[COR-Ch4A] Pieces of a Puzzle

[Ayrlego]

This is the second part of a multi-part collaborative with Bregir which will consist of our Challenge 4 entries as well as a free build or two. Hope you enjoy and please feel free to make C&C as usual! Also I plan on licensing the tavern as a small artisan in Mooreton Bay.

Prior builds:

In The Captain's Cabin

Following builds:

Arriving at Mooreton Bay

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“Major Allcock, you asked me to notify you if our agents heard significant news from Leopoldis, well this morning I have received some troubling correspondence from my contact there” opened ETTC Agent for Alicentia, Colin Jenkins.

“Do go ahead my dear Sir, what are our neighbours up to?” asked an instantly interested Dirk.

“It appears a large warship has recently arrived in the harbour there, my man claims it is a sixth-rate frigate….”

Dirk instantly sat up, that size vessel was larger than any Corrington naval vessel currently in the new world. “A sixth-rate? Is he sure?” he asked.

“He is ex-navy, so I assume he would know.”

“The vessel is from the Garvian Navy?” asked Dirk.

“Well this is where it gets interesting,” said Jenkins, “apparently she was, although her status is now unclear. The crew are rumoured to be serving under letters of marque and it has reported to have been seen flying the black – so I assess it is currently serving as a privateer.”

Dirk by now was quite visibly worried. This was indeed major news. The presence of such a large privateer so close to the Corlander possessions of Alicentia and Cocovia was very concerning. The fact it was a Garvian privateer, apparently using the the Garvian settlement of Leopoldis on Alicentia as a base was equally worrying to Dirk, who had a latent fear of conflict between Corrington and Garvey for possession of Alicentia.

“This is indeed troubling, is there any other information?” asked Dirk

“No, that is all he had to report, that and the name of the vessel, The Black Oak.” Replied Jenkins.

“We must find out more. I will need to alert Commander Cooke and Sir Thomas Smaugton on Cocovia, but without more information on the vessels intentions the news is of little value.” Dirk paused, Commander Jonathan Cooke was the Military Governor of Cocovia and Mayor of King's Harbour. Sir Thomas was the mayor of Quinsville, the other Corlander settlement on Cocovia.

“Actually Cooke is due to visit here on his way back to Cocovia within the next fortnight. I must have more information to present to him then.” With that the two men exchanged salutations, and Dirk rushed off to plan how to obtain more information.

A couple of days later…..

Davy Russell, former Captain of the pirate vessel Bonne Voyage, now convict in Mooreton Bay, entered 'The Yellow Mermaid', a seedy tavern, with a suitably disguised Major Allcock. Davy enjoyed a privileged position for a convict – while some of his more roguish former comrades laboured away in penal work parties around the island, the charismatic and educated former pirate had integrated his way into the Major’s inner circle. Using knowledge accumulated over his years of experience as a mariner and his contacts throughout the Sea of Storms and beyond, he provided advice and information to Dirk to assist in the running of the settlement. It was such information that led the two men to this tavern. Yesterday a sailor had appeared in the settlement claiming to be from Leopoldis and bragging about a privateer crew poised to take a prize so big, they would never have to sail again. Davy, knowing the Major was actively looking for information on the rumoured privateer in Leopoldis, had dutifully reported his presence. Dirk, desperate for more information before Commander Cooke arrived, had donned a disguise and had accompanied Davy to the tavern to find out more.

On entering the tavern, the barman, an associate of Davy, silently nodded towards a drunken and dishevelled sailor in the corner of the room, who appeared to be mumbling into an empty cup of rum.

“Hello matey!” exclaimed Davy. Dirk waited back in the shadows. “Looks like you be needing a refill of that there cup! – Barman, two more of your finest if you please”

“We only be having rotgut and you well know it Davy” rejoined the Barman, slamming two cups of sickly smelling rum on the bench.

“Aye well, it’s all grog ain’t it!” then Davy turned back to the drunken sailor, who was looking around blankly, startled at this sudden intrusion into his misery and yet not believing his luck in a full cup.

“What brings you here friend?” asked Davy.

“They kicked me off” explained the indignant drunk.

“Who kicked you off what?”

“The Captain kicked me off the Oak” explained the drunk as if that made perfect sense to all. “Just kicked me off…. Told me if I ever showed my face around the settlement again they’d keelhaul me…. Me Rotgut Roger. Keelhaul me….. “

As Dirk observed silently, the conversation continued back and forth at a rather painful pace. Davy draw out that the drunk, whose name apparently was Roger, had been run off the Garvian privateer accused of breaking into the rum supply – an accusation Dirk had no problems believing. What was interesting is that the drunk constantly mentioned the huge amount of treasure the ship was expecting to plunder. Could this treasure be from plundering Mooreton Bay? Dirk didn’t think so, surely there wasn’t enough in his small settlement to attract such rumours. However try as he might, Davy couldn’t extract any more from the sailor, who had now lapsed into a drunken stupor, and was incoherently babbling in the corner. The two men turned and left, Dirk generously tipping the barman on the way out. Now he had confirmed the frigate in Leopoldis was a privateer, and one intent on some large scale plunder… but where and or who????

The next day….

Dirk was awoken early in the morning when Xochitl unexpectedly arrived in his quarters bearing news. A Halosian man had been found by her father’s warriors wandering deep in the jungle. The tribesmen believed he was fleeing from Leopoldis, and knowing Dirk’s interest in that place had sent for him immediately.

Later in the day, guided by Xochitl and her attendants, Dirk arrived at the scene where a tattered man lay. Several warriors stood around, although none ventured to close to the man, who was clearly not in a good way – pale, with a visible fever and several seeping wounds. Dirk approached and indicated for Xochitl to bring water.

“Ho friend, help is here.” Said Dirk in a soothing voice.

The man looked up, his cloudy eyes not really seeing.

“dying” he croaked. “must warn the fleet…” he gasped.

“We’ll have you back in civilisation soon” replied Dirk, although he realised the sad truth, it was too late, the man was clearly dying. Xochitl passed him a piece of paper she had found in the man's pocket. It was a personal letter and quickly scanning it Dirk learned the man was named Juan deLuna and was a treasury clerk from the Eslandolian settlement of Nellisa.

“Who are you?” asked Dirk,

“kidnapped… taken from Nellisa…. you must warn them….”

“Warn who friend, who kidnapped you?”

“Pirates, Garvians…… warn the treasure fleet….. the secret is known…. You must warn them….” With that the man made a final effort to clear his vision, unfortunately he must have recognised the red uniform coat Dirk was wearing as he gave a startled gasp.

“You’re not Eslandolian!!” he exclaimed. With that what remaining colour was left in his face drained, his eyes rolled back into his head and he died.

Dirk stood up, shook his head at the watching Sergeant Gowen, who now approached.

“Most interesting Sergeant,” commented Dirk, “It would seem the pieces of our puzzle are coming together”

“If you say so Sir,” replied Sergeant Gowan.

Dirk stared into the jungle pensively and reviewed what he had discovered. A large Garvian Privateer had arrived in Leopoldis. The crew of the privateer were boasting of a potentially huge prize. Now an Eslandolan man turns up, claiming to have been abducted from Nellisa and who died fleeing his capturers – capturers who were almost certainly those same Garvian privateers. And the dying man clearly concerned with warning the ‘treasure fleet’. Yes the pieces to this puzzle were starting to make sense.

Another fusilier approached through the undergrowth.

“Sir, our lookouts are reporting the approach of Commander Cooke’s ship” reported the private.

“Excellent, let us go and greet him and Don Montoya.” replied Dirk, confident he now had enough to make a report and informed assessment.

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And a final image to prove it's all in the 32x32 footprint!

Edited September 12, 2016 by Ayrlego

[Tomsche]

Love the tavern with the stairs

And a great story to boot!

[Garmadon]

Wow! Fitting three all-LEGO scenes in a 32x32 space is impressive enough, but you've added to that the quality you have here and an excellent story! The first scene is actually probably my favorite - the furniture is excellent, and the colors are spot on as well! The tavern is very good too, but I think a little more detail on the back wall would help a lot - maybe a shelf of bottles behind the barkeeper? - as the yellow is a little over-powering as it is! Great job with the posing and vegetation on the third as well!

[Kai NRG]

A trio of excellent scenes, ayrlego - the interior furniture looks really nice! Evidently Jenkins collects colorful books. The tavern interior is great too, particularly the red counter-top and the wheel on the wall. And good work achieving a dense jungle feeling in such a small space!

[TitusV]

A collab between you two can only be good, and the first chapter immediatly proves this!

My favoured build is the first!

[Dannylonglegs]

Gorgeous! You managed to cram in details aplenty! I love that this square contains so many distinct story elements! It's all fluently blended, and looks bigger than it actually is, as a result! I think my favorite part is the Yellow Mermaid. Excellent bar scene. Great work.

~Insectoid Aristocrat

Edited September 6, 2016 by Dannylonglegs

[Capt Wolf]

Good story, and great job fitting all 3 scenes into one build! My favorite is the tavern, although they're all very good. Impressive entry!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Good idea to use the 32x32 space!

[Ayrlego]

Thank you everyone for the comments! Using only 32x32 for the three did prove a bit of a challenge, especially for the jungle scene.

... The tavern is very good too, but I think a little more detail on the back wall would help a lot - maybe a shelf of bottles behind the barkeeper? - as the yellow is a little over-powering as it is!

I agree, the yellow came out much brighter than I had anticipated. Originally I had fewer patrons in the tavern but Bregir pointed out how bare and empty it looked so I was able to fill it a bit better. Shelves behind the bar would have been an excellent idea!

[dr_spock]

Very nice vignettes and clever building. It's like how a TV studio could layout the production sets. That book case could pass for a 1960s TV with a color test pattern.

[Bregir]

As I have said elsewhere, this is a wonderful build. I really like how you have incorporated all three scenes on the same baseplate. As Spock said, it reminds one of a tv-studio with several production sets - or perhaps a turntable scene in a theatre!

All three scenes are good. The interior office is really nice with all the furniture and the brick walls. My favourite detail is the little candlestands!

The tavern is good too - I like the tudor walls, the hanging wheel and the stairs and tables. I think the additional minifigs did a lot ot make it look lively and give it the right atmosphere (particularly the fiddler!) - some shelves on the back wall might be a good idea. My only criticism is that I don't much like the printed tiles for the floor. Their texture looks a bit a off to me.

I am very impressed with how you have gotten that "jungly" feel in such a small scale - you show off the scene perfectly, while still getting that closed, overgrown feel.

The best part is the story - I really like your narrative style, and can only hope to follow it up fittingly. You tie the scenes together nicely without irrellevant detail. And I hope everyone else will like our story and enjoy it as it unfolds. (Although Eslandians might not like where it is going... )

Next part of the story:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=140188entry2655584

[Elostirion]

As usual you turn up big for the challenges, Ayrlego. Just all around fantastic. The way you took the photos makes it rather incredible that you stuffed all three MOCs on such a small base. Wonderful.

If I had to pick a favourite it would be the tavern. The office is fantasticly executed (love the windows), but nothing special. The jungle looks like a deep, full jungle, although it's only like 10x10, which is incredible. But the colourscheme and atmopshere of the tavern are very unique and fascinating. Great work.

However the tavern is also what could be slightly improved in my opinion:

* that there is nothing but white background behind the windows disturbs a mit. You could make the tavern 1 brick shorter and add some stained glass (like in hte offices) behind the window-grids

* is the guy under the staircase the drunken guy or the bartender? Not sure. If he is the bartender he could need some more... bar around him. Else a waitor/waitress would add some extra life

* the floor and especially the tables are a bit too clean for a shady tavern and might need some more detail to come to full effect

But that is nitpicking. An overall absolutely fantastic entry from you!

[Kolonialbeamter]

A little late to the comment party, but I still wanted to join the praising. Cause that is what this entry deserves. Ayrlego, this is a splendid creation, well designed, well executed, and it allows to portrait a complex story. There are some great details, I'm really a fan of that office, for example The story itself is really cool, and I absolutely love the collab you and Bregir are pulling off The nitpick part is the same as Elostirion mentioned, the bar is a little to clean and bright to be a shady place. But maybe a shady place in Corrington is just also very tidy - you reds are such nerds

Great entry, waiting for your Cat. B creation now