Dragonator

Happy Birthday Tanotropper, hope you have a great one! Your contribution do these boards is very much appreciated, especially the Roman Mafia at the moment. For that, you deserve your greatest Lego dream to come true (a Roman theme perhaps? ) Make sure you eat lots of cake and Lego!

Finally I have completed my most recent project, and I thought it would be nice to share it with you all. I am fairly new to the MOCing business, but I already have some large projects planned. This particular one was first started as a tester for a larger project I have in mind. I wanted to try out using various building techniques, such as making studless cliffs, SNOT rivers, window designs etc. Then I found out there was being a competition run here in NZ, so I decided I should try and finish it for that. Lastly, it is going to be the set for a part of the EB RP game, which is great fun, and definitely worth joining! (I seem to be promoting a lot at the moment, Promotion ON! ). Anyway, on to the MOC. It is called The Ravine, and this is in relation to the name of the tavern as well as to the fact that it is beside a ravine (or gorge if you want to call it that, but ravine sounds better ). This is the original planned set up, with the crown nights defending their town against a troll invasion. Now for some pictures: An Overview of the scene: Please note that I am still an amateur photographer, so please don't complain (to loudly) about the horrible exposure on some of these. A view along the bridge: The Tavern: The other side, with Troll archers shooting onto the bridge: The innkeeper protecting her turf: Rock and landscaping details: The tower guards: From under the bridge: An unhappy customer: Well that is the tour, thanks for looking. I must say this was fun and challenging to build, mostly because I was limited by parts (aren't we all? ). I look forward to being able to build some more castle style scenes like this, and I hope to start my bigger project sometime soon, which is called Dragons Keep (for those of you in the know ). Here is a link to the Brickshelf Gallery, with more pictures etc. Comments and criticism especially is much appreciated, I am always looking to improve and/or see what others think or would have done differently. -ator

L7 Dragons Keep Grim had stopped struggling long since and now hung limp between the two men that were dragging him along. They had taken the servants stairs down, so as yet nobody would know that anything was wrong. Grim was just hoping that somebody else had caught on to what was happening, but he suspected it was too late. Blearily, he realized that they had reached their destination. Councilor Scorpia has requested you sleep here tonight, one of the guards chuckled deeply to himself. Perhaps it would be wise if you didn't leave. Throwing Grim into the cell, the man closed the door and locked it. Placing the key deep in his pocket, the pair returned up the stairs the way they had come. Grim starred about him and realized he was locked deep in the depths of the castle. Nobody would find him down here. He just hoped that Ragnir might have caught on to what was happening... Meanwhile... Ragnir's Accommodation For the last few hous Ragnir had been trying to talk with Dragonator, but to no avail. Majiko still hasn't come back with baby Nizbet, I wonder where he is? And why can't I contact Dragonator? Something must be up. I hate coming to these places when the humans are unhappy, we should have just stayed home like Mum said... A knock came at the door and a hesitant and shaky messenger appeared. I... I... I am the bearer of a message from Councilor Scorpia... Oh please, as if my day couldn't get worse... Meanwhile... At the city gates Joseph stepped forward from his post at the gates and glared into the sun. Bill, do you see something on the horizon? Starting up from his sleep, Bill looked out into the distance. Oh by all the Gods... Bill jumped up and raced towards the large gong in the watch tower, but was struck down by a knife as he entered through the door. My master would not be pleased if you ruined everything for him now... A few minutes later, a lone alarm gong started to sound out its long boom, followed by another, but it was already far to late... M10 Droomindur; The Ravine Tavern Dragonator turned from the bar to see Marcus enter with a man dressed in the robes of the Black Knights. Excellent, that is the last of them that will be coming, accept for the man from Morcia, but he did say he may be late. I will go welcome him and then we shall begin. Dragonator approached the pair who had just entered. Welcome, I am Supreme Councilor Dragonator of the Dragon Masters Kingdom, and whom do I have the honour of addressing?

OOC: Really, you do make me laugh. Although I did get a little lost when you started attacking my neighbours pig... Insanity ON!

I'll take back my offer, could somebody please shut him up? His lying voice annoys me. I can't figure out if he's trying to be funny or just annoying. I would expect better from a man of Rome. But then again, you gave up all your honour and dignity when you decided that your greed for power should be fulfilled. Nobody will grieve at your cruxifiction, the only tears will be tears of joy. Now could somebody gag him or something? I'm going to go eat and drink, and try to be merry in the face of what has happened today. (OOC: You know that sounds like something from Lord of the Flies. )

The sooner we get rid of this one the better, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm certainly getting sick of his blathering. I don't know how he has managed to survive in civilised society so long... I'm sorry you can't accept the truth of what I say, I have heard that some do loss all their dignity when faced with death. As too your last comment, I suppose your going to try and kill me tonight? A stab in the back like you did to Mark? Some people have no honour at all. I just hope somebody may guard me tonight, if I don't survive to tomorrow, then I will at least be happy in the thought that Hinckley will be dead before the day is out. Talking of pigs, I could do with some pork for dinner. All this talk has built me up quite an appetite. Would anyone like to join me? I might even think about shouting you one Hinckley, since it's your last night, and I am a giving man. Let us go to the Wine Garden, it has some of the best drink I know off.

Gentlemen, this has been a sad day. Not only have we killed one of our own, but we were wrong not to trust him. This day will go down in Roman history, I would say. But now, let us act quickly! Death to the traitor! Death to Hinckley! Without a doubt I think we know who to vote for tomorrow, anyone who doesn't must surely be with the rebels. I do not think we can believe what this man has said about the three he mentioned, for one how would he know the men from the opposing rebel group? I think he is trying to put us off. As he has lied so much already I have no faith in his accusations. The only thing I do believe is that he is the Aventine Dux, and should go. Deep down I think we all knew that TinyPiesRUs was who he said he was, we just couldn't be sure. Right back from when Hinckley arrived late with scratches on his face we should have been suspicious. I bet he was responsible for Mark's death right back at the beginning. He will not get away with this! OOC: Tanotrooper, will the minimum number of votes required decrease as less people are playing? It will begin getting harder to get 10 votes, now that there are less people...

Nice vig Batbrick, another great Batman Dark Knight tale put into Lego. I love the way you did the wheat! Isn't it convenient there was a barrel out there for the Strawman to jump off. The pumpkins add a very scary atmosphere too, could this be the Dark Knights final outing? (*insert creepy dramatic organ music*) Once again, great work!

Nice work SlyOwl! You have included all sorts of great details, I enjoyed looking over this. I didn't even notice the mousetrap until I looked again now, so I thought I'd comment. I love your use of pieces for intentions other than what they're designed for; minifig hands to texture the roof, the beard for flowing milk, it all adds to the feeling. I particularly like your brick built animals, the cows look great, especially the dead one that ha been ripped open ( ), and the duck is cute! You know, the roof looks like it is made of cheese...

Man I wish New Zealand had lots of Lego sales. We very rarely see it on sale at all! I went into Toyworld yesterday and lo-and-behold the new Indy sets are finally in! Yay! I got the Temple Escape set instead though, as I needed to complete the fist wave before getting the new stuff. Now I just need to find myself $340 or more to get the other sets.

M10 Dromindur; The Ravine After his fifth glass, Marcus decided to step out in the air for a quick walk around to brighten himself up again. Or at least that was the intention... Good Morning my young beauty, and how are you this morning? Nothing to say eh? Ah I like the quiet type. Walking past the clipped bush, Marcus spotted some old friends. How do you do my lady, and you my good sir? I'm sorry, do we know you? Of course, I remember you from that delegation of men that visited last year, I organised your accommodation. No, I think you've- It's good to see you, I always remember a face. The man and woman looked at each other in startled amusement, not used to being confronted by one of the army officers. Could we go to work now? What? We were just on our way to work at the bakery. Oh... Turning away, he stood for a moment starring at nothing until some people grabbed his attention. General Marcus, do you remember us? I'm not sure who I remember now... I am Lord Calvin, and this is Karen, my companion. Ah yes, I remember you now. You must be here for the meeting, right? Well no actually, we don't know of- Good, glad you made it, Lord Dragonator will be pleased. Ah yes, he is who we are here to see and- Come this way please, I'll find you some rooms and then we can have our little meeting, aye, wink wink. Whatever you say...

I can understand why you would want Hinckley to be sentenced if you are indeed a government member, and that is most likely what we will do if that is so, but why the other three? What have you against them? Is this a last desperate attempt at revenge, or are you trying to tell us something? I guess we may never know... Let us see what the day brings shall we?

Well it appears we now have the 10 necessary votes. Let us find out the truth of this matter. I really do hope we have not convicted the wrong person...

I go away for a few moments to get some eggs and already somebody is almost convicted? Wow... Gentlemen, this is how I see it. If TinyPiesRUs is voted in and turns out to be a member of the government, then we will konw he was definitely telling the truth, and that therefore we can immediately vote Hinckley to be condemned. If however he is a rebel, then Hinckley is innocent, and no harm is done. Either way we loss TinyPiesRUs, and we find out whether Hinckley is who he says he is. We will not come to a good conclusion without one of them dying. I know it is hard for us, but it seems to be the only way. Because of this, I am sorry to say, that I Vote: TinyPiesRUs. I just hope that you can prove your innocence. Hinckley, if you have been lying all this time and TinyPiesRUs turns out to be who he says he is, then by Jupiter we will have you nailed up within the hour on the cross. I am sorry if my views come across too strong, but for the sake of Rome, we must find out the truth. We will either loss both of you, or one of you, but we cannot continue with you both. May the Gods be with us all on this day.

Wow, thanks for that badger! That looks great! I can't wait for them to put them out. I'll do a review when the new stuff comes, I'm waiting for them to get some more black cows (bulls) in before I make my next order anyway.

TT, your minifigs are great, and very original! The Landsknecht is very nice, I like the way you gave him a sword holder, and the Roman figs look great! The way you do the legs is particularly neat, it is good to see somebody is branching away from just the plain normal legs. The yodelling tirol guy gave me a laugh. I look forward to seeing more!

Nice Moc, the story is very nice too. I like the look of the carriage, it has a very gypsy feeling too it. I disagree with those who say it is 'too boxy', gypsy wagons usually are! Boxy On!

I'm glad I ordered eggs then... Perhaps lamb for lunch then? I'll talk with the chef. I agree with what you say, death is an uncomfortable thing at best. Let us try and find the truth of the matter, before condemning anybody else to die.

Well it looks like this day is already off to a hot start! Accusations are flying! Perhaps some breakfast? For once I could do with a change from fish, maybe some of that for lunch. I'm going to get me some eggs! While I wait, lets see what's happened. Atoll Dweller's death appears to have come out of nowhere. It does seem good for Rome though, I mean he was an enemy. However we have no proof that the original motives were in favour of Rome. It could perhaps be that an enemy of Rome killed him, either mistaking him for a true Roman citizen, or as a member of the rival hill gang. Really there are a few ways that discussion could go. Does anybody else have any information to add? What 'game' do you speak of TinyPiesRUs? This is serious business, another person has been killed, for good or bad reasons, hopefully we will find out which. On to my next point. Why don't we all sit down, have some food, and cool off a little, aye? Then perhaps we wont all jump to wild conclusions and sudden judgements. Personally, I think you are all a little hasty to be voting already. Could we wait to see what everyone has to say, if there is anything else of interest? I don't want to rush into condemning someone this quickly if we are still unsure of them. TinyPiesRUs, can you give us a good reason to trust you? You do seem to be very open about your role, which either means your telling the truth and are very reckless in the face of the rebels who will obviously try and vote you out as a Roman citizen, or you are trying to cover up your true intentions. Gentlemen, we have two possible situations. If TinyPiesRUs is telling the truth, then we know that Hinckley is a rebel. However if he is lying, then Hinckley is most likely not, and is simply the victim of a misconception. There is no real way we can prove the case at the moment in favour of either of the two situations. Well, I'll leave you with those words to think on while I eat my eggs. Hopefully we will be successful in catching a rebel today.

Thanks for looking! The brown colour isn't to bad, I just don't think that it suits the other weapons as well as black and silver etc. iamded just decided to put it bluntly. Have fun with your weapons, and go buy the Sci-Fi Weapons pack now!

Good on you Shadows, we all know you deserve it. Have fun with your new jobs, and I hope you'll still have time to come post in the RP thread with us, and do interviews!

Thanks for the info, I hope your 'formal representative' doesn't take too long otherwise the meeting will be over! On another note, I have finished building the tavern! Yay for me! I just have some landscaping to finish, and then pictures to take and I will post it. I also built it as a separate MOC, so it will have two 'scenes' as such on it. No interior sorry, but then again, who wants to look at an interior.

M-10 Dromindur; The Ravine The people were arriving. The Black Falcons representative, Gwilym, had arrived a short time ago, and now Aluvar from the Crownies. Leaving Aluvar for a moment, Dragonator went over to the bar, where Marcus was sitting, drinking down his third already. Galcor, come here for a moment. Yes my Lord? Run up to the tower on the other side of the bridge and ask the sentry to keep a special eye out today. Something does not feel right, and I have known to come to trust these feelings. At once my Lord. Galcor rushed off, in such a hurry that he almost bowled down Alyss as she walked by. Ah he can be a little excitable sometimes. Marcus, I am worried. Still no word from Ragnir, I wonder what's happening at the Keep? I'm sure things are going just fine, don't worry yourself, focus on your address to these people. This is much more important to us all than what may be happening there. But if the King gets word of this, or if something else happens, my plans could be ruined. That may be so, but as we saw during the war, you are very good at adapting your plans. Yes I know. This is one thing I would like to see go well however, without any changes. Perhaps soon we will be able to restore the Dragons to their rightful standing in the Kingdom, this alliance will certainly help matters against Ankoria. Once that treaty is gone for good, and the King is happy, then things may be able to start to progress. I am sure the other kingdoms represented here also need help. But I do not think our goal is unattainable. I have faith in you, you have never let me down. Thanks Marcus. Another beer? I want to introduce you to Aluvar, he is an old friend of mine. Sure, why not. Invite him over, I could do with another. L7 Dragons Keep; The Throne Room Morris was having a bad day. My King, we have got to go, this message must be delivered to Lord Dragonator immediately. But I haven't found Bongo yet! Help me find him! Please my King, let us leave! Lettuce leaf? Grim burst in through a side door, knocking over a small table with a golden goblet on it. My King... terrible news... assassin... the Keep... could be at risk... Get your breath back my boy, I can barely understand you. As this was happening, Morris and his fellow messenger edged towards the door, only to bump into Councillor Scorpia as he entered. My King is something amiss? I heard a commotion. I hope Grim here is not causing any... trouble? You! Why I should- Calm yourself Grim. You don't want to do anything stupid. I must explain a few things to the King. My... friends outside will escort you to your... room. Turning quickly, Grim found himself face to face with a pair of well muscled men. Well face to chest, anyway. With a struggled cry, Grim attempted to draw his sword, but the pair quickly grabbed him and carried him off kicking and struggling. At this point the messengers decided it wasn't so important to leave after all and went and hid under a table. Where is Grimy going? And what was that about assassins? Nothing you should worry yourself over, that one is a little crazy. Yes, I agree. Shall I help you find Bongo? Why yes, thank you! I knew I could count on you, Scorpy. Whatever you say. Soon I won't have to put up with your idiotic waffling. What was that? Nothing...

Oh please no! I might rethink my plans and instead turn a dragon on the lot of you...

Gah, I must have been having a bad day. Of course I meant Morcia, I'm sure I did, although sometimes I don't know what I mean... (A very confused) -ator EDIT: I just noticed you said you would be doing a map for the DM's, thank you very much! I like the way you draw yours, they look great! I have also mentioned some more cities etc that are not marked on my (very poor attempt at a) map, if you want some help with them then just ask. Shadows: I've just read your most recent post, and this particular line had me laughing for ages: