Bregir

[FB-COR] The Curious Case of the Bottled Message - Prelude Ch V E

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King's Harbour was growing, and had recently become the seat of the Colonial Governor of the Southern Isles. The former governor's office was quickly turning out too small and was now only the seat of the planning office. The rest of the colonial administration had moved to grander surroundings in the newly completed Government House. Spanning one of the freshwater canals that keep King's Harbour clean from the filth of concentated population, it has been built between the two planned boulevards planned to lead into the city to ensure a central location. This does put it somewhat at a distance from the busy harbour, but Cooke is expecting the settlement grow to such an extent that it will soon be a more central location. For now, at least, the distance ensures that only the most serious of petitioners make their way to the office.

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Almost palatial in appearance, Government House provides ample space for a bustling city administration, and throughout the day, civil servants, merchants, army and navy officers, and civilians pay a visit to get permits, orders, licenses, and some even to have an audience with the governor himself. Today is particularly busy, and Cooke, a man of action, is getting somewhat short-tempered after dealing with a paranoid Olean count (convinced clerics of Hades are haunting him), a tiresome group of Eslandian merchants (as ever requiring compensation for one slight inconvenience or other), and a multitude of other complaints and requests.

However, the positive weekly constable's report just delivered by one of the delightfully efficient Winged Cuirassiers (the unit has been charged with keeping order in the city) has ligthened his mood somewhat in advance of the arrival of one of his protegees, young lieutenant Collingbrooke.

"Goodday, Captain Cooke. I hope I find you well, sir"

"Quite so mr. Collingbrooke, if it wasn't for all these goddamned landlubbers and their endless complaining. Not to mention the paperwork..."

Shaking his head, Cooke continues: "I mustn't speak so, of course, forgive me. What brings you here?"

"Despatches, sir." Handing over a sealed folder, and hesitating for a moment, he adds: "I mean not to be impertinent, but.... erhm... have you had the time to examine the bottled message? It is the talk all over town, if you don't mind me saying."

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"Ten thousand blistering barnacles! I knew I had forgotten something..." Rustling through the locked, ironbound drawers of his desk, he brings up a bottle. Lost in his own mind, he uncorks it and motions to pour himself a tot of rum. In doing so, a weathered document falls out into the glass with a thud.

"Sir..."

"I am quite besides myself, it would seem! Now, let us see what the fuzz is all about..." he says, unfolding the document under the inquisitive eye of mr. Collingbrooke.

"To the crown of Corrington, or its representatives.... Blabla... titles... introductions... Here we go....

...And so, stranded on Cascadia I wandered for days until I found nothing less than a golden city! Natives long isolated from their mother-civilisation by some obscure series of events that I have not yet unravelled. It appears there are extensive taboos surrounding this... goes on at length about taboos and legends... I have now taken up residence here and will study the indegenous civilisation... directions for the location of the city... I suggest assigning a full anthropological and diplomatic mission to establish relations with the inhabitants.

Your humble servant

Dr. Albert Brickingstone

Anthropologist, Royal Society of Natural Philosophy

598 AE, Cascadia"

Once more at home in a situation requiring decisive action, the old piratical gleam reaches his eyes. "Write out three copies at once" he calls out to one clerk, "I need an able commander with a fast vessel, and I need him now!" to another. Turning to Collingbrooke, he says: "You will man and provision the Ferret at once. You may have your pick at crewmen amongst the squadron. Destination: Cascadia. You must reach Montoya. I shall write up a cover letter, and you will leave this very afternoon. Any questions?"

"No sir, you have been perfectly clear. I shall report aboard the Ferret at once."

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I like how this building is simple yet elegant. The canal flowing under the building is a nice addition. I like the water technique too. The building itself is also really nice, especially with the roof technique. I would, however, suggest raising the second story a few studs, to make the building a little bigger. May I ask why there are two Oleander soldiers inside the building?

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Great to see the governor has moved to a grander office, the building is superbly built, the interior is nice too, although I pose the same question, why Cooke and Collingbrooke are wearing blue uniforms? :pir-grin:

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2 hours ago, Brandon Stark said:

I like how this building is simple yet elegant. The canal flowing under the building is a nice addition. I like the water technique too. The building itself is also really nice, especially with the roof technique. I would, however, suggest raising the second story a few studs, to make the building a little bigger.

Thank you. The water is a bit simple, but I think it typically takes just a little to give the plain blue baseplates a little more life. I agree the tower could have been a few bricks higher for a more harmonic look, but was running out of brick-bricks. :pir-tongue:

2 hours ago, Brandon Stark said:

May I ask why there are two Oleander soldiers inside the building?

There are no Olean soldiers. Those two are Cooke (sitting) and Collingbrooke (standing), both wearing their dress uniforms as Royal Navy officers.

2 hours ago, gedren_y said:

Finally!

Nice new formal office.

Thanks - I hope the long awaited continuation of the story of the bottled message will live up to expectations.

12 minutes ago, Bodi said:

Great to see the governor has moved to a grander office, the building is superbly built, the interior is nice too, although I pose the same question, why Cooke and Collingbrooke are wearing blue uniforms? :pir-grin:

Glad you like it, Bodi. As I said above, they are wearing their dress uniforms. I have used this torso with the red legs as such for quite some time now.

If you religious fanatics Oleanders don't like it, well, that's your problem! :pir-tongue:

(Historically, the Royal Navy wore blue, while the army and marines wore red. This is a parallel to that. In Corrington, we have not set a fixed uniform for army and navy personnel, and everyone is allowed some creative freedom.)

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Great office... I like the arch above the water, nice choice of coulour...  the windows are especially well done. I will keep the roof technique in mind ( for the tread pattern)

The cornices are the stand out of that mansion. What a style !

 

Seems that the link to the ferret is dead or at least wrong

Edited by Professor Thaum

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Great job on this building Bregir, that style is very Corrington-ish, especially the roof!  :thumbup: for including an interior!

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Great job Bregir! I like how you skimmed the bottle's message to not give away too much but to wet the appetite about the upcoming storyline. I love the roof technique and I shall remember it in the future. I also like how you have included the arch over the canals of King's Harbor. Also, nice usage of the lion's head. 

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Nice building Bregir, one of my favourites of yours so far and very fitting for the seat of the Governor. The sand-green/LBG combination looks really good, the use of the masonry bricks as corners especially so. Like SilentWolf I too really like the idea of the building straddling the canal. 

The story of course was great as well and has finally motivated me to finish my first build - I'll write the story and photograph the build when I get home. Expect Dirk to be joining Montoya on Cascadia very soon!

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On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 11:22 PM, Bregir said:

There are no Olean soldiers. Those two are Cooke (sitting) and Collingbrooke (standing), both wearing their dress uniforms as Royal Navy officers.

Glad you like it, Bodi. As I said above, they are wearing their dress uniforms. I have used this torso with the red legs as such for quite some time now.

If you religious fanatics Oleanders don't like it, well, that's your problem! :pir-tongue:

(Historically, the Royal Navy wore blue, while the army and marines wore red. This is a parallel to that. In Corrington, we have not set a fixed uniform for army and navy personnel, and everyone is allowed some creative freedom.)

It's not that I don't like it, which I don't. I have no problems with it. I was just wondering because a few of us Oleanders have used the torso in our builds, and I have used the torso with the red legs in my Fort Philip build, if you look carefully enough. In addition, I believe that a couple French soldiers in New France also wore the uniform.

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Excellent job with both build and story. The government house is suitably both solid and elegant. I really like the use of sand green with the light gray (I'm going to have to try my hand at that color combo), and the arched windows are nicely done. And the text is a great introduction for the story to come. Alas, I'm going to have trouble getting "Ten thousand blistering barnacles!" out of my head! :pir-grin: Wonderful writing!

Well done all around! :thumbup:

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Nice idea building a house over a canal! Also...

On 5/9/2017 at 0:23 AM, Bregir said:

convinced clerics of Hades are haunting him

Soon (tm)

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What a lovely build. The style reminds me of Victorian architecture (at least, I think that's the right style), and the colors work well together. Having it span a canal is a neat idea which adds a nice, unique touch to this build. The interior is simple, but nice, and the side conversations make the building appear busy. 

As for the story, I'll eagerly await the next part.

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Fantastic building, I instantly thought about some kind of british venice looking at the building. Brilliant atmosphere!

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