2371 replies to this topic

[Odin's son Fred]

That waterfall is awesome as well as your embassy.  I would say the water feeds into an underground stream that comes out again somewhere else in Avalonia.

[Odin's son Fred]

I know I don't have any MOCs for the area on the map below, but I have a good name and story for it (at least I think it's good) so I would like to recommend it to the Master Cartographer to be made official.


Darlig Ulv-Stranden (loosely translates to Bad Wolf Bay):
Originally founded by Northern Adventurers who were looking for new lands to explore and opportunities to increase their wealthy.  Ships would come to the bay and unload Adventurers who would then go exploring their way back to their northern home over land.  Eventually a port and docks were built and a few small trade shops as some Adventurers would bring back items they had found to sell and trade with other Adventurers or ship back home while they went back out to explore more.  As the area became more developed fewer new Adventures would come thinking all the good finds in the area had been found already and the older Adventures had moved on as they found better riches on the other side of the mountains or land routes back to their homelands.  Some of the Northerners did stay though preferring the warmer climate to their cold homeland.  After a while though the small trading village became a haven for pirates, thieves and other criminals to conduct their lawless business, it's remote location proving ideal for this.  A few years ago Samurai Master Katsumoto, and his clan, chased a group of bandits to the small village and felt that he was lead here to bring order to the chaos.  Katsumoto and his clan of samurai and ninjas began to settle the area bringing their Oriental style of architecture to the already mish-mash of Northern and Southern styles present in the village.  Katsumoto is trying to bring in more honest traders to the village, but he is not unaware that the economy there does thrive on a certain level of illegal activity.  As long as you keep your less than legal business quite and it doesn't affect others in the village a blind eye is turn to your activities.  However if your business gets out of hand, you will probably be visited by Katsumoto's ninjas and never heard from again.  Slavery and murder are not tolerated and will get you a public execution.  Darlig Ulv-Stranden is still a good place for independent traders of all kinds to find work, both legal and otherwise, and a good place for the careful shopper to find items and goods not available in markets anywhere else, but watch your step because Katsumoto's ninjas are everywhere and watching.

Once I get my stuff together and photographed, this will be the main port that my captain and crew will visit to find work (but they will be traveling to other ports as well).  Anyone is welcome to build here as the area has several types of people living in it and several styles of structures.  I plan on building a docks for ships but there doesn't have to be just one in the area.  Shops, taverns and other structures to appeal to traveler/adventurers passing through would be welcome as well.  Beside Katsumoto and his clan and my ships crew, I do have some other ideas for characters as well, but there is still plenty of room for other characters in this little town's story and competing business could make for some fun "drama".

Anyway, it is up to the Guild leaders and Master Cartographer to make this official, but that is just my idea for the area.  And if there is already something in that spot (sorry I haven't caught up with all the post yet) then perhaps somewhere else along the Eastern coast.

Edited by Odin's son Fred, 10 January 2012 - 08:47 AM.

[robuko]

Sclet Lothar, welcome to you and your band.  We rarely gamble, unless the odds are heavily stacked in our favour.  But it seems that your establishment offers other delights to entice us too.

Velethuil, the skill of your artists does you credit.  I think this myrmidon story is sufficiently distinct from The Penguin's golden golems.  Nice start to your embassy, a very Rakath vibe.

Kayne, lovely waterfall!  Very nice proportions and layout, I think this will be an impressive build.  

There seems to be a coded warning from Lord Artorius on the Avalonia page that we are all in for a dark year eg it is possible he wants the guilds to be more warlike.  In this sense, it is possible the grand plan may be that embassies may become beachheads/redoubts in any future conflict.  I am going to ignore this element for my Nocturnus embassy (if it gets razed we can easily buy several more, we are rich) but it may be worth considering if you are thinking about supply lines to your embassies.  

I am really enjoying the story telling from Dugal, Lord Damaximus, Velethuil and Master Katsumoto.  Great stuff, really good to see our history being written like this.  

That Bay is indeed one sweet location, I think an Oriental flavoured town would be great to have there.  The Nocturnus borderlands might be quite a dangerous area though.

[Angeli]

gabe, on 06 January 2012 - 03:51 AM, said:

I've just finished a Kaliphlian catamaran of my own

;) such a movement ;) love it ;)

Axel, on 08 January 2012 - 09:14 AM, said:

The Myrmidons

...wow, I love when I am surprised with a new custom made minifig ;) good job, golden golems, recognizable at first glimpse ;)

[Damaximus]

And the story goes on:

A Day at The Market

[NiceMarmot]

A big, huge, Kaliphlin-size CONGRATULATIONS to Erudhalion / Gabe for winning the overall title of Tower Master and Champion for the Watchtower Challenge!!  He's not just champion watchtower MOCer of Kaliphlin, but of all of Historica!  You definitely deserve it; that tower is a masterpiece!

[Ogre]

NiceMarmot, on 12 January 2012 - 01:43 AM, said:

A big, huge, Kaliphlin-size CONGRATULATIONS to Erudhalion / Gabe for winning the overall title of Tower Master and Champion for the Watchtower Challenge!!  He's not just champion watchtower MOCer of Kaliphlin, but of all of Historica!  You definitely deserve it; that tower is a masterpiece!

Wow.  Okay, that is SO weird.  I JUST came into the forum to see if I could find any info on this very subject and...*boom*...there is was, posted mere moments before.  LOL
Massive congrats to Erudhalion / Gabe!  That is incredibly cool.     

[Gabe]

NiceMarmot, on 12 January 2012 - 01:43 AM, said:

A big, huge, Kaliphlin-size CONGRATULATIONS to Erudhalion / Gabe for winning the overall title of Tower Master and Champion for the Watchtower Challenge!!  He's not just champion watchtower MOCer of Kaliphlin, but of all of Historica!  You definitely deserve it; that tower is a masterpiece!

Gosh, thanks for the congrats Gex/NM, Master Redlake/Ogre, i did see our guild leader's Cedrica throne room make an appearence on Flickr a few days ago and guessed something was afoot, but the overall win is a huge surprise!   So many amazing towers were built for the challenge and Kaliphlin certainly had some of the most colourful, intruiging and innovative, so congrats to all of us i say!     I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for embassies!  

[Si-MOCs]

[Prizes to be finalized soon]

A *HUGE* congratulations to Tower Master Erudhalion !

Truly an epic tower, and (literally) height of Kaliphlin construction.

BUT - let's not overlook the guild... Kaliphlin was SECOND. edging out the Avalonian powerhouse.
I believe *EVERYONE* should get themselves a nice pat on the pack.
Great work Gabe, and Kaliphlin.

Though it looks like we have a bit of work to keep up with our Northern friends... so let's get those Embassies going!


--

Odin Sounds great! I can't wait to see your moc! I eagerly await Katsumoto's arrival.

Damaximus nice little scene you have going there... but it's a bit dark, and the AWB is a tad off... if you need some help or tips on photography feel free to drop me a PM. .... though the yellow tint has a very... eerie glow...

[Odin's son Fred]

robuko, on 10 January 2012 - 02:57 PM, said:

Master Katsumoto[/b].  That Bay is indeed one sweet location, I think an Oriental flavored town would be great to have there.  The Nocturnus borderlands might be quite a dangerous area though.

Thank you.  The inhabitants of that area are not, for the most part, very nice.  So a mix of samurai, ninjas and local militia should be enough to keep the Nocturnus invaders at bay.  My friend, omegabob, is in Nocturnus and we will probably have a few Brikwars fights off the record before total wars breaks out between the guilds/areas.  

SI-mocs, on 12 January 2012 - 03:23 AM, said:

Odin Sounds great! I can't wait to see your moc! I eagerly await Katsumoto's arrival.

I hope my MOCs live up to your expectations as I've never tried Oriental designs before.  However, the area (at least in my idea of it) is still open to Northern, Southern and Oriental designed MOCs.  Master Katsumoto and his clan are pretty much ready but before doing any pictures I'm waiting to finish Captain Alexander (Xander) Wraith and the the crew of the Blackthorn (along with the ship itself).  Captain Wraith will be my signature figure (just need that new spiky hair to finish him off) and his crew will be the center of my stories.  They will mainly operate out of Bad Wolf Bay and be willing to take on "jobs" from whoever will hire them.  Master Katsumoto and his clan will be characters in that area along with some low life, underworld types, provided you and the Master Cartographer make it an official location.  I hope some other people will want to settle in the area and make MOCs and characters as I think the area has a lot of potential for some fun story telling.
I will post updates here as I am all for Kaliphlin Guild.

[Gabe]

SI-mocs, on 12 January 2012 - 03:23 AM, said:

A *HUGE* congratulations to Tower Master Erudhalion !

Truly an epic tower, and (literally) height of Kaliphlin construction.

BUT - let's not overlook the guild... Kaliphlin was SECOND. edging out the Avalonian powerhouse.
I believe *EVERYONE* should get themselves a nice pat on the pack.
Great work Gabe, and Kaliphlin.

Though it looks like we have a bit of work to keep up with our Northern friends... so let's get those Embassies going!

Many thanks, most exalted guild leader! Those microscale towers are brilliant and very recognisable - i did lol that you made mine so tall though. Great to see Kaliphlin do so well in the guild standings - long may our mighty towers stand against time and tide!

Now i am wondering - are the gold darics just a points system between the guilds, or do the guilds get an opportunity to exchange them for some advantage later on?

Odin, on 12 January 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:

Thank you.  The inhabitants of that area are not, for the most part, very nice.  So a mix of samurai, ninjas and local militia should be enough to keep the Nocturnus invaders at bay.  My friend, omegabob, is in Nocturnus and we will probably have a few Brikwars fights off the record before total wars breaks out between the guilds/areas.  

I hope my MOCs live up to your expectations as I've never tried Oriental designs before.  However, the area (at least in my idea of it) is still open to Northern, Southern and Oriental designed MOCs.  Master Katsumoto and his clan are pretty much ready but before doing any pictures I'm waiting to finish Captain Alexander (Xander) Wraith and the the crew of the Blackthorn (along with the ship itself).  Captain Wraith will be my signature figure (just need that new spiky hair to finish him off) and his crew will be the center of my stories.  They will mainly operate out of Bad Wolf Bay and be willing to take on "jobs" from whoever will hire them.  Master Katsumoto and his clan will be characters in that area along with some low life, underworld types, provided you and the Master Cartographer make it an official location.  I hope some other people will want to settle in the area and make MOCs and characters as I think the area has a lot of potential for some fun story telling.
I will post updates here as I am all for Kaliphlin Guild.

I do like your backstory for Darlig Ulv-Stranden, Odin's son Fred/Captain Wraith, and that is a great spot for a port and village. Our trading ships shall have to pay you a visit once you get settled!   I look forward to seeing how your architecture develops - it sounds very interesting.

Edited by gabe, 12 January 2012 - 12:27 PM.

[robuko]

Many congratulations Tower Master Erudhalion/gabe!  What a way to celebrate a recovery!  And congratulations to all the Kaliphlin Guild!  Well done to all who took part, the standard was very high in all the guilds.

Looking forward to seeing some more embassies, I am still working on the house next door.

[Niku]

Congrats to Tower Master Erudhalion/gabe for such a great tower.  
And you better watch out, you may have surpassed us, but is only for the moment.
Good to see our friends from Kaliphlin are strong.

[Si-MOCs]

gabe, on 12 January 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:

Many thanks, most exalted guild leader! Those microscale towers are brilliant and very recognisable - i did lol that you made mine so tall though. Great to see Kaliphlin do so well in the guild standings - long may our mighty towers stand against time and tide!

Now i am wondering - are the gold darics just a points system between the guilds, or do the guilds get an opportunity to exchange them for some advantage later on?

Hehe thanks I knew yours was going to be obvious but I didn't think people would figure out the others - though it was a fun teaser while we wrote up the proclimations and such...

I did try to build them to scale - yours was just super tall :P
Though i may have slightly exagerated... A bit of kaliphlin pride




Only time will tell what all this gold could be useful.  


--

Edit: Since a certain other Guild Leader mentioned it in THEIR thread... the scoring for the towers (free builds still to be done!) were based on 3 components - the 'Kaliphliness' of the build, the quality of the build, and the presentation.

Which means for maximum score - we should aim for Kaliphlin style builds - well built (not necessarily big - If we chopped Gabe's tower in half I think it still would have won.) and well photographed / presented.

Let's see if we can catch up to our snowy brothers next round  

Edited by SI-mocs, 13 January 2012 - 05:09 AM.

[Damaximus]

NiceMarmot, on 09 January 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

I have no idea, but I used four PoP Fight for the Daggers in my marketplace for Marja-Rhytaville, and no one complained. I did modify them slightly, and added some marketplace people and scenery. I don't think you'd get a lot of praise if you used standard sets for a challenge entry, but as far as building out a town goes, I think that would be fine, especially if you modified them slightly.

I added a lot of modified people in it , some extra elements, ...
I hadn't planned to put a lot of work (and extra money) in it to modify everything simply due the fact I am busy with my palace and embassy (which will be enlarged 24x24 => 48x48)

SI-mocs, on 10 January 2012 - 03:53 AM, said:

...

DaMaximus there's no rule against it ... but as Master Cartographer Gex has suggested - it's not going to be overly impressive... What I would suggest is take your time. Build the village and other sets and enjoy them. Then dismantle some or all of it and build something new. One of the whole reasons for Historica was to engage people and provide an encouraging environment for everyone to build in. And I definitely think it's working

I won't dismantle the Medieval Village Set, just because I like how TLG made their buildings. Considering this 50x50 scene is finished, it makes 1/9 of Mpya Stedor finished and normally this will be the only scene with TLG-buildings in it. The rest of Mpya Stedor will be selfmade and designed.

There are indeed already very nice creations made for Historica! And I am sure there will follow a lot more!

Kayne, on 10 January 2012 - 05:39 AM, said:

Here is a quick photo of the embassy in progress that I am building for Kaliphlin in Avalonia



The back corner is going to have a tower with a desert feel, while the front tower is Avalonian. Also, lots of landscaping will be going on!

considering the picture of that building stage, it will fit smoothly in Avalonia! Great job already!!

gabe, on 12 January 2012 - 02:20 AM, said:

Gosh, thanks for the congrats Gex/NM, Master Redlake/Ogre, i did see our guild leader's Cedrica throne room make an appearence on Flickr a few days ago and guessed something was afoot, but the overall win is a huge surprise! So many amazing towers were built for the challenge and Kaliphlin certainly had some of the most colourful, intruiging and innovative, so congrats to all of us i say! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with for embassies!

Congratulations neighbour!!! As Berigora is only a few days sailling from Mpya Stedor, many tourists will spend the night in my city before they set sail for admiring the most legendary tower of Historica!!
==> Wooohooow!

SI-mocs, on 12 January 2012 - 03:23 AM, said:

...

Damaximus nice little scene you have going there... but it's a bit dark, and the AWB is a tad off... if you need some help or tips on photography feel free to drop me a PM. .... though the yellow tint has a very... eerie glow...

First of all: great job making those miniversions of the towers!!!

The pictures are taken with my mobile phone as it's the easiest way to upload them and as my market scene was not so special enough to make an effort :p
When my palace or embassy will be finally finished, I'll use a real camera

------------------------

grrr, I had exam today so I wasn't at home when the mailman passed by. Now I have to wait till Monday before I can pick up 2 big orders for my palace

[Brickmaestro]

Congratulations to Gabe for the brilliant watchtower - and to everyone in the Guild who made an effort. I'm amazed by the level of talented builders in all the guilds. Having recently returned to LEGO as an adult, my kids are sure impressed with my building but around here I feel like an amateur again. You guys are amazing and inspiring - great techniques.

[Kayne]

Hey guys, I was off in Detroit for work for a few days sorry!  Congrats to Gabe on the Watchtower!  That truly is a beautiful build, and I am not surprised at all that it won!  Kaliphites unite!(I think I just got too corny there...)

[robuko]

Please forgive a small mediataion on the nature of the game...

I was a bit surprised with the Avalonian selection of towers, now it is public.  I thought rougang`s was one of the best and most original towers from all the guilds, and it got a lot of positive comment, but it wasn`t selected for consideration.  The reason for Avalonia scoring a bit lower than other guilds was the towers were not original enough, but one of the most original was not selected.  I wonder if this is a case where Derfel misjudged the criteria of the other guild leaders?

I am kind of interested to see which builds were selected, because then you can know what our guild leader thinks will score better.  I think on balance I would rather build to my own criteria -  so I would prefer not to know what the guild leaders` criteria are.  I am really only starting to MOC with Historica but it appears I value technique, NPU, backstory, and originality more than other stuff when I look at all the builds.

However, we have a duty to the guild to try to get a little gold if we can, so we should bear in mind that we may be being asked for a specific je ne sais quoi. If there is anything obvious that we should all think about for the embassy build - like, is playability a factor? Or are the aesthetics more important than the fragility?  What should we do if we don`t have a good camera?  I hope our leader will offer a few little hints.

  

oh, by the way, this is NOT my build, it is just something I found. I wanted to show you what travellers have been encountering in our Eastern deserts.  They are big and fast.  These are small ones.

[Derfel Cadarn]

robuko, on 14 January 2012 - 03:12 PM, said:

Please forgive a small mediataion on the nature of the game...

I was a bit surprised with the Avalonian selection of towers, now it is public.  I thought rougang`s was one of the best and most original towers from all the guilds, and it got a lot of positive comment, but it wasn`t selected for consideration.  The reason for Avalonia scoring a bit lower than other guilds was the towers were not original enough, but one of the most original was not selected.  I wonder if this is a case where Derfel misjudged the criteria of the other guild leaders?

I am kind of interested to see which builds were selected, because then you can know what our guild leader thinks will score better.  I think on balance I would rather build to my own criteria -  so I would prefer not to know what the guild leaders` criteria are.  I am really only starting to MOC with Historica but it appears I value technique, NPU, backstory, and originality more than other stuff when I look at all the builds.

However, we have a duty to the guild to try to get a little gold if we can, so we should bear in mind that we may be being asked for a specific je ne sais quoi. If there is anything obvious that we should all think about for the embassy build - like, is playability a factor? Or are the aesthetics more important than the fragility?  What should we do if we don`t have a good camera?  I hope our leader will offer a few little hints.

  

oh, by the way, this is NOT my build, it is just something I found. I wanted to show you what travellers have been encountering in our Eastern deserts.  They are big and fast.  These are small ones.

You are right about Rougang's Tower, it was a very original entry and I admit I over looked it as its been quite a task constantly sorting and picking mocs. This is why I will let my guild pick the Embassy entries, as I feel they should have a say in what will be used to represent their guild.

[Hersbrucker]

Due our trading pact, I like to show you our Embassy in your region  

[Basiliscus]

First of all, a big congratulations to gabe for his fantastic entry winning the tower challenge! A well deserved winner in my opinion  

It was good to see we came second in the overall rankings. I am hoping to post a free-build in the next few weeks!

I do agree with robuko though that for the challenges, perhaps a little guidance on the judging criteria would be helpful. I have heard that playability was a criteria - which I admit finding very strange - I thought we were building great MOCs? It would be nice to know what the criteria was - I am not saying it will influence what I build, but it would be useful (e.g. total score = 30 points; design = 5 points, photography = 10 points, etc!).

For the embassy challenge I have a dilemma - are we supposed to be building in the native style or a Kaliphlin building on foreign soil (I have seen both types of entries)? This might be part of the judging process so I would be interested to know (e.g. if I build a embassy in Avalonia should I be building half-timbered European buildings or a Kaliphlin building surrounded by half-timbered European buildings?). Originally I thought the latter was the point of the challenge but now I am not so sure.

[Scubacarrot]

@ Basiliscus, I think it doesnt matter. I am personally building a Kaiphilin Style building in a Nocturnus enviroment, without taking from Nocturnus Architecture, I dont think there is a specific set of rules you have to follow. I think this is the case, at least

[rogueang]

robuko, on 14 January 2012 - 03:12 PM, said:

Please forgive a small mediataion on the nature of the game...

I was a bit surprised with the Avalonian selection of towers, now it is public.  I thought rougang`s was one of the best and most original towers from all the guilds, and it got a lot of positive comment, but it wasn`t selected for consideration.  The reason for Avalonia scoring a bit lower than other guilds was the towers were not original enough, but one of the most original was not selected.  I wonder if this is a case where Derfel misjudged the criteria of the other guild leaders?

I am kind of interested to see which builds were selected, because then you can know what our guild leader thinks will score better.  I think on balance I would rather build to my own criteria -  so I would prefer not to know what the guild leaders` criteria are.  I am really only starting to MOC with Historica but it appears I value technique, NPU, backstory, and originality more than other stuff when I look at all the builds.

Thank you for the comments on my tower Robuko.

Being the first time one of these challenges was done, I think there is going to be a lot of questions as people try to figure out what the criteria are and how the creations will be judged.  I'm guessing that no two guild leaders would have chosen the same 5 towers for each guild given the variety we have.  I have also heard a variety of criteria for the towers, and the guild leaders will see how the other leaders judge, and what they are looking for in MOCs.  I purposely  built my tower to look completely different than the style that my guild has adopted, and guild style was one of the criteria, which mine did not fit.

I'm thinking that the process will streamline quickly, and a lot of the questions will be answered.  I just love this chance to inspire tons of MOCs in the castle realm.  I like showcasing what I build, but I LOVE seeing what everyone is building.  So many of the MOCs coming out of the Guilds are simply Amazing.

Congratulations To Gabe and Kaliphlin for the best tower, but we of Avalonia will be coming for you, so beware

[CptMugwash]

The City of Samrd'dha on the isle of Gorr.
I've done a map of my city and will hopefully get some figs done soon like the Sultan, etc.

Well done Gabe, an awesome tower indeed and so was everyone elses.  As for the criteria the way I've percieved it is either way, I am doing a Kaliphlin style building in Mitgardia so it'll have some snow on and stuff but won't necessarily represent the style of Mitgardia, but it'll be part of the landscape and there'll be a Mitgardian building for comparison.  Oh those sand worms are cool, can definately see those around, Dune anyone? it also reminds me of Tremors.  They look like they should be in some kind of anime  

[Gabe]

Thanks everyone who congratulated me on my tower - i'm just stoked to get some runs on the board for our guild, now lets knock it out of the park with our embassy builds, fellow Kaliphlians!    

It is interesting to read about the criteria the guild leaders used to select and judge builds - personally i don't like to get too caught up in building to judging criteria. I prefer instead to find my own take on the catagory and invest in my own vision. That's why i'm so excited to be building an embassy in Nocturnus - not much has been defined there in terms of style, so there is the scope to do something really interesting and unexpected.

But i can understand why ppl want to know about how the moc's are judged, and i agree with Robuko that rougang's tower was very unlucky to not be selected. (It was one of my fav towers for sure!) All i can say is, it must be a very difficult job for the guild leaders to select the best builds.

SI-mocs, on 12 January 2012 - 04:22 PM, said:

<snip>
Only time will tell what all this gold could be useful.  
<snip>

Ooh, interesting...  

robuko, on 14 January 2012 - 03:12 PM, said:

oh, by the way, this is NOT my build, it is just something I found. I wanted to show you what travellers have been encountering in our Eastern deserts.  They are big and fast.  These are small ones.

Wow - great sandworm! Nice find, robuko!