Ayrlego

Indeed a lovely upgrade (although the original was impressive in it's own right!). Certainly a fitting flag ship for your shipping enterprises!

I agree, the perspective on the firing canon photo is perfect!

A great looking ship Bregir, I really like the way the bow is raked back, makes her look very sleek and aggressive. I love the use of the chefs hat! Also I can't help but notice Mr Baker seems to be preparing for a dive!

I agree, this is a great build. I particularly like your whale, the red brick looks quite effective. I like how you describe the process as well, BoBS is becoming quite educational these days! Great job!

Wow! A great collaboration and story to go with it. Looks like you guys had a great time and that display is very impressive!

Current Members Executive Committee Don Isaac Montoya, (Bregir) Chairman, Founding Member Sir James W. Chase, (BrickOn)Treasurer, Founding Member [on leave of absence, position currently vacant] Sir Dirk Allcock, (Ayrlego) Secretary, Founding Member Fellows of the Royal Society of Natural Philosophy Alberto da Pontelli, ( @Captain Braunsfeld) Sir Anton Hughes, (NPC, @Bregir) Doctor Thaum, ( @Professor Thaum) Fernando de la Izquierda, ( @Faladrin) Lieutenant Joshua, ( @Spud The Viking) Current Benefactors (Honourary Members) Lady Elysabeth of Drondil, (TitusV) Mecenas (benefactor) A list of properties owned by the Royal Society Building/Location/Licence status/builder 'The Proceedings' Printer's Shop / King's Harbour, Cocovia (COR) / Small Education / Bregir Botany House / Mooreton Bay, Alicentia (COR) / Medium Education / Ayrlego The 'Red School' / Weelond, An Holli (ESL) / Small Education / Ayrlego Study / Nova Terreli, Nellisa (ESL) / Small Education / Bregir Royal Society School / King's Harbour, Cocovia (COR) / Large Education / Bregir Montoya House / Jameston, Celestia (COR) / Large Education / Bregir Montoya House, Residential Wing / Jameston, Celestia (COR) / Medium Residence / Bregir Montoya House, Grand Entrance Arch / Jameston, Celestia (COR) / Small Art and Culture / Bregir The Cutty Shark / King's Harbour, Cocovia (COR) / Small Education / Professor Thaum Botanical Garden / King's Harbour, Cocovia (COR) / Medium Education / Professor Thaum Naval Medicine School and Hospital / Alexport, Prio / Large Education / Professor Thaum

The Royal Society of Natural Philosophy The New World Branch of the Royal Society of Natural Philosophy is now open for members. With it’s headquarters in Arlinsport, Tiberia, the society promotes advancement of the human understanding of the world in which we live. Its focus is the study of nature, mainly in all things living, and its fellows are some of the finest zoologists, botanists, biologists, ornithologists, medicoes, paleonthologists, and entomologists, as well as a multitude of other natural philosophers. The New World branch naturally has an emphasis on the new and unique discoveries of newly discovered lands. Leadership The New World Branch of the Society will be headed by an Executive Committee. These can only be filled by members of the society, and must also be citizens of Corrington. This will ensure that the Society is not used against the interests of Corrington, although as a general rule, the society shall not involve itself in politics. The Executive Committee has a right of veto in all matters of the Society, including, but not limited to, membership decisions and the use of the Society's funds. As a general rule, however, decisions will be taken by democratic vote amongst all fellows of the Society. Current Executive committee Chairman: Don Isaac Montoya (Bregir) Secretary: Dirk Allcock (Ayrlego) Treasurer: Sir James W. Chase (BrickOn) Signing the Charter by Ayrlego, on Flickr The executive committee may award other titles to members of the society at their discretion. A list of members and titles can be found in the second post. Eligible Gentleman/women. In this new era of reason, logic and discovery, scientific thought should transcend all borders and regimes. Although holding a Royal charter from the Crown of Corrington, the Royal Society of Natural Philosophers is open to members from all factions, including free thinking Sea Rats and open minded Oleans (although any Olean members may risk excommunication or accusations of heresy from their countrymen!). Membership Invitation Membership to the society can only be gained through invitation by an existing member. Any member of the society may propose a candidate to the executive committee. A proposal should be in the form of an in character letter to the Society detailing why the candidate should be considered for membership. Candidates should have an expressed interest in some area of natural philosophy in their characters story. For example, they may have presented some builds showing their character engaging in scientific studies. The Society will approve membership based on whether or not they feel the candidate’s character is established as a Natural Philosopher. If a candidate does not initially meet approval from the committee they may be asked to show a greater interest in scientific discovery (produce some more scientific themed builds/story arcs). The Society will then review their candidacy. This process is not meant to promote elitism, rather it is an attempt to approximate an in-game type of peer review. It will always be in the Society's best interest to recruit more members, although members must have a genuine interest in promoting scientific discovery. If approved by the Society, the recommending member will then be required to send an invitation of membership to the candidate. The invitation can be accompanied by a MOC, but again should take the form of an in character letter inviting the member to make a presentation of their scientific work to the society. Initial Presentation When a candidate receives their letter of invitation, their final step before becoming a full member of the society will be to make a small vignette (8x8 or up) showing their character presenting his/her work to their fellow members/peers. There is no location requirement for this build, for example a presentation may take place in the Society's Headquarter in Arlinsport, or in another settlement where a meeting is taking place, or even in the field. On the Great Tiberian Sea Otter by Bregir, on Flickr Membership Fee A small one-off membership fee will be levied on new members. The proceeds of their presentation free-build should be transferred to the Society. If this free-build is one of the member's first two for the month, the fee would be the 10DB they earn for the build. If it is a third or above freebuild, it would be the total DBs made as per the new rules. EGS Benefits Their may be some EGS benefits for Society members. These are being discussed with BoBS leadership and will be introduced in due course Ranking System Coming Soon! We are looking at introducing an academic type ranking system. Details will be announced later!

As others have commented the two level approach is really effective. Great looking mine!

Thank you everyone for the comments!! Don Montoya's wait is over as Dirk gives him a tour of the plantation and allows a close examination of the Cacao trees therein!

Thanks everyone! Well this is embarrassing! So I um... cheated. CelesAurivern is absolutely correct - I used blutack.... The trees took over three times as long than all the rest of the build to get right, and I think most of that time was spent trying to find a way to attach the pods. I tried various combinations of clips and rods amongst other failed solutions. I too would have preferred a purist way! But in the end I gave up and whacked a bit of blutack to the back of each pod (you can see it in the tree picture). If anyone can think of a way to do it I'd be very interested in your solution!! This one had me beat! @Captain Dee I think the strongest I've tried is around 85%, which was not very sweet at all! Basically I agree, the anal retentive historically accurate part of me rebels at the idea of us developing the concept of modern chocolate so quickly. However, it had already been introduced by Tomsche in Quinnsville, and everyone loves chocolate right? So I decided to try and show the process as accurately as possible. My next Cocovia build will be a factory where the process is continued, roasting and crushing into powder and butter. Then maybe mixing with some sugar and milk to make a type of chocolate. But I haven't completed my research for that part yet! My plantation/factory manager's name is Cadbury after all!

Thanks Kai and Elostirion! Also a note for leadership - before I license as a plantation, I was wondering if by chance I had maybe uncovered one of the bonuses for Cocovia?????

A great representation of the Dark Lightning (spelt correctly this time !) She does indeed look a little different to what the crew of the Saucy Gibbon remember, but then they had been a sea for quite a while.....

Awesome introduction and fantastic action scene!

A unique warship - looks like something out of Da Vinci's notebooks!

Dirk Allcock is pleased to announce that the first cocoa plantation in Cocovia has been established in King's Harbour.

Cocoa Plantation | Ayrlego| Corrington

Dirk's previous story can be found here After the placement and construction of North Head Battery, Captain Dirk Allcock has taken some well deserved leave in the environs of King's Harbour. Since arriving on Cocovia, Dirk has been fascinated by the commodity that gave the Island it's Corrish name of Cocovia - cocoa. Cocoa is prepared from the seeds of the Cacao tree (also known as the Cocoa Tree). So Dirk found a native guide, and together with another Cocoa enthusiast he meet in the settlement, one John Cadbury, he has set out into the hinterland to find this miraculous tree. They didn't need to go far! The island was named for the abundance of this very tree, and the name soon proved appropriate. Dirk was instantly fascinated by the examples they found, as was John, but both men for different reasons. Dirk's interest was scientific, John's commercial. The two came to an agreement were Dirk would fund the setting up of first a plantation, and later a processing factory. The enterprise would be managed by John. So while John set out to clear a small patch of land to begin a plantation, Dirk made a study of the tree. The following sketch and description is from his notebook: The Cacao or Cocoa Tree is a small understory tree that is abundant through the Crown colony of Cocovia. The tree thrives in the shaded understory of the Jungle and mature specimens seem to range from about 10-15m in height. The leaves are alternate, entire and unlobed and are between 10-40cm long and 5-20cm broad. Unusually the flowers and seed pods grow directly from the trunk and larger branches of the tree. The flowers are small and pink in colour, and appear to be pollinated by a species of small fly. The pods range in colour from red, yellow, green and brown. Mature pods contain around 20 to 60 seeds or 'beans' encased in a white pulp. After a week, Dirk met up with John on the site of the newly established cocoa plantation and John gave Dirk a tour of the operation. As only mature trees produced seed pods, John had found a plot that already contained a number of mature trees. The jungle was being thinned out but some larger trees were carefully left to provide filtered light for the cacao trees. Seedlings were being collected and grown in pots for later transplanting into the ground. Mature pods are first collected, then smashed open with a machete. The seeds and pulp are then placed in large barrels to ferment. After about seven days of fermentation the beans are removed and must be quickly dried. Drying is achieved by spreading the seeds out in the sun for five to seven days. The dried beans can then be packed and sent for further processing. ------------------------------------ Overview Hi All! Here is my attempt at a cocoa plantation, I believe the first here. I wanted to focus on the process here and my next planed build is a factory to complete the processing of the cocoa beans. As always comments and criticism welcome! Oh and here is a reference pic!

Looking great BrickOn! I tried to calculate how much all those beautiful dark red 'brick' bricks would cost IRL... but my mind exploded!!!!!

Dear Mr Coyle, I respectfully request a place for vessels under my ownership in the Crown escorted convoys. The Fire Trader route for my vessel Lady Jacqueline, Quick Wing for the Saucy Gibbon. Yours Faithfully, Dirk Allcock Captain, 47th Regiment of Foot.

Nice, I believe this is the first educational building! A very colourful build and such a great concept! Corrington will surely flourish through the proper education of her youth, you should be applauded good Sir!

Nice, although as Bregir notes it looks alitte heavy - I feel a bit sorry for the manservents! I think some detailing on the base, like some scattered plates or tiles or maybe even a small building facade would really make this build standout. I look forward to following the Sheikh Khalid's story!

I remain unconvinced on the whole minifig/population thing. I'm struggling to see a real in game reason for this, plus the whole tone Kai announced it with and when she said: Also note Ska said: So if that is for real, what isn't?

I think we still need to MOC Lover's Quarrel before we can use her?

or a war of Eslandolan succession... Is cousin Fernando a claimant???

Anyhow...... Nice army Lazer, this is one of my favourite Lego factions too. I'll have to do a photo-shoot and post my updated dark green army - it has grown considerably since I last posted it here (especially with the beautiful CMF Knight torso from the current series)! Also great edit on your armies Noktu, the different factions are really well presented and as others have commented, the carpet makes an interesting prop to march through!