[MOC] Nexo Knights -- Ava's Geological Institute

[Grey Magistrate]

Wheels long held in check are violently lurching into motion.  The dread Monstrox has escaped the chapterhouse prison and recruited a robotic fifth column.  Queen Macy's crusader army is preparing to forcefully divest Axl of his control of the ancient capital.  Jestro and Lavaria, stone Clay in tow, are on the run from a surge of killer bots.  And Lance has become an unwitting pawn in Monstrox's scheme to paralyze the stone army of Ambassador Ava, who waits in her island temple of science and literacy.

 

The traitorous Magmar fooled Lance into requesting an audience with Ava, deceiving him into thinking she had planted a spellbreaker cube in lava monster territory.  Magmar urged him to keep the spellbreaker cube secret until Lance could confront her in person, so now he and his two Monstrox-controlled bots arrive by train at the imposing Geological Institute.  The train ride across the water is unnerving -- Lance can see the sharks swimming under the tracks -- but the passengers arrive at the school safe and sound.

 

Ava greets her old friend Lance with warmth and affection.  Lance wants to begin discussions right away, but Ava insists first on a tour of the school, her proudest achievement.  She has long been determined to educate and civilize the stone monsters she has come to lead.

 

The bots, of course, will have to wait outside.  A little hitch in the plan, but they can bide their time.

 

The main hallway is teeming with activity.  Students gather between classes, check lockers, and chat about the latest sports scores -- the Squids have won three in a row!

 

The tour runs briskly.  First, the kindergarten...

 

Then the engineering class...

 

The science lab...

 

The dimly-lit computer lab...

 

The well-stocked library...

 

And the rock garden...

 

Which overlooks statues carved by the school's own talented artists.  And also overlooks a school of hungry sharks just below the surface, but then, the stone monsters aren't much for swimming.

 

Lance is so overcome by Ava's scholastic achievement that he momentarily forgets why he came.  The bots impatiently remind him and prod him to show the spellbreaker cube.

 

Which he does.  But the reaction is not anything he expected.  Ava is shocked.  A sense of panic chills the air.  The terrifying spellbreaker cube sparkles with a sinister shine.  Lance is perplexed and tries to explain...his lava monster allies found the cube and thought maybe she would know why it was there and his advisors told him to ask her about it directly and...now that he thinks about it maybe he was wrong about the situation and...

 

In a flash, Ava's loyal retainers knock Lance to the ground.  The bots seize the spellbreaker cube.  The dread moment has come.

 

The bots heft the spellbreaker cube high and prepare to unleash its awesome dissolutive power.  The bots inform Lance that Monstrox has seized control of the lava monsters, and now both he and Ambassador Ava will be knocked off the chessboard.  Nothing can stop Monstrox now.

 

Except a shark.

 

The shark dives deep with its prey.  There is a muffled pop.  A sickening silence.  And then the remains bubble to the surface.

 

Lance is crestfallen: betrayed, bankrupted, and barely alive.  But now is no time for blame.  Ava remembers the Lance from their years before the fall of Knighton, when he was heroic, confident, and noble.  He has been ill-used, but he is still a worthy ally and friend.  She invites him to join with her stone army against their common foe.  It is not an offer he can refuse.

 

The Fall of Knighton:

#1 -- Ava's Stone Embassy

#2 -- Lance's Lava Mine

#3 -- Macy's Fortified Chapel

#4 -- Jestro's Pandora Gate

#5 -- Axl's Spider Foundry

#6 -- King Halbert's Last Stand

#7 -- Aaron's Club Absinthe

#8 -- Robin's Vampirate Ship

#9 -- Clay's Chapterhouse Vigil

 

Spellbreaker:

#1 -- Lance's Lava Train

#2 -- Ava's Summer Home

#3 -- Macy's Campaign Headquarters

#4 -- Axl's Audience Chamber

#5 -- Jestro's Final Chapter

#6 -- Ava's Geological Institute

 

[Natant16]

I love the story you've been telling with these MOCs!

[Meaf]

Great work as always, I love how Lance just gets completely sidetracked by the school tour.

[Grey Magistrate]

Oh, one other thing -- I'm not used to making roofs, and I hope my solution isn't too heavy for the one-thick walls.  I guess I'll find out in a few months if the plastic buckles!  The roof is a spread of thick 2x32 ribs resting on little arches in the side walls and linked by a spine of thin 2x8 plates.  I didn't want central support pillars to block the main hallway.

 

And then between the ribs are translucent light-blue panels on hinges. They give lots of light to the interior and make it easy to reach inside the hallway and reposition minifigs.  But the weakest part is the front rib, where the bas-relief hollows out the center.  It feels pretty fragile.

 

[Lemerbrix]

Oh dang, I loved this series back before I joined eurobricks, @Grey Magistrate are there any more chapters coming?

[Grey Magistrate]

Thanks, @Lemerbrix!  There are three more chapters coming eventually...but...I got so caught up building the Geological Institute that I took a hiatus to build a giant tower for the school.  And then I figured a campus needed food service, so I'm in the middle of building a huge food court ("Lithomancy Plaza") for those hungry students.  Once that's done, I'll return to the main storyline.  That is, unless I decide to start adding some dorms...and maybe a bookstore...

[Lemerbrix]

9 hours ago, Grey Magistrate said:

Thanks, @Lemerbrix!  There are three more chapters coming eventually...but...I got so caught up building the Geological Institute that I took a hiatus to build a giant tower for the school.  And then I figured a campus needed food service, so I'm in the middle of building a huge food court ("Lithomancy Plaza") for those hungry students.  Once that's done, I'll return to the main storyline.  That is, unless I decide to start adding some dorms...and maybe a bookstore...

You’re welcome!
can’t wait for more chapters