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MKJoshA

[Ch. IV, Cat B] The Scarlet Magnolia

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The half-Leander Charlemagne, a soldier for the Desert King, began his soldier’s journey in Budd-apest. He was born in Avalonia, but after his father and mother died, moved to Kaliphlin and took up residence among the Red Guard of Budd-apest. There he learned the basics of chivalry and fighting.

As the certainty of war grew, Charlemagne started preparing. He first went to the Red Guard’s rivals, the Masketeers for a sword. The Masketeers favored the rapier and Charlemagne thought he might be better equipped for the coming battles by having a lighter, quicker blade than the Red Guard were want to use.

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As the war began, he took on the name of the Scarlet Magnolia to honor the memory of his mother. He became more and more determined to help his fellow countrymen, enslaved in Ulandus. He hired the services of Uriako who was able to sail him through the Serpant’s Crawl to Ulandus.

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Once he arrived he was able to enter Ulandian society by posing as an ambassador from Budd-apest to Ulandus. He claimed the city wanted to be free of the Desert King’s clutches. This caused him to be well received in high Ulandian society. He was able to use this as a cover for his true purpose, the liberty of the Leanders. He began by providing bread to the starving Leanders. When war began, resources grew scarce on Ulandus. What resources there were never found their way to Leanders who were more slaves than citizens.

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His next mission was to help free some of the key, Leander leaders who had been imprisoned for talking against the government. The Scarlet Magnolia had struck again!

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The city was abuzz with the talk of the Scarlet Magnolia, high society included. As Charlemagne talked to the other Ulandians they asked him, “Who could this Scarlet Magnolia be?” Charlemagne responded with, “Whoever he is, he’s making life nearly impossible for all of us who aren’t Ulandian! I can’t go anywhere without being quizzed on my identity for fear that I may be the Scarlet Magnolia. In fact, I’ve written a poem for the occasion,

They seek him here, they seek him there.

The Ulandians seek him everywhere.

Is he from Mitgardia, or is he from Avalonia?

That darned, elusive, Scarlet Magnolia.”

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He continued his subversive activities and continued to help Leanders throughout Ulandus. He was a soldier for the Desert King, but a secret one. After a couple weeks he heard about the orders of execution for some of the Leanders he had personally helped as the Scarlet Magnolia. It seemed that the Ulandians where trying to flush him out. He took the bait and went to the wilderness where the Leanders where sentenced to die. He found them guarded, chained to rocks, and waiting for their death.

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Charlemagne didn’t know how they were going to be killed, but he knew he needed to save them. He charged the guards, and made it through their defenses to race to the prisoners to break their chains.

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As he ran he saw a large shadow pass overhead. He freed the first Leander and shouted at him to dive to the ground. Charlemagne heard a commotion behind him, but he focused on freeing the Leander’s first.

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All of a sudden, two more beasts landed, and Charlemagne saw that the beasts were wyverns. All three prisoners were now free and laying still on the ground. Charlemagne looked around and saw that all the Ulandian guards had been consumed.

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The wyverns seemed pacified for now. He urged the Leanders up and one of them said to him, “Please, I’ve worked with dragons for my whole life. These are a loyal breed. It is most likely that they see you as having fed them. They can be ridden if they are willing to take you, and I can think of no better way to get out of here!” Charlemagne trusted the Leander and approached one of the wyverns. The wyvern were seemingly passive now that their bellies were full and Charlemagne was able to mount it easily. The other Leanders mounted up as well and they flew off to safety.

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Charlemagne continued to harass the Ulandian army, using the wyvern whose trust he had earned all the while furthering the Desert King’s cause.

OoC: This will make much more sense if you read my minichallenge entry as well as my Cat. A entry. Lots more pictures on my flickr!

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The first scene is simple but nicely presented. The sailing vessel is likewise fairly basic, and while the bowsprit looks unnecessarilly massive, it's a solid design overall - and the flags are flying in the right direction! The prisoners scene looks nice with those colors and textures, and the posing of the different action shots is great. The wyverns are a creative and unique addition. Good work.

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This is a nice example of how simplicity can be really effective in a place like this. The 3rd scene is probably my favorite; despite the small size, the designs all work well together and the cart looks great!

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The builds are all nice and they flow well together. Nothing really stands out, but the whole really defines the sum of its parts.

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Great series of builds MKJ, though I must say that I wasn't too surprised to find out who the hero of the story is! :laugh: I agree with those who have mentioned the third scene as being the best, but as I've already commented on that one I'll mention the fifth scene, which while simplistic also looks pretty good! :thumbup: The poem is quite funny as well!

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Fun to see more of the Scarlet Magnolia :thumbup: Very interesting idea to enlarge the classic dragon's wings, it looks pretty cool.

Cool angled rockwork in that scene too :classic:

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Thank you all! This took a lot of effort to finish. I think I just lost steam after Cat. C ended.

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Great bunch of builds! The floor pattern in the fifth build is very nice and I love the angled rockwork in the last one :wub:

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Very nice story and creations! The different scenes look great. My favourite is the last one, I really love the rockwork in there :thumbup:

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Wonderful builds and story MKJ, so glad you were able to get a Cat. B together! Very interesting character and story here, and the accompanying scenes are great. I love the boat and the scene where Charlemagne frees the Leanders. Sweet work on those wyverns too. All around excellent entry!

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