Book III, Challenge II, Category C: A meeting, an interruption, a death

[Muakhah]

On a balcony of Khadira's Temple Palace Complex, Muakhah and an older warrior priest D'uran D'uran await a very important visitor.  While the cool evening breeze wafts the oil lamps' flames the two discuss recent events.

"Bread and Circuses..." sighed Muakhah, " Bread and Circuses...That's what she comes up with.  That's the best she can do? As if we do not know that feeding our people is our first responsibility?  And these celebrations...  Which of our Queen's mighty achievements are we celebrating?"

"She is young, and has strange council from simple folk.  I am sure she is unwilling to make misteps so early in her reign." Replied D'uran.  "And celebration is not a bad thing."

"I know, I know.  And yet...it would be easier to celebrate the Queen's achievements if she had any.  I recall it were the Mages of the Zotharith that ended the threat of Ravaage.  And the four guilds fought  his armies and allies to a standstill while the Queen snuck into Cedrica."

"Tis true.  Though we know little of the perils she faced to do so."

"Indeed.  But I like it not how she has turned completely from Nocturnus towards Varlyrio.  And seems to favor that isle of malcontents  greatly.  I fear that Queen Ylspeth cares for Avalonia and Varlyrio at the expense of the guilds that suffered more in recent times."

"As I said, she is young, and seems desirous of peace.  With guidance her majesty could become a wise ruler."

"Aye, but with whose guidance?  There are always those that seek royal influence for personal gain."

"Excuse me brothers," interjected an armed and armored Warrior Priest who was to be Muakhah's bodyguard for the evening.  "But our guests await."

"Ah!" Muakhah replied brightly.  "Let us go to them then.  The Dragon Queen has never been a patient lady!"

"Is there anything I should know?" asked D'uran as they entered a tiled chamber decorated with scenes depicting the ongoing struggle twixt good and evil.

"Oh, not really.  The Dragon Queen is impatient, quick tempered and suffers no fool, but she is fundamentally sensible and decent.  Though she tries to hide it."

"Is she really a suitable ally in the great struggle against evil?  I hear her methods are somewhat...extreme."

"Oh yes.  She has a ruthless streak.  But considering the recent events in Nocturnus, is that so unusual?  But if her power can be temperedby mercy and wisdom, then she will become a strong enemy of evil. As is said, I believe she is basically decent."

"And if you are wrong?" Asked D'uran, raising an eyebrow? "I merely ask, just in case."

"Then I will have learned much about how to do better in the future.  For it would indeed be my own failure.  I have managed to arrange the situation so that the Dragon Queen relies upon Khadira for much.  Hopefully that will influence her better nature."

Meanwhile, a masked assassin has climbed up to another balcony.  Listening through the small windows the assassin hears his prey.  Hours of stealthy movement and hours more of careful preparation have led him here.  Soon the time for stealth will be over.

The assassin frowns upon hearing multiple voices.  This will make the task more difficult.  However this trained killer's prefered method is to burst from concealment and deal a fatal blow before anyone can react.  Then a speedy retreat through the carefully prepared route will leave nothing behind but confusion, panic, and death.

"You should not be too concerned, D'uran." Contined Muakhah.  "The fact that the Dragon Queen is here shows that her paranoia is ebbing.  We will discuss how to strengthen the bonds between Khadira and the Lava Fort, and how to spread her area of control in Nocturnus under the guiding light of Mazadar."

"Did she really call it the Lava Fort?" queried D'uran sceptically.

"You should have heard the other names she tried." sighed Muakhah.  Suddenly his face brightened.

"Brothers in the Light, I am honored to introduce the Dragon Queen, Lady of the Lava Fort, Mu the Marvelle."

"Hail Muakhah, how go things for Khadira?"  The Dragon Queen spoke in pleasant tones.  D'uran D'uran and the bodyguard felt confused.  How could this pleasant and attractive lady be feared as a murderous tyrant, and a dragon to boot?  Then they saw her bodyguards and a thrill of fear raced down their spines.

"Khadira thrives, for we walk in the light.  How fares your domain my Lady? I see you have a new breed of minions."

"Oh yes, these are a cruder model.  I believe the blood mixture is different.  Or so Chen, my Sorceror, tells me.  I brought them because they are a bit more intimidating than my other blood born minions. Don't you think so?"

"Yes yes, quite intimidating.  Are they safe in public?  The festivities may be rather busy."

"Don't worry, I've trained them well.  They are like  puppies as long as noone threatens their mummy."  The Dragon Queen spoke affectionately as the snarling monstrosities flexed their wings.  Their large draconic jaws gaped threateningly.

"Uh...yes.  Well then.  You know I am dubious of Chen's motives, for all that he claims to have studied under Doctor Rod.  I believe he has sinister motives for you.  Having said that, I am most glad you could join us for the coming celebrations.  The people of Khadira would love to see our ally from across the border and I feel this will..."

Muakhah was cut off as the assassin lunged through the bead curtain to his left.  His bodyguard rushed forward with shield and sword raised but before he could do anything there was a blur of movement, two roars not unlike tigers or lions, a sudden scream and a wrenching, tearing, wet sound.

The assassin never knew what killed him.  So swiftly did Mu's draconic gaurds tear him apart with their claws and fangs.  Shaken the group reassembled closer to the murals of Mazadar and the Great Enemy.

"Is that how the citizens of Khadira show their respect for their ally?" Snarled the Dragon Queen.  "After all we have been through?"

"I don't believe you were the target.  I thought the assassin was striking for me." Muakhah spoke quickly but in a calming soothing manner.  This couldn't be allowed to derail the plans for the future.  "If your beasts had left him alive we might know his intentions, and origins..."

"Oh I'm sorry!" Snapped Mu angrily.  "In that case my beasts just saved your life! You're welcome!"  Muakhah looked across at the bloody and gaping jaws and smiled nervously.

"Of course, of course.  My thanks to your protectors.  However the fact remains that someone tried to kill one or both of us.  We must learn exactly who so we may take precautions and strike back."  Muakhah's eyes read the Dragon Queen's expression carefully.  "I assume, that you would want to take action against such an affront to your person?"

"Oh Muakhah, you always know what to say to make a girl happy.  Who do you think sent him?"

"Well, he was wearing battered old Ulandian armor...but that is easy to come by these days.  It could be Ulandus sympathizers or High Council members attempting to sabotage further union under the Desert King.  It is well known I am one of his most vocal supporters... He could be from a Nocturnian faction opposed to our alliance."

"It is known that Khadira helps my forces.  But I believe the factions I am facing are not organised enough to attempt this kind of brazen murder." Mused the Dragon Queen.

"It could be this new Wolfpack I am hearing rumors of.  They are said to be quite ambitious in their goals. Or even...could Queen Ylspeth want me dead?"

"That reminds me."  Said Mu, placing a hand atop Muakhah's outstretched one. "I sense the Cult of the Great Wyrm is present here in Khadira."

"Sorry what now?" Asked Muakhah confused.

"They are a cult worshipping B'deesh.  They supported Ravaage in the wars but their main aim was always to free B'deesh, the Great Wyrm, a sort of Demonic Dragon God that seeks to consume all.  Oh don't worry, they are far from that goal.  But I thought you might want to know I sense they have a presence here in Khadira."

"Interesting.  I'll have to set Hassan to searching them out.  Shall we adjourn to dinner and the details of our  plans? And then, tomorrow, the festivities begin!"

"I would like that." Smiled the Dragon Queen.  "By the way...did you choose a golden dragon to be a symbol of your religion just to flatter me?"

"Oh that?  Merely happy coincidence."

Spoiler

Cleanup in corridor 4!

I couldn't resist one last shot of the poor janitor and the job that awaits him.

 

I hope that people enjoyed reading that.  My main regret is that I had to take photos at work and forgot to take one of the complete build.  I might try and do one and add it later when i have time but it will likely be lower quality pic or after the deadline.

Finally we meet the previously mentioned Dragon Queen.  Hopefully I can do more with her in the future. I was hoping to get Cat A done, then break it up and use it for this, then break this up and do Cat B but with work I just haven't had time.  I will still make something to represent the celebration they talk about here but as it won't be ready till well after the deadline it will just be for story purposes.

I found posing for the action to be incredibly difficult...and it was too crowded and busy but I think you get the gist.  If anyone wants to claim responsibility for sending the assassin I'm up for that.

I hope noone minds the reference to this Cult of Wyrm but I had it in my mind that there would be a small cell of them in Khadira.  Hopefully it will become clear in future builds why the Dragon Queen can sense they are there.

 

Edited January 29, 2019 by Muakhah
Can you believe I forgot to put the title in properly...

[mccoyed]

Great story here. I like the criticisms that Muakhah makes of Ylspeth since they are pretty fair and so is the rebuttal. It seems like a very organic and believable away to convey some light controversy in these early days of a united Historica.

Really liked the build as well. Great use of the dragon costumes and some fun, unexpected gore. I also love the janitor shot.

[zoth33]

Good build.  I like the arched hallway and the tapestries and other details like pots and furniture throughout the scene.  Really nice story and great figs too.  

[Grover]

That warrior priest, D'uran D'uran, it seems like he might really Come Undone in an Ordinary World, were he not Hungry Like the Wolf.

(Sorry, couldn't resist).

As to the build... great job!   I really enjoyed reading the story, and it was conveyed excellently through the closeup shots!  All the little details in there, from the painting to the use of the gold tassels, tiles in the floor... I could go on and on... outstanding work.  The posing, however painful it may have been, was well worth it, as it really adds to the story and you captured expressions of the characters perfectly.  Great work!

[de Gothia]

I like all the colours you put in your mocs! Easy to just build with one colour (tan or gray depending on location) so it´s such a great thing to see this moc! :)

 

The figs are really nice  as well!

[Muakhah]

On 1/30/2019 at 6:09 AM, mccoyed said:

Great story here. I like the criticisms that Muakhah makes of Ylspeth since they are pretty fair and so is the rebuttal. It seems like a very organic and believable away to convey some light controversy in these early days of a united Historica.

Really liked the build as well. Great use of the dragon costumes and some fun, unexpected gore. I also love the janitor shot.

Thanks, when this set of challenges were posted  I was so excited and thought I can do these!  I couldn't resist adding the janitor shot.  After all someone has to clean it up!

 

On 1/30/2019 at 11:17 AM, zoth33 said:

Good build.  I like the arched hallway and the tapestries and other details like pots and furniture throughout the scene.  Really nice story and great figs too.  

Glad you like the story and figs!  I'm glad the details were enough. I thought it might be a little bare.

 

On 1/30/2019 at 1:20 PM, Grover said:

That warrior priest, D'uran D'uran, it seems like he might really Come Undone in an Ordinary World, were he not Hungry Like the Wolf.

(Sorry, couldn't resist).

As to the build... great job!   I really enjoyed reading the story, and it was conveyed excellently through the closeup shots!  All the little details in there, from the painting to the use of the gold tassels, tiles in the floor... I could go on and on... outstanding work.  The posing, however painful it may have been, was well worth it, as it really adds to the story and you captured expressions of the characters perfectly.  Great work!

 Thanks @Grover I'm really happy how it came together.  I've started trying to design my builds with the end photos in mind more.  As for D'uran D'uran, you can thank @adde51 for the inspirational names used in Mophet.

14 hours ago, de Gothia said:

I like all the colours you put in your mocs! Easy to just build with one colour (tan or gray depending on location) so it´s such a great thing to see this moc! :)

 

The figs are really nice  as well!

Cheers! I'm trying to use different colors...I  still seem to create blank walls of brick in whatever color  i'm using though.  Working on better texturing.  Glad people like the figs, hope they look suitably Holy 

[Grover]

I think a lot of us have similar thoughts.  Bracari and I both did campfires, and until I saw your janitor pic, I was going to take a daytime shot after my  concert build with trash everywhere and the janitor having to clean up the mess, but you beat me to it and what you have is hilarious.  I love when there's bits of humor thrown in here and there.  Very nice work.

Edited February 1, 2019 by Grover

[kahir88]

Great build, and the story is fascinating. I'm interested, how did Muakhah came up with the idea with my Wolfpack, ( which is correct, but in GoH i call them Wolf Brigade :D). My emissary not yet (or atleast not in my story line) met with the nobles and not yet agreed, to cripple the Desert King supporters.

The tearing up scene is really good, i know, there is someting wrong with me :D and also like the janitor scene, black humor is my cup of tea too.

[Basiliscus]

Great job on this one. Love the close up, character centred photos, it really adds to the immersion. You also used printed bricks really effectively here to add more pattern.

The story is great and as @mccoyed already said I like the discontent against the Queen. Hopefully this will begin to manifest itself in the challenges soon.

 

[en_zoo]

haha really intriguing how you mentioned the 'death' in the title, showed the assassin but then.. plot twist! I also love how Muakhah mantains his cool (and the same smile) throughout the whole thing Lovely build with some nice architectural details, I really like the shot through the arches. It's also nice to get to know some more characters from Khadira

[Muakhah]

On 2/2/2019 at 3:42 AM, Grover said:

I think a lot of us have similar thoughts.  Bracari and I both did campfires, and until I saw your janitor pic, I was going to take a daytime shot after my  concert build with trash everywhere and the janitor having to clean up the mess, but you beat me to it and what you have is hilarious.  I love when there's bits of humor thrown in here and there.  Very nice work.

I just couldn’t resist the thought of the poor so and so who would have to clean it up. I tried to throw in a bit of humor because people who know each other well joke about all kinds of things. Life is both dark and funny at the same time.

 

On 2/2/2019 at 11:45 PM, kahir88 said:

Great build, and the story is fascinating. I'm interested, how did Muakhah came up with the idea with my Wolfpack, ( which is correct, but in GoH i call them Wolf Brigade :D). My emissary not yet (or atleast not in my story line) met with the nobles and not yet agreed, to cripple the Desert King supporters.

The tearing up scene is really good, i know, there is someting wrong with me :D and also like the janitor scene, black humor is my cup of tea too.

Black humor is often a lot of fun.  The Wolfpack that Muakhah refers to is indeed your wolf brigade. I like to add in references, even if just a name here or there to make things all seem a little more connected. I hope you don’t mind but I like the idea of your really ambitious mercenary group (been playing mount and blade recently) I hope you continue with them and try to place a contender on the throne of Avalonia before heading for Historican Dominance.  In character I would say Muakhah knows of the existence of the wolf brigade but not their intentions.

 

On 2/3/2019 at 12:36 AM, Basiliscus said:

Great job on this one. Love the close up, character centred photos, it really adds to the immersion. You also used printed bricks really effectively here to add more pattern.

The story is great and as @mccoyed already said I like the discontent against the Queen. Hopefully this will begin to manifest itself in the challenges soon.

 

I was very lucky to get the Ninjago monastery set. The stickers in that are great for depicting the struggle between good and evil. I was thinking that room would be where people contemplate the eternal struggle.

Story wise I like the idea that no matter what the High Queen does she cannot make everyone happy. In the absence of an external threat, will the guilds even stay as one nation?

12 hours ago, en_zoo said:

haha really intriguing how you mentioned the 'death' in the title, showed the assassin but then.. plot twist! I also love how Muakhah mantains his cool (and the same smile) throughout the whole thing Lovely build with some nice architectural details, I really like the shot through the arches. It's also nice to get to know some more characters from Khadira

Hopefully it was a good twist and not a shyamalan twist! I do need to get some more heads with beard and glasses to show a bit more facial expression for Muakhah.  There are more characters in Khadira, see the Khadira tag for my other builds. But they are in the other half of my collection and so won’t feature much at the moment... I’ll need to find some excuses why they are busy.

[kahir88]

48 minutes ago, Muakhah said:

Black humor is often a lot of fun.

Indeed. :D Black humor is like legs, not everyone has it, this is my motto.  It seems we are an open book for Muakhan. You describe really good my little band, well done, and don't worry, I will continue the plotting story, but first, I want to finish the origin story, and yes. I have to put a puppet... I mean ruler, on the Dragon Throne. :D

[Rogue Angel]

Quite the story - very nice on the build as well.  You've captured all the elements of his walk through the palace, and I would say your 2nd photo is my favorite shot.  The monastery pieces work well, and the story flows nicely.  A few of the individual elements seem to clash in color a bit (sand green jumpers, some of the curtain colors, but overall - the coloration is excellent.  Great job!

[Henjin_Quilones]

I like the all-LEGO shots of this, and you have done a great job of telling the story through the pictures. I think that it could look a bit crisper if you had all the tiles pushed down fully and had them straightened (like the 2x2 jumpers on the wall behind the ninja). Like Rogue, I'm not sure about the sand green of those jumpers, and the lime green in the curtains feels a bit out of place. Otherwise, I love this and am glad to see your story progress!

[soccerkid6]

Good use of patterns and color throughout the interior I also like the numerous arches lining the tan corridor.

A couple good overview pictures would be nice, so we can see how all the sections fit together