Henjin_Quilones

Good questions, Grover! As to 1, it is not clear that there is a cohesive force opposing her, so much as this or that lord, or this or that region, or the like. There is a strong anti-Queen sentiment to the north in Mitgardia, as you note, and there seems to be some resentment towards her in Varlyrio, due to trade policies that upset their monopolies. Also, the Desert King has never approved or acknowledged her reign, to my knowledge, and still considers himself the King of all Historica, same as he was when he died 2,000 years ago. He could be a powerful shaker in this conflict. All of these forces, and perhaps more, as your imagination runs (certainly the Drow, who oppose everything, everywhere, oppose her too, right?) are enemies of the Queen by their own free will. As for 2, I meant to put that in the rules! I knew there was a detail that I had forgotten. Yes, since it is unlimited base size, you can also have unlimited builds. And you can absolutely have lots of pictures of posing and action within a scene.

The Guilds of Historica Book III Challenge I: A Time to Rebuild Challenge II: Bread and Circuses Challenge III: What Will Tomorrow Bring? Challenge IV: The Turning Point Preludes: What Lies Beneath The Spring of Hope The Winter of Despair Even a Feather Can Tip the Scales Historica On the Edge The rumors have been pouring in from every corner of the land, of undead monsters, secret powers behind the scenes, rebellions against the guild leaders, demons from other realms, lizard people, giant chickens, and Drow invasions, to name a few. There is great unrest in the Guilds. It seems that Historicans find peacetime to be as difficult as war, perhaps because they had such high expectations for it after so many years of war. But work in peacetime is still work. Crops need planting and harvesting, bread needs baking, iron needs pounding. Life goes on, and so do the complaints. Is it Queen Ylspeth's fault? She is of the royal Cedrican bloodline, but is she the strong, unifying leader the Guilds need? Or is she weak, in need of a replacement? Category A: The Crown in Danger It is time. The uncertainty about the Queen must come to an end. Is she the queen or must we look elsewhere for leadership? Pick your side carefully. You must either: build a scene that depicts the end of the rule of Queen Ylspeth; or: build a scene that depicts the solidification of the rule of Queen Ylspeth. The scene could be anything: a decisive battle, a key assassination, banishment of enemies (or Ylspeth), or whatever else your imagination can create. It does not have to feature the queen in it, nor does it have to show the literal moment of the end (or the opposite) of her rule (though it could), but it should be a decisive moment that makes or breaks her reign, like Actium or Hastings. But again, choose carefully! This category will be scored by the judges in the same way as the quarterly freebuilds, taking both quantity and quality into consideration. If the side in favor of the queen has more points, Ylspeth stays in power; if the anti-queen faction wins, she topples. You, the people of Historica, are building the story of the Guilds. Size limit: your parts collection (a.k.a. unlimited base). But remember: bigger is not always better. Quality always wins over quantity in a LEGO build. You can build an entry for both sides if you so choose. However, in doing so, you are increasing the chances that the side you want to lose will win, unless you just don't care. Category B: The Crown in Daily Life While weighty events shape the course of history, most people are about their own ordinary lives. But even the ordinary folks are thinking occasionally about the events transpiring around Cedrica. So, build a scene of ordinary life in Historica, but with a catch: you must use at least one crown element in the build. Any of these will work: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12. The creativity of crown integration will factor into scoring. You can build in any scale (i.e. macro, minifigure, or micro) and use as many crowns, and styles of crowns, as your imagination can conceive. Size limit: 12x12 (or equivalent stud area) with limited overhang. General Rules Scoring: Builds will be scored on build quality, presentation, and photography with bonus points to entries with original concepts or stories. For both Categories, a 1st and 2nd place will be selected. Each Guild can have up to 1 winner per category (so 2 guilds could have 2 winners, there can be 1 winner per guild, etc.) Rules: One entry per side for Cat. A, and only one entry total for Cat. B. Borders can exceed the maximum size restriction, within reason. Maximum sizes can be varied as long as the build does not exceed the footprint of the given size restriction (e.g.: 32x64 instead of 48x48 is permissible). No clone brands (Megablocks, KREO, etc) allowed, but 3rd party fig parts and accessories (Brickarms, Citizen Brick, etc.) are acceptable. All entries should be posted in their own topic, with the title of: "CHALLENGE IV: Category X: Name of your build". Please also post a link to your topic here. Deadline: Entries due the end of the day on Oct. 31st. Prizes: The build with the highest score in Category A will win set 75946: Hungarian Horntail Triwizard Challenge.* The build with the highest score in Category A, from the opposite faction as the first prize, will win set 70671: Lloyd's Journey.* The highest scoring build from the winning faction will have its story enter the official canon of Historica. *We reserve the right to substitute a LEGO gift card of equal value to the set if shipping costs to your location prove to be financially ruinous.

@Bardan_Jusik, great fig and welcome to the best guild! I'll get you added to the first post soon.

Even a Feather Can Tip the Scales A prelude for Book III, Challenge IV Winda knew that her mission was important, but even so she did not like the man riding behind her on Bandea's back. He smelled bad. But Henjin Quilones and, more importantly, Galaria, had commanded her to carry him to his desired location. But he did smell bad, an unwholesome combination of fermented sweat, rancid garlic, and stale wine. Bandea agreed, but she also knew the importance of the mission. The had to save the Queen. What they had to save the Queen from was not as clear, but Winda was willing to do her part to preserve the hard-fought peace that the ascension of Ylspeth had brought to the Guilds. Years of civil wars and bloodshed had come to an end with her coronation, and all of the realms were more prosperous than ever, even if they did not all feel like they were. Winda had sat through more council meetings than she had cared to on Druidham, hearing about this Mitgardian lord's harvest or that Varlyrian lady's vineyard, about villages reborn and cities flourishing. Except for Nocturnus, Historica had never had things so good. And yet there was discontent from east to west, from north to south, even in Avalonia, which was flourishing best of all. Perhaps the years of war had made the Historicans intolerant of peace. Without conflict abroad, they created their own conflict within. Sword hands were itching for something to strike. Dragonriders from Druidham had visited Mitgardia recently, and spoke of the palpable tension in the air, as neighbor looked askance at neighbor and wondered which side he was on. Others reported that Varlyrio was slowly killing itself with assassinations and minor rebellions. Yet each had the freedom to rebel only because the Queen had brought peace and respite from the constant conflicts. As Bandea glided over the thermals, her golden feathers catching the uprising air, Winda saw down below the cliff that her passenger had pointed out. Who was this guy? How was he going to save the Queen? And what were they doing off the coast of Varlyrio? ________________________________________ ................................................................................ My lone entry to the Summer Joust this year. C&C welcome. Just the dragon and passengers:

Yes, there are three. The magenta has medium dark flesh ears, while the medium azure and lavender have light flesh ears. Very useful for those of us who like to use flesh-toned elves.

What? Nevr! I nver make mystakes when typin. You must by mistakken.

@socalbricks, welcome officially! That's a great looking sigfig.

1 : 10 7 : 6 2 : 4 8 : 3 3 : 2 5 : 1

@Blufiji, welcome to Avalonia! We are honored to have the talents of such an accomplished builder join our ranks.

@MKJoshA, while it is ultimately your call, I believe insho joined in June of 2018, not 2019. It is odd that this is only his second post, though.

I am certain there are centaurs in the Enchanted Forest of Avalonia. I imagine there are bands of centaurs roaming all of the guilds, honestly, though perhaps they have established the peak of their civilization in Kaliphlin or Avalonia. I used some in my story for Mwamba, a large equatorial island far to the west of Historica, though that is not Historica proper. The Wiki is hopelessly out of date, I am afraid. I am not sure it has been updated hardly at all for at least three or four years.

It depends. The cat races generally get lumped under "lionell" or generically "catfolk", though different builders have coined different terms as needed (I used "aelfcats" for one build). There are pockets of catfolk all over, but I would say that the largest concentration tends to be in Kaliphlin (the natural habitat for lions and other big cats, I suppose), though there seems to be a healthy population in Varlyrio, too. The ravens have been used before, too, but mostly in Nocturnus. Crocs get used here and there, often as Nocturnian lizard folk, and eagles appear every now and then. Lord Raavage, an uber-bad guy of the past, used some Chima parts, too. There are no hard and fast rules, though. So if you want to use them, do so! If you want to imply that they are part of a larger race, do so! There is room for as many cat folk species, and lizard folk species, and bird folk species, and whatnot, in Historica as the builders want to include.

You can choose to stay in Nocty (like @Exetrius) or you can venture out to other lands with the same character or a new one. Established Nocturnians do not have to leave; however, to build and compete in challenges, you do need to be a member of one of the current guilds, at least nominally. For example, you could join Varlyrio, but keep Gal-Turok as your sigfig, building his story in both Nocty and Varlyrio -- perhaps he is visiting orc clans in the western parts of Varlyrio, trying to recruit help to rebuild the devastation left by the Spire. Or perhaps he decided to leave Nocty altogether with his clans, and is seeking a new start elsewhere. He could even set up shop in one of the canal-rich eastern Varlyrian cities, or something. Or you could create a brand-new character, leaving Gal-Turok behind to run the orc clans of Nocty while you explore a new viewpoint on Historica with a different character. It's up to you, though.

Nice looking centaur! You did a good job of making one out of bricks without getting way out of proportion or clunky. I think the exposed hollow studs on the sides look out of place though. Once you pick a sigfig, that is your sigfig for the book. Now, I myself do not wear the same clothes everyday, but remain myself nonetheless. So too can your sigfig. I have shown my sigfig and his wife in at least two or three different outfits: armor for battle, fancy court dress, regular clothes, travel clothes, but the face remains the same. I could even change the hair, if I so chose, because hair grows and gets cut. I would probably avoid changing the color, though. Your story does not need to focus exclusively on your sigfig, and you could choose to build things featuring other characters with your sigfig, or even without your sigfig. I have many "sidefigs" as I like to call them, and they make for a richer story. The sidefigs could even end up being more important to you and your story than the sigfig, but your sigfig would remain the same. Also, your sigfig does not need to resemble you in any meaningful way. Many people have elves or dwarves or vampires, for example, as sigfigs, and I am fairly certain that none of them are anything but human in real life. Does that help? And I would love to see you in Avalonia! Get your sigfig posted in the guild thread, and I'll add you to the members roster.

Cat A) I vote for #10 and #11 Cat B) I vote for #4 and #5 Cat C) I vote for #3 and #5