The winning entries were absolutely brilliant! Congrats to the winners for their well-deserved crystals, and I'm honored to have been awarded 3rd place amongst such prolific writers :)

Thank you so much GoldRock for the consideration, and congratulations to the other winners! :) That last question belongs in a logic textbook though - it's absolutely brilliant.

That last question is tough, but mostly because I cannot find a problem with it. When writing it out formally, you get something like A => B, B => C, A or not A, and B is given, therefore C - which is an entirely valid conclusion. I must be missing something... any hints for the last question? :)

I'm very surprised, but pleasantly so of course, that my entry was deemed worthy of 3rd place :) Much thanks to TNT, and congratulations to all applicants.

Hi everyone, This is my entry of roughly 521 words - I hope you enjoy it! :) The Punishment Long, long ago, during the Great Turret Wars, the prophecy was incumbent, its conclusion imminent. It came during a dark time for the inhabitants of the planet, but the prophet had foretold that a chief of one the lowliest nation-states would bring about an end to the suffering, should he be able to resist temptation. That chief’s name was Leo. One day, an entity made itself known to him and revealed the details of the prophecy to him, informing him that he was the subject of the prophecy. Leo was in a state of shock upon learning this. Me? I will save the entire planet? The violence steadily escalated in the coming months, and little by little, the prophecy was pushed to the back of his mind. A summit in hope of drafting a peace accord of all the chiefs was summoned, to be held the next day. The next morning, Leo received the bad news: his parents had been killed due to poor border security during a skirmish. He was absolutely devastated, but reluctantly set out for the conference, a full twelve hours of walking away, for he could not afford other transportation. About five hours into the trip, he encountered an obviously wealthy, well-dressed man who had been waiting for him. The man revealed himself to be the chief of the most well-off nation-state, who had a reputation for ruthlessness but also honesty. Leo duly inquired what he could possibly want with the chief of a state as insignificant as his. The man laughed at this. “That is precisely the reason I require your assistance. You see, we are very interested in acquiring the land of our rival, and they currently have a strong leader holding them together, without which they would certainly fall apart. Conveniently, this person happens to be in attendance at the summit.” “But… what does that have to do with me?” asked an apprehensive Leo. “If their leader were to be suddenly taken ill at the summit, suspicion would immediately fall upon us. However, if he were to be the victim of a tragic accident on his way back, which just happens to cross your state, we would be blameless, and we would pay you handsomely” replied the chief. Leo was about to refuse, recalling that the prophecy said he would be tempted. However, he then remembered his parents’ death due to a lack of money. Grief, then anger rose up in him, and he accepted the proposal, later using a Shaft to do his dirty work. The other chief honored his word and sent him enough money to create a standing, professional army. Later, the same entity approached him, this time expressing its disappointment. It said that an end to the suffering would still come about, but only after thousands of years of war in the land of Tanki, and as added punishment, turrets would randomly not fire in time. The aforementioned phenomenon was soon dubbed "lag"; thus was born the bane of countless Tanki chief's existence, and it would rear its ugly head many a time during critical moments in battles.