I helped with this piece but it's essentially a Zed Shinestone roleplay.

I'll talk about most of the accolades it helped earn at the end of the piece.

Sexually suggestive material

 
Zed happily sung the last verse of 'Trim Rigged Doxy', as he ambled closer to the pirate hangout at the former KOKOL outpost. The thought of all the sales he would make off the rowdy and lawless sailors was as much of a blissful prospect as the thought of unwinding with a crowd who didn't give a rat's tail about his personal history, his relationship woes, or his unique physique. It was rare being able to socialize in such a relaxed setting, as violent, inebriated, and deceptive the inhabitants may be - though Zed often thought they tried to limit their swindling of merchants who supplied quality beers and spirits for their greedy consumption.

His attention focused on safely transporting the cases of his alcohol products, along with one or two bottles set aside for his own drinking when he arrived, Zed failed to pick up on the telltale apple scent until it was far too late...

"Hello, tall, dark & soon-to-be dead... Did ya miss me, hunky?" purred one of the darkest temptresses and former lovers that Zed ever had the misfortune of bedding. Almost immediately Zed's body began a cold sweat, as a trio of metallic fingertips lightly trailed his jugular in a playful manner - as playful as any predator with its terrified prey. "I've got a bone to pick with you so badly. Come along now and there won't be any casualties besides yourself, Z."

"L-l-l-oo-ook, Sn-sn-ow...", stuttered Zed through pale lips.

"Not even slightly interested in what you have to say. Move it, now!"

Snow White curled one of her slender fingers at Zed's carotid artery to encourage his continued docile approach, and used the other hand to trace directions onto the small of his back. If Zed didn't already think she was a cruel witch, he would have changed his vote at the erotic and sadistic teasing...

Left facing each other in a deserted alley were two well-known ladies, each restrained as deemed necessary by their twisted captor. Easily recognizable for her fighting prowess and her Oriental, regal features, Jen Pi shot an look of furious defiance at Snow White and Zed as she struggled to escape from her bonds. A horse-bit gag pulled tightly between her lips prevented Jen Pi from venting her frustration at once again being captured. Jen Pi's hands were tied together behind her back, as well her upper arms were also bound with coarse rope.

Trickier to view from his standpoint, Zed nevertheless winced as it seemed Jen Pi's arched back and legs were locked in place by an unforgiving frog-tie that forced her thighs and calves together, and bound her wrapped ankles to her shoulders.

Zeala was caught in a simpler arrangement, though the design negated the potential of escape through her prodigious magical skills: a ring gag to prevent fluent speech; and a black leather straitjacket and metal leg chains that hopefully were taking an advantage of her flexibility, in light of the difficulty of maintaining a full lotus position and the reverse prayer pose at the same time.

"There won't be any interruptions this time, Z: no one is going to pull you from me; no sex magic of yours will cloud my wrath. I'm going to relish watching you bleed and suffer after my thorns and vines force you to submit." Snow White snarled viciously and commanded Zed to drop the alcohol, turn and face her in combat.

"I'm not going to make this easy for you, you bastard, so we'll be facing off without any coercion effects from you or me. Oh, and just in case you thought you could take the ladies and run, I'll fill you in as to what I just scattered on the ground behind me: the spell-casting princess's focus bracelet, and the fighting princess's nunchaku. See if you can get them to flee while I've got my hands on their precious possessions."
-----

Section by Dash

Zeala focused her inner eye on the goal, consciously taking in the events around her but otherwise ignoring them. She'd been in a similar situation before. Several of them, actually. Struggling wasn't doing any good. She'd end up injuring herself if she tried to physically break her bonds.

A focus bracelet?! The Goddesses' forsaken idiot thought she had a simple focus bracelet?! She had no idea what she had taken from Zeala, nor the dangers of it. Zeala had no idea who the handsome fool was so she couldn't rule out the possibility he was outmatched badly. Jen seemed to be as determined as Zeala to get free, but she was more likely to hurt herself in this situation than to achieve her goal.

If only there were some way to summon help, but the gag meant to prevent Zeala from spell-casting prevented that. It seemed their mysterious captor was well prepared for both princesses, catching them in a perfectly laid ambush further south near the Knob Goblin territory.

Zeala wasn't sure how long they'd been out or where they were, but she'd assumed if it was Seaside Town, the guards would have found her by now. So it must be elsewhere. She'd struggled to regain consciousness, and her arms, neck and back ached horribly. She could hardly concentrate for the pain in her ankle, which she assumed was strained or worse.

Unless they could free themselves, that would be the least of her problems. Although Jen looked quite groggy, she was peering directly into Zeala's eyes, trying to communicate something to the other princess.

Zeala wasn't quite sure what she was trying to get across...
----

Zed racked his brain furiously as he squared off against Snow White; he had stacks of qualms about pursuing a confrontation with her, but as usual she'd left him with little room for any other recourse. The princesses' restraints meant that he'd have to lift them while fleeing, which would provide too huge a mark for Snow White's plant-based saucery. (Somehow, Zed recognized that future recompense to the princesses would be necessary, even at the oblique reflection on the princesses' shapely figures.) He was loath to try calling for assistance, as there was no guarantee anyone that answered the call would fare better than him under the yellow-eyed sorceress's brutal onslaught.

Zed silently prayed to his goddess for good fortunes, as his brief scraps against Snow White had mostly left him overpowered by her expertise and wiles. This time, there would be no narrow escape from outraged gentry intervening, nor was he willing to even consider what might result from attempting his ace in the hole, Southern Flare, once more. Regardless of Snow White's speech, his mental clarity was faltering while he kept watch of her hypnotic, lean form or her plump, poised lips with their vibrant green hue for telltale signs of ensuing malice. Two guilt-ridden thoughts tilted the mental contest in his favor though: most likely it was all his fault that Snow had been strengthened by his reckless usage of his life-force, and to Snow, the princesses' well-being was of minute concern.

Zed took a bounding leap off the ground to try to attack Snow White from overhead, with the intent to ricochet off the alley's enclosed walls, and finish off in a position that both left the princesses out of the path of Snow White's magics, as well as affording them the possibility to free themselves while the two fighters clashed. Snow White smirked at the attempt of the polearm-wielding warrior, and quickly summoned a fast-paced fury of venomous thorns at the airborne male, while commanding multiple creepers to tower menacingly from the ground behind her and prevent Zed from maneuvering as he intended.

Zed hastily backpedaled away from both the projectile thorns and the wave of vines Snow had easily countered with. He landed gracefully and prepared to roll away from another round of Snow White's plant magic but paused as he observed with trepidation that there was none approaching.

Snow White produced a trademark wicked-witch smile as Zed's bewilderment. "You know how much I hate you? I'm going to be extra meticulous about finishing you this time round - by clawing away at your precious pectorals and strapping back with 10 individual, customized poisons; then letting you get one last tingling kiss as you convulse and hack in death's cold embrace." Snow White carefully articulated moving one hip-swaying stride closer as she swung her arms idly by her sides. "And once I get close enough, I'll finish off one of those poor precious princesses I caught; the other I'll be playing with for a little bit more."

"Small wonder you got the nickname, 'The Devil's Bride', Snow. Probably had nothing to do with those scarlet concubine outfits you favor," jeered Zed in response. Zed was less infuriated at the grievous bodily harm she intended for him, in comparison with the boiling fury he felt seething at Snow White's fatal designs for the Loathing royals.

Snow White hissed like a furious alley cat at the mongrel's quip (This was the last of her exquisite silk attire!), and the battle sparked into a wildfire of ranged and magical strikes.
----

"It's no good - I can't fight her off on my own, and it seems she's tiring at the same rate as me," thought Zed bitterly, as the rematch with Snow White slowed to a more cautious exchange and tactical battle. Though neither combatant had gained a definite advantage, Zed's body had been battered and lacerated from the sauceroress's magical onslaught. Snow's capricious and testy temperament had led to her narrowed focus on finishing the dark-skinned warrior, disregarding any previous plans of drawing out the anguish and final moments of Zed, Zeala or Jen Pi. That could be seen as a small favor, if only any of the group survived the former noble's rage.

While his eyes kept watch of Snow's hand techniques and verbal invocations, the soft sounds of the princesses working away at their bonds gave Zed hope, and he labored to cover their actions by consistent aggressive exertions and frequent acrobatics while tussling against Snow White.
-----

"Hii, hii, haa... That looks like some exquisite pain there, Z...", tittered Snow White gleefully; rather than a continued pursuit to predict Zed's moves, or best his agility, she had managed to slam a heavy combination of aerial and ground surprises that left her almost completely exhausted, but had overwhelmed Zed's defense.

A quick cross-guard and crouch allowed Zed's hardened vambraces to stave off horrific disfiguring or a lethal injury, but his moves were not quick enough to prevent the cracking of three ribs and the introduction of seventeen doses of venom into his exposed abdomen. Lying supine on the alley floor, the combination of hacking up globules of blood and laboriously breathing through the nerve-wracking agony left Zed barely aware and at the mercy of Snow White.

Snow White forced herself upright, and moved over to the fallen fighter, carelessly planting a heeled boot on Zed's sternum. "Step 1 to serving 'just desserts' with Chef White: tenderize and season your meal in a fashion of your choosing. Step 2, my favorite part - FILLET!" Snow White's pale-yellow eyes shone coldly as her outstretched hand descended in a swift arc for Zed's evisceration.

Bizarrely, Zed's response was a bloody smile to Snow White, and a muddled countdown in Ireacan...
-----

Final bit assisted by Dash

"Oh, shut up, already," a pained voice called from behind Snow. She turned, shocked to see princess Pi soaring through the air at her. The other princess, Zeala, slumped against the wall. She was leaning gingerly on her left leg, but looked to be successfully ignoring the pain. Taken unaware, Snow was easily taken off her feet by Jen Pi's expert kick to the chest. As soon as she landed, Princess Zeala's eyes briefly started to glow. The bracelet seemed to wiggle free of its own accord for a moment as Zeala focused on it. She then threw a handful of small glowing vines at Snow. Each caught her unaware, growing to several times their original size and entrapping her.

Snow White shrieked in frustration, directing extremely obscene profanities at the two princesses for spoiling her wonderful moment. "To the ends of the globe, Z! Even through Hey Daze and all its horrors, I will be sure to FINISH YOU PERSONALLY!!! I'm going to-"

Whatever else she had to say, Jen stopped her cold with a kick to the head which rendered her immediately unconscious. "I thought we told you to shut up. We should finish her for good."

"No!" Zeala called out. She grabbed Pi's arm. "I'm not sure that's our place and more importantly, we're in hostile territory. This has got to be Degrassi Knoll. We need to get out of here, not worry about dispensing a body."

"I am willing to guide you to your destination, Princess Zeala." spat Zed, as he forced his body upright. Only capable of a light bow to the princesses with his injuries, Zed nevertheless tried to be as deferential as possible. "I consider myself oath-bond to aid both of you - for my tenuous relation with Snow White, and for your assistance at the end. And... sorry, do either of you know healing magic? If not, could you toss the blue-capped bottle in the alcohol crate?" His eyes squeezed shut as he fought to stay conscious through the dose of poison and the twangs from his cracked ribcage.

"Some," Zeala said. "But we need to get away from this psychopath first. I need to focus to use the goddess N'rau's bracelet, and the pain's making that nearly impossible right now."

After retrieving Zeala's bracelet and Jen's nunchaku, Jen and Zed had to help Zeala to move as her ankle was obviously badly injured. Neither princess moved with much grace at the moment. Zeala stopped them at the end of the ally so they could try to figure their location.

Jen squinted her eyes slightly. "Those are Knob Goblins, right?"

"Some," Zeala said. "Others are Gnollish, I believe."

"Hmm... One of the figures over there looks a little like a familiar hero, yet I've got a very strong impression to run away from him. Sorry ladies - this might be a very roundabout trip..." Zed stated in a blur, contemplating how to maneuver through the potential mayhem descending upon his new base of operations.

You'll have to see the spoiler page for the rankings update to see which of the 3 candidates - Snow White or one of the other two- won Elite 8 membership.

I helped a good deal with the princesses line, but of course the rest was all Zed’s handler’s writing. It’s a very powerful piece thanks to Snow White, who snagged ‘favorite NPC’ of the mission.

This roleplay also snagged best opening and best fight scene awards for the mission. The fight scene scored Zed two points while the other two awards gave him a point each.