Full Plate Posted September 12, 2016 (edited) Archery Practice 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 Averil trod through the forest, bow in her left hand and knapsack in her right. Dawn had just broken and the grass was still wet with dew. This was Averil's favorite time of day, when everything was quiet. Her hunting party would not meet up for another couple of hours, so she had some time to herself. Time she preferred to spend alone with her thoughts. Her thoughts and her bow. Before long she reached her usual practice spot. There was an archery range in town of course, but Averil preferred to be here, away from the noise and the people. She grabbed an apple from her knapsack and put it on the top of a small rock in front of a tree. It wasn't exactly the perfect target, but at least it wouldn't damage her arrows the way a wooden target would. - 'Perhaps I should swipe one of the straw targets from the range', she muttered to herself. It wasn't a very big distance, but then, the apple wasn't a very big target either. She was just here to warm up, not to push herself. Although she hunted daily it could sometimes go days without her taking a shot. That was not enough to keep up her skills with the bow. Practice was very much still a necessity. She nocked an arrow, aimed carefully, and released. Pieces of the apple flew as the arrow drilled straight through its core. Averil walked up to the tree and picked up the apple. She carefully removed the arrow and wiped the apple clean. - 'No point in letting you go to waste', she told the apple before taking a big bite of it. She sat down on the rock, savouring the silence just as much as her snack. However, the silence did not last long. Something stirred back on the path. Averil's grip on her bow tightened. It wasn't an animal, the movements were too rhythmic. A moment later she saw a man heading up the path towards her. It was Jarvis. Jarvis was the leader of her hunting team. He was old and had a weathered look, but he was by no means fragile. Not exactly a good shot, but an excellent tracker, lithe and knowledgeable. Averil liked the man, but him appearing here made her a bit suspicious. As Jarvis came closer he greeted her with a wave and a smile. She returned the greeting half-heartedly. - 'Enjoying your morning practice?', Jarvis asked as he came up to her. - 'Have to keep up my skills with the bow, sir', she replied hesitantly. Jarvis chuckled. - 'Do I look like a 'sir' to you? Well, no one can deny your skill with the bow, but why not come train with the others?' - 'Well, I enjoy practicing out here.' - 'I'm not asking this for your benefit, I'm asking for the benefit of everyone else. I'm sure you could help improve the bowmanship of the men, myself included. Why not come and help out?' - 'I'm not that good' - 'Hogwash!' Jarvis laughed. 'You do remember I handle the cadavers right? I don't think you've made a single shot that didn't pierce both lungs. And you don't get carried away like some of the others, you always wait for the broadside shot. I could probably send you alone into the forest and you would produce as much game as the rest of our team together. But I'm sure you've never hunted alone, right?', Jarvis said with a wink. Averil froze. Did he know about her poaching? - 'Relax, I don't care about your past', Jarvis continued. 'We all have them, and for most of us that is why we're here in this remote, upstart colony where anonymity comes easy.' - 'I... I don't belong here.' Jarvis chuckled. - 'You think any of us do? But you are here, right? And if you are not planning on leaving you might as well make what you can of the life you lead here. Help build this colony into something great. Not for lord dimwit's sake, but for all of us. Help keep everyone fed, and help keep your hunting fellows safe. Did you know the other hunting teams have all lost men over the past month?' Averil nodded. Out of the four teams, only theirs had not lost anyone to the forest, at least not since she joined. - 'You can help teach the men how to defend themselves against whatever is out there. Let go of your past and live your life here and now. People need you here. Won't you let them depend on you? Or are you going to continue living in your past?' Averil looked down. - 'I'm not sure I can do it.' - 'You won't know until you try. Why don't you come shoot with us?' Averil knew why she held on to her past. Because her father was still out there, somewhere, and she was still waiting for him to return. Even after more than five years she was still holding on to hope, and moving on with her life meant she was giving up on that hope. She didn't want to do it. She wanted all this to be temporary. She wanted to be his precious, mischievous daughter again. She wanted her family back. But Jarvis was right. That would never happen, even though she wanted it with all her heart. She had to live her life, like Gammy and Leeson were already doing. Maybe her feelings would subside in time? But yes, she wouldn't know until she tried. - 'Ok, I will go shoot with you', she replied. - 'Thank you. We really are quite a merry bunch, once you get to know us, you know?' As they went on their way, Averil paused and turned back towards the tree one more time. - 'Goodbye, father', she whispered to herself. *** So, this is the build I used for my tutorial on the axe tree technique, which is one of the reasons it has been so delayed (the other reason being that another little human being has joined our household ). I grossly underestimated how much work it is to put together a tutorial, but now it is finally finished, and I'm certainly happy about that If you're interested in how these types of trees are built, you can check out the tutorial here. Other than that, this was my first try at an irregular base, which made me realise that my arsenal of wedge plates is quite limited. It may not have been the best choice for such a thin build, but it was interesting trying it out. Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it! C & C always welcome Edited June 6, 2017 by Full Plate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Garmadon Posted September 12, 2016 Another excellent build and lovely tree, Full Plate, and intriguing story and great tutorial as well! While I'm afraid I'll never have nearly enough axes or droid arms to build one, it was very nice to see how you build them, and makes the amount of work and calculation that goes into them even more impressive! Although the thinness of the build does look a little odd, overall the vegetation and irregular border are very well executed, and your photography is beautiful too. Congrats on the new addition to your family! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted September 12, 2016 Another beautiful tree, Full Plate, the organic look of your axe technique is fantastic! Thanks for the tutorial as well - while I can't see myself doing anything so tedious (says the person who stacks 1x1 round tiles for cobblestones...), nor do I have enough axes or droid arms, it's still really neat to see how you did it and your trick of using droid arms to angle foliage is ingenious - that I might have to try! Looking forward to seeing where this story goes! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henjin_Quilones Posted September 13, 2016 Excellent tree and a great story! I love what you do there with the axes and droid arms, but since I have all of two axes (I have a decent number of droid arms, but far inferior, I suspect, to what would be required for a build like that) I will have to pass for now. It allows for a very organic shape, something not often or easily achievable with bricks, with a lovely bark-like texture. That said, I think the build as a whole looks good still, despite the narrow base. A tree like that perhaps deserves more around it to anchor it, but I am not turned off by what you have. It serves your story well and does not detract, perhaps because of the density of foliage on the ground. But that tree is something else. I especially love the subtle two-tone foliage and the very irregular angling of the leaves, creating (as above) an organic shape. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TitusV Posted September 13, 2016 That's one huge awesome gorgeous tree! Love it! Thank you for the tutorial and congratilations on that little human! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
narbilu Posted September 13, 2016 That is about the prettiest brickbuild tree I've ever seen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blufiji Posted September 13, 2016 Your trees are always insane! The texture and the angles are so life like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerkid6 Posted September 13, 2016 Glad to see your story continuing, and this was an especially interesting chapter. Superb tree as usual, and the irregular base complements it nicely Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MassEditor Posted September 16, 2016 (edited) What a marvelous build and tree. I must say, I've seen some folks try this technique with trees, but you have really brought it to perfection. This is one of the best I've seen. Beautiful landscaping too. Your builds are always enjoyable! Wonderful storytelling too! Edited September 16, 2016 by MassEditor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Gidman Posted September 16, 2016 As always, your tree is gorgeous! Lovely base to accompany it, too. Well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Full Plate Posted September 17, 2016 Another excellent build and lovely tree, Full Plate, and intriguing story and great tutorial as well! While I'm afraid I'll never have nearly enough axes or droid arms to build one, it was very nice to see how you build them, and makes the amount of work and calculation that goes into them even more impressive! Although the thinness of the build does look a little odd, overall the vegetation and irregular border are very well executed, and your photography is beautiful too. Congrats on the new addition to your family! Thanks Garmadon! Yeah, the amount of droid arms needed can be a bit prohibitive, unfortunately It's possible to build a very thin tree which would require less droid arms, but you would probably end up at around 150+ droid arms in any case. Another beautiful tree, Full Plate, the organic look of your axe technique is fantastic! Thanks for the tutorial as well - while I can't see myself doing anything so tedious (says the person who stacks 1x1 round tiles for cobblestones...), nor do I have enough axes or droid arms, it's still really neat to see how you did it and your trick of using droid arms to angle foliage is ingenious - that I might have to try! Looking forward to seeing where this story goes! Thanks Kai! Yeah, tedium is the name of the game here Happy you saw something new in the tutorial Excellent tree and a great story! I love what you do there with the axes and droid arms, but since I have all of two axes (I have a decent number of droid arms, but far inferior, I suspect, to what would be required for a build like that) I will have to pass for now. It allows for a very organic shape, something not often or easily achievable with bricks, with a lovely bark-like texture. That said, I think the build as a whole looks good still, despite the narrow base. A tree like that perhaps deserves more around it to anchor it, but I am not turned off by what you have. It serves your story well and does not detract, perhaps because of the density of foliage on the ground. But that tree is something else. I especially love the subtle two-tone foliage and the very irregular angling of the leaves, creating (as above) an organic shape. Thanks Henjin! Yeah, you need quite a few pieces for this. Axes are really cheap though, like 0.008 euro per axe on BL. That's one huge awesome gorgeous tree! Love it! Thank you for the tutorial and congratilations on that little human! Thanks Titus! We are currently in survival mode at home That is about the prettiest brickbuild tree I've ever seen! Thanks Narbilu! Glad you like it Your trees are always insane! The texture and the angles are so life like. Thanks Blufiji! If I can only master architecture as well, I could make awesome builds combining both, like yours Glad to see your story continuing, and this was an especially interesting chapter. Superb tree as usual, and the irregular base complements it nicely Thanks SK! I found it hard to write the story since it's almost 6 months since the last installment. Happy you still felt it came out ok What a marvelous build and tree. I must say, I've seen some folks try this technique with trees, but you have really brought it to perfection. This is one of the best I've seen. Beautiful landscaping too. Your builds are always enjoyable! Wonderful storytelling too! Thanks for the praise ME! I really hope that tree building in the LEGO community can continue to develop, and I think it is. This type of tree is all about the looks, but hopefully soon we will see someone make just as nice trees that are more stable and versatile. I think that is the fun part about LEGO community, that you learn from each others ideas and improve on them. My builds are certainly heavily inspired by what I've seen others do As always, your tree is gorgeous! Lovely base to accompany it, too. Well done! Thanks Graham! Happy you liked it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brandon Stark Posted September 21, 2016 I really like your irregular base, and the little path surrounded by the foliage is very nice. The tree is very spectacular, and I hope to be able to build that in the future. Your storywriting skills also amaze me. Looking forward to the next installment of your story. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LittleJohn Posted September 27, 2016 Excellent work once again, Full Plate The foliage and irregular base are superb, and of course your tree is stunning Great continuation of your story too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LordDan Posted October 2, 2016 Wow! Your previous trees were epic, but this just blows them out of the water! This has to be the most incredible Lego tree I have ever seen! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Architect Posted November 9, 2016 This is something special! I've never seen a tree quite like it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
de Gothia Posted November 10, 2016 Master of Trees! You surely fit into Avalonia! =) Great work here mate! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
