Book II Challenge V Category A: Evening Falls Like a Vulture's Wing

[Henjin_Quilones]

Evening Falls Like a Vulture's Wing

A build for the Spire in Book II, Challenge V, Category A

 

As the sun set below the horizon, Ellardin the elf messenger slumped back against the rock.

His body was afire with pain every time he moved, as the spear points and arrows lodged in him dug a little deeper into his vitals, and it would not be long now. A rustling behind his ear caused him to look up. A black vulture was perched on the rock inches from his face, its eyes looking hungrily from its red bald head.

Ellardin looked away and sighed. His bloody fingers clutched the letter to King Fingolë the Golden, knowing that it would never make it to its destination; those drow huntsmen had made sure of that. More vultures circled and landed around Harafel, his horse, as the light dimmed.

The sound of beaks tearing at the soft innards caused the elf to shudder, which in turn caused him to cry out softly in pain as the points worked inwards. The evening was falling quickly now, and the vultures were coming in thickly. Darkness had come. 

 

 

 

More pictures:

Spoiler

 

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Thanks for looking, and C&C welcome. Gideon's vulture design was the inspiration for this build, so a big shout out to him for being inspirational. 

 

[The Maestro]

Man this is amazing. It captures that "vulture" feel so well. The whole atmosphere of the thing is amazing. The vultures themselves are awesome. Great base and tree as well, im jealous of your sand green collection 

[de Gothia]

Wow! That last pic is epic! Great vulture and well captured scene!

[halixon]

Nice Vultures! That elf though, 

[Henjin_Quilones]

5 hours ago, The Maestro said:

Man this is amazing. It captures that "vulture" feel so well. The whole atmosphere of the thing is amazing. The vultures themselves are awesome. Great base and tree as well, im jealous of your sand green collection 

Thanks, Maestro! I tried, with low-light pictures, to create something dismal and oppressive, like the Spire. The birds are taken from Gideon, with some slight modifications, so he should get most of the credit there. And the sand green came from a PaB wall a little bit ago, and I am loving having so many 1x2 plates of that color. 

4 hours ago, de Gothia said:

Wow! That last pic is epic! Great vulture and well captured scene!

Thanks, dG! I wanted an artsy kind of picture for the build to capture the emotions of it, and that last one, mostly silhouetted, did a pretty nice job, I thought. Glad you like it. 

3 hours ago, Windusky said:

Nice Vultures! That elf though, 

Thanks, Windusky! Ellardin is in a rough place, for sure. I'd say, given the amount of blood lost and the vital organs punctured, that he is rather unlikely to get through this one. The vulture is certainly hoping so...

[zoth33]

Great little scene.  I like the vultures and the fig posing.  The story is great and the last pic is awesome.  Great job

[soccerkid6]

Quite a 'dark' atmosphere you created, the numerous vultures really sell the scene
Also, your landscape and tree are excellent.

[LittleJohn]

Fabulous build, Henjin, you captured the dark atmosphere perfectly. The path texturing, tree, and vultures are all excellent. Great color choice with the sand green as well.

[Slegengr]

Well-built scene, Henjin!

The dark atmosphere is certainly captured.  The vultures in the scene complete the finality of the scene.  Nice techniques for the tree and vultures!

The last picture has the right lighting and perspective to portray the end of the messenger.  The only quirk for me is that the messenger's head is not resting on the stone, allowing light to pass in between.

[Umbra-Manis]

Great scene! Especially that last shot!

 

[TitusV]

Really cool build! I absolutely love the last image  

I'd recommend to use some wedge-plates for the base, but that's itpicking  You did a great job! 

[Henjin_Quilones]

On 2/19/2017 at 10:47 PM, zoth33 said:

Great little scene.  I like the vultures and the fig posing.  The story is great and the last pic is awesome.  Great job

Thanks!

On 2/20/2017 at 8:29 AM, soccerkid6 said:

Quite a 'dark' atmosphere you created, the numerous vultures really sell the scene
Also, your landscape and tree are excellent.

Thanks, SK! If I had more black Chima wings I would have put some more birds in there, too. 

On 2/20/2017 at 10:06 AM, LittleJohn said:

Fabulous build, Henjin, you captured the dark atmosphere perfectly. The path texturing, tree, and vultures are all excellent. Great color choice with the sand green as well.

Thank you, LJ! A build for the Spire needs to be dark. And I had an abundance of sand green from a PaB wall a while back, and was excited to use it. 

On 2/20/2017 at 10:12 AM, Slegengr said:

Well-built scene, Henjin!

The dark atmosphere is certainly captured.  The vultures in the scene complete the finality of the scene.  Nice techniques for the tree and vultures!

The last picture has the right lighting and perspective to portray the end of the messenger.  The only quirk for me is that the messenger's head is not resting on the stone, allowing light to pass in between.

Thanks, Slegengr! I am glad you like it. It was something I threw together rather quickly to have a Spire entry, too. And I had not even noticed the light between the head and the rock until you pointed it out--oops!

On 2/20/2017 at 10:21 AM, Umbra-Manis said:

Great scene! Especially that last shot!

 

Thanks, U-M! Thank God for photo-editing programs...

On 2/21/2017 at 11:36 AM, TitusV said:

Really cool build! I absolutely love the last image  

I'd recommend to use some wedge-plates for the base, but that's itpicking  You did a great job! 

Thanks, Titus! I actually deliberately eschewed the use of wedge plates and went for an all-1x2-plate look for the landscaping, as it was the look I wanted, but I can see what you mean. 

[Blufiji]

There is a feeling of desolation and despair in this build that is just wonderful. Beautiful work.

[Henjin_Quilones]

On 2/27/2017 at 0:52 AM, Blufiji said:

There is a feeling of desolation and despair in this build that is just wonderful. Beautiful work.

Thanks, Blufiji! I am glad you like the gloom and doom of it. 

[Grover]

I really like the birds and the carrion horse.  The build on the birds makes them look like vultures.  Nice work!