hrymfaxe | Reading

May 2026 SWG Scavenger Hunt Challenge Banner - a stamp collecting book with many stamps piled on it; a black magnifying glass is held over a few particular stamps.

As a kid, were you ever given a list of clues to solve to find the location of small prizes? Or did you play the types of games where you need to talk to people to track down the objects you need? This month's challenge combines a scavenger hunt with a Matryoshka challenge. Tie on your sneakers, grab your map and canteen, and get ready to search!

During a Matryoshka challenge, creators make a fanwork using multiple prompts that are revealed one by one (like nesting dolls!) The Scavenger Hunt challenge puts a bit of a twist on the traditional Matryoshka format.

You will still create a fanwork using multiple prompts. However, instead of receiving those prompts one by one from the moderators, you will seek and find those prompts from other participants or by following clues to locate them on the SWG website.

See the Scavenger Hunt challenge for more details about how to participate and the clues you need to start your hunt!

In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 June 2026. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.

hhimring

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hhimring

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independence1776

( Spoilers )

la_samtyr

Snagged from alexcat:

The ABC's of me.

A. Age: 70

B. Books: I practically have my own library.

C. Cats: Yes.

D. Dogs: Yes.

E. Essential Start to Your Day: Shower

F. Favorite Color: It varies with my mood.

G. Gold or Silver: Either.

H. Height: 5’6

I. Instruments You Play: Guitar and piano. Well, I try to anyway.

J. Job: Retired

K. Kids: None

L. Live: 2 hr. drive from the geographic center of the lower 48.

M. Movie: The Last Unicorn.

N. Nicknames: Quite Contrary.

O. Ocean: Pacific.

P. Pet Peeve: Idiots in Washington DC.

Q. Quote From A Movie: "You can't hide what's in your heart." -- John Coffey, The Green Mile

R. Right or Left Handed: Right.

S. Singer: Elvis

T. Time You Wake Up: It depends on what kind of night I have.

U. Underwear: Comfortable ones.

V. Vegetable: Almost everything.

W. What Makes You Run Late: Anything and everything, lol.

X. X-Rays You’ve Had: Several.

Y. Yummy Food You Make: It varies.

Z. Zodiac sign: Not really a believer, so.

If any of the words don't work for you, choose a different word that uses the same letter. That way the meme changes and evolves as it travels around.

daughterofshadows posting in

silwritersguild

A painting of many people in medieval clothing going about their daily duties, from gardening to shepherding.

The Silmarillion is a story about heroes, often larger than life (sometimes literally, given how many characters claim to be the tallest) and the performers of deeds worth the historical record. Yet hovering around the edges of the lives of heroes are ordinary people. They are the companions, the spies, the messengers, the servants, and the soldiers, their actions given the barest glance and their names unknown. Yet as the compendium of their deeds—collected in this month's prompts—show, their impact on the tale is not insubstantial.

This month's challenge brings these unnamed, unknown characters to the foreground. Create a fanwork about an ordinary character in legendarium using one of our collected quotes about the unnamed and undistinguished people of Middle-earth. While you are welcome to write the scene from which the quote derives, this is not the only approach to the prompts, and we welcome all interpretations of the prompts (and some have been left intentionally vague!) You can use all or part of a quote. The only requirement of the challenge is that a background character plays a key role in your work.

You can find the prompts for the Everyman challenge here.

Thank you to Erdariel for this month's stamps!

In order to receive a stamp for your fanwork, your response must be posted to the archive on or before 15 May 2026. For complete challenge guidelines, see the Challenges page on our website.

daughterofshadows posting in

silwritersguild

Our May challenge will be an interactive Matryoshka challenge, meaning that challenge participants will provide prompts to each other. How it will work:

If you want to provide prompts to participants, you can sign up one or all of your fanworks posted to our archive. These will become the clues in the scavenger hunt!
When participants solve the clue, they will read/view and comment on one of your fanworks (or the specific fanwork you offer, if you choose to offer just one).
You will reply to their comment with a prompt. You can create your own prompt(s) or the moderators can provide prompts for you to use.

Our hope is that this challenge encourages interaction and collaboration and results in comments for those of you who are offering prompts! A few additional details to keep in mind before signing up:

The challenge will run May 15 through June 15. You do not need to be available every day to provide prompts, and the moderators will be available to provide backup prompts if you can't. However, if you're planning to spend three of those weeks off-grid in the wilderness, it's probably best to sit this one out.
If you sign up a single fanwork and it is Adult-rated or if all of your fanworks are Adult-rated, we will mark it as such so that participants who need SFW (safe for work) fanworks can find them.
You do not need to create a fanwork for the challenge in order to hand out prompts and enjoy the comments on your work!
If you make your own prompts, prompts should be SFW and open-ended. Prompts should not require creating about a specific character, relationship, group, time period, place, genre, etc.

If you want to provide prompts for the challenge, you can sign up here.

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Sing my muse

May Challenge: Scavenger Hunt

Upcoming SWG Challenge: last call for handing out prompts on the SWG Archive

An Early Loremaster

Maul: Shadow Lord

The ABC's of me

April Challenge: Everyman

Sign-up to hand out scavenger hunt prompts!

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