Leaves on the Wind Fall as They Will.

[Lord Vladivus]

Northern Nocturnus, at the border with Mitgardia. Smoke drifts lazily through the cool mountain air of the Northern Rakath, from a small barbarian encampment. An ice-cold, bubbling mountain stream runs through the camp, and salmon leap from the clear waters.

Into this idyllic setting strolls Taun-Li, the famed Master-Sensai of Panjitsu. Few expect him to actually be a panda, but the Nocturnian is comfortable with that- it works well for his current occupation. Taun-Li is working for Lord Vladivus, the Legendary Warlord of Nocturnus, aiding him in hiring warriors to fight against the Black Spire.

This particular barbarian tribe is the Kanucka Head Takers. Well organised and militaristic, they subsist here in the mountains on a diet of fresh salmon, speared from the river by tribesmen.

Taun-Li strides accross the bridge, and is greeted by the tribes Chieftain, Oran Limbsmasher. The chieftains black cloak swirls in the air, and his bearing is proud and noble.

Oran: "Greetings. We do not often have your kind visit this far North!"

Taun-LI: "Leaves on the wind fall as they will. I come with an offer from Lord Vladivus."

Oran: "Do you? And what if I refuse this offer?"

Taun-Li: "Then I am to return you to the earth. All Nocturnians must stand and fight. Take a side. You are either with us, or against us There is no neutral ground."

Oran: "Then what would the Lord Vladivus have me do?"

Taun-Li: "Take your warriors over the border to Mitgardia, and prepare for the coming troubles there. I shall be accompanying you."

Oran accepted the offer, and Taun-Li gave him a week to prepare his kinsmen, before leaving to prepare himself.

A build mainly to try out water, and I wanted to use the panda guy costume, and it also leads into the Mitgardian Challenge. Hopefully. C+C welcome!

[Alfadas]

Amazing MOC once again. Really love the barbarians, and the water turned out just fine, if you ask me. I don't have any experience with water but it looks cool! Maybe a salmon jumping out of the water would be cool, but that's just me. Great work!

[Lord Vladivus]

Thanks Alfadas! I wanted to throw in some different characters for the Mitgardian challenge, essentially ones I'm not too bothered about dying etc, but I've gotten rather attached to Taun-Li. He might find his way onto the Council of Shadowmere!

[TheRedViper]

Very nice MOC, the water looks good to me, and I really like the detail you have put into this build, such as the barbarian drum, and also the stairs carved from the rock. All in all, I think this is a really nice build!

[Lord Vladivus]

Very nice MOC, the water looks good to me, and I really like the detail you have put into this build, such as the barbarian drum, and also the stairs carved from the rock. All in all, I think this is a really nice build!

Thanks! It wasn't meant to be a drum, more of a wood chopping block! Haha!

[TheRedViper]

Haha, it still looks cool though!

[Scaevola]

Nice work Vlad, the trees are excellent, especially the large cluster to the left. Nice job with the rock work as well. As usual I enjoyed the story as well

[-Horizon-]

I really like the rockwork, the stone staircase, the river, the terrain the fortress. Everything fit together almost perfectly.

[MKJoshA]

I saw this on flickr last night and am very glad to see it already attached to a story! I'm looking forward to this upcoming challenge. It's going to be great to see other's take on Mitgardia.

[Yzalirk]

Nice MOC and interesting story, Vlad!

With the water though, I've seen people use trans-colored tiles a lot. Or with those studs, don't actually place them, just fill the area with them so it seems even more full. I would try it but I an no where near having the right amount for water!

[mccoyed]

Nice build Lord Vladivus. I like Taun-Li a lot as a character. He's silly looking, naturally, but sounds like a badass. I can reproduce him with my own collection... would you mind if I featured him in a build if I ever have an idea for one?

Love the barbarians also. The landscaping is wonderfully blended and varied for a relatively small space. I would maybe add a border of some kind for presentation.

[Lord Vladivus]

Cheers guys!

Thanks Behemoth, I'm planning on trying a variety of techniques, to convey various water types- this one is supposed to be a small, ice-cold, mountain stream with clear waters!

Go for it mccoyed! He's very much a nomadic kind of person. And yes, he is a badass.

[Mike S]

Great build! Nice use of the brown fender piece for the bridge!

BTW, whats this talk about the next challenge? Did I miss something?

[mccoyed]

He means the next big Historica Challenge/Chapter of Book 2 is going to be Mitgardia.

[Hammerhand]

The landscaping looks awesome Vlad! I like the use of the white ice cream as smoke, and the trees!

[Lord Vladivus]

Cheers guys!

Mike, mccoyed is right, I think it actually came out in the Kaliphlin thread.

[mrcp6d]

Another solid build. The smoke coming off the fire is a nice touch that I haven't seen used like that before. I wonder how high you can get with the ice cream stack before it falls over...

[Lord Vladivus]

Cheers. Probably not that high, unless you're really good at balancing! I only have a couple of ice cream pieces, so I can't try it.

[Simon_S]

That is some awesome landscaping and the use of the panda costume is great! I also like your barbarians, they look good, but they will freeze when they go to Mitgardia in these clothes .

[soccerkid6]

One of your best builds yet. The landscape is sweet, I like the little river and trees especially Also the figs and palisade look good.

And I love the hatchet stuck in a log

[MassEditor]

Excellent job Lord Vlad, you've really been topping yourself here lately sir! There's a ton to appreciate in this build, like the wonderful landscaping, trees and rockwork (great job with the stairs!). I love all the thought that's been put into this scene, like that perfect cluster of pine trees (nice shadow effect with the dark green too!) and the off-stud bridge. I very much enjoyed the story and the tie in to the big events happening in Nocturnus.

My only suggestion would be to add some blue plates/bricks under those trans-clear round plates so you don't see the brown underneath. That way I think you can still get the whitewater effect of a rolling river but still get that blue hint from the calmer water at the bottom of the stream. Considering the length of the stream I would recommend some elevation changes along the river, even if just by a plate or two.

In any case, another fantastic build by you!

Edited August 6, 2014 by MassEditor

[Lord Vladivus]

Simon, those barbarians are made of hard stuff!

Thanks SK!

Thanks Mass! Yeah, the river was a first time thing, I was pretty happy, but I still want to improve! Difficult to do water in Lego!

Edited August 6, 2014 by Lord Vladivus

[-Carson Haupt-]

Just awesome! I love everything!

[Lord Vladivus]

Cheers Carson!

[Gunman]

I really like your landscaping on this LV....! The panda is also a nice touch to the story xDD

Edited August 7, 2014 by Gunman