Exetrius

OMG! What a treat! Ash is probably one of my top 5 Ninjago figs ever released, he is superb! Thank our Ninjago marketing overlords!

This is a great set! The combination lock/hidden room feature, the complete look of the exterior and also the reconfiguration options are very well-done!

My Category A entry: Orc outpost flyby For the Resistance! Many very impressive entries, good luck to everyone!

Somewhere high in the Rakath mountains... Orc (crossbow) What's that sound? Orc (axe) Aye, what? Orc (crossbow) Rustle of the air, round the back of the mountain. ... It's getting louder, better check the pass! Orc (axe) Aye, gonna look, boss. ... Aye, something fly'nour way, kinda fas.... At that moment, a knight of steel shot past the mountain ridge at incredible speed, and leaving behind a blazing trail of deep blue flames... Zotharith's research institute recently developed a flying magical device, powered by exceptionally durable blue arcane crystals. Damascian of My'athar, a cunning, skillful knight, was entrusted with it, to carry out an important mission: calling all wandering wizards to return to Zotharith. His target being in some town in the Rod's Peaks, a long period of continuous flight ahead, Damascian was killing some time by doing nose dives and scaring a few mountain orcs out of their wits... Damascian Spire or not, these guys are just too much fun to mess with! ------------------------------ Hello guys, here's my Cat. A entry, for the Resistance! I hope you like it! I designed Damascian way back in April 2016, but I never really knew how to introduce this character or what his role would be, until this challenge came around. Also, I had been playing with the idea of a mountain ridge outpost for a very long time, so it was great to finally have a go at it (though maybe I got a little carried away with that part, given the catagory). I wanted to make the most of the 256 stud area, so I didn't go with the standard configuration. Extra images: Area is 217 studs, counted from the ground up to the third layer of plates. The original design for Damascian. Thank you for looking, C&C appreciated, as always!

Looking forward to the sets end of this week. I hope we also get some civilian (side) builds, like the ramen cart as seen in the trailer, or other things that we do not usually get. I'd be dissappointed if there would be no traditional ninja stuff of some sort. Sorry for going completely off-topic here, but I just wanted to share an image that got recently added on the LU wiki: http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/legouniverse/images/2/26/Earth_ninja_painting.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170202222052 Snake dragon ninja for the win!

The box on the left clearly says "series 17", while the right one is confirmed to be the Ninjago CMF series. No PotC series.

It's great to hear that you guys are still enjoying my story, thanks! @en_zoo I know not everyone likes spending a lot of time on reading, even though most of us definitely love lore. I try to keep it short and make it as easy as possible to keep up with (or get into) my saga. Having multiple scenes "in the brick" helps, because there is less need to be descriptive in the story.

Source: https://www.bol.com/nl/p/lego-nexo-knights/9200000070257348/?suggestionType=typedsearch

There's no telling from the pictures, yet. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst... However, in the Goblin Village set is a 1x1 round tile with the Goblin King mark, and those are always printed.

That's a big relief! I was scared they entirely ditched the elemental stuff that got me hooked to Ninjago in the first place! Looking forward to the full trailer!

I suggest that discussion of sets and other stuff related to the physical bricks is in this thread only, and plot, concept, etc. goes in the movie thread.

The next magazine will contain Kai, with rather forgettable equipment. About the movie figures I'm not going to say much just yet. For now, Jay and Lloyd look really good. Overall, great hairpieces.

Thanks a lot for the positive feedback, guys! @Grover Getting the pictures right is always a struggle, but it can be done with non-professional equipment: 1 desk lamp + white paper sheet + phone camera (Galaxy A3 2016). Afterwards, simple colour editing to make the colours more vivid, more true to how it looks real life or in bright daylight. Thanks you! Your criticism is really appreciated, I'm not the most literate person when it comes to major lore events... @Lazer Well, Carakath is a pretty small town that was easily overthrown by an archmage of the Spire.. that could work, right? @Muakhah I will rectify that part. Thank you, just a simple technique that I picked up from the Ninjago set (Temple of Light), but I think it looks nice.

Personally, I'm quite a fan of a diverse, powerful few, instead of a uniform mass. The middle one is especially unique. The enchantress in blue is really nice, I'm very surprised how well the combo between new and old works here!

Thanks, Kai! The window pieces only came in 2507: Fire Temple. Thank you! The build measures 12x16, the biggest challenge was getting as much of that space on the picture, without revealing the open ceiling and missing left wall. Thank you very much, Henjin! I will certainly continue building in this architectural direction and I should get back to ninja-mage battles in one of my next builds. Thanks you!

Here's a few variants, maybe yours is amongst them: http://brickset.com/minifigs?query=spider-man You can check the sets in which they come.

Great news for Dutch fans of LEGO: a LEGOLAND Discovery Centre will open in the Netherlands. The indoor theme park will be located at the boulevard of Scheveningen, doors are expected to open in May 2019. There will be an estimated 350 000 visitors per year. Source: http://www.omroepwest.nl/nieuws/3342777/Scheveningen-krijgt-de-eerste-Nederlandse-vestiging-van-Legoland I am very excited!

I think the new small sword is new, I believe someone came up with that idea from a historical point of view, so now that they've got the bugget, I think there will be better moulds all around. Exciting stuff. I'd love to see that tassel in gold! I've taken a better look at Lloyd and Garmadon. Lloyd actually has scale printing on his arms, which is really really great! Yet, even more exciting: the new samurai helmet has a recessed stud on the front, so I thing we can fit (printed) 1x1 round tiles in the space between the decorative element, how cool would that be!

Episode 13 of my saga has arrived: It's a little lengthy, but there's major plot advancement!

Exetrius Saga 1: Fallen leaf 2: Message in Kyrrath 3: Equipment upgrade 4: Subjection of a legend 5: Family Dinner 6: Attack of the Hunters 7: Taking the Runestone 8: Supplies Arrive! 9: Festival of the Ranks (part 1) 10: Festival of the Ranks (part 2) 11: Festival of the Ranks (part 3) 12: The ranks are out! Episode 13: Taking a stand, for Nocturnus! Three weeks ago, a messenger from the west brought the word of the new heir of Cedrica to Zotharith. The prevailing mood was positive, but some warrior folk and a couple of small bounty hunters groups were clearly displeased with the unfaithfulness to the rightful ruler of the land, Lord Raavage. His influence in Zotharith had been minor up to this point, since its existence had been little known by the non-magical society. That is bound to change, for a city that is continuously growing in size, prosperity and strength... In the heart of the city hall, also known as Zotharith Headquarters, Onicius was leading a periodic council gathering. Onicius Minister of the Department of Magic, please fill me in on the latest developments of the crystal reserves. Have the stocks recovered from Festival of the Ranks yet? Durkon (Minister) Your highness! The total volume of crystals is exceeding the last recorded level, before the Festival of the Ranks, by one fifth. However, two thirds of this total volume consists of mere red crystals. I estimate that the total mana capacity will be around 62.500 equivalent spells, which is a decrease of two fifths. On a more positive note, we once again created purple crystals, which means that it should be possible to reach the power level of... Onicius I assume the matter is urgent? Damascian (Messenger) Sir! My apologies for interrupting the Council. In the town of Carakath, a dark figure, who claimed to be an archmage of the Black Spire, gave me this letter. I heard they have been recruiting lately... Onicius Thank you for your duties, Damascian, take a seat. As for the rest of this council gathering, we will continue at a later time, you are dismissed! The councillors quietly left the room. Onicius took the letter and looked at the seal, it was genuine... He went into cold sweat, put the letter aside for a moment. He took a deep breath, opened it and started reading. "... By order of His Majesty, Lord Raavage, rightful Ruler of all Nocturnus, each settlement in the Darklands is obligated to send armed and trained troops on His call. ... Zotharith is requested to deliver an army of 500 worthy men, trained and equipped. ... Any resistance shall be obliterated under His own hands. Hail Nocturnus!" It was as he feared... Onicius Damascian, summon the Order of Zotharith, whoever is in the city right now! General Zeruko, Taskmaster, 1st and 2nd Division commanders, Lady Asagrim, Ryo, my son, wherever he is hanging out these days... Also, I want Durkon to be chronicler of this gathering. ... This is of utmost importance, be quick! Two hours later, everyone had assembled in the overcrowded conference room. Onicius recited the letter. After the tumult had subsided, he continued. Onicius My esteemed fellow wizards in the Order of Zotharith, gentlemen, ladies. Lend me your wisdom! Today's decisions will inevitably carve out our fates, even that of the city itself. Give me a piece of mind. Zeruko was the first to speak. Zeruko First of all, an army of 500 strong is ridiculous! Theoretically, we would have enough men, but what would that mean for the city? Farmers, tradesmen, fishermen; they would become soldiers, but soldiers don't feed themselves. Kira Derisquar How about the equipment: helmets, chestplates, swords... iron, barracks, everything! Our resources are gravely insufficient to support an army that large, am I wrong? Ryo Kokoro Can't you use magic for that or something? Zeruko Look kid, it's not that simple. You need... The discussion was getting out of hand and everyone was talking at the same time. Onicius SILENCE! ... Alright, continue. Exetrius Eh.. If I may say something? .. Let us start with our motives. Is there anything we can gain from having Lord Raavage as our ally? Zeruko Our motives? I suppose we want to save our pride, Zotharith, from complete devastation.. We built this city with our own hands, a place where we can all research the ways of magic to our hearts content and become powerful wizards! This is our home, is it not? We may not be rich, but we have powerful knowledge, which we must protect from falling into the wrong hands. Exetrius Then, is it right to entrust Raavage with this knowledge? Sooner or later he will certainly find out that the true power of Zotharith is magic, if he doesn't know already. Deliora Asagrim Lord Raavage already holds a vast amount of power, but he craves for more. In his vanity, he would slay anything and everything that stands up to his ultimate dominance. Mark my words: Raavage will take down his strongest allies, one by one. It happened to Covenant Lord Anfauglir, and the same fate will befall the others; the Algus, the Drow and eventually the Archmage Senurhem... It would happen to us as well. Onicius But, even if Raavage himself will try to take our power for himself, perhaps we can at least retrieve knowledge and power of his allies for our own benefit. Imagine the incredible advancements we could make, if we were to lay our fingers on Drow magic, or Algus... Deliora Asagrim With all due respect, Sir, but do you really think, there will still be a 'we' after our submission to the Spire? He will shatter our unity! When we are all on our own, what would happen to our ambitions? Our powerlessness as isolated individuals would break our spirit. Fear, despair and the terror of war will bring us to our knees, enslave us to the iron will of Raavage, until all that's left of us are shells without soul. Are we going to accept this rotten destiny? NO! We must join the Resistance! Onicius Thank you, Lady Asagrim. .... I have made up my mind. We shall protect our city, not only for our own sake, but for the fate of Nocturnus! Henceforth, I, Onicius Centario, Leader of the Order of Zotharith, will ensure that Zotharith becomes the most powerful Resistance stronghold of Nocturnus! All Hail Zotharith! Hail the Resistance! Hail Nocturnus! To be continued.... in the next episode: Ride through Nocturnus Hello everyone, here's a pretty small MOC with a pretty big story! Altogether, it took me long enough, so I hope you enjoy! Anyway, now that the epic revelation is done, I can finally do my Cat. A: Rider build without spoiling the fun. Thank you for viewing/reading, C&C appreciated! Oh, I also took an overview shot, I know some of you can appreciate :

Don't forget the new broad helmet and decoration piece, love those! About the symbol: it looks like a combination of katakana characters 'chi' ち as the basic form, and 'yo' よ for the curl down at the bottom.

Haven't seen a picture of the set, I think. Anyway, skip to 3:16 and focus on the minifig turntable. Ursala looks fabulous!

What else could it, honestly?

Seems like the castle actually has a lot of depth to it, contrary to what I expected.

I know, right! The background city looks AMAZING!