W Navarre Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) Previously... "Entering the queen’s arena is Tabu..." the boy threw himself over the low parapet into the arena below. "Come, if you want to know something," stood there written in the sand. “Remember... you are a De Cioto!” Water splashed and lapped against the sides of a small gondola as it drew up to a wooden bridge which spanned the dark canal and cast an evening shadow upon the glittering waterway. A boy leapt out of it and dropped a rekshi in the hand of the gondolier, sighing as he stepped onto the hard wood stairs. It was Ásgeir, and a moment later, a ways deeper in the oldest ghettos of the city, his footsteps sounded on the planks and beams of the streets as he ran up more steps and across more bridges, drawing nearer and nearer to a tall wooden tower, leaning with age and standing only set a few feet above the piles of houses and old buildings around it. As he approached his step grew slower and more wary, until at last the child paused before the low door and looked up at a few lit windows above him. The light spread gently out upon the scene and mingled with the moon’s beams, but the child did not heed the pretty scene around him, nor did he knock upon the door. Instead he waited, and waited on. Then a shadow crossed the window above him, and he dashed a look about him, placing himself farther into the recess of the door still panting slightly, though whether from his recent exertions or from fright he could not tell. Was he too late? Or was he too early? He couldn’t tell. He would wait. Then the door opened a small crack, and a sweet, girlish face looked out. “Come in, Ásgeir,” said the boy’s sister, opening the door and looking down at his ragged shirt. Then she glanced anxiously back and forth as she closed the door, and he felt a scare run through him as he thought of why she was looking back. Then she turned back to him and brushed the dirt off his shirt, remarking in a low voice, “Look how you left your shirt, child! And where were you after the fights? Did you get in your own? He will…” she did not finish and gave Ásgeir a meaningful look. Ásgeir pursed his lips and said tersely, “I know, Amalia.” “But stop shaking; I will help you again. Wait here.” His sister lifted a bundle of rags. “Horus was coughing blood, and I could not watch for you.” She left him, and Ásgeir bit his finger. He could not wait, he hated that! Then he heard the wood floors creak, and shrinking back into a corner of the room, he closed his eyes in silent fright. “You’re late, child,” a hard voice spoke as the creaking stopped. “You swore you would not do it again.” “Father, I was trapped,” Ásgeir said in a barely audible voice. “And I went to call a doctor for Horus, and…” “You know we can’t call the doctor, Ásgeir,” answered a tall, strong man of about fifty years. “And you know you are forbidden to leave without being told. A De Karelo must learn to obey, child.” “A De Karelo?” Ásgeir’s voice rung with scorn even as it trembled: he would not have dared to say what he was saying, but he had already spoken—he would finish; “We are not De Kerelo, we are–” “We are not!” his father breathed hard and his words shook. He struck the ground with his rod. “I let you have, whatever you want, child, except if it is to destroy yourself upon those streets at night, but that name, must not pass your lips! I swear if you breathe it in your sleep I will tear you apart, I will destroy you!” A scream rent the air, and Amalia heard it from the other room and paled. She dropped the hand of her sick patient and fled into the room from whence came the scream. “Stop, father!” she hissed bitterly, throwing herself between the child lying thrown against the wooden wall and her powerful father, whose eyes were cold and whose face nearly matched his grey hair. “You are not to touch this child: remember tomorrow; you dare not!” How did she dare? thought Ásgeir. He turned his face away as his father replied, “He must obey, Amalia, or he will ruin us, he will destroy himself.” “Would you destroy him instead?” answered Amalia coldly. She took the boy by the hand, and pulling him with her hurried away. Then she stopped before the stairs and the boy fell down crying. “I’m sorry, Ásgeir!” she said, as though with something in her throat. Then she turned his face toward her, and her eyes looked into his with pain. “Don’t cry, Ásgeir,” she said bravely. “You can’t: crying doesn’t help.” “I won’t,” he answered and his voice dropped. “I never cry, Amalia.” “Ásgeir!” the child’s father called from the other room and he turned his wide eyes back towards it, scrambling backwards up the step. “You must not dare leave tonight; tomorrow the god mother has called you.” “The queen mother?” the child gasped. Had they found out about the arena? It was punishable to trespass there! And he had touched the gladiator! “Quick, go upstairs!” His sister lifted him onto his feet. “Is there any bread?” Ásgeir looked wistfully at her for a moment without moving. “I’m hungry,” he added, turning down his eyes. “I’ll bring you up some later,” Amalia sighed. “Now go.” “But what about Horus?” the boy asked, scrabbling up. “Horus? Horus isn’t that bad, he’s safe for today.” Too bad, thought Ásgeir: and then he bit his lip, just tripping into his room. He bent down and looked through the cracks at the sick boy lying on the couch beneath. He was wrong, he knew; he would try to be better: but it wouldn’t be easy. Next... Spoiler Here is my build for the guild challenge 1D category, Everyone Needs a Home. It's also the second chapter in my saga. I wish, again, that I could have built a greater variety of scenes for the chapter, but time limits me to one this time, so I hope you like it, here are extra views: It mostly focuses on Horus: One last one showing the awkward beams. Comments and critiques are appreciated :) ! Edited January 16, 2019 by W Navarre Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted January 15, 2019 The build itself is really well done - love the angled wall panels and the 100% LEGO shots you've created. There's lovely details around the room - the globe, the helmet, the table, etc - that bring the scene to life. As I said on Flickr the floor is a bit overdone to my tastes but it's certainly a novel approach. The story is a little bit garbled to me, it's not the easiest to follow. I think it would be good if you demystified a few things: Why does the father not want to use the name de Cioto? Why is Horus coughing blood? Why did the boy not knock? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zoth33 Posted January 16, 2019 Nice scene. I like the angled wall panels kind of gives a ramshackle feel to the interior. The uneven floor also adds to the charm along with all the odd different pieces in the room like the blue chima ball, the globe, the books lying around, etc. The story is a little hard to follow with the different circumstances. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kai NRG Posted January 16, 2019 Already commented on the scene, mostly - nice to see the full build, I like the irregularity of the base but still think the whole thing looks incredibly ramshackle! As for the story, it's definitely got a lot of mystery right now which isn't a bad technique necessarily, but you may be carrying it a bit too far? Anyhow hurry up and explain some stuff before we forget everything! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
en_zoo Posted January 16, 2019 oh now I see how you did the floor... it wasn't all that mysterious after all! I can see others' point, as you might've left too many gaps, yet it looks cool and goes especially well with the walls. Nice details all around, the make for a great atmosphere. Nice story too, really intriguing. I fear you're gonna need quite a while to explain all that though, now that you've started! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W Navarre Posted January 17, 2019 On 1/15/2019 at 4:15 PM, Basiliscus said: The build itself is really well done - love the angled wall panels and the 100% LEGO shots you've created. There's lovely details around the room - the globe, the helmet, the table, etc - that bring the scene to life. As I said on Flickr the floor is a bit overdone to my tastes but it's certainly a novel approach. The story is a little bit garbled to me, it's not the easiest to follow. I think it would be good if you demystified a few things: Why does the father not want to use the name de Cioto? Why is Horus coughing blood? Why did the boy not knock? Thank you! Glad to hear your thoughts! You are supposed to be a little confused, but I hope I didn't over do it, if you enjoyed it that's what matters, I really hope to clear those things up later! BUt for now, I can answer you some. He didn't knock because he knew his father would hear and would punish him: instead he waited since he knew his sister would look for him and let him in. Horus is his sick brother... working on the bios now! On 1/15/2019 at 9:52 PM, zoth33 said: Nice scene. I like the angled wall panels kind of gives a ramshackle feel to the interior. The uneven floor also adds to the charm along with all the odd different pieces in the room like the blue chima ball, the globe, the books lying around, etc. The story is a little hard to follow with the different circumstances. I love NPU, thanks! This is too sadly the case evidently, I will try to seek more balance in future installments! 13 hours ago, Kai NRG said: Already commented on the scene, mostly - nice to see the full build, I like the irregularity of the base but still think the whole thing looks incredibly ramshackle! As for the story, it's definitely got a lot of mystery right now which isn't a bad technique necessarily, but you may be carrying it a bit too far? Anyhow hurry up and explain some stuff before we forget everything! Thanks, doing my best . I just can't wait till I start striking at people ! 3 hours ago, en_zoo said: oh now I see how you did the floor... it wasn't all that mysterious after all! I can see others' point, as you might've left too many gaps, yet it looks cool and goes especially well with the walls. Nice details all around, the make for a great atmosphere. Nice story too, really intriguing. I fear you're gonna need quite a while to explain all that though, now that you've started! No, not so much, just a little delicate, haha! I really appreciate your comments, I hope that the story has intrigued you to get you to look forward to more! Explanations are there, just need to get them to the reader better! Thank you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Basiliscus Posted January 17, 2019 5 hours ago, W Navarre said: Thank you! Glad to hear your thoughts! You are supposed to be a little confused, but I hope I didn't over do it, if you enjoyed it that's what matters, I really hope to clear those things up later! BUt for now, I can answer you some. He didn't knock because he knew his father would hear and would punish him: instead he waited since he knew his sister would look for him and let him in. Horus is his sick brother... working on the bios now! Bios would be great! I should have said that I do really like the story and a bit of mystery definitely keeps it interesting! Look forward to reading more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grover Posted January 19, 2019 You do a really nice job with the closeup pictures and the detail in the background for all the walls. The wonky setting of the walls gives a feeling of a disrepaired, maybe unusual rounded setting that works very nicely. Sometimes the story is so complex as to be confusing, but a re-read helps. Well done! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
soccerkid6 Posted February 5, 2019 That's one rickety wooden floor! Really cool idea to have different colors of plaster on the various wall sections Very cool minifig combos as well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spader Posted February 7, 2019 Some of the most impressive distressed woodwork I've ever seen. Excellent work, sir. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W Navarre Posted February 8, 2019 On 1/17/2019 at 4:16 AM, Basiliscus said: Bios would be great! I should have said that I do really like the story and a bit of mystery definitely keeps it interesting! Look forward to reading more. Okay, hope to achieve those soon! On 1/19/2019 at 3:15 PM, Grover said: You do a really nice job with the closeup pictures and the detail in the background for all the walls. The wonky setting of the walls gives a feeling of a disrepaired, maybe unusual rounded setting that works very nicely. Sometimes the story is so complex as to be confusing, but a re-read helps. Well done! Thank you, I went for round walls because it's meant to be a hut or tower :) . Glad the story can be understood somewhat! Hope to get things more clear in the future! On 2/5/2019 at 11:47 AM, soccerkid6 said: That's one rickety wooden floor! Really cool idea to have different colors of plaster on the various wall sections Very cool minifig combos as well Thanks! One color would have been boring, right ;) . 14 hours ago, Judge of the Wastelands said: Some of the most impressive distressed woodwork I've ever seen. Excellent work, sir. Thank you! I love building woodwork like this! So much that, it appears, I certainly overdid the effect here! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Garmadon Posted February 13, 2019 I love the walls and floor here, man - I probably wouldn't walk on it, though! I think I've already commented on the scene elsewhere, but the trinkets and details lying around are placed really well, and that bed looks rather comfortable and remarkably awkward at the same time, somehow or other, The story's slightly confusing, but I trust you've got it under control and will elucidate things for us before too long! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rogue Angel Posted February 15, 2019 A 2nd beautiful build! Ramshackle was definitely the right work to use, and it really looks like slums/shanty/rundown buildings, the floor is especially well done. I wouldn't expect the variety of colors to work well, but they definitely did here. I am enjoying the story, and looking forward to part 3! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Servertijd Posted February 15, 2019 Great story, and I love the cracked floor and all the little details! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gideon Posted February 15, 2019 Lovely walls and overall great woodwork! The all-lego shots are top notch (What I however didn't like as much was the (custom?) cloth pieces, with closeups like these they unfortunately lowered the impression of the figs for me. ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
W Navarre Posted February 21, 2019 On 2/13/2019 at 1:52 PM, Garmadon said: I love the walls and floor here, man - I probably wouldn't walk on it, though! I think I've already commented on the scene elsewhere, but the trinkets and details lying around are placed really well, and that bed looks rather comfortable and remarkably awkward at the same time, somehow or other, The story's slightly confusing, but I trust you've got it under control and will elucidate things for us before too long! Hope to do so, thank you for your thoughts! On 2/15/2019 at 12:44 AM, Rogue Angel said: A 2nd beautiful build! Ramshackle was definitely the right work to use, and it really looks like slums/shanty/rundown buildings, the floor is especially well done. I wouldn't expect the variety of colors to work well, but they definitely did here. I am enjoying the story, and looking forward to part 3! Thanks, I thought of using just one color but decided I would try this and it worked . Glad you enjoy it! Sadly progress is postponed, but not for too long it is my hope! On 2/15/2019 at 6:00 AM, Servertijd said: Great story, and I love the cracked floor and all the little details! Thank you sir! On 2/15/2019 at 2:55 PM, Gideon said: Lovely walls and overall great woodwork! The all-lego shots are top notch (What I however didn't like as much was the (custom?) cloth pieces, with closeups like these they unfortunately lowered the impression of the figs for me. ) Thank you! Glad you like it. That is a strange point of view, for me all cloth elements elevate the minifig if used carefully, bringing its form and shape more to life. These cloths are mostly LEGO, just one is a Cape-madness imitation (the sand green one). But I am glad to hear your thoughts, and looking at it again I do agree that the boy's cape looks wrong, it's too short and doesn't go: I'll try to keep it out in the future unless very confident that it works well. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Henjin_Quilones Posted March 5, 2019 The leaning and uneven structures around the edges create a very unique room. The figs and the colors are all nicely done, but the whole thing seems just a bit too ramshackle for my tastes - I'd constantly be worrying about it falling down! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
