Basiliscus

This is probably my favourite concept for Category A and I wish I'd thought of that myself! It feeds into the Book III lore perfectly. Love the blue and white building, some nice colour patterns here. That's not regular blue though is it? Is it sand blue? The rest of the scene is well set up and represents the story really well. The scene is in focus but the photographs are a little grainy - perhaps shooting at a lower ISO would help here. Lovely work!

Really nice work! Love the story although I do wonder how Niall acquired such wealth in the first place to distribute to the needy! The build is lovely, I like the little touches such as the knife on the table and the full cart. As mentioned the photography could be improved by getting the whole model in shot (the corners have been cut off) and moving the background further away to give more of an infinity effect. However, the shot is in focus and sharp so it's easy to see the details. Good work and hope to see more from you!

Really lovely work! Love the scale of this one. Like the wall of the court, it's a nice repeating pattern. You've made the scene seem very busy with all the figs and I can imagine all the deals going on in the background. The court base with the tan plates looks good, the addition of the variation in height makes it more natural. My OCD was triggered by the goals not being perfectly centered though! Good work and glad to see Varlyrio getting so many entries in this challenge!

Lovely work all round! Love the roof and the colours you've chosen, it mixes well with the browns and greys. The timbered part is really nice, lovely use of the curved tiles and I like those half stud offset bits to transition to the stone bottom half. The stonework itself looks a little messy, the angled plates are bothering me a little as it doesn't look very natural to my eyes. The fig posing is great though and I did enjoy the story. Good work!

A lovely build @kahir88! A bathouse being a hotbed of politics and intrigue is a great idea and despite the lack of quotation marks I thought your story was one of the best I've read. I liked the way you described the little things, like the feline eating the grape or where the Green Wolf guy squeezed in. As for the MOC itself I love the floor patterns, the design is great. One thing I wish though is that the blue floor patterns wasn't the same as the blue water - using trans-bkue for the water may have helped to distinguish them. The waterfalls at the back and the steam room are nice touches too, it all adds to the realism. The figs are well posed and the place looks busy. Lovely stuff.

The fig posing is fantastic, as @mccoyed already said, and the story is well written. I like the cart design and you've packed it well - it looks like a heavy load for those beasts to pull! The tan base could have a little more detail on it - maybe mixing in more colours to make it less monotone? Anyway overall it's a lovely build!

Great colour choices here and you've captured the Kaliphlin style perfectly. Although it was an idea stolen straight from the challenge blurb you have executed it well, I like the track and the photography is sharp and let's you see the detail. I only wish there was more of a tiered stand at the back with a few more figs in it as the whole scene seems a little flat.

Thanks for the compliments! There's definitely a strong vibe of all LEGO scenes in GoH at the moment, which I'm enjoying. Yes, it's supposed to be a hurdle in dark green but at this angle it's not obvious. The whip coming out of the saddle was supposed be like it had been caught in the saddle, but I appreciate it's not that obvious. The rider is also facing the wrong way for being dragged, but oh well, live and learn! I do agree that normally angled shots add extra depth to all LEGO shots but in this case I was limited by the 32x32 base. The horses take up so much room that having it flat like this was the only way it would work. I appreciate it looks a bit flat as a result. Cheers! Yeah the feathers as curtains thing was just one of those ones where you're looking for random parts and the idea just comes to you. Thanks! Glad you liked the figs, that was definitely one of the fun parts of this one. I tried to make it seem like everyone was really engrossed in the racing. I'm sure Staffen will manage to spend the Queen's money soon enough... Thanks for the comment! Cheers! The roof is just 2x2 tiles raised by a plate here and there. If you mean the brown marquee then the base is just 2x2 tiles in dark brown and 1x2 bricks with groove in brown. If you mean the white one then there is actually a motif of angels holding up a cup but you can't really see it because of the lack of contrast and because the horses are in the way. Thank you! Cheers!

I know! Bernaldo only just managed to escape death here, but his enemies may try again. Thanks! Glad you liked all the little details in the interior scene. The houses were modelled on the South American colonial houses which are often multi-coloured, for example: Glad you liked the story. Hopefully the first bit made sense once you read the explanation in the comments - next time I'll make it more clear. Thanks for the compliments on the interior scene and furniture!

Glad you got a set of two lights, that's pretty much mandatory to prevent horrendous shadows. Belated happy birthday! Not sure about the age thing and birthday presents - I'm 32 and I still do not too badly! Nothing wrong with buying a second hand camera, something like a Nikkon D3X00 series or Canon EOS 2000D/4000D might be a good starting point. The 18-55mm lens that normally comes as standard with these cameras should do you fine for now. You'll notice a huge improvement in photo quality compared to your phone.

This is certainly the most novel concept entered into Challenge II! I did laugh out loud when I read the story The build itself is really nice, I like the tower and the way you've used the barriers to separate the crowds from the contestants.

Love the modular approach to this build and the way it gives you the opportunity to get a number of all LEGO shots to help with immersion. The story is very well written too, I like where it is going!

Lovely variety of scenes in this one, I like how the shots are taken in such a way as to make them seem.bigger than they really are. Look forward to seeing more of this story!

Another brilliant entry from you! I love the amount of detail you've managed to pack into a relatively small MOC - the use of printed tiles and bricks really makes it stand out. The little additions around the room like the bench, wine bottles and mini statue also really bring the scene to life! Also kudos on writing the story - it was much easier to follow this time round! There's still a bit of mystery but it's good that this time round every paragraph doesn't raise 10 questions that we need to wait to answer! Look forward to reading more!

Right, finally put my money where my mouth is, and my first Challenge II entry has been posted:

Here's my category C entry for Varlyrio:

Previously Even for Varlyrio it was an unseasonably warm winter's day, and it seemed as if half of Illaryian was in the stands to watch the races. With the queen's call for entertainment, the Supano Amancio had asked all of the finest horse breeders in Varlyrio to prepare their steeds to compete in the largest horse racing event in a generation. Outside the capital in an area of flat land the nobles had put up stands from which to watch the entertainment, which had turned into a competition to show of their wealth and status. Staffen had paid for a grand timber frame to be made in a style celebrating Varlyrian's ancient past, and once the labourers had made the structure safe he arranged for plasterers to come and cover it in stucco and paint it white. Finally, a few artists had come and added some detail to it to help make it stand out. It hadn't been cheap, but there was no mistaking that the Conzaga's had arrived. Staffen knew that he had to. After the recent attempt to poison his son Bernaldo he had to show his enemies that the Conzaga's would not be bowed by the threats. Bernaldo was his son and, at least nominally, his heir. Staffen had situated him pride of place in the front row of the stand guarded by his own minotaur bodyguard. "But father, no-one would dare attack us in public like you think! Minos can take the day off and enjoy the races.", said Bernaldo when he was told of the plan. This was typical of his naivety - he had underestimated the ruthlessness of his family's enemies - a mistake Staffen would not make twice. Staffen insisted it was Minos or he stayed inside the manor and Bernaldo reluctantly agreed. After being cooped up for weeks for his own safety Staffen knew his son would leap at the opportunity to get his freedom for the day. Around the grandiose Conzaga display was simpler timber stands for the ordinary folks. The crowds chattered loudly enjoying the day away from their trades. At the opening ceremony, they cheered for the riders; when they thundered passed they whooped and groaned and money changed hands and back again. But Staffen was not even listening, he had more important matters on his mind. As part of the queen's push to impress her subjects the Conzaga's had been approached to freely give out their wine to the common folks. When Staffen had objected to this, the envoy had opened a chest and the sparkling contents made him reconsider. There was a queen's ransom in diamonds inside! It was easily enough to pay for every man, woman and child in Historica to forget their woes for the day. While the diamonds were a welcome boost to the Conzaga treasury Staffen's head spun at what to use it for. He could raise an army to muscle out his competitors, bribe spies to find Bernaldo's attacker or build an impressive architectural feat to make him remembered down the ages. Whatever he decided Staffen knew - this was a good day for the Conzagas.

Fantastic work on this one @en_zoo! I love how you've managed to incorporate the three tasks into one larger build, great idea, I hope the judges allow that to stand. The house at the back looks great, I love the way you've blended the colours on the roof and the blue and tan panels stand out really nicely. The foliage and general vegetation looks really natural, I like the way there's a clear path to the well and that the trees overhang the well roof. The minifig action is great too, lots of nice little details. And to continue our conversation about photography - this is a big improvement! The soft lights have worked well. With regards to shadows, how many did you buy? Sometimes what you can do to show sunshine on an outside scene like this is to use fluorescent soft lights to fill the scene and one more yellow incandescent/LED bulb to imitate the sun. Then what you do is set the white balance to match the soft lights and then the yellow bulb looks like the sun. Just a wee tip. What I do notice when I zoom into the scene is that you badly need a new camera! The details are pretty washed out close up because the camera isn't very sharp. Might be something to ask as a birthday present? Anyway, it's another great MOC from you!

Really great MOC! Love the overall architecture, the arches, the domes, and the walkways all make it obvious this is a Kaliphlin settlement. Did you have a piece of concept art to inspire it? Great colour choices throughout, the tan, orange and dark red look great. I do agree that the sand green is the weakest choice, but I don't think it's that bad. You've populated the scene well with great minifig action and it certainly feels like a lot of hustle and bustle going on. Superb job!

We really need a more detailed map of Varlyrio showing this stuff on it!

Bios would be great! I should have said that I do really like the story and a bit of mystery definitely keeps it interesting! Look forward to reading more.

Really nice interior scene, love those rods made of binoculars and 4L bar. The story is well written too.

Really great work on this one, love the composite shot, it really sets up the faction well. The mini TIE fighter is well built and very recognisable. Really nice work!

This is gorgeous! Lovely use of the friends stickers to advertise the seedier aspects of Nar Shaddaa's entertainment, and the jetpack is nice too. Love the all LEGO shots. The story is well written and makes me want to read more. Fantastic job all round.

Really nice work! Love those tan arches and the harvester is well built. The speeder is a really nice design, but I think it's almost too big for the base, it kind of dominates the MOC and not in a good way. Keep up the good work!