[Book 3] Challenge I: Restoring the Shrine

[Grover]

 

With the weather warming, Lady Gwenllian decided to travel about to meet her neighbors.  One of the nearest settlements was just down the coast from Prenmôr, the small fishing village of Flewd.  Upon meeting with the town elders, Lady Gwenllian found that this village had been particularly hard hit by the drow raids (a terrible chapter in Avalonia's history that Lady Gwenllian was just learning about), losing almost half their population and over two-thirds of their buildings, including an ancient shrine to the sea-god, Neptune.  Coupled with several seasons of poor fish harvests, the villagers had no money to rebuild and were beginning to starve.
 

The sight of starving children and townsfolk broke Lady Gwenllian's heart, and she vowed to help the people of Flewd.  Conferring with Lady Seren on the spot, she devised a way to help.  Speaking to the village elders, she laid out her plan: Lady Gwenllian would help the villagers rebuild their homes in exchange for their work.  She could afford to pay them to fish the waters around Prenmôr, and if the fishing was not good, they would have work as laborers helping to build her castle.  They would use the money made from their fishing along with help from what coffers she had brought with her, to build new homes.  Lady Gwenllian offered to let the villagers build new homes in Prenmôr as residents, or would rebuild their homes in Flewd, as they chose.
 

The elders gathered a council of the entire village that evening, and Lady Gwenllian was invited.  The villagers were grateful of Lady Gwenllian's offer, and after some discussion, the villagers were excited about the offer to move a short distance down the coast to continue their trade under the protection of a lord and a fortified town.  Flewd held too many bad memories of loss, and its vulnerable position was highlighted by the drow raids.  Most importantly, the villagers voted to move the ancient shrine to be rebuilt at Prenmôr.  Lady Gwenllian agreed, and offered to find a dwarven sculptor to cut the main statuary out of stone and an elf to decorate the site surrounding the statue with copper scrollwork.

Spoiler

So, yeah, this is crap.  No texture to the land, bland green, can't hardly see the angles, pretty awful.  I ran out of time for this challenge entry and had to excerpt a tiny portion of it for an entry.  No need to give me suggestions, I know it's garbage.  I have a much larger setup that you'll eventually see, but it will not be in time for this challenge.  Kind of sad I have months and months to build something and this is all I have time for in the end.  Meh.

Just so you can see the statue:

 

[Muakhah]

As a small vignette it captures the restoration very well.  You'll just have to make a finished version too if you aren't happy with this one!

I like it and the only advice I could give would be what someone told me for one of my builds, maybe cluster the different green together so it looks like new growth in a patch rather than sticking out on its lonesome.

I haven't made anything in a year but little builds like this show me I have no excuse for my laziness so well done!

[Basiliscus]

It's a beautiful shrine and I can see the effort you've put in to it, good use of those gold gate pieces and the 3x3 roof corner pieces with 45 degree cutout. I like the minifig action too.

Have to agree with @Muakhah that the landscaping feels a bit random and not very natural. I get the urge to cover up studs with stalk pieces but I always think they look better being clustered together.

[Gabe]

Hey, no need to be do hard on yrself Grover, at least you got something in for the challenge, i didn't even manage that! Maybe incorporate it into a larger build later on to show the completed shrine, if you feel you haven't quite done it justice?

[Gunman]

Nice historic dremel over there :) Keep it up mate!

[zoth33]

Nice little scene.  I like the landscaping and the small shrine.  The figs are posed perfectly.  And the roof is very nice too.  

[Rogue Angel]

Great story and very nice vignette!

[Grover]

Thank you all for your encouragement.  I am mostly frustrated with myself for not having the time to complete the MOC I wanted.  My time is extremely limited these days.  This will be a part of the larger build that is a WIP, but I'm going to have to make more time where I can over the coming weeks to get it done.

On 10/16/2018 at 11:37 AM, Gunman said:

Nice historic dremel over there :) Keep it up mate!

This comment amused me and made me think, what would happen when the cameras get turned off?  Is this like a Renaissance Festival where everyone is in period costume and uses period instruments while they are being watched and pulls out their cell phones when they are not?  I went back and took a picture when they weren't looking, and wow, there is some 'magic' at work here...

[soccerkid6]

Is that a technic plate that you have the trident half buried in? Super clever design if so
The alternate version with modern equipment is hysterical

[Grover]

6 hours ago, soccerkid6 said:

Is that a technic plate that you have the trident half buried in? Super clever design if so
The alternate version with modern equipment is hysterical

It is!  I stacked 3 black 2x4 technic plates to get the shaft of the trident to sink down into the main block.  Thanks!

I had a great time with the anachronistic model.  I figured I might as well use the crappy little setup I had and amuse myself.  You'll see the shrine appear again in my next build, but now you know how it was really made! lol

[Henjin_Quilones]

It may be small, but the sculpture being crafted like that is brilliant. I love how you sunk the trident in to make it half-finished. I look forward to seeing it in a fuller context - and good work getting an entry in!

[Gunman]

Great modern equipment edition also xd

[mrcp6d]

I think a brick or two of more height to the columns would have really helped here.  The statue is really cool and the low roof hides it, especially in the main view you provided.