robuko

Life was always tough in the desert. There wasn't much round here but a few ancient temples and pyramids. It had got much tougher with the arrival of the First Centurion and his useless war, and now he had messed up the whole thing and there weren't any supply lines open coming out of Ulandus. All the cities were blockaded. Thank goodness for the King's Brothers. They had restored the old temples, which made the Brothers happy and gave the citizens a little bit of civic pride in the area. Best of all, the Brothers ran a free kitchen at the temples. All were welcome, the hungry were treated with dignity, the paella was wholesome and tasty. The First Centurion could stick his stupid Island, the Brothers were doing a great job for the people here.

War wasn't all it was supposed to be, thought the Ulandian guard They told him it would all be flashy super duper helmets and smart uniforms and the ladies would swoon. But here he was, far from home, defending some awful ditch in the back end of nowhere, and for what? Everyone knew the King was already at the gates of Xersia. And the local peasants wouldn't even let them build proper guard towers to protect them. Too concerned about crop damage, they said, so they had to have these damp soggy things halfway in the river. Too greedy about their acreage and war profits, more like it. Anyway, he had made it a bit more comfortable and closed the makeshift curtain against the biting wind. Cold in the desert at daybreak. Time to go and fertilise the local crops. He clambered down and made his usual way to the usual apple tree. "That's not the usual" was all he had time to think as the dagger slashed his throat. The Nile crocs were very patient, but when they struck, they struck fast.

This has been a great series with 4 high quality builds. I really like the gentle humour in this one and as usual your presentation is top notch

Superb wagon and a great scene

Wonderful. Absolutely brilliant, love it. So original!

Very faithful to Eryn's concept and a great idea. Nice entry

Superb build, very inventive and funny.

Excellent, I really love it that you have such an original approach to the challenges!

Fantastic challenge Ska! The usurper must fall and be brought to justice for the murder of Dextrus Flagg.

Ha ha brilliant idea!

Welcome J031! Post a short introduction and picture of your character here, and you're all set to go.

Those Decool sets are brilliant

Excellent counter!

Ooh I love lamb chops! I really like that shoulder parts use. The lack of knee joints is a bit off putting though, this could be countered with a simple staircase

Great idea, and a lovely build. The lighting is really good here.

Thanks very much everybody! Yes, the missing gold piece is missing on purpose, I was aiming for a kind of decayed grandeur here. However, I just noticed that the main shot has had a couple of unscheduled additions. Who knew an 18 month old could place pneumatic pieces so accurately? I will reshoot and repost this.

Your builds are getting better and better. I really like the composition here, and the colours are great. I suggest to put tiles on the border to make it look smoother. Also, the photo is not well cropped. I advise you to use tighter cropping on the first picture and then select a larger image size.

Beautiful composition Marcu, the use of height is really effective. I especially like the patterns you have used and the pentagonal fountain is brilliant.

Best road Emma

Ah, the call to adventure. I am feeling a bit of D'Artagnan and a bit of Bilbo with the story. I really like the cottage, and the detailed saturated grounds look fantastic. UoP +1 all claims

What a brilliant idea to get some height on this terrain. Beautifully made and presented.

Great action and vegetation. As I said on flickr, it's nice to have a proper look at the rats in high contrast. The muddy terrace looks excellent.

Third time lucky! Please include Dr Cogg's counter against Goliath

Countered

"Yes", concluded Lary Sarai, "The Desert King is a false King, and his words are lies like serpents in his mouth. Stand up against him!" The audience applauded and cheered. Suddenly an even louder noise broke over the applause, and the parapet collapsed. Lady Sarai was crushed to death by the rubble. Before she expired, just one phrase escaped her. "Forgive me...." The emotions of the crowd, already high, went in to fever pitch. "The King has punished her!" shouted one man "Aye, punished for her lies! Behold his power!" cried a lady Soon a new chant went round the square "Desert King! Desert King! Desert King!" And there were no more false prophets.