Grover

Wow, this hearkens back to the old school classic castle, sort of an interesting combination of the guarded inn and the black falcon's fortress. How great! I like how you build it around a corner, too. Gives it a lot more depth without having to build a ton more structure. The bread sign is great, and the positioning of the cart around the corner gives it a lot of motion. Nice job!

Nice job! The stonework is great, as others have mentioned. I think it can be difficult to get enough texture only working with one or two similar colors, but you did a great job. The story is hilarious with the gruff dwarves that open up when presented with food. Can't wait to see where the next part of the story goes!

Ha! We both had the same idea of a campfire! Nice job! I like how you shot it with enough light that you can see the trees as silhouettes in the background. Makes the scene very believable, as if there were crepuscular photos taken. I like the conversation as well; makes me wonder what Davos is playing at...

Gorgeous! It looks like sand red on the right hand building... if it is, I have no idea where you got so much of it, but it really looks good. The color choice itself looks great and fits the area well. The orange roof texture is awesome, and I may steal it sometime because I have lot of orange slopes. The lighting is great, and the minis look fantastic in it. I love the texture between the orange and medium dark flesh on the outer wall. The archways look well done, too, and I like the plants growing on the walls. One question: What are the pieces making up the jars/barrels in the street? Are they older parts? I can't quite place them. They look great, so I am just curious. All the little details, like the roof garden, the spies, and the small shrine really add to the liveliness and realism of the scene. Very nice!

Oh man, what a great build! This reminds me of log rolling competitions. What a great story to give purpose to the competition! I like the buildings around the quay; the colors are great, and the textures are very consistent--it really looks to me like buildings that have been around the water a long time. The roof tiles on the left hand building with olive and orange are superb, and all the wedge arches look great. The plants growing inbetween buildings and such are very well done, and the minis looking around look good too. Outstanding build!

What a fun idea! The way the stands are built really captures my imagination and reminds me of the many medieval sets that are in movies. (By contrast, many of the official Lego sets for jousts and such seem rather sparse to me). I love the use of the slope roof pieces. I think it's great that your son wants to build with you. I hope that mine will want to build with me when he gets older. How fun to add all the minis to the build! I think the crowd actually looks good and makes it seem more lively. Well done!

This is kind of a subtle build that you don't fully appreciate until you see all the pictures. It's really well done. The overall scene is nice; it might benefit a bit from putting some of the stalls, etc. on studded plates so you can put them at a bit of an angle, but the real winners here are all the individual shots you have. The food stalls have great use of the backpack pieces containing the cherries and the new plant piece from HP, plus some nice color choices for the awnings. The axe throwing is a great idea, and I'm still not entirely sure how you got the one axe to stick in the grille there! The scene with Lady Eleanor looks very natural since they characters are not stuck to the gridded studs on the plate. The stilts walker and the musician are a very nice touch, and I love the puppet theater with the audience of mostly children. The pig roast is one of my favorite parts, and I like the use of the paddle for moving bread in and out of the oven, which, by the way, is very well placed. The tree is fairly simple, but looks really good in the dining scene, and the brick built legs on the lady facing away from the table is very nice. The bonus shots are great, too--gives you a feel for the rest of the build. As for lighting, I picked up some cheapo LED lamps that had flexible bases, and putting them on the sides of my build, filtered through a white cloth, really helped my shadows. I don't know how your setup is, but something like that might help. Really great job!

The photography here to capture the scene is fantastic. I really like the perspective and lighting you achieved. They highlight the details of the build, like the texture in the walls, and how the city comes together in terms of the streets (where the light and shadows fall, etc.). The uneven street, the details with the plants in the windows that are not that highly colored (probably due to lack of light) and the shady deal going on are all fantastic. Great job!

Very nice! I like the dark tone to the story, as it's probably realistic to what would happen during a shortage of food. The dark green and red with white accents are really interesting and I like it. As others have noted, it's a bit unusual to see the buttresses running from the main tower to the others, but if they are part of a larger wall, it makes some sense, and gives it a very medieval fantasy feel, which I appreciate. The beggars are well done with their lean-tos and the blankets as well. I'm really curious to see what happens as the story unfolds. Great job!

I really like this build. The color choices are fabulous. The olive green against the orange/brown road looks spectacular. The small structure looks great, too, and it took me a second to realize that you used the new pentagonal pieces for the roofing, which look great on the edge. The mini posing is very well done, and I am enjoying reading the story as they travel along. Great job!

For not having a lot of time, you did a really nice job with this build! It captures the flavor of the city well, and has some nice detail, especially on the onion-dome structure. I assume that the grey wall with window is meant to be a cut away of part of a building that's not shown entirely? I kind of like the border with its unusual shape and somewhat curved nature. Nice job!

Third freebuild period: Opening of the Prenmôr Quarry | Grover | Avalonia Heir of the Druids | Grover | Avalonia

With only 30 minutes left... just under the wire!

A mysterious stranger nonchalantly sets down a sack laden with unknown contents. After a few minutes, he walks away, leaving the sack behind. Within moments, another figure appears and, after looking about to see if he is being watched, picks up the sack and moves quickly away. What exchange has just taken place? Historican politics are notoriously secretive…

Despite the best intentions and efforts of Lady Gwenllian, Prenmôr remained in a tenuous position. As a new community, Prenmôr had no prior harvests stored, and the town relied on the ocean for the bulk of its food. So far, the villagers had been lucky to receive bountiful catches from the sea, but there was concern that this food supply would hold out until the grain harvest in the fall, and to a lesser extent, people were getting tired of a steady diet of fish and crustaceans. The arrival of surplus grain from the royal storehouses came as a delight and relief to the townsfolk. Lady Gwenllian wisely ordered half the shipment set aside to be stored as a guard against a potential shortfall of food until the fall harvest. The other half was ground and distributed to the townsfolk. In honor of this celebration, Lady Gwenllian’s household used her hearth to bake breads and confections for the populace, and a feast was held on Friday evening on the beach. Eating, drinking, dancing, and laughing took place around several small fires on the beach, making the mood light and happy that evening. Lady Gwenllian spoke with all of those in Prenmôr, regardless of station, winning the respect of her charge. Nobility usually did not mix with the peasantry, but Lady Gwenllian found no shame in this, and rather appreciated hearing the concerns and delights of the locals so that she could better lead the community.

Lady Gwenllian gave some thought to the Queen’s decree that all municipalities should participate in some sort of revelry. Prenmôr was still a fledgling community, and practical considerations had to be made. There weren’t enough townsfolk to staff an elaborate fair, jousting tournaments required large prizes and housing for more guests than Prenmôr could accommodate, and there were no traveling circuses at the time on the western coast of Avalonia. Thus, Lady Gwenllian settled on a concert. The stage was relatively simple to build and was adorned with the flags of each Guild. No seats were needed as the grass field served as a suitable seating arrangement while a special raised platform was constructed for invited guests of Lady Gwenllian. There was plenty of room for the crowd to camp on the undeveloped surrounding land, while Lady Gwenllian hosted as many of her invited special guests as she could in homes of her household. Two bands from Nocturnus were hired for the event: a zombie band, the Grateful Undead, opened for the headliners: the famous, ever-touring, centuries-old Rolling Bones. The day of the concert, commonfolk swarmed in from the surrounding countryside in the morning. The crowd swelled with the monstrous horde that followed the Grateful Undead from show to show. As the day wore on, fans from farther away, including Mitgardia, Kaliphlin, Varlyrio, and Nocturnus, began arriving to hear the famous bands play. Many of the lords and ladies of Avalonia made an appearance, and even some from Kaliphlin and Mitgardia as well. A few were flown in via dragon (courtesy of Lady Galaria, the mistress of dragons). The night grew dark and the skeletal band from Nocturnus made their way onto stage to the backdrop of magical fireworks provided by the band’s roadcrew wizards. The crowd was surprisingly large, having drawn from across the land. Lady Gwenllian’s family fortune had been built on brewed drink, and although she was unable to brew her own beer owing to the fact that Prenmôr had not yet seen its first harvest, she picked out the finest local beers, meads, and ciders for the concert, with some special wine in reserve for her invited guests. Some of the ladies of the guilds, Lady Eleanor of Bluevale, Lady Gwenllian, and Lady Galaria mistress of dragons, toasted one another with some spiced wine. Lady Seren poured wine for Lord Faladrin while Conrad the Sly waited patiently in line behind him for more drink. The guard lets Count Julian Arfelan back into the private section with his food. Naill chatted up a member of the local stonecutter's guild for leads on skilled labor for his community. Not all the concert libations were about the drink... Card tricksters hawked their game near the concession stand. A few of the concertgoers got a little wild. Visitors appeared from all over the realms. As the band played on into the night, a good time was had by all! Note: this build is 41x49

Nice work! There are a few non-traditional things going on here, and I think they all work really well: the non-white background gives me more of a dark sense of being underground, the irregular ceiling gives the cave feel (but a worked cave, not an unimproved one), and the use of completely dark grey stone makes it seem like it was carved out of one piece of stone (which it probably was, rather than a castle that is made of quarried stone). The dwarves and their beer is great, and you make great use of the barrels. I love seeing the dwarven builds. I think it's uncommon because building underground scenes is challenging, but you do a great job!

First, good for you for making something. I completely understand when there's no time to do what you wanted to do with a build. Second, this is quite a nice build. The black border, while being dominant, provides a nice contrast to all the white and seems to make the landscape more stark to me. Interestingly, the tree looks better to me from the overhead view. I think if I were able to see the base of the tree from the front view, it would make more sense as a tree at first glance. You did a great job turning the 'snow' at a diagonal to break it up from the border, and burying the cow's feet in the snow is great. I like how it has to be a sled in Mitgardia instead of a wagon! Nice work!

That warrior priest, D'uran D'uran, it seems like he might really Come Undone in an Ordinary World, were he not Hungry Like the Wolf. (Sorry, couldn't resist). As to the build... great job! I really enjoyed reading the story, and it was conveyed excellently through the closeup shots! All the little details in there, from the painting to the use of the gold tassels, tiles in the floor... I could go on and on... outstanding work. The posing, however painful it may have been, was well worth it, as it really adds to the story and you captured expressions of the characters perfectly. Great work!

Very nice build! There's so many great little details here... the root vegetable in the plate with the carrot, the slightly askew spear with the avalonian flags, the yellow flowers with the black pistils, the nice pine tree made from the palm branches... I like, too, that we get to see your sigfig in different clothing and in such a great situation. The story works well, and shows his compassion for the people. I like the bard playing the lute, too! If there is anything unusual, I think it lies in the photography. Some of the peasants seem to be leaning backward, but that's obviously the angle since it's the same with some of the women wearing dresses, and they don't bend. I'm not really sure how to fix that, but it's pretty minor. Great job!

What a great build! I love the idea of the sport having a dual purpose for military as well. I had originally thought of the Mayan ball games (which were kind of violent by some accounts) so I'm glad you included the historic link. Pretty interesting! I think the street looks good. It looks like a well maintained city street, which seems in line with this being the prominent center of attention for foreign visitors, and Varlyrio in general seems pretty modern given the medieval setting of most of the areas. I really like the color choices of the three main buildings. You have enough texture that they look realistic, yet not too much to seem run down or falling apart. The sand green vs. the white vs. the dark tan is great, and it's broken up well with the red/dark red tile roof on the middle building. The amazing thing to me is how well the light purple works. I would not have thought to use that lavender color, but it really breaks up the build and looks spectacular. Really well done!

This scene is hilarious and awesome. I love the idea and the way you depicted it. As you mention, the track is a little narrow but that’s a difficult thing to convey in bricks to make proportional. The colors and styling are great and I like the tree. The street pavement seems a little chaotic, but isn’t really all that distracting. Great work!

Great build! I really like the snot bricks for cobblestone. The roof texture and color choice go well with the brown and dark tan Tudor styling. The cheese wheels are great (or should i say grate?) and I really like the whole little scene. Nice job!

Very nice little build! I like the colors, lines, and the angled look. The flags overhead and the crating of supplies is excellent. You also raise a point, too, since Nocturnus is not playable, there aren’t many builds, and it seems overlooked (maybe we could all benefit from a challenge set there?). In any case, well done!

Really well done! As others have noted, a bath house is the perfect place for intrigue. I love the detail in the walls and the baths. There’s plenty of action with the figures and the story covers it perfectly. The only part that is a little confusing is the use of blue in the floor tile and as water, although if you don’t have a lot of trans pieces it makes sense. Great job and I want to see where the story goes!