robuko

Very nice MikeyB! This is such a lovely clean build, I thought it was our Kaliphlin Mikey`s at first Really good photography and presentation too. I can really sense the Kaliphlin vibe here. Of all the many details I like, the use if dark tan bushes in the palm　trees is exceptional. I have been staring at palm trees for weeks looking for that exact effect. Brilliant. Glad that Carum is enjoying his posting

Lovely build, a welcome sight indeed for the Kaliphlin traveller. Really like the duckpond, and your balcony railings are very effective. The sand blue highlights looks great with the tan colours, it`s a pity it`s so hard to get hold of in decent quantity, you used it really well here.

sweet ride How did it handle through the swamps?

Very nice Cpt Mugwash! The light brick is a great touch. The interior furnishings are lovely, I really like the bookcase and fireplace especially.

Your Majesties, Your Excellencies, My Lords, and Ladies, the esteemed artists of the Petraea General Trading Company have recorded several auspicious personages of Nocturnus at Duc leStrange`s Valentine`s Ball in the Kaliphlin Embassy at Abyssan here. The Duke has once again brought love, peace and understanding to the people of Historica, bless his idiot socks. Artanis I, lovely editing. Angeli, more excellent minifig combinations.

Petraea General Trading Co artists have recorded events at the Valentine`s Ball here Mikel, you will find how to deeplink and other good stuff here

It has been a month since Duke Strange removed the secret panel in his chamber and consulted the profane oracles as to how to bring more Love to Historica. They told him, invite the fairest, the boldest and the richest in the land to the Valentine`s Ball, and bring some happiness and joy to these troubled lands. "Dear My Lord/Lady, you are rich/hot/worth cultivating, please come for Love and Fun on Feb 14th, Duc LeStrange" Since then, much has occurred. Next door to the embassy, ambitious Daniel has usurped his sleeping master, the mage Dr Dee, and summoned the djinn Bartimaeus. "WHO DARES SUMMON BARTIMAEUS" "Silence Dolt! Rosemary and chains of fire constrain you at my command. Find out what that imbecile Duke is up to. Report" Bartimaeus finds only that a sumptuous feast has been prepared, and Daniel has not been invited. But now, on the feast of St Valentine, the moment is here. The guests make their way along the foul sulphur river, noting that Dr Dee has apparently installed a new lavawheel for the his nefarious thaumaturge. Lady Alyssa is first to arrive, and her footmen amuse themselves outside. Crocodile carriage is by far the best way to cross the outlying swamps. Soon, the Ball is in full swing. The flirtatious couples whirl like dervishes across the floor, each dancing to his own beat. Sabrina and the Desert Sands play their best-loved slushy ballads on the traditional Kaliphlin cacophony of bugle, drums and flute, while the Duke sprinkles roses and love tokens on the dancers from his flying carpet above. Has true love taken hold? Who were the most romantic couple? Darecold seemed rather taken with Lady Alyssa`s enigmatic mazurka. Dr Rod`s assistant was a wallflower who bloomed when S'dak'l'vil'th asked for the next dance. Debutante Lady Jane thought Arcanis I a great catch, and a superbly elegant dresser. Sasha`s robust can-can won Dr Rod`s eternal admiration. Haarloos seemed preoccupied and distant though Phoebe of Rakath was very keen. Maybe as a hairless werewolf, he was envious of Darecold`s glossy pelt and rakish ways. General Grimm and Valsharess were clearly attracted to each other by mutual distrust, admiration and loathing, but even more so by shared fury that Lord Ezcob chose to dance with elven emissary Elgesa, from Ilgadren of Gel Cidra. Maybe they were plotting. At the end of the evening, Duke Strange was delighted, the Ball had been a great success. There was a lot of Love in the room and maybe war was now a little more distant and unlikely. The most passionate dancers would fly by carpet to the roof garden to share a romantic glass of mead, elven wine or snake`s blood with the Peligrinus mermaids. The stable hands did an excellent job of looking after the guest`s steeds for the return journey. So, who do you think was the most romantic couple? All of these scenes are inside the 48x48 floorplate. Ground floor is kitchen, stables and the Summoning of Bartimaeus. First floor is the ballroom, Duke Strange`s chamber and Dr Dee`s room. Roof is the roof garden. I hope you enjoy the Ball! Happy Valentine`s Day everybody!

Your presentation is excellent as always here. Love the stormy sky.

Wahil, lovely build. I especially like the floor. Amazing window too, good job claiming the lion symbol for Kaliphlin. Mikel, welcome to Kaliphlin! We have had an influx from cc recently but not so many to Kaliphlin, which is the best guild for buildin freedom. Please invite more of your friends here! Some great embassies posted recently, I have been frantically building so not commented yet, but Fonzy's buildings in particular were both fantastic. Lord Shale, your use of colour is quite extravagant, a super build! I have also commissioned an artist to depict the Valentine's Ball in Abyssan, which will feature Duke Strange as cupid. It took far too much time and effort, I will never build anything on this scale again! But, I am pretty happy with it, even if it is only 99.5% complete. Pictures tonight I hope. Happy Valentine's Day all

Dear Kerntechniker, The Kaliphlin Master Cartographer Gex/ NiceMarmot is our expert on geographical matters. As far as our travels have taken us, the country around Barqa has a beautiful and varied coastline, with soaring cliffs and sandy beaches, some patches of jungle. Barqa town itself is a bustling harbour in a natural bay, at the mouth of the mighty river Akbri. If you have chosen a sandy part of the coast for your embassy, you are very welcome to build there, though it is probably a few miles distance to the centre of the city. I believe this looks like the South side or left bank of the river. A very nice start, looking forward to seeing the build.

Bastet, what are you doing there! Bad kitty! Do not maul, maim and dismember the nice people! ooooh, too late.....

DaMaximus, those shields are fantastic. Mitgardian style and Kaliphlin colours, brilliant. CptMugwash, much as I value originality, I am not quite so sure it is a massive factor for the judges on what I have seen (no disrespect intended, m` Lord Flagg!), rather competence and detail seem to be more highly rated, both of which looked very good at the WIP stage for your embassy (and I really liked the big gold blades for originality). The WIPs you posted were pretty impressive and I noted at the time that the initial roofline could be highly impressive if you follow it through in a Mitgardian style. We are only scored on the best builds of what is posted, not on any average, so there is zero downside in posting, except your time. In other words, please build and submit your embassy. For the glory of Kaliphlin! Lord Flagg, thou and thy monkey bard art utterly bonkers. I love it! Captain Hardiel, we thank you for bringing these issues to our attention. Frankly, energy and silica are free at the manufactory and rent is favourable, so labour costs per se are not a big issue for the PGTC. There appears to be some rather involved internecine squabble as to who gets to use the big mirrors to fry and melt interlopers and enemies, which has developed into a question of honour amongst the mummy tribes. The relicts and remnants and body parts that we would be glad to dispose of in Petraea, are of high value to the Mountain mummies. Well, boys will be boys. We very much appreciate your raising of this issue, we may ask you to arbitrate if the solution proves intractable for us. In the meantime we are asking the southern ninja clans to take on the operating contact of the leg of Legomandias. It is a post where usually there are no valuable targets, but when they come they are gargantuan. This suits the ninja nature. Your build is excellent, love the scrolls! Xander and crew, welcome to these shores! Your ship is a worthy vessel, and we have several commissions we would ask you to undertake under a veil of secrecy. Great minifigs!

I really like this! The use of colour, the composition and variety of buildings, and the minifig scenes are all superb. There are many lovely details, the domes and stairs, the use of water and greenery that typify our beautiful capital stand out. Definitely this is more than the sum of its parts. I also thought it was forced perspective, the scale is highly unusual in that all of the buildings and rooms are tiny really if they are to minifig scale, but it is very effective. Great build!

Very impressive build Angeli. Keeping that cloud held together and the tower intact is a real test. This would look amazing in other colours too, in red on red, it is highly striking. The big red heart on the large tower is a sure giveaway of your real nature I love what you have been doing with your minifigs lately too, really nice combinations.

Finally got my main fragments more or less in order as I wanted them Probably have to raise the roof a bit further(it's resting on a box here). Now I can get going on the main scene, in the ballroom. The minotaur is just a placeholder. C&C as always gratefully received gabe, those equilateral triangles (?) are very impressive in their own right, looks like Nocturnus is getting a makeover

The house next door is now finished, more or less. I may have to fill in some back walls where it adjoins the embassy later. Thanks for all your advice and ideas, I think it turned out quite well.

A very nice blend of the 2 styles, quite spooky. Dark brown an dark green is a great choice for this mood. I love the foliage, and the window technique. I see you had the same idea as me with the stone golems. Looks good! Beautiful posing for the vampire, too.

Love the story, the builds, the photography, everything! How did you space the planks on the Pliska bridge? Headlight bricks? It looks great.

Sometimes in the deserts, a swarm of scorpions appears to be more than just scorpions. Traveller, if you see this phenomenon then ride hard and ride fast and don't look back, for it is the Elias. It is hungry, merciless, and deadly. And incredibly hard to kill. If you hit it, it simply dissolves into a swarm of scorpions, and then reforms. You have to kill all the scorpions at once, but their stone shells are uncrushable. Each scorpion has a paralyzing sting and likes to rip flesh with its claws. Cover your soft parts and ride hard. The gladiator games are like a feast for the Elias. And it is hungry.

Apologies for bumping this, I wasn't really happy with my initial photos and I have revised the ladder. I need the bricks now so just doing some more photos and admin before disassembly. I am just adding some "director's notes" for posterity. I think this disappeared under the flood of towers right before the round 1 deadline, and many far better towers did too. Obviously, this was a nod to Shelley's poem Ozymandias, which is a meditation on many things, but for me especially hubris and time. The poem refers to the eternal and infallible grandeur of Egypt under Rameses, and look at the sad state of affairs there today, let alone in 1819 after the Napoleonic invasion. The Egyptian reference tickled me as there are many Egpytian builds in Kaliphlin, especialy in the South and East. Ska's subsequent history of Kaliphlin ruling all of Historica thousands of years ago before being brought low by hubris, arrogance, and greed makes it even mroe suitable. I guess Legomandias must be another name for Sultan Satani b'Rack Ji'Fall of the House Satani, the last mighty Sultan. The style of build was a new direction for me, a kind of Lowell sphere effort, and I am reasonably happy with it, especially the toes. The studs give a nice weathered effect. In this I was heavily influenced by the excellent builds from Schfio.

Great stuff Cpt Mugwash, just keep building what you like. Teherean, that is a really interesting discussion. I think your question is best addressed by the mods, I suspect they may have a planned story of Historica this year. If they can fit your land into it, I would definitely say more is more, especially as there are so many excellent builders at CC. I would love to see a CC island. I do not have any real knowledge of the practicalities of how this would work, but thankyou very much for taking the initiative on it.

The Kaliphlin Embassy in Abyssan was assigned a plot next to rather interesting neighbour, the magician Doctor John Dee. We rarely see him, though there occasionally ferocious and mysterious noises from next door, and comings and goings at all hours. The smell of burning rosemary is strong. 4 stone golems are built into the walls, making the House impervious to both physical and magickal attack. Kafgar the raven keeps watch for the Doctor. We know he is spying on Kaliphlin, but we don't mind. We have nothing to hide, The Duke really is just an old fashioned good time boy and trader. And even he wouldn't be stupid enough to do Real business in the Embassy. After a particularly late night of study in his chamber, the Doctor gets his deserved rest, watched over and protected by his guardian Ifrit Utala, currently taking the form of a phoenix. The Doctor is well protected against enemies and jealous rivals. But he is not protected against the arrogance, greed, and ambition of his apprentice Daniel. Daniel is an introverted pale skinny teenager who lusts for power. To this end while his master sleeps he has sprinkled the Rosemary, chalked the pentacle, and secretly taken the Great Key. He used it to unfetter the Grimoire, and spoke the unholy runes of power that open the thaumaturge gate to the spirit world. The portal opens. Who knows what beast or daemon will be summoned? Not Daniel, for though he can read the runes, he knows not the grammar to change them. And so, thrilling at the brink of becoming a power in is own right, he awaits his servant from the spirit domain. There is a mighty roar. The house shakes and a great wind takes Daniel's breath away. "WHO DARES TO SUMMON BARTIMAEUS?"

Beautiful! Lots of really good parts use, I especially like the lights and stern and paddle wheels. Another very impressive build.

Yeah, the point of the PGTC is that I build any character I want in any role I want. I haven't felt any need to MOC just on Rasputin. I know others are doing similar with Avalonian farms et c. You don't have to kill your sigfig, just make some stories for his friends ad relatives.

NM, Are you still planning market stalls beneath the arches? B would be ideal for canopies, either the MMV type or the canvas one. you could make the supports at A alternately red/dark blue and green/yellow? Axes for Mitgardia, scimitars for Kaliphlin? Lion shield to match our uniform? The orient expedition round shields which are dark blue and red? Torches set into the wall?