[ChIICatA Cor] Native Pearling Village

[Ayrlego]

The native village looked extremely peaceful. Villages went about their daily tasks while the coconut palms swayed in the pleasant sea breeze. At first glance there wasn’t any sign of the violence which was said to terrorise the island’s interior. Captain Mark Webber halted the company of ETTC Sepoys which he led just outside the village, and ordered them to set up camp for the night. The sepoys were tough mercenaries from the southern Molokei Satrapies retrained trained in Corlander infantry tactics. They were here in Oleon territory at request of the Colonial Governor of the Paradise Islands, Colonel Sir Dirk Allcock, who wished to assist his Olean neighbours on the Île d'Or. Sir Dirk had opted to send ETTC troops rather than Corlander regulars, mostly to reassure the Oleon officials that their traditional enemy was here to help, not to invade.

The sepoys, accompanied by Captain Webber, had landed in Fatu Hiva where they had been met by an Oleon liaison officer, Lieutenant Paul Castineau. Lieutenant Castineau had led the soldiers to a native pearling village on the outskirts of the settlement. From here the expedition would head into the jungle in an attempt to solve the mysteries causing so much panic in the colony.

While the sepoys erected their tents, He and his Havildar (Sergeant) decided to accompany Lieutenant Castineau into the village to question the headman. Captain Webber’s impressions of idealic islander life did not change on entering. A young native women herded pigs along the track, watched by a strong native armed with a spear.

A fisherman stood on the shore, hanging his catch up to dry in the pleasant afternoon sun.

While underneath a shady platform, two women shelled clams, looking for pearls. Lieutenant Castineau had explained that this village was made up of a sea-faring clan of natives, whose tribe was spread across many islands in the South Eastern Prio Sea. They were popular with the Oleon colonisers due to their pearl diving industry. Fit young men and women would free dive to collect the clams for which the island had a reputation for. The clams would be brought back to the village where the pearls would be extracted, polished, then trade or sold. Jewellers back in Oleon had begun to demand more and more pearls form the Île d'Or, so business was booming.

As these natives were different from the inhabitants of the interior, Captain Webber hopped to get a clear view of what was going on than from the terrified natives he had interviewed in Fatu Hiva. Lieutenant Castineau brought over the headman, and began to translate Captain Webber’s questions.

It appeared that the natives here were untouched by the troubles, although this was not surprising as they rarely ventured much further inland than the outskirts of the village. The natives he had interviewed in Fatu Hiva had told wild stories of evil spirits and monsters that tore apart humans and animals alike, and their stories matched the ones the headman here had heard. After much cajoling, he then revealed that a crazed Halosian man had recently attacked some villages returning from a foraging expedition. From fear of reprisals, the natives had not reported the incident to Oleon authorities, although Lieutenant Castineau was not concerned. It was when the headman started telling the Corlanders about how the man had apparently been trying desperately to bite the villagers that a feminine voice spoke up from behind Captain Webber. Ella Hutchins, was a renowned scientist who had just returned to Jameston after accompanying Sir Dirk’s expedition. She had accompanied the new expedition to Fatu Hiva on request of the Governor himself. Ella wanted to know if the man appeared to have been foaming from the mouth. The headman nodded in astonishment – yes, the man had been foam before being dispatched by a hunting knife. Ella insisted to know whether any of the villagers had been bitten, to which the headman confirmed they had not. Seemingly relieved, Ella continued with some more questions.

After thanking the headman for his help, the party turned to return to camp. “Do you have a theory Miss Hutchins?” asked Captain Webber.

“Yes” Ella replied, “It is possible the man had rabies.” She answered.

Captain Webber had never heard of the disease, but the Havildar had. While almost unheard of in the cooler north, it was common in southern regions of the Mokoloi Empire.

The Corlander expedition would head into the jungle the following day to discover more…

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Additional full image with the Corlander Party:

Spoiler

And a breakdown of the hut design:

Spoiler

 

May be licensed as a large residence (or perhaps artisan?) by the good people of Fatu Hiva. Unfortunately I don't think the expedition's adventures will continue as it is unlikely I will get a Cat B or C entry completed in time. I tried to spend a bit longer on this one and focus on a larger quality build rather than several smaller lower quality ones. Hopefully that worked out! C&C welcome.

[Ross Fisher]

Nice work. Really like it. And it nails the brief!

[DK_Titan]

Very nice little scene. I like it.

[Kwatchi]

Lovely huts.  They are really well thought out and built.

[Capt Wolf]

Excellent build! Nicely detailed throughout with minifig activity. The huts in general are the jewel of the build, with a nice variety in those shown, such as the wholly open-sided one on the right, and the window with awning in the left foreground. I particularly like the thatched roof effect. I think this provides a nice standard to aspire to in native builds.

[Professor Thaum]

Really great !! What a nice village... with a nice shore.

Well done the use of the hooks with the fishes ( what a collection of hooks !!)

The first hut is killer

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Very charming scene - and I also like your idea with the hooks. 

[LM71Blackbird]

A beautiful looking MOC! So much great detail throughout!

 

[Kai NRG]

Fantastic native themed MOC!  Great call layering rock and sand to make the higher houses easily visible, and excellent presentation of various native activities!   I also really like the little roof over the window on the front house.

[Ayrlego]

Thanks everyone!

I forgot to add that I did a breakdown of the huts - just in case anyone is interested.

[Bodi]

This is amazing! It looks almost like a painting, good job.

[Keymonus]

Great huts. And shore. And vegetation. And minifig choice. 

Your building is impressive, you mixed houses, water, palms, rocks and busy minifigs in a very realistic way, including a lot of great details (the hooked fish!!!   ).

Can I ask you how the two halves of the roof are connected?

[Fraunces]

And the winner is....

Extraordinary as always...

[Ayrlego]

Thanks guys!

7 hours ago, Keymonus said:

Can I ask you how the two halves of the roof are connected? 

x2 1x4 modified bricks with studs on the side (you don't have to use 1x4s, any combo will work) like this:

I've experimented with the technique before, then discovered that there is a tutorial on it here.

[Roadmonkeytj]

This is an amazing village in itself tons of tecniquies i will use in the future.  It is ashame you will not have any further work as this is tops

[Keymonus]

18 hours ago, Ayrlego said:

Thanks guys!

x2 1x4 modified bricks with studs on the side (you don't have to use 1x4s, any combo will work) like this:

I've experimented with the technique before, then discovered that there is a tutorial on it here.

Thanks!