Captain Dee

Greetings Eurobricks and Brethren of the Brick Seas. I present to you Corrington's Part 2 of the Corrington vs Carno build-off: Her Majesty's Melodious Musings. For Corrington: Part 1: "Potecting Her Majesty's Honour" by Puvel Part 3: "In Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service" by Bregir See spoiler for more contest content *Cue the Royal Musicians* In the capital city of Belson in the grand and glorious nation of Corrington, deep inside the magnificent chambers of the Royal Palace, Her Majesty Annetta, Queen of Corrington was taking her daily recess. She was resplendent in her regal red robes and had retreated to one of her private chambers along with two of her favorite royal attendants, Miss Olivia and Miss Trudy. As they silently prepared a dish of the finest fresh fruits she stepped upon the marvelous gold turntable that held one of the numerous grand pianos on the estate. As a child she had studied all the great composers - Ludwig von Brickthoven, and Johann Sebastien Brick, and Wolfbrick Amadeus Mozart and so on. Playing something calm and relaxing was her favorite way to unwind during a busy day, and on this occassion she had selected one of her favorites: a lengthy of Johann von Pachelbrick's Canon in D. (Many years before Sir Dee was born, the Dee family patriarch had commissioned Pachelbrick to compose the piece, with complete freedom to use any key he wanted as long as it was the key of D!) High above them, the narrow balcony overlooking the chamber was crowded from end to end with more of the queen's attendants, who were permitted to listen as long as they kept completely quiet. Once the refreshments were prepared, Her Majesty sampled the tray, saving a banana for last. Marvelous she thought to herself as she lifted a small piece to her mouth with a fork. Those rascals at the silly King's Port Advertiser had so outrageously suggested that she craved bananas as a result of being with child - a shocking disgrace and an insult to her unwed propriety and royal dignity - but she wasn't about to let that prevent her from indulging on occassion. She would see to it that a plantation be established closer to home, and then everyone would see who had the last laugh! After a moment she daintily picked up another small piece with her fork. It was so impractical, she thought, but her attendants nearly fainted the first time they saw her peel and eat one with her hands - it was just too vulgar, too common, they had declared, and insisted that she use proper utensils thereafter, never to touch a banana with her fingers again. When finished, she turned her gaze back to the tray. Could it really be?! Chocolates?! It was! Fresh from the island of Cocovia, and then to the royal confectioners who transformed the bitter cocoa into something so sweet and smooth and creamy... She could barely conceal her excitement, for despite being Queen of Corrington the delectable treat was still an exotic delicacy. The attendants beemed, delighted that they'd been able to surprise her, and were both astonished when she insisted that they have a piece as well. Annetta gently placed one of the small round pieces on her tongue and closed her mouth and eyes. Divine she thought as it slowly melted. Dream heavenly angels! And then she turned back to the piano and began to play the Canon, eyes still closed as her nimble fingers tickled the ivories from memory. The notes reverberated throughout the chamber and she shivered gleefully. There was no better feeling in the world. Some time later the music neared its end, and as she played the last few notes she thought it would be a lovely song for a wedding. Her wedding. But not played by a piano - no, only the violins of the original score would do... As the last note sounded, in a rare moment of indulgence the matrimoniously-minded maiden murmured, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" As if on cue, the melodious and melancholy musings of the majestic monarch were interrupted by the sound of tapping, as of someone gently rapping, rapping at her chamber door. She opened her eyes suddenly, annoyed at having been jolted so rudely from her daydream, and doubly so since no one was to interrupt her recess unless it was something terribly urgent. She looked at the two attendants, both of whom looked surprised by the intrusion, and nodded her head for them to answer the door. As she stepped down from the massive turntable she thought, interrupt my recess? Quoth Annetta: "Nevermore." Miss Olivia quickly moved to open the door. "Won't you come in?" she asked the men standing patiently in the hallway. They, too, were members of the royal court, and often handled tasks such as weren't befitting the ladies, who were exiting the balcony at that very moment. The men stepped into the chamber and bowed deeply, removing their hats to address the queen. "Your Majesty," they said in obeisance. "Your purpose?" she asked cooly, striving to appear as stately as possible. "Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but we've just received a couple of urgent letters from a messenger hailing from the nation of Carno," one of the men said. "He insisted that we deliver them immediately, as the matter is of the utmost importance." With that he stepped forward, bowed again, and delivered the letters into her hand before taking his place back beside the others. Her Majesty showed no emotion despite being puzzled by the developments. She slowly broke the seal on the thick packet and produced two documents: a letter and a card. "Thank you kindly," she said to the men, which they understood as their dismissal. "Milady," they said in unison, bowed again, and turned to leave. Once the heavy door had clicked shut behind them she began to read the documents. The letter was addressed to Queen Anetta. How quaint she thought. Can't even spell my name correctly. She paused. Or was that intentional? She continued reading silently as Miss Trudy and Miss Olivia gathered up the tray of fruits and left. Her Majesty's eyes widened slightly as she realized the message was about the Corry ship Bullshark captured the month prior by that scoundrel of a Carno sailor, Captain Whoknowswho. Reading on, she was amazed by the tone of the message before her. Such impertinence! she marvelled. Thou surly knave. One passage in particular really caught her eye: "Thank you so much for your generous contribution to my retirement fund. As a token of my sincere appreciation, I'll be sure to send you some flowers." The entire letter was an insult, as the captain gloated over the fact of his captured prize. What she didn't know was that the captain's faithful and loyal scribe had embellished the original dictation considerably; the captain likewise knew it not but would surely have approved had he known. She read on: "I tremendously value our friendly business arrangement, but if the all-powerful nation of Corrington insists on making routine charitable contributions to my personal fleet, I feel compelled to offer my assistance in return, despite my limited abilities. Please accept my most humble offering of young pine saplings, which should grow tall and true like any proper Corry until they reach such size as is suitable for masting." Pine trees?! she wondered. Oh, you're very clever. Scurrilous scandalous scurvy scalawag scoundrel! But curiously, there were no trees to accompany the note. She read on through the end of the pompous, grandiose and generally arrogant letter before opening the card. It was beautifully detailed with little ornate printings of birds and flowers and a dreamy azure sky floating over a manicured garden... and she opened it to reveal just the one simple phrase: Thinking of you in your time of loss. It was too much. Despite being the elegant, graceful, dignified, collected, courteous and otherwise ladylike Queen of all Corrington, she simply could not let this stream of crude insults flow on unbroken. She quickly glanced around; she was alone in the gilded chambers, and felt inexorably drawn to a decorated black chest sitting on the floor by the polished ornamental marble throne. It contained numerous personal effects that had belonged to her late father, King Arlin, and she carefully lifted several items aside until she found her quest: his brace of beloved pistols that he'd always taken with him whenever he went out with the royal hunting parties. Her Majesty hadn't touched the pistols in many years, and they felt wondrously heavy in her hands. They were still loaded, just as he'd left them, and as she turned back to the chambers she realized she'd moved in haste: the piano was sitting right in the way, and would have to be moved. Feeling rather bold, she stuffed both pistols into the neckline of her corset and proceeded to slowly, cautiously shove the heavy piano from atop its perch on the golden turtable. Then she stepped swiftly across the room and propped the ridiculous letter and card in one of the windows before returning to the turntable. It was meant to carry the weight of a piano and pianist, and moved with minimal effort minus the instrument. Annetta took a deep breath, cocked both pistols and stepped unto the turntable, pushing with all her might as she moved into the center. She spun around once, twice, and then stretched her arms out in opposite directions, aiming and firing one pistol forward and firing the other blindly backward at the offending documents as she whirled quickly around. She looked up long enough to see a gaping hole in the middle of the profane parchment, then dropped her arms by her sides, closed her eyes and waited for the carousel ride to end... and for the mayhem that was sure to follow! A second later an explosion of shouting voices accompanied by pounding footsteps echoed through the smoky chamber, and the massive chamber door yielded to a ferocious blow and crashed to the floor with a screech of strained hinges despite having been unlocked. Several guards burst into the room, jumping over the fallen door, muskets and cutlasses ready to defend their magnificent monarch - "Your Majesty!" They shouted in alarm, looking this way and that for some perceived threat. Instead, they were astonished to see the beautiful young queen standing in place of the piano, and as the turntable slowed to a stop she opened her eyes, lifted the two pistols' muzzles to her lips and gently blew across them both. With a mischievous and coy look on her face she asked: "Whatever seems to be the problem?" The guards stared in wide-eyed surprise as Her Majesty stepped down, handed them the pistols and moved gracefully across the room to fetch the pierced papers. The royal attendants who had delivered them had rushed into the room as well, and she handed the letter to one and the card to another. They stared in disbelief before quickly skimming and reading the two documents, respectively. "Poppycock!" The first exclaimed. "Why, the arrogant prick!" "Cocky-pocky!" The other shouted. "Sonofabrick! Uh, pardon my coarse language, Your Majesty." Queen Anetta merely smiled, and handed the two documents to the guards, who noisily voiced their own displeasure and began suggesting suitable retribution, much to the amusement of the lady sovereign. The commotion was presently interrupted by the sound of heavy, ragged breathing and uneven footsteps. Another of the royal attendants staggered into the room, sweat pouring off his face; and partially succeeded in standing his armload of tightly-bound pine saplings at the base of the polished throne before collapsing into the floor at their feet. His iron morion helmet clanged against the floor and rolled lazily to the side before stopping in front of the queen. Several of the guards rushed to attend the fallen man, and she glanced from his helmet to his powdered wig and back again. Surely a fashion faux pas she thought. Men! Helpless! They helped him to his feet while she turned her attention to the saplings. Their roots were bound in white fabric and appeared to be moist; she had half expected them to be dead. The thin limbs and needles had also been bound carefully and tied off with red ribbons. Someone put some effort into this she thought as she fingered the ribbon on one of the plants. By then the exhausted attendant was able to speek, and he procurred yet another letter from his pocket. The queen resisted the urge to roll her eyes - queens just can't do certain things - and graciously accepted the note. It read: "To the most High & Noble Anneta of Corrington: A gift of goodwill in recognition of our mutual interests. Any resemblance to a not-yet-invented toilet accessory is strictly intentional coincidental." She handed the note to one of the guards, and looking over the trees saw yet another note attached to one of them. She turned it up and read aloud: "When you see a package/ all gaily wrapped and tied/ don't ask too many questions/ cause a Secret is inside." "Secret?!" One of the guards shouted, horrified anew. "Everyone back! They must have bombs planted on them!" He extended his arms and attempted to shepherd them out of the way. "We'll see to it that they're disarmed, Your Majesty!" "Nonsense," Annetta replied cooly. "Judging from the limited intellectual capacity displayed in his writing, I would further trust this scalawag with planting a tree in a bomb than planting a bomb in a tree. It's nothing more than yet another of his crude attempts at humor. Now please remove them to an appropriate place in the garden and see to it that they're transplanted properly. They're getting the floor wet." "But... but..." the guard stammered. "That's an order," she said sternly, lifting an eyebrow. "Ah... uh, yes, yes, Your Majesty," he snapped to attention, and the other guards began loading the young trees in his arms. He took a step and staggered into one of the golden doorposts under the ungainly weight of his load. Backing up, he tried again, only to bump into the post on the other side. The other guards rushed to assist him, and after much stumbling, fumbling, bumping and muttered curses they finally made it through the doorway and disappeared down the hallway. Bumping posts Her Majesty thought, barely able to suppress a smile. Naughty little habit. As she turned to address the remaining attendants, her eye lingered on a small red cloth object wrapped in a red bow that had apparently fallen from one of the trees. The men followed her gaze and one of them picked it up and silently presented it to her. She carefully unwrapped it and unfolded the cloth to reveal a thin lacy purple piece of silk that had the unmistakable form of... Lingerie?! she wondered in shock and remembered the phrase "A Secret is inside." And then she saw the note, written in a different hand than the others - Captain Whoknowswho himself, rather than his faithful and loyal scribe - and it simply said "Fit for a queen. Naughty Naughty. XOXO" She gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth as her face turned as red as the dress she was wearing. "Why, that insufferable buffoon!! she shrieked without thinking, losing her dignity for the first time as her embarrasment turned to anger. The royal attendants had observed her full reaction without knowing what she was reacting to, and looked rather concerned. "Your Majesty, is there a problem?" one of them asked. She looked up at the sound of his voice and quickly wadded up the whole affair in her hands to conceal it from them. After taking a moment to collect herself she said tersely: "Fetch me a pen and paper." "At your service, Milady," one of them said, producing both items from on his person. She gave him a brief gracious look before beginning the dictation of her reply. That dirty Captain Whoknowswho would never get the best of her, any other Corry or any part of Corrington except for the ship he had illegally seized. The attendant-turned-scribe sat atop the turntable and furiously scribbled to keep up with the fast pace of the queen as she demonstrated her full and prior knowledge of the troubling event: "To the High Council of Carno, It has come to Our attention that the nation of Carno has issued letters of marque against Corlander shipping. This became evident last month where it resulted in the cowardly attack on one of Our peaceful merchant convoys. Shocked by such dastardly aggression from a vessel flying neutral colours, and unwilling to cause diplomatic incident, the honourable captain of Her Majesty's Ship Bullshark let fly the Corlander colours, as soon as he saw his charges had made it safely away, only to be taken prize and led to captivity by your state-sanctioned pirates." Queen Annetta paused. "Am I going too fast? " she asked the attendant. "No, Your Majesty," he said without looking up despite being about five words behind at all times. She smiled to herself, paused until he was finshed and continued with her dictation: "Corrington will suffer no such provocation, and requires immediate return of the vessel and crew, as well as permanent suspension of all letters of marque against Our shipping. Failure to comply to any of these demands will be considered an act of war, and we will react accordingly. In service of peace and order, Her Majesty Annetta, Queen of Corrington, Duchess of Balondia June 616 AE Belson Corrington" The attendant finished writing, stood up and bowed before the queen. "I will have this written out properly, Your Majesty." "And please select a suitable representative to deliver the news," she said. After a brief pause she added: "And send those other letters back with whoever you choose." "Milady." He bowed again. "A thousand pardons, Your Majesty. I'm terribly sorry about all this. We never would've interrupted your recess had we known the true nature of the occasion." She smiled. "I understand, no one knew it was a prank, but next time - perhaps waiting a few minutes for my return would be in order. Oh, and would you all be so kind as to place the piano back in its proper position before you depart?" "At your service, Your Majesty," the men bowed, rolled the instrument to the turntable and carefully lifted it back in place. Then they left the room, leaving the queen alone with the two girls. "Trudy, Olivia, I do believe it's about time for my daily recess," she said with a mischevious smile. "Now be a couple of dears and bring me a banana and some chocolate." Their eyes widened slightly and they cast furtive glances at each other. "Yes, Milady," they said and quickly left the room, giggling gleefully as they rushed to carry out her wish. Queen Annetta stood alone in the private chamber and unfolded the garment wadded up in her hand. It was full-length but so thin and flimsy that it scarecly weighed anything at all. Scandalous she thought. It was unlikely that even the ladies of the night in that pirate stronghold of Bastion would wear something so shockingly bold. She would have one of the royal seamstresses turn it into something useful... As she felt of the material, she saw the words Victorious Secret embroidered in tiny gold letters along the hem. Victorious she thought, smiling to herself as she hid it away. Corrington's proper place in war and diplomacy. And then, in a burst of spontaneous creativity, she approached the piano and of a piece that would eventually be known the world over for its adoption to that theatrical masterpiece, "Pirates of the Carribrickean." The End The notes and bonus pics were cluttering up the topic so I opted to put them in spoilers instead. General Notes: Rebuilding the original concept. Bonus pics: And in conclusion a special "Thank you" to my fellow builder, Bregir, for supplying the Queen's letter at the end. Happy building and thanks for viewing!! Edit: updated photos

Hark, thou surly knave!! Scurrilous scandalous scurvy scoundrel!! The name of Her Majesty of Corrington, adorning a vessel manned by vile and filthy pyrates?! In the name of all that is right and proper I demand - uh, umm... actually, that's a really good idea, and it seems so obvious now that you mention it... Excellent vessel. Or galleon, if you prefer, although for me the prow and forecastle don't quite have the galleon look; otherwise she's good. The brick-built hull looks great, and both bow and stern turned out nicely. The basic combination of brown, black, and gold looks great on any ship in my opinion, and the stern decor in all three colors is a neat idea. Overall the shape and details are quite good, and what we can see of the crew looks worthy of the real (non-PotC) QAR reference. The figurehead and lanterns are very creative too. Good work and a fine addition to the fleet.

One of Calvin's Spaceman Spiff fantasies in Calvin & Hobbes; he's been captured by aliens (his parents, as usual) who are threatening torture (the dinner table, as usual). After reading your alliteration in P this was the first thing that came to mind.

The Phredinator strikes again!! So that's how to play it... meanwhile I'm still "mopping"... Oh well. I rest easy knowing that: Anything you can do, I can do redder!

I volunteer for Corrington. Just because you Eslandolians like gold doesn't mean you can swipe every "g" you come across.

Excellent idea for the arts. The microfigs are perfect for puppets and the hat full of coins is a nice feature. The arched wall makes a nice backdrop and you have a good cast of characters in the audience. But what's this gibberish about a mummy king coming from the desert? Get out! I wonder if Paolo the phenomenal puppet player of Pontelli has ever "poised precariously over a percolating pit of putrid pasta"? (Just a bit of comics trivia for you. ) Good work.

This garden is easily one of my favorites of your creations. It just looks so perfectly life-like. The decorated wall with the integrated arches is beautiful and the big staircases leading from it to the garden are fantastic. The cobblestone looks terrific, and the fountain is a superb design, especially the sculpted perimeter. But the fleur-de-lis hedges are the best part - I love the artistry of beautifully trimmed hedges in real life and these are the best design I've ever seen in Lego form. It's a perfect garden to my eyes and very worthy of a visit by the royalty. The carriage is also a lovely design, especially the big glass enclosures on the ends. Excellent work all around.

Another fine classic type vessel. The colors are definitely unique and should make her easy to spot. The angled windows on the cabin are nice, and overall she has a pretty good form despite the somewhat severe slope of the tumblehome. As for the rigging, that is indeed a tricky classification with all the different points to consider. I can't decide for sure just what she would be - besides a fine addition to the fleet!

Lovely classic-style fort. It's perfect for those classic bluecoats, like a re-imagining of the old Eldorado Fortress or a major remake of Sabre Island or something. It has good firepower without being overkill. The sloped walls look nice; too bad the corners don't match but it's still a good design overall. The tower would be vulnerable but if you're going classic you gotta have one, right? Good work.

Nice vessel. The shape is pretty good and those colors are lovely. The gunport covers might be easier to close if they opened the other way, but I did read your reasoning; I know some designs are tricky. The rigging looks pretty good - the technic bits are wonderful, I agree - but my somewhat limited knowledge of different sail plans had me scratching my head until reading through the replies. Overall she's a fine vessel.

Lovely longhouse. As previously mentioned, it's nice to see some natives besides just the usual islanders. It looks very historically accurate even if this isn't really tied to real history. The activity looks pretty good too, and it's nice to see an inside view. LDD isn't my preferred approach but this turned out well and could represent some of the natives who lived in or near my area about three- to four-hundred years ago. Good work.

Beautiful blacksmith's forge. The overall shape is excellent and that roof technique is brilliant. I like the cornerstones in that color and the black/gold windows look great on white walls. The interior may be somewhat sparse but it has enough details to be sufficient for a forge. The changing terrain looks really nice compared to a flat base as well. My only concern is the appearance of the chimney; it just looks so offset in the one pic. But otherwise this is a fine creation.

Beautiful building. The exterior shape and roof look really nice and the golden cupola is a neat feature. I really like that interior as well with all the details. It's a fine addition to the colony even if it was based on something else. And the overview of the street gives a good look at your growing arrangement. Keep it up.

Beautiful arrangement. It's a very stately park with that fabulous monument and the geometric base. I assume the cobblestone would look different beyond the bounds of this creation to preserve the geometric design, and that the empty corners would contain grasses or hedges or flowers or something. The assembled crowd looks really nice as well. Overall it's a lovely and peaceful setting. Good work.

This is a bustling port scene and chock full of good details. Building such a big dock allows for a realistic display of people and materials. The animals are cute (well, maybe not the skunk...) and you have a diverse crew of individuals present. I'm impressed by the barrel of metal rods ("merchant bars" aye?) as a nod to realism in a young colony. The plants growing under the dock also provide a little more life to the scene. Keep it up... and have fun writing those reports!

Beautiful interior. I think solid white works very well with the red-and-gold throne as a brilliant focal point, and it's all very nicely done. The crowd looks good, the shell piece is perfect for the setting and the queen's new attire is noted. And of course the speech is appropriate as well. Good work.

This is an interesting continuation/end to the story. That jail looks great (for a jail!) and the door and mat are indeed very good designs. With the current tenants one can only pity the souls incarcerated therein. Good work.

Excellent port scene. The muted earth tones of the buildings look great in this setting. The lighthouse is beautiful and the elevated walkway connecting it to the other building is a neat feature. The decorated stone quay looks very convincing with the uneven dark grey of the wet surface. And of course you've filled the scene with lots of nice minifigs and other details. Lovely depiction.

Neat little park. I like those fences and the tree and podium area both look nice. The flag-waving crowd looks great, but I don't envy the priest and his armload. Good work.

Fantastic vessel! Her lines are lovely, the colorscheme catching and the masts and rigging just about perfect. She's a very well-balanced design all the way around, and both bow and stern look really good at that scale. The level of detail is just excellent. Good work.

Very good old carrack/galleon type of vessel. The white over brown colorscheme is neat, and certainly not common. The overall shape is nice and she's a fine addition to your fleet. Pity the rigging is incomplete; perhaps you can share some pics when she's finished? Good work.

Excellent smithy. The walls and roof look perfect for the time period. The stash of weapons in the front is nice and the big pile of chains looks useful. It has an old feel about it, and captures the essence of metalworking perfectly. The presentation of the gift sword is really nice as well. Good work.

The "painting" is neat and the build is a really nice laboratory - but I must confess I'd never heard of phlogiston or the associated theories before (hey, they don't teach superseded theories where I come from...) It's a nicely detailed build with lovely colors and of course the money monkey is noted. The spiral staircase looks really good in this setting - better than those parts usually look. I like that this is part of the house; it's a good way of building larger interior scenes without having to build a huge house or mansion to start with. This whole affair has made for an interesting read...

If you need ideas for a settlement name on either of the two new islands, I suggest "Phredbricksburg."

Nice facade, and such a diverse crowd! The scribe and artist are cool features. I like that balance over the doorway, and the triumphant pose of L'Olius is cool. Congrats on the win.