CorneliusMurdock

Nobody likes a tattle-tale, honey.

Just kinda. But at least you have a better hair stylist than I do. I'm afraid I shall have to find a new one that can get both sides even...

This is Cornelia checking in! We've got to protect this family. Because without family, we'd just be a bunch of funny-looking strangers!

I would love to play. I've been in a couple Mafias now. As far as traveling all I have planned is a trip this weekend and I should have internet there. If not chosen (which is likely), this should be a delightful game to watch since it will all be out there in the open. It'll be interesting to see how those playing will deal without PMs.

Congratulations to all the winners! There were some marvelous entries and I'm proud to have stood up against such competition.

I am marking my calendar now! Is there more info about this? I hope to make it Chicago next year but this should give me something to look forward to. Plus it's just about a half hour for me to get to Ft Wayne depending on which side of town it'll be held.

Wizard Duel Sudden Death Melanie Potter | 2 ------Vs.-----Kestrel Kingfisher | 2 Low ~ 0 ---------------------- Expelliarmus ~ 0 High ~ 0 -------------------------Stupefy ~ 1 High ~ 0 ----------------------- Protego ~ 0 Mid ~ 0 ----------------------- Low ~ 1 Silencioi ~ 1 ----------------------- Protego ~ 0 Health: 1 --------------------- Health: 2 "Just a bit longer," agrees Kestrel as he takes a dueling position again. Miss Potter does the same just in time to be disarmed by the older student. She reaches her wand and tries a high spell but is caught by his stunning spell. Just as he helps her up, other students begin to enter the classroom to shortly begin a class. The two duelists shake hands and promise to practice again soon. A good solid match. Update your profiles accordingly.

Wizard Duel Round 3 Melanie Potter | 3 ------Vs.-----Kestrel Kingfisher | 2 Protego ~ 0 ---------------------- MId ~ 0 High ~ 0 -------------------------Stupefy ~ 1 Low ~ 0 ----------------------- Expelliarmus ~ 0 High ~ 0 ----------------------- High ~ 0 Mid ~ 0 ----------------------- Mid ~ 0 Health: 2 --------------------- Health: 2 Miss Potter successfully produces a shield charm but is then hit by Kestrel's stunning spell. The Ravenclaw then disarms his trainee. After retrieving her wand the two deulists produce synchronized spells to finish off the third round. Kingfisher was impressed. "Not bad at all, Melanie. I told you that you just needed some practice." She smiled at him and asked, "Do you think we could practice just a little bit more?" Prepare for Sudden Death! Send your DS's when ready.

Wizard Duel Round 2 Melanie Potter | 4 ------Vs.-----Kestrel Kingfisher | 3 Low ~ 0 ---------------------- Expelliarmus ~ 0 Low ~ 0 -------------------------Protego ~ 0 Mid ~ 0 ----------------------- Stupefy ~ 1 Protego ~ 0 ----------------------- High ~ 0 High ~ 1 ----------------------- Low ~ 0 Health: 3 --------------------- Health: 2 As they begin round 2, Kingfisher shows Potter the disarming spell again. He let's her collect her wand as he practices a shield charm and then shows off with a stunning spell. Melanie recovers and shows him how well she knows the shield charm. Then she gets in around his defenses with a high spell. Send for round 3 when ready.

Wizard Duel Round 1 Melanie Potter | 5 ------Vs.-----Kestrel Kingfisher | 5 High ~ 0 ---------------------- Stupefy ~ 1 Low ~ 1 -------------------------Mid ~ 0 High ~ 0 ----------------------- Expelliarmus ~ 0 Mid ~ 1 ----------------------- High ~ 0 Protego ~ 0 ----------------------- Protego ~ 0 Health: 4 --------------------- Health: 3 Teased by the Slytherins and her fellow Gryffindor Poderero about her lack of accomplishment in the dueling club, Melanie sits alone in the courtyard looking sad. Kestrel Kingfisher walks by and notices the downtrodden Potter and sits next to her. "It's not all that bad now, is it?" he asks. She gives him a quizzical look. "I'm just no good at dueling," she says. "No one wins every match. You just need practice. You want to practice now?" She smiles and nods. They find an empty classroom and begin. Kestrel shows her the stunning spell first and after helping her back up, resumes his position. Melanie hits him with a low spell and is then shown the disarming spell by Kestrel. He hands her back her wand and she manages to land another spell. Then they both produce practice shield charms. Send for round 2 when ready.

Niles is too quick to be cat food but we'll take you on.

8) 16 figs in a beach house By Cecilie - A superb collection of minifigs and a great vignette to showcase them. -- 2 Points 9) The Brick Defenders' Brownstone: Under Siege By R66Y - Lego should definitely make their own superhero theme. You did a great job demonstrating that fact. -- 1 Point

Not at all. Send them to me when ready.

If someone still needs adjudicating, I'm here. I'm also up for a duel with any of our seasoned veterans.

1 point each for 3) Musketeer Entry by quy - I love the look of this. 20) Artist Entry by lisqr - So amazing that you made this recognizable in this size. 41) Hazmat Guy by Oky Wan Kenobi - You captured this scene perfectly.

Wow. Pure greatness. Do you have an idea about how many pieces you ended up using?

Thought I'd share this: Bath time!

Based on everyone's advice I have removed the words: "but they held fast". This should assuage the concerns regarding them. blackpyre: It was intentional not to describe or give Jack a name. The name is because I thought it was a good feel for the story making it seem more from the Bluecoat's point of view. The lack of description was mostly because the words needed to adequately describe Jack would really eat up the word count and ultimately I didn't think it was needed since almost everyone would already know what he looked like. Bricks4fun: I didn't realize that the soldiers had names. Are these from official sources? Thank you to everyone for their kind words and for finding all of my typos.

Don't feel bad. Even after I chose my pet I didn't fully understand the Attack part of it until I reread it during my first duel with him. New rules always take some adjustment.

Actually, I'm still at 2 health points. A pet defending blocks the next damage dealt but is unusable for the rest of the duel. When it attacks is when the first move in the sequence matters. But you are very much correct that I need a miracle here. Wizard Duel Round 3 Melanie Potter | 1 ------Vs.-----Malek Poderero | 2 High ~ 1 ---------------------- Low ~ 0 Low ~ 0 -------------------------High ~ 1 High ~ 0 ------------------------- Protego ~ 0 Silencio ~ 0 ----------------------- Mid ~ 1 Mid ~ 0 ----------------------- Mid ~ 0 Health: 0 --------------------- Health: 1 Melanie gets a final shot in before her opponent finds another weak point in her defense and ends the match. Not many Gryffindors cheer for him but it appears Malek has won the right to continue to gloat. Update your profiles accordingly.

Wizard Duel Round 2 Melanie Potter | 4 ------Vs.-----Malek Poderero | 3 Mid ~ 0 ---------------------- Low ~ 1 Mid ~ 1 -------------------------High ~ 0 Silencio ~ 0 ------------------------- Mid ~ 1 Low ~ 0 ----------------------- High ~ 1 Protego ~ 0 ----------------------- Protego ~ 0 Health: 1 --------------------- Health: 2 Malek hits Potter with a leg-locker curse that sends her to the ground again. She then hits him with a spell in the torso before getting back up. Thinking that he may use a shield charm, Melanie tries to silence him but he hits her with an attack instead. Poderero follows up with another spell that gets through her defenses and then both duelists practice their shield charms again. Send for round 3 when ready.

Wizard Duel Round 1 Melanie Potter | 5 ------Vs.-----Malek Poderero | 5 Low ~ 0 ---------------------- Low ~ 0 High ~ 1 -------------------------Low ~ 0 Low ~ 0 ------------------------- High ~ 1 Protego ~ 0 ----------------------- Mid ~ 0 Mid ~ 1 ----------------------- High ~ 0 Health: 4 --------------------- Health: 3 After hearing Poderero loudly boasting about their last encounter, Melanie works up the courage to challenge him to a proper duel in front of the whole school. Malek accepts and they meet the next day upon the dueling dais. They bow to one another and begin with low spells the mis their targets. Then Miss Potter hits her opponent with a high spel that send him reeling. He returns the favor with a spell of his own. He tries to hit her again when she's down but Melanie thwarts that plan with a shield charm. Potter lets the shield charm do it's work and then hits Poderero with a shot to his torso. Send for round 2 when ready.

Those are both valid points. Editing now. Good luck to you as well.

The sun rose on the Eldorado Fortress and shone through the bars of the interrogation room. The Bluecoat officer leaned onto the wooden table. “Give me a straight answer,” he growled at the prisoner. “What are you doing here?” “Just passing through on my way to eternity.” the prisoner rattled his manacles, testing their strength. “Really nothing to do with you. So if you’ll just give me my bottle and let me be on my way...” “This bottle?” The officer held up the large bottle and the intricately detailed ship rattled within it slightly. “Careful with that. I don’t go around smashing your things, least you could do is return the favor.” “You show up on our shores with nothing but a toy ship and a broken compass and you expect us not to be suspicious?” The officer deposited the mentioned items back on the table and leaned back. “If I’d been concealing a veritable arsenal, would you have been less so?” At this the officer’s face reddened and he pounded the table. "You’re a Redcoat spy, aren’t you? What are they planning, what are they up to now?” “I don’t even like Redcoats. Not so much as a little bit.” The sunlight vanished swiftly as a fog bank rolled in. The suddenness prompted the officer to go to the window. He was met with a ghastly sight. An ethereal ship was sailing into port as if leading the dense fog. Lightning flashed and a woman’s wail could be heard softly but clearly, “Jack.” Sparrow broke free of the manacles and just as the officer turned around whacked him with the chains. He grabbed his compass and bottle and said as he left, “This was fun but I simply must be going now.” Word Count: 293

I can do it again it you guys want.