Lego Castle factions Fantasy map and lore

[Fredator]

Hi everyone,

First time posting here, but I’ve been lurking and learning a lot on this forum to make a map that ties together all the Lego Castle factions. I learned how to name certain regions of the map and a few lore details from early Lego magazines and commercials. I tried to fit as much together as possible (bit some stiff was contradictory).

It was also quite a puzzle to fit all factions on a map and be sure the ‘canonical’ enemies and alliances were logic and understandable on a map. This was particularly hard because early factions were introduced and fased through time, out but had a lot of overlap (Crusaders/ Black Falcons/ Forestmen/ Black Knights/ Wolfpack/ Royal Knights/ Dragon Masters/ Dark Forest). Even Fright Knights had Royal Knights and Dark Forest figures in a few sets, but they were more isolated as a faction.

Then, of course, there was also the problem of the many Lion Factions trough the years. I tried to see them as different houses or regions who worked together under a central command (a king) but also have their own government. Trough times, the attention and maybe even the royal seat could shift as regions became more prominent or important, or because of a local conflict. And so I also had to put the opponents/ enemies to the different Lion factions in range of every respective lion faction.

All of this heavily determined the shape of the western part of the map. I had to make a crossing point between Lions, Black Falcons and Dragons and at the same time give spots to Forestmen, Wolfpack and Dark Forest.

The eastern part of the map was easier, factions there seemed to be more in ‘isolated universes’. There I chose to border different eras of Lego by natural borders and CMF figure factions.

Lastly, I wanted the really ‘unworldy’ factions to be in the furthest corners of the map, blocked of by very prominent natural features. This way, the map coild feel like a real medieval map, where the further from the viewpoint you go, the more the map is maybe inaccurate and influenced by myths and tales.

 

The map can be seen here: (I can’t make the map small enough to post it here)

https://www.reddit.com/r/legocastles/s/QgIzMBhyDd

 

I also wrote a lore to go along with the map:

Her majesty, Queen Leonesse, first of her name, protector of the West, warden of The Lions Knights’ Castle,

 

Today we celebrate the start of your third year as ruler over Avalon. Therefor, I present you an old map I recently found in an abandoned old ruin. I have slightly updated the map, I, for example, added your magnificent new castle to it. I know you have a very deep knowledge about the land of Avalon. But with this map, you can learn more about civilizations far to the north, south and east of us. A lot of the things on the map are based on myths and stories, but even myths and stories have a bit of truth in them.

 

Following in this letter, to go along with the map, I created a bit of an addendum about the history of some factions. I hope it serves you well in decisions you may need to make in the future.

 

 

First era: The Builder and the yellow castle

 

Probably the oldest castle in Avalon. The builder of it, first king over our magnificent realm of Avalon, has now gained a mythical status. Close to a big yellow lion shaped sandstone rock, he built a small castle out of the yellow sandstone he locally found there. He chose a crown as sigil to symbolise his reign over the lands around the yellow castle.

 

The Builder of the yellow castle was a great diplomat. He is known to have invited all leaders of the big houses of Avalon. Together, they decided on borders and pledged to unite Avalon. It was pretty common to see the nobles from around Avalon gather at the yellow castle to form deeper bonds.

 

Second era: the roaring Lions

 

Legend says ‘The Builder’ (of the yellow castle) liked to roam the lands dressed as a peasant or as an anonymous knight, to learn how his people truly felt. He was also known to be a regular customer of the Guarded Inn. It is there that he met a princess from the ‘double axes’ who also liked to have a drink without having to keep up with courtesy. They fell in love and only later discovered they both were nobles.

They united their factions and together built a new castle close to the inn. Later, this castle became known as ‘The Kings Castle’. Using the much harder grey granite from The Marble Mountains instead of the softer yellow sandstone, this castle set a new standard for later castles to come.

 

Uniting their factions, made the new alliance the strongest faction of the realm. They decided to each keep their sigils. The queen initially kept the double axes. The builder, not wanting to overshadow his queen, chose a new sigil instead of the crown. He chose a yellow lion, a reference to the yellow lion shaped rock near his original castle.  Manned with men from both ‘the double axes’ and ‘the lions’, the castle served as a central seat to rule over the lands of the ‘double axes’ and ‘the lions’.

 

Later, the Lions also united the people from house Valiant, house Royce, house Leo and house Kingsbridge. Eventually, trough the decades, all these houses changed their sigil to show a lion in some form. These houses all kept their own government, but worked together under one king to defend the realm of Avalon from invaders. This unity in the land of Avalon has proved to be very successful through history to fend foreign invading armies.

 

Forestmen:

We, The Lions, are the protectors of the people, the most valiant knights in the realm. To do so, we need shiny armor and big castles. Therefore, we did start to collect taxes among the common people. A little cost for peace and protection! But of course there are always some cheapskates who do not understand this.

This is where ‘The Forestmen’ originate from. Initially a bunch of people, not willing to pay taxes, that retreated to the deep Sherbert Forest to hide. Singing and drinking beer bought from stolen money. We had quite some quarrel with them in the older days. 

 

To this day, those woods are still inhabited by Forestmen. They do not steal anymore, so they do no longer pose any problems. They even have a very deep knowledge of the forests and have even provided us with knowledge about medicinal herbs.  

 

Black Falcons:

The collective of united tribes from the east of the Marble Mountains, not nearly as valiant and rich as us, but nonetheless a faction not to underestimate. In numbers, probably surpassing us, but not as well organised.  Mostly minding their own business east of the mountains, allthough there has been feuds about the borderlands north of the Marble Mountains in the early days.

 

One of the most famous knights in the ranks of The Black Falcons was a knight called ‘The Black Knight’. He must have been a noble man or even a prince, because he was invited on a joust organised by Sir Richard, king of the Lions. The prize for the winner of the tournament, was a chest filled with gold, silver and a piece of sparkling ember. Nobody even knew where the piece of ember came from or how it ended up in that treasure. But that single piece of ember would plunge the whole west into a war. 

 

When The Black Knight cast his eyes upon the ember, he became obsessed with it. That day, he lost the tournament, but he stole the treasure chest and ran home with it. Sir Richard heard of the theft of the chest and sent messages to the leader of the Black Falcons. He threatened them to capture and hand over The Black Knight. The Black Falcons tried to capture him, but The Black Knight and his closest followers quickly fled to the grim northern lands of Taranta. From that day, relations between Lions and Black Falcons became a bit sour. 

 

Since then, we haven’t had real diplomatic connections with the Black Falcons. But our scouts, constantly reporting on the Black Falcons, said they were getting better armed and more organized all the time. Scouts always heard they were preparing against a threat to the east of them, not against us. But we never let our guard down and continued to improve our own defenses as well.

 

Third era: the flight of Dragons

 

Black knights:

The Black Knight, banished from the lands of the Black Falcons, ended up settling in the northern, barren region of Taranta. There, he and his followers mingled with the local population and learned about their customs. Close relatives to the vikings, these people were great at building fast, sleek ships and navigating the fjords and the northern sea. The Black Knight started to call himself ‘The Black Monarch’. He built a new castle out of black rock from the Black Mountains. Very proud and decent warriors, but food always is a bit of a problem in that barren wasteland. And so they were regularly seen, raiding the north of the Black Falcons with their fast ships.

 

But it has been decades since we had to fear the Black Knights. By now, they are well known for their fine wool and smoky spirits. But their ultimate strenght is still in their superior ships. Should Avalon ever be under a threat from invaders on boats, our connections with the Black Knights would surely come in handy.

 

Dragon Masters:

The Black Monarch was very willing to adapt new cultures, probably because he fled from his own house. Barren land, wooden huts, cold and moldy climate and fishermen all over the place. Of course you’d spice up your stories with dragons and wyrms! The locals pretty much had dragons as their gods. But when The Black Monarch met a mysterious old man who told him that real dragons and an ember spitting mountain existed in the far north, he was all ears. He made plans to start a quest to the far north, but a lot of his Black Knights weren’t that convinced. Most of them tought he had lost his mind. 

 

But so he did, together with the wise old man and a few of his closest friends, he left. Many months passed, and most of The Black Knights started to assume their leader had died in the inhospitable north. This belief was even intensified by stories of a ghost haunting the Black Burgh, a castle of the Black Knights. Many of them believed this was The Black Monarch himself who had returned to his last home, the castle he loved most because it reminded him of his youth in the Falcon’s Fortress.

 

But at that time, a bunch of raiders from the northwest, started to come down trough the swamps to Kingsbridge and the Valiant Vale. The southwestern area of Taranta is very fertile and it’s inhabitants had always been very peaceful. But the attackers wore the dragon sigil of The Black Knights, but with a green dragon on it. Our defenses at Kingsbridge barely held up against the fierce attacks. Rumors were that their commander was an old man who mastered dragons. We assume ‘the dragons’ were merely ‘dragon warriors’, but some myths say it were real dragons. Probably just stories from guards at Kingsbridge who were getting overwhelmed…

 

The Dragon Masters would prove to be a big test for the strength of the united Lions as you will see next. But eventually, things settled down. If this part of history has served us anything, it is that we now have a good understanding of the north, of the fire spitting mountains and the pieces of ember that can be found over there. We now make beautiful jewelry out of ember, because it looks like fire captured within glass. But it is also the hardest material we know. Who knows what others uses it could serve us. Imagine weapons made out of ember!

 

Royal knights:

With the Dragon Masters attacking Kingsbridge and the Black Knights on the verge of joining them, Richard II, son of ser Richard, had to reinforce the northern border of the realm. Our magnificent town of Kingsbridge, located at a crosspoint between Avalon, Taranta and Saxondale, was one of the richest tradepoints in the known world. Connecting trough two rivers between the northern sea and the western ocean, made it an even more important hub for trade.

 

And so, Richard II built a marvellous new castle, both boasting his wealth and his power in the region. To be sure of the loyalty of the population of Kingsbridge, he replaced his throne to Kingsbridge and selected the best warriors in the realm to fend of the attackers. This army became known as ‘The Royal Knights’. 

 

To this day, the elite army of Royal Knights exist and  still protects the important city. They are highly regarded in the whole known world. Should we ever face a war again, these would be the backbone of our army.

 

The Wolfpack:

With the Lions, The Black Knights and The Dragon Masters all trying to recruit as many men as they could, a large amount of cowards from the north and a few men  from Kingsbridge started to hide themselves in the unhospitable swamps north of Kingsbridge. But they were not able to breed or cultivate any food there. So they resorted to stealing goods from castles. They were outlaws and good-for-nothings, but they did get really good at climbing walls and sneaking into castles.

 

Nowadays, Wolfpack people are rarely seen anymore. But with the right connections, you can still get in touch with them. They are rumoured to use their skills to make fortune as assassins now. 

 

 

Dark Forest:

Another group of renegades. When both camps in Sherbert Forest and Wolfpack Swamp grew to unsustainable numbers, an amount of people started to settle in the pretty inhospitable Dark Forest. A little more grim than the Forestmen (due to the Black Forest being cold and moldy) but not really rebels like the Wolfpack who were actively trying to sabotage the ruling factions, the Dark Forest Men were generally seen as a group on their own. 

 

In our time, Dark Forest people are nowhere to be found anymore, they seem to have either emigrated to the forest of Saxondale, or merged with the Wolfpack People. 

 

Bull Knights:

The collective of Lions, sending all there troops to the north to fend off The Dragon Warriors, must have created a vacuum in the south. All of a sudden, the people of Astoria also started to invade Avalon. There’s a myth going round that they were also led into battle by the old wise leader of the Dragon Masters. The bulls wearing similar helmets as the Dragon Masters, must have inspired this tale. And with that myth, came the idea that the leader of the bulls even rode his own dragon. Of course, there is no proof to this, so we better take this with a grain of salt.

 

What we are sure of, is that the bulls were masters at creating siege weapons. Richard II, still busy in the north, decided to give full control and funds to the steward of the south, Leo. To defend the south, Leo reinforced an old castle at the foot of The Horns. Funded by the crown to do so, but he went a bit overboard with it. Instead of merely creating a stronghold, he build a residence with high slender towers and shiny blue roofs. The castle became known as Leo’s Castle. Frivolous as Leo was, he was also a very good strategist and warrior. 

Eventually, when the bulls where getting pushed back, Cedric the Bull challenged Leo to a duel. Winner would get to rule the southern lands. With his huge ego, of course Leo accepted. Luckily he won the duel and the conflict was settled once and for all.

 

Fright Knights:

Pretty much at the same time the bulls started attacking us, rumours reached us that in the lands far east of the Marble Mountains, a new army was rising. Apparantly, a cousin of the old leader of the Dragon Masters, a woman called Wylla, had also gathered a following. It is said she seduced a poor soul called Basil, and now this guy called himself ‘the batlord’ and was leading a frightening army. Rumours of real dragons in their army as well. Again, no real proof for it. The Black Falcons have kept the bats contained to there small territory in between mountains for decades. 

 

Lately, it is known that they have been growing in power again. A new figure now calls himself ‘The Batlord’ again and he is boasting that he is in fact the resurrected Basil. We do not know a lot about this faction, but we should be smart to keep an eye on there whereabouts.

 

What we do know, is that the Black Falcons have been ramping up their defences to the east and have also been scouting those lands a lot recently. Maybe with should strengthen our alliance with the Black Falcons again. It has been many generations since the feud between King Richard and the Black Knight. We have had no problems with the Black Falcons and we already have a lot of trade going on with them.

 

There are a few minor things in the realm we should be wary about. The reemergence of ‘The Bats’. The recent dispute between The Valiant Vale and Verda’s Garden over ‘The long island’. And the 

 

With the insecurities about ‘The Bats’, the recent dispute between The Valiant Vale and The Green Dragons over ‘The long island’. And the surfacing of this new Dragon cult calling themselves ‘The Red Dragons’ and claiming they are direct descendants of the Black Knight. And some traders have been reporting scary threats creeping closer from the east towards the kingdom of Ashlar.

 

It seems that during your rule, you too will have to face dragons, evil lords and ghosts. I am confident you will be able to face and slay all of these and in time they will all become the subject of many legends and myths.

 

Maybe this is a good time for the two oldest and greatest factions in the world, The Lions and the Black Falcons, to make an alliance, to secure ourselves against ‘Resurrected men, Cultleaders and Dragons’.

 

Your oldest and most loyal subject,

your trusted advisor,

Majisto

 

 

 

[Yperio_Bricks]

4 minutes ago, Fredator said:

The map can be seen here: (I can’t make the map small enough to post it here)

https://www.reddit.com/r/legocastles/s/QgIzMBhyDd

Welcome to the forum @Fredator 

You can not upload large pictures to Eurobricks. It is best to host the pictures elsewhere on imgur, flickr, bricksafe or any other website where you can host pictures. When i klick on the map at reddit and copy the image location i can add it to the EB post: