Book II - Kaliphlin: Guild sign-up and Discussion

[SkaForHire]

Agreed! Welcome to Kaliphlin!

[LittleJohn]

Back in Kaliphlin with my Challenge V Category B entry:

 

[Oikonomikos]

I hereby sign up for Kaliphlin - haven't had the time to make a proper sig fig yet, but I want to join to be able to participate in Cat B of the latest challenge.

[TitusV]

Welcome to the guilds!

[LittleJohn]

Welcome to Kaliphlin, Oiko! Glad to have you

[Henjin_Quilones]

Hello Kaliphlinites!

I have a question for you all, related to the current challenge. Is there a large visual distinction between the troops of the Desert King (who won the Kaliphlin Civil War, right?) and those of Ulandus and the High Council? Does anyone know of a place to see examples of the armies of each side, without me having to scroll through many, many pages of threads? I know that loyalty to both sides remains pretty strong despite the victory of the Desert King, but with the rumors of the High Council and Ulandus being in league with the Spire, would that sway some HC&U supporters to fight alongside the DK despite disliking him (the whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" kind of thing)?

So that was several questions, not one, I guess, but I thank you for your assistance to this poor Avalonian who came late to the dance, so to speak, and missed the first 4 challenges of Book II. 

[gedren_y]

The Desert King troops are mostly Egyptian style figs. The High Council troops are generally a mix of the Kingdoms lion torso with dark blue arms, and various Middle-Eastern and Indian figs from Prince of Persia and Adventurers. Asian style figs were found on both of those sides as well. Ulandus troops were Roman style, and used mostly this Galaxy Squad torso with different colored arms denoting their branch of service. I cannot remember which color was which at the moment.

[Umbra-Manis]

I think gedren pretty much nailed the High Council and Desert King troop descriptions, but its important to remember that Ulandus got their collective butt royally kicked, especially by a certain rat ( @Jacob Nion) I wouldn't expect to see that many Ulandian troops, especially with fully intact armor, on a battlefield in the coming battles.

[SkaForHire]

3 hours ago, Umbra-Manis said:

I think gedren pretty much nailed the High Council and Desert King troop descriptions, but its important to remember that Ulandus got their collective butt royally kicked, especially by a certain rat ( @Jacob Nion) I wouldn't expect to see that many Ulandian troops, especially with fully intact armor, on a battlefield in the coming battles.

[Kai NRG]

11 hours ago, Umbra-Manis said:

I think gedren pretty much nailed the High Council and Desert King troop descriptions, but its important to remember that Ulandus got their collective butt royally kicked, especially by a certain rat ( @Jacob Nion) I wouldn't expect to see that many Ulandian troops, especially with fully intact armor, on a battlefield in the coming battles.

Hey!   But Ulandus has pretty much merged with the High Council - that is, Ulandian supporters on the mainland have.  As for Ulandus itself, I have no idea what's up down there and don't really care either (never did care, actually, just joined Ulandus because I thought it would be the underdog, and boy was I right ).  In the long run though if I recall correctly Ulandus actually did about as well as the HC if not better.  However, actual Ulandian troops aren't likely to be on the mainland anymore.

16 hours ago, Henjin_Quilones said:

...would that sway some HC&U supporters to fight alongside the DK despite disliking him (the whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" kind of thing)?

No alliances with the DK for me, if you please!  That zombified mummy ought to be in his grave, and all he wants is to change Kaliphlin into Nocturnus! 

But anyways, I would imagine some HC&U supporters would fight against the same enemy as the DK, but probably not work in very close connection with him (in fact, some might attack the DK as often as the spire!).

[Henjin_Quilones]

17 hours ago, gedren_y said:

The Desert King troops are mostly Egyptian style figs. The High Council troops are generally a mix of the Kingdoms lion torso with dark blue arms, and various Middle-Eastern and Indian figs from Prince of Persia and Adventurers. Asian style figs were found on both of those sides as well. Ulandus troops were Roman style, and used mostly this Galaxy Squad torso with different colored arms denoting their branch of service. I cannot remember which color was which at the moment.

 

15 hours ago, Umbra-Manis said:

I think gedren pretty much nailed the High Council and Desert King troop descriptions, but its important to remember that Ulandus got their collective butt royally kicked, especially by a certain rat ( @Jacob Nion) I wouldn't expect to see that many Ulandian troops, especially with fully intact armor, on a battlefield in the coming battles.

 

4 hours ago, Kai NRG said:

Hey!   But Ulandus has pretty much merged with the High Council - that is, Ulandian supporters on the mainland have.  As for Ulandus itself, I have no idea what's up down there and don't really care either (never did care, actually, just joined Ulandus because I thought it would be the underdog, and boy was I right ).  In the long run though if I recall correctly Ulandus actually did about as well as the HC if not better.  However, actual Ulandian troops aren't likely to be on the mainland anymore.

No alliances with the DK for me, if you please!  That zombified mummy ought to be in his grave, and all he wants is to change Kaliphlin into Nocturnus! 

But anyways, I would imagine some HC&U supporters would fight against the same enemy as the DK, but probably not work in very close connection with him (in fact, some might attack the DK as often as the spire!).

Thanks for your help, my friends! I do not have any of that Kingdoms torso (darn those dark ages) but I do have some blue Castle 2013 lion torsos; maybe those with dark red (or dark blue, too) arms would work just as well? I'll see what I can whip together that looks satisfactory (perhaps some soldiers with this torso and different arms and legs?). And supposing that it were proven that the Spire and HC&U are united, it seems reasonable that some of the former HC&U supporters would wish to, not switch sides, per se, but at very least resist the Spire and its allies and fight against the same enemy as the Desert King, not under his command, or officially allied with him, but fight against a common enemy at the same time as he was. (And as I regrettably do not have the parts for your fig, Kai, no need to worry about being seen allied with the DK...)

[gedren_y]

The Nestlands Clans support he Resistance headed by Lord Vladivus. Though we sided with the High Council, the Desert King leaves us mostly alone. We are a large source of paints, rare herbs, and raw metals. We pay his taxes, and have no problem passing his soldiers intelligence reports on the Spire, so they can go other places to war. We are awaiting the return of the Armored Eagle Goddess to a flesh existence, which should be very soon. (If the build does not get demolished for a seventh time.)

A faction of the Mountain Mummies, Horus worshipers, reject the Desert King claiming the title of Pharaoh. They believe that an undead thing cannot be the embodiment of the Living Horus. They are lead by Namses Setesh, who has control of some limited god power that remained in Historica from a bird god they believe to have been Horus when he was flesh. Namses now looks very fancy. They are allied with the Nestlands Clans, though tensions have been mounting, in their opposition to the Spire.

I will let other High Council supporters tell who their forces support. The remaining Ulandus forces have been without their leaders for quite some time, and may end up splintering into their own factions. They mostly hate the Desert King.

[Mike S]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 3:28 PM, Henjin_Quilones said:

Hello Kaliphlinites!

I have a question for you all, related to the current challenge. Is there a large visual distinction between the troops of the Desert King (who won the Kaliphlin Civil War, right?) and those of Ulandus and the High Council? Does anyone know of a place to see examples of the armies of each side, without me having to scroll through many, many pages of threads? I know that loyalty to both sides remains pretty strong despite the victory of the Desert King, but with the rumors of the High Council and Ulandus being in league with the Spire, would that sway some HC&U supporters to fight alongside the DK despite disliking him (the whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" kind of thing)?

So that was several questions, not one, I guess, but I thank you for your assistance to this poor Avalonian who came late to the dance, so to speak, and missed the first 4 challenges of Book II. 

With the fall of Ulandus, the Order of Aslan has nearly been disbanded with localized splinter leaders being what remains. Lord Kral remains in his stronghold at Blackrock on the island of Gorr where he and Masa plot how to overthrow the dk. It is also rumored that they have prepared to abandon Historica's lands for good and sail in search of another land where they can build a new home and forget the atrocities of the Kaliphlin civil war. The Nocturnus Resistance is now considered an enemy of the Order as it supported the dk during the Kaliphlin civil war. Members of the Nocturnus Resistance are banned from entering territories occupied by the Order and will be arrested on sight. However due to the decimation of troops and resources in the Kaliphlin civil war, it is unlikely that the Order will be considered as a threat by either the Nocturnus Resistance or the Spire.

[Gideon]

7 hours ago, Mike S said:

With the fall of Ulandus, the Order of Aslan has nearly been disbanded with localized splinter leaders being what remains. Lord Kral remains in his stronghold at Blackrock on the island of Gorr where he and Masa plot how to overthrow the dk. It is also rumored that they have prepared to abandon Historica's lands for good and sail in search of another land where they can build a new home and forget the atrocities of the Kaliphlin civil war. The Nocturnus Resistance is now considered an enemy of the Order as it supported the dk during the Kaliphlin civil war. Members of the Nocturnus Resistance are banned from entering territories occupied by the Order and will be arrested on sight. However due to the decimation of troops and resources in the Kaliphlin civil war, it is unlikely that the Order will be considered as a threat by either the Nocturnus Resistance or the Spire.

I was assuming that the sizeable presence of the Order of Aslan in Barqa lived on, albeit that their military strength might have been significantly weakened there too because of the losses in the Civil War. But as Barqa never was conquered by either the DK or Ulandus, the established institutions there should live on even if they too might be shaken by the unrests in Kaliphlin. My thinking was that in these times of trouble even more of Barqas inhabitants have turned their hopes and prayers towards Aslan and that the Order's priests would have a great time spreading their religion?

(High on my build priority list for quite a while has been and still is "HSS Religious: Aslanic temple in Barqa" to complete that category and Barqa's recognition as a city in HSS :wink:)

So should I consider the remains of the Order in Barqa still loyal to the Order's central command structure under Lord Kral or is it a rogue splinter organization no longer obeying the commands from Lord Kral...?
The tension between the Order of Aslan and the Nocturnus Resistance makes for interesting plots at least, since the leadership of Barqa supports the Resistance
Or should I revise my picture of the religous state in Barqa and assume that the Order has formally withdrawn from Barqa? That in turn would of course leave interesting opportunities for whoever would like to take over the shepherding of (or exploit) the pious followers of Aslan among the common people of Barqa

[Mike S]

4 hours ago, Gideon said:

I was assuming that the sizeable presence of the Order of Aslan in Barqa lived on, albeit that their military strength might have been significantly weakened there too because of the losses in the Civil War. But as Barqa never was conquered by either the DK or Ulandus, the established institutions there should live on even if they too might be shaken by the unrests in Kaliphlin. My thinking was that in these times of trouble even more of Barqas inhabitants have turned their hopes and prayers towards Aslan and that the Order's priests would have a great time spreading their religion?

(High on my build priority list for quite a while has been and still is "HSS Religious: Aslanic temple in Barqa" to complete that category and Barqa's recognition as a city in HSS :wink:)

So should I consider the remains of the Order in Barqa still loyal to the Order's central command structure under Lord Kral or is it a rogue splinter organization no longer obeying the commands from Lord Kral...?
The tension between the Order of Aslan and the Nocturnus Resistance makes for interesting plots at least, since the leadership of Barqa supports the Resistance
Or should I revise my picture of the religous state in Barqa and assume that the Order has formally withdrawn from Barqa? That in turn would of course leave interesting opportunities for whoever would like to take over the shepherding of (or exploit) the pious followers of Aslan among the common people of Barqa

Lord Kral has not ordered a withdrawal but his feud with the Nocturnus Resistance has created a problem for the leadership of the various temples outside of Gorr. I imagine many of them have claimed independence from Blackrock/Aden's Gate to avoid conflict with local authorities. There has been controversy with Lord Kral's orders ever since Bishop Jamon's death and his rise to power. However even if a local temple has claimed independence, it is unknown if it still maintains ties with Blackrock or even how strong those ties still are. Lord Kral understands the predicament the various temple leadership are in and while publicly berating the cowardice of the temples that have declared independence it is quite possible that the relations between them are not as severed as it may seem... Lord Kral still has gold and the temples have good intelligence on local affairs. 

[Gideon]

Ok, so maybe a plausible situation then is that Bishop Sheyer and the rest of the temple leadership in Barqa has broken free formally to be able to side with Barqa against the Spire? Maybe even declared themselves to be a different religious movement of Aslan...?
(But story wise it would of course add another layer to the intrigue if the leaders of the Order still are pulling the strings )

[gedren_y]

Viva la Resistance!

[Mike S]

26 minutes ago, Gideon said:

Ok, so maybe a plausible situation then is that Bishop Sheyer and the rest of the temple leadership in Barqa has broken free formally to be able to side with Barqa against the Spire? Maybe even declared themselves to be a different religious movement of Aslan...?
(But story wise it would of course add another layer to the intrigue if the leaders of the Order still are pulling the strings )

Yes, it would be totally up to you how you want to handle Bishop Sheyer and the Barqan temple. Lord Kral is still friendly with the High Council but he holds an eternal grudge against all of Nocturnus as he feels the resistance stabbed Kaliphlin in the back when they supported the desert king destroying both the High Council and Ulandus and will never again ally with anyone from Nocturnus. He never liked the Spire so he isn't backing them either and he hopes that both sides destroy each other. So it basically comes down to how you want the story of your characters' alliances to play out. Can you find a way to ally with both or must you choose between Lord Kral, a Kaliphlinian or the Nocturnus Resistance?

[Gideon]

Found a particularly interesting book among all the unread books in my bookshelf that I think might end up being some Easter holiday reading

[Kai NRG]

That does look fascinating... ironically I'm writing about that time period right now!

[TitusV]

Looks really intresting Gideon! I hope it inspires you to build some great castles!

[LittleJohn]

It's been a a quite a while, but another chapter of my Katoren story-line is up:

 

[LittleJohn]

Any Kaliphlinites planning on entering the Castle Collaboration category of The Summer Joust this year? For obvious reasons I can't participate, but I'm hoping a few people from our guild will. We had an excellent showing last year from @BrickCurve, @Kayne, and @Gabe, let's try to do so again!

[Kai NRG]

Speaking of the Summer Joust (or not speaking of it... whichever we were doing...) my latest free-build is an entry for the all-LEGO scene category!

[LittleJohn]

Looks fabulous @Kai NRG!
 

Here's a little sneak peak at what I've been working on:

 

Edited June 9, 2017 by LittleJohn