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LordBevis

Challenge II: Category A: Bread in the Valley

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In remote western Avalonia, a valley long untouched by any politics or happenings outside of daily survival Niall scans the valley.

This place is just as I remember it.  It will work perfectly he thought to himself.

He turned to his companion "Kimee do you agree it will work?" He asked quietly.

“With a lot of hard work and likely most of what we acquired in our travels it should be possible” she reassured him.

And with that Niall shouted for Tem. “I have a favor for you my friend before we put down our own roots here.  I need you to take a horse and go back to the farms in the countryside and to the hamlet where that trader fellow Lorin resided.  Give him these letters and spread the word that in 2 weeks time there will be free bread, fish and soup being handed out to anyone who will join us and hear my words.  Promise them flour to take back home and safety with us just to hear our proposal. Do this and hurry back. The last letter there is for Lorin only it has a list of everything we will need to be here in 2 weeks time.  Tell him to not be late and there will be something extra waiting.”

Tem set off immediately on his errand.

2 weeks had come to pass.  Lorin had done his part and the supplies had arrived, bags of flour, crates of travel bread, salted fish and food for the soup had all been sorted.  The soup was cooking already and the spices filled the air. Niall thought by now he would have seen people. The promise of free food in these hard times was not a small offer. As the late morning sun began to climb in the sky, he began to worry his message did not reach enough ears.  He shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand and stared down the rugged makeshift path one more time that led to the valley. Was that movement down the way? He squinted hard, yes there were shapes walking down the road. One, two, he stopped counting.  There were many all walking together. He should have known they would show up at once. Safer to travel in groups, slower but safer.

They lined up for the food and the free bags of flour.  Tem entertained the kids with his songs of adventures and intrigue.  He even showed a little slight of hand here and there so a coin or two could find their way to the kids pockets.

https://flic.kr/p/2eoSTVA

 

IMG_20190128_212526818

The people had come to hear Niall's offer of safety, protection from bandits, wildlife, drow and the hardships that have always been part of living in an area that seemed long forgotten by the Lords of Avalonia.  He promised work for those with skills and fair wages and land for those to farm who would grow crops. For anyone without skills there would be no shortage of labour in the coming years. 

 

The folks who came to hear the message did not run or laugh as he feared.  They listened, asked questions and talked amongst themselves. 

And so the families spent the evening under the stars while Niall and his companions took turns standing watch.  

The people all departed at first light. A few promising to return, others wanting time to consider.  Niall had only asked them for one thing.  To speak of this meeting to anyone who would listen and to extend the same offer and give a letter to anyone interested. They had agreed saying it was the least they could do for the flour.

With the promise of some folks to arrive in the coming weeks the next matter to combat was the security of anyone who would show up.  His party could do so for smaller numbers in this area of the valley. But what if the numbers became too many or too fast? Should something befall any of the families the rest would be sure to flee.  He would need to attract those that could shoot a bow, or swing a piece of steel. Or at the very least entice those willing to learn to help defend the area from everything from wildlife to bandits.

Niall stared at his friend Boralis; “Do you think our luck will hold my friend if we promised food and coin to anyone willing to give us their fealty and help protect this valley?” 

The older man almost spit out his ale.  “These last few years you think had anything to do with luck boy!  People are drawn to you like flies to…” he did not finish his sentence.  

“If they come as you suggest will you help train them though?” Niall looked at his friend intently waiting for a sign he would balk from the task.

“Boy, I told you I would follow you.  Build me a house with a warm fire and plenty of wine and I will train anyone who takes your money.  The chance to bruise a few green lads knuckles never fails to make me smile either”

So it was settled.  Word would be sent with trader Lorin. Weapons and further provisions would be secured.  The offer of pay and food to anyone who had any skill with a bow, blade or knife or a desire to learn.  A contest would be had on the last festive weekend of the month.

 Purses for the best marksman, axe thrower and winners of the melee would be offered to entice those that were less desperate for coin and that already knew to handle a weapon.  

And come they did, more than he expected these isolated lands would produce. 

And so began an age of rebuilding in the remote corner of Avalonia

Edited by LordBevis

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What a nice way to start your story, your settlement and to take part in the challenge all at once! I like the tree on the right hand side and there are some neat details, like the tables and the cart. One thing that bothers me a bit is those brown tiles to mark the border, also because they top both tan and black, making it unclear - I'd suggest that you use only black for the border, or one other colour, possibly one that isn't in the rest of the build (tan and brown, in this case, won't do, imo). You have really nice figs there, the story is well written and promising enough. So, good job! Keep it coming! :classic::thumbup:

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Very nice starting build. I like the lush greenery that Avalonia is known for and the cart is well done. The ground texture is a bit simple but ok for a cleared space. The minifigs and the story going with them are a nice touch. It’s good to see people coming together to make things a little better and safer in their part of the world.

Looking forward to more from your new settlement!

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Very nice build!  There's so many great little details here... the root vegetable in the plate with the carrot, the slightly askew spear with the avalonian flags, the yellow flowers with the black pistils, the nice pine tree made from the palm branches... I like, too, that we get to see your sigfig in different clothing and in such a great situation.  The story works well, and shows his compassion for the people.  I like the bard playing the lute, too!  If there is anything unusual, I think it lies in the photography.  Some of the peasants seem to be leaning backward, but that's obviously the angle since it's the same with some of the women wearing dresses, and they don't bend.  I'm not really sure how to fix that, but it's pretty minor.  Great job!

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3 hours ago, en_zoo said:

What a nice way to start your story, your settlement and to take part in the challenge all at once! I like the tree on the right hand side and there are some neat details, like the tables and the cart. One thing that bothers me a bit is those brown tiles to mark the border, also because they top both tan and black, making it unclear - I'd suggest that you use only black for the border, or one other colour, possibly one that isn't in the rest of the build (tan and brown, in this case, won't do, imo). You have really nice figs there, the story is well written and promising enough. So, good job! Keep it coming! :classic::thumbup:

Thanks for the feedback on the border.  I felt like it needed a border but it is one of those areas that I had no clue where to go with it.  Keeping it all 1 color makes sense and so does keeping it a color that is not in the scene.  Really appreciate the feedback there as it will help me the next time around.

 

3 hours ago, Muakhah said:

Very nice starting build. I like the lush greenery that Avalonia is known for and the cart is well done. The ground texture is a bit simple but ok for a cleared space. The minifigs and the story going with them are a nice touch. It’s good to see people coming together to make things a little better and safer in their part of the world.

Looking forward to more from your new settlement!

Thanks Muakhah for the pointers.  I tried to keep the ground texture simple for fig placement.  It is also one of the areas that I struggle with for inspiration and have no practice in.  As a result I took this time to allow my 7 year old to help in placing and choosing some of the ground texture pieces as he was hovering over my shoulder and was taking an interest in my building and I wanted to encourage that interest as it is part of my decision to begin building more.  Would you have any recommendations on guides or tutorials to different ground texture techniques?  But yes this area was meant to be a small clearing allowing a camp to exist and a small gathering to occur.

 

28 minutes ago, Grover said:

Very nice build!  There's so many great little details here... the root vegetable in the plate with the carrot, the slightly askew spear with the avalonian flags, the yellow flowers with the black pistils, the nice pine tree made from the palm branches... I like, too, that we get to see your sigfig in different clothing and in such a great situation.  The story works well, and shows his compassion for the people.  I like the bard playing the lute, too!  If there is anything unusual, I think it lies in the photography.  Some of the peasants seem to be leaning backward, but that's obviously the angle since it's the same with some of the women wearing dresses, and they don't bend.  I'm not really sure how to fix that, but it's pretty minor.  Great job!

Hi Grover.  Yes this is probably going to be just as large of a journey for me as the building.  Photography is not my strong suit.  Again if there are any guides out there for lego photography I would be glad to read them.  I have bright lighting in my building room but I noticed shadows when I was trying to take photos. I will likely invest in an all white background at some point or possibly a few solid colors.  But honestly photography will be my short coming so any feedback on how to improve this is welcome.  I can do trial and error as well but I found getting the right angles, distances etc a challenge.  And I have noticed that photography of displays can really make or bring out the story.

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Really nice work! Love the story although I do wonder how Niall acquired such wealth in the first place to distribute to the needy!

The build is lovely, I like the little touches such as the knife on the table and the full cart.

As mentioned the photography could be improved by getting the whole model in shot (the corners have been cut off) and moving the background further away to give more of an infinity effect. However, the shot is in focus and sharp so it's easy to see the details.

Good work and hope to see more from you! :thumbup:

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Just now, Basiliscus said:

Really nice work! Love the story although I do wonder how Niall acquired such wealth in the first place to distribute to the needy!

The build is lovely, I like the little touches such as the knife on the table and the full cart.

As mentioned the photography could be improved by getting the whole model in shot (the corners have been cut off) and moving the background further away to give more of an infinity effect. However, the shot is in focus and sharp so it's easy to see the details.

Good work and hope to see more from you! :thumbup:

Ah Basiliscus. His story will be told in time.  My sigfig was recently introduced as a farmer in Avalonia but his story began in Book 2 and has not been told in written or lego format yet.  My goal is to allow his story to unfold in freebuilds/guild challenges for his past while allowing his present day story to unfold in the challenges.  

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Great start. I really dig some of the techniques here, especially stuff I've seen before on GoH that shows you've either been doing your homework OR you're on the same wavelength. Or both! All are good.

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14 minutes ago, mccoyed said:

Great start. I really dig some of the techniques here, especially stuff I've seen before on GoH that shows you've either been doing your homework OR you're on the same wavelength. Or both! All are good.

These are my first ever mocs. All my inspiration comes from here or Flickr.  Although I have officially gone through 260 pages of Historica forum pages and I realize most of what is on Flickr is from here and vice versa. But yes my inspiration I try to recreate from photos and may add a twist if it presents itself.  But I would like to try my hand at learning several techniques before adding too many of my own twists.  Hoping that is the evolution of things though.  I managed to read through the GoH official lorebook as well so I am not shy of research. 

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Nice little scene.  Good use of the bamboo pieces and lovely vegetation.  Nice mixture of figs too.  

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On 1/29/2019 at 4:27 PM, LordBevis said:

These are my first ever mocs. All my inspiration comes from here or Flickr.  Although I have officially gone through 260 pages of Historica forum pages and I realize most of what is on Flickr is from here and vice versa. But yes my inspiration I try to recreate from photos and may add a twist if it presents itself.  But I would like to try my hand at learning several techniques before adding too many of my own twists.  Hoping that is the evolution of things though.  I managed to read through the GoH official lorebook as well so I am not shy of research. 

I did the same thing when I started. It's a great way to start!

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Nifty tree using bamboo leaves and palm leaves to make a pine :thumbup: Good civilian mini-figures, and the numerous supplies look great.

You're off to a great start in the guilds!

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Welcome, and a great 1st build!  A lot of nice little details in this build.  My only suggestion would be to use 1x1 rounds to angle some of the figs so that they are not all facing in the exact same direction.  Good story, and great way to wrap it in to your story.  Nice work!

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The tree in the corner is really interesting, the conifer made with bamboo leaves, and works surprisingly well. The terrain is rather flat, though, and could use some variation to spice things up a bit. 

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