[COR EraII ChI CatB] Exploring Celestia

[Ayrlego]

Colonel Allcock's expedition set out from Jameston heading west into the mountain range that could be seen on clear days towering above the jungle. The expedition traveled at a leisurely pace, giving Miss Hutchins time to record the flora they encountered, while Colonel Allcock concentrated on the fauna.

One of the first specimens Miss Hutchins described was the palm tree that had become dubbed the 'pith' palm. This palm was common around the surrounds of Jameston, indeed examples still stood in the town itself.

An excerpt from Ella's notes:

This palm is abundant throughout the environs of Vanilla Bay. Although the palm appears to thrive in the more open areas around the settlement, it specimens can also be found deeper into the jungle. Growing to a maximum height of around 4-5 metres, it is distinctive from other palms in the unusual shaped segments of the trunk, which are a dark tan colour. The palm has medium sized fronds which vary in colour from bright lime new growth to a darker green. Large coconut type fruit are produced.

After soon weeks, the expedition has moved high into the mist covered ranges. While traversing a particularly tricky path, Miss Hutchins spots a bright coloured orchid halfway down a steep ridge. In the name of science, Dirk volunteers to scale down to take a sample.

While dangling on a rope over the specimen, he freezes when he hears the sounds of a large animal approaching from below. A huge tiger bursts from the undergrowth, and leisurely pads along the small stream at the bottom of the ravine. Hardly daring to breath, Dirk realises the tiger is usually coloured, instead of the normal orange pelt, this specimen is pure white with the distinctive black strips of the specie.

Muscle rippling, the tiger stalks off down the ravine, if it noticed Dirk dangling from the rope, it contemptuously ignored him. 

An excerpt from Dirk's journal:

Today we came across a extraordinary example of the islands large cats. While jaguar have been observed before on Celestia, their numbers are much smaller than those found on Cascadia, probably due to the smaller number of medium-large mammals to prey on. This cat was different. Bigger than a jaguar, it resembled the tigers seen on Cascadia which we speculate were introduced by feline oculists during the height of the Myzec Empire from southern Halos. This cat however had a pure white coat underneath the distinctive black stripes, unlike the orange of the examples seen on Cascadia. Although I could not say for sure, the eyes did not appear pink like those of an albino. Like the black jaguars (or panthers) of Cascadia, I suspect this to be the same specie of tiger as the variety observed before, however with a abnormal colour variation in the coat. If our theory regarding the origin of these tigers is correct, this would seem to suggest the same culture that introduced them to Cascadia was indeed present here on Celestia at one time.

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I had hoped to do a stack more of these, and probably still will over time, but I have recently changed roles at work and have much less time than normal for building. During the week I don't even have access to real bricks (hence the LDD) For those who don't know, I'll be travelling the high seas IRL for approximately six months in a month or so, so after I leave all my builds will be LDD until I return.

Edited January 29, 2018 by Ayrlego

[blackdeathgr]

Nice entry! Even if you wanted, this palm tree design is so expensive that it best stay on LDD for now 

Good luck on your sea endeavours and don't worry, there is still no ban on LDD creations 

P.S: I think LDD has recently been upgraded too (new pieces mostly)

[Gideon]

Those heavy tops of the palm trees makes me wonder if the trunks would be that stable with physics also in play?

Where is that white tiger from...?

[Ayrlego]

On 28/01/2018 at 2:53 AM, blackdeathgr said:

Nice entry! Even if you wanted, this palm tree design is so expensive that it best stay on LDD for now 

Good luck on your sea endeavours and don't worry, there is still no ban on LDD creations 

P.S: I think LDD has recently been upgraded too (new pieces mostly)

1

Thanks BD, I did try the palm in real Lego - it just so happens I have a stack of dark tan pith helmets for a WW1 Turkish army MOC that I never got around to doing. I'll post a pic below

10 minutes ago, Gideon said:

Those heavy tops of the palm trees makes me wonder if the trunks would be that stable with physics also in play?

Where is that white tiger from...?

They are indeed super delicate. I don't think I'd be able to get the same angles or trunk length IRL.

The white tiger.... I debated for a long time about whether to use it or not as it is a Chinese clone. I'm by no means a purist but the ethics of using a clone brand I'm not sure about. In the end I decided I liked it too much not to use it.  

Edited January 28, 2018 by Ayrlego

[Professor Thaum]

Nice cliff scene, I especially like the two little purple bunch of flower...

[Kai NRG]

A couple of very nice builds, I really like the sideways rock on the second one and the white tiger really pops against the darker background.    The first one is great too, might be kinda tough to get those palm trees to stay up IRL though! 

[Darnok]

Some solid builds, I like the rocks in the physical one.

 

P.S.: You are on Celestia, not Cascadia (thread title!).

[Ayrlego]

1 hour ago, Drunknok said:

P.S.: You are on Celestia, not Cascadia (thread title!)

Thanks, fixed (I always get those two mixed up!)

[Elostirion]

Nice small LDD intro scene.

The cliff scene is fantastic, superb execution as always. The way rockwork, soil and greenery blend into each other is outstanding. The small mixes of dark orange look great, and the vegetation cover on top of the rocks adds a lot. Fantastic work.