Science or Nonsense?

[Kai NRG]

Recently, Guy K. Wyndzon made a fairly significant outlay in scientific chemicals and instruments. Today he finally wrapped business up enough to dabble a little.

After walking into the room that used to be the great hall, located in the older wing of his prestigious mansion, Guy spent some time organizing and unpacking his precious collection. At last he found what he was in search of - a crystal vial filled with a purplish goo. "Aha!" he exclaimed. Gingerly he lifted the container and then made a dash at a little glass tube that lay nearby. "A little of this, then I think, with a little of that...” Cautiously he poured the vaporous liquid from the vial into the tube.

"So beautiful!" Guy held the tube up admiringly.

But as he continued looking, Guy was suddenly shocked by seeing a vision of his Uncle through the purple vapor!

Guy’s loud scream echoed off the high ceiling.

He dropped one of the tubes and just managed to hold on to the other as he stepped backwards into the table from sheer astonishment - and perhaps from a bit of fear, too.

"What have you done?!?!?" His Uncle's voice seemed to thunder through the hall.

Guy was speechless.

"What... what foppery have you introduced in here? With what nonsense have you ventured to desecrate this time-hallowed hall?!? What maniacal fever could have impelled you to so thoroughly forget reason as to squander such a quantity of hard-earned money?!?!"

Never in his life had Guy heard his Uncle say so many words at one time!

At last he recovered the use of his voice. "Not nonsense, Uncle - science!" And Guy waved his arm around grandly.

His Uncle’s eloquence had been exhausted, but he still stood there like an avenging angel, his stick resting firmly and immovably on the floor, his eyebrows gathered like lightning-bolts over his frowning eyes.

“Look,” Guy began, “look – see – all these wonderful chemical compounds – discoveries just begging to be made! Imagine what we could do with…”

“Not interested!”

“By the way, Uncle – I thought you were in Weelond.”

“I was.”

“Oh. Well – to go on – see, I’m at present deeply immersed in a groundbreaking research paper. I think I shall title it, ‘On the Three Shades of Gold and the Interactions Between Them, or, An Exposition of the Similarities and Differences Between the Warm, Pearl, and Chrome Shades of the Element Known as Gold.’ I’m considering adding an epilogue that details the specific effects of Aqua Regia upon each one.”

Guy paused, but seeing that his Uncle did not appear inclined to make a comment, he continued, “Above – that is, on the next story – you can see the magnificent contraption that I have but just assembled; it makes electricity! Just think of what could be done with such a source of power!”

Guy seemed about to begin a long eulogy, but a yawn from his Uncle made him continue to a different subject. “Then, you see, a new discovery has just been made and I long to corroborate it! According to a well-known scientist of Corrington, the legs of a frog twitch when brought into contact with certain machinery…”

“Frog legs?” Guy’s Uncle interposed, suddenly interested.

“Yes!” Guy exclaimed, pleased to see that his Uncle was paying some attention. “So it is said – and I have just received three crates of tropical frogs, straight from our new island, Torrach Bonn…”

“Are you going to waste these expensive frogs on some silly experiment?!?”

“No, no, of course not – we can eat them afterwards!”

“Hum! You had better be sure not to add any strange-smelling stuff.”

“Certainly not – but, by the by… what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to tell you to pack.”

“To tell me to pack? Whatever for?”

“Your ship leaves tomorrow.”

“Well? – I know that.”

“And you leave with it.”

“What?!”

“You’re coming to the New World.”

Guy stared blankly at his Uncle.

“It’s all arranged. I got you a house in Bardo.”

Guy’s jaw dropped.

“Come on, let’s go eat those frog legs.”

“Wait! – wait! I have to experiment on them first!…”

Overview:

This was fun to build! Inspired by Bregir's Society. And credit for the floor design goes to Jacob Nion.

C&C welcome!

[Captain Dee]

Hmm. Getting a bit advanced, are we? Did they even know what aqua regia was in those days? Warm, pearl, and chrome? Frog legs? Save some for me!

Neat build with a lot of good details and an interesting story to match. Uncle's mysterious "appearance" is cool. I really like the spiral staircase and floor. As for electricity, they should just go fly a kite.

[Capt Wolf]

Very cool build! This is the second time I've seen this technique for spiral stairs; I'm going to have to find a reason to try it out. Same with the floor. And good story, too. Guy's uncle never fails to entertain. Lots of little details, too. Well done!

[Capn Frank]

The studies of alchemy will always triumph over this chemistry that you speak of.

Great work Kai. This is a very quality build. The crates of frogs look really good.

[SilentWolf]

The whole scene is great with the cool features already mentioned. However, I'm impressed w the photo editing that got the uncle in the experiment tube.

[TitusV]

Lovely build Kai!

I really like scientifical elements, and the stairs are nice too

[Gideon]

Great build overall and some stellar photography!

Did you do the figure in the vial in post-processing or is it clever use of the optical quantities of the vial itself?

[Exetrius]

Great work, love the story, too! The rack with the catapults used as baskets to holding small stuff is absolutely brilliant!!! Awesome atmosphere overall, with the colours, the crystals, potions, loose papers, etc. and a great spiral staircase. Keep up the good work, Kai!

[CelesAurivern]

Indeed, a fun scene.

Reminds me of full metal alchemy

[Fuzzy MacFuzz]

Brilliant build, I am in awe. So much to admire here; the floor, the stairs, the frog cages, the potions, the magnifier, the uncle-in-a-jar, the story, the humour. I can only hope that one day I can emulate some of this!

I just wanted to add this emoji for fun! But also cos its how your build made me feel. Where's my brick box?

[Ayrlego]

A really neat laboratory! The spiral staircase is very well done and I particularly like the frog cages! Great story and fantastic job!

[Elostirion]

An absolutely amazing build overall.

Supber atmosphere, great depiction of all the scienctific tools, amazing use of that floor technique, well done furniture and that staircase is absolutely gorgeous.

[Puvel]

Great story and a beautiful build! Excellent pics too, well done!

[Phadeout]

Staircase, photoshopping Uncle in the bottle, overall design, storytelling - all excellent.

More please

[Captain Genaro]

Excellent job, a fantastic build all around and a great story to go with it. The desk and shelf are fantastic, but what really impresses me are the crates of animals. Not exactly Lego purist perhaps, but they look amazing nonetheless. Great job with the floor and staircase as well. The various patterns add some nice detail, and the circular staircase is really well done.

[Capn Frank]

The rack with the catapults used as baskets to holding small stuff is absolutely brilliant!!!

I agree! I think this may be the first good pirate use of those silly catapult pieces.

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Very fine, very fine indeed.

Pity that Eslandola is not so much into science... (envy! )

Is that no free-build? I'd approve!

[halixon]

As i said on flickr, this is an awesome build! I like the story!

[Garmadon]

Awesome build Kai! Perfect use of that floor technique here, and the stairs and story are excellent as well! The little details literally packed in the scene are what really take the cake though, from the bookshelf stacked with papers and chemical stuff, to the microscope, frog-boxes, and the catapult use! Loved that bit about the different kinds of LEGO gold pieces too!

[BrickOn]

This scene is awesome, great story too. The crates are cool, I'd like to steal that design someday and the spiral staircase is really well done. So much to look at here :-)

[Kai NRG]

Thanks so much guys, I'm amazed at how popular this build has been!

Hmm. Getting a bit advanced, are we? Did they even know what aqua regia was in those days? Warm, pearl, and chrome? Frog legs? Save some for me!

Neat build with a lot of good details and an interesting story to match. Uncle's mysterious "appearance" is cool. I really like the spiral staircase and floor. As for electricity, they should just go fly a kite.

"Aqua regia first appeared in the work of the European alchemist Pseudo-Geber, dating from the early 14th century." From the all knowledgeable Wikipedia. (But, I will admit that I totally didn't know that beforehand.)

Yes, Uncle is a firm believer in the powers of DBs to expedite transportation.

Thank you!

The studies of alchemy will always triumph over this chemistry that you speak of.

Great work Kai. This is a very quality build. The crates of frogs look really good.

Did I mention chemistry?

Thanks! The crates of frogs were fun! I was thinking about including several other animals too but it would have been hard to fit a pig in one of those crates.

The whole scene is great with the cool features already mentioned. However, I'm impressed w the photo editing that got the uncle in the experiment tube.

Thanks! I almost despaired of that bit of digital transformation but unexpectedly hit upon the solution as I messed around in GIMP!

Great build overall and some stellar photography!

Did you do the figure in the vial in post-processing or is it clever use of the optical quantities of the vial itself?

Post-processing. I actually tried to do it IRL but did not get very far... at all...

Thanks!

Brilliant build, I am in awe. So much to admire here; the floor, the stairs, the frog cages, the potions, the magnifier, the uncle-in-a-jar, the story, the humour. I can only hope that one day I can emulate some of this!

I just wanted to add this emoji for fun! But also cos its how your build made me feel. Where's my brick box?

Thank you! Keep plugging away... I didn't get here overnight!

Staircase, photoshopping Uncle in the bottle, overall design, storytelling - all excellent.

More please

Uncle in a bottle. That's gonna have to be my next thing.

Mothers of BoBS! Come and get your Uncle in a Bottle™! Sure to frighten your children into obedience in no time!

Thank you! I'll try to keep 'em coming!

Great work, love the story, too! The rack with the catapults used as baskets to holding small stuff is absolutely brilliant!!! Awesome atmosphere overall, with the colours, the crystals, potions, loose papers, etc. and a great spiral staircase. Keep up the good work, Kai!

Thanks! I actually came up with that basket design for a different build quite a while ago, but it was logical to use it here again!

I agree! I think this may be the first good pirate use of those silly catapult pieces.

They are rather dorky.

Very fine, very fine indeed.

Pity that Eslandola is not so much into science... (envy! )

Is that no free-build? I'd approve!

But... I'm Eslandian.

It is a free-build, but just my second this month.

Thank you!

Awesome build Kai! Perfect use of that floor technique here, and the stairs and story are excellent as well! The little details literally packed in the scene are what really take the cake though, from the bookshelf stacked with papers and chemical stuff, to the microscope, frog-boxes, and the catapult use! Loved that bit about the different kinds of LEGO gold pieces too!

Thanks Garmadon! The different colors of gold have always aggravated me.

[Jacob Nion]

Wonderful! Hilarious! Excellent! I really enjoyed this. Both by reading and looking at the build. There's actually so much to love about this and the others have said most of it already, so I just want to point out a few things: great minifig posing, I love how your character proudly raises the test tubes; great photo editing, the mirrored figure in the glass is a superb effect; the whole setting is top notch, so many details to look at, your character seems to fit the stereotype of the mad scientist (has of course nothing to do with being evil); and I like how you put in this atmosphere of 17th/18th century occult science and alchemy.

Really imposing work!

[Captain Green Hair]

Nonsense! And his hair is waaay to modern!

The scene is very well built and again I seem some creative parts use. Top notch!

[Kai NRG]

Wonderful! Hilarious! Excellent! I really enjoyed this. Both by reading and looking at the build. There's actually so much to love about this and the others have said most of it already, so I just want to point out a few things: great minifig posing, I love how your character proudly raises the test tubes; great photo editing, the mirrored figure in the glass is a superb effect; the whole setting is top notch, so many details to look at, your character seems to fit the stereotype of the mad scientist (has of course nothing to do with being evil); and I like how you put in this atmosphere of 17th/18th century occult science and alchemy.

Really imposing work!

Thank you! I'm really pretty blown away by how much of a hit this build has been!

Nonsense! And his hair is waaay to modern!

The scene is very well built and again I seem some creative parts use. Top notch!

Thanks!

[Bregir]

Both story and build are great, Kai - I really like the how the shots and the posing helps convey the story, and of course, I am happy to have been some inspiration!

I am not going to repeat what others have said about all those lovely details, but just want to say I am impressed with the variety - Seems like Guy is looking for his exact area of interest, and just bought a lot of expensive toys to try out different things!

His current experiments (apart from the Frog one) is probably outside the scope of the Royal Society of Natural Philosphers, as it mainly concerns itself with the study of living things. Chemistry and physics, we leave to the NERDS!