Khorne

Miroslav's Emporium is another fine addition to this series! As always, a great accompanying story shedding some light on a minor BOBS nation and its custom. These are always interesting to read. I like how the sparser interior and wood decorations fit the "poorer" status of Varcoast as a nation. I like how you made the bottles of rakija, simple yet very effective.

The disappearance of the Lotus and Monomonto rulers (and perhaps the Ghaskin one) has to do with a change in policy that Flickr made some time ago. You can only have a certain percentage of hidden/private images in your photo stream. I think those rulers were on a separate account with almost all pictures set to private, which probably got them deleted and thus severed the deep links. I think I still have most of the pictures saved somewhere, so I could reupload them and edit the new links back into the posts (Lotus and Monomonto - the others I don't know).

Cool! Looking forward to seeing everything unwrap.

Ah yes, lovely to see the next installment! Once again: wonderful job on the interior. Crazy to think all of these buildings are furnished. So parts intensive! Great furniture and details all around. I especially like the ship in the bottle, that's a nice touch. Also very interesting piece of economical history. I was not aware of the oriental silver/gold trade. Ironic how something that has a lot of value in one culture means next to nothing in another one.

No need to change anything, it's definitely coherent with the established background . The usage of the black and yellow flag is an interesting opportunity for some new nuance in the lore perhaps. Maybe these men are royalists in favor of the old ducal ways with a noble caste ruling the city and a return of a duke who could potentially become king of Carno himself, which is why they prefer the golden banner. Flying the gold-black banner would definitely be seen as an act of defiance by the king of Carno and the city-state of Aden. The Essians using the current "official" black and white could be republicans content with how Essen is now and prefer to move forward in a meritocratic manner, whilst obviously never forgetting the past from where they came. Just some random musing here . Limitation can also be a catalyst for creativity. Like I said in my previous comment: looking forward to seeing all of the other stories you will add to this! Perhaps you can write the story in Word or a Google Doc first and then paste it into a post here, so you will not lose anything while posting? That way you can upload the post in one go, instead of partial updates. EDIT I forgot I also made a design for a trade outpost once, way back. Never got around to finalizing the design or building it with actual bricks:

Great, glad you liked reading it! Thanks for the feedback, I've updated the entry on the Hilfstruppen and the Jägers. I've also added @Keymonus's merchant outpost to the index of MOCs.

I love this! This must be one of your largest MOCs yet, right? I like the liveliness of everything with all the different scenes and figures going about. It's cool that you've added a bit of national flavor to each of the separate warehouses. I also love the stories you've added to the main post. Crazy to think that most of these buildings each have an interior as well! I'm looking forward to seeing this thread progress and read about the different nations' trade posts. Lovely to see people give some love to Essen and stick to the lore The addition of the shield with the oak tree is awesome! Such a nice detail. Would've also been nice if you had been able to include the twin ravens on the gables somewhere. But still, very nice. I like it! Am I correct in assuming you are still updating the post? Currently I only see a introduction, and then it's just loose words and links followed by pictures. I did! I made up the city state as part of my entry in a contest some years ago. I found the part about Carno having different city states interesting and so I created Essen, a rival state of Aden - the current capital city of Carno. Long explanation below, scroll down for TL;DR version. Long version I had the retro fireman torso and I thought they fitted the Carno double-breasted uniform aesthetic, so I decided to go with those. Because they were black, I came up with the "dour" thematic of the faction. A fantasy version of Prussians with Lower German, Swedish/Danish and a bit of Dutch influences - (Baltic) protestant influences, if you will. Militaristic, stubborn and dutiful. The real-life Death's Head hussars are a famous unit, so I decided to use death's head emblems for this faction as well and from there grew the background story with them using it to honor their fallen dukes. And from there came the raven story, which is also a bird from gothic fiction, which in its turn matched the gothic characteristics. You can read more in-depth background here. So in the end, I still needed a name and I settled on 'Essen' because it fitted the general thematic I had in mind. Like you said: Essen is a know real-world city in Northern Germany. But there is also an Essen in Flanders and other places, so it fit the generic Lower Germany/Low Countries vibe I was looking for. Plus, Essen (in Germany) is famous for its gun industry, just like Essen in BOBS. In the lore, Essen is situated in the bend of the river Karn which runs through Carno. From there it is in an ideal position for trade, which is also a source of its income and a means to furnish its army. Thus it sits in the 'S'-bend of the river, hence 'ESS-en'. The exclave of Karnemünde also references the Northern German background of the city, with many villages and cities in Northern Germany having names like this (e.g. Peenemünde) I also liked how the name seemed familiar to Hessen and the dreaded Hessian soldiers from the American Revolutionary War, which linked to the whole "New World" thematic of BOBS. Plus, the Hessians were mercenaries, just like the Essians (sort of) were when they first made their appearance in BOBS. On a side note (some etymologic/nerd expo here): I also made up the river Karn and its name to explain the position of Essen and the geography and name of the nation itself. Coincidentally, "Carno" contains the word "carn" which in Dutch can also be written as "karn". And "karn" in Dutch means "to churn", e.g. "karnemelk" / "churned milk". So I figured it would make sense to add a Rhine-like massive river to Carno - a major vein of trade, so important that the nation derives its names from it. A wild river in parts, hence the name "Karn / Churn" . TLD;DR Essen is a common city place/name in Flanders and Northern Germany and thus fitted the Northern German protestant vibe perfectly.

Looking forward to see the new system changes and what the Court has come up with! Any estimate on launch date? Q1 2024?

Cool MOC! The salt mine under a waterfall is something I haven't seen before and certainly look unique and interesting. I like the addition of the crane on top. Clever build! Overall it is a great scene, with lots going on. A bit of work, a bit of party and a bit of sandcastle building.

Chapter VIII. - Standoff Lysandre threw his hat towards one of his soldiers and drew his sword. He exhaled and rolled his shoulders, preparing himself mentally for what was to come. The captain knew the party didn't really have time to stop for this nonsense, but the samurai had to go - one way or the other, in order to get some water. And admittedly, he was also kind of excited for the challenge, even though he knew he was hardly the best swordsman or duellist out there. As a child of a noble family of lower status, he never really received proper training in the skillset and would apply what he had learned in the army. Oléon's old blood lines - the proper landed nobility, they were the real duellists and often participated in duels as a pasttime. A sport derived from ancient tradition. The captain braced himself. His opponent squinted his eyes and charged. A flurry of sword slashes came towards Lysandre, which only some of them he was able to parry. Several minor cuts appeared on the gendarme's uniform and a drop of blood fell on the ground. Haji stood tall and boastful in his tactical victory. But it was not over yet. This time Lysandre propelled himself forward and cut away at his opponent, who block most of his attacks with relative ease and determination. Haji was a proper samurai, trained from a young age in the art of proper swordsmanship - unlike the captain. Sensing an opportune moment, the samurai retaliated and pushed Lysandre back, disarming him as he tripped. Haji put his katana at Lysandre's throat. Confident in his win, yet disappointed he was not granted a noble death, the samurai prepared to end the fight. Lysandre cocked the pistol which he had whipped out in the last moment and had aimed at his opponent. He grinned at the samurai, who was angered at this display. "No honour," Haji spat. "Honour gets you killed. I prefer being alive", Lysandre replied as he pushed the katana away and got up. "You're part of the past. We are the future." The captain sheathed his sword and put away his pistol. His action was followed by the samurai. "You're looking for a noble death? Come with us and I can pit you against some of Oléon's finest swordsmen. Or come with us and renew your purpose. Serve a new master, King Philip and lend him your sword. An exquisite skillset such as yours would be a shame to let go off. It's up to you, really." Haji probably only understood half of what Lysandre was talking about, but it seemed enough. Grunting, he stepped aside and let the soldiers pass to water the horses. ----- Thanks! Almost there now! This chapter was a bit too long for the concept I had in mind. I wanted to strive for 3-4 paragraphs per MOC. Next one will be shorter again.

Excellent synopsis, @Fraunces. I concur! This. I can't imagine the time needed to make everything go smooth, plus build MOCs on top of the leadership duties.

Lively atmosphere! Like @Yperio_Bricks said: the posing of the figures looks really great and makes the scene come to life. I also like the texturing on the walls and the use of the arch to make the architecture more interesting. Nice story as well. Everybody can use a good wingman in their lives!

Security forces are hard at work at mitigating that threat though! ... or perhaps a conservative reactionary revolution that turns the kingdom into an empire, with even more power to the emperor. Napoléon III meets Roman Empire. However, it wouldn't fit with the current king's more benevolent character. He's a good guy. The conniving underlings are to blame for any shade on Oleon's shining reputation!

Chapter VII. - Haji The party retraced their steps through the jungle as quickly - and safely - as they could, stopping every now and then to re-orient themselves and make sure nobody was following them. It was a hard march after a short night and the pace was slowed somewhat by the prisoners they dragged along with them. It took Lysandre and his gendarmes a while to make it back to where they had left the horses and some extra men, who were relieved to see their comrades again. "Let's get out of here as fast as we can," Lysandre ordered the troopers, as he mounted his horse. Patting the neck of the animal, he looked at Manaaki. "Do you know a place where we can make a quick stop to water the horses?" In his mind, the Tyree'dee warrior was struggling to find the correct Oléonese phrases and words to express himself, so he merely nodded and motioned vaguely in a direction. It was good enough for Lysandre, who smirked. He had learned to trust Manaaki's knowledge and motivation by now and knew the scout would deliver. The fully mounted party got on their way, trudging through the jungle paths single-file, following Manaaki's lead. It didn't take them long to reach a small pool of clear water. Before they could bring their horses to the water however, a stranger stepped out of the shadows. Armed with a pair of sheathed katanas and brandishing a naginata spear, the individual was clearly a wandering Monomontachi samurai. The gendarmes were quick to aim their firearms at them, but Lysandre motioned them to lower their weapons. He was intrigued by the spectacle. "Who are you?", the captain implored. Yet the warrior remained silent. "Are you alone?" The conversation, or lack thereof, went nowhere. The samurai gestured towards himself with his free hand. "Haji [shame]." He then pointed his spear at Lysandre and grunted in completely broken, heavily accented and nigh-understandable Oléonese "Mori honoraburu [mort honorable; honorable death]". He stuck the naginata spear in the ground, unsheathed one of the katanas and invited Lysandre to strike and engage in a duel. ----- Haha, thanks! I know there's only so much you can say . In the end, it's just a series of 8x8 small MOCs, so there's little new to add. Glad you are following along and like the story and builds! Thanks for the compliments! I appreciate them. I'm always glad to see people are reading and enjoying the stories!

There's a Discord currently, right? Weren't there intra-team comms there? I lost my login information, so I haven't checked it for ages . I'm very curious as well! However, I think the Court is trying to remain intentionally vague until Era III arrives: IMHO, I think the world shouldn't expand as much this time. There should be some new stuff as exploration is the basic core of BOBS, but seeing as the current (active) player base is smaller than when Era II started, I think a too big of a world/map would make the world feel empty when there's not enough activity/characters/people/buildings to populate it. Maybe a refocus and finetuning of what is already there, plus some new bits of land. I know I'm faaaar from a very active member so other members might see it differently, but those are just my 2 cents as I see it . Is there an ETA for when we move into the 3rd Era?

Thanks for the info! The blue torso is from one of the Chinese New Year sets. They have good non-fantasy oriental designs. I get that if you want more realistic torso designs in muted colors, that Ninjago is not the way to then .

I missed this one! Great Asian style you have here. I've been wanting to do something similar as well, but I don't have any of those pieces you've used for the roof. They look really effective as an oriental-style tiled roof. I also like the way you did the window on the first floor. Is everything held together by friction there? Ninjago has some great torsos for general Asian use, but you have to sift through all the wild designs to find the "calmer", more normal ones. The villagers from the Ninjago Movie line have good torsos. Monkie Kid also has cool Chinese designs. I can also recommend the torsos from the minifigures from the Chinese New Year sets; those are really detailed. These are mostly Ninjago parts:

Chapter VI. - Prey Thanks to the carefully relayed information of Manaaki on the layout of the camp, the schedules of the guards and the activities of its inhabitants, the raid was swift; performed with surgical precision, it was over before most of the sleeping rebels knew what was transpiring. Under the cover of the night, captain Lysandre and his men left their positions in the jungle. Like a deadly disease they crept up on the camp, silently killing those who stood in the way of their objective. Guards were taken down without as much as a sound. There was palpable tension in the air as Lysandre's troops did their utmost best not to get discovered, but the rebels were so tired they never noticed what hit them. Lysandre and a handful of men made their way to the main tent, while several others snuck around the camp to retrieve anything of value. A small scuffle ensued as the gendarmes dragged Nicolas out of his bed, put him in irons and shoved a bag over his head. It was over quick, but it was enough to alert some other members of the Brigade Rouge. Here and there shouts were heard that started to wake up the camp and people started discovering the murdered guards and ransacked tents, but the gendarmes were already double-pacing it back into the darkness of the jungle, in possession of their prey. Extra picture in daylight:

Curious to see what you have in store for Era III. Hopefully the activity will rise again somewhat, but as you've said in the introductory post: as this is already the 8th (!) year, I think much has changed over time. People got older with busier lives (I know my life has certainly gotten busier once I got out of school) and I think overall much of the community has shifted from forums to app like Instagram, Flickr, Discord, etc to stay connected resulting in traffic loss here. Not to be a downer though! I very much like the world you have created with BOBS and I hope the spirit remains and the activity is renewed with this new era!

Chapter V. - Predator Present day. Manaaki slowly crept forward through the dense foliage, towards the campsite set up by the retreating stragglers of the Brigade Rouge. Like a panther he snuck on his unknowing prey. Aided by his tribal upbringing and years of experience in hunting, Manaaki was impossible to spot for the untrained eye and ear. Without as much of a sound he tread lightly through the undergrowth, covering by the shadows and plants of the thick jungle. He surveyed the camp and memorized its lay-out so he could pass the information to his companions later on. While there were no apparent signs of a violent struggle, the camp looked rundown with many broken and empty tents. It was clear the unit was under strength and that several soldiers had left. What remained of the men looked tired and downtrodden with little fight left in them. Tonight would be the night. Perfect. ----- Thanks! Like I said, most vignettes have been shot now, including the new ones, so I can keep posting at a steady pace now and continue the story until it's wrapped up.

Interlude II. - This Is The Way Some time ago, before currents events. The breeze rolling over the sea and into the port city of Tarzout barely made it to its medina and was only a slight consolation in the sweltering heat of a Guelphian afternoon. Despite the high sun, the souk was bustling with people. It was one of the many shopping districts in Tarzout's city center. The banners above fluttered ever so slightly in the wind and did their best to keep most of the sun out. Noorah and Andromeda pushed their way through the crowd, Noorah being visibly more used to it than the lieutenant-colonel - who was largely annoyed by the location of this impromptu meeting. If one could even call it that. "I have reason to believe we have located the position of one of the Brigade Rouge's key men on El Oleonda," Noorah said, trying to raise the volume of her voice above the noise of the bazaar, yet not make it too loud and draw attention or eavesdroppers. "I'm entrusting this operation to you. The tide on El Oleonda is currently is turning in our favor. The net around the Brigade's units still there is tightening and I want to make sure we use the situation to our utmost advantage. We could learn valuable information from the subject." As she moved through the souk and talked, Noorah took a look at the wares and sometimes stopped to smell some of the spices for sale - gesturing her servant to buy some. Even though she lived in the casbah, or fortress, above Tarzout - the eponymous Roche in her surname, she often ventured into the lower city to hear the latest rumors and gossip. And do some shopping, of course. "It's wholly unbecoming of the proletarians to arm themselves and dare question the legitimacy of our great king and institutions. Politics are not meant for peasants. There is a system in place and it is up to us to make sure it stays that way. Ours is the way of Mount Aplynacus, with our king on top and we as his servants. And in turn, we do as is expected of us and the plebeian masses serve us." "The King does not care for their minor grievances. I don't care. We each have our part to play. The eagle mourns not the hare it hunts. Nor will I shed a tear when I kill the eagle and take it as a trophy." Noorah stopped and turned to Andromeda. "Do you understand, lieutenant-colonel? Aplynacus, Andromeda. And it is us who are part of the summit. Make the rabble understand." "This is the way," the Spider said. Andromeda raised an eyebrow. Noorah chuckled and motioned towards an archway. "The way out of this bazaar." ----- Waaaaay later than expected and not quite the update I had planned, but at least here's something. I shuffled the story around a bit and made some extra MOCs, which I have now also shot. I expect this to go a lot smoother again now. The end is certainly near! Sorry for the long wait! Extra picture:

Thanks, NOD! The Red Brigade functions primarily as a unit of mercenaries, to fund their revolutionary activities in Oléon. As such, you can hire them to fight for you, but you can't recruit them into your army as a regular unit. After all, they are not Sea Rats . They are still Oléonese and believe in the country and a government, they just want a different type of government. So if you want to hire them and use them in a build, go ahead! Just try to stick to their background lore .

Did not expect this ending . So chaotic, hah!

Nice build! I love the overall action going on and the different games being portrayed. Great job on posing all of the figures and stuff. While the architecture is nicely done, it feels a bit too Elvish/Rivendell for my taste. But the quality and style of the structures is certainly commendable!

A long, but good read! Great sendoff for the general. I like the inclusion of the song in between the paragraphs and builds. I didn't know about these type of songs, so it was interesting to learn something new.