Zach Mills

After a few hours traveling through the mist, we docked by a small Island. Victor was first off the ship, followed by part of the crew. As far as I knew, they were going to set up a fire, and pass the time with a few bottles of mead. It had been a week since me and the Assassin had left Albion. We had rode our horses to the coast, and then hired a crew of sailors lead by a captain going by the name of Serpent. An odd fellow, but one of the few who had the experience to travel through the mystic isles. The Assassin had heard of a location in the mystic isles where one of the last of the ancient druids had supposedly been laid to rest. He figured the since the druids had created these magical artifacts, that they would likely want to make sure they kept a watch over them. If that means what I think it means, then consider me intrigued. The captain had decided to go with me and the Assassin. I still don't believe he ever knew what he got himself into. We headed up the hill by the beach side, and then made out way to the bottom of the valley on the opposing side. not too far away, we could see a flickering light. as we made our way closer, the shape of a large stone slab unfolded in the mist. This was what we had been looking for. The druids tomb lay in the middle of a cobbled circle, with a broken archway drooping above it. On the other side was a small green crystal sitting on a pedestal, with a long flame weaving it's way around it. 'There it is!' the captain yelled with excitement, and he made his way to the Pedestal. Before I could say anything, he reached out to grab it, and his lifeless body was hurled into the air. an coil of energy burst from the crystal, breaking the slab where the druid was resting. What was inside began to glow, and then shot high into the air. Seconds later, it came back down straight into the heart of the Captain, who began to stir. From that point it was obvious what was happening. I drew my Sword, and The assassin knocked an arrow to his bow. And so it began... I climbed on top of the ruined tomb, hoping to get a height advantage over the captain. He as no small man, so I couldn't rely on strength. 'You dare awaken me from my slumber!' boomed a voice that did not belong to the captain. The talented sailor was no longer with us. Instead, he was replaced by an Ancient spirit, thrust into a new world. I kicked off part of the ruin arch, hurling myself at him. As we both went down, Victor placed a well positioned arrow through his eye. I quickly got to my feet , and jammed by blade through his shoulder. He roared in pain, and took a swing at me with his free hand, that knocked me down, and damned near unconscious. The assassin put another arrow through him, pinning his arm to his ribcage. with a numb head, I threw my foot out at him, making him stagger slightly. Victor took the opportunity to put an arrow through his heart, ending him permanently. Victor helped me up. 'Now now, all that experience with a sword, and all that you can muster is a kick? He said sarcastically. He was right though, without him, I would have ended up a bloody heap. The flame that guarded the Crystal had now vanished. Hesitantly, I picked it up. 'All this fuss over you?' I said to myself. It was a pretty little thing. Perhaps when the guild masters had done with them, I might be able to convince them to let me keep it, as a trophy of this event. The assassin was removing his arrows from the captain. 'We cant leave him here' he said, and I wholeheartedly agreed. 'I don't have a clue how to explain this to the crew' I said nervously. 'We will need their help to recover the body' Victor said, and it dawned on me that we had essentially killed him. After a heated discussion, we recovered the captain, and set sail for the homeland. It was time to head home, and get some rest. Things are bound to get more interesting from here. The wizard had made mention of a werewolf roaming in Darkwood forest that he wanted me to investigate, but that is a story for another day. _____________________________________ If you have made it this far, I thank you for sticking by me wholeheartedly! Not a particularly good build, with a story to match. I had more photos, but didn't check them properly, and so I was reduced to three usable ones. And I honestly could not come up with a good ending to the story, so you will have to forgive me for that too. Basically, I'm sorry for this uninspired mess. I promise that the next one will be better. My apologies if there is any spelling mistakes or the like. I don't have time to proofread now, as I am about to cook my mother her favorite seafood dish.

Okay, so the picture is kind of terrible, but I need a little help with the Gable. The building I'm using these things for isn't supposed to be a particularly Fancy/Interesting building, so I want to keep the detail to a minimal. However, I still want to hide the exposed studs/ Make the Gable more plain looking, but I'm not sure how. Can anyone think of anything? I'm not a huge fan of the slope/big Gable technique, as the Gable always seems to look quite busy. I would try and do the roof like Darkspawn tends to do his, but I don't have the slightest clue how. Is anyone familiar with how he builds them? I'm talking about this kind of deal.

Firetruck. In that case, I guess I can get on with other projects without the slightest bit of guilt that I didn't enter challenge III.

Waitwut? I thought we were still able to enter on the 12th?

My vote goes to Helms Deep.

The feedback from you guys would definitely be helpful, so I guess I'll post it.

There just isn't anything interesting about it. I don't feel like it represents the scale of the treasure. And I like to pride myself as being a reasonable storyteller, but I honestly can't come up with an angle for this build. I would try and add to it, but with the deadline being tomorrow, and my attention being on a different build, I don't think it is work the effort.

I tend to keep builds in-tact, until I need to salvage parts for a different build for them, excluding things I want to use again. Also, it seems that since I made that post about inactive members yesterday, it would seem that a number of inactive people have made a reappearance. Consider my spirits lifted! Finally, I want to ask everyone something. I have a build ready to photograph for Challenge III, but to be quite honest, I'm not particularly proud of it. Do you think I should bother posting it? It's only about 30x30, and has little more content on it than the teaser I posted about a month ago.

On that note, I feel like I should mention that I do intend to build something decent, I'm just really lazy. XD In all seriousness, I'm working on something now.

It's actually kind of saddening seeing how many inactive members we have. I haven't seen a number of those figures pop up in Mocs recently.

Swap out my head with this one - http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=3626bpx302 Also, he doesn't use a shield. With a free hand, there is a million and one different ways to add style points to a combat! Dayum! Talk about awesome! The main picture should be added to the Wikipedia. Is the Lady next to De Gothia Quinn?

I'm working on a separate Assassin's guild that this guy will be included in. I've talked about it briefly with Captain Beerbeard already.

'It is a fine day in Avalonia, the birds are singing, and the children are laughing. The sun is out and bright, and there isn't a cloud in sight. On these kind of days, I feel like lying down in a meadow, and relaxing. I could pass away, and it probably wouldn't bother me, as it seems like a great way to go. However, on this day, the man destined to die is not one that deserves such a pleasant death. An arrow through his stomach seems far more appropriate to his character. On this day, It was time for the passing of one Edmund Gillian. A celebrated guard of Albion, Sir Edmund Gillian is famed for many an act of heroism, but in particular, for hunting down and slaughtering a Vampire that was causing trouble within the Pearl city. What most Avaloinans don't know however, is that the Vampire is alive and well. You see, as the story goes, Sir Gillian discovered who the Vampire was, chased him from the city, and then stuck a blade through him on the outskirts of the forest to the north. What actually happened however, is a different story. One day, then just an ordinary guard, Sir Gillian chanced upon the vampire about to feed on a homeless man. Instead of calling the other guards to take down this creature, Sir Gillian made a bargain with him. In exchange for the glory of supposedly killing the him, Sir Gillian unlocked the gate so that the vampire could escape the city, while Sir Gillan would chase him into the forest in front of all of Albion's citizens, where they would then part ways. Sir Gillian would get his glory, and the vampire would keep his life. But the deal went sour for the guard. Not having anyone to back him up, the vampire cornered him, and decided to kill him, in exchange for being expelled from Albion. Sir Gillian, however, made another deal with the vampire. In exchange for his own life, Sir Gillian would bring the vampire a child from the orphanage in Albion. The child would be at the mercy of the vampire. Sir Gillian was revered, and the Vampire never showed his face in the pearl city again. and a week after the event, a young lady by the name of Lily Nightingale vanished from the local orphanage, never to be seen again. And this is why Sir Gillian must die. He made a stupid mistake, and then instead of facing the consequences, he took the life of someone who had yet to live. The famed guard was on his way to the orchard outside of the city when I found him, retracing the steps he took when he followed the vampire into the forest. At the end of every week, he walked along this path, until he came to clearing above a rock cliff, where he would look back at the city across the river. This routine let me know exactly where to find him, where to lie in wait. He walked slowly along the path, with me watching his every movement. a sharp sound from the city behind drew his attention for a second, and he turned to see what it was. This is when I made my move. I stood in front of him, waiting for him to turn back. My arrow hit his stomach before he had a chance to move, and his mouth had began to foam before he could let a word slip. As he fell, he managed to utter a couple of words. 'Fair move' he said in a faint voice, as his eyelids began to droop. A curious statement for one to utter as there life slips away. A book under his cloak became exposed as his lifeless body hit the floor, embossed with the coat of arms of the local orphanage. Curious. After what he had done, the man had felt remorse for his crime. Alas, that did not change the fact that because of his actions, a girl now lay cold in the forest. He deserved to die, and I had made that happen. Sir Edmund Gillian however, was a single brick in the wall of corruption that cast a shadow over Avalonia, and a lot more work needed to be done to knock it down. My name is Victor Bellemont, and I am an Assassin.' An introduction to a character I intend to use frequently from now on, including my entry to Challenge 3.

I look forward to seeing the rest of the story. like Legonardo Davidy said, it's awesome seeing so many of the characters that our fellow Avalonians have created all in one place.

Oh dear, if I recall, the white lilies around Rohan were most prominent when King Theoden was mourning his son. I don't want Quinn to die!

Oh no, Quinn!

It does. What head are you using?

I take it that you made the yellow one? Also, if it seems more appropriate to what your building, swap out the face with a regular 'angry guy with black eyebrows' one. On that thought, could you post a picture of the motley crew when your done? It would be a useful resource to the rest of us.

I really want to get on to building something for challenge 3, but School, School, School! I intend to blow off friends this weekend to build, so hopefully I will be able to post something that I am proud of.

Oh dear!

I'm really enjoying the story, and I can't wait for next chapter! Would you mind it I used Belladonna's staff design at some point?

It really sucks how CMF yellow is off regular yellow. I don't tend to use their heads because the color difference is so obvious when compared to regular yellow minifigures.

Oh, I forgot to mention something. Because me and Mephistopheles co-own the area, we decided to christen the forest above the Capital 'Darkwood Forest.'

The only missprint I can recall getting off the top of my head was a tiny one on a star wars figure, that didn't really bother me. I've gotten a Potc set which had a a brick (specifically, Elizabeth Swan's dress) that looked like it had gone through a blender.

Argh, great, thanks a lot Lego. I hope the figures you picked up were just part of a bad batch, as I was really looking forward to these figures.