Henjin_Quilones

Nicely done! I appreciate the SNOTed crenelations there at the top of the wall, along with the iron cross supports. The stonework, as with the first wall, continues to look good, too.

A fight to the death, obviously. Or rather un-death, or whatever, since you are vampires...

I am not definitive, but to quote the challenge prompt: "Winning isn’t easy… so cheating is encouraged. Depict a story (or comic) of your chef (or his minion) bribing Lord Raavage to ensure victory! "Is your chef going to sneak Raavage a few extra pies? Does your chef believe Raavage can be persuaded by something of a greener… or golder nature? Maybe you chef would prefer to meet force with force and threats are more your style? "Just like cheating isn’t subject to any stinkin’ rules, there are no rules for this category, go crazy, but surprisingly Lord Raavage has a sense of humor, funny entry will likely score higher." (emphasis added) So I would say that yes, bribery is required since it explicitly says "bribing", but what exactly you construe as bribery is up to you. Perhaps you paid off someone to sabotage someone else's entries, or something of the like. Or whatever. It also says "there are no rules for this category", so...

I read that in the story and actually thought of you, Vlad. And then thought, "Uh oh, this could be contentious!"

Very nice! It is appropriately dismal and dark. I love the pool of blood and the piles of bones! The giant, red-eyed skull and the stone texture of the walls are also quite nice, though if I were to complain about anything it would be that it is a bit stud-filled. I would prefer more tiles used to smooth things out a bit. Otherwise, the droid-arm vines and the candles are a nice touch, and the build looks great!

I like the use of an irregular base on top of a regular border; it keeps it looking classy while allowing for something organic, too. The stonework on the fence stands out to me, in addition to what others have said. Nice work! By the way, did you modify that quiver to make it fit on the leg-peg? I have often wanted a hip-quiver, but the hole for the neck peg is too small to fit on a leg-peg and I am always leery of altering or modifying bricks in any way. It looks good, though.

Definitely. It looks a little sloppy otherwise.

Thank you! The lore is always fun to write, and I am probably a better storyteller and writer than I am a builder and (certainly) photographer. Thanks, Titus! I thought the base really improved the presentation. The brick separators as lava were my favorite parts of it...I have so many of those things just sitting around (and I never need more than one to actually separate bricks) so I have tried to find clever ways of using them. They will probably be seen again in a future build featuring the Lava-born. I actually was using a small-ish digital camera that is now some years old. I have never figured out how to really use it beyond pointing and clicking, however, which might be a worthwhile use of my time in the near future to try to maximize its abilities. It is certainly no DSLR camera, though. My problem with this build, at least in part, I think, is that I did not really build with photography in mind, and so it was difficult to get pictures where there was adequate light inside the build and where anything could be seen around the shrines and columns. I perhaps packed my 16x16 base a bit too densely. An interiorly placed light brick, had I possessed one, might have helped. In the future I will try the outside idea, as I can never get the right lighting with the windows, but as I live on a corner lot without a fence, the neighbors will be able to see it... And I am a beer guy myself (I'll drink wine when served it, but seldom seek it out), so that was no knock on the malty, hoppy, yeast-enhanced barley juice. Divinities, however, are fickle beings with strong preferences... Thank you, SK! Glad you like it. I love lava themes, especially with my small army of Nexo baddies.

Your battle-sequence posing and photography are superb, as I think I have said before. The story had me quite in its grip as I hoped with Exetrius that he do well in his fight, and I was sorely disappointed that he lost. Well-done! (And thank you for those overview shots! Finally...)

I'm not sure about the first, as I have never done it, but as to the second: Go to the curvy arrow thingy and click on it, and then when this screen comes up choose the size that you want. Just do not choose a size larger than 800x600, per Eurobricks site rules. Hope that helps.

That's a great use of forced perspective on that tower in the back. As SK said, the headlight brick windows are lovely. In fact, that whole tower is lovely. The rest of the scene is well-done, and a clever way of re-introducing a character after a long absence...although I guess it is not yet a reintroduction so much as the beginning of the backstory to re-introduce a character... I love the curved wall and the bag over the head, but really the lighting sells it. Great job.

Excellent tree and a great story! I love what you do there with the axes and droid arms, but since I have all of two axes (I have a decent number of droid arms, but far inferior, I suspect, to what would be required for a build like that) I will have to pass for now. It allows for a very organic shape, something not often or easily achievable with bricks, with a lovely bark-like texture. That said, I think the build as a whole looks good still, despite the narrow base. A tree like that perhaps deserves more around it to anchor it, but I am not turned off by what you have. It serves your story well and does not detract, perhaps because of the density of foliage on the ground. But that tree is something else. I especially love the subtle two-tone foliage and the very irregular angling of the leaves, creating (as above) an organic shape.

Long live proper grammar, precise punctuation, and the Oxford comma!

I have to say, this is some beautiful rockwork! The balance of the form, with the overhang and winding path, makes it almost bonsai-tree-esque, in a very good way. Well done! And the pictures look great, too.

I have a new build posted, for the Nocturnus Minichallenge II: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=140196 Expect to see some of those characters in Avalonian builds from me in the future... And @en_zoo: You are welcome.

Thanks! That's what I was hoping you would say. Here is a link to my entry to the challenge: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=140196

On behalf of the Resistance in Nocturnus: Deep beneath the Rakath Mountains, hidden from those uninitiated into the Cult of Kanohau, the god of Fire and Volcanoes, lies the holy temple of Kanohau. Even most Nocturnians are unaware of its existence, or of the race that tends it, for it has but newly made contact with the dwellers of the upperlands. There, in the heart of an active volcano, the lava-born gather each summer solstice, when the sky-fire burns the longest, and offer their gifts to their powerful god. The offerings of food and wine are intended to feed the hunger of the fire-god, who could starve otherwise without the added fuel, and ensure that the flames continue to warm the people of the lava and that the rivers of lava continue to visit their towns and homes. The food and wine offered are taken from the upperlands, plunder from raids to the surface, proof of the power of the lava-born. The entrance to the temple is carved from the surrounding bedrock. The fiery face of Kanohau greets the acolyte daring enough to approach, glowing in its wall-shrine. A bridge connects another part of the cavern to the temple itself, arching over a river of molten lava pouring out of the temple. Here Magmarthan, a queen in her land to the west, beneath a newly-risen volcano, pays tribute to Kanohau, accompanied by her minions. Kanohau especially likes turkey legs and sausages, but fish and sometimes even vegetables are also acceptable tribute. And wine. Kanohau loves wine, but only the dry red varieties, like a nice Cabernet Sauvignon. White wine is for sissy deities, and beer is for horses. Queen Magmarthan is well-aware of Kanohau's preferences and has chosen an excellent vintage of CabSauv stolen from the finest vintner in Avalonia. Within the temple are three shrines. The main, central shrine is to Kanohau himself, while the other two are shrines to Gem of Eternal Fire, said by the lava-born to be the source of all fire in the world, and to Kilahau, Kanohau's semi-divine son, the first king of the lava-born, who was conceived when Kanohau laid with a river of lava. .............................................................................................................................. _______________________________________________________________ This is my entry to the second Nocturnus minichallenge. It was rather difficult to photograph as I designed it with too much enclosed space, preventing light from getting to the middle of it. However, the shrines are easy to remove to provide access to the interior space. I still find myself wishing for a better camera and better photography "studio", as the pictures hardly do it justice in my opinion, but they are the best I can do with my current budget and resources. C&C is welcome. *I have edited the post to include an affiliation; I chose the Resistance for this post because I imagine the lava-born do not like the Drow, being competition for underground space, and they reside in the western portion of Nocturnus under the Rakath Mountains.

A name would be good, so that it can be placed on the map and identified...

I'm not a Mitgardian, so I cannot speak for the cold-hearted tundra-dwellers, but I see no reason why anyone wishing to rejoin the guilds, any of them, after some time away would be turned away (aside from banishment, I suppose...you weren't banished, were you?). Anyone wishing to be a part of the undertaking, to a great or small degree, (providing they play by the rules, of course) is welcome as I see it. So welcome back to the guilds! (And if the frozen hearts refuse to thaw, come down to milder winters somewhere else, like the green land of Avalonia...)

You have a way with landscaping, and really dense foliage in particular, that is just stunning. While it looks unnatural (in the sense that I have never seen a real-life swamp look like that) it seems so believable. The fungi or plants, whatever those large organisms are, are beautiful, and the glowing flowers/fruiting bodies add a splash of color to the landscape that creates distinct visual interest. I like the variation of height and the uneven edge of the land, as well as the uneven depth of the lime green water. It is a great use of light bricks, too! All in all, another impressive build from an impressive builder.

Going down to the sea I am sure that the main one is navigable, and undoubtedly serves as a major artery of trade for the capital, with barges and other vessels making the trip regularly. There is always the possibility of a waterfall or rapids of some kind on smaller rivers, but a major river like that is either too large for such things or has had them removed by the inhabitants over the years (with locks/dams). So if you want a way to sail from the sea to the capital, go for it, as long as your ship does not have too deep of a draught.

Do decorative borders count in the base size limit? Like in the second of Dubbagrim's pictures above? I was thinking of a 1-stud wide black border just to make it look sleeker, but it would technically make it 18x18. It is fully detachable, so I can not include it, but it looks better with it.

Nice build! This looks really good. I love that the whole base is SNOTed like that, making for a very smooth and polished floor. The tooth elements worked in there look great, too, emphasizing the bestial nature of the goddess. The actual image of the goddess is well-done, too, though the female element is a bit exaggerated (not out of character with other shrine or religious images, however...see the Venus of Willendorf). A good use of that head piece. I am confused about the water coming out of the statue, though; is it also a fountain, or is that actually just blue flame?

Great work with those SNOT-mosaic snake patterns! The tomb interior looks amazing. My major critique is that it seems like you have four builds just kind of joined together here: the tomb, the campfire, the horse corral, and the tower/tent. They do not flow very well into each other, and this is possibly related to what Titus and Kai have said, that the landscaping is too square (and each section has its own ground color, too, and even the cliffs transition from light to dark grey very abruptly). Each of them by itself looks good, and is a fine build, but together they do not really mesh well. Curves would go a long way, and also some more variation on the cliff height, maybe with the barrow up at the top, with the tower and tent just a little lower, and then the corral on a gentle grassy slope, with the campfire nestled under a much taller cliff protected from the wind but overhung by a memorial of death. It would require more pieces, true, but I think it would help the build look more like a unified whole. And more blending of the color edges would help, too. However, as I said, each part by itself looks great! The cliffs are well done (especially the light grey part--the dark grey is a little BURP-y for my liking), and the tower is a great example of hastily erected military camp architecture. The use of those droid arms for the horses' corral is great, too. Overall, a nicely done build.

This build has a lot of great details! The apple press is probably my favorite, but the sign and stained glass window also look great. My main critique is probably something you cannot do that much about, and that is that you have too many studs showing; I would prefer that the roof have tiles on it, and the grass have some sort of texture with built-up plates and tiles, and maybe a path in brown. For the last two pictures, have plates of blue or trans-blue for the water, and some curved pieces for the sand. It gives a more finished look to a build. It also requires a heck of a lot more pieces, which is why I always have had a hard time doing it myself. Don't let that discourage you, however! Keep building with what you have. I see some nice SNOT-work there with the barrel rack inside, and the roof construction looks good, too, so you are clearly no slouch with the bricks. Keep up the good work! (I am slightly mystified that a band of brigands can actually perform a trade, rather than merely drinking the recently discovered barrels dry, however...)