Full Plate Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) The Tranquil Meadow Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside Sir Darby was making his way through the wild grass. It had been a while since his last time here, and the little path he'd usually follow was all but gone. Before long he reached his destination; a huge tree growing amidst a pile rocks, right in the middle of the meadow. This was the place where Sir Darby would come when he needed some time away from life, some time to think without distractions. He put his sword aside and lay down in the grass. His head was full of thoughts, but right now he needed to focus on just one thing; the letter he had received last morning. Eyes on the canopy overhead, he took a deep breath and let his mind go empty. Soon enough he felt the calmness come over him; now he was ready. Sir Darby started by recalling the letter, trying to figure out what about it that made him feel so uneasy. It was nothing extraordinary to be given orders by letter, although most times he would be delivered a summons, and then receive his orders directly from his superiors. Still, it had happened before, and Sir Darby thought it no oddity. What was strange, however, was the nature of the charge; colony defense. This had never been Sir Darby's strong suit, and although he had been handling camp defense during his military campaigns from time to time, securing a civilian colony was very different from securing a camp full of armed and battle-trained soldiers. Dealing with civilians required a softer touch, and Sir Darby decidedly didn't posses such. Moreover, the location was also a bit of a surprise to Sir Darby. Why send him to a small, newly founded colony at the edge of the Isles? Surely, the timber from the colony generated plenty of wealth, and was the raw material of many lords' extravagance, but where was the threat that required the deployment of one of the realm's greatest swordsmen and tacticians, not to mention the men serving under him? To Sir Darby this seemed nothing but a huge waste of military resources, so could there be other, underlying reasons for this order? Putting him on a remote isle would certainly be pleasing to some of the decadent lords in Albion, who were less than ecstatic about him. Sir Darby wasn't one to play the high society game, and his brutal honesty and serious demeanor had landed him in hot water more than once. He always meant what he said, and said what he meant, but that was not how these lordlings did things. Luckily, his wife, Delwyn, seemed to have a knack for smoothing things over for him, and he knew things would have been much worse without her. Thinking of his wife lead his trail of thought to his family. Newquay was far away, and it was not clear how long he was to hold this position. If it was a particular threat that needed to be dealt with it might be over rather quickly, but if this was about general colony defense then he might be relocating for an extended period of time. Should he bring his family with him? No, he quickly decided. The Isles was no place for them. He had never brought his family along for any of his military campaigns, and although this was slightly different, he saw no reason to bring them this time either. He wasn't worried for his wife or his son, Gerald, they would be ok, but his daughter, Janelle, was now almost 11 years of age, and she was an adventurous girl. She would most certainly demand to come along if she knew what was going on. In any case, Sir Darby needed more information about his orders. When was he to head out? How many men was he to bring? Who was he to report to? The orders were signed by Sir Bagshaw, an old but respectable knight that Sir Darby had served under on multiple occasions. The irregularities of these orders did not add up with the usual competent work of Sir Bagshaw. Regardless, the starting point was clear; it was time for Sir Darby to pay old Sir Bagshaw a visit in Albion. That should allow him to sort out a few things about these orders. As Sir Darby got to his feet and grabbed his sword, he felt better already. With determined steps he walked back to his estate, leaving the big tree looming behind. *** I would like to request UoP DoH credits for the following: Landscape design: 1 tree type (the big one). Landscape design: dense foliage. Hope you enjoyed the MOC :) Edited June 6, 2017 by Full Plate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puvel Posted June 15, 2015 Nice one! Foliage is very well done. Love the fact you used darker ones next to the tree so it looks like that part is in the shadow, very clever! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Exetrius Posted June 15, 2015 Wow, the foliage and the tree are super nice! Also, a tree trunk consisting of axes must be one most ironical builds ever Just keep bricking! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Dee Posted June 15, 2015 That certainly looks like a contemplative setting. The tree and other vegetation are excellent and the story is very well-written. The colors are nice and the various camera angles and depth of focus provide an impressive presentation. Good work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gedren_y Posted June 15, 2015 Awesome build. That tree is inspired. UoP DoH +1 on both credits. Be sure you remember, the tree credit is one of three. Also you should post your claim in the UoP thread as well, and make a post in the Tracking thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted June 15, 2015 Wow, that tree is just beautiful! The rest of the foliage is super well done too! +1 for the UoP credits as well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blufiji Posted June 15, 2015 Very nice meadow there. And great job in that tree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adair Posted June 15, 2015 Lovely, and very unique tree! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MassEditor Posted June 15, 2015 Well, with all this laying around in the grass, it seems you are quite at home in Avalonia! Seriously though, sweet build! Great work on the ground foliage, and that tree is ace. Look forward to seeing more from you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
deraven Posted June 15, 2015 Beautiful all-around, and such NPU on the tree! It looks great... and it makes me think of a story about an enchanted tree that absorbs the axes of any woodsman who tries to fell it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Greeble Posted June 15, 2015 That tree... Great work. You really know how to work a small space. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brick Man Studios Posted June 15, 2015 As the others said, it's a beautiful tree here ! Awesome vegetation too ! The colors are nice and, personally, I like to work with these leaves (orange and red) Good work guy ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MiloNelsiano Posted June 15, 2015 I really like the look of that tree trunk. The rest of the build fits well, and the while scene provides a very nice atmosphere. I'm lookin forward to reading more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleJohn Posted June 15, 2015 Gorgeous tree! I love the texturing of the trunk +1 UoP on both claims Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Garmadon Posted June 15, 2015 Fantastic tree Full Plate, that trunk technique is brilliant! Excellent job on the rest of the build as well, it certainly looks like a nice and calm place! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Gidman Posted June 15, 2015 Holy cow, that tree is awesome! Literally the best trunk I've seen on a LEGO yet. Amazing work! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ecclesiastes Posted June 15, 2015 This is stunning! The way you've achieved to let it look like tree bark is amazing. Good to see a new tree technique! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Legocity2713 Posted June 15, 2015 I'm just gonna say what everyone else is thinking: amazing trunk!!!!!! Good work my friend, keep it up. :thumbup: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonsi Posted June 15, 2015 Simply beautiful, a feast for the eyes. Wonderful! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lord Vladivus Posted June 15, 2015 That's a sweet tree! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunman Posted June 15, 2015 Wowww thats an amazing tree bark! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TuftedDuck Posted June 16, 2015 Great work on that tree. It's got a lovely realistic shape and proportion to it as well as the texture. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jacob Nion Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) That is probably the most amazing tree design I have seen so far. It's ages away from every snot tree, I maybe like it a bit more than Derfel's chain trees. What an amazing start into the game, and that's just with a character laying around! Splendid! Edited June 18, 2015 by Jacob Nion Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Full Plate Posted June 16, 2015 (edited) Wow! Thank you all so much for you kind words and feedback! I'm really happy you enjoyed the build Nice one! Foliage is very well done. Love the fact you used darker ones next to the tree so it looks like that part is in the shadow, very clever! Very nice meadow there. And great job in that tree. Lovely, and very unique tree! That tree... Great work. You really know how to work a small space. As the others said, it's a beautiful tree here ! Awesome vegetation too ! The colors are nice and, personally, I like to work with these leaves (orange and red) Good work guy ! I really like the look of that tree trunk. The rest of the build fits well, and the while scene provides a very nice atmosphere. I'm lookin forward to reading more. Fantastic tree Full Plate, that trunk technique is brilliant! Excellent job on the rest of the build as well, it certainly looks like a nice and calm place! I'm just gonna say what everyone else is thinking: amazing trunk!!!!!! Good work my friend, keep it up. :thumbup: Simply beautiful, a feast for the eyes. Wonderful! That's a sweet tree! Wowww thats an amazing tree bark! Great work on that tree. It's got a lovely realistic shape and proportion to it as well as the texture. Thank you so much guys! I'm happy you like the tree technique. It was quite a hassle to make, but with all this it was worth it Wow, the foliage and the tree are super nice! Also, a tree trunk consisting of axes must be one most ironical builds ever Just keep bricking! Beautiful all-around, and such NPU on the tree! It looks great... and it makes me think of a story about an enchanted tree that absorbs the axes of any woodsman who tries to fell it. To be honest, when figuring out the technique I actually started with regular bars, but cost was a bit prohibitive, so I decided to go with axes, both because of the irony of it all and the fact that they're dirt cheap In the end I think it gave the right gnarly feel to the bark, which was what I was going for. That certainly looks like a contemplative setting. The tree and other vegetation are excellent and the story is very well-written. The colors are nice and the various camera angles and depth of focus provide an impressive presentation. Good work! Thanks Dee! Your thoughtful feedback is always very much appreciated! Awesome build. That tree is inspired. UoP DoH +1 on both credits. Be sure you remember, the tree credit is one of three. Also you should post your claim in the UoP thread as well, and make a post in the Tracking thread. Wow, that tree is just beautiful! The rest of the foliage is super well done too! +1 for the UoP credits as well! Gorgeous tree! I love the texturing of the trunk +1 UoP on both claims Nice foliage! UoP +1 Thanks for the credits and the guidance! This is my first time posting a build here, so I appreciate the guidance. Hopefully I did it right I guess that puts me at the four that is needed for approval (unless Gideon's +1 was just for the foliage?), is that correct? Well, with all this laying around in the grass, it seems you are quite at home in Avalonia! Seriously though, sweet build! Great work on the ground foliage, and that tree is ace. Look forward to seeing more from you! That's just what I thought as well! But yeah, I enjoy building greenery, so Avalonia seemed like the obvious choice. Holy cow, that tree is awesome! Literally the best trunk I've seen on a LEGO yet. Amazing work! That is probably the most amazing tree design I have seen so far. It's ages away from every snot tree, I maybe like it a bit more than Dwrfel's chain trees. What an amazing start into the game, and that's just with a character laying around! Splendid! Thanks guys! That's some high praise And having one of my builds compared to DC's stuff definitely made my day! Thank you Sir! This is stunning! The way you've achieved to let it look like tree bark is amazing. Good to see a new tree technique! Thanks man! When I just arrived here to EB your Amortug build both blew me away and inspired me to build. Hopefully one day I can do the same for others And thanks for the frontpage post Edited June 28, 2015 by Full Plate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
