[NCW] Rendezvous at Slime Bay - Enter the Algus!

[Exetrius]

Rendezvous at Slime Bay - Enter the Algus!

[NCW] Ambush in the Rakath
[NCW] Onwards, to the Moruth Highlands!
[NCW] Turmoil in Camp Carakath
[NCW] Zotharians in the Underworld
[NCW] Rockwail's Catacombs: Rise of the Undead
[NCW] Feathers of Fate (Ssilyrrlith's Retreat)

Dependable, trustworthy allies are hard to come by. And even when you think you have found them, they may still turn their back on you after a while, or gain an unfair advantage over you, which will inevitably lead to being bossed around further down the line. You never know who will betray you next, so it's important to keep looking for tomorrow's allies. Also, the war between the Black Spire and the Resistance was moving towards a stalemate, and as anyone knows stagnation means decline. Therefor, Raavage had been much determined to draw in external forces. At last, he learned about an ancient race from the North. Banished from Mitgardia by humans, forced to inhabit a forsaken frozen wasteland. Maybe there was some common ground in their agendas... 

Raavage sent a couple of messengers to the Great North. Few of them actually reached the Frozen Beyond, and the remainder froze to death. However, by sheer luck the last frozen messenger was discovered by a patrolling Algus squad, and the message he carried found its way to the halls of Algugoran. The Algus reciprocated with a messenger of their own, and so the foundation for a potential alliance was laid. Raavage, not intending to waste precious time on endless and risky messenger traffic to gauge interests, demanded a meeting with the highest notable figure straight away. Rendezvous point: Slime Bay, an inlet of the rocky northern shore of the Nocturnian peninsula, around the twentieth day of summer. 

A bold invitation for sure, disproportionately less favourable for the Algus, with their mostly neglected nautical force and lacking knowledge of the eastern seas. More than a few swears and curses must have been heard at Algugoran at the time. However that same year on the eve of the twenty-third day of summer, a single foreign ship, bruised and battered by the hellish journey it had endured, appeared at the bay. It was at that moment that Raavage knew: he had found a new dependable, trustworthy ally.





Raavage's guts were right indeed. They got down to business, and their discussions ended as follows: 

Lord Raavage
"We will meet again in this bay, exactly one year from now. Bring your best soldiers and mages. I will make sure nothing stands in our way towards Abyssian. Nocturnus will be mine, and I'll let you have Mitgardia."

Algus commander
"Very well. But what about the rest of Historica?"

They both laughed boisterously...

---
Thanks for reading! Pics of the full build:

So there's another GoH creation done! It's a shame that I have no event to display yet, because I have a whole pile of them!  So much that I'm actually starting to run low on grey bricks, tiles and plates, but hopefully that will not stop me from making the two more NCW builds that I have planned for this summer.  Btw, following your tips on my last build I put a bit more effort in the editing of the main image, which didn't take too much extra time. I think it looks a lot cleaner. Any tips or tops on the writing particularly are appreciated, even nitpicks on word choice (I don't have the intuition of a native speaker)! Cheers!

[jtooker]

The difference between the story shots and the well-lit overall shot are quite different.  The well lit shot makes the place look very pretty while the darker shots convey a sense of foreboding (which match the story).  It is still nice to have the lighter shots to enjoy the techniques of your MOC - the water especially looks good.

Great job on the boat.  The slight curves are terrific.

[Exetrius]

15 hours ago, jtooker said:

The difference between the story shots and the well-lit overall shot are quite different.  The well lit shot makes the place look very pretty while the darker shots convey a sense of foreboding (which match the story).  It is still nice to have the lighter shots to enjoy the techniques of your MOC - the water especially looks good.

Great job on the boat.  The slight curves are terrific.

Thanks! Glad to hear you appreciate both types of shots, and the boat as well!  

[Servertijd]

great built! love that brickbuilt boat, the sails work very well with it! That curved rockwork is also very well done :)

[Garmadon]

Those story shorts are wonderfully lit, Ex!  Excellent work with the landscaping and rockwork - the arch is fantastic, and the color combinations are perfectly realistic-looking while being very Nocty and not quite real too    The pebbly shore and water are great as well, but the longship really steals the show for me!  The curves are amazing, and I'm loving the white and the hint of tan to go with that tattered sail.  The blues give it just that touch of frigid Frozen-Beyond-ness to it too - awesome job all around! 

And we finally know what was really up with the Algus now...   Thanks to Mitgardia for saving the world again!!    Great story-writing too, mate!

[Kai NRG]

Some really great curves on that boat - and a great rock arch too.  Love the white stripe over the boat edge especially!

[zoth33]

The rock work is great.  I like the arched rock with the cross on top.  The addition of the trees is a nice touch of color.  The boat is a nice sleek design.  I like the story and It's great to see the Algus return, can't wait to see this story unfold.  

[Spader]

nicely detailed, love that water technique particularly

[Grover]

What a great build!  It reminds me of when Tyrion enters old Valyrio in GoT.  The arch is splendid, and I love the foliage hanging down.  The tattered sail is perfect, and you have a nice shoreline.  The dark pictures up top set a mood, and I'm glad you included the overall lit shot because it's all worth seeing!  Nice work!

[Exetrius]

Pardon my tardiness; it has been a great but busy few days! 

On 7/21/2021 at 7:03 PM, Garmadon said:

Those story shorts are wonderfully lit, Ex!  Excellent work with the landscaping and rockwork - the arch is fantastic, and the color combinations are perfectly realistic-looking while being very Nocty and not quite real too    The pebbly shore and water are great as well, but the longship really steals the show for me!  The curves are amazing, and I'm loving the white and the hint of tan to go with that tattered sail.  The blues give it just that touch of frigid Frozen-Beyond-ness to it too - awesome job all around! 

And we finally know what was really up with the Algus now...   Thanks to Mitgardia for saving the world again!!    Great story-writing too, mate!

Yes, I love realism! And fantasy!  The popularity of the ship is exceeding my expectations, and I'm glad you like the story! 
 

 

On 7/21/2021 at 4:19 PM, Servertijd said:

great built! love that brickbuilt boat, the sails work very well with it! That curved rockwork is also very well done :)

On 7/21/2021 at 9:44 PM, Kai NRG said:

Some really great curves on that boat - and a great rock arch too.  Love the white stripe over the boat edge especially!

On 7/23/2021 at 9:58 PM, Spader said:

nicely detailed, love that water technique particularly

Thanks! 
 

On 7/22/2021 at 3:41 AM, zoth33 said:

The rock work is great.  I like the arched rock with the cross on top.  The addition of the trees is a nice touch of color.  The boat is a nice sleek design.  I like the story and It's great to see the Algus return, can't wait to see this story unfold.  

Thank you, zoth! There's always an excuse to bring back the Algus, right?  
 

On 7/25/2021 at 2:56 AM, Grover said:

What a great build!  It reminds me of when Tyrion enters old Valyrio in GoT.  The arch is splendid, and I love the foliage hanging down.  The tattered sail is perfect, and you have a nice shoreline.  The dark pictures up top set a mood, and I'm glad you included the overall lit shot because it's all worth seeing!  Nice work!

Thanks for the compliments, mate! 

(btw, "Valyrio in GoT" tripped me up for a moment, haha!)

[Aurore]

Hmmm...this does not sound good for Historicans! 

But anyways, it's an amazing build! The rockwork on the arch is neat, and the cross is very clever. I like the angles and lighting you've chosen for the illustrative photos too, they really set the mood.

[Henjin_Quilones]

4 hours ago, Aurore said:

Hmmm...this does not sound good for Historicans! 

It wasn’t! But fortunately, it was dealt with at the end of Book II 2 when all of Historica banded together under Queen Ylspeth to defeat Raavage and his Algus allies. Exetrius is treating us to a delightful glimpse back into the past by filling in the gaps of the history of the war in Nocturnus. 

[Exetrius]

13 hours ago, Aurore said:

Hmmm...this does not sound good for Historicans! 

But anyways, it's an amazing build! The rockwork on the arch is neat, and the cross is very clever. I like the angles and lighting you've chosen for the illustrative photos too, they really set the mood.

Thank you! 

9 hours ago, Henjin_Quilones said:

It wasn’t! But fortunately, it was dealt with at the end of Book II 2 when all of Historica banded together under Queen Ylspeth to defeat Raavage and his Algus allies. Exetrius is treating us to a delightful glimpse back into the past by filling in the gaps of the history of the war in Nocturnus. 

Yes, indeed. I'm building now what I couldn't back then. I've seen and read a lot the past years as research for this NCW series, and I every time I did so it made me realize just how bloody good the builds and stories of now inactive Nocties (and other Guildies) were. Not something to be taken for granted, and also worth upholding that legacy. 

[Aurore]

@Henjin_Quilones Riiiight! Oh well, I need to re-read Historican lore...