Escaping Home

[Full Plate]

Escaping Home

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

The evening sun glistened in the waves below. The wind rustled the leaves above. Soon the sun would dip below the horizon, draping it all in gloomy shadows. But for now everything was beautiful.

Averil sat down under the looming tree, took a deep breath and stared into the sunset. Just being here made her smile. She found herself imagining that this here, was all there was. Just the fading sun and breaking waves. The towering tree at her back and the delicate flowers spread out around her. This was a moment she wished would not pass.

But it would. And she would have to return home. Return to a home that was not home. Return to Newquay.

Averil had joined the colony of Newquay together with her brother, Leeson, and Gammy less than a month ago. It had been a reluctant but necessary decision. Averil's poaching had not been fruitful and the family was starving. At Newquay, at least they were able to fill their bellies.

Leeson had been made an errand boy, and was always running all over the place doing his chores. Averil could tell that he liked it. Back home all he ever did was scrounging for food and waiting for her to return with fresh game. Here he had something to do and he was happier for it.

Even Gammy had been enlisted to help in the manor's kitchen, cooking for the lord and lady and their friends. Averil frowned upon her entering service, but she too seemed happy. And Averil couldn't deny that the occasional tidbits Gammy swiped from the kitchen wasn't a welcome change to the bland stew they were usually having.

Averil herself had been assigned as a fisherman at first, but as she didn't know the first thing about fishing, she was quick to display her skills with the bow, which had earned her a spot on a hunting party. There had been some suspicion as to where her mastery stemmed from, but Averil had explained that her late father, a longbowman in the King's army, had taught her since young. It was a truth with modification, but confessing to years of poaching would certainly have earned her a trip to the gallows.

Her fellow hunters were good men and quick to welcome to her, showing her the tricks of the trade. She already knew most of what they showed her, but she feigned ignorance to support her own deception. Learning archery from her father was all well and good, but what reason could her father have had for teaching her hunting? Better to smile and pretend to be learning.

Still, being self-taught, there were a few new things that she did not know. Understanding the territorial instincts of many of the animals here had been an eye-opener for her. And the woods around Newquay was new ground for her, as her poaching had kept her at a good distance from the colony.

Most of all she had been very surprised to find that there was actually game to be found around here. The weeks before joining the colony she had found nothing during her trips to the isle, and now there was game again. Not plenty, but there was some, which was enough.

It made her wish she had held off the decision to move here. If game was coming back, they could've survived by themselves. If only she had waited a few more weeks, she wouldn't have to be here.

The truth was that she did not belong here. These people were good, faithful workers, building something together. All of them doing their best to make the colony successful. Even with their witless lord governing them, there was a camaraderie here that she had not expected.

But still, she was different. She craved adventure, not fellowship. She did not want to have everything staked out for her. She abhorred routine and despised rules. They may make your life smoother, but they didn't let you live. And that's what Averil wanted - to live.

But what good did it do to linger on that now? They were here, and even if Leeson and Gammy would have wanted to leave, they couldn't. They had committed themselves to Newquay and its doltish lord, who would certainly not let them go unless he wanted to.

They were trapped. She was trapped. She longed to be back home, her real home on the mainland, but she was trapped.

She looked up at the tree above her. It's branches stretched far out over the sea. Perhaps it too, longed for something?

- 'I wish we could both go' she told the tree. 'But we can't. Like it or not, we are both rooted to this place.'

She sighed.

The last sliver of sun disappeared beyond the horizon. It was time to head back.

- 'Well, back to reality' Averil said as she got up. 'Be good.'

She gave the tree a quick tap and walked away.

***

Ok, next build: no trees! I promise! ...maybe

Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it! C & C always welcome

Edited June 6, 2017 by Full Plate

[Mr Greeble]

NPU on the blue leaves, and that tree is beautiful!

[Garmadon]

Stupendous tree as usual, which is always the thing I look forward to when I see you've built something! (So I have no idea what to expect in that next one... ) Excellent landscaping and very nice story as well, my only real nitpick would be the odd angles of some of the pictures which could (maybe!) be solved by a little editing or by taking the pics from slightly different angles. If the problem is the size of the background though, well, I know that feeling too! Great job as usual!

[Captain Braunsfeld]

Very fine scene indeed!

[dathil]

Wow :D super nice build again!

[TitusV]

As always: lovely vegetation, great build in general! I really like the tree, and it seems I'm becoming a great fan of yours

[Lord Vladivus]

Awesome build! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that tree technique is great- blows my mind every time!

[bricklover]

Awesome! your birch trees are the best!

[Dubbadgrim]

Definitely pushing the envelope with that vegetation

[Jacob Nion]

Great vegetation here. Wonderful touch how the tree is hanging above the water. Your landscapes are always full of atmosphere and I can't leave you a comment without praising your tree technique once more. Really this is my favourite tree design of all I have seen so far. And that curved shape is a new aspect to it.

[Kai NRG]

That tree is just beautiful! The water is really pretty too; the seagull is a nice touch!

[Full Plate]

NPU on the blue leaves, and that tree is beautiful!

Thanks!

Very fine scene indeed!

Thank you!

Wow :D super nice build again!

Thanks! Glad you like it

As always: lovely vegetation, great build in general! I really like the tree, and it seems I'm becoming a great fan of yours

Thanks Titus! Happy you enjoy it

Awesome build! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, that tree technique is great- blows my mind every time!

Thanks! Glad you guys like the tree technique

Awesome! your birch trees are the best!

Thanks man!

Definitely pushing the envelope with that vegetation

Thanks! I like green stuff

Great vegetation here. Wonderful touch how the tree is hanging above the water. Your landscapes are always full of atmosphere and I can't leave you a comment without praising your tree technique once more. Really this is my favourite tree design of all I have seen so far. And that curved shape is a new aspect to it.

Thanks! I'm trying to push the technique to see what I can do with it, but I'm starting to feel a bit like a one-trick-pony by now

That tree is just beautiful! The water is really pretty too; the seagull is a nice touch!

Thanks Kai! I think I put more effort into the water than anything else actually, experimenting with different trans colors and depths underneath. Usually try to do something new each build, and the water was the thing in this build. Glad you liked it

[Full Plate]

Stupendous tree as usual, which is always the thing I look forward to when I see you've built something! (So I have no idea what to expect in that next one... ) Excellent landscaping and very nice story as well, my only real nitpick would be the odd angles of some of the pictures which could (maybe!) be solved by a little editing or by taking the pics from slightly different angles. If the problem is the size of the background though, well, I know that feeling too! Great job as usual!

Thanks Garmadon! Haha, will see what I do next build, but I put that 'maybe' in there just in case

I definitely agree about the angles, and yes, part of it is due to my "setup" which is pretty much just a cut up box with white white papers taped to it If I try to take pictures from low angles the top of tall builds go over the background.

I think the bigger issue is the composition of the scene though. I pretty much got this build the way I envisioned and wanted it, only that it is terrible for photo taking. The stretched out branch makes it pretty much impossible to take a good overview photo of everything. I actually think this is a general problem for builds with big/many trees. I have been wanting to build a large forest scene with thick canopy, but I don't see how it can be done and still have the ground visible. It's canopy vs. ground kind of. Not sure how to pull it off actually. Any of you seen any good examples of how one can pull off a thick forest build without sacrificing visibility? Generally I find lego forests builds I see to look pretty sparse. Found visibility to be a problem myself in my last build, Solitary Council, and that was just three trees, and with rather sparse leaves

Would certainly love to hear people's thoughts on how you deal with this

[TitusV]

Altough you probably best him when IT comes to vegetation, I think DC managed a balance in his forests.

Get a look at his guide, I'd say

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60907

[soccerkid6]

Another brilliantly gorgeous tree, and landscape in general The water, and sea weed give a great seaside effect

Excellent story as usual.

As to the how to make a forest issue, I've never really done a proper one myself, but Blufiji had a nice balance in this epic MOC:

Edited March 15, 2016 by soccerkid6

[Kai NRG]

On the canopy vs. visibility issue... yep, that's pretty much how it is. You can either see the canopy, or you can see what's under it. I've never really done huge trees, but when I have tried to get a canopy with for instance palm trees, you just plain can't get the floor and a good top-canopy angle with the same picture. Of course you can take separate pictures... which is what I would suggest; the overview probably should give a good view of the canopy (bird's-eye-view) and it should be the close-ups where the camera is angled at ground level (which, of course, will be a pretty limited range, and probably won't allow you to see the ground texturing on the complete MOC).

I agree that most LEGO forests are rather sparse looking, but even at that you can't hardly get a good overview of the ground.

[Exetrius]

I don't know of a builder who's better at 'relaxing under a tree' scenes; you nailed it once again! Your vegetation techniques are spectacular as always!

But, no trees next time? Interesting... A tree STATUE, then?

[Blufiji]

Well next to DC, you have the most realistic branching and organic trees I have ever seen. And the entire build is really amazing. Great job..just a question, are axes required for the tree..I mean can't you just use 3L reddish brown bars to get the same effect?

[Mpyromaxos]

beautiful land view! good job!

[LittleJohn]

Another beautiful tree and landscape! I really like how you did the branch hanging out over the water, and the water itself is great as well

Excellent rockwork too

[Elostirion]

Yeah, the tree is cool, as usual.

However I think the groundwork (with the leaves and the flowers) is outstanding. I am also a huge fan of your water, brilliant work!

[Full Plate]

Altough you probably best him when IT comes to vegetation, I think DC managed a balance in his forests.

Get a look at his guide, I'd say

http://www.eurobrick...showtopic=60907

Thanks Titus! That guide is one of the first things I read when started building again DC builds amazing stuff, but I wouldn't call it a dense forest as he has maybe 5 or 6 trees on a rather big base. But yeah, maybe that is the point at which things get too dense to get a good overview.

Another brilliantly gorgeous tree, and landscape in general The water, and sea weed give a great seaside effect

Excellent story as usual.

As to the how to make a forest issue, I've never really done a proper one myself, but Blufiji had a nice balance in this epic MOC:

<pic>

Thanks! Yeah, I really love that MOC! After seeing it I actually caved and ordered some altBricks

The MOC is certainly quite dense, and visibility is pretty limited, but that also opens up for those closeup detailed shots to be more interesting, as there are things you can't see in the overview photos. Maybe that is just the way it is with dense and/or big builds... Not sure how to get a camera down to take those closeup photos if the canopy was really dense, like Mirkwood dense, though. Hmm...

On the canopy vs. visibility issue... yep, that's pretty much how it is. You can either see the canopy, or you can see what's under it. I've never really done huge trees, but when I have tried to get a canopy with for instance palm trees, you just plain can't get the floor and a good top-canopy angle with the same picture. Of course you can take separate pictures... which is what I would suggest; the overview probably should give a good view of the canopy (bird's-eye-view) and it should be the close-ups where the camera is angled at ground level (which, of course, will be a pretty limited range, and probably won't allow you to see the ground texturing on the complete MOC).

I agree that most LEGO forests are rather sparse looking, but even at that you can't hardly get a good overview of the ground.

Thanks for the input Kai! I think what you say makes a lot of sense. I guess I just hoped that I could have the cake and eat it too But yeah, I will probably experiment a bit and see what can work. Possibly with a high canopy you can get some more light in there and also open up for slightly higher angles.

I don't know of a builder who's better at 'relaxing under a tree' scenes; you nailed it once again! Your vegetation techniques are spectacular as always!

But, no trees next time? Interesting... A tree STATUE, then?

Thanks Exetrius! I do like relaxing

Well, thankfully I added a 'maybe' so I can change my mind I would like to focus on something different, but will see what comes to mind. Maybe a new tree technique

Well next to DC, you have the most realistic branching and organic trees I have ever seen. And the entire build is really amazing. Great job..just a question, are axes required for the tree..I mean can't you just use 3L reddish brown bars to get the same effect?

Thanks for the high praise man!

Axes are not at all required. You can use 3L, 4L or 6L bars and probably lots of other pieces as well, or a mix. I used axes because they are cheap, and an axe tree is kind of ironic. The axe blade also breaks up the structure a bit with different texture which I think makes it look a bit more natural. They are slightly harder to work with than regular bars though, but it's pretty manageable.

beautiful land view! good job!

Thanks

Another beautiful tree and landscape! I really like how you did the branch hanging out over the water, and the water itself is great as well

Excellent rockwork too

Thanks LittleJohn! Yeah, I really wanted it to stretch pretty far, but not sure if real trees do like that, but yeah, as long as it looks good

Yeah, the tree is cool, as usual.

However I think the groundwork (with the leaves and the flowers) is outstanding. I am also a huge fan of your water, brilliant work!

Thanks! Happy you enjoyed it The water took the most time on this build actually, because it was unfamiliar territory for me. Was trying to do something similar to the water in Cesbrick's awesome Green Lake Tower Ruins, but in blue. Don't think the different depths are that noticeable though as the water area is not that big, and is broken up by the waves.

[Keter]

Thats realy great work!

Is it possible to use your tree technique in my MoCs? The best lego trees I ever seen!

[Full Plate]

Thats realy great work!

Is it possible to use your tree technique in my MoCs? The best lego trees I ever seen!

Thanks! Sure, go for it :)

[Graham Gidman]

I just now noticed the use of AltBricks in the water. Genius! And once again, your trees are beautiful. Well done!