Grover

Great dragon! Never thought to use the clear windshields as a stand, but they work well, maybe even better than a bunch of trans-clear bricks. I see a pattern here of brick built dragons... lol. Very nice!

When I first glanced at the build, I thought to myself "Wow, that's a lot of orange" and then I realized the structure was on fire! I like the feel of it. It reminds me in a lot of ways of the Forestman's River Fortress. The dark browns look great, and I like the fall feel. The story really helps me figure out what's going on, as it's hard for me to see the dragon for what it is in a couple of pictures. Usually the close up all-Lego pictures are some of the best in any build, but in your case, there's so much going on in this action scene, I actually find that the distance shots are the best. The ones of the back are really good, and I think my favorite is the last one where you can see things burning in the background. I'd like to see more of the dragon from the front, too! Nice work!

Nice work! I like the cold, Mitgardian feel to it. The knit cap on the blacksmith lends itself to intimating that the cold of the outdoors is seeping in through the windows and maybe walls despite the forge. Marcus' quarters looks more cozy. Love the stuff on the shelf there! I also like how the build has multiple areas that you can photograph separately, but they all fit together so you get a sense of where everything is in the overall shot. I also like how Virgil just drags this big dragon skull into the shop! lol The contrast with the indoor and outdoor scenes between orderly and disorderly (as nature isn't known for a lot of right angles) is good, too. The brickbuilt dragon is great, as are the bones around the lair. I'd assume it's summer since there's not a ton of snow piled up everywhere? Well done!

Very nice! I like the dark, Nocturnian feel. Once I finally get Prenmôr on the HSS map, I may contact you about a potential Nocturnus build. I really like the setting, and would like to contribute to some of the holes that need to be filled there. I'm really happy that you are continuing to move the Nocturnus story along, despite it being closed at the moment.

Very nice! It reminds me of what Lego is doing with a lot of sets now but better. I like the three little sections that you can position everywhere. I like the birch trees, too. They look great. I also like the color choices; the dark green is great, and I love all your small plants. The use of the horn pieces in the grass is well done, too. I like it!

@Servertijd and @de Gothia There are a lot of great builds, and a lot of great stories. I would, however, like to state that if I had won the last around, I would still vote for de Gothia. As a founding member of the Guilds, I think that it's awesome he put forth his own sigfig and think that he would make the best ruler of Avalonia, builds or no builds considered.

Thanks! I didn't want to spend a ton of time just to depict a quarry, so went small. I haven't done my HSS yet; I was waiting to post until I have enough to put Prenmôr on the map!

This is a fantastic build. The LBG and DBG are great together as almost counterchanged versions of the walls. The inner and outer walls really appeal to me due to their realism, and all the little details are great. Love the various arrow loops and the curved roof look. I'm curious if the holes between the round roof panels are covered up by the fact that it's black on black, or if they're just narrow--can't quite tell in the pic--but they look great. I like the use of sloped pieces on the middle tower roof too. The knights riding between the walls are a very nice touch, too! I would love to see the arrow loops on the crenelations more angled on the inside instead of boxed, but that is not an easy thing to pull off. I also like how the crenelations are actually useful and not just cosmetic like so many are; they would actually provide cover for an archer! Very nice!

Very nice build! I like how you mix the bright and regular green in the trees--makes it look like spring with new growth on the trees. The dark green and dark tan look superb--it must be nice to have access to so much of both! I really like how you and LittleJohn both try brick built creatures and they turn out so well. The squirrels are recognizable, although I prefer the one on the tree to the one on the ground, but that's just me. Your bird in the birds nest is great--same design as I've seen before, but still very nice. I like the idea of the orchard for the CCC, too--well done!

How did I miss commenting on this? I have no idea. It's a great build! Love all the closeup all-Lego shots. They give the story a cinematic feel, which is awesome. All the little details really stand out in the closeups--the wyvern/dragon on the wall, the scroll on the wall, the gates and stonework to the arena... awesome! The mini posing is also superb; it really looks like the characters are mid-motion. Great build and great story!

Very nice overall! There's a lot going on in these pictures. I like all the individual details: the guy on the ladder getting supplies off the shelf; the chandelier tied to the wall; the doors to the kitchen; all the food prep taking place; the vegetables made from pieces. All of these are excellent. While you say the lighting isn't great, I think it's all right. Not perfect, and you're right, the juxtaposition of the light from the wall is a little odd, but it's more of a subconscious notice. I think one of the things that I am not quite sure about are the high ceilings in the kitchen, from a practical aspect. From the microscale build, it appears that Druidham is carved into a cave (maybe it's built on an island mountainside, I dunno), so there's a question of space. Regardless of that, I would think that there are high ceilings due to heat dissipation over the ovens, but you have a modern style fume vent over the fire pit that would remove most of the heat, so it's curious why the ceiling is so high. The front scene is great, the back scene is great, but the middle (where the orc is working) is a little lost. If it's meant to make the scene look busy, it works well, but if we are meant to see it, removing a little of the middle scene may clean it up. In any case, it's a nice build. I like the doors, too. Do they open?

Absolutely hilarious build! I think you hit the tone of the gnome just right, being wholly focused on his own little problem and completely oblivious to the reality and dangers around him. Perfect! The mushrooms are a brilliant use of pink and the whole scene with mushrooms scattered about is great. The bits of olive on DBG look really good, too. The story works well and is interesting; it keeps me wanting to read about Fel and her adventures! Great job!

The mini challenge entries count as free builds still, right?

This is a superb MOC. I really like the feel of the entire build. The tower is great: texture but not messy looking, a solid roof, great detail work in the vines going up the side... everything I’d think of in a defensive tower. The blacksmith is also fantastic, and as others have said, is reminiscent of the older blacksmith sets but with more character and detail. i like the landscaping, too: the mushrooms with different angles are great, and the use of lever bases mixed with flower petals looks good. I think the lushness is spot on, and the colors of flowers seem naturally clumped together to me. I think it looks chaotic if yellow, red, and white are all on the same stems, but what you did looks natural to me. Outstanding work! We are lucky to have you building for Avalonia!

Where do you think the sewer lines go? To answer the first question, though, I only meant “In the Guilds of Historica” for domestic, not Avalonian.

Ah, OK, that makes sense, and down by the river, too! I should have thought of that. It kind of reminded me of spanish moss in trees, but the rest of the setting wasn't right for that. I like how the stream pours over the edge, too! I missed that the first time around for some reason.

Hopefully this doesn't happen, but what's the procedure in the case of a tie? It might be good to figure that out now before voting closes.

It seems to work OK for me...

We're supposed to vote for the longest story, right? lol (J/K) I am with @en_zoo in that I am basing my choices on storyline, in particular on how open-ended the story and character are. I also am partial to having an elven connection with characters. This has been a hard choice, as there are a lot of great builds and stories, so no one should be offended--everyone has done a fantastic job! Thus, my choices: @Faladrin @dalle @Grover (I mean, really, are we not going to vote for ourselves?) @en_zoo Also, I would like to inform everyone of the late entry challenger to the throne (and a total joke entry, so have a good laugh):

As usual, Bob shows up a day late and a dollar short. One fine Sunday afternoon, while Bob sat around his apartment in Albion in his underwear, drinking cheap domestic beer, and trying to fix his toilet, he heard the town crier announce that the royal court would entertain claimants to the throne. Bob thought to himself: "F&$% it! I'll try and be king!" before promptly passing out drunk on his bathroom floor in front of the only throne he'd ever sit on.

I intentionally made her more heroic, as I thought that would be appropriate for this particular calling, although her sword fighting is basic at best. On the other hand, I had a folk hero for my original concept: Yeah, I wrote a bit much perhaps, but I was having fun. My first thought was that we need a character who's awesome at everything to be worthy of the Avalonian throne. Or else you wind up with Bob...

It's a Varlyrian conspiracy!

Thank you! I didn't know about re-posing the figs, but glad to know I could have! If I have to do something like this again, I may take more shots with the figs reposed so that there's a more coherent story in pictures. Thanks for the comment about filling space--I struggle with not overfilling space, and I'm glad to hear that I didn't do that here. I think everyone loves the top of the tower shot, and that's actually where this whole idea began. I had the statue of liberty hair piece in gold and wanted to somehow use it and have the contender for the throne beheading a minidoll, so between those two things, this is the story I came up with! As for the narrative, I honestly don't really expect to go very far in the tournament, so I'm not too concerned with specifics. However, if it does come down to it, I think that we can make up a good narrative. I was hoping that you, Zilmrud, and maybe some of the folks who were on here since the inception of the Guilds could help me figure out the history of the druids (as the pre-history of the Guilds is kind of nebulous) and make up something that worked. As I said, though, I am not going to worry about it right now. Thanks again! Thank you! I at least wanted feedback from people, so I went ahead and entered it. I did have fun building it and thinking of how to make a MOC to tell the story, so I'm glad people seem to like it. And yes, that hair blowing in the wind is really the apex of both the tower and the build I think! lol! It was a bit long, but I'm glad that you found the story compelling enough to keep reading! As for the studs up, they are supposed to be up on the borders of the upper floors, as these are meant to represent the wall that you can see through. The studs up on the stairs, though are just an oversight on my part. Thank you for the feedback! Thanks! I had fun with the build for sure. The staircase isn't as flimsy as it looks either, it's reasonably stable. As I mention above, I think that the last shot really kind of makes the build for sure!

Thank you! I didn't know if it was allowed to re-pose the mini throughout the build, so I just made a different Penelope on each level (although she didn't change clothes between the first and second floors, so I needed duplicates of the forest maiden CMF). I happened to have a classic dragon, and though it doesn't look as realistic as Smaug, it did fit the 16x16 requirement! As for the head, I really had to think about that for a while, because I wanted the gruesome look of her beheading a minidoll, but with the white feather, I figured it looked like her holding a few strands of white hair, so it worked out. Yeah, the size limits made the photography challenging (such as the staircase kind of being in the way of some stuff, and you can't see the door to the basement on the first floor, despite it being there). Thanks for taking the time to actually read everything! lol It's about 6400 words. Oddly, since I type about 100-110 words a minute, it only took me about 15-20 min with breaks, etc. to type it up. I was able to think about the story driving to and from work, and the most difficult part was finding time to build, 20 min here, 30 min there, until I had it done. I had to push last night a little bit, but finally got it finished!

I am enjoying reading the stories of Conrad and his men! As the others say, the indoor build is superior to the outdoor build, but both are interesting and tell a story. I am not sure what I could suggest for a more cohesive outdoor scene, although W Navarre's suggestions about clumping colors together is good. I do like the beehive and the multi-level scene for sure. The bridge and waterfall on the stream are reminiscent of Robin Hood and makes for a good story. I am a little curious about all the vines, as it makes me think more of a jungle and less of a hardwood forest, but the scene is still enjoyable. Nice work!