books mentioned in this topic
Ming and Flo Fight for the Future (other topics)Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (other topics)
Wizard's First Rule (other topics)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (other topics)
The Mountains Have a Secret (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jackie French (other topics)T.S. Eliot (other topics)
Terry Goodkind (other topics)
Oscar Wilde (other topics)
Arthur W. Upfield (other topics)
More...
Sign-ups are open until February 28th.
The challenge is open-ended.
The Challenge
1. Comment here to sign up, and I will create a personal challenge thread for you.
2. You will create your adventurer step by step: first by reading for a race/class, then a weapon, then a companion. Each of these will come with a one-time-use advantage to help you later in the challenge.
3. After your character is ready, you will begin the journey. At each stage, you will face a short story and a choice of tasks. The book you choose to read will determine the path your story takes.
4. To move forward, you must read for at least one of the tasks presented. You can only choose one task per branch — but you may use your earned advantages to skip or bend a rule if you wish.
5. Please make a completion post in your thread using this template:
Book/Author:
Date completed:
Task:
How it fits:
6. If you feel stuck, you may use 5 points to skip a task.
7. Completing a task gives you 2 points. Completing the challenge gives you 25 points.
8. If you don't have a personal point account thread yet, request one here.