Ross Fisher

Sorry to hear that my fellow Pyrite, Basil Vatatzes, has been eliminated. Onwards and upwards, however. FWIW, I did calculate the odds of a new horse being a better choice than a replacement lance. It was marginal, but there was a slight advantage there. So I took it!

Congratulations to @jansued for winning this chapter! We will be in touch with your faction leader to determine the result of all this warfare. Regular chapters are on pause for now, particularly if BOBS Era III really is kicking off this summer. Please feel free to focus your efforts on the Joust.

This challenge is now closed. Please vote for your favourite entrie(s). The options are: LM71Blackbird merc Khorne Ross Fisher jansued

Deadline extended by a week.

You'll never convince me to love off-brand. You won't. Not listening. Loving all of the TLG parts you have used though!

Well now, thought Szejmus to himself, you've really gone and landed in the brown stuff. The man with the money, Cnaeus, had actually gone and bloody offered his service to Mardier. Now what in the hell would possess an Imperial Cavalryman do that? Here was an armoured company of Knights of Yeldo, some of the best soldiers in the world, heading straight at them, and there they were in the thick of it. Voluntarily. They could all have just stayed in Londa. Happy. Safe. Contented. But no! Instead here they were, on the edges of a muddy field in the middle of ancestors-damned Mardier, wondering whether they would survive the day. It was, according to yer man the boss, all part of the plan. Szejmus wondered grumpily whether the plan also involved increasing his pay to cover a pitched battle. To his right was a very smelly Mardieran huddled behind a kite shield. To his left was Cnaeus. Fair play to the man for slumming it with the rest of the boys. He could've sat up there in the cavalry if he'd had a mind to. Beyond him was Magnus and yet more Mardierans. A blacksmith, a noble, and a thug. And of the three of them, Szejmus was the least comfortable. After a bit of trial and error, and more than a few dirty looks from the Mardieran, he managed to lock his shield into the wall. The Knights were starting to pick up speed. Time to nut up or shut up. "Stick close by me," said the Pyrite. "We'll make it through." "Golden Hall or not at all! Golden Hall or not at all!" chanted Magnus. "Let's show them our hearts," answered Szejmus, "and then show them theirs!"

Done

War may be over, but that hasn't stopped ambitious noblemen, warlords and raiders from trying their luck. Now factions are at each others' throats once more. For this challenge, three nations are going to be attackers, three are going to be defenders. As determined by Mogholay (winners of the last Faction challenge) those are: Attackers: Mogholay Black Khanate Corrington Defenders: Pyros Oleon Mardier Please depict at least your own Faction in armed conflict! Depicting your enemy is also strongly encouraged. You may show more than one Faction on each side, but please stick to the roles assigned above. The winners of this challenge will decide which nations come out on top. Your MOC can be literally any size. You don't even have to include scenery if you don't want to. Just remember that every player gets the chance to vote for their favourites. If you want that to include your build, think about how you'd get people to vote for you. To submit an entry, add your own thread topic under Tales of Old. Start the title with [YOUR OWN FACTION - CH4]. You don't need to include the name of the faction you're fighting in your thread title. Once that topic is published, link to it in this topic. Easy! You have until 3 May to submit an entry. From 4 May, you will vote for your favourite builds. The faction with the single most popular build will decide what happens next. Players must belong to a faction before submitting an entry. We want to know who you're fighting for, after all.

@jansued You'll need to join one of the nations. Read the introduction thread to decide which one you like the most, then contact the faction leader to confirm that. Go ahead and join our Discord server while you're at it: https://discord.gg/Zdm9vjDVC

OK, let's get this started:

They had just landed on the Great Docks of Londa. It wasn't what Szejmus had been expecting. The closest he had been to a city of this size was the mean streets of Lisreagh, a grimy cesspool of smugglers and gangsters. But this place! By all the holy ancestors, it was grand. Wide streets, marble columns, paved roads? Don't get me wrong, the horses were still crapping in the streets, but it really seemed like someone had the job of cleaning that up afterwards. They were practically proud of their city. It was sickening! "What's first?" he asked Cnaeus. The Knight gestured towards two folks coming across the street. "My people; Antioche and Magnus." He spotted the feller first; a beefy blond half a head taller than most of the locals. Sure, he looked confident, but grumpy as all hell. Someone didn't want to be here. And the woman? A stunning Pyrite beauty, even with all that Mardieran formalwear. But just from looking from her to Cnaeus, it was clear they were kin. "Greetings cousin", she called with a wry smile. "We expected you a week ago." That would explain the grumpiness, then. "Salve, Antioche. It seems Poseidon had other plans for us. I hope we are not too late for registration?" "Already taken care of." "Right then!" interrupted Szejmus. "Pub?" Imperial Knight Cnaeus Antiochus and his entourage. L-R; Magnus Trolkin the blacksmith, Szejmus O'Legg as bodyguard, Mikki O'Legg as squire, and majordoma and chronicler Antoiche Prima. Be aware that Cnaeus has elected to bring an additional horse with him.

@Professor Thaum can't wait to see a tin helmet perched atop that skyscraper forehead.

Did you know, there was quite a lot of overlap between pirates and jousting? Pirates have existed from classical antiquity through to modern times. One example of direct conflict between the two was the Knights of Malta wars against the Barbary pirates. In England, jousting continued into the reign of Elizabeth I. But this is really just a chance to expand the world of BOBS TOO. Read the introduction thread, we're set in the equivalent to the mid to late 1400s. You might enjoy getting involved!

Okay okay okay, I can do this!

Voting is now closed. Thanks everyone for taking part. Congratulations to @LM71Blackbird for winning this round. A fantastic build, exactly what we were hoping for. Respect also is due to @LegacyBuilder for a quality build, which was winning the vote at times. We'll follow your career with great interest. We'll be in touch in due course to discuss the reward; choosing the prompt for the next individual challenge. For anyone who thought this would lead to a lull in proceedings; NOPE! @Khornewill be announcing the Joust any minute.

It's too yellow to use unfurled. At this rate I think I have to send it to a dry cleaner's. I should probably have brick-built, but I'm not that good a builder. If I made it out of bricks it would explode the second I tried to put any kind of pressure on it.

I'm voting for both @LegacyBuilder and @LM71Blackbird. Two fantastic brick-built hulls. They really fit the theme of our era.

Thanks everyone for submitting entries. Chapter 3 is now closed. The entries are: LegacyBuilder LM71Blackbird Ross Fisher Voting is now open. You have until 15 March to add a comment with your votes in the thread below. You can select multiple builds if you like. You may want to explain your logic, and you can give honourable mentions as well. Please make a clear distinction between your votes and any honourable mentions. Fortune be with you all!

My entry

Szejmus sat back against the rail. He'd just about enough of this gods-cursed tub. Two weeks they'd been on the water. He should've been home long ago. Mikki was talking a sailor's ear off. Kid had picked up bad habits on this voyage (all the ones he was missing, anyway). Yer man the Captain was idly leaning on the tiller back there, waiting for something to happen. Szejmus had interrogated him a dozen times on why they weren't home yet, but he'd just made excuses about doldrums and prevailing winds. Tempers might’ve flared, and now there were guards posted on the aftcastle. And so he turned to the only other passenger on this trip; the armoured giant who went by the name Cnaeus. As best as Szejmus could tell, this fella was an Imperial Knight. Part of the court of Emperor Heliandros himself. Why he was on this boat, he wouldn't say. Hells, the man wouldn't even take off his mask during the day. Rest of the time he was holed up in that tiny cabin. "Hey Cnaeus, what's the craic? I'm not loving all this water." "I have no love for it either, little Varcosian. We do what we must in service of the Emperor." "Oh right? Know him personal, do yeh?" "I do." "Get out! You and Heliandros IV, blessed be his name, yada yada? You're tight?" "I have been in his presence on three occasions." "Oh wow, three? That's grand!" "You mock me?" said the soldier, turning to eye him, presumably. With that mask, who would know? "Ah, don't ye worry bout me. No-one important in yer life would care what I have to say." "I, for one, do care. I agree with you that this journey has gone on too long. The captain was paid by the day. I suspect he is stretching this out longer than he needs." "Oh yeah? D'ye have a mind to do something about it?" "No. I have seen our reserves of food and water. He cannot stretch this out much longer. We shall be in Varcosia soon." "Truly? It'll be grand to see the Green Country again. Little Mikki is really getting under my feet." "He has much energy," replied Cnaeus generously. "And what will you do, when we land? Got plans, have ye?" "I had a second mission for the throne, in Varcosia." "No rest for the wicked, eh?" "Indeed. Which is why I am hoping you will join me." "Huh?" replied Szejmus. He was really hoping to get back to the old stomping grounds. "Got a compelling reason why I should?" "Ten thousand compelling reasons. And you will earn them." More money than he had ever seen. He wondered deeply what he'd have to do to be worth that much to the Pyrite. "Well alright, spin yer yarn and we'll see where we stand."

Lovely work! Some really nice shaping throughout. Wish I had the guts to brick-built hulls like this.

Apologies. I thought I'd included that, but it just said "in March". Thanks for the heads up @Professor Thaum! That's corrected.

Your path takes you out onto the open ocean. Show us the vessel you're travelling on and what happens on your voyage. This prompt has been chosen with help from @evancelt, the winner of the first individual challenge. This prompt will be subject to the rules laid out in How to Play. The subject is open to your interpretation. Your MOC can be literally any size. You don't even have to include terrain if you don't want to. Feel free to build in microscale (or other scales as you prefer). Your ship can be part of a larger convoy, but please remember that Trrraversa and the new world won't officially be discovered for a couple of centuries. Also, remember that every player gets the chance to vote for their favourites. If you want that to include your build, think about how you'd get people to vote for you. To submit an entry, add your own thread topic under Tales of Old. Start the title with [FACTION - CH3]. Then, once that topic is published, link to it in this topic. Easy! Entries will close and voting will open on 9 March. Entries submitted after that date may miss out on votes from their colleagues. Players must belong to a faction before submitting an entry. Feel free to ask questions here or to your faction leaders.

Voting is now closed. Thanks everyone for taking part. Congratulations to @Professor Thaum for winning this round. As always, it was a really great build, full of humour and iconic Lego building. We'll be in touch with @merc, as the Mogholay nation leader, in due course to discuss the reward; choosing the prompt for the next team challenge. The next prompt will drop at the start of February, so feel free to take the rest of this month off (or build on your character's story).