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The Stad

AoM House Phase 1: A Camping Trip [Flashback]

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While it was common for the families of Mitgardia to send their sons to the northern tribes after their twelfth summer, only the children of the Burial Isle were sent out regularly before they came of age to become accustomed to the wilds.  Makny had learned from his father when he was only seven how to fish the streams, trap small animals, and build shelters and fires to keep him warm through the cold nights.  One of his favorite things to do after a long autumn harvest and many days in the hustle and dust of the storehouses was to take his horse into the hills and be alone.

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Makny liked to make camp beneath one of the great black-barked trees that grew on the high hills, deep inland.  They had broad branches that kept off much of the rain and snow, and were usually found near some of the strange ruins that dotted the Burial Isle.  Makny enjoyed spending his evenings - after building his lean-to, unsaddling his horse, and lighting his fire - contemplating the ancient stone structures and the people who might have built them.

Spoiler

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I've been sitting on this, waiting for a sufficiently overcast day to photograph it and enough free time to post. C&C welcome as always!

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Love the snow covering the tips of the leafs! Moreover, thanks to the technique you used, it even shows how they bow down under the weight of the snow. :thumbup: Cosy little camping spot, too!

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Nice scene. I like the way you have constructed the lean-to, it is very convincing. The huge tree is also well done and the snow layer gives the landscape extra interest. Well done!

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Lovely little scene! Love the tree and the snow covered branches, and the lean-to is a nice touch. The minifig placement adds a lot of depth to the scene.

The stones added to the tan path look a bit unnatural - I think if these had been blended in at the same level as the path they might have looked more convincing.

Good work!

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I really like your tree here, and the snow on the branches is lovely. The ruined monument is fittingly draped with snow, too, which is nice. However, I wonder why there is no snow at all beneath the tree; the branches are not that dense, and are rather high of the ground to boot, so even a very slight breeze would have resulted in nearly equal snow levels under the tree compared to the rest of the landscape. If that is a path, who clears the snow on presumably seldom-used paths deep inland? Beyond the questions, I like what I see. I think that a lower camera angle would be better, however, as it would let us see things from closer to regular minifig perspective, rather than from a hidden watcher up in a neighboring tree's perspective. 

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I've almost missed the bower at the first look, given the angle of the pic (and you've made your Flickr private, so I can't go in for a zoom). Other than that, I'm in love with the snow on the leaves and I think overall it's a very nice scene,  I find it quite intimate, despite the wilderness, which goes together with the short story you've written. Keep it up! :thumbup:

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Excellent job with the snow and the tree!  I like the whole scene--the lean-to is great, the use of the curved and wedge pieces for the road, the light tan suggesting dry dirt as opposed to the darker tan where there is presumably some snowmelt... very nice, and the story to go with it is great as well!  I look forward to more!

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Interesting choice to show only a portion of a large tree, but I think it works really well :thumbup: Great snow on the branches, and the little shelter is also very nice.
It's good to see another build from you again :dsweet:

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On 11/26/2018 at 7:20 AM, W Navarre said:

Nice bower! 

Thanks!

On 11/26/2018 at 9:54 AM, Exetrius said:

Love the snow covering the tips of the leafs! Moreover, thanks to the technique you used, it even shows how they bow down under the weight of the snow. :thumbup: Cosy little camping spot, too!

Thanks! Yeah, I found myself fighting a losing battle with gravity with the internal friction of some of those pieces in the branches.  It was a very delicate build.

On 11/26/2018 at 12:18 PM, Ayrlego said:

Nice scene. I like the way you have constructed the lean-to, it is very convincing. The huge tree is also well done and the snow layer gives the landscape extra interest. Well done!

Thank you!  I always hope to be convincing.

On 11/26/2018 at 4:31 PM, Basiliscus said:

Lovely little scene! Love the tree and the snow covered branches, and the lean-to is a nice touch. The minifig placement adds a lot of depth to the scene.

The stones added to the tan path look a bit unnatural - I think if these had been blended in at the same level as the path they might have looked more convincing.

Good work!

Thanks, I agree with the stone placement.  It was a bit of an afterthought, I'll admit.  Next time....

On 11/29/2018 at 2:04 PM, Henjin_Quilones said:

I really like your tree here, and the snow on the branches is lovely. The ruined monument is fittingly draped with snow, too, which is nice. However, I wonder why there is no snow at all beneath the tree; the branches are not that dense, and are rather high of the ground to boot, so even a very slight breeze would have resulted in nearly equal snow levels under the tree compared to the rest of the landscape. If that is a path, who clears the snow on presumably seldom-used paths deep inland? Beyond the questions, I like what I see. I think that a lower camera angle would be better, however, as it would let us see things from closer to regular minifig perspective, rather than from a hidden watcher up in a neighboring tree's perspective. 

You bring up a lot of good points as far as the drifts and path are concerned, and I considered a lot of those as I was composing this.  There is some snow under the tree, and the area under the lean-to is the same dark tan that I used at the edge of the paths (very wide game trails), because in my head that area had been recently cleared and was still somewhat damp.  That said, I don't think the writing reflects the physical facts of the build at this point, and maybe I shouldn't have made a point of "broad branches that kept off much of the rain and snow."

As for the camera angle, I don't even have an excuse for not using this photo first:

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On 11/30/2018 at 2:43 AM, en_zoo said:

I've almost missed the bower at the first look, given the angle of the pic (and you've made your Flickr private, so I can't go in for a zoom). Other than that, I'm in love with the snow on the leaves and I think overall it's a very nice scene,  I find it quite intimate, despite the wilderness, which goes together with the short story you've written. Keep it up! :thumbup:

Thanks, I feel like snow makes any scene feel very cozy, wilderness or no.

On 12/1/2018 at 5:26 PM, Grover said:

Excellent job with the snow and the tree!  I like the whole scene--the lean-to is great, the use of the curved and wedge pieces for the road, the light tan suggesting dry dirt as opposed to the darker tan where there is presumably some snowmelt... very nice, and the story to go with it is great as well!  I look forward to more!

Thanks!  I'm glad you picked up on the light/dark tan.

On 12/10/2018 at 8:07 AM, soccerkid6 said:

Interesting choice to show only a portion of a large tree, but I think it works really well :thumbup: Great snow on the branches, and the little shelter is also very nice.
It's good to see another build from you again :dsweet:

Thanks, it's good to have another build posted! I figure they're very large trees - and I don't have the pieces or photography setup to do them justice - so I figured just the bottom of the tree would be sufficient.

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