Capt Wolf

The news of the Eslandolan trade fleet's disastrous encounter with the Sea Rats sent shock waves through Eslandian society, especially the trade companies. Something must be done to check the rising power of the Sea Rats fleet. And so Willem Guilder, Admius Legistrad of the Colonial Council as well as Eslandola's Secretary of Trade and director of the MCTC, met with Jerome Monezterrell, Eslandola's Secretary of the Navy and second in command of MAESTRO. "With the losses we have suffered, we will have to put the shipyards to work immediately to bring sisterships up to active duty," declared Guilder "And we'll need to assemble a pirate-hunting fleet," replied Monezterrell. "But who should lead it?" he continued. "Who do we trust for this?" "Admiral de Flynt would be a logical choice," replied Guilder, "but he is in Weelond, too remote a location for assembling a hunting squadron. And Commodore Evercrees is of course out." "The same can be said for Dekker," countered Monezterrell. "Both have already lost in encounters with the Sea Rats in the past." "Commodore Grei?" "Returned to private service, as I understand it." "What about Captain Argentum?" offered Guilder. "Argentum? Interesting choice. He was certainly chafing for a fight when he left the council, complaining that a council hall was no place for a sea captain. But where is he?" "Last I heard, he was off on that little crab-infested island with his fiancé." "Well then, send word for him and we shall appoint him commodore of our new pirate-hunting squadron!" "Indeed!" Guilder scribbled out some orders, then summoned over his attendant. "Deliver these orders to Captain Argentum on Crablandia with most haste," said Guilder as he handed over the sealed orders. "This is of the utmost urgency!" And with that the courier hurried on his way. "I hope he can find him," noted Monezterrell. "I hope he's up to the fight," replied Guilder. "We've lost too many ships already." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A small build to promote Captain Argentum to commodore and for him to command Eslandola's pirate-hunting squadron. Here's a look at the full build: All C&C welcome.

The sign-up deadline for the next Trade MRCA is January 28, midnight, anywhere in the world. Note that this is only the Trade MRCA, not the Adventure MRCA. Adventure MRCAs progress on a separate schedule. ---------------- If you have a ship currently participating in an Adventure MRCA, you can not sign it up for this Trade MRCA. Individual ships can only participate in one or the other, not both simultaneously. To sign-up for the Trade MRCA, read the rules here and then sign-up via this form. For a ship to take part in the MRCA, it must be licensed. You can license your ship under the new ship rules via this form. If there are any issues (typo, wrong number of points or other issues) with this process, PM @Legostone. Note that the MRCA signup form still doesn’t have raids added yet, so if you’re interested in conducting a raid this turn, PM @Capt Wolf. If you’re just going to be trading, you can go ahead and fill out the forms normally. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Consult the following two maps for trade zone numbers before submitting any forms. First, the one you're all familiar with:  IMPORTANT: Note that if you click on the above map to go to one you can zoom in on, there is an error on the linked map (zones 10 and 11 are mislabeled). Use the map visible above for proper zone labels. Second, the New Haven Sea now has several settlements -- Carno's Neustadt in zone 38, Eslandola's Chiquita in zone 36 and Interlagos in zone 41, and Corrington's Spudkirk in zone 43 and Proxyville in zone 49, as well secret Carno and Lotus settlements on the island of El Oleonda -- so this map is now open for the trade MRCA: But beware! Carno and the Lotus Kingdom are engaged in hostilities in the south. Dangers abound. Watch out for Lotus naval patrols! And here are the trade values as of October 18, 619 (trade values for NPC and Old World ports are as of February 14, 619, and the very new settlements haven't had their trade values updated yet). When filling out your MRCA form, please make sure you spell the ports exactly as they appear below. Settlement Faction Zone Trade Value Acropolis OL 24 32 Aden CAR 2 178 Alexport PRI 29 172 Arlinsport COR 6 486 Astrapi OL 23 263 Balmin NAM 2 175 Balondia COR 2 149 Bardo ESL 8 249 Baskers Island MAR 6 126 Bastion SR 18 350 Belson COR 4 897 Black Rock SR ??* ? Breshaun OL 7 1133 Calisto MAR 25 78 Camp Isaac COR 35 63 Cecropia OL 22 41 Charlatan Bay SR 24 519 Chiquita ESL 36 ? Dortanix MAR 1 594 Dragonstone OL 20 18 Elizabethville COR 22 214 Eltina OL 7 334 Elysabethtown ESL 20 178 Fatu Hiva OL 35 320 Fortaleza Victoria ESL 32 5 Freeport GAR 27 26 Fuerte Unido ESL 32 230 Granoleon OL 5 892 Hojaroja ESL 32 33 Hussar’s Isle COR 24 9 Interlagos ESL 41 ? Jameston COR 35 489 Kieg GAR 3 594 King’s Harbour COR 24 487 Kings Port TER 13 898 La Puebloto ESL 32 5 Lavalette OL 28 282 Leopaldis GAR 24 118 Londa MAR 2 594 Mehit ESL 32 5 Mesabi Landing COR 35 415 Montario ESL 17 100 Mooreton Bay COR 24 310 Moray’s Den SR 21 54 Myzectlan COR 35 122 Neustadt CAR 38 ? New Haven COR 24 52 New Nassau SR 35 ? Nova Malto ESL 32 90 Nova Terreli ESL 17 820 Pontelli ESL 17 170 Poorvintia CAR 26 7 Poppy Port SR 26 86 Port Raleigh COR 20 157 Port Wilks ESL 22 23 Port Woodhouse COR 35 109 Prinport GAR 9 840 Proxyville COR 49 14 Puerto Alijo ESL 20 5 Puerto Desafio ESL 32 168 Quinnsville COR 24 386 Salida Este ESL 23 164 Spudkirk COR 43 32 Stedor ESL 3 297 Stormhaven COR 22 60 Terreli ESL 3 892 The Sereen Cay SR 31 41 Tortuga SR 32 180 Trador ESL 32 419 Ulric ALT 1 149 Weelond ESL 8 808 Westface TER 13 592 Windfall Island OL 28 9 Yeldo COR 1 594 * If you have to ask where Black Rock is, you can't find it. Also, these islands can now be chosen as destinations. They have no trade value, so you won't earn any DBs sailing to them, but they're better than sinking. If sailing to one of these islands, use the name listed here: Island Faction Marked on map as Zone Trade Value Fever Island --- 1 26 0 Island of Bats ALT 4 27 0 Bubbling Island NAM 6 30 0 Garden of Hades --- 9 31 0 Gunpowder Island --- 16 35 0 Stilt People Island --- 17 35 0 Glimmer Island CAR 20 35 0 Mud Beach SR 21 35 0 Screeching Isle --- 22 35  0   .

If you want some named female figs for the gathering, I can offer a couple of my minor characters: Madame Marian Villeneuve of Oleon and Lady Pauline Norrington of Corrington. Villeneuve's dress is from the Legends of Chima Ewald character, and Norrington's dress is from the Kingdoms queen, but any blue and red dress respectively can do for them.

There was a group working on fleshing out the NPC nations, but it's been dormant for awhile. China would be the RL model for the Kingdom of the Lotus. The Republic of Venice is probably a reasonable RL model for Carno for the moment. We'll have some more info soon.

Cool build. The tiled steps are very nice. And I'm glad you included the extra pics in the spoiler, because that black and gold roof is my favorite part of the build.

Love those trees! Great use of the green whip piece. And the partially submerged croc (and boat) really add to the water effect. Wonderful scene!

It's from set 6192, Pirates Building Set, from 2009.

I just had lunch, but I'm feeling hungry again for some reason. Great job "setting the table." Glad to help. I love seeing gatherings of sigfigs. And if I can include a second fig, Captain Janszen would also like to attend, if he ever gets back from the New Haven Sea.

Thanks. And I shared your concern about the color combination when I was building it, but it somehow worked. And yes, the interior is a separate build. I needed to expand it just a bit, and the interior details wouldn't have worked, as you noted with the differing techniques for the wall. Thank you! I spent a bit of time planning out that roof. Thanks. I actually had a couple of benches to begin with, but they just complicated the figure posing, so I removed them. As for Cookie and his cleaver, I think "the mad cook" may have to return in a future build. Thanks, and best to you for 2020 as well! Thanks. I've been trying to have the settlement build up in a logical fashion. I struggle with trees, too. Because this settlement is set near lakes and streams, I've tried building birch trees with white bark and whispy-er branches. Still not where I want to be with them, but I think I'm figuring some things out.

That whale skeleton is stunning! Well done!

Beautiful ship! I really like the color scheme, and the brick-built furled sails.

Nice work on both floor and wall. I need to get more adventurous with SNOT in such builds.

Lovely to see the ships together, and I'm glad the gentleman privateer is not deterred!

Thank you for not letting this build go to waste. The lighting of that second picture creates a great mood for the underwater scene. And that's a nice brick-build boat on the beach.

Wonderful dock scene. It feels appropriately crowded, with good minifigs posing and a feeling of movement. And the sunset is fabulous! But … Charlatan Bay has someone named Honest Bob?!

I really like this scene. The stairs in the rock face, the ripples in the water, the storehouse set at an angle. Nice assortment of vegetation.

Nice sistership build. Great use of that baseplate. And kudos for building with your nephew!

Very nice! I really like the under-construction aspect of it.

Nice clean vig. The floor technique is impressive, and more complicated than I first noticed. I may also steal borrow that lamp post design.

Thanks! Thanks. I was happy with how the stone wall turned out, too. Thank you! Thanks. I think the waterwheel looking small was a case of the wall getting taller than I originally planned as a means of addressing a roof issue. Thanks to both of you for the comments regarding the roof. I will try this roof design again at some point in the future, and the feedback will be very helpful.

I'm not sure which is more impressive, the turkeys or the chandelier! Willem Guilder will be honored to attend your little shindig. The torso is from POTC, the head is HP.

@Captain Genaro, are you still our point person for the spreadsheet stuff?

A mess hall turned tavern:

*The "Cookie" in this story is no relation to Captain Cookie of @Captain Braunsfeld fame. My apologies for any confusion. -------------- The sailors and soldiers in Captain Janszen's expedition to the New Haven Sea had now spent weeks on Maldria as they built up Eslandola's initial settlement on the island. Up until now their building efforts had focused on foundational needs: fortifications, followed by a brick kiln, a blacksmith's forge, and a sawmill. It was time to establish some basic facilities for the men who were working here every day. And so, rather than assemble by open campfires or return to the ship galleys for meals, Janszen order the construction of a mess hall. Built from locally produced bricks and freshly cut timber, it was more refined than the previous open-air or log structures erected so far. The men quickly took pride in the new facility. Fish and fowl were plentiful on the island, providing far better meals than when they were at sea. When several barrels of grog were also moved from the ships to the mess hall, the men were soon treating it as a tavern, assembling there whenever they weren't working or sleeping. Various ship cooks took turns manning the cooking fires, but one known as "Cookie" was the men's favorite, and soon the mess hall was referred to as "Cookie's Place". The men loved Cookie, but Cookie wouldn't take any guff. When one soldier complained loudly to his sergeant that there was a funny smell to the food one day, Cookie threatened him with his cleaver! As it turns out, perhaps it wasn't the food that was the problem. --------------- This build was based on a simple drawing of a colonial structure I came across in a book, and it seemed like it could serve the purpose of a mess hall for the troops. All C&C welcome.

So as not to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read the play-by-play yet, my comments are below... And thanks to Darnok for the most entertaining presentation of the games!