Camp at the Temple of the Red Ruby

[Kai NRG]

Long, long ago, before Kaligem, the one time capitol of Kaliphlin, was destroyed, a wise and wealthy group of dwarfs, foreseeing the devastation that was to come upon their city, created a chalice of pure gold, that would hold the red ruby, the legendary crystal that led the founders of the city of Kaligem to the location it then had. They built a temple for it, hidden deep in the great escarpment, where the crystal would not be found before the time was ripe, when the wisest man, apart from the leader of Kaliphlin, would find it and, with it, would re-establish Kaligem as a powerful city once more. And to protect this man from his enemies, they created a helmet of protection, that would, it is said, keep him from any harm.

Gradually the temple around the ruby decayed, but the inside remained ever new, as beautiful as the day it was built. The time is now ripe, and the people of Nadur, whose city had been destroyed, have come to search for the temple. Finally, they have found it, they are setting up there camp and will soon be scaling the precipice. But they must have caution - who knows what powers lie within?

Here lies the remains of the temple, still fairly well preserved, that houses the key to the peace of Kaliphlin.

(This may pop at you sort of out of the blue, or white, but it's right above the helment.)

And here is the helment of protection, said to fit only the man destined to wear it.

But be careful! Should the approching man be the wrong one, the trapdoor will open under his feet, shutting again on top of him and keeping him trapped! If he's the right one, the trap door will wait unitl he gets off it. . .

. . . to reveal the red chamber within! (Sorry, I couldn't resist the red. I just have so much of that color!

Now let's step back (and up). . .

and take a view of the camp!

A small fish makes a big splash as he jumps into the river. . .

. . . while the leaders prepare to confront whatever lies within!

My dear little kity cat wouldn't come down from the roof. . .

Inside the little shed are several barrels and other belongings.

Cutting wood for the next lean-to that is being built.

(I'll give Legonardo credit for this, but I honestly wasn't thinking about your's when I built it!)

Nothing's better than a day's work under the sun!

Someone else thinks there's nothng better than a day's sleep under the sun. . .

A few more! pictures at my Flickr. I know that was an awful lot, but there's no limit (within reason) and I really didn't see how I could cut out any of those. . .

Feedback is appreciated as always! Hope you enjoyed it!

[soccerkid6]

Very nice landscaping, the river especially with the splash from the fish

Nice work on the temple too, looks fittingly ornate. Good luck in the judging

[Garmadon]

Nice entry, NRG Kai!

The inside of the temple is especially cool.

I like the way the sleeper is going to get bit, too.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Garmadon

[MikeyB]

I like how your roof came out. the story ideas are good too.

Good Luck!

[PenPlays]

You really solved that open front really, really well. I love the little traps inside. The camp is also well sprawled with people. If I remember right, this was supposed to be your Ninja Bomb entry, correct? Wonderful job Kai, and hopefully I will be able to join you in this competition.

[Kai NRG]

Thanks, guys!

You really solved that open front really, really well. I love the little traps inside. The camp is also well sprawled with people. If I remember right, this was supposed to be your Ninja Bomb entry, correct? Wonderful job Kai, and hopefully I will be able to join you in this competition.

This was, in fact, going to be my ninja bomb entry - perhaps I should have left the ninja in and seen if pep would give me a break too? Thanks, and I'm interested to see what you can come up with - in *ahem* three days. . .

[Niku]

So much activity within, I like the red color as for the primary effect.

It fits perfectly with Kaliphlin.

Good luck.

[Mike S]

Nice entry! I like your roof and the little details!

[Ecclesiastes]

Great work Kai, I like all the minifig activity and your temple is really well done especially the roof. Keep up the good work!

[Kai NRG]

Thanks! I'm glad you like the roof, I really had a tough time with that, since I was running out of dark red even before I started closing off the front. Again, thanks for the comments!

[Erynlasgalen]

I like the way your temple turned out, great solution to the roof problems you had earlier with it. The curves are nice and it fits in perfectly with Kaliphlin architecture. There are so many little great details, and just enough figs to make the camp lively.

The one critique I can give is that I would have extended the green foliage from the left up along the front edge with the water. I think the green would really help draw your eye back to the right side of the MOC and up to the temple again.

Really great job overall!

[Torgar]

Great job, I too really like the roof

[Kai NRG]

. . . The one critique I can give is that I would have extended the green foliage from the left up along the front edge with the water. I think the green would really help draw your eye back to the right side of the MOC and up to the temple again.

Really great job overall!

Thanks, that's a good idea (too late now of course), though I don't have much green I probably could have done something like that! I'm very glad you liked the roof, it was probably the hardest part to build!

@Torgar, thanks!

I'm with kabel on this one, two votes would make me happy!

[Kayne]

That roof did turn out great! And the entire build feels very Kaliphlin. My biggest critique is that your people are shooting the cat

[Kai NRG]

That roof did turn out great! And the entire build feels very Kaliphlin. My biggest critique is that your people are shooting the cat

Don't worry, the arrows aren't barbed, plus they're blunt tipped...

Thanks!

[kabel]

Great stuff Kai, Kalpiphlin certainly is the most diverse guild when it comes to landscapes and people. I like it!

[de Gothia]

Looking very good indeed! That roof came out really nice! Well bricked!

[Kai NRG]

Thanks! As for the diversity, it certainly is a fortunate thing! I was scraping the barrel (or, more accurately, the peanut butter jar) for almost every color!

[Rogue Angel]

Excellent job on your temple! I really like the way the front and the roof came out. My one critique with it would be the open sides, which don't seem to flow as well with the rest of the building, but this might resolve itself If I could see the side of the temple from the side. I like all the activity going on within your build, as well as the history linked to the main Kaliphlin history. Nice job!

[Kai NRG]

Excellent job on your temple! I really like the way the front and the roof came out. My one critique with it would be the open sides, which don't seem to flow as well with the rest of the building, but this might resolve itself If I could see the side of the temple from the side. I like all the activity going on within your build, as well as the history linked to the main Kaliphlin history. Nice job!

Thanks! I was pretty much gritting my teeth about those open sides (at least I think you're reffering to the roof of the building), but there wasn't much I could do, since I didn't have any dark red (or any other color, for that matter!) curves left. As far as the history, I'm glad you like it, I'm sure that won't be the last you'll hear of the red ruby!

[robuko]

I really like the temple design and the play features, there is a strong Indiana Jones vibe to it. The detailing is really nice too, with nice touches like the phaoronic headdress and the mask and crumbling pillars, and very good scenes of daily life. Your minifig use is great. I agree with Erynlasqalen on the colouring though - photos always look quite different to the real build, and I think in the main shot I can see a grey colour block, a red colour block, a sand colour block and a more diverse colour block, but not that much to tie them together - this is because of your baseplate shaping I think, which is where you could have brought some green or blue across the horizontal plane to integrate the areas if the front-left plate was there. Another thing I would mention is that the temple base looks a litte like a square box, you could add more irregular features to give a more natural look. Small criticisms though on an excellent build. I look forward to hearing more of the ruby

[Kai NRG]

...I agree with Erynlasqalen on the colouring though - photos always look quite different to the real build, and I think in the main shot I can see a grey colour block, a red colour block, a sand colour block and a more diverse colour block, but not that much to tie them together - this is because of your baseplate shaping I think, which is where you could have brought some green or blue across the horizontal plane to integrate the areas if the front-left plate was there. Another thing I would mention is that the temple base looks a litte like a square box, you could add more irregular features to give a more natural look...

Yes, the shaping does make it hard to tie in the green, as I didn't have much space at the foot of the rocks, if I had had another 16x32 in front (I probably would have but that would have been too big) then I could have attached the two rivers/bodies of water and continued the green a bit further at least. As far as the temple base, I have to agree, I could have made less of a "wall" of sand and more an irregular slope... Thanks for the suggestions!