Society of Heracles, Friends of Equality and Liberty

[Khorne]

"Rally - you, the downtrodden and oppressed of Oléon! Stand together as one and be strong! Push away the boot of the bourgeois trying to crush you!", Emilien's voice echoed through his rudimentary speaker. He paused and eyed his crowd for a second, trying to work them into a fervor. The working poor of Oléon: maids, unskilled laborers working long hours in the factories and sailors that man the many ships of Oléon's war and merchant fleets but who receive a meagre wage in return.

"The might of Oléon is growing, comrades! The fleets are growing in size, the armies are marching to every corner of the world and the Empire is ever-expanding. The coffers are ready to burst with income! However, I should correct myself, for it are the KING'S coffers of gold ready to burst. It is the wealth of the business magnates and the nobility that is increasing. What good is exotic produce if we cannot afford it?"

"The Empire might be growing, but it is growing on your backs, dear friends! The fruits of your labour are being picked away by the powerful and rich, so can become even more powerful and rich!"

"We say 'NO'! Power to those who work for i! Power to you, the people! Vive la Republique!"

The crowd was starting to get riled up. Emilien Dorée was president and main spokesman of la Société d'Héracles, the Society of Heracles. Officially, they called themselves 'Friends of Equality and Liberty', but in the eyes of Oléonese authorities they are nothing more than unpatriotic, anti-royalist rebels. Supporters of the Society mainly identify themselves with all sorts of red-tinted accessories, such as red flags, shawls or shirts. Red is the color of Corrington and on a political level it is fervently despised by many of the conservative Oléonese nobility. Militians of la Société d'Héracles also revel in the fact that red is the color of Hades and that their appropriation of the color for their grassroots movement is viewed as blasphemous by most pious followers of the Order.

The eyes of the King, however, are everywhere. One might never even know one's being watched and their words recorded...

Luckily for the good citizens of Oléon, Section XIII of His Imperial Majesty's Chancellery of the Defense of the Realm is there to protect their way of life and deal with all matter of subversive threats from in- or outside of the Empire. They operate away from prying eyes and in the shadows, their very existence unknown to all but those involved in the organization.

The informants of la Bureau de Preuve - the Bureau of Evidence, as is its full name - are omnipresent and can be found in all strata of society. Some are voluntary informants, doing their patriotic duties, some are professional spies and other are coerced or blackmailed into this special administrative function. Information gathered by an informant, or aide gouvernementale spécial [Special Government Aide] is transferred to their liaison officer. In Granoléon many Section XIII agents work with a network of street urchins to provide them with the necessary intelligence of the happenings in the seedier parts of the city. Here, valuable information is bought for the market conform price of one (1) bar of Cocovian Chocolate. All in utmost discretion, of course.

While carriages are a faster way of transportation, in the city many people prefer to be transported via sedan chairs. If you can afford it of course. The sedan chair has the privacy and luxury of a carriage, but not its footprint, which makes it more agile and easier to navigate through the winding streets of Old Town. Many of the sedan rental services outfit their carriers in the exotic dress of Guélph, a trend amongst Oléon nobility who are always looking for the next big thing to entertain their guest and defeat their ennui.

Brokered information is then compiled into a dossier du suspect: a dossier containing all information about a suspected political criminal. This file is then brought to an inspecteur in charge to discuss and corroborate. 

View file of Emilien Dorée | View file of Rosalie Carolus | View file of Nicolas Pierrot

 

Afterwards the inspecteur will set up a case or plan a course of action to deal with unwanted elements of Oléonese society. A strike force can be gathered to deal with the issue. Section XIII provides the intelligence, but the brute enforcers of such a  strike team consist of members of la Force Publique coupled with several Dragoons.

 

“The Gods created an order to things, which is best left unquestioned. A good nation is a structured nation.” - source of quote unknown. Popular amongst the administration of the Realm.

“A nation can only go forward if all citizens march in one direction.” - source of quote unknown. Popular train of thought amongst S.XIII agents.

 

Vive Oléon! Vive le Roi!

---

Here's another shot of the house. I'm actually rather proud of this build. I've wanted to try my hand at an 18th century Parisian house and I think I kind of captured the spirit.

 

I'm also fond of the figures. I was inspired by a painting I saw of a late 17th century, early 18th century farmer. In the center are the main leaders of the Heraclian Society: Emilien Dorée - the Philosopher and orator, Nicolas Pierrot - the Brute who'd rather arm the populace than speak of change, and Rosalie Carolus - the Heart who cares for the people and provides the needy with food. She also helps Emilien write his speeches and political pamphlets.

(If you click on the picture, you can read a bit more information about the Society on Flickr.)

Those of you not following me on Flickr: information about la Force Publique can be found here. It's a minifig bash I made some time ago, but never got around to using in actual MOCs. Section XIII can also be seen in action here.

Edited August 17, 2019 by Khorne
Changed a bit of background story to better fit in BoBS

[Ross Fisher]

I love this. Very well crafted. Let's crush the republicans!

[Kai NRG]

Very nice series of vigs!  I really like the blue wall in the interior, great bright color!  The mob scene also stands out.

[Littleworlds]

This is brilliant. The vignettes and minifigs are exellently build and the additional lore and artwork rounds your narrative up perfectly.

[merc]

The color scheme of the society are well done. I really like the vignette of the crowd in the street. The building and it’s colors give off a great French city feeling and the way the crowd is placed makes it feel like a larger crowd.

Edited August 17, 2019 by merc

[Django Fett]

Great narrative around your excellent vigs! I'm a sucker for well done vignettes too! The figures are also extremely sharp with detail 

[Captain Genaro]

These builds are all very impressive. The main scene with the gathering of those foul degenerates is really well done. As others have mentioned, you did a nice job making a small crowd look like an unruly mob, and you captured a worn down building very well. Your Section XIII vigs are a great addition, and, I'm sure bring much relief to our loyal subjects who were undoubtedly greatly disturbed by what appeared to be an unchallenged threat to our glorious empire! The files are a fantastic touch, too, and do your artistic ability justice. Very well done, and a nice addition to help draw the viewer deeper into the scene. 

For the building, I would recommend moving the second story windows up more or reducing the spacing between the attic and the second story windows. Right now it simply looks too large, especially relative to the spacing between the second story and ground floor windows. 

If you need any help licensing these builds, don't hesitate to ask. 

Edited August 17, 2019 by Captain Genaro

[Khorne]

15 hours ago, Ross Fisher said:

I love this. Very well crafted. Let's crush the republicans!

Thanks! Yes, down with the opponents of the King! I'm sure the Padre would be shocked as well when he hears of the anti-monarchist and anti-Order messages this group of rebels preaches .

11 hours ago, Kai NRG said:

Very nice series of vigs!  I really like the blue wall in the interior, great bright color!  The mob scene also stands out.

Thanks! I liked the blue as well, kind of fits with the vibe of interiors back then.

10 hours ago, Littleworlds said:

This is brilliant. The vignettes and minifigs are exellently build and the additional lore and artwork rounds your narrative up perfectly.

4 hours ago, merc said:

The color scheme of the society are well done. I really like the vignette of the crowd in the street. The building and it’s colors give off a great French city feeling and the way the crowd is placed makes it feel like a larger crowd.

4 hours ago, Django Fett said:

Great narrative around your excellent vigs! I'm a sucker for well done vignettes too! The figures are also extremely sharp with detail 

Thanks for the comments . I always like looking for good torso/leg/head and accessories combos to give the figures a certain feeling or identity. Here, you can immediately feel that most people are poor because of the browns and other muted colors, whereas the government officials have crisp clothing in fancy greys, blacks and dark blue.

2 hours ago, Captain Genaro said:

These builds are all very impressive. The main scene with the gathering of those foul degenerates is really well done. As others have mentioned, you did a nice job making a small crowd look like an unruly mob, and you captured a worn down building very well. Your Section XIII vigs are a great addition, and, I'm sure bring much relief to our loyal subjects who were undoubtedly greatly disturbed by what appeared to be an unchallenged threat to our glorious empire! The files are a fantastic touch, too, and do your artistic ability justice. Very well done, and a nice addition to help draw the viewer deeper into the scene. 

For the building, I would recommend moving the second story windows up more or reducing the spacing between the attic and the second story windows. Right now it simply looks too large, especially relative to the spacing between the second story and ground floor windows. 

If you need any help licensing these builds, don't hesitate to ask. 

Thanks for the input. I based the house on several images of Parisian houses during the 18th century. I never really noticed the issue with the first story until you pointed it out. I should've indeed place the windows 1 brick higher and slightly lowered the top part with 1 brick.

I hope I can make some MOCs in the future, but I certainly can't promise anything. I have some other ideas I can work out to expand upon the Force Publique and S.XIII Bureau de Preuve. It will depend on my free time, though. Right now was perfect, because I had several days off and I was close to my collection. We shall see, I guess.

[Ross Fisher]

1 hour ago, Khorne said:

I'm sure the Padre would be shocked as well when he hears of the anti-monarchist and anti-Order messages this group of rebels preaches .

He's an Abbé now, not a Padré. But yes. Perhaps the inquisition needs to have a good hard look at the homeland...

[Keymonus]

I like all your builds and your writing, but the mob scene surely stands out! The way you gave identity to your characters without a too long description, the way you created an historically accurate but still original new aspect of our Nation is simply great! I’m looking forward to seeing if/how will your story evolve! 

IC The poor have their reasons, and a good rule should take into account the needs of all the social classes. When seditious people try to revert the order of society, and turn our illuminated monarchy into anarchy and chaos, into the rule of the worst and of the most ignorant, we must crush them with all the necessary force!

[Khorne]

On 8/17/2019 at 2:12 PM, Keymonus said:

I like all your builds and your writing, but the mob scene surely stands out! The way you gave identity to your characters without a too long description, the way you created an historically accurate but still original new aspect of our Nation is simply great! I’m looking forward to seeing if/how will your story evolve! 

IC The poor have their reasons, and a good rule should take into account the needs of all the social classes. When seditious people try to revert the order of society, and turn our illuminated monarchy into anarchy and chaos, into the rule of the worst and of the most ignorant, we must crush them with all the necessary force!

Thanks, Keymonus! I'll see what I can do in terms of continuing the story  .

[gedren_y]

An interesting story, and a good assortment of builds.

I've created a couple of characters that your la Bureau de Preuve might have dossiers on. Maybe we could do some overlapping storylines in the future.

[Roadmonkeytj]

I can hear the crowds shouting"Vive la révolution!" ... Well done the vignettes fit the story quite well ... The crowd is definitely my favorite.

[Darnok]

Lovel builds, with a charming crwod scene. I also love those "wanted posters", great work!

 

Let it be known that Mesabi Landing was, is and always will be a safe haven for those cherishing freedom and social justice! Break the yoke of religious zeal and greedy nobility - let the common minifig decide its own fate! Mesabi Landing stands with the oppressed!

[Darnok]

On 8/16/2019 at 4:55 PM, Khorne said:

View file of Emilien Dorée | View file of Rosalie Carolus | View file of Nicolas Pierrot

Can I please use this image in an upcoming issue of the "WTC Monthly"? Also: I can not view those files without being registered with Flickr.

[Ross Fisher]

3 minutes ago, Darnok said:

Can I please use this image in an upcoming issue of the "WTC Monthly"?

How has the WTC gotten hold of private Section XIII document? And why are they broadcasting it to the public?

[Darnok]

Hmm, good point. Scrap that idea then. I just thought I could loot some shiny picture.

[Ayrlego]

I really enjoyed this series of builds and story Khorne, the minifigs are perfect for the characters you are depicting and the house they are campaigning outside of is wonderful! Great work!

[Khorne]

On 8/20/2019 at 1:46 AM, gedren_y said:

An interesting story, and a good assortment of builds.

I've created a couple of characters that your la Bureau de Preuve might have dossiers on. Maybe we could do some overlapping storylines in the future.

These pen pushers are always interested in having more dossiers and eyes on the people! We shall see.

On 8/20/2019 at 7:52 PM, Roadmonkeytj said:

I can hear the crowds shouting"Vive la révolution!" ... Well done the vignettes fit the story quite well ... The crowd is definitely my favorite.

Thanks for the comment! Exactly what I had in mind.

On 8/20/2019 at 8:18 PM, Darnok said:

Lovel builds, with a charming crwod scene. I also love those "wanted posters", great work!

 

Let it be known that Mesabi Landing was, is and always will be a safe haven for those cherishing freedom and social justice! Break the yoke of religious zeal and greedy nobility - let the common minifig decide its own fate! Mesabi Landing stands with the oppressed!

Good to know Mesabi Landing is open, but these minifigs would rather change their homeland for the better (?) instead of just moving . They are glad to know they don't fight their struggle alone!

On 8/20/2019 at 10:56 PM, Darnok said:

Can I please use this image in an upcoming issue of the "WTC Monthly"? Also: I can not view those files without being registered with Flickr.

As Ross said, these are internal Section XIII documents which will never see daylight outside their offices. Most of the Oléonese public doesn't even know - or is only vaguely aware - of their existence, so I doubt the WTC Monthly would know . I will have to check that Flickr issue. It's probably because I put the visibility on 'private', because I assumed everyone could see it if they had the link, but apparently you are required to have an account. I didn't know that.

8 hours ago, Ayrlego said:

I really enjoyed this series of builds and story Khorne, the minifigs are perfect for the characters you are depicting and the house they are campaigning outside of is wonderful! Great work!

Thanks, Ayrlego!

[DonRamon1981]

...like I wrote already in the PM:

Really great builds, superb photographed and withan awesome story to round it up.

Perfectly played with real history modified into this world! The last word I can say is Wow... ;-)

[Khorne]

5 hours ago, DonRamon1981 said:

...like I wrote already in the PM:

Really great builds, superb photographed and withan awesome story to round it up.

Perfectly played with real history modified into this world! The last word I can say is Wow... ;-)

That's really great to hear . Thanks a lot! I especially love that you like the photography as that has been a working point of mine for ages. I've definitely improved on it over time, but it can always be better. Ayrlego's and Gideon's photography is always superb, but I try to do the best I can with the equipment I've got at hands.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Fine story and excellent vignettes to accompany it.

[Bregir]

Like many others have said before me, this is an excellent series of builds, and each and every one of them is so full of atmosphere they remind me of paintings. Your minifigs posing is excellent, and the overall compositions of the builds are just marvelous.

The dossiers are super well done, too, and I really like what you are depicting, which is a very interesting part of napoleonic era history!

[LM71Blackbird]

Down with the Monarchy! Give me liberty or give me death! Long live the Revolution! Wait... what?? 

Great builds! Like others mentioned, good job of making a few minifigures look like a large angry mob. Can't wait to see how this progresses...  

 

[Khorne]

On 8/25/2019 at 8:42 AM, Captain Braunsfeld said:

Fine story and excellent vignettes to accompany it.

Thanks!

On 8/25/2019 at 11:01 PM, Bregir said:

Like many others have said before me, this is an excellent series of builds, and each and every one of them is so full of atmosphere they remind me of paintings. Your minifigs posing is excellent, and the overall compositions of the builds are just marvelous.

The dossiers are super well done, too, and I really like what you are depicting, which is a very interesting part of napoleonic era history!

How cool to read that they remind you of paintings? Awesome comment  . I always sort of try to give my builds a somewhat realistic and lively touch, so thanks!

18 hours ago, LM71Blackbird said:

Down with the Monarchy! Give me liberty or give me death! Long live the Revolution! Wait... what?? 

Great builds! Like others mentioned, good job of making a few minifigures look like a large angry mob. Can't wait to see how this progresses...  

I believe S.XIII will try their utmost hardest to quell this train of thought and all its adherents .