[MAR - CH1] Home Away From Home

[Khorne]

 

Sat on one of the many canals that ran through the Carolean city of Riesmond, was one of the Luppino's kontors abroad. While in the real estate portfolio of the extended merchant family, it was but one of many estates - an entry in a ledger, as it were; for Lorenzo it was almost a second home. Since Carolean wool and textile production was an essential part of the Luppino's business empire, Lorenzo spent the better part of the year in the Pale, brokering trade deals, overseeing production and shipping product to Namere for further processing.

The kontor was but one of many such buildings in the bustling port city that was Riesmond. In fact, many Namereen merchant families had residences in the city, so much so that they had their own quarters in Riesmond: the Namereen Quarter. The Luppino's also had a large warehouse nearer to the docks. While the kontor was outfitted with a pulley to store things in the attic and had ample basement room, only a select stock of merchandise was kept here.

Like nearly all buildings in Riesmond, and the western Pale in general, the kontor was built of typical red bricks, decorated with blazed or burned elements and topped with a stepped gable. Lot of the traffic in the inner city took place by small barges that made their way via the canals.

"So, that concludes our business for today then?", Lorenzo queried his guest in broken Carolean as he poured himself a fine Namereen wine. He offered the black-clad man a second glass. The man passed politely.

"Your offer is kind, signore, but I must decline. I try to abstain from the vice of drink myself", the man replied in equally butchered Namersi as a sign of respect to his host. "I try to keep a Pure and unclouded mind."

Lorenzo chuckled, as the undertone of the statement had not passed him by, despite being uttered in Namersi spoken by a Carolean. "It'd be wiser to enjoy life a bit more during these troubled times. The Long War may be over, but it would seem dark clouds are packing on the horizon."

The Namereen gesticulated at the outfit of his sombre guest. "You know exactly the type of dark clouds I'm referring to."

He leaned in a bit closer and continued in a more hushed voice. "A Pure mind harbors nefarious thoughts, Rip. Let's not pretend as if the Ravenclaws have nothing to do with the disappearance of the rebellious priest Birger Jung. An outlaw sought by the King for treason."

Lorenzo retracted his pose and sipped his wine. "Conflict is bad for business."

"Good business is all we of the Great House of Ravenclaw and by extent the Riverlands Trade League want," Rip replied. "But there is also honor and unkept broken promises. We bled in the King's War. We shall have our reward."

Lorenzo grunted. The meeting had taken long enough for his liking and the conversation had turned sour. He showed his guest out, but not before politely wishing that Rip gave his grandfather the best regards on behalf of the Luppinos. After all, Rembrand Ravenclaw was a powerful man best kept on your side, if you wished to prosper in the Pale.

Young Lupito sank in his chair and stared at the fire that crackled in the fireplace. While Riesmond might be a home away from home, it'd never be his true home. He longed to be back in the warmer climes of Namere once more. He had had enough of the rain, mills, dykes and rolling flatlands of the Pale for a while. He longed for a good wine instead of the beer they drank here and something else to eat than mutton sausage and greens.

He reflected on the meeting that had just finished and grimaced. Tensions were growing in the Pale, over the King's unpopular Temple Tax. Prominent Carolean families, especially those connected to the Riverlands Trade League, had taken to wearing all black in honor of the persecuted priest Birger Jung and his teachings, in silent opposition to King's opulence. Lorenzo chuckled at the idea. Some of these families were rumored to be more rich than the King himself, yet they chose a sumptuary life. He found the idea funny. The Caroleans of the Riverlands could not be more removed from a typical boastful and extravagant Namereen. Yet here he was. While not a pious person himself, he picked up some the local traditions and found it interesting how the Norns tended to weave and intertwine their threads and mix his fate with that of the dour Caroleans.

 

-----

So here's my entry for the first Chapter of BOBSTOO! Like I said in the Flickr description: I was planning on building this IRL, but I was waiting a big Bricklink order for some time which finally turned out to have been lost in the mail... The digital build will have to suffice for now. I built the interior scene to match the proportions of the first floor of the building.

I have another scene in mind, set in Namere, but I don't think I'll be able to finish it in time for the deadline, so I'll probably upload that one as a Freebuild then, for some added story telling .

EDIT: I actually made a map for BOBS once, when I was working on Essian and Carnite lore in general which has some of the locations marked (Riesmond and Essen).

Adding some RP'ed locations and capitals to the BOBSTOO maps is still on my to-do list.

Spoiler

 

Edited October 26, 2025 by Khorne
Added map

[Ross Fisher]

Love it! A great entry, and I wouldn't have guessed it was digital in any way. 

[Dutch Thriceman]

Great stuff, enjoyed the read ... and the builds ... and the map. Am looking forward to seeing more of Lorenzo and the politics going on.

[evancelt]

Looking good, @Khorne! I always love your lighting effects on candles and lamps - so cool! Nice touch with the map, that's great!

[Khorne]

20 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

Love it! A great entry, and I wouldn't have guessed it was digital in any way. 

Thanks! I did Photoshop the digital model onto the paper backdrop I've been using for this series to make it blend in more with the rest. However, a real build would certainly feel more lively with minifigures and clutter and the like. I have tons of respect for digital builders like @NOD who have the patience to pose the figures in Studio and bring their creations to life.

5 hours ago, Dutch Thriceman said:

Great stuff, enjoyed the read ... and the builds ... and the map. Am looking forward to seeing more of Lorenzo and the politics going on.

The story turned out a bit longer than I wanted, but I wanted to give a rough outline of the setting, the parties and their goals without going too much into detail. Glad you liked it!

It was fun to create something that felt close to home, something you would be able to see in Bruges, Ghent, Mechelen or maybe even Utrecht or Amsterdam.

3 hours ago, evancelt said:

Looking good, @Khorne! I always love your lighting effects on candles and lamps - so cool! Nice touch with the map, that's great!

Thanks! The lighting effect is actually a super simple one in Photoshop. I just color pick the brightest spot in the candle and with the most soft brush I put an orange dot over the fire, then set that layer to screen or soft light (can't remember exactly) and lower the opacity a bit. Then I add another layer on top and put a smaller dot there and set it screen again. Finally, it's a question of masking out stuff you might not want.

Since my builds are usually quite small and mostly vignettes, I like to put in the extra effort in the presentation to compensate .

[NOD]

A beautiful kontor right on the canal! A building, built with many details and ornaments. The pulley system is one of the most interesting and useful details. The separate build with the interior view is also very well done.

The story is told in an exciting way. Lorenzo Luppino seems to be a clever merchant because he does business with Rip Ravenclaw.

[Khorne]

20 hours ago, NOD said:

A beautiful kontor right on the canal! A building, built with many details and ornaments. The pulley system is one of the most interesting and useful details. The separate build with the interior view is also very well done.

The story is told in an exciting way. Lorenzo Luppino seems to be a clever merchant because he does business with Rip Ravenclaw.

Thanks, NOD! Will you be joining a Faction as well? There aren't any pirates explicitely, but I'm sure some of the Factions (such as the Corsair Taifas) are quite open to acts of piracy.