Gideon

UoP +1 for all claims, good job

I agree with Kai; definitely +1 for minifig posing but I'd like to see some more figs for it to be a proper battle.

Nice build, that ice looks very good! UoP +1

Any tourist attractions like elven ruins in the town?

That sounds very probable also for Mitgardia as well, provided that the scale of the map is sufficient that the warm current does not heat up significant parts of inner Mitgardia as well

I've always thought of Historica as about the size of Europe, as that would be able to explain both the cultural variations and the climate variations (from the tundra in northern Mitgardia=Scandinavia to the mediterranean climate/desert of Kaliphlin = Southern Spain/North Africa). Avalonia would then be something like France/Germany/Belgium (perhaps with a more British climate out on the isles to the west?) Without throwing myself into the discussion of the physics behind the climate difference between Mitgardia and Kaliphlin if Historica was very small, I think one huge problem with a too small Historica is that I find it hard for so many vastly different cultures to develop if they were living too close together. Besides, I like the idea of Historica being sort of a parallel fantasy Europe as we after all are here on Eurobricks That is how I think about it as well, but I'd rather say Finland or northern Sweden than Norway, since the Gulf Stream keeps the Norwegian winters quite temperate and the ocean free of ice all year round. Further from the Atlantic (Sweden/Finland) however, the winters are much colder. I've had -40 (C or F doesn't matter at that temperature ) in north-eastern Sweden where I grew up but we still get +30 C in July sometimes. The spring and autumn are very short however, as there can be snow until early May and snow again in late September some years and even earlier further north. If the summer is early, there can sometimes still be snow on the ground in the shadow at the same time as the weather is really warm and nice. So that's my reference for Mitgardian climate If this is a good representation of the Mitgardian climate, the best time to be there is in June or early July when the outside temperature is nice and all the trees and flowers are takning the short opportunity to burst out in full bloom at the same time. I expect however that bad weather during the few weeks the Mitgardian people have to grow their crops could easily lead to famine?

Burning wood might keep you from freezing, but for reading you need better lighting. If Mitgardians spent their long dark winter evenings reading about the world outside their dark longhouses in bright light fueled by refined Kaliphlin oil maybe they would not be so prejudiced about other people? Your smoky and smelly bear tallow candles just don't seem to do the job!

I'm inclined to think that the foremost use the Mitgardians (and everyone else) should have for our oil is for lighting? Low grade fuel like fire wood is maybe good enough for heating but it's not easy to read with only the dim light from the embers of a cook-fire. After all, being able to read for many hours after dark in good oil lamp light (or the even better the bright light from lamps using distilled naphtha, a practice reported to be growing more and more common these days) helps the Kaliphlin scholars to be unrivaled in Historica. So if the Mitgardians were to get more of our oil, maybe in the future some ignorant misunderstandings about other guilds might be avoided? Btw, finally going to be back at my bricks tomorrow We will have the little girl's grandmother visiting (and hopefully helping a lot with taking care of the baby) for soon. Maybe I'll finally be able to get some progress on the three WIPs in various states sitting on my desk

Nice ship, and the figures are great

Nice colors on that tree, and I like that Shraliek in the shadows! Two suggestions for improvements: include the whole MOC in the picture, and its also a good idea to remove the BBcode below the picture as the picture itself is a link to the full size picture on flickr. The following code is enough: [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/100958278@N05/12646776313/][img=http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7432/12646776313_98b85dd9ba.jpg][/url]

Barqa, Kaliphlin Located in Kaliphlin where the great Arkbri river, running all the way from the mountains of Mitgardia, meets the ocean. Also situated on the Oil Road, Barqa is a center of trade between several parts of Kaliphlin as well as trade by sea with Avalonia to the north and along the river from Mitgardia. REQ - Agriculture - Grains & Produce: Granary, Irrigated fields, Marketplace Agriculture - Livestock: Ostrich Farming, Marketplace Nautical: Port (by don leopold), Lighthouse, Great Lighthouse REQ - Military: Barracks Religious: Aslanic Temple Medical: Infirmary Hospitality: Tavern (by de Gothia), Fast Food REQ - Hospitality - Lodging: Camel Stable (by MiloNelsiano) REQ - Laborers: Cleaning Worker REQ - Craftsmen - General Goods: Glass Blower Craftsmen/Merchant - Arms & Armor: Siege workshop Craftsmen/Merchant - Clothing: Craftsmen/Merchant - Specialty: Candle Maker, Merchant's Hall (by BrickCurve) Services: Cartographer Scholars: Observatory/Astronomer Entertainers: Street Musicians Administrative (Town or City only): Council Chamber (by de Gothia), Administrative Building (by Adair), Toll House

Nice build, I like how you've mixed some great snowscaping techniquues. UoP +1 for both credits. I have been trying to bild a Mitgardian tree and the top has been one of the trickier parts, I think i will borrow the idea of the carrot top if its ok? (I'll give you credit of couse) A couple of suggested improvements is you make sure that the edges are solid or covered with a border (I like however the plant under the snow and the idea of the other holes being rodent tunnels suggested by the rat ). The studs-up part underneath the archer sould also be possible to fit in better, as it's length is s multiple of 2 studs (and therefore a multiple of 5 plates in the SNOT)

Which part is that hat those Mitgardians are wearing btw?

Very nice interior details! I especially love the floor design and the door (and the entire area around that) Good job!

The graininess is not caused by vibration, the foreground of the picture looks sharp enough to me. The problem however is that the camera is shooting with a too high ISO number (sensitivity) to achieve the short exposure time needed for the sharp picture. (The graininess is caused by too few photons being caught by the sensor to make a good picture, as the noise in the sensor becomes significant) So what I would suggest that you do is to get better light at the object (being outside in the shadow or on a cloudy day is the easiest, avoid direct sunlight as that tends to give too high contrasts for the camera to handle well).

Nice vignette and good job with the photography The trashtalk of bearded women in Mitgardia is almost a truth now

Yea, for semi-new threads (less than a few weeks old maybe) it's probably ok, but especially if someone decides to claim credits for an old build I think this is a good way to handle it without bumping threads

Great idea to use this thread for the grading to avoid bumping, much better than just PMing as it can be viewed by everyone

Still missing one vote on each of the claims in the topics below, any Kaliphlinite who has time to take a look and vote for or against (if a credit is not approved I'd rather know why than just not get the necessary votes). Book II Challenge 1 A: To Ambush an Ambush - certifications: Tree / Dense foliage Book II Challenge 1 B: Swamplands Tower - certifications: Advanced SNOT / Sideways rocks / Still water / Swamp Book II Challenge 1 C: Recruiting a Cyclops Tribe - certifications: Roofing / Wooden walls / Tribal scene / Life in Nocturnus Nordana Castle, Gatehouse - certifications: Fortifications / Movement-enabled Nordana Castle, North Tower - certifications: Tree / Studs up rocks and cliffs / Flowing water Anyone else missing review of their credits, please "reflash" the builds here so we can approve (progress towards your degree) or deny (so you can improve and make better builds in the future) the credits.

Interesting gedren_y, sounds like there will be some serious story writing there as well?

And there's also still the possibility of a veto from the old guard if we were to be swarmed with mediocre builders voting for each other But so far I think the newcomers have done a very good job!

Very nice build and excellent photography! My only complaints is that I would have liked to see the overall picture with the roof on and that the wall looks a bit too low and crumbled, but maybe this is a part of an old wall no longer relevant since the city has expanded? UoP +1 for the claims

I think all Kaliphlin members should be allowed to vote for UoP

Thank you all of you for your encouragement! It almost makes me not want to dismantle this build and build something else of the bricks. It would actually be possible to separate the left and right sides of the castle and insert two modules in the middle to make a more square castle, hmm... Each module is 48x64 so the whole castle is 96x128 studs. I don't know exactly how high the towers are, maybe 50 cm or something like that.

Good job making that rubble pile believable as a ruined tower (the storytelling helped ). The stone path looks good as well. UoP +1 for dense foliage.