The Isle of Druidham A freebuild for Avalonia Also a build for Avalonia Task III     Deep in the midst of the Mystic Isles, beyond the routes normally taken by traders and travelers crossing the mist-shrouded network of islands and channels, lies a small rocky island pocked with caves. When Henjin Quilones and his wife Galaria returned to Avalonia after visiting the land of Mwamba, they needed a place to settle down, as they had been exiled by Galaria's father, King Fingolë the Golden, from the western High Elf kingdom of Hesperia and could not return thither. Also, during their travels they had had two children, Gahlen and Emmalie, and they needed somewhere to raise them and keep them safe. A life spent on the road was not an option for their family.  In addition to their children, Henjin and Galaria had companions who had traveled with them, many of them fellow exiles from Hesperia, but others had been picked up along their travels: an orc, named Grisshak, who had been found half-dead in a ditch after a battle; a family of dwarves who had caught wind of a potential job working with stone; a couple of gnomes from Bandari, including the mad genius Injini; a forest Grent who aspired to be a Druid; a family of Werecoons; and a veritable army of others. They needed a place to settle and build, and Henjin had had the idea to search out the ancient Druid shrine that was located, according to legend, somewhere in the center of the Mystic Isles. So to the Mystic Isles the whole crew went, and Henjin had selected this particular island, unsettled by anyone, but bearing the marks of having once been home to Druids in some bygone age. And so they named the island Druidham. Now, there was one other group that was with the various races who made up the new inhabitants of Druidham: the dragons. During their years in Bandari and greater Mwamba, Galaria and several of her elf companions had been privileged to form soul-bonds with freshly hatched dragons. Some of the dragons, including Galaria's own Daeara, had even had hatchlings of their own since then, which was how Gahlen and their youngest daughter, Lycaria, had managed to also form soul-bonds with their very own dragons. It helps if your mother is the Mistress of the Dragons, and your father is the Master of the Druidi Order.  For on the island of Druidham, there are two main groups: the nascent Druidi Order, resurrected from the ashes of the old Druids when Henjin appeared from the stars, and the Dragonriders of Avalonia, dedicated to training elves and dragons in the defense of the realm. A third group, no less important, provides the support the other groups need, as farmers, herders, smiths, cooks, housekeepers, stewards, and everything else necessary for sustaining a full settlement. There is no way to the island save by water or air, but for those who visit there is a guesthouse that is always ready to receive visitors of any race or creed. A few of the surrounding islands are used to pasture large herds of sheep and goats, mostly to serve as food for hungry dragons. Oddly, the sheep do not like to live on the island where the dragons themselves live.      __________________________________________ .................................................................................... Another micro build from me, slightly less polished than Ovenntrie Castle, perhaps, but more intricate in many ways, with all of the different angles in the rockwork to make the dragon caves. It started as a small vignette-size build for the Summer Joust that I decided to expand into a 48x48 build. I plan to flesh out the island one building at a time, or one section at a time, since most of the "buildings" are in caves hollowed out of the mountain itself. Expect a bunch of interior builds! C&C welcome.