[OL-FB4] Mysterious Isle

[Franco Clarke]

Stingray slipped through the calm waters of the night, the sea dark apart from the cool light from the moon. Erwin stood at the wheel and with his eyes, accustomed to the dull light, watched the sea for anything which might impede Stingray's voyage. The moon reflected in the smooth ocean, like a huge pale cheese.

Suddenly an island appeared off Stingray's starboard bow, as if it had just popped into reality. Erwin started, he could have sworn there was nothing there before! The island was small, and illuminated by a strange unearthly glow, which appeared to have no source.  In the centre of small piece of land, was an overgrown structure with an obelisk jutting from its roof. The building, which, as Erwin studied it in more detail, appeared to be a temple, dominated the island.

Erwin adjusted their course and called to the marine on watch with him,

'We should probably investigate this island, rouse the rest of the crew and prepare the dinghy'

The dinghy cut through the surf and ground into the sand of the beach. Erwin climbed up onto the prow and lept down onto the island. As his feet touched the ground there was a loud crack and a chunk of masonry fell away from the obelisk and hurtled to the ground. Erwin turned the rest of the landing party who were getting out the boat,

'Be careful, the temple might not be structurally sound, watch your step.'

The group started to explore the undergrowth around the ruined temple, finding that the plants had grown over a paved floor, and that a heavy-looking altar lay at the front of the temple. Erwin froze. He felt something cool around his ankle. He knew that the islands in this area were infested with dangerous snakes and spiders. Slowly he peered down at his foot. Then he began to laugh, it was only a couple of sticks that had got snagged around his leg. He kicked them away and looked up again.

Then he felt something round his ankle again. Annoyed, he looked down, what could it be? The sticks were back around his ankle. But they were not sticks; no they were far too pale and knobbly. Erwin recoiled in shock, as his leg was being gripped by a skeletal hand. He took a step back, but the hand's grip tightened and an arm appeared out of dirt. Frightened, he kicked at the bones, and succeeded in breaking their grasp. Then his heart went cold, for the earth around the bones writhed and broke as a skull rose up through the ground. The skull came followed by a spine, rib cage and shoulders. Soon there was a full skeleton standing motionless in the moonlight. It opened its mouth in a spine chilling grimace and made a rattling noise.

'Captain duck!' shouted a familiar voice. Erwin did, and Private Collins' musket cracked out in the quiet night, hitting the skeleton's head, scattering bones everywhere. Erwin got to his feet and breathed a sigh of relief.

'Where would I be without you Private?' Erwin commented, 'It seems like there was at least one resident here before us then'

There was a rustling sound, and Erwin turned back to see the bones sliding through the plants and snapping back together. The skeleton rose back up, this time with a shattered hole in its face where Collin's shot had hit home.  Erwin noticed another skull pushing its way through the sands of the beach, whilst an arm was reaching out from beneath one of the paving slabs.

'Ugh, looks like we upset someone!' said Collins. 'I wonder if there is a way of permanently dealing with these guys?'

Erwin unsheathed his sword and cut one of the skeletons down, but he could hear the clattering as the bones reformed. One of the walls of the temple collapsed and even more skeletons poured out from inside.

'I couldn't agree more' returned Private Collins, sending one of the skeleton's skulls spinning into the water.

They rushed back to the dinghy and heaved in into the water.

'That island is too spooky for me' said Erwin as the dinghy moved back toward Stingray, 'and I don't think it will be of much use to Oleon with its current inhabitants'

They tied the dinghy to Stingray's side and continued on their journey, leaving the island far behind.

 

Once again I tried to do some night-time scenes, hopefully they are more clear than previous attempts. The temple came about due to finding a number of parts which had suitable patterns on them. 

Since I already had a spooky overgrown temple, and a desire to do a night-time story, the time of year lead me to give the story a supernatural theme.

[Capt Wolf]

I like the story and the build, and kudos for giving the night photography another go. I think it works for the early shots on the water, but it's too hard to see the detail of the action shot on the island. I like the island and temple itself in the daylight shots, especially that single vine on the obelisk; I would like to see the action shots in the light so I could see the detail.

Almost forgot: nice use of the old pirate island plate!

Edited October 30, 2016 by Capt Wolf

[blackdeathgr]

FC, you nailed it this time!! Night shots are awesome and the lamp totally imitates the moon. I really really like the story (as always) and did i mention again that i really liked ALL of your night shots??? Skeletons shining under the moonlight are so "life-like"  Great work once again and i must definitely practice myself with night shots. They are so cool!

[Bregir]

Another great story (although of a more mystical nature) and excellent night shots. While I would probably go for a shade brighter, the moon works perfectly, giving some great silhouettes, especially in those first two shots!!

Keep them stories coming!

[Franco Clarke]

On 30/10/2016 at 4:06 PM, Capt Wolf said:

I like the story and the build, and kudos for giving the night photography another go. I think it works for the early shots on the water, but it's too hard to see the detail of the action shot on the island. I like the island and temple itself in the daylight shots, especially that single vine on the obelisk; I would like to see the action shots in the light so I could see the detail.

Almost forgot: nice use of the old pirate island plate!

Thank you, I am glad you liked the night photographs, and I will continue to experiment until I get it nailed down! The baseplate was cause of this build since I wanted to cover the water in the middle up!

On 30/10/2016 at 6:04 PM, blackdeathgr said:

FC, you nailed it this time!! Night shots are awesome and the lamp totally imitates the moon. I really really like the story (as always) and did i mention again that i really liked ALL of your night shots??? Skeletons shining under the moonlight are so "life-like"  Great work once again and i must definitely practice myself with night shots. They are so cool!

Thank you, I was pleased with the moon too! For night shots, I would suggest taking them when it is already dark, that really helped this time around!

On 31/10/2016 at 11:04 PM, Bregir said:

Another great story (although of a more mystical nature) and excellent night shots. While I would probably go for a shade brighter, the moon works perfectly, giving some great silhouettes, especially in those first two shots!!

Keep them stories coming!

Thank you, I will try and add a little more light in my next set of night shots.

[TitusV]

Very nice build, keep the stories coming!