On Shifting Sands

[The Stad]

The man hated this place.  He hated coming out here, into the depths of the Badlands, hated meeting with those withered creatures, hated waiting for them in the cold shadow of this great, unsettling thing.  Yet, here he was, nonetheless.  

He first saw their tiny figures when they mounted a distant dune.  He watched them steadily descend its face into the next valley, then several moments later they appeared again, closer now, still coming at an even pace, unhindered by the rising heat that began to pulse in shimmering waves off of the endless sea of sand.  They reached the crest of the penultimate dune, and his horse, which had been idly pulling at the burnt stalks of some long-dead shrub, came to him nervously pressed its head against his shoulder.  Even she didn't like these meetings.

In a few more moments they were there before him, and the first among them spoke.

"Your task is done, then?" it rasped, its red eyes flickering behind the rags that held it together.

"Of course," the man answered stiffly. "The proper people were paid, the peasants were fed, the shows went on., as promised."

"So say our listeners. You have again performed...more than adequately. Your payment will be delivered to the oasis south of the Fallen Angel on the fifth day hence. A portion will also be delivered, to be used towards our efforts. Return to this place in two fortnights for further instruction.  This is an adequate rendezvous, is it not?"

"I'd prefer somewhere closer to water," the man said slowly. "My horse doesn't do well so far out here."

"Perhaps a camel would suit you better," the creature dismissively returned. "No, closer to water is closer to eyes that might see that which must not be seen.  Our meetings must remain unmarked. Besides, this place is significant to us."

The man didn't respond.  He'd tried, though he didn't expect to get much better from such dealers as these.  He began to turn to leave when the creature spoke again.

"Do you know why this place is notable?" Its voice seemed distant now, its gaze rolled slowly up and down the strange grey stones of the spire, and still the man didn't respond. "This marks the site of a great victory for our kingdom. Here, where lay their last great city, was the final gasp of an ancient empire, who came before even the god-kings of old.  In their time they knew power unrivaled, ruled over lands innumerable, counted themselves as masters over earth, sky, and sea, and yet they are gone, and we remain.  Our armies crushed them to a man, their halls and towers were torn to the ground, and our mighty king wrapped the very stones in the loving arms of this desert.  Such is the fate of those who would stand before us!" Its eyes flashed brightly as its voice came to a crescendo, then just as suddenly the creature was silent.

"As you say." The man bowed his head and turned, walking his horse back past the spire, the way he had come. 

"Remember," called the creature, and the man paused and looked back, "Our great master is generous to those who serve him well.  Give thanks, and pray that you never fail him."

The man bowed his head again, and both parties turned and left.  When he was sure the creatures could no longer see him, he mounted his horse and spurred her away as fast as she would run.

Spoiler

Had hoped to get this done and photographed in time for the challenge, but here it is anyway.  C&C welcome as always.

 

[W Navarre]

This is excellent, what a cool dome and fits nicely with the pillar, plus the figs look good on the sand.  That's a smart guy carrying ice cream cones through the desert too  . NPU. 

[zoth33]

Wonderful build.  Your spire is great, I really likthe clean smooth texture all the way to the dome, makes it look sleek.  Great job on the story, it really draws you in and the build is perfect for it.  

[en_zoo]

Really nice! I love how the rounded part of the pillar fits on the squared one, well done. The rest of the build is pretty simple, yet very appropriate for the story, which gives it meaning and brings it to life

One question: I believe this is a sequel to something, am I wrong? If so, it'd be cool having a link to the previous 'episode'; if not, it'd be cool to have some sort of introduction, just to set the scene. In this way people (well.. me, at least ) could follow along your story a bit better

[mccoyed]

I really like this base. The pillar is awesome, of course, but the base really stood out to me as a great example of that technique.

[The Stad]

On 2/21/2019 at 4:27 AM, W Navarre said:

This is excellent, what a cool dome and fits nicely with the pillar, plus the figs look good on the sand.  That's a smart guy carrying ice cream cones through the desert too  . NPU. 

Thanks, it took many iterations to get it just right, but I’m happy with how it came out. The beauty of this medium is that we get to use our imagination constantly, and the “ice cream cone” piece looked like a good, small pouch to me, so here we are.

 

On 2/21/2019 at 9:18 PM, zoth33 said:

Wonderful build.  Your spire is great, I really likthe clean smooth texture all the way to the dome, makes it look sleek.  Great job on the story, it really draws you in and the build is perfect for it.  

Thank you!

 

On 2/23/2019 at 6:08 AM, en_zoo said:

Really nice! I love how the rounded part of the pillar fits on the squared one, well done. The rest of the build is pretty simple, yet very appropriate for the story, which gives it meaning and brings it to life

One question: I believe this is a sequel to something, am I wrong? If so, it'd be cool having a link to the previous 'episode'; if not, it'd be cool to have some sort of introduction, just to set the scene. In this way people (well.. me, at least ) could follow along your story a bit better

Thanks, though this isn’t really part of any ongoing story as of yet. I just wanted to build with tan for a while...

 

10 hours ago, mccoyed said:

I really like this base. The pillar is awesome, of course, but the base really stood out to me as a great example of that technique.

Thank you! Isn’t it funny how the part we consider the focal point so often takes the back seat to the part that we build as an afterthought! Though I am glad you like the base, it turned out better than I had hoped it would.

[The Last of Nergoue]

interesting architecture, very nice moc!

[Exetrius]

Mysterious architecture, perfectly befitting that area of the Badlands (the grey zone where Kaliphlin ends and Nocturnus begins, perhaps?). A desolate place, lost to time, for sure. I have to agree, the base is pretty good. You're a good afterthought builder, haha!  Effective writing as well, good work! 

[Grover]

This is a great build.  The desolation of the desert comes across, and not from a lack of detail.  I really like the story that goes with it.  I think that the distaste for dealing with the undead and the concern for his horse comes across.  Your descriptions draw in the reader.  Outstanding!

[de Gothia]

Lovely story and a great moc! Perfect combo!!

[Henjin_Quilones]

Awesome tower/spire! The smooth construction is excellent, needing no embellishments. It contrasts nicely with the rough-textured terrain. Also, good job filling in the saddle of the horse to avoid the hole-in-the-horse syndrome. I do feel like the transition from studs-up to SNOT on the edges of the base could be done more smoothly, but I am not sure how. Maybe if it were another stud deeper, it would allow for more subtle shaping. 

[soccerkid6]

You've got a knack for creating lovely shapes and patterns in your buildings The SNOT slope corners and curved slopes under the dome look great.

And good work with the desert scenery - thought it could probably be further improved by having less long straight edges in the plate layering/border edge.