Khorne

I can only echo what the others have said: excellent technique on the wave! It really adds a level of dynamism to the MOC. I also like that you've used the hexagonal base technique introduced in the Era 3 thread.

You sure crank these out at a fast pace, yet retaining excellent quality! The catamaran looks great. Is there a reason you did the second boat of the middle piece like that and not with its nose outward? Visually, I think it would've made more sense to do it the other way around, so that it looks less like two boats hooked together in a row. Great scene overall, with great action. I'm envious how you can create so much motion and life in Stud.io. I can hardly manage to pose a figure in there .

A fine addition to the story, Jeff! Like I said before, lovely writing in this chapter and accompanied by an excellent build with some great character details in the faces and postures.

Chapter II. - The Captain The warmth of the sailors’ tavern contrasted heavily with icy northwestern wind that swept the streets of St. Gallo outside, hammering the shutters and door. Inside the atmosphere was lively with laughter and music in the air and plenty of alcohol-filled pewter cups in the hands of the patrons. The eponymous ‘Captain’s Daughter’ could hardly keep up to keep all drinks filled. St. Gallo was a fishermans’ city, one of the largest on the Courlandie peninsula and its nautical nature was clearly on display throughout the tavern, with whalebone trophies and fishnets dotting the interior. “Another top up, captain?”, Gwen asked as she carefully meandered through the myriad of drunk fishermen and sailors. Captain Kerouac merely grunted as he took a deep swig of his pipe and raised his cup, eyeing an unfolded letter on his table. As the barmaid filled his drink, he muttered through his bristles: “Would you be so kind and give the boys another round as well, Gwenny?” “I’ll be sure to do so,” she replied as her eyes darted to the letter as well, “Good tidings, captain?” He chuckled. “I believe so. Some fancy schmuck from the interior provinces hired us to take him North. Can you believe it?” The captain could hardly contain his laugh as he continued tugging on his pipe. “Paid us good money as well. Wants to see what the Northern Ocean is really like, since he’s read so much about it. Apparently, sailing North has almost become something of a hobby to those entitled nobs. The landlubbers should stay put, is what I say. Aye. The sea is not a playground and many a good men have already vanished in its treacherous embrace.” “What’s the catch?”, Gwen asked intrigued by the tale. Ambrose raised an eyebrow. “The catch? Heh, not whales or seals that’s for sure. I doubt the inlanders have the stomach for such hard labour anyway. Besides, I’m only sailing with a skeleton crew. The cargo is apparently more of the schmuck’s friends.” “There’s always a catch, though. Be careful out there, Ambrose”, she replied gently and briefly caressed the captain’s worn hand. “Discerning stories come from the New World. Something’s off. Volcanoes erupting. Islands disappearing under waves the size of temples.” Gwen stared dourly into the distance and then turned to the captain once more. “And you know as well as any other man here, there hasn’t been this much pack ice in the Northern Ocean in years. It’s dangerous.” “But the sea is freedom”, the captain philosophically answered. Gwen chuckled. “Only to fools, captain. You whalers are an odd lot. Running from civilization to float around in the great nothingness.” “Heh, who says we’re running, Gwen?” She smiled and shook her head playfully. “Whatever suits you, Ambrose. Be sure to show the fancy pants how we do things in the north.”

I actually like this set! I didn't really have much anticipation, but I have been following this topic with half an eye to see if there were any leaks. Now that I've seen the pictures, I'm not disappointed. It does what it says on the box: it's a medieval town square with multiple peasants of various professions. Style-wise it fits the Lion Knights' Castle, so that's cool. I also really like the painting with 375 Yellow Castle. Plus, there's an updated Wolfpack torso and a lot of different animals and stuff. Yeah, pretty much ticks all the boxes in my book. I can understand people who have been steadily following the news on this set might be somewhat disappointed or expected more of something different, but for me as an "outsider who just likes historical Lego": I think it's pretty great. Neat successor to the previous village-themed medieval Lego sets.

Who else but @Ayrlego could build a bushland so well

The terrain types all look great! I especially like the whale jumping out of the water.

Nice build! I like the outward facing position of the bricks on the side. It adds an interesting rough structure to the terrain. Can't wait to see what Era III will bring.

Wow, no words for this! It's mind-boggling! The recreation you've built is so meticulous, it's almost like an exact copy. The pictures (and obviously the build itself) are amazing! How did you plan this build, or what was the process like? Did you find schematics or drawings online or did you just base yourself on pictures you've made (or found online)? Did you recreate in in Studio first, or did you immediately start building with real bricks? This deserves a frontpage feature for sure!

(Taking this from the Sea Rats topic, as to not derail the faction topic too much) Sorry for not replying in the Sea Rats thread, but I didn't want to derail that topic too much with non-Sea Rat faction discussion and thought it'd fit better here as someone else already suggested. Addressing the quoted post by @RobTheVan directly above: I don't think the subfactions need to be specifically outlined as such necessarily. I mean, as 'official' subfactions. The overarching factions are already played with different accents and the underlying differences are also explored in the background lore of each faction and have been expanded upon by the players' own stories. @Ross Fisher plays his Oléonese character very Faith-minded, while @Keymonus and @CapOnBOBS or @merc for example build with a more general military or commercial theme. Which also works. The few builds and characters I have made were more political scheming, with conservative royalists vs revolutionaries. Like I said, they don't need to be actually split up as genuine subfactions, I think. The current framework and outline works, IMO. In a way, this is already how the factions are kind of described in the Quick Start Guide, but these short doubled-down descriptions of the factions are more nuanced in the actual faction threads. But over the years most factions and players have moved more towards the doubled-down versions and away from the nuance (I feel). To add my 2 cents to the Sea Rats = pirates faction: I always thought they were the pirates faction . Never saw them as anything else. I'm not really up to date on the EGS and stuff, but I can imagine a more 'piratey' way of play can be added, if this is not already the case? Kind of like you have Horde factions in Rome TW: Attila, Pirates could have more raid/plunder via the seas benefits but are unable to grow settlements beyond a certain level to compensate. Whereas "normal" factions must gain their riches via colonies, settlements or regular trade. Just from the top of my head. Like I said, I'm not up to date on the EGS, so maybe this is already the case .

Lovely, the final pieces of the story are here! Because the pyramids are obviously built by aliens! Everyone knows that, of course! Nice! Excellent setup for more adventure. Looking forward to that.

The Society of Heracles and its Brigade Rouge militant army will still be the main adversaries, I think. Their popular cause is easier to get behind and gain new followers than an anarchist cause would. I mainly introduced Nestor Antonin and the anarchists to show an ideological rift and aid in the downfall of the Brigade Rouge mercenaries on El Oleonda, thus finishing that story thread there. I'm glad you liked the introduction, we shall see what the future brings! Nothing is set in stone yet. Haha, indeed it seems they're just adding fuel to the fire. But is that not often how it goes with such tales of revolution . The Force Publique torso is from the US Union soldier from the Lone Ranger range. They're already several years old. I bought a whole bunch of those rather cheaply when they were still more commonly available. You can still find them on Bricklink, but the supply has dwindled over the years. I had not thought of it like that, but a molotov cocktail would indeed probably not be called that in this universe . We'll have to figure out a new name. Thanks for the positive feedback! Like I said in some previous post here somewhere, I have vague outlines for a new (short) storyline so perhaps I will do another one in the future. I'm glad it is well-received . Happy New Year, everybody!

Another fine addition. Great furniture designs and packed feeling in the interior. Like @Yperio_Bricks said: the professor is a promising character and his study looks interesting. Will we be seeing more of him? Too bad the full text isn't there yet, I'd love to see the descriptions for the final pictures. If possible somehow, I'd try to write the text beforehand in a text editor perhaps and then you can post everything all at once? The suspense is always killing . Did you come up with the name because of the sign/sticker or did you have the name first and then made a custom TCRR sticker?

Epilogue - The Head Of The Snake "Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies," Noorah declared sternly to the prison warden. Standing on the balcony overlooking the main courtyard of the prison, she could see how the prisoners stood to attention awaiting to be shown their own cell. While Noorah and the prison warden were shielded from the blistering Guelphian sun beating down on the scene, the prisoners were not so lucky. "We have reports of disbanding Brigade Rouge units on El Oleonda. They are steerless - broken without a leader, their morale gone. It won't be long now before our troops have destroyed them utterly." She grinned at the sight of Nicolas Pierrot standing below in ball and chains. Turning heel, Noorah addressed the warden before she left. "Be sure to give our special guest a warm Guelphian welcome. Get all the information you can out of him." "What will happen to him afterwards, Madame?", the warden asked. The Spider shrugged. "As much as I'd love to parade him through the streets of Granoléon after this is all over, we both know our war is fought in the shadows and is not rewarded with grand parades and public displays. Our prize is knowing we are protecting the heart and soul of Oléon from the poison spread by individuals such as him." "Let him rot," she concluded. Granoléon - the rich district, some time of the capture of Nicolas Pierrot and the events on El Oleonda. "Cut off the head of the snake and more shall take its place. We are the disgruntled and downtrodden. Our numbers are legion. Our name is Hydra. We serve none, but utter Freedom. Our actions are our propaganda. We thrown down the shackles of government and the king's yoke and reject the poisoning of the mind that is the Faith. We stand for an equal society based on free grouping of individuals. Hail Hydra.*" FIN That's it! With the epilogue posted, it's now officially over and done. Again, thanks to all those who were following along and read the chapters and overall story. I'm glad you enjoyed it! Feedback is always welcome. Some rough outlines/ideas are forming for a next story in a similar format, which I would try to keep to a 10 chapter length. But I have yet to make it more concrete. It would tie in to this one and feature some of the characters. And having posted this, I kept my own deadline to have this finished in 2024 . Happy holidays! * I was doubting on using this phrase, because it's such an obvious reference and therefore cheapens the pamphlet somewhat but I also thought 'why not?' - a bit of cheap fun to lighten the mood; plus alliterations are nice.

Okay, I will look into it tomorrow or during the weekend and send it via PM to you.

Thanks! I like reading and seeing how many people follow along with the storyline . Looking forward to those tales and builds of yours ! Like I said somewhere before, we currently have Christmas vacation in Belgium so I have a bit more free time, so I will upload the final pieces in rapid order. Mostly because I also want to have this finished before the start of 2024. As said, the story is finished, the goal has been reached. The following Interlude and then an Epilogue I will post on Saturday are merely to tie up some loose ends. The length of these will be kept to a minimum. Interlude III. - Bitter Morning Emilien ruffled through today's papers as he sipped his coffee. Like so many of his countrymen, his morning ritual existed was to visit one of Granoléon's many coffeehouses and have a coffee and pastry to start the day, while reading the newspapers or socializing with other intellectuals, philosophers or artists. Unlike the bourgeoisie living in the better-of parts of the city, Emilien frequented coffeehouses in the poorer districts, where the Force Publique wouldn't dare show its face and he was thus relatively safe from harm. "Excusez-moi, mon camarade," a Heraclean loyalist interrupted Dorée's morning, seemingly out of breath with a face that ran red. "I have urgent news." "Speak freely camarade, we are all equals here," Emilien replied and awaited the man's tidings. "News from El Oleonda, Emilien. Nicolas ...," he paused, "Nicolas has vanished. Taken. We don't know. There are only rumors. It's probably been a while now. You know how slow news reaches us from the front." Usually quite the rhetorician, Emilien was left for words. Nicolas was one of his staunchest supporters. Part of the movement from the early days. "That is ... certainly ill news," he solemnly stated - his mind racing. "Is there any notion whatsoever on possible whereabouts or how it happened?" "Like I said, camarade: only rumors. It seems he was taken away at night, but we don't know for sure by whom. El Oleonda is a hornet's nest... Perhaps the Lotii turned on him, maybe it was the Carnites. The imperialists? There are tales of a splinter cell having emerged as well. Maybe a falling out that has turned violent? The fog of war makes it unclear. I'm sorry, Emilien." Emilien pensively dismissed the follower. He rubbed his temples and rummaged through the papers in front of him once more. News of El Oleonda was hard to come by and most of it was biased to put Oléonese leadership and military in a good light. He'd hoped to find some trace of his friend in the articles, but it was to no avail. The closest thing to a clue he could find was a headline that read 'Red Front collapses - heathen dogs run with tails between their legs'. The messenger might be wondering who the perpetrator was, but inside Emilien knew where to look. It did not bode well for the movement and the future. The morning left a bad taste in his mouth and stomach. Worse and more bitter than any strong coffee could.

Thanks, that is a really nice comment! I also meant I was "glad" to have done it the "long way" instead of staying with the original idea of doing it the short way with only 4 MOCs. That way, the stories had more time to breathe. I don't have any concrete stories as of yet with the characters, but I was planning on using them again in the future. I just don't know the setting yet. Thanks, NOD! I'm happy you liked the builds and stories! I like your conclusion, it is mostly that sentiment I was going for! Good or bad is indeed in the eye of the beholder and all characters act on their own motives that they view as "good or noble". Regarding the end, don't expect any sudden plot twists . Nicolas is really going to a prison. That was the original setup of the storyline all along, so I won't change anything there . Thanks, Kai! I appreciate the comment.

Chapter X. - Sunny side up Somewhat concurrently with Lysandre and Andromeda's meetup, an Oléonese prison barge left the coast of El Oleonda and took to the high waters, en route to Tarzout in Guelph. The ship was an older decommissioned warship, stripped of most of its valuables and weapons, which had been repurposed on newer models. The wood creaked as it crawled its way home amongst the waves and the interior was damp, rather unkempt for a ship and smelled foul. Most of the interior had been modified for the transportation of prisoners. There were hardly any markings on the ship, it had no name or a logbook to speak of. The records were scarce and not open to prying eyes. To most, the ship didn't exist. A black ship to run the Kingdom's most unwanted criminals and traitors. Once the ship would arrive to Tarzout, most of the prisoners would be put on a further transports to prison sites across the peninsula, while others with minor punishments or who had little information on them would be put to work on public projects and infrastructure. Some of them would be offered the choice to serve in one of the penal units to repent for their anti-royal behavior. It was hoped they'd learn some proper values there. Hope that is in vain, most likely. None of such were options for Nicolas Pierrot. As the right hand man of Dorée and chief head of the Brigade Rouge, he was bound to be a source of intelligence on the movement. Agents of Section XIII would make sure they'd extract every bit of information out of him in their fight against the plebeian anti-socials of the Society of Héracles. The belly of the ship was hardly lit, safe for some moonlight seeping through the grates at night, or some sunlight during the day. An officer of the Force Publique walked amongst the prisoners, who had all received prison garbs. He bellowed a speech that he most likely had uttered a hundred times before, word for word: "Listen up, scum! You are here because you all have wronged the State and thus our King. Now, you belong to the State in order to repent and pay off your crimes to society. In his unending kindness, King Phillip saw it fit to grant you all a one-way ticket to the beautiful sunny lands of New Oléon. Now, I'd say that is most magnanimous of our Lord and I like to believe you all concur. As such, I propose you all sing his praise by chanting the national anthem!" The guard raised his lantern to take a look at the downtrodden, glaring faces of the prisoners. He smirked evilly. "Please do put your souls into it, lads! Lack of enthusiasm or participation is rewarded with added time to your sentence. An excellent opportunity to show your loyalty to great Oléon even more so!" "Well then, allons-y (FR: let's go)! Let's put some culture in you, dogs!" ----- Two posts for today, to make up for not having posted for a long time and because I liked the contrast of "culture" and "location" of chapter IX and X. So, Nicolas has been captured and Lysandre will be rewarded, which largely marks the end of the story. I still have some interludes and an epilogue left to tie into the main story, but thanks already to everyone who kept on following, despite the long breaks in between builds! My first iteration was very straightforward and was only about four vignettes, I think. It was only: arrival, the way there, capture and the prison ship. The story evolved along the way, but I'm glad with the result.

Chapter IX. - Civilization After the small incident with Haji, who then joined the party of hunters, the trip back to Fort Arltrees went smoothly. Or at least as smooth as a trip through a war-torn island could go. Danger and even the cold grasp death and the embrace of Hades were still lurking around every corner, but at least the worst was behind for Lysandre and his Gendarmes. The weary soldiers returned to the settlement in the dead of night, stirring as little commotion as possible. The men returned to their barracks to tend the horses and get some well-earned rest, while Lysandre changed into civilian clothing and slipped away. He met up with lieutenant-colonel Andromeda in one of Fort Arltees more "public" public houses. The lieutenant-colonel raised an eyebrow at the sight of the flamboyant captain. "That's your idea of civilian dress, Lysandre?", Andromeda remarked, making sure she did not mention his rank. Lysandre merely chuckled and waved away the sneer. "I might not be of the highest or most ancient nobility, I still am part of it. If it is not us who bring culture to these plebeians, then who will? This land will be civilized." Andromeda ignored Lysandre's reply and went straight to business. "Is it done? Were you able to deliver the package? I hope there weren't too many bumps in the road?" "Everything is done as stated in the briefing," the captain answered. Leaning in closer, he spoke in a more hushed voice: "The package was delivered to one of your black ships off the coast, ready for transport to Guelph. They are bound to leave soon, if they haven't already." He leaned back again. "My work here is done, I believe." Andromeda nodded. "Excellent. I will return to Guelph as well then, to follow up on this case. You did well. I shall write highly of you in my report. Is there anything else you wish to discuss?" The captain rubbed his chin and scratched his head. "Our party picked up a straggler along the way, a Monomontachi defector. Masterfully skilled with the blade. He could be an asset to our cause. I'd like to recruit him into my troop. However, like I said: officially he is a Monomontachi. I'd need the proper paperwork in order for the bureaucracy to be satisfied, if I were to take him as one of my own." "Consider it done," Andromeda replied as she took out a small notebook, "name and surname of this man?" "Not sure." "Not sure? He has a name, right?" "Just write him down as 'Haji', first name," Lysandre paused to think, " 'Australis' last name. And if it is not too much of a hassle, you can transfer Manaaki as the dedicated scout to our unit." Andromeda gave a stern look, but obliged. "Don't push it." She got up in a quick fashion and made ready to leave. Turning her head, she gave the captain one last order: "Forget this ever happened, understand? You were never in the jungle and you found nothing." "I will forget, like I forgot about our previous encounter, Andromeda," Lysandre playfully answered, but the sly smile on his face quickly vanished as his eyes met Andromeda's ever sterner growing complexion. She grunted in anger. "Can't say I remember. It mustn't have been really memorable. You'd do well to mind your place and manners. You're playing with fire." As she barged out, Lysandre could only wonder what would happen to Nicolas Pierrot next. He could've asked, but he knew better than ask about Section XIII's murky affairs. While the Gendarmes were often derisively called the "King's Gardeners", he knew his work was only superficial in weeding out crime in the realm and paled in comparison to XIII's dark business.

I did not you were already able to edit posts. I can only imagine the amount of time it takes to stay on top of things here . The automated system sounds hopeful! For the photos, I can make a zip-file/WeTransfer with all the icons and stuff I have stored on my computer, so you can upload it to the new website?

Yes, definitely both of the above. There are too many pinned topics right now, with all of the starting information all over the place. There needs to be a clear starting point. Now you have the Quick Start Guide, the Intro Thread, the Master Index, ... Off the top of my head, perhaps there can be a general Lore Starter Guide and a Gameplay Starter Guide. The Lore explains the factions, story and world while the Gameplay guide explains how to build a character, choose a faction, settle land, etc. Regarding the centralization of the pictures: I started doing this with @Ayrlego when we were working on the updated NPC factions. I made a central Flickr account that housed most of the pictures, but as you've pointed out: it's not an ideal solution as it is subject to the rules of Flickr. Having the members of the Court be moderators here could help spread the workload as well, since now only a handful have the power to edit and lock topics and such.

Another fine addition to the district! Great work on the interiors once more, I love how it is so packed. Nice bit of background information as well, with the bit about the Garvian Leaugue. Where's the sailor's torso from?

What a lovely edited effect on the poster. The dynamic pose really stirs the patriotic drum! I would've used a serif font for the titles though, since sans serif type fonts weren't really a thing back then. A serif font like Times New Roman would set the visual more properly in the right time frame. The primer is also really neat. I saw on Flickr a while ago and have always loved the idea and execution.

Thanks! I've been wanting to wrap this up for some time, as there aren't a lot of chapters left, but I changed jobs at the start of November and it has left me with less free time than before - which I hadn't anticipated to be this "bad'. However, holidays are coming up, so I think I'll find some time then to post the final pieces.

Random musing: I went and saw Napoleon (the movie) yesterday. Visually it looked really good, with great sets and costume designs. Very inspiring stuff! As with most Hollywood historical output, you have to take everything with a ton of salt, but I still found it entertaining enough. Not Ridley Scott's best movie, but still good. The battle scenes are nowhere near an actual representation of the actual battles or napoleonic warfare though . Some bold story choices overall, but I found it interesting.