Scouting a Site

[Grover]

The Tales of Lady Gwenllian

0. Introduction

1.  The arrival of Lady Gwenllian aboard the Cedar Serpent 

2. Scouting a Site

Sailing from the northwest, Lady Gwenllian first sighted land on the coast of the Enchanted Forest of Avalonia.  She and her small crew followed the coastline up the channel between the Enchanted Forest and DeVine Isle, stopping to resupply several times from villages, streams, and what resources as were available, all the while scouting potential sites for a new home.  The horrible battles of her homeland's civil war taught her difficult lessons on fortifications, and she was determined to find the best possible site to build a castle.  Ideally, she desired a site with a nearby quarry, accessible by land and by sea, on high ground, access to timber, and with ample farmland.  After scouting several locations without luck, she and her entourage came across a rocky outcropping at the mouth of the Afondraig River on the northeastern coast of the Enchanted Forest.  This flat, treeless area boasted steep rocky cliffs on two sides to deter attackers, and a narrow rocky strip along the shallows of the river that would make for a sheltered landing site.  The rest of the high rocky area overlooked flat meadows that would be perfect for farms, and these ended about a mile away at the edge of a large forest.

Anchoring the Cedar Serpent in the calm flow before the shallows near the mouth of the Afondraig River, Lady Gwenllian and her entourage offloaded supplies and set up a temporary camp.  The fall colors were spotted about in the bushes that interspersed with the dried grasses, and made for a rather pretty scene.  They could not be distracted by this beauty, however: after inquiring about local claims to the land, they would have to petition Queen Ylspeth for a charter to build, survey the land, and build temporary shelters for the winter.  Over the winter, Lady Gwenllian and Seren, her Lady at Arms, would draw up the plans for the castle, whose construction was to begin in the spring.

More pictures on Flickr.

Spoiler

 

Many thanks to soccerkid6 for his advice on the microscale builds and Gideon for photography!  I wanted to show the general area of Lady Gwenllian's home and also try my hand at microscale building.  While not perfect, I'm reasonably happy with this, and I think that it gives the general idea of the area where most of my builds will be.  I tore this build apart many times trying to get the limestone cliffs and the ocean right.  I like the trans-brown pieces over the dark blue to give a sense of the grey ocean.  I'm going to try and add a top-down picture to the album later so you can see the underlying bricks better--there's a brown strip near the shore of the river for shallows that didn't really come out in these pictures because of the angle.

In building this, I tried a lot of color combinations for the water before settling on this.  In order to see everything, I created a chart of the color combinations I was interested in, which I posted in the general discussion forums here, if you're interested:

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by Grover

[TitusV]

A really nice microbuild you've got there! The rockwork is just  

Though its hard to see the colours of what lays under the seasurface, I really like that you haven't just tiled it, as we see so often, but have included some cheesey slopes and studs up.  I like the little ship too!

Have I already mentioned that therocks are just  ?

[Basiliscus]

Really nice microscale build there @Grover!

As @TitusV has said, the rocks are beautiful, you've integrated angled plates, cheese slopes and 1x1 round plates really well. The microscale shape is also really well done.

The outcrop feels a bit barren at the top, I appreciate you're lining it up to be that way but some ancient ruins or changes in vegetation (some olive green plate might have helped) would probably break up the tan studs a bit.

[TheLordOfBricks]

Really nice micro! Those limestone cliffs are so well done, the hints of olive really make it pop. The water is nice as well. :) Keep it up!

[Henjin_Quilones]

The cliffs are great, and I like the stormy quality of the water with its darkness. It must be a cloudy day for the water to be so dark. You know my preference for trans-light blue water, but this is also quite spectacular, and you have captured the feel of the waves quite well. As others have noted, the cliffs are really the scene-stealer here, though, and the high level of texture really gets across the idea of crumbling limestone. The one thing I really don't like is the tan; it seems to bright and out of place compared to the gloom of the sea. I suppose it is dead grass or something, but it seems off to me tonally. More dark tan might have worked better in my view. That said, it really is a stunning build and it is nicely capped off by a micro Cedar Serpent, complete with the dark orange hull!

 

On a different note, in Book II the DeVine Isles were closed off for people wishing to settle there. I am not sure yet if we are opening them back up or not, so it would probably be a good idea to site your settlement on the Mainland, on a Mystic Isle, or in the Enchanted Forest. There is plenty of coastline up near the DeVine Isles in the Enchanted Forest that would be prime real estate for a settlement of the same flavor as on the Isles themselves, with lots of craggy cliffs and stormy seas. 

[Grover]

17 hours ago, TitusV said:

A really nice microbuild you've got there! The rockwork is just  

Though its hard to see the colours of what lays under the seasurface, I really like that you haven't just tiled it, as we see so often, but have included some cheesey slopes and studs up.  I like the little ship too!

Have I already mentioned that therocks are just  ?

Glad you like it!  The rocks were one of those things that I had spent so much time looking at I couldn't decide if they actually looked good or I had finally just deluded myself.  I'll try and get a pic up soon of the top down so you can see the shallows.

13 hours ago, Basiliscus said:

Really nice microscale build there @Grover!

As @TitusV has said, the rocks are beautiful, you've integrated angled plates, cheese slopes and 1x1 round plates really well. The microscale shape is also really well done.

The outcrop feels a bit barren at the top, I appreciate you're lining it up to be that way but some ancient ruins or changes in vegetation (some olive green plate might have helped) would probably break up the tan studs a bit.

Thanks!  I'm glad the time on the cliffs worked out.  It was kind of hard for me to tell there at the end.  I agree, the tan top is kind of barren.  I was thinking of putting down a bunch of 1x1 round plates over the dark tan beneath, but didn't have enough, so went with the large covering.  It's the part of the build I'm least happy with.  I tried a bit with the rock and the fall colors, but it didn't help a lot.

11 hours ago, TheLordOfBricks said:

Really nice micro! Those limestone cliffs are so well done, the hints of olive really make it pop. The water is nice as well. :) Keep it up!

Thanks a bunch!  It's my first foray into micro, but was kind of fun.

5 hours ago, Henjin_Quilones said:

The cliffs are great, and I like the stormy quality of the water with its darkness. It must be a cloudy day for the water to be so dark. You know my preference for trans-light blue water, but this is also quite spectacular, and you have captured the feel of the waves quite well. As others have noted, the cliffs are really the scene-stealer here, though, and the high level of texture really gets across the idea of crumbling limestone. The one thing I really don't like is the tan; it seems to bright and out of place compared to the gloom of the sea. I suppose it is dead grass or something, but it seems off to me tonally. More dark tan might have worked better in my view. That said, it really is a stunning build and it is nicely capped off by a micro Cedar Serpent, complete with the dark orange hull!

 

On a different note, in Book II the DeVine Isles were closed off for people wishing to settle there. I am not sure yet if we are opening them back up or not, so it would probably be a good idea to site your settlement on the Mainland, on a Mystic Isle, or in the Enchanted Forest. There is plenty of coastline up near the DeVine Isles in the Enchanted Forest that would be prime real estate for a settlement of the same flavor as on the Isles themselves, with lots of craggy cliffs and stormy seas. 

Thanks a bunch!  I envisioned autumn on the Welsh coast to be quite overcast and gloomy.  I agree, as I mentioned above to Basilicus, I'm not super happy with the tan, but I kind of ran out of other colors.  I used the dark tan below for dry dirt, so couldn't reuse it.  I probably should have made the tan, which is indeed supposed to be dry grass, more spotty, but a lack of plates for that kept me from doing so.  I should probably order more of those on B&P.

Also, I am an idiot.  I misread the map, and Prenmôr is indeed in the northern part of the Enchanted forest.  I'm going to edit the original post to reflect that in a second.  I have the location on the map at the end of Book II, just near the mouth of the river.  Once I get the HSS set, I'll mark it on the map for inclusion into the big map.  Thanks for catching this!

[Kai NRG]

This is a really pretty micro, I love the dark water!  Great job on the layers of colors too, and the rockwork of course!

[mccoyed]

Great micro. The best part of this is the sense of scale. A lot of micro builds are so full of stuff (buildings usually) but this one really exemplifies a less is more approach.

[halixon]

Love the terrain! Very detailed, but not too much. I also love that microscale ship

[Grover]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:12 PM, Kai NRG said:

This is a really pretty micro, I love the dark water!  Great job on the layers of colors too, and the rockwork of course!

Thanks!  I enjoyed playing with the colors and was happy with how the water turned out.

On 9/20/2018 at 8:43 PM, mccoyed said:

Great micro. The best part of this is the sense of scale. A lot of micro builds are so full of stuff (buildings usually) but this one really exemplifies a less is more approach.

Thank you!  I actually scaled it from a drawing to keep the proportions the same.  I plan on adding to this build as the castle progresses.

On 9/21/2018 at 2:07 PM, Windusky said:

Love the terrain! Very detailed, but not too much. I also love that microscale ship

Thanks!  Amusingly, the ship was the first thing I built, then scaled everything else around it. 

Finally got outside and took an overhead shot.  You can see the dark blue ocean and deeper channel of the river, with the brown shallows from deposited mud as the river flows out to the sea.  Hard to tell, but there's a 1 plate depression on the right hand side where the tide is receding for another wave (maybe easier to see in the album).

[Gabe]

Your microscale has a really moody, almost mythic feel to it - it reminds me of Odysseus sailing over dark seas to land on strange, uncertain shores.   I love the amount of thought that has been put into the colour scheme and the land formations to make it seem realistic in scale (your 'water palette' is very interesting, although there are even more permutations when you consider that multiple layers of transparent tiles and plates can be used). I think it's barren nature suits it, but i feel like it could use a mix of different textures on top of the outcrop to break it up a bit. Perhaps a few tan tiles or grille tiles in places near the red vegetation might have helped the bushes stand out a little more? 

[W Navarre]

Cool terrain! 

[Grover]

On 9/23/2018 at 6:19 AM, Gabe said:

Your microscale has a really moody, almost mythic feel to it - it reminds me of Odysseus sailing over dark seas to land on strange, uncertain shores.   I love the amount of thought that has been put into the colour scheme and the land formations to make it seem realistic in scale (your 'water palette' is very interesting, although there are even more permutations when you consider that multiple layers of transparent tiles and plates can be used). I think it's barren nature suits it, but i feel like it could use a mix of different textures on top of the outcrop to break it up a bit. Perhaps a few tan tiles or grille tiles in places near the red vegetation might have helped the bushes stand out a little more? 

Thank you!  High praise coming from you!  Good point, too, on the layers that can be built in for the color chart.  I don't have enough trans plates to do that yet, but maybe it gives me an idea for the next chart...

I agree, too, the top is a bit barren.  I should have done something else with it, but hopefully I'll figure that out as I revisit this in upcoming builds to see the seasons change and progress on the castle.

On 9/24/2018 at 7:52 AM, W Navarre said:

Cool terrain! 

Thank you!

[Gideon]

Nice concept and very good overall build

Looks like a perfect site for a mighty castle!

[soccerkid6]

Very unique rockwork style, and it works super well! Excellent water technique as well, even in the main overview I can see the shading near the shore to show shallower water
And that micro ship design is super clever

[Grover]

On 9/30/2018 at 2:47 PM, Gideon said:

Nice concept and very good overall build

Looks like a perfect site for a mighty castle!

Thanks!  I'm hoping to keep it going and let people see the progression as the castle is built.

On 10/9/2018 at 6:03 AM, soccerkid6 said:

Very unique rockwork style, and it works super well! Excellent water technique as well, even in the main overview I can see the shading near the shore to show shallower water
And that micro ship design is super clever

Thanks!  High praise from you and your microscale builds!  Thanks again for all your advice. 

[The Last of Nergoue]

Very nice microscale!

[(Luc)ky Luke]

Nice build! I especially like the colors and the rockwork! Good job!

[de Gothia]

Rocks, colours and the sea... just great work on those things!!! Love this one!

[mrcp6d]

Really awesome and unconventional micro here Grover.  The sense of scale is fantastic and the stacked plates really work well here for layers of rock.

[Muakhah]

I really like the overhead shot which shows the water better. I am looking forward to the castle in progress shots of it too.

[LegoModularFan]

Nice build, I like the rock-work very much and the water looks great. I recommend you to add your MOCs to Flickr groups to become more popular... Anyway, keep it up! 

[Grover]

On 10/10/2018 at 1:26 PM, The Last of Nergoue said:

Very nice microscale!

Thanks!

On 10/24/2018 at 10:22 AM, (Luc)ky Luke said:

Nice build! I especially like the colors and the rockwork! Good job!

Thank you!

On 10/24/2018 at 11:26 AM, de Gothia said:

Rocks, colours and the sea... just great work on those things!!! Love this one!

Thanks a bunch!  Look for more returns as the castle gets built!

On 10/29/2018 at 4:55 PM, mrcp6d said:

Really awesome and unconventional micro here Grover.  The sense of scale is fantastic and the stacked plates really work well here for layers of rock.

Thanks a bunch!  I tore down a bunch of other versions that I didn't like as well as the layered rock.

On 10/30/2018 at 12:00 AM, Muakhah said:

I really like the overhead shot which shows the water better. I am looking forward to the castle in progress shots of it too.

Thanks!  Stay tuned, and you'll see more!

3 hours ago, LegoModularFan said:

Nice build, I like the rock-work very much and the water looks great. I recommend you to add your MOCs to Flickr groups to become more popular... Anyway, keep it up! 

Thank you!  I will have to look into adding things to the Flickr groups.  I haven't used Flickr much so am not entirely sure how to do this, but I know a few folks on here have groups, so will probably look into it.

Who knew that this little micro build would be so popular?  I didn't think a whole lot of it when I built it, so it's kind of interesting to see how different things catch people's eye.  Thanks all, for the feedback!