Khorne

Minas Tirith looks amazing! I love how they combined minifigure scale and microscale. The throne room looks simply gorgeous. Even though the price range might theoretically be really good (price/parts) as some have pointed it, it's still a lot of money for me to spend at once. But this might be one of the first sets almost convincing me to do so.

Once more, I will allow myself three votes: @LM71Blackbird: I really like the lighting here and the cramped nature of the build. The story is also an interesting buildup to more. Despite it not really being set in a different Faction, I still think it's a fun build. @Ross Fisher: Great build and look at another Faction. Nice story as well! @Professor Thaum: Love the undercover characters

Thanks! I think it's an interesting group for sure. I liked @TribunM's build and wanted to explore the dynamic between the knights and the Pontillan pagans some more. I love the gloomy atmosphere of the forest, coupled with "supernatural" stories surrounding the locals.

Great to see you fleshing out the Knights of Yeldo and their holdings in Mogholay more. It's an interesting region and dynamic going on for sure! Nice to see it tackled in a build/story.

All the plotting and scheming going on! I love the figures and those brickbuilt warhammers.

Great texturing on the walls! Jean's face fits the situation perfectly as well: up to mischief. Are the saddle bags Fabuland or custom, haven't seen those before I think?

Lovely to see all the deadline builds drop in .

The cramped nature of the build really sells that dungeon feeling. I especially like the natural light creeping in via the hole in the roof. Cool surcoat for your character as well.

Haha, nice! Cool to see a behind the scenes. I was checking the original image to see if there were traces of Photoshop, but I figured you made it for real, so it's nice to actually see the WIP . Simple, but very effective!

Love it! Like I said before: the colored gradient on the rockwork looks great, as does the rock itself. The watch tower is a neat little summit piece. The usage of the moon piece on the guard's banner also adds a ton of flavor to the build. I like the story as well. It makes me want to roll a D6 and see if Sejmus can succeed his action of dropping his trousers and laying waste on the steps . Edit: Forgot to ask, but where are the tiles from you used for the carpet in the background? Some Friends set?

Forgot to upload my entry here:

Great build and like Ross already pointed out: funny . Again a lovely inclusion of brick-built animals! I also like the sled you built, and the tracks it has left in the snow. Great detail! The snowy border is also well-done. I wanted to do something similar, but didn't have the necessary pieces to make it visually interesting. I like the mixture of the trans light blue and the white to break things up.

Simple but effective build to thicken the plot and add some background to the setting! I like the figures of the rebels, even though I cannot unsee Pinnochio because of the hat. His torso is a custom one, right? Also really like the NPU of the tree. Is that a part from the CMF range? The paper background is also very nice, so vintage and evocative of the old Lego catalogues.

The build is actually the portrayal of what the letter is describing: the unsafe situation in Pontilla, where soldiers of the Knights of Poseidon are destroying an idol of a pagan god (Velyka, as described: the Dark Mother). In the background Pontillan rebels are ready to ambush them. The "ghost" you mention coming out of the tree is actually a figure carved out of the tree. I based it on Slavic idols found in the Baltics. Lorenzo isn't actually part of the build itself. I used him and the letter as a framing device for the "spying information" on Oléon, to tie in my character to the main Challenge. In hindsight, I just should've posted a story about the ambush without turning it into a letter intercepted by Lorenzo - it would've perhaps been a more clear-cut read then. This was only a small foray into foreign lands, mostly for the global Challenge. I just wanted to build something Oléonder/Pontillan and expand the world . Plus, I also wanted to showcase how Carolean mercenaries can be found all over. I think Lorenzo's future is still in Mardier, but we will have to see what the future brings! Thanks! I will continue to include callbacks to earlier builds, if they are needed.

Lorenzo opened the envelope he had been handed. The letter it contained had been intercepted by spies working for the Riverlands Trade League and was given to him by Rip Ravenclaw, seemingly as a business gesture even though Lorenzo knew the Trade League only did it as a throwaway courtesy from which they had nothing to lose. If it contained truly sensitive information, he would've never received it in the first place. Nevertheless, it did pique his interest as it supposedly pertained to the situation in Terra Pontilla, a region south of Oléon that had been officially annexed by the kingdom in the wake of the Long War. Since Mardier held good relations with Oléon, it was a region several Mardierian entrepreneurs were keen to exploit as well - perhaps in tandem with Oléonder partners. To many however, it was a region of mystery and intrigue as very little news of the place ever reached the far-eastern shores of Mardier. Lupito poured himself a glass of the finest Namereen wine, spun the glass in his hand and took a sip as he started to read. "Dear Father I hope you are doing well in our great Raven City. I write to inform you of our business venture in faraway Pontilla. I have secured contact with our clients, despite the fast deteriorating weather and traveling conditions due to the onset of winter. We have taken up camp in the region of Tenebriya and are planning sorties together with the locals, to deal with the Whitecloak infestation. Words can hardly describe this place. Tenebriya is almost completely covered in forest, so ancient that the air is thick to breathe and its canopy filters out most sunlight, even now with many trees bare due to the cold. I can imagine some haughty Namereen or Mardierian might find this place hellish: bereft of sun and infamous for its fens and cold mountains." Lorenzo scoffed audibly at the last sentence, despite no one being around in his quarters to hear his reaction. "The Pontillans that live here seem to be of a somewhat different breed or stock than those I met across the mountains, closer to the sea. As the Darkwood is only sparsely populated, the people of the villages and towns form a tight-knit community and are wary of outsiders. No wonder that a strong anti-Oléonder sentiment is to be found here. It is almost amusing, that despite the distance I almost feel some kinship to these people in a way. These Pontillans are very candid and sometimes dour, perhaps due to the lack of light or the long winters. They can even seem morbid at times. While most of the Pontillans seem to worship Taulis, the Eternal Sky and patron of their nation, in the Darkwood it is Velyka that is most worshipped. The Dark Mother as she is affectionately called here. From what I understand, she is a multi-faceted goddess with many fascinating myths told about her. It is said she guides lost travelers through the Darkwood with her lantern, just like she guides the dead to the afterlife. She is the patroness of Death, but also of magic and rivers - perhaps similar to our Wotan. Her lantern is said to contain Sky Essence, a gift by Taulis which she uses to control the winds and weather. While the Oléonders mostly contempt the Pontillan pantheon, they vehemently loathe Velyka and everything she stands for, declaring all worshippers as witches and heretics. I believe their strong reaction veils their fear of the goddess. They have rounded up several women in the villages and claimed they were solomonari, weather-witches or necromancers who purposely changed the weather for worse in order to impede military actions and who apparently raised the dead in order to fight again. While I believe this is nonsense, it is a fear the Pontillan rebel groups in Tenebriya make good use of. I have heard reports of Order patrols that were seemingly ambushed by ghosts or "raised dead men", which in reality are just locals who know their way around the forest better than the invaders and paint their faces with skulls in order to scare the soldiers. A great tactic I admittedly have adapted as my own, I must say. A recent example was a typical one: a small group of Knights of Poseidon were sent out to take down one of Velyka's idols - as you tend to find a lot of in the Darkwood. As they were pulling down the wooden statue, arrows were launched at the group out of seemingly nowhere. Before the soldiers knew what happened, the attack was over and more than half of their men were dead or wounded. Not even the words of their priest was able to help them. Events as these only fuel the superstition around these parts. I can hardly wait to help do my part come spring. I will secure the honour and interests of our family. Best, Menno" Lorenzo put down the letter and wasn't sure what to think. It didn't really contain anything useful for him business-wise. On the contrary, the situation on the ground seemed a lot more volatile than he imagined or had hoped for - or even what most people in Mardier were aware of. He would need to discuss a further course of action with his father, as a venture into Pontilla would be a lot more risky and thus more costly than anticipated, maybe not even worth the trouble. ----- All in all not too complex of a build, but I think I redid the base tens of times. I just couldn't find the shape or color combination I wanted. In the end I found the color combo, but I ran out of useful dark green plates to make the shape more interesting. I was aiming for something more interesting akin to this one from @Ayrlego, but had to settle with something a bit more rectangular. I found it surpringly difficult to create an "interesting" forest floor as well. I'll have to invest in more dark green plants and pieces I think, if I want to revisit the locale in the future. I'm very happy with the statue and the trees though . Thanks for the input there.