Tezclatipoca Posted May 15, 2017 (edited) Challenge V Cat E : The El Dorado ritual The Doctor Gellibrand, who is studying the Ténotclaxcans, reported to Felipe de la Manzana a strange story the Tribe told him : It is said the Ténotclaxcans were rich It is said the Ténotclaxcans are not alone. It is said the Ténotclaxcans are from the far east. . What The Doctor understood from that is the tribe is probably issued from a more distant land far east with many treasures ! The analysis of The Doctor went further away when Pinya (the shaman's daughter, always ready to help Felipe and his loyal first officer Basil) described him a ritual called the El Dorado ritual which is now forbidden in the tribe : It is said their ancestors, in order to calm the fire god, had to throw gold directly to his mouth ! The ritual consisted in wearing gold, being tainted in gold and throwing an amount of gold into the rock in fusion of a volcano. If the god was satisfied, he would not erupt, otherwise, he would destroy the entire island. It is said some advised navigators of the tribe decided to flee away, out of range of this cruel volcano god to stop worshipping him. They could have been the first Ténotclaxcans ! Well, according to The Doctor's analysis, the Ténotclaxcans are clearly issued from this eastern tribe, and this tribe is possibly still existing, and can have a huge stock of gold ! Pinya confirmed to Felipe that the Golden tribe is probably real, and she is adding that their Golden Priest, the one who is doing the El Dorado ritual, could bring to Felipe some precious informations on the Golden Apple he is searching ! After months of recon and many scouting teams sent out to the sea to encounter those golden natives, it appeared the Bumbel Tuna Company from Mardier knew where to find a gold city, full of golden people ready to "finance" their project of death on all Eslandola... The Ténotclaxcans scouts managed to discover the tribe position through the Mardier Company in Maldria, one of the New Haven Sea major islands. What they saw was amazing and alarming at the same time ! First, the El Dorado ritual is still common for the Doratclaxcans, as they want to be named : But the Ténotclaxcans scouts saw that Mardier and the Bumbel Tuna Company were ready to take over the gold by any means ! They saw the yellow soldiers attack the Golden Priest and his suite to catch him alive just to exchange his life against a good amount of gold from the Doratclaxcans ! Of course, the Ténotclaxcans identified the Mardieran camp position, near the wall of the Golden City, and it was rapidly decided to send to the Priest a rescue team ! It was obviously Felipe and Basil who lead the operation on the island of the Doratclaxcans. They attacked by surprise the little mardieran oupost built upon the cave the Priest was imprisoned. The battle was quick and the Mardieran soldiers surrender at the death of their commander. Felipe freed the Golden Priest and to thank the Eslandian and their Ténotclaxcans allied he offered more than a good golden treasure ! He told an essential information to Felipe about how to find the Golden Apple : - The map is the key ! Like this, it is incomplete ! You must find the second half ! The maps are the keys ! These were the words of the Golden Priest of the Doratclaxcans. Will Felipe and Basil find that second half of map and who's got it ? who can tell... At least Mardier has lost a treasure and is broke, a good news for the Eslandolan Crown ! Thank you for reading ! C&Cs are welcome ! Edited May 15, 2017 by Faladrin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stig Posted May 15, 2017 Lots of great tropical vegetation. Especially the lime green tree. Love the lava and steam clouds. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted May 16, 2017 Great brightly-colored series of MOCs! I really like your golden natives and the tan (or yellow?) up and across and down lines on your wall in that last build are really intriguing! Some super unique vegetation too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tezclatipoca Posted May 16, 2017 20 hours ago, Sir Stig said: Lots of great tropical vegetation. Especially the lime green tree. Love the lava and steam clouds. Thank you ! I have to warn your Eslandolan heart that those clouds you like are what is left after a gold piece touches the lava... And what can be worst for us Eslandolan than loosing gold... 17 hours ago, Kai NRG said: Great brightly-colored series of MOCs! I really like your golden natives and the tan (or yellow?) up and across and down lines on your wall in that last build are really intriguing! Some super unique vegetation too! Thank you ! yes, you noticed it, I stayed more in my comfort zone on this category. I kept my style on the Native's design and on my unique vegetation plant varieties. I am happy you like it ! The lines are yellow and just represent a wall decoration, not something really intriguing, I just wanted a decorated wall to protect the access of the Golden City. again, thank you ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stig Posted May 16, 2017 2 minutes ago, Faladrin said: Thank you ! I have to warn your Eslandolan heart that those clouds you like are what is left after a gold piece touches the lava... And what can be worst for us Eslandolan than loosing gold... Well, gold never really disappears. There must be a way to extract that gold from the lava.... Lava smolders, gold melts. Hades knows how many centuries of refined gold are in that volcano. I don't see where losing comes into the picture. Those natives have done a good job securing the gold from those that let natives suffer and exploit their riches without honoring their local traditions. I am not sure most people understand just how much Eslandolans know about precious metals and minerals. And anything precious really. But our values are also on our peoples culture (Musicians fair, Weelond Octoberfest, MAESTROS effort for the Tenoxchlaxsans (however it is spelled?!), etc) and the culture of the people we encounter. *this is where we pat eachothers backs* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt Wolf Posted May 17, 2017 Great use of that baseplate, and I love the natives: creative use of torsos and, of course, the hats! Very colorful build, and glad to see Felipe in the middle of it all. Well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bodi Posted May 17, 2017 Great build! It's also nice to see the Natives in security, they have suffered a lot from the recent Mardieran explorations. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tezclatipoca Posted May 17, 2017 13 hours ago, Sir Stig said: Well, gold never really disappears. There must be a way to extract that gold from the lava.... Lava smolders, gold melts. Hades knows how many centuries of refined gold are in that volcano. I don't see where losing comes into the picture. Those natives have done a good job securing the gold from those that let natives suffer and exploit their riches without honoring their local traditions. I am not sure most people understand just how much Eslandolans know about precious metals and minerals. And anything precious really. But our values are also on our peoples culture (Musicians fair, Weelond Octoberfest, MAESTROS effort for the Tenoxchlaxsans (however it is spelled?!), etc) and the culture of the people we encounter. *this is where we pat eachothers backs* Hahaha ! there is always a way to gather gold ! And you're right, our people and culture are the real gold of our country ! 9 hours ago, Capt Wolf said: Great use of that baseplate, and I love the natives: creative use of torsos and, of course, the hats! Very colorful build, and glad to see Felipe in the middle of it all. Well done! Thank you ! That baseplate is nice but the real inconvenient of it is its yellow sand, I had to hide it the most I can ! of course, Felipe had to be on the Middle of all this story. He received an important tip for his personal quest ! In fact, this challenge build is integrated in my own storyline and could be subtitled : The Quest of the Golden Apple part I chapter 2 30 minutes ago, Bodi said: Great build! It's also nice to see the Natives in security, they have suffered a lot from the recent Mardieran explorations. Thank you ! Yes, you're right, the Native's suffered enough of the Mardier depredations! (Even if Oleon has tended to support Mardier...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Braunsfeld Posted May 17, 2017 Very good, that was fun! Excellent use of a raised baseplate by the way - that is my favorite picture! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blackdeathgr Posted May 18, 2017 Nice builds, neatly tied with each other. Especially the first build is really smart! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Garmadon Posted May 19, 2017 Excellent entry, Faladrin - love that first build (all the gold, especially! ) But serious, both the minifigures and landscaping in that one are very nice, and the golden gate in the second one is absolutely fabulous (as well as the use of that baseplate - very well done!) - great use of those spruce pieces from the middle of coins! The vegetation and huge plants are excellent in that one too On your last build I would have suggested putting a tower or maybe a guard or two on the large wall just to spice it up a little, and adding some more variation or things floating around in the water might have been good too. I really do like the straw in the dungeon and the yellow and brown twigs on the beach, though - excellent little details there! I'm also glad to hear of the progress in Felipe's quest! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ayrlego Posted May 19, 2017 Really nice entry Faladrin. The first build is great with all that lava, and of course your native headgear is always well executed! In the second build the Mardierian soldiers look very good - nice choice of orange torso. The highlight of this build for me however in both the second and third builds is the yellow strip in the wall, it really accentuates that meso-American type feel. All over a great entry! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tezclatipoca Posted May 19, 2017 On 17/05/2017 at 7:52 PM, Captain Braunsfeld said: Very good, that was fun! Excellent use of a raised baseplate by the way - that is my favorite picture! Thank you Captain ! This was the only challenge I imposed to myself ! This will be a part of my Pirate layout on FanaBrique in July 2017 in Strasbourg France, this and my Castle from GOH. On 18/05/2017 at 11:21 PM, blackdeathgr said: Nice builds, neatly tied with each other. Especially the first build is really smart! Thank you ! I really wanted a continuous story and have re used some features on each builds. The obvious yellow stripe on the wall, but also some plants. I wanted it to be understood like several parts of a same island. 4 hours ago, Garmadon said: Excellent entry, Faladrin - love that first build (all the gold, especially! ) But serious, both the minifigures and landscaping in that one are very nice, and the golden gate in the second one is absolutely fabulous (as well as the use of that baseplate - very well done!) - great use of those spruce pieces from the middle of coins! The vegetation and huge plants are excellent in that one too On your last build I would have suggested putting a tower or maybe a guard or two on the large wall just to spice it up a little, and adding some more variation or things floating around in the water might have been good too. I really do like the straw in the dungeon and the yellow and brown twigs on the beach, though - excellent little details there! I'm also glad to hear of the progress in Felipe's quest! Thank you ! this is a very interesting comment here ! I hoped it would touch the Eslandolans to the heart with all that gold I used. I am happy you noticed all those little details I put here and there. And yes, you guessed well, the golden pieces of the door are those spruce parts from the middle of coins. They are very practical ! They can be handled by a minifig hand, pe place almost everywhere with little cautious and I really wanted the gate shining ! In fact, I find those pieces as better gold ingots than the 2*1 golden tile, they are more shiny ! Finally, I found a good way to make progress in Felipe's Quest ! This chapter was a key chapter in my mind for a very long time but without the challenge I would have been forced to explain more where was the golden priest and perhaps justify more what was the reasons of this rescue ! Now you just opened me a Golden ( no pun intended) opportunity with this story ! So I have to thank you on this Garm ! 2 hours ago, Ayrlego said: Really nice entry Faladrin. The first build is great with all that lava, and of course your native headgear is always well executed! In the second build the Mardierian soldiers look very good - nice choice of orange torso. The highlight of this build for me however in both the second and third builds is the yellow strip in the wall, it really accentuates that meso-American type feel. All over a great entry! Thank you ! The main base for my Mardeieran torso is reverse SW rebel pilots, with the bagpack, we don't really see the too Sci fi/modern aspect of the outfit. I thought it turn quite well, and will use it on my mardieran soldiers. I cannot use yellow uniforms on yellow face minifigs, and I will not use fleshies ! Again Guys, Thank you very much ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bregir Posted June 11, 2017 I think these are some of your best builds to date, Faladrin. The lava scene is looking brilliant and reminds me of the Temple of Doom from Indiana Jones and the use of a border is perfect for this little build. The gatehouse build on the old raised baseplate works well, and you have some nice vegetation. The decoarations on the wall carries over to the last build, which really ties them well together. I like the story too, especially how you tie in a story line we have long heard very little about. My only suggestion would be to have someone read it before posting for stylistic advice. Overall, very nice entry. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tezclatipoca Posted June 13, 2017 On 11/06/2017 at 7:18 PM, Bregir said: I think these are some of your best builds to date, Faladrin. The lava scene is looking brilliant and reminds me of the Temple of Doom from Indiana Jones and the use of a border is perfect for this little build. The gatehouse build on the old raised baseplate works well, and you have some nice vegetation. The decoarations on the wall carries over to the last build, which really ties them well together. I like the story too, especially how you tie in a story line we have long heard very little about. My only suggestion would be to have someone read it before posting for stylistic advice. Overall, very nice entry. Thank you for the encouraging comment ! For the story, I made it without having my wife reading it, and you saw it. Normally, being a better english talker than me, she is giving me some writing tips. But don't worry, the story is still progressing, and yes, it takes time... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TitusV Posted June 15, 2017 you have defenitely improved, Famadrin, and it is great to see the Tenotclacxans back! The builds are all very nice, especially the Vulcano scene. And I really love that pattern on the walls! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
