Pandora

"We just need to keep pushing, once more with the Garnet from the back row." Nyx steels herself for yet one more round, and wonders if she'll need to hit herself with her Healing Staff, and whether she'll blow herself up in the process if she does...

These were points I thought I had already made. I did, in fact, highlight the fact that this is an Education set, and that it is used for teaching children, even providing information from, and links to, the Education website. That it is a set designed with education in mind notwithstanding, this set was on sale in one of my local LEGO brand stores. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that it may also be available in many other similar stores and that readers here may have the opportunity to buy it. I think I explained that my view is that people find Minifigs desirable, and thus the aim of the review (like any) is to give the reader a good idea of what they may expect were they to buy the same set. I expect readers here to be viewing the review from a collector/ AFOL point of view, not that of a teacher. I agree that the set is designed very well for education, but my point is that it does not necessarily provide value-for-money for a Minifig collector.

Hmm, it seems that all you blokes have some form of facial furniture. Is that the trend these days?

Best of luck to everybody! 2) The ski jump in Holmenkollen in Oslo (Sleepyhead) Entry (Build by Cecilie) - 1 point 7) Art Deco (Flamenco Dancer) Entry (Build by lisqr) - 1 point 10) My third wish (Genie) Entry (Build by Skafte) - 1 point

As so many have said, it was very difficult to choose: 4)Butcher Entry (Build by Walt) - 1 point 14)Mechanic Entry (Build by Yatkuu) - 1 point 31) Sleepyhead Entry (Build by watersnap) - 1 point

Nyx watches in horror as her magic bursts forth at the most inappropriate time. "Hans, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me! Yes, Atramor, maybe you should do the healing from now on. There's a few of us to heal, though." Nyx surveys the remaining enemies, and then looks at her Garnet and Amethyst, trying to decide. "Well, I paid a lot of money for this Garnet, so let's see if it was worth it. I shall cast Earth magic on Bombster A from the back row."

Hello, I'm Polly Altamont, and I think I'm in charge of wearing green hats. While we sail wherever we're going we must ensure our beloved Royal Family come to no harm and protect them with our lives. Obviously.

"Thothy, do you mean Bomb B or Bombster B? Bomb B will either explode next round or the one after, unless we're lucky enough to gain a Special on it (which would require targeting it). And we don't yet know how much its explosion will damage us for. Our strategy might perhaps change if we knew? If not targeted this round, and if it doesn't explode, then it will cause zero damage on a free hit. Bombster B, if not targeted, will land a free hit for 10 health, and doesn't have a time limit."

This seems to come up a LOT lately, time zone issues in battles, I mean. It's been an issue since the dawn of Heroica, and will never change. It isn't that much of a problem, though, as long as players are active. For what it's worth, Zepher posted that at one of the rare times in an average 24 hours that I'm actually asleep. I'd much rather be on quests because the QM wants those particular characters than because everyone is neatly in the same time zone.

"I think we're getting somewhere, now. This is a good opportunity to regroup, if we are to last long enough to finish these guys off. Also, it works better to put those with lower health lower down the action order." "With that in mind, I'm going to start hitting people with my Healing Staff, starting with Hans, and obviously doing so from the back row. Now is the time to work on our endurance; we shouldn't just keep ploughing on with attacking until more of our number fall."

Battle strategy is one of the most fun things in Heroica for me. ... so I really hope strategy is what you're referring to..

"Hans, I'm sorry, I really didn't know any of that. Clearly you're a valiant and honourable fighter, and you've reassured me that you will fight with us and I'm happy to fight side by side with you. What matters now is doing our duty: protecting Nikolai and the good people of this marketplace from Wren and her lackeys. This is something we can both agree on, yes? " Nyx smiles at Hans, realising she may have misjudged the man in her hot-headedness.

"You think less of me because I'm willing to fight other people's battles for them? I'm sorry you feel that way Hans, but I was merely being practical. We do also have to consider the possibility of imposters and spies, and the only people I can truly rely on right now are those who travelled with me from Heroica." Nyx watches in horror as the attacks fly at Tarn and Harkenshire. "We have been decimated by inattention. We must focus. We have five enemies and four of us still standing, one of whom is at perilously low health. Thothwick, you need healing, so I suggest you do not act (or act against the bomb XX if you must act) and you place yourself low down in the fighting order. If Atramor is targeting an enemy I will hit you with my Healing Staff. Unfortunately, this will give the party three free hits from our enemies. I would suggest that Hans goes high in the action order (at the top) as he has a good amount of health and that he acts against XX (the man) as he is already burned and that Special doesn't stack. No-one can afford to take a free hit from him, and if he isn't targeted then we may as well just give up. Atramor also has a good amount of health, and I have some too, though not as much. I would suggest that Bomb B is the other target (in addition to Mr XX), as we are running out of time more with that bomb. If we get the tactics right, pay attention to the details, and have a little luck then we can get through this. Thothwick, decide whether you want me to target Bomb B or and have Atramor try to heal you, or have Atramor target Bomb B and have me hit you with my Healing Staff." "I believe Mr XX will only leave when we have defused all the bombs, not just the XX bomb." Nyx looks again at the fallen teammates that she hadn't even yet gotten to know, the sadness and anger fuelling the fire within. "Come on guys, we can do this! " OOC: I unhappily have to be honest and say that if I scored only a hit against bomb XX then I would have only gleaned 60 damage, however if you mis-typed and it was in fact a critical hit, then it's correct. The guilt would eat away if I didn't say something.

Nyx feels the barbaric blood-rush of battle; a sensation that was becoming increasingly familiar to her, and not unpleasant, too. "I shall target Bomb XX with Lightning magic from the back row. Of course the other option is to wallop Tarn with my Healing Staff, but perhaps we should focus on the bombs. I note that the coward XX will run away when we destroy his bombs, but I doubt we can defeat him and then the bombs before their timer tuns out. Which is a shame as his Explosive Staff and Fire Amulet look intriguing to say the least. I also think Hans would perhaps be better suited to targeting XX, as he is, uhhhhhm, slightly more... expendable than you are, Thothy. Sorry Hans. "

"Hello boys, miss me? Ewww, urrgh, get this bloody chicken off my head and out of my HAIR!" Nyx frantically scrambles at her head to dislodge the chicken from her head before any accidents happen. With that completed, she regains her composure and turns to Thothwick, appraising the situation. "Right, anyway, I have a Topaz, and you need some bombs gone. Would you like me to target Bomb A which has a lot of health missing, or make a start on Bomb B? We won't have to worry about free hits now, at least. "

I'd love to sign up, please! 1) I've been lucky enough to play a few games, and highlights for me include surviving almost to the bitter end as n00b scum in Isla Paradisa, taking down a scum right before my premature death as vig in Fabuland Housewives, and winning with a fabulous scum team (and SK ) after being converted in Baritones 3. That and co-hosting IMHOTEP with Ru, which was crazy and hilarious fun for us. 2) I'm not planning any arguments , however in terms of time conflicts: I will be in Billund for The Event. I will make every effort to post, and might even make a valiant attempt at staying sober long enough to make sense, too. I suspect this won't run over into Brickworld... 3) A few come to mind, but I shall pick Draggy's Cop claim in Baritones 3 and Foog's Doctor claim in IMHOTEP. They were both played artfully and were both situations where I was privileged to know the truth and thus all the more impressive to watch them evolve. In both situations (and also with Inky in Werewolf) the lies were bolstered by elements of truth, making them all the more powerful.

"I managed not to set fire to him or his chicken on the last quest; I'm kinda used to him now. " As an afterthought Nyx adds: "Thothwick, you do know you pronounce my name with a 'y' not an 'i', don't you?"

"Thothwick you are our leader and I will do whatever you wish. I will say, though, that these days I pack one hell of a punch (and I don't even break a nail in the process, which is nice,) although I have keen eyes too. If you were to wish me to act as guard, then I know I can fight effectively with Atramor, although obviously I have no doubt that any of us would work as a duo." Nyx turns to Nikolai and flashes a charming and delightful smile. "General Nikolai, do not worry, we will have you fully covered whilst you make your rousing speech. "

"Please, do take us where you need us to be, Mr Phil. "

Nyx bows deeply and gracefully towards both Hans and Felton "Greeting sirs, I am the mage Nyx and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. It would seem I am at a disadvantage here, knowing nothing about Wren except her name and that which you have just told me, however, she strikes me as someone who lurks in the shadows like a coward and works by whisperings and manipulation. She also strikes me as someone who needs a ruddy good slap. If she is indeed involved in the assassination attempts, then I see no conflict of interest here. We will protect those whom we have been requested to, and if we encounter her along the way then we shall... kill two birds with one stone, as it were. We shall heed your wise counsel, don't worry, however if we fail to do our duty in protecting the assassination targets then that will likely only aid her further. It sounds as though you have yet more information to gather, so I have every confidence that you will find us again when you have a better idea of where she is and what she's up to. Meanwhile, we really should stick to our itinerary. Thank you for your information."

2) 1 point 6) 1 point 8) 2 points 9) 1 point 13) 1 point 14) 1 point Best of luck to all the entrants; there are some hugely intriguing MOCs here.

"Yup, onwards to the Palace. Mr Phyllius can tell us about the cults and chimera and Sphinx and stuff on the way, unless he thinks there's somewhere else we should be in the meantime. "

The wheelie cart is great Tazzie, and love the idea! Taz, with this MOC, you are spoiling us!** **Really hope you had the same badly dubbed adverts in Aus as we did over here, otherwise that's even less funny.

Nyx turns to look at the Metasimian while he appears to have some sort of attack of weirdness. "Uhm, wow Thothwick (that is your name, right?) that's a bit... unexpected. You don't usually take medication or anything, do you? Kinda cool to be contacted directly by a dragon though, even if it was a bit lacking on the details. So we need to kill some cultists. Somewhere. And then probably the chimera, and I bet that thing will be really ugly and have bad breath. I'd really like to meet a dragon, though. They sound kinda cute. "

Indeed we do. I'll merge them shortly.