Book IV Prelude Challenge: Category A: The Raven, Thanesford

[Seagull King of Vaughan]

The Raven tavern, Thanesford

The Raven is a tavern in the town of Thanesford. Located in the northern part of the town, it was converted a decade ago from a meeting house and serves a clientele of largely local citizens. Other Mitgardians are always welcomed as well, but those from other guilds generally find more comfort in taverns closer to the docks.

The watchmen occasionally make patrols, but generally this is a quieter part of town.

The owner insists that the sign over the door is a raven. Most think otherwise… but he will not hear it! Few raise that question anymore, after a decade in business.

Regardless of this minor issue, the colours of Mitgardia fly undisputed over the fireplace, as a show of loyalty to the guild.

Recently returned from touring the outlying villages, Jennessa Anthor is the singer in residence at The Raven. She has been intermittently traveling central Mitgardia since the Queen’s rule and peace was proclaimed, and is well known to the people of her hometown. Her training is more informal than those of the Univeristy of Petrea, in the traditional manner common in the northern guild.

Often Jennessa plays in the town squares as well, and at other establishments, but The Raven is among her favourites. The tavern is usually generous, especially for songs of Mitgardia’s history and great deeds of the guild. And there are many to choose from! Tonight the opening song is a traditional poem about a brave couple from the clans, who searched for the way through a mountain pass in the height of winter to deliver a grave warning.

...stones covered in snow

white and windy all about

trees buried and torn

mist, fog, and stinging ice

flooded the valley floor

making it a mountain.

Such high drama is often a favourite in the north.

Patrons have hearty discussions over their food and drink. In one corner can be found adventurers celebrating a successful job, and a couple is delivered their bottle. Dwarves feast on crab, and a clansman from further north enjoys his ale.

 

Bonus pic – with the people and most furniture removed.

 

So, here is my introduction to the town of Thanesford! It was different than I had planned, since it had to meet the challenge requirements. The black border stands out too much to me, so I will probably make less noticeable borders in the future. I ended up having to remove the roof to get enough light in to take pictures.

Not sure about how my poetry turned out, but I can’t imagine a bard of the north without it.

The ‘raven’ came about because I wanted to use the name for a tavern, but didn’t have any of the minifigure series shields available. So I used it anyway and came up with a story for why.

[TalusMoonbreaker]

Yay! I'm glad you were able to make something considering your time crunch. The Raven tavern looks really nice and cosy. The style reminds me of the ideas medieval blacksmith shop. I really like all of the little scenes you've created for it. One suggestion that I have is to make the white and tan sections flow a bit better by having some 1x1 plates, tiles, or round studs in the mix. Maybe a brown border, similar to Simon's cat B entry could look good for your tavern? I'm excited to see more of Thanesford!

Edited August 29 by TalusMoonbreaker

[SimWies]

I am astonished how much you were able to fit into the scene, great work! You even included the cellar and the stairs leading down to it.  Overal great build, love it!

[LordDan]

I'm siding with the owner on this one. Raven, falcon, who can tell the difference anyway  . Nice build, it definitely seems like a cozy place to stop and grab a meal and drink on those frigid Mitgardian nights. I like the snow covered rooftop, but I think it would benefit from some curved slopes and tiles, right now the snow feels a bit blocky. The basement area is also a great touch!

[Seagull King of Vaughan]

@TalusMoonbreaker The Medieval Blacksmith has influenced my builds the last few years for sure. It’s where I started getting back into castle, so I often take inspiration from it! I redid the white and

tan when the build was almost done, trying to improve it. I don’t think it flowed as nicely as it could have and I will definitely be getting some smaller parts to try

something like that. I was very impressed by @Simon_S's border. There are several other designs I want to try after seeing the various builds here, including no border at all.

@SimWies Thanks! The cellar was meant to be a bigger part of it, maybe with someone retrieving supplies. But it ended up being too short for a minifigure. So I left it in as a bonus!

@LordDan Cozy was the idea! I definitely agree that the snow could be better rounded. In this case I simply do not have very many rounded white parts – you can see a few in

the build, and then I ran out. Now that I’m committed to this I will be getting some!

 

Edited September 2 by Seagull King of Vaughan
Fixed spacing of lines

[jtooker]

On 8/28/2025 at 7:46 PM, Seagull King of Vaughan said:

The black border stands out too much to me, so I will probably make less noticeable borders in the future. I ended up having to remove the roof to get enough light in to take pictures.

I like the border and good call to get the light in the interior photos.

The inn is cozy - great job with the atmosphere it in.

[mrcp6d]

Now that's a busy establishment!  

The interior is so much the focus of this MOC that I wonder what the presentation would be if you'd kept half the roof on and gave us "100% Lego" pictures of this build.  I love the life that you've packed in to the space and I want to be immersed in it.

[Kai NRG]

I love the two angles you've got going on the roof here, looks great with the snow on the lower half.  Nice bustling interior!

[Ben S]

Great atmosphere! I really like how you have matched the roof's side slopes and the plates' angles. As you said, the blacksmith's influence is clearly recognizable. The interior details are also very cool, is that a trap I can see behind the bar?

[T-86(swebrickLUG)]

You’ve put a lot of action and details into this tavern considering the small footprint. A cozy lively atmosphere indeed! I like how you shaped the roof and the dual-colored floor!

[Seagull King of Vaughan]

@jtooker Thanks! Well, let’s say I’m going to be experimenting with borders for a while…

@mrcp6d A lot darker, for starters! In the end, the inside of the roof looked a lot worse so I’m happy with the decision. There were obvious hinge parts that I never got to cover up.

It was perhaps a mistake to fit the inside and outside sections into the same build – looking at other builds from the Guilds, it seems frequent to keep them separate. Nevertheless, it turned out well this time. I may experiment with separating them in the future anyways.

I’m so glad that it feels alive! That’s one of the things I worried about.

@Kai NRG The angle was hard to get – I originally went for a steep roof with no bend, but it was too flat and too tall. When I decided for the angle, it took almost a week to figure out and match to the slope bricks, and then it was another week before the parts that I ordered came through!

@Ben S It is indeed a trapdoor, intended for cellar access. There were several key flaws that led to me sidelining it, the most important being there is not enough room to open it properly. Next time I will be building a larger cellar!

@T-86(swebrickLUG) The wear pattern in the floor was a last minute addition, made possible by an order of parts. Glad to see it’s noticeable!

[Grover]

Nice work!  You have a lot of really nice things going on here: I particularly like the transition between two roof slopes. It breaks up the mono-slope and adds some detail.  I like the snow overhanging the roof edge.  If you have a few small white wedge plates, you can put some smooth angled lines on the roof to break up square snow. Additionally, if you want to make a snow or ice pile under the roof drip line, you can use some cheese slopes, since snow usually falls off directly under the roof edge if it has no gutter (common in the medieval) and piles beneath it, melting there or having melted runoff drip on it and turn into ice. It's a small detail but a fun one.  I like the stacked hatched windows, and the texture (but not insane greebling) of the tavern walls. The fireplace is at a great location mid wall, and the chimney is nice.  I also appreciate the extra shot with no minis so we can get a good look at the interior. This has the same issue that a lot of builds do, in that trying to depict a crowded hall is tricky without getting it too 'busy'. Unless you have a huge area, usually having only 2 walls and taking a diagonal shot helps lighting and the 'crowded' feel, as opposed to 3 walls.  The keg tap with the keyed valve and the king's coin head is great!  I love Jenessa's story, and the verse you wrote!  I did have a little trouble picking Jenessa out of the crowd since she's sitting and not standing above the crowd on a table singing or with space cleared around her by the fireplace, but the story is well done, and you have a great character here.  The shield and flags by the fireplace are nice, and I like the use of the green slope as some painted stone over the fireplace.  I also like the detail of the cellar stairs and the bags under the bar in the cellar suggesting more room than shown.  I think my favorite detail is the story about the 'raven' that hangs at an odd angle over the door. In trying to explain away the falcon shield as a raven, you have managed to add a ton of realism to the story, since that's exactly the kind of hilarious tales spun by bartenders and innkeepers!  Great job!