Exetrius

The Nocturnus Settlement Index welcomes its first new settlement since its creation: Bás Dorcha! Generously contributed by our Mitgardian friend @Ecclesiastes! Our cartographer* has taken the liberty to add further specification to the geographic location. *Definitely not me :P

Alright. Thanks!

I enjoyed seeing this one live, but seeing it in Nocturnus — even better! I like that it's a little city, not solely a fortress. The glowing purple crystal, boat houses and wall houses are great features, and the soldier figs are looking good! I'll add this to the Nocturnus settlement index!

Thank you! Haha, honestly choosing the colours for this was somewhat of a mine field! With a snow-covered roof it's instantly a Christmas display! Thinking about it, I might have gone with white or tan instead of dark red and the bits of dark orange. That may work in the context I have planned for it. The bull details were fun to do, good to hear you like them! I've learned to be mindful of where and how I place figures (and animals) into the scene, because they can add to the composition or focus indeed. And the horse.. it leaves open for interpretation if this a (proper Nocty) undead horse, or if the owner left it in the stables for a little too long! The 'petal' elements are the things you put on Darth Maul's head. I've actually used them as Nocty flowers before. Thanks, happy to hear about the interior! It's a different "game" than doing exterior, and one that I still have a lot to learn in!

Thank you! Really appreciate it, mate!

Thanks again for your praise Grover, I always enjoy it! Somehow my reply always comes later than I want it to. You could seriously sent a messenger and have a reply sooner... Anyway, let's unpack! Happy to hear about the paint brush detail and fleur de lys! What's great about the slope piece roofs is the matte texture, sturdiness and ease of adding extra 'roof features'. The texture of the peak was indeed out of necessity though. And yes, I don't like the new shutters either, the clip holders stick out way too much and it can be inconvenient that your whole window setup becomes six studs wide. So I've started picking up the old shutters. Reject modernity, embrace tradition! Glad you like the flowers! Rockwail as a whole is rather green and I don't want it to start looking too Avalonian (oh, the horror!), so I tried giving the flowers a bit of a spooky twist. But you have my permission to steal! I appreciate you noticed the bowl! The frogman's head is from Alien Conquest, and the gold decoration on the shelf is from the incredible Monkie Kid weapons pack. And yes the mirror; very satisfied how it turned out. Thanks, mate!

Thank you, I appreciate it!

Hey, sorry for the late reply! I really appreciate all your feedback! Good to hear you like the base! It's a subtle but a deliberate departure from my usual studs-up approach with black frame. I considered making a larger scene, with walls and other suggestions of the workshop it is sculpted in, but decided to keep it simple and with little distractions from the statue. Thanks for calling out the angles, and I do get what you mean with the 'natural feel' and 'organic non-uniform base! One of the first tricks I learned (from a LEGO Idea Book!) to spice up a build with, is to put stuff at an angle. Very effective for creating a sense of realism. And you may be delighted to know everything except for the ladder and one grey cheese slope is connected to the base by one or more studs. The eyes are indeed a printed part. It appeared in James Bond's Aston Martin, look under the headlights. Thanks for your compliments!!

Thank you! Haha, that's the spirit! Thanks, zoth!

We go back several centuries, to a time when an alliance of dwarves, humans and orcs had successfully defended their stronghold in the Moruth Swamplands. In the wake of their victory, the King of Rockwail commissioned the sculptor's guild to make an enormous statue of Merin Uîr, a legendary warrior who was said to have defeated multiple enemy platoons in the Boulder Bogs through ambushes and trickery. The sculptor's guild was happy to take on the King's request. Sculptor vedette Yurro has taken the lead on this task. He is carving the head, torso and upper arms from a single block of stone. Meanwhile another experienced sculptor has started on the lower arms and hands, and apprentices are being instructed to carve out the rough shape of the pelvis and legs, which will later be finished up by Yurro. A statue this size is a serious undertaking, and lots of things can go wrong in the process, but so far Yurro and his crew have not had any major setbacks. A relief! --- Yes, there will be a the full statue later. I'm sitting on quite a lot of (mostly) finished Rockwail stuff, but I don't want to spill all of the beans yet. Cheers!

Congrats to the winners, and participants! @Tayaya @Gideon @jtooker High quality builds again, and hustle and bustle! Hopefully I can manage an entry next time.

No replies on this? We have collectively been slacking! There are some nice scenes here. I like the shooting practice. The apple construction surprised me; it's really good! Same goes for the jester's juggling, and the stuffed pig. I also like the nomadic orcs, interesting combos. The decoration above the door is neat and the integration of shields in the wall is cool too! Your architecture could use a little more depth or contrast, imo. For example a SNOT band of dark tan tiles, directly above the dark line that goes across the room. And from a realism perspective, perhaps do a fireplace on one side instead of windows. But keep up the good work! Lastly, are King Dagorn and Queen Alienora new characters, for Avalonia? I haven't been following GoH too closely past months, hence the question.

Thank you! Great that you caught that!

[HSS] Master Jeweler's shop In the middle of Rockwail stands one of the very few jeweler shops that exist in Nocturnus. Jewelry is not all that popular in the Darklands, at least not the fancy kind. Decorated armour and weaponry, on the other hand, is valued a lot more by Nocty's populace. However, even in the land of monsters and barbarians there are individuals with taste — and Rockwail's Master Jeweler is there to cater to that clientele! One such individual with exquisite taste happened to be paying Rockwail a visit: Lady Sithanna of Shadowmere. Fortunately for her, it was an informal visit. It had been while since she last crossed Rockwail... 15 years, perhaps 55 years? Vampire naps can really mess with one's memory and perception of time! Obviously some things had changed in the city, but she was relieved to find 'her' jewelry shop still around. She paused in front of the shop window. It was almost exactly as she remembered it, but the window was now modernized with large glass panes. She looked at the elegant golden necklace was on display. "That glass wouldn't stop me from taking it, if I wanted to.", she thought. Perhaps the shop had a new owner, since the jeweler she knew was very protective over his wares. Or perhaps security in the city had gotten tighter? Whichever was the case, she was eager to have a look inside. Inside was Heinrigh, the Master Jeweler, tending to a customer. Heinrigh "I think this one suits you particularly well, Madam. The colour of the stone complements your dress very nicely. I also have a broche you could try on, I think that would — Hello, yes come in! Oh my... Lady Sithanna!" Lady Sithanna "Heinrigh! It brings me joy to see you! How have you been?" Yeah... that must have been at least 30 years! One more nap and she might not have spoken Heinrigh ever again... --- A little later than planned, but I enjoyed working on this build and I rather like how this turned out. I'm particulary happy with the 55-piece display cabinet, and the shop window which I've had as a tablescrap for close to two years. I tried to find out what kind of equipment a medieval jewelry maker would have on hand, but couldn't find much all that much online, so I greebled a bit. Let me know what you think, I appreciate your comments and criticism!

Welcome, Ben! I too started out with a small collection when I joined. My tips are: firstly, sort your Lego! Especially bricks, plates, tiles, plants, animals and minifigure parts. That makes it easier to see of which parts/colours you have (not) enough to work with. And secondly, strategic purchases. A bit of an open door, but buying sets that contain useful parts and minifigs helps growing a usable collection.

Wow, look at all those entries! Couldn't make it this time, as my time and energy was spread across too many other things.

Hello Phy! The Guilds welcome all who wish to build in the fantasy world we call home! Since you love DnD and LoR (haven't heard that name in a while!), I'm sure you stumble here upon some lore or part of Historica that makes you want to start building! Looking forward to your first build or sigfig!

Thanks, Stad! Good to hear it conveys the Nocty vibe, heaven forbid it would look Avalonian! Thanks for your compliments! Imagine what the other horse must be thinking, haha! Thank you, Yperio! Same, the new shutters are just not as elegant. I'm really happy with the new dark green leaf pieces, it's a lovely colour that makes pretty much any-coloured flower pop more. Thanks!

Thank you!

Thank you so much, Yperio! Yes, I've made quite a few over the years. Thanks, those are some of my personal favourites too! Thanks a lot, I appreciate it! Lots of work finding compositions that work, finding the exact angle and the posing of the characters.

As if the previous Ninjago figbarf wasn't big enough, I went even bigger! Introducing: Superfigbarf: The Gōshūsha Dynasty I didn't name every character this time and approached the bios a little differently than usual. Read all about it here!

[HSS] The Silver Bull inn Standing proudly in the centre of Rockwail, near the Palace, is The Silver Bull inn. It's neither the largest, nor the most infamous inn in town, but it does enjoy a good reputation. To the more wealthy traveler, it offers peace and quiet at the heart of the city, tidy rooms and good meals, including soups, meat and hot drinks. The inn accommodates seven guests across four rooms, and furthermore houses the city's post office. Messenger Fiona, of Avalonia, is delivering a message from Albion to the post office of The Silver Bull. At the door she's greeted by an unusual visitor who is making his depart. In a mix of thrill and unsettlement, a shiver went down Fiona's spine. She had gotten acquainted with the non-human population of Nocturnus before on a number of occasions, but never had she seen an undead skeleton before! At second glance, he seemed quite the gentleman, though. Look at that jaw line! Haha, kidding! Little did the Avalonian messenger know that she had just met the famed Resistance warlord Anfauglir! And Anfauglir wasn't the only Nocturnian lord at the inn at that moment... --- Additional pictures: I'm happy to be sharing posting another HSS build for Rockwail, at the very end of 2023. Indeed, HSS. Not sure if that was clear before, but it is now! I've worked on other buildings too, but those are for the coming year. As usual, I learned a lot while building. More than with any previous MOC, I struggled with figuring out the layout of the interior and how to break it open for access to the interior. For example, I shuffled around the beds several times to get a three-bedroom floor that made sense. It's my biggest fully enclosed MOC building to date, and yet the interior space turned out to be very tight. That was one of the reasons I choose to not have any actual doors inside the building*, only brickbuilt 3-wide, 6-high door frames. So a bit of a schematic rendition. *save for the door to the toilet, which is a detail that was lost in a section that doesn't detach for access (for structural integrity and my sanity). I hope you enjoy. C&C welcome!

Thanks for your compliments! I know what you mean with the "striped rocks" cliffs. Preferably following almost exactly the (square) contours of the castle built on top, and with a huge waterfall gushing out from nowhere...

Thank you, Simon!

This is so beautiful about the Guilds: even after years the builds and stories continue to inspire! I don't know anything about the Kolgari myself, but all mentions of the Kolgari are to be found here: https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/search/&q=Kolgari&type=forums_topic&nodes=145. Hope you find something interesting!