Corweena

It was 6pm local time for me when I entered. gotta remember everyone is spread throughout different time zones.

First entry for Cat A, and now probably the last in Cat B

I think us Sea Rats need to whip up some sort of media source.....gotta brag about our prizes and poke some fun at the Imperialists

Thank you Professor! Thanks! Even after the contest I may have to carry on some sort of storyline, or maybe some guest appearances in other builds. You were definitely one of my inspirations for choosing monkeys to use as characters. Everyone loves a good bonehead and buffoon

01 August, 620 Tortuga Professor Octavio Thompson, and his small band of helpers disembarked from their longboat, and walked a few paces up the beach. The Professor stopped, and turned to his companions and said "perfect.....it appears we are first to arrive on Tortuga for the Sandcastle contest. And according to my calculations, this very spot on the beach is the perfect location to build our castle. Its properly distanced from the water, while still close enough to carry our water buckets. Addressing the two monkeys, he continued "Ulysses, Homer. I want you two to begin unloading the boat." Turning to the other man, "McClanahan! Pay attention! You are to help them out. As the new man on the team, your job is to watch and observe their every move. You may have studied architecture back on Halos, but you have absolutely no field experience. Make like a sponge and soak it all in." McClanahan, looking slightly annoyed, turned to follow the two primates to the boat. The three began unloading the longboat of its cargo, mostly barrels, along with some tools. As they stacked up the last of the barrels, McClanahan remarked to Ulysses and Homer "What is the point of all these barrels? I thought this was a sand castle contest?" Hearing this, Prof. Thompson cried out "You're a buffoon McClanahan! Haven't you been paying attention?" Hearing the word "buffoon", the two monkeys turned and looked at the professor, who quickly continued "I said buffoon, NOT BABOON. I know you are not baboons, I just called McClanahan here a Buffoon." With the boat unloaded, and the Professor occupied with this notes, McClanahan quickly shaped up for himself a chair of sand, cracked open a bottle of rum, and plopped down for a break. The monkeys, seeing him sitting, grabbed some fruit and began eating. The Professor, looking up from his notes and seeing the crew relaxing, dropped his book and let out a shriek. "No no no no....what in the blazes are you doing? Did I say it was break time? You're really trying my patience McClanahan! Can't you just find something useful to do?" With that he stomped off down the beach to calm himself down. An hour later, Octavio returned to the camp. He was met by the crew, proudly smiling standing in front of a towing sand structure. McClanahan said "you wanted me to do something productive Professor, what do you think?" Professor Thompson, already turning a shade of red, shouted "Are you daft McClanahan? That's not a sandcastle! You're an absolute buffoon McClanahan! (he quickly looked at Homer and Ulysses "NOT baboon!"). Get your head in the game boy! We don't have time for your pretty little sand paintings and towers. I'm a professor! I taught architecture at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Corrington." Hearing this, the monkeys began snickering, and Homer turned to Ulysses and said (in their own language) "what he's leaving out, is he kidnapped the real Architecture professor, and impersonated him for a whole semester before he was found out. He was chased out of the country, and can never go back. He's not even a real professor!" Hearing this, Ulysses began laughing hysterically. "I've had enough" exclaimed Prof Thompson. "I'm going to town to secure my room and the rest of the supplies needed. Ulysses and Homer, tear down this ridiculous tower. McClanahan, take this book and just maybe you can learn something from it." With that, he picked up his sack and tramped off the beach towards town, muttering and talking to himself "I can't believe I'm stuck with this lot. All of the people in New Nassau, and the best builders are a pair of monkeys, and a boy with a wild imagination. I swear to Zeus, after this I'm going to become a monk"..... _________________________________________________________________________ This is my submission for Category A, for the first ever Tortuga Sand Castle Contest. With the ever comedic Doctor Thaum organizing the contest, I decided to take a break from the more serious story telling, and inject some humor and comedy into the build. I took inspiration from some of the good Doctor's notorious phrases and sayings, particularly with Callaghan Can't wait to see what everyone else has in store!

June 620, Somewhere along the northern coast of El Oleonda The Hephaestus, a frigate crewed by a mercenary group of Sea Rats, and carrying a Letter of Marque from Carno, spotted a lone Lotii War junk of the coast of El Oleonda. Fearing the greater firepower of the enemy, the Lotii changed coarse to make for the nearest protected bay. In the ensuing chase, the Lotii, being unfamiliar with the waters, ran their ship into a reef, where it subsequently broke up. The crew of the Hephaestus, hauled to, and sent their launch into the shallow waters to survey the wreckage. Upon reaching the wreckage, the captain spots some remaining Lotii crew clinging to floating debris. The Captain surveys the scene, and orders his men "To arms! Send every last one of them to the depths! There can be no survivors!" The men take aim, and fire upon the Lotii. "Well done men, an extra ration of rum for all of ye! And one less lot of these blasted mongrels on the seas" exclaimed the Captain, and they rowed back to their ship, their mission complete. My submission for Challenge III, Category D(A).

Thanks! Although, in light of the recently announced news, it may be best to stow the blue uniforms, lest I draw unwanted attention and ire from certain factions

Sounds like things are getting heated. Time to sit back and watch the Imperialists squabble amongst themselves

Does this mean my attempt at comedy was successful?

And my entry for Category A is up!

I absolutely busted up laughing at that close up photo If you chose a GIF for his expression, I feel this one captures it properly

A most excellent idea Doctor! We have put out a notice calling for the best sand builders in New Nassau, and will embark to Tortuga with our selected team.

July seems to be the month for hangings

Presiding over an execution was not how Corwin Ragnarsson envisioned spending his first day as Mayor of New Nassau. But the events of the previous night required a swift action to be made, to reassure the citizens of New Nassau of their safety, and maintain order in the streets. A man had been caught breaking into the fort in the town, and on his person were found documents detailing the military strength and layout of the town, along with observations on possible weak points in the defenses. During aggressive "questioning", the man would give nothing but his alias "the fox". He would not divulge his employer or any other details about himself. Ragnarsson was summoned, along with a tribunal, and with the accused spy offering no legitimate defense to his name, he was convicted of being a foreign intelligence agent, and summarily sentenced to death, by hanging. As he walked up the the gallows, the grim realization of what was about to take place come over "the Fox". He tried to speak to his captors, but was met with stoic silence. His fate had been decided and sealed that morning. Nothing could be done now. As the realization crept in, he began crying and balling unintelligable things. Once on the gallows, with the noose placed around the spy's neck, the head executioner, a stern man dressed in a black robes and cloak, faced the crowd and addressed them. "Citizens of New Nassau! Before you today we have a weasel of a man, found guilty of espionage, committed to do harm to YOU and your families. The safety of this town, island, and its people is of the utmost importance to the government. Let today serve as a warning to any others who wish to commit any act harmful to this city or its residents. This settlement was started with the ideology that men could live free of tyranny and corrupt imperialist governments. Any actions that hinder this goal will be met with swift and hard justice, regardless of your flag or affiliation." With this words said, the crowd previously being quiet erupted with shouts of "down with the imperialists!" "for the free people of Terra Nova!" "death to the spy!" With that, the Executioner stepped back to the lever which operated the gallows. "Any last words?" He offered the man, who mumbled something incoherent, before sinking into silence. The next sound heard was of the lever being pulled, and the trap door on the gallows swinging down, followed by a gasp from the man, as the air was squeezed out of is writhing and twitching body. It took only a short time for him to completely still, and the executioner pronounced him dead. "Leave him up until sundown, then feed him to the crows" The crowd fell to silence, and slowly dispersed. Ragnarsson remarked to his companion "I don't particularly care for these sort of things, but in this case, it was an absolute necessity. I'd much rather meet a man face to face in battle, than to watch him die in a way such as this. But these are the times we are in, and the safety of our small settlement is of primary importance now. Lets hope today discourages any more agents of ill-will from preying on New Nassau." A few more photos of the scene:

Excellent builds, and continuation of the story. Thinks are getting exciting (heated)! And should the Terraversans have need of a gallows, the Black Wolf Company would gladly ship them their once used setup

Definitely an inspiring thread! I've begun work on small vignettes to showcase the soldiers of my own Black Wolf Company, as it expands and grows. Thanks again!

Count me in for both, saw the challenges from previous years and it looks exciting!

Yeah, this is unfortunately all of my tan plates, as I don't have much in that color. I had considered switching to green, but ended up keeping it, as the gallows were the focus of the scene. Thank you though! Thanks! I had considered giving the Fox a more recognizable uniform, but not sure if I want to start a war......yet For the final design in the build, the lever does not work. I did build a working version, but it was a lot bulkier on the bottom of the platform, and kind of took away from looks of the gallows as a whole. So I decided to use this super simple version, which let me use the trap door piece, but is only 4 plates thick near the lever, and 2 plates elsewhere. The trap door holds itself up with the brown tiles attached on top. The extra layer on top is just enough to prevent the door from clearing the frame. Then all I have to do is press down on the door slightly for it to fall open. Overall, I felt the end result looked much better and "cleaner" than a fully working version for the purposes of the build.

Well then.....maybe I will have to adjust course.

Thanks! That's the way it goes sometimes.....when there is no one in power, people perceive it as weakness. Just have to make a statement for any one plotting any further Mischief in the town. Thank you! I based the gallows on a variety or designs I've seen, and adapted them to fit minifigures better. Yeah, my family had that movie on recently, and that one inspired me to build this scene. Thanks! The trapdoor took a few version to get right, but I ended up using the Lego one, and it still functions great even with brown tiles on top.

A lovely Microbuild indeed! And there is no such thing as too many rum carts

A proper process build, great job showing all the steps needed to make saltpeter, as well as an in depth explanation of the chemistry behind the process.

Hearing the report of the execution of Zublius von Wreck, Corwin Ragnarsson paused in his reading, and muttered to himself "A true scoundrel if there ever was one. He lived his life fast, loose, and dangerous. May the Eternal Wind fill your sails in the next life." He then picked up his bottle of brandy, and poured some out in remembrance of ZvW (but not all of it it, that would be a waste ). Love the scene, and that is quite a unique style of gallows you have constructed. Seems like it would be a bit slower death than a traditional hanging....

Announcement! Since its founding last year, New Nassau has been under the stewardship of @Roadmonkeytj until a suitable mayor could be found. Beginning his mission to build up New Nassau to a bustling and protected stronghold for the Sea Rats, Corwin Ragnarrson of the Black Wolf Company has been appointed mayor of New Nassau on this day, 16 July 620AE. His commitment to the peoples of Isla de Barro extends to the natives of the island as well, with whom the Sea Rats share a peaceful and prosperous existence. All relevant information regarding updates to the stats, properties, and trade value of New Nassau will be in the THIRD post on this thread. Please continue to link any EGS properties or Freebuilds related to New Nassau, so I can update the information as needed. Thanks!

It would appear maybe they have been a bit too busy catering to the whims and fantasies of their red-clad masters friends?