Mike S

"Hi, ho, there ye noble gents and noble ladies! Do you intend to attend the Masquerade ball this Carnival season? If so then look ye here at the finest masks to ever be crafted. For the lady there, I have this beautiful white mask. You there my good man, do you favor the fearsome silver mask or the distinguished veterans mask?" @SkaForHire- Is that Dugal MacLean there next to the mask display?

Actually I felt the same as you when I first read it. But unfortunately, since the only way to share creations here is through photos so a bit of photo skills is a must. Besides I just bought a camera from my neighbor for $40 and it takes better pics than my wife's $130 camera... And if you don't have the best photo skills, whats the harm in learning to take better photos? I think of it as a 2 for 1 hobby... or is it a 3 for 1? Communication skill enhancement as well?

Here is my entry... Here is the link to it:The Mask Trader

Nice job! Especially like the door and statue!

I've been meaning to comment on this but haven't had the chance until now. Quite possibly my favorite northern village street I've come across to date!

It is always time to build for you, my friend, for whatever you build is always a masterpiece!

Great job! Very well presented and detailed! Keep it up!

Another great build for Historica! Its great to have all the characters bustling around making the MOC come alive!

Very impressive! I really like the how you built the water.

Interesting story and I love your character minifig usage! I'm going to have to make me some pumpkin head warriors! And the werewolf bagpiper, brilliant!

Nice job! I really like the colors- ground, water, foilage, etc. Nice to see more characters as well.

I love the interior! You have given me some inspiration for furnishing my castle...

I was expecting this to be the big project you are working on and was pleasantly surprised to see this microbuild. Great job and nice use of the dragon. Ever since LEGO came out with the fantasy era dragons, my only use for these antique pieces is as statues.

Nice little village! I like to see guild sigfigs together in a MOC. Shows the connectedness that should be in Historica.

Nice job! Especially like the entrance. And the photo of the guy with the black hat reminds me of the photos they took during WWII on the battlefront.

Nice! It reminds me a little of Barqa with the cliffs and all... I think my favorite parts are the crane and the birds flying.

All my MOCs I am currently working on are going to Kaliphlin. Lets see, I have 5 unfinished MOCs: Printing House, Kalores flagship, river cargo ship, Black Pyramids, and Lions Bluff castle. Summer is here so I might not get as much accomplished but then again the last few weeks have been a continual rain so I just might get more accomplished than I was expecting. Since we are on the topic I was wondering if any of the minibuilds for the Kaliphlin Times count toward Kaliphlin points? probably not but was just wondering....

I like it. I think I am going to use your wall design as the standard wall for Barqa. I plan to eventually make a map of Barqa maybe using microscale to show where buildings are in relation to each other. I thought about making this the official main gate but on second thought the gate would actually be taller and wider as a lot of Kaliphlins enter Barqa riding camels and elephants. So my idea now is to make it the gate used by the Avalonian embassy: by Kerntechniker to enter the Lodge District.

I decided that I should free up the initial post for latest issues so i had to move this up a post to make room for issue #2. Thanks for all your support of the Kaliphlin Times! Issue #3 by Clive Harper Note from the editor: I am pleased to finally publish Issue #3 of the Kaliphlin Times. Many unexpected disasters happened while was working on publishing this issue. First off, there was the delay of the arrival of our guests of honor of whom headline in this issue. Secondly, the rains delayed the painting of the illustrations. Thirdly, our present setup in the harbor district was flooded. Fourthly and lastly, my painter went on vacation and I had to find a substitute painter for the illustrations. So without further ado I present you Issue #3. Swiss Family Kaliphlin “Papa” Swiss, Lizzy, Fritz, Ernie, Jac, and Franz Dune Sea, Kaliphlin- A small sandship, while sailing near the center of the Dune Sea, recently rescued a Petraean family that had disappeared two years ago in the Dune Sea. The family, whose name is Swiss, were stranded in an oasis when the touring sandship they were aboard shipwrecked on rocks during a sweeping sandstorm. The family survived the sandstorm by hiding under an scrap canvas sail. When the storm abated the family discovered the large oasis where they were able to survive until they were rescued. The captain and crew of the wrecked ship are still missing. The family says that they are now converting the residence they had constructed while stranded at the oasis into an inn and plan to turn the oasis into a tourist attraction. They plan to call the oasis “Swiss Island”. They also plan to contract the sandship captain that rescued them to bring tourists to the oasis. Here is more info on sailing the dune seas: by Kayne In Other News Abdul-Mughni has begun distributing parchments introducing a new entertainment venue in Kaliphlin. He has called it "Monster Fighters" and it seems as if he is looking for a town to host the first event. I investigated to find out a bit more and visited Abdul-Mughni's estate. The following painting is what I found out about the event.

Looking good!

Issue #2 by Clive Harper I am happy to announce a great machine that has been invented in Barqa. With this machine we will be able to distribute our newspaper to more people and at great price decrease. It is the PRINTING PRESS! I met with Mikel Kalores and he took an interest in my business proposal. He has heavily invested in Kaliphlin Times which has enabled us to begin construction on a printing shop. For now we are set up in an old warehouse in the Docks District of Barqa but we will soon be moving to our permanent facility in Lion's Bluff District. In Other News Are Drow Not But Ants? We have heard a report of Lord Ssillyrylith dealing with the drow. In his report he states that he found out Nocturnus Drow are tiny creatures as small as ants. How can that be, I ask? We know that Nocturnus Drow are of normal human height as Nocturnus Drow arrive in Barqa everyday. I propose that the Drow have devised a dreadful plan. They are using fell magic to temporarily make themselves smaller. Once reduced to microsize, they hide away in various chests and baggage and then are smuggled throughout Historica undetected. Once they all arrive at their destinations they will be transformed back to normal size. If you would like to read Lord Ssillyryth's report here it is: Lord Ssillyrylith Report

Barqa could always use more buildings. Its a big city with quite a few districts, but hasn't really been built up yet. Edit: Welcome to Kaliphlin, Khamar Ibn Hakkad! It seems a lot of unknown tribes in the east are making contact of late. I wonder if there is something evil awakening in the Rakoth mountains????

My dearest readers, I hope that you do not chide me too harshly for the delayed 3rd edition of the Kaliphlin Times. Let me try to explain some of the reasons for the delay. First of all, I had been expecting a certian family (of whom one of my articles is about) to arrive in Barqa, but they evidently were delayed. I have heard as I write this that they have just arrived in Barqa. Also as some of you may know, it is now monsoon season in Barqa, and as my Painters cannot paint well inside due to poor lighting, they are waiting for the rains to let up a bit. I know that you cannot enjoy the paper to its fullest without the paintings, so I have opted to wait for the paintings to be finished before I print the next edition. My sincerest apologies for the delay, Clive Harper, Chief editor and founder of Kaliphlin Times

That is what I was thinking. My current camera has taken great shots before but I had used 2 shop lights and a ceiling light to achieve it. Outside shots are usually ok but not as bright as I like. I haven't had a chance to try a taking pictures with the sun overhead. Maybe it might make a difference but it seems that most people think shade is better...

Yes the history of the hall was quite interesting! Time to get a new camera... I as well need to get a new camera. I've been looking around but I'm still very lost when it comes to determining the differences between cameras. I wonder if there is a thread somewhere here on Eurobricks comparing quality of MOC pics each camera takes that also catagorizes them in different price ranges.... I would have bought a new one already if I had this figured out. I just don't want to repeat the mistake I made last time I bought a camera. I upgraded to a new camera but the picture quality wasn't any better than my old one...