Evil Stu

Hersbrucker, SkaForHire, yes I felt uneasy about setting this up once it was completed. The idea for the build came from the below text from the opening Nocturnus guild background text: "You will find humans surviving scattered throughout the darklands, they will always find a way to prosper, but its how they prosper that leaves them a scarred race..." The addition of a female knight was intentional in order to reduce the perception of gender bias which may have resulted from the themes being drawn out of classic fairy tales/fantasy stories. (Insert 'Self-Rescuing Princess' quote here...). While the build is suggestive of the fate awaiting these ladies, I intentionally avoided the inclusion of any parts or story text which may confirm the outcome. Personally, I choose to believe that the Dragon makes them all dance like chickens before sending them home again and laughing hysterically for hours on end. Perhaps dragons are more complicated beings than we give them credit for? Or perhaps I just need more sleep...

Personally I think the colour offset works quite well to draw attention to the tower - if it had been in a similar grey tone then the eye's focus would naturally rest on the blue building and the tower may have been missed. Just my thoughts anyhow. Really nice sturdy looking design and great incorporation of guild colours, you should be pleased with how this has turned out

The colour selection is superb and the design of each of the features is perfect. Excellent work!

I like the use of weapons as decoration on the building, especially the recessed alcove for the sword. Looking good so far!

I have added pictures of a couple of MOC's which I have created to try and flesh out Nocturnus a little more, they are Nocturnus Swamp Village and Grim Duty. The photos aren't the best so apologies in advance. ES

My Lord Ssilyrrlith, I trust these documents reach you safely and that they find you well. As per your request for more detailed information on the present condition of your territories, I have recently travelled to the Swamplands of Moruth to conduct a census and study of the area. A detailed report has been included in the pouch which my envoy was instructed to deliver, however for your consideration I have also prepared the following summary based on one of the typical fishing villages scattered throughout the Moruth Swamplands. As can be expected the local environment has a large effect on the lives of the local populace. The first thing which one notices is that the locals tend to elevate their structures by driving wooden poles deep within the sandy areas of the Swamplands, and building atop these. This serves two purposes. Firstly, it protects the dwellings and possessions of the inhabitants from the almost constant flooding which occurs within Moruth. Secondly, it also reduces the number of snakes which one may find in their bedroll in the morning. The buildings are built in an open manner to allow what little breeze exists within Moruth to pass through and provide some relief from the constant humidity. Fishing provides most of the food for the local inhabitants, and day and night an assortment of boats, rafts and other improvised vessels can be observed traversing the waterways. Boats, nets and fishing traps are highly prized possessions, and ownership of such objects is as much a symbol of status to these peoples as a pure-bred warhorse would be to an Avalonian. Such goods are always well maintained. The humid conditions and regular rainfall provide for an abundance of vegetation. Regrettably, the majority of this vegetation bears no fruit which can be consumed as foodstuff in the conventional sense. However, many of the elders within the communities are able to draw upon their knowledge of the local plants to produce a wide variety of balms, tonics and medicines which are employed to remedy numerous ailments. The sand which is carried along with the floods tends to bury introduced crops, making the lower lying areas unsuitable for employment for agricultural cultivation. The more highly elevated areas, such as they are, are too small to permit food crops to be grown in meaningful amounts. To prevent the spoiling of foodstuffs a number of preserving techniques are used by the locals, including pickling, salting and smoking of their catch for consumption in leaner times. Many of the villages have small trade posts where extra produce can be bartered with other nearby villages. Indeed, it is not uncommon for traders from distant Kaliphan to brave the long journey to these communities in search of medicines and plant extracts for trade. Such traders are warmly welcomed as the scented oils brought by the Kaliphan merchants are said to dissuade mosquitos and other insects which plague the local inhabitants. Representatives of the Avalonian Trading Company have been known to pass through on occasion, and infrequently, adventurers and treasure hunters from Mitgardia, who sometimes barter their mead and cured meats, both considered delicacies by the locals, for fresh provisions and supplies. As my Lord anticipated, the constant flooding has left the local roads in a severe state of disrepair. In some sections, the road has become so indistinguishable from the local swampland that travellers will know it by means of the slightly more elevated muddy embankment alone. While a case may be made for repairing and rebuilding the roads, I would humbly suggest caution at this time before committing to such a large capital undertaking. As my Lord would no doubt be aware, there are whispers of the possibility of hostilities in the coming months, and as such, major roadworks may place an unwanted strain on the treasury. I also note that with the roads in their present condition, encroaching armies would find their progress hampered should they seek to invade the ancestral homeland of our Lord. My Lord's Host, however, would obviously not be inhibited by the presence or absence of roads and thus would be able to redeploy in a more timely manner than any invaders. I trust that my Lord has found this study informative. Should you seek further clarification kindly send word and I shall make the journey to Abyssian to my Lord's court. Your faithful and most loyal servant, Stetson the Summoner

Every year just after the winter solstice the enigmatic knight Ursula the Dragonkissed visits all the villages which lie within one day of Blackwing Peak, and in accordance with an ancient treaty, collects a toll before making the long trek up the Trail of Tears to the summit of the mountain. By upholding this treaty, the local villages ensure their survival for the next year. Such is the terrible price of survival in Nocturnus.

Love the various 'layers' on the roof and the way that you have managed to include so much greenery without overly brightening the tone of the MOC (which can be difficult given how 'bold' the colour is on most of the green leaf pieces). Excellent work!

Oh wow. Looks fantastic so far. Hope you have enough parts to finish it to a standard that you are happy with - Looks like it will be amazing once completed. Thanks for taking the time to post a WIP shot ;)

Have had a chance to do a couple of quick MOC's which I was hoping to post now but regrettably the photos have turned out abysmally. I will attempt to remedy this when the light is better. Balthasar, brilliant work on the map!

Did a run around The Belconnen ACT shops on Monday. Myer still awaiting release of new stock, target and Kmart both had new City and Ninjago (Kmart for 10-20% less than RRP on the kits I checked) and Target had s6 Minifigs (thoroughly pilfered).

Target Civic (Canberra) had 3 boxes of Series 6 CMF's today.

Awesome, keen to see the end result I'm still waiting for inspiration to strike with regards to the Round 2 challenge...

Glad to hear you are planning an embassy build in Nocturnus. The local environment should present you with many building challenges and opportunities. Inspiration pictures of the various areas can be found in the first Nocturnus Guild post, just as with other guilds. With regard to building in the Swamp, I am presently awaiting the arrival of a parts order and the local availability of the series 6 CMF before I can progress my Swamp build further. I would suggest that many of my guildmates similarly will be awaiting the acquisition of some of the Ninjago snakemen before they can construct their plans and ideas of what the "Swamplands of Moruth" may look like. The parts required to build in the non-Avalonian guilds are not necessarily always as readily available as the leaf pieces, grey bricks and Green Dragon Knights used in Avalonia. Thank you for understanding. With regard as to what to build/how the landscape looks, the swampland is pretty huge, and one could expect that the landscape and vegetation would not be homogeneous throughout, so I would suggest that you should represent your area of the swampland in a manner which best reflects, and flatters, your embassy build. After all, the Avalonain engineers are unlikely to have set up shop in an unsuitable area

Target in Canberra City had 2012 kits in today - Ninjago, City Fire theme, and several of the $29 vehicles - Ambulance, Motorbike Transport, Dump Truck, Garbage Truck, Camper and one other which escapes me presently... Also had some of the 'bricks and more' type kits, but regrettably not the cute little safari set...

It's all so perfect that I can't find any one stand out thing to comment on - the whole build is exceptional. A huge congratulations on a superb MOC!

<Edit - duplicate post - Could I impose on a moderator to remove? Many thanks!>

I am amazed. You have managed to work so many small details in to a large scale project. everywhere you look there is something different to admire. Excellent work!

Thanks all for the positive feedback! KnightSnap, you are right on the money about the notable and regrettable absence of a barbecue. It was on the preliminary list (along with an Eski, wooden picnic table bench, kids playing cricket/football/throwing Frisbee, someone fishing, bike riders) but I simply ran out of days to fit everything in to. petamas, I am not sure exactly how much it cost - maybe about double the cost of one of the larger standard advent calendars? (very rough estimate). From memory the non S&H parts were as follows: both the umbrella tops (although plain white substitutes could be acquired through S&H or by breaking down one of the 'Sun Block' games for parts), the Belville turkey and the orange plates from the picnic blanket on day 5, the dog, the green frog in the pond on day 22, the girl and parrot on day 18 (the girl was dropped in from one of the S&H magnet sets but was not obtained via the PAB section, the parrot was from EBay), the orange duck feet (not required if both ducks are 'swimming' in the water), the apple held by picnic guy and the purple 1x1 round plate for the violet top on day 17, which could be colour substituted without too much of an issue. Please note this is based on the parts available at time of writing on the Aussie S&H/PAB service, i am unsure if part availability differs between countries (I know kits which sell out in one country are often available in another so am not sure if this is the case here). ES

Brilliant tower! Very solid and imposing. Thanks for sharing the pics with all of us

Now THAT is one imposing wall! Excellent work!

All hail DC!

B-V-13C For the last few years I have been getting one of the Lego advent calendars for my girlfriend for Christmas. Given the two on offer were not really to her liking this year, I had a go at designing one mainly using S&H parts, and gave one to her and one to her sister. The theme I had set myself was basically a southern hemisphere Christmas. At the outset I had naively thought it would be easy, but by the end I had developed a great deal of appreciation for the skill of the Lego designers who manage to do so much with so few pieces each day - I went way over what would be considered a 'standard' piece count for an official advent calendar. I have attached below links to the images printed and includes with each day.A huge thank you to my sister in law who was kind enough to assist with the wonderful photography. For those interested, higher resolution images can be accessed via Flickr C&C welcome. Day '0' was a green 32x32 stud baseplate, although it was not intended that everything would necessarily fit on the plate in a presentable manner but the time the calendar was completed. Day 1: Sunbather We start with a lady enjoying the sunshine, but still being sun safe and carrying an umbrella. Day 2: Towel Day 2 gives us a towel for the sunbather to lie upon, and a bottle of sunscreen. Two 1x1 tiles were placed on the middle plate strips to connect the sunbather when she is lying down. Day 3: Flower beds Day three was a pair of flower beds for each calendar. The flowers to the left and right were elevated with a 1x1 round plate in order to raise them above the centre flowers and allow them to sit properly. Day 4: Picnicker Today we have someone off to enjoy the park. She has with her picnic basket lunch. Day 5: Picnic Blanket Picnic blanket and picnic lunch, complete with two wine glasses perfect for drinking "White Wine in the Sun" (anybody not familiar with the musical stylings of Australian comedian Tim Minchin may wish to run a search for him). Day 6: Picnicker #2 Someone to share the picnic with. Day 7: Another Flower Bed The same design as Day 3, but now we have a little bit of variety in our colour scheme. Day 8: Drinks Stand Guy It's such a lovely warm sunny day but unfortunately not everyone has the day off. Drinks Stand Guy is serving up beverages to make sure everyone stays cool and hydrated. Day 9: Drinks Stand Somewhere for Drinks Stand Guy to ply his craft. Day 10: Businessman On his way to a meeting, Businessman takes a short cut through the park. This gives him an opportunity to visit Drinks Stand Guy and grab an espresso (Not everyone is worried about the temperature today). This day had a spare head included. As well as the one shown in the photo (the Bluetooth headset "on the phone to my stock broker / bad news from my stock broker") there was another one with the yellow sunglasses and surly expression (the "don't talk to me until I have had my espresso" head). Day 11: Table and Chairs Somewhere for people to relax and consume their tasty beverages after visiting the drinks stand. Day 12: Gardens Two more plant beds, using the "Heroica" tree idea in minifig scale. Our park is starting to look a little greener. Day 13: Water Feature A slightly more complicated build today (hence the bigger photo). The start of a water feature. Lots of grey 'cheese' pieces used to give the rock a more natural shape. Day 14: Boat A small river section with a model boat floating in it. A 1x1 blue tile in the 'water' allows the boat to be fixed in place. I was quite pleased with the way the red flag at the top of the mast looked Day 15: Boy Today we have a small boy playing in the park. He has a remote control for his boat, and a few 1x1 round plates. Possibly food to feed to the ducks, possibly rocks to throw at the boat. Although he does look like a well behaved young man... Let's assume that he is going to feed ducks. Day 16: Bridge Day 16 gives us our third day of the water feature, and this time a bridge to cross our river. Day 17: Duck Another river section, this time with a duck. Very similar to the ones in the MMV kit. I'm glad this was a duck. To me it looked as though it might have been a seagull. A seagull would have just annoyed the nice couple enjoying their lovely picnic, so a duck is much better. It's too cute to ruin anyone's day. Day 18: Girl Here we have a girl who has had a parrot land on her arm. She has some food which she has used to coax it in to landing on her. Or maybe she is a pirate getting ready to throw her rock at the Boy's boat? We also have a tree included today to provide some shade in the park. Day 19: River Bend A small section of river, this time with a 90 degree bend, which is just as well as we were beginning to run out of baseplate. Day 20: Another Duck This time we have a black duck hiding amongst the ferns near the river and enjoying the peace and quiet. Day 21: Walker Today we have someone out for a hike through the park. He has a hat, sunglasses, backpack and walking stick so is well prepared. And we also have another tree today. Not shown in the photo, as it was added as an afterthought, is one of the older 'dog' pieces. So now our hiker can be walking his puppy and throwing the stick for the dog to retrieve. Day 22: Pond The conclusion of the river section. an abundance of ferns and plant life, including a frog hiding away, going about his frogly business. Day 23: Groundskeeper Someone has to do all of the hard work to keep the park looking so presentable and tidy, and it is the responsibility of this fine gentleman. Don't feel too sorry for him working while everyone else is having fun. His shift finishes in 30 minutes and then he and Drink Stand Guy are heading to the beach to spend the rest of the afternoon surfing before going to a friends barbecue that evening Day 24: Tree No tinsel or baubles. No star on top. No presents underneath. But it is a big tree which will provide shade for the summer. Children will climb it's branches and use it's trunk as impromptu wickets when playing cricket. Magpies will nest in it and swoop the small children in the spring. It does everything a tree needs to And that brings us to the end of the advent calendar. I hope I may have inspired some of you to have a go at doing something similar next year. Wishing everyone an enjoyable holiday season! ES

First attempt at a brickbuilt creature? Wow. I assumed you had been doing this for years given the realism of the stag. Excellent job The rest of the MOC is great too.

Holding out hope for LOTR themed UCS type kits - UCS Rivendell anyone?