Warlords of Nocturnus: Lord Vladivus: Part 2

[Lord Vladivus]

Shadowmere, citadel of the mighty Lord Vladivus is a dangerous place, even to the initiated. It is not a place to visit unless you have permission from the Council of Shadowmere itself. The zombified Shadowmere Guard are a familiar sight, but less so, the Knights of the Inner Keep, heavily armed and armoured zombie soldiers tasked with guarding the nobility of Shadowmere. The oppressive open squares are watched over by statues of warriors long since dead, these golems awaiting simply an enemy assault on the citadel to spring back into action and crush their opponents under their mighty stone bulk. The narrow winding alleyways are a haunt of the criminal underworld, and even the zombie guards, unkillable though they are, avoid this area, some primal instinct of fear permeating their rotting brains from their former lives.

Despite this, market stalls spring up wherever there is space, and a vibrant trade in various usually illicit goods attracts all kinds of Nocturnians, from humans and orcs to swamp people and ghosts, and all manner of life and unlife inbetween.

Today, however, Lord Vladivus and his Shadowmere Guard chase a fugitive would-be assassin through the streets and squares.

Despite his position as the Master of Shadowmere, and his standing as a mighty Warlord of Nocturnus, Vladivus has never forgotten the value of getting your own hands dirty- a rallying cry to the denizens of his citadel; "Though we may be oppressed and the Spire aims to conquer, I, Vladivus, shall fight for Nocturnus' freedom!"

The grinning visage of Lord Vladivus on the chase. Not something you wish to encounter, for his armour is strong, and his blade keen, and a barely satiable thirst for blood lurks just below the surface. Rumours abound of vast lakes of boiling blood beneath Shadowmere, taken from defeated opponents. Certainly it is true that his many zombie servants have nary a trace of blood in their crumbling, rotting bodies.

Lo, the assassin, a raven warrior of the Zugal Tribe no less, strikes at Vladivus, though his blade is no match for the Lord of Shadowmere. A wealth of secrets this creature may have.

In utter disregard for the events around them, so common are they, other citIizens of Nocturnus go about their daily business.

A Dragon Master, exile of Avalonia heads to a street vendor to look for lapping powder for his armour.

The green skin, and wide, staring eyes belie this creature as a member of the Swamp People, despite his more normal dress. He sells many items, utilising the resources of his Moruth Swamp homelands.

This particular square is a favourite haunt of Scarecroicus, the local drunkard. A strange creature, he is rumoured to have had many fantastical adventures in his youth, and he will tell questing adventurers of a path the colour of the midday sun, a walking suit of armour, a cowardly lion, and a girl with a blue dress, red shoes, and a small black dog.

My Phase 2 Warlords build- obviously not the full 32x32 but I liked this idea. My Phase 3 was originally my Phase 2 but I bought a bunch of tiles and this kinda evolved out of it.

C+C welcome!

[ZCerberus]

Some of the shots are really good. Great work with the close-ups!

The first picture though, is a bit too dark. The background, angle and lack of blur is really good though. Here is the same shot touched up with a little more light!

[Lord Vladivus]

Damn, that's so much better. I didn't notice quite how dark the pics were till then!

[Torgar]

Great job, I love all the different races/creatures you have in this moc! Nice entry.

[TheUtilityBelt]

Nice, Vlad! Now I want to make a Warlords build! I like the horse that doesn't care that an assasin is randomely attacking!

[MassEditor]

Cool build and story! The posing and action shots are awesome. I love the market scene and its tranquility, despite the fight going on right next door. Good job!

Hilarious nod to Wizard of Oz too!

[-Carson Haupt-]

I like this a lot! Really fleshes out Shadowmere.

[janatale]

Awesome build, love all the different people and races, especially Scarecroicus!

[MKJoshA]

I always love seeing your builds. This one is no exception. Great minifigure posing and great story!

[Emma]

Now that I think of it, Scarecrow was a little tipsy wasn't he...Anyways, I really like the golem design and great work with the action posing, The border, too, is nicely done - it give a nice finished edge, and yet still blends in with the rest of the build. Just to be picky: I think that one square (you can see it in the second picture) with the 1x1 and the 1x2 tiles should have been just a 2x2 - it stands out a bit being the only part of the ground like that.

[Lord Vladivus]

Thanks guys!

@Emma, there were more of those squares- it was supposed to evoke more of a broken pavement effect, but most of them got hidden!

[soccerkid6]

Nice to see more of the everyday Nocturnus lifestyle I really like how the vendors are completely ignoring the fight/chase right next to them

[Thomas of Tortuga]

Yes, this is a really nice build, as well as an insight into the Nocturnian philosophy of: "Unless I can murder you, who cares?"

I feel like, while the right half has nice detail in it, the left side looks like mostly minifigures. If you added something like another stand, maybe with a zombie charging through it, it would look a bit more balanced.

[Lord Vladivus]

Cheers guys. I didn't want to distract from the fight- the main focus, given the Warlord theme, and also, I didn't wanted to clutter it too much- the square is likely pretty small. And yes, Nocturnians deal with assassinations and murder on a daily basis so they don't tend to pay much attention to it- sticking your neck out could make you the next target!

[Maxim I]

Cool build! Also very cool minifig-posing!

[Scaevola]

A powerful scene. I especially like the statue and its receptacle