The Guardian of Gates: A Contest

[Lady Whimsy]

...behold: they stand, dawn awaits untold ~ to keep the Gates from Thaedor's hold...

The Contest ~

We've had naming contests on Kalidore before, but this one is a little different: your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find - not for a single unicorn, but a SPECIES - a formal title or denomination to denote great drafters of Kalidore.

It's quite a momentous challenge, but we know you're up to it! The key is to be creative, but also to understand your subject; what we're looking for in a name is something that works to embody the species as a whole, illustrates or represents their purpose on Kalidore & celebrates them. How you go about it is up to you, but we'll be sure provide a solid base to get you up and running


What's in a name? ~

The other species names of Kalidore were made-up words, but many have their roots in old languages. For instance, Aviquinn is straight forward - avian + equine = the great wingéd horses of the isle; Eromare (air-oh-mair-ah) is from the Greek "eros = heart/love" and Latin "mare = sea" and represents the currently unreleased hippocampus (plus the play on words have inspired a string of sea-themed ballads about "the love of the mare"!). There are tonnes of great languages out there to choose from, so find one you love and see if you can discovery something inspiring. Or make up your own! It's up to you, but be ready to explain why you chose this name and what it means.


Who are they anyways? ~

The drafters are an ancient breed of an old order. They are majestic sentinels, standing at guard to the Gates of Kalidore. In the old days there were many of them, keeping watch over their gate and warmly greeting each visitor who passed through; yet if anyone were to try and entire the isle with malicious intentions in their heart, these sentries would defend Kalidore with their last breath. And so the war took its toll; as magic and even the great Gates began to disappear, so too did these resolute but gentle-hearted guardians.

As a whole, the drafters are powerful, passionate, acting with efficiency and purpose. They are dedicated companions, both gentle and fierce, compassionate, and intensely loyal.

They are also the rarest type of Kalidore unicorn. Their Starstone cannot be secured through regular means, and they have the lowest percentage of passing on their traits - only 20% each breeding. They are also the largest unicorn, some examples reaching a staggering 22 hands, and are easily recognized by the thick, silky hair that drapes their lower legs. They are truly an breathtaking sight to behold!


But wait - what's the prize? ~

I was wondering when you might ask that The prize is none other then an example of the newly-named spices of your very own! Your custom unikore drafter may be done in any standard colour & pattern - perfect for the drafter lover in all of us. So best of luck, and let your creative muses run free!


The Rules:

1. Each person may submit up to three (3) names for our drafter species using the form below. Be sure to include all information!
2. Entries may be posted in this thread, or pm'd to Lady Whimsy.
3. While there's bound to be some overlap, try to be creative, and absolutely no whining about other people's entries. If you have any questions or concerns, please pm us!
4. Have fun

Naming Contest Form ~
Username:
Chosen Name:
Meaning of that Name:
Reason for your Choice:

Contest ends November 15st; good luck to all!

Disclaimer: because of the important nature of this contest, there is a possibility a suitable name will not be found by the end date. If this is the case, we reserve the right to either a) extend the contest, and b) allow further entries per person, or c) select our favorite name for the prize without assigning a official species name. Thanks for your support!

[varuna]

Username: Varuna
Chosen Name: Certeren or Terencer
Meaning of that Name: Sky-ground or Ground-sky, respectively, in Romanian.
Reason for your Choice:
Well, 22 hands is really impressive, therefore I think sky-high, but obviously they lack the feathered appendages of their flight-friendly cousins the Aviquinn and are "grounded" in that sense. And I like Romanian. >:}

Username: Varuna~
Chosen Name: Daranu'thyr
Meaning of that Name: Thunder (welsh) foot(elvish).
Reason for your Choice: I thought it sounded neat-o. >.> I dont have very good reasons, sometimes. Or at least they're just very plain reasons. Although, I do have to admit that that large of a unicorn certainly would sound like thunder when they were running.

Username: Varuna
Chosen Name: Torden'tutela or Tordentutela
Meaning of that Name: Torden (danish) 'tutela (latin), meaning Thunderguard.
Reason for your Choice: Obviously Im stuck more on their size and the way they might sound when they are running; than their real purpose. >.> Well, at least until this one... mostly. But I think this name is also strong in meaning, yet beautiful and flowing when said, which also seems to match up quite a bit with them, to me; Fierce personalities, strong and able bodies - ready to defend, but still a beautiful creature to look at.

[Ember]

Hello~ Long time no see! I decided to try =P

Username: Ember
Chosen Name: Shalka, Alcamira, Shamai (I put all my names here, since I was playing around with the order of letters, but it all essentially means the same)
Meaning of that Name: A merge of Shamira ("guardian", "protector" in Hebrew) and the greek word alkaios ("mighty")
Reason for your Choice: I think that "mighty protector" fits these brave Unicorns well. It also sounds rather nice, if I do say so myself. XD

[sigarni]

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Sigarni
Chosen Name: Alaunyrr
Meaning of that Name: Powerful Protector
Alaun - Lightning, powerful
yrr - Protector, rival, wielder
Reason for your Choice: I never see Drow language being used. It's a beautiful language (not real though). I love the names I can come up with and use quite a few. I've never come up with this name before. It suits the creature.
(There's a site I use to get these names. Ask for it if you're interested)


Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Sigarni
Chosen Name: Chaszlin
Meaning of that Name: Stable Armor/Commander
chasz - Earth, stable
lin - Arm, armor, commander
Reason for your Choice: For them to protect, they have to have order and for order there has to be a Commander or a Stable Armor to protect.

[Rhaevin]

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Rhaevin

Chosen Name: Maihearn
Meaning of that Name: Maiestas (Latin for Majestic) Ahearn (Celtick for Lord of the Horses)
Reason for your Choice: Very obvious -- they are the majestic Lord's of all of Kalidore.

Chosen Name: Pasarina
Meaning of that Name: Pasarela (Gaelic for Gateway) Brina (Celtic for Protector)
Reason for your Choice: Another one of those obvious pairings.

Chosen Name: Rhoneer
Meaning of that Name: Rhona (Celtic for Powerful, or Mighty) and Greer (Celtic for Watchful, or Guardian)
Reason for your Choice: What could be more approreate for such magestic sentinals?

[shazzadee86]

some nice entries so far i don't envy the ladies having to choose XD

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: shazza_dee86
Chosen Name: Torgarde
Meaning of that Name: Tor (gate) and garde (guard) in german
Reason for your Choice: the obvious reason is that they are/were guardians of the gates personally i just liked the way the two words went together - and i can wrap my head around people rp'ing them in the future saying things like 'I am one of the Torgarde.' I looked at a lot of other languages and words - but nothing else seemed to fit together quite as well... or didn't give off the right vibe (in my opinion at least ) i would've preferred something a lil more ornate in the meaning though - but i'm still happy.

[Leopardstar]

Hope I can still enter even if I am a guest of yet....I will register sometime this month I think.

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Leopardstar
Chosen Name: Iphigeneia
Meaning of that Name: Greek name composed of the elements iphios "strong" and genes "born," hence "strong-born." In mythology, this is the name of the daughter of King Agamemnon.
Reason for your Choice: It is a Greek name and Greeks I find have some of the finest and beuatiful names with their rich history. And the name Iphigeneia itself is exotic, beautiful, rich, and noble sounding to me. The great drafters are strong-born indeed and deserve a great name to go with their great abilities and looks. Not to mention their great deeds.

Username: Leopardstar
Chosen Name: Aigleramona
Meaning of that Name: Aigle-Greek name meaning "radiance, splendor." In mythology, this is the name of several characters, including a goddess of good health. Ramona-Feminine form of Spanish Ramón, meaning "wise protector."
Reason for your Choice: I chose these two words because their meanings represent everything I see in the great drafters and when combined it just seems to roll of the tounge. Aigle is the Greek part, Ancient Greece has always held many names and is a place of knowledge. It means "radiance, splendor," and the drafters shine with their own light, they radiate it and shine with splendor unimagines beyond gold and silver. Ramona is a Spanish name and word, it means "wise protecter." The Spanish of Spain can be known as fiery warriors and what are the drafters if not fiery warriors? Both fierce and gentle, yet wise too they are the protecters of the Gates of Kalidore as you have said.

Username: Leopardstar
Chosen Name: Mahaikaterinaut (Mahaut, Aikaterina)
Meaning of that Name: The Ma is the beginning with the aut part at the end, and combine them together and you get the French word Mahaut. Mahaut is the Medieval form of Norman French Mathilde, meaning "mighty in battle." The middle part of it, Aikaterina, is a Variant spelling of Greek Aikaterine, meaning "pure."
Reason for your Choice: To me the drafters strike me as gentle giants, fierce protecters and warriors of their charges yet gentle and kind with a noble and good heart. To be a protecter of the gate you have to be mighty and so I picked Mahuat, an old-style French name. It means "mighty in battle" and so they are. Fighting against evil enemies till they finally draw their last breath to the bitter end, noble no? I also just had to add Aikaterina in there. It means "pure" and just that little word goes a lot even if it is just four letters! These "giants", unicorns of Kalidore radiate pureness and light. If you could look at a drafter's heart I'm sure you could find something so white and good it would be beyond "snow white." Everyone has a bit of darkness in their heart, so they would have some taint. But can't they still be pure?

[Delicious]

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Delicious
1. Chosen Name: Mórdionn or Mor'dionn
Meaning of that Name: Gaelic roots of Great (mór) Protection (dìon)
Reason for your Choice: The name choice stems from the breed's chosen employment. Large and noble, and steadfastly putting themselves forth to guard the realm from harm - a name that innately honours their choice and praises them for it would be a gift indeed.

2. Chosen Name: Cal'gerran or Calgerann
Meaning of that Name: Gaelic Roots of Strong (calma) and Horse (gearrán)
Reason for your Choice: This breed is nothing if large, imposing and mighty. It stands to reason that those confronted with them would likely choose their stature to describe them to others.

3. Chosen Name: Einhorn
Meaning of that Name: German - Unicorn
Reason for your Choice: Short, sweet and to the point. A rather chewy and substantsial word that parallels the girth and precense of the breed it would name.

[Lady Whimsy]

Great entries so far guys! I'm resisting looking at them all too closely until the end date, lol
Though I do foresee Lady E and myself have a lot to conside ;D

[lectral]

Not sure if I'll get a second or third entry in time, so I will at least post my first!

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Lectral
Chosen Name: Cosantóir
Meaning of that Name: "defender" in Gaelic
Reason for your Choice: I like the look of Gaelic (I'd love to learn to read it, and possibly speak it as well) and when I see draft equines of any type, that is the culture/language that stands out to me. I chose "defender" as that is what they are, the defenders of Kalidore.

[scullisto]

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Scullisto
Chosen Name: Mildur Risi
Meaning of that Name: Icelandic for Gentle Giant
Reason for your Choice: I chose this name for the drafter breed as I feel even though they have the strength and power of warriors, they have a gentle soul that needs that giant frame to hold the embodiment of their spirit....their heart..

[pinkmoonbeam]

1: Naming Contest Form ~
Username: pinkmoonbeam
Chosen Name: Tearnahen (TEER nahn)
Meaning of that Name: From the word Tighearnach a Gaelic word for Lordly, noble
Reason for your Choice: If ever there was a noble beast, these would be it! They seem as if they would have a lordly bearing as well. I took this word from the original as I felt the original word was pretty far from how we would sound it out to get the pronunciation. Used the same pronunciation, and changed the spelling to make it easier to sound out.

2: Naming Contest Form ~
Username:pinkmoonbeam
Chosen Name: Vaportis
Meaning of that Name: Var is "Guard of the" in norse, I took the r out cause I like the look better. Port means gate in Latin, and I added the is cause I like it.
Reason for your Choice: This word reminds me of "vapor", and it's just fun to say. Root words still have meaning though.

3: Naming Contest Form ~
Username: pinkmoobeam
Chosen Name: Shimri (SHIM ri)
Meaning of that Name: My guard, my watcher in Hebrew
Reason for your Choice: The word itself just strikes my fancy as it reminds me of shimmer, which unicorns certainly do! It's meaning also fits with the backstory.

[angelofmusic]

Username: Angel_of_Music
Chosen Name: Cùra
Meaning of that Name: Guardian in Gaelic(if I am correct in remembering)
Reason for your Choice: They are guardians in a way are they not? I thought it would be a majestic name for them.

Username: Angel_of_Music
Chosen Name: Nim'ohtar
Meaning of that Name: Paladin in elven
Reason for your Choice: Middle French, from Italian paladino, from Old French palatin, from Medieval Latin palatinus courtier, from Late Latin, imperial official. A trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince) or a leading champion of a cause. They stand guard, they are sentinels and thus protected the land for the good of Kalidore.

[zephyr]

Naming Contest Form ~
Username: Zephyr
Chosen Name: Prokaios (proe KY ohs)
Meaning of that Name: Mighty protector
Reason for your Choice: from the Greek words mighty and protector, it also reminds me of a character I was fond of - Proginoskes - who was a strong and fiercely intelligent character, and who protected those around him.

Chosen Name: Dominua (doe-mee-NOO-ah)
Meaning of that Name: Master of the Gate
Reason for your Choice: From Latin words for 'master' and 'gate', I knew I wanted one name idea with "domi" for "master" in it, and this seemed one of the best combinations. Perhaps not Mastery of the gate itself, but Masters of all they need to be to protect and guard them.

Chosen Name: Eleneiso (Ell-enn-EYE-so)
Meaning of that Name: Mastery of the Gate/Master of the Gate
Reason for your Choice: Greek for Mastery and Gate. It's much the same as Dominua, but has a more fluid sound to it. Because sometimes being strong is knowing when to simply flow around your opponent; water is soft, but it wears down even rock, overcomes fire, and mingles with air.

[Lady Whimsy]

The Shortlist!

Well, as always, you guys make judging contests SO HARD. I mean - there wasn't a bad name in the bunch, you all did so well! Now it's just a matter of my brain mulling over each and every aspect of the chosen names to determine what embodies the great Kalidorian Drafters most of all, and that us surely no short order (no pun intended). So here is the short list; along with it my thoughts and relfections about each chosen name.

Each person on the shortlist will receive a stone, and one lucky person a draft unicorn of their own design. Congrats to everyone who entered, and without further ado, the runners:

~ * ~

Chosen Name: Certeren or Terencer
Meaning of that Name: Sky-ground or Ground-sky, respectively, in Romanian.
Reason for your Choice: Well, 22 hands is really impressive, therefore I think sky-high, but obviously they lack the feathered appendages of their flight-friendly cousins the Aviquinn and are "grounded" in that sense. And I like Romanian. >:}

*Certeren (SIR-tur-ren ) ~ I like the sound of this name, especially when the vowels are spoken short and close and clipped) The meaning is reasonable too – they are that which bridges earth and sky, and guards them all…


Chosen Name: Torgarde
Meaning of that Name: Tor (gate) and garde (guard) in german
Reason for your Choice: the obvious reason is that they are/were guardians of the gates personally i just liked the way the two words went together - and i can wrap my head around people rp'ing them in the future saying things like 'I am one of the Torgarde.' I looked at a lot of other languages and words - but nothing else seemed to fit together quite as well... or didn't give off the right vibe (in my opinion at least ) i would've preferred something a lil more ornate in the meaning though - but i'm still happy.

*Torgarde /or Torègarde (TORre-gard) because it sounds better with three syllables Again it’s the short, clipped vowels I like, they’re strong sounds. Alternatively we could pronounce it Torgardé = tor-GAR’diyay, which is also cool, still strong, but with certain elegance. And the meaning is perfect – Gate Guardians


Chosen Name: Vaportis
Meaning of that Name: Var is "Guard of the" in norse, I took the r out cause I like the look better. Port means gate in Latin, and I added the is cause I like it.
Reason for your Choice: This word reminds me of "vapor", and it's just fun to say. Root words still have meaning though.

*Vaportis / or Varporr (var-poor) Another strong-sounding name with a good meaning. I actually am not so fond of the “vapor” reference (because, it’s just that much closer to “vapid”, lol) so the ‘r’ went back in XD


Chosen Name: Eleneiso (Ell-enn-EYE-so)
Meaning of that Name: Mastery of the Gate/Master of the Gate
Reason for your Choice: Greek for Mastery and Gate. It's much the same as Dominua, but has a more fluid sound to it. Because sometimes being strong is knowing when to simply flow around your opponent; water is soft, but it wears down even rock, overcomes fire, and mingles with air.

*Eleneiso / or Eleneise (ell-enn-ace) A softer sounding name with a good meaning, simple elegance, though I fiddled with the syllables. And the spelling; Elynaise, I like better.

~ * ~

And the winner? Well that will take a little more musing ;D Wait and see!

Lady Whimsy ~

[pinkmoonbeam]

Wow... grats to all who got in!
Hard choices, all of them are nice, though I DO have a favorite...
(and nope it's not mine actually!)
I can't wait to see what they are called!

[Leopardstar]

Grats to those who made it onto the shortlist!

[zephyr]

There were a lot of good names! I was surprised to see one get in! Now, to see which one will make the final cut, will depend on which one whispers loudest

*runs back to NaNoing*

[Lady Whimsy]

Hello, all!

Sorry for the delay - between Lady E's finals and my illness, making our schedules coincide to discuss the finalists. In the end, we both narrowed it down to the same two names independently. So we will also have a runner up, who will receive a standard unikore custom ;D

And the runner up is:

Chosen Name: Vaportis
Meaning of that Name: Var is "Guard of the" in norse, I took the r out cause I like the look better. Port means gate in Latin, and I added the is cause I like it.
Reason for your Choice: This word reminds me of "vapor", and it's just fun to say. Root words still have meaning though.

*Vaportis / or Varporr (var-poor) Another strong-sounding name with a good meaning. I actually am not so fond of the “vapor” reference (because, it’s just that much closer to “vapid”, lol) so the ‘r’ went back in XD

Congrats, Pink! You can fill out >the form< at your leasuire and ping it to me when you have it done.

So that means, the winner is named.....

Chosen Name: Torgarde
Meaning of that Name: Tor (gate) and garde (guard) in german
Reason for your Choice: the obvious reason is that they are/were guardians of the gates personally i just liked the way the two words went together - and i can wrap my head around people rp'ing them in the future saying things like 'I am one of the Torgarde.' I looked at a lot of other languages and words - but nothing else seemed to fit together quite as well... or didn't give off the right vibe (in my opinion at least ) i would've preferred something a lil more ornate in the meaning though - but i'm still happy.

*Torgarde /or Torègarde (TORre-gard) because it sounds better with three syllables Again it’s the short, clipped vowels I like, they’re strong sounds. Alternatively we could pronounce it Torgardé = tor-GAR’diyay, which is also cool, still strong, but with certain elegance. And the meaning is perfect – Gate Guardians

Congrats, Shazz! Woo! Drop me a line when you've got your custom form filled, and we'll bring your band new Toregarde Mare to life!

Thanks again to everyone who entered - you made it HARD. Which is exactly how it should be, hehe. Now off to continue to with holiday scheming.... ;D

Lady Whimsy ~

[Leopardstar]

Congrats Pink and Shazza!