Making Camp

[Full Plate]

Making Camp

Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow

Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence

Chapter III: The Poacher

Chapter IV: Making Camp

Chapter V: Solitary Council

Chapter VI: Escaping Home

Chapter VII: Waylaid

Chapter VIII: Archery Practice

Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen

Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside

The crackling sound of the campfire brought back all kinds of memories to Sir Darby. Some of them fond. Most of them not. Sir Darby would always associate campfires with war, and memories of war were seldom pleasant ones.

He had learnt the hard way that one was never as safe as one felt around a campfire.

Sir Darby got out a whetstone and proceeded to methodically sharpen his sword. It was a habit he had developed from young - a way to remind himself that even here, in the warm glow of the fire, the harsh reality was still out there and he needed to be ready. The problem was; how could he be ready for what was to come, when he had no idea what to expect?

Sir Darby had had to leave home for the Overgrown Isle with very short notice, without any men, and without even knowing the real reason for his departure. He had left his family at home, not being able to tell them much about where he was going, or even when he would come back. He was positive that he was part of some scheme, masterly manipulated from behind the scenes. But by whom and for what purpose was still unknown.

All was not gloom however, because he was not alone. He was sharing this campfire with two of his most trusted men, with a third out to gather fuel for the fire to last them through the night.

Things could surely have been worse.

Sir Darby studied the two men at his sides. To his right sat Harlon Sherburne, a tall, dark man with a constant frown on his face, grilling a fish over the fire. Harlon was not the type to talk about himself, or to talk much at all for that matter, but Sir Darby could not think of anyone he’d rather have by his side in the heat of battle. Harlon had been Sir Darby’s right hand man for almost 20 years, always carrying out his charge well and above what anyone could expect. Not popular with the men, at least not at first, but a second-in-command didn’t need to be - he just needed to have the men ready for battle. In the end, a leader who kept his men alive was much preferred to one that kept them happy.

The man on Sir Darby’s left was in many ways the diametrical opposite to Harlon. Kipp Wyght was a stout, red haired man, with a big mouth and a merry personality. Sir Darby also knew him to be fiercely loyal and the most skilled man with a blade he had ever seen. They had met only on Sir Darby’s latest military campaign, but Kipp had quickly proven to be one of the most valuable soldiers to the war effort, as well as an avid entertainer among the men, raising spirits wherever he went. Kipp was currently in the process of recounting an event involving a dead rat, a bowl of soup and a serving maid at The Fat Sow. From what Sir Darby could tell, the tale bore little resemblance to actual events, but Kipp’s stories seldom did, nor did they need to.

Sir Darby smirked at Kipp's detailed description of the maid tumbling out the door just to land upside down in the water trough.

- ‘...and since then, I'll never again be welcome at The Fat Sow!’, Kipp concluded his story.

- ‘You forgot how she slapped you right across your face’, Harlon pointed out while turning his fish over.

- ‘That was no slap’, Kipp replied. ‘Only the gentle caress of her silky smooth hand on my cheek; a memory that I will cherish forever!’

Harlon just sighed.

The sound of twig cracking announced the arrival of the last man of their party. Nyle Ogden came into view carrying a bundle of sticks. Sir Darby hadn’t known him before they set out, and have even been reluctant to bring him along, but as Kipp’s younger cousin, Kipp had insisted on bringing him along. In the end Sir Darby had agreed, and in any case it was out of his hands. Nyle had put in a request of transfer to Newquay together with the other two, and the request had been granted. They were now Lord Cowden’s men, and Sir Darby should be happy to have them around.

Still, from the looks of his damp pile of sticks, he was neither a seasoned outdoorsman, or a quick learner.

- ‘Hey Nyle!’ Kipp hollered. ‘Good job fueling the fire! You can just put them down right here.’

- ‘Thanks’, Nyle mumbled and dropped the pile next to the campfire.

Sir Darby knew that Kipp would sneak off later to find some proper kindling. Coddling people had never been Sir Darby’s way, and he had a hard time understanding why Kipp would treat his cousin this way. It was not his place to get involved though, as he had neither authority or full knowledge of the situation. It still irked him though.

- ‘Are we getting close to Newquay yet?’ asked Nyle.

- ‘About 2-3 days more to the coast, then we have to find passage over to the island’, Sir Darby replied.

- ‘It is awfully cold here’, said Nyle.

- ‘We’re pretty far north by now’, Kipp answered. ‘Probably as far north as the Mitgardian border in the east.’

- ‘But it is still summer’, said Nyle. ‘And Mitgardia is up in the mountains, while we’re in the low plains. Should it really be this cold?’

It was true that is was particularly cold. Sir Darby had not spent much time in this part of Avalonia, but even in the lower hills by the Mitgardian border it wouldn’t get this cold in summer. He had even noticed the leaves starting to wilt, which shouldn’t happen for at least another month, if not two. It was definitely not normal.

- ‘It is... the Algus’, Harlon replied.

Sir Darby was more than a little surprised. He had never heard about the Algus except for in the old wives’ tales, which he did not put much stock in. To hear this from a man of logic and deduction like Harlon was unexpected.

- ‘I heard the rumour from some traders coming down from the mountains a few days before we departed’, Harlon continued. ‘They claimed that the Algus had appeared and with them had come the freezing cold. Some cities had been attacked, but their fates were unknown to them. I didn’t really take it seriously, until I had it confirmed by some of my... ‘sources’.’

- ‘But, that means they are close?’ stammered Nyle.

- ‘I don’t know’, replied Harlon. ‘I don’t know if this is really the Algus of the legends, or if it’s something else. But there is something out there, somewhere, causing the cold, and I doubt they’re friendly.’

It went quiet. Sir Darby was processing what had been shared. The Algus. Possibly somewhere near. This was a surprise. And in Sir Darby’s experience, surprises were wont to kill you.

- ‘Well, it won’t be a surprise anymore’, he thought to himself. ‘Now I can be prepared for that as well.’

Seems he had been right; one was never as safe as one felt around a campfire.

***

My first post in a while now. A lot of work and travelling, but managed to build something in between things :)

Also, decided to weave in some of the Algus event into the story. If I got any of the lore wrong, do let me know :)

Hope you enjoyed the MOC :)

Edited June 6, 2017 by Full Plate

[Graham Gidman]

Very awesome. Love the foliage!

[The Steward]

Amazing work!! The trees are amazing!!

[Elostirion]

Those trees are magnificent!

[Kai NRG]

Great build! Really like the birch trees, and the fire looks really good too! Good work on the vegetation as well!

[TitusV]

I was actually looking forward to this, and IT is even better then I expected! Great job, you're a great builder!

[Garmadon]

Excellent build Full Plate, great work with the vegetation and campfire, and of course those trees! Very nice story-telling as well, I'm quite looking forward to more from you! The only thing that I can nitpick here would be that a differently colored background would make the trees a lot more visible, but it certainly is a great build nonetheless!

[Blufiji]

The vehetation, and especially those trees, are amazing!

Edited February 2, 2016 by Blufiji

[Angeli]

I love the trees friend, for me, totaly new concept :)

[Lord Vladivus]

Brilliant trees!

[Stelario]

I like the trees, shame there is no close-ups. Instead of showing us every guy eating fish you should show us the tree. :P

[Puvel]

Great foliage, that fire looks really good

[Full Plate]

Thanks all for the kind words :)

I was actually looking forward to this, and IT is even better then I expected! Great job, you're a great builder!

Happy to not have let you down Titus Sorry to have made you wait for so long though

Excellent build Full Plate, great work with the vegetation and campfire, and of course those trees! Very nice story-telling as well, I'm quite looking forward to more from you! The only thing that I can nitpick here would be that a differently colored background would make the trees a lot more visible, but it certainly is a great build nonetheless!

Thanks Garmadon! I do agree about the background, and I got that feedback from others as well. Guess I've grown used to using white as background, but gotta learn to adapt Made a new version of one of the shots with this in mind that you can see below. Would be happy to receive some feedback about whether it works better or not

I like the trees, shame there is no close-ups. Instead of showing us every guy eating fish you should show us the tree. :P

I hear ya man! Who wants to see grown men chomping on fish when there is tree bark to be seen? Added another photo below which gives a slightly better view of the tree bark. Have already disassembled the build, so can't take any new ones Also added a photo from one of my previous builds, which uses the same technique, only with axes instead of bars. Hope that helps

Different background.

A slightly closer view of the tree bark.

Similar technique in a different build.

[Kayne]

Wow, you are a talented storyteller as well as builder. Those birch trees really steal the show here!

[Stelario]

I remember the axe tree. :)

In my opinion is a bit better then the bar one. I feel like it more sturdy and full but maybe it's only because of the color.

Anyway I don't have enough robot arms to make 1/10 of a tree like that.

[Garmadon]

Ah yes, certainly improved - and even if the reason was just to see the trees better, the tan does look really good anyways!

[Simon_S]

Oh wow, that trees look so nice! I was about to say that the photography isn't that good, because we can barely see them, but you just posted the pictures with tan background . The foilage looks also nice, especially with the brown carrottops and that cute little bush in there. I also like that you made the rocks and the path very simple, otherwise the build would have been overtextured. Of course the trans-clear water fits the colour sheme too (way better than blue one would have done).

Keep up the good work!

- Simon

[bricklover]

Great trees!

[soccerkid6]

Gorgeous forest scene, with both wonderful undergrowth and trees Excellent story as well, I hope you have more building time in the future

[SarahJoy]

Gorgeous foliage work! I really like the color choices for this build -- it feels very cohesive.

The bark work on the trees is fantastic, but as others pointed out, it gets lost in the white background. The green background you did up helps, but changes the color balance of the build. Perhaps a neutral gray?

[LittleJohn]

Fantastic build! The foliage is great and of course that tree design is gorgeous

[Jacob Nion]

I remember that I was totally in love with your tree technique in that former build. Great to see it again. And it seems to be perfect for birch trees, since the darker areas have a wonderful irregular shape which looks very natural, also the bark is very crook and crumped.

Not only that you have wonderful story righting. I really enjoyed the character description.

Only minor flaw for me is that a black or very dark background would have fitted better for the camp at night setting. But 'm no expert. I tried it once and sucked at it.