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Prenmôr Forge

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The Tales of Lady Gwenllian

9. Prenmôr Forge

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One of the most important buildings in Prenmôr was the smithy.  It was to be the first permanent structure in the castle, as a blacksmith was needed to prepare (and repair) nails, tools, weapons, and other miscellaneous steel and iron items.  The need for a forge was immediate, so it was built with the first load of stone from the quarries and had little decoration.  The initial stone from the quarries was irregular and contained smaller pieces than would eventually be used for the castle walls, so the blacksmith shop had a distinct appearance.  It was intentionally located in what would become the inner ward for security and to ensure a steady supply of weapons and armor should the castle come under attack. 

Fire was always a concern in the confined space of a castle, so the smithy was made from stone, located near the well for a supply of water, and placed apart from the residential structures.  To further mitigate fire risk, Lady Gwenllian purchased expensive slate from a nearby dwarven mine for the roof. 

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The smithy's distinct appearance was not just due to its stone: the roof sloped one direction and only two small windows appeared in the side walls.  Since the back of the smithy would eventually become part of the inner curtain a vaulted roof was unnecessary, and since the windows would eventually face the gatehouse and the inner curtain walls, their use as light sources was limited.  Thus, two lanterns were hung inside the smithy to supplement the lighting.

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Lady Gwenllian and Lady Seren planned for the future by designing a forge large enough for a master smith that they hoped to eventually attract to the site.  Despite being large, the forge had enough conveniences (such as a bellows with a pull chain) so that a single blacksmith could work alone if need be.

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A large horizontal window at the front doubled as a work counter, let in most of the light and fresh air, and provided an exit for the heat of the forge during warm months.  This window was closed by a large wooden shutter that could be kept closed at night and in the winter.

A stone shelf near the forge contained charcoal fuel, and several log rounds would hold work, tools, and the all-important anvil.  A huge bellows would blow air into the forge to keep the coals hot enough for steel.  Iron bloom, wrought iron rods, and steel stock were kept in crates and barrels around the room.  Outside, barrels collected rain water runoff from the roof to supplement the water supply in the forge.  A small bucket of water was located in the forge for immediate use.

Lady Gwenllian’s blacksmith was none other than Sven, one of her family's blacksmiths from back in Albers.  Sven had been raised in Mitgardia, where he fought and sailed, but had also apprenticed for a few years to a dwarven blacksmith.  Sven was not a master of the forge, but his nails, horseshoes, and various tools were functional.  His apprenticeship had taught him to let form follow function, and though his work was not always pretty, it could withstand quite a bit of abuse.

At the beginning of the summer, the forge fired up for the first time.  Raw iron bloom was smelted in a makeshift clay brick furnace in the yard, then stored in piles in the smithy.  Sven wrought this sponge iron and stored it as bars and plates for tools, weapons, and armor.  The initial pieces consisted mostly of nails and a few repairs on plows, picks, and shovels, none of which taxed the capacity of the huge smithy.  Sven set up a cot in the back of the forge that became his temporary home until the permanent apartments were built, which was just fine with him, as he was the oldest of the household and was pleased to sleep in warm, a water-tight building.

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After watching Sven at work, Lady Seren’s daughter, Alis, became interested in smithing, and with Lady Seren's permission, Sven took her on as his apprentice.  She worked the bellows, fed the fire, collected charcoal, fetched water, and practiced working on scraps of iron and steel as Sven handled the main load of work.  By mid-summer, Alis had made great progress and was helping make nails, while Sven was starting to make more tools and even a few spearheads for rudimentary defense. 

Being more sociable, Alis also routinely dealt with customers, which greatly improved the relations between the workers and the somewhat curmudgeonly Sven.

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Particularly with the more unruly customers.

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Spoiler

 

Well, here's the next in the HSS freebuilds, on the way to making Prenmôr a hamlet.  The microscale build has returned, showing the progress of the temporary structures and the permanent blacksmith shop, along with some of the progress that has been made in clearing brush and digging out the front of the rock outcropping (this is subtle compared to the original).  Because it is summer and not winter, I changed the ocean and river water colors to dark blue and green respectively, to try and convey the two bodies of water merging.

The roof of the forge is the usual tiled technique that is detailed all over YouTube, and, @Garmadon , I'm pretty sure that the DeFiori Forge and this one were inspired by the same picture.  The lighting on this was a mess, and I'm still not happy with the reddish color to the forge.  I wanted it to be orange, but my light sources only made it red, so I need to find a good incandescent source I guess.  Some of the pictures are dark, but if I lighten them up, you miss the texturing on the walls, so I'm struggling with how to get good detail there.  In person you can see a lot more detail and texture on the walls.  I was inspired by @soccerkid6 to make a building that was hinged, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  The roof sits on the frame and the hinge is held together with a barrel on the side of the building.

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I also included a shot of the counter from the inside so it could be seen better.

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Hopefully you enjoy, and C&C welcome, as usual.

 


 

 

 

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Awesome and lovely build! The seagulls in the roof really catches the coast town feeling. And tge interrior is well made!

 

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This is a great build.  The exterior is nice but not too remarkable (the roof is lovely), but the interior I think is fantastic.  The forge and arches with the cheese slopes, the smithy equipment, the posing with the red-hot metal - all great!  :classic:

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Very nice build.  I like the roof and color choice for it.  The shop itself is pretty neat.  I like the bellow for the forge.  I also like the small crane inside and all the different metals and wood pieces for the forging of weapons.  Nice story to accompany the build too.

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The sand blue roof here looks amazing!  I love how the birds bring it to life too.  And of course, great use of that door for a small lean-to roof!

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A very good build. The interior details are great and the shot of the smithy hammering the red-hot metal rod is excellent! I understand size constraints but that little water bucket should really be a big barrel :wink:.

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On 9/29/2019 at 4:36 AM, kahir88 said:

Awesome and lovely build! The seagulls in the roof really catches the coast town feeling. And tge interrior is well made!

Thank you!  I try to incorporate wind and seagulls in my builds to give it the coastal feeling.

On 9/29/2019 at 8:49 AM, Eoin Wallace said:

I love the builds, especially the roof on the smithy and nice story too! :wub:

Thanks!  It took two B&P orders to get enough sand blue tiles, but I think it turned out well.  I hope to continue the story of building the castle as it moves along.

On 9/29/2019 at 1:04 PM, deraven said:

This is a great build.  The exterior is nice but not too remarkable (the roof is lovely), but the interior I think is fantastic.  The forge and arches with the cheese slopes, the smithy equipment, the posing with the red-hot metal - all great!  :classic:

Thank you!  I tried to keep the exterior plain so it would fit into the storyline of establishing a new castle and community, so I'm glad it wasn't too much.  The interior was a lot of work, but I was pretty happy with it.  Thank you for your comments!

On 9/29/2019 at 8:15 PM, zoth33 said:

Very nice build.  I like the roof and color choice for it.  The shop itself is pretty neat.  I like the bellow for the forge.  I also like the small crane inside and all the different metals and wood pieces for the forging of weapons.  Nice story to accompany the build too.

Thanks!  My build is somewhat similar to the DeFiori forge by @Garmadon, but I did my bellows a little differently.  I wound up using some of those A frame pieces.

On 9/30/2019 at 8:23 AM, Kai NRG said:

The sand blue roof here looks amazing!  I love how the birds bring it to life too.  And of course, great use of that door for a small lean-to roof!

Thanks!  I used all my birds for this, but only part of my seagulls.  C'mon, Lego, release the birds on B&P!!!! lol

On 9/30/2019 at 2:28 PM, Bracari said:

A very good build. The interior details are great and the shot of the smithy hammering the red-hot metal rod is excellent! I understand size constraints but that little water bucket should really be a big barrel :wink:.

Thank you!  It took some time trying to get the lighting right on the smith.  I wish it could be brighter, but then you lose the texture in the brick behind him, so this was it.  And you're right, there should have been a large barrel for that huge iron bar!

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I love the micro compared to the full size version!  Great roof! The inside is sweet too, great texture for the chimney.

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It's a fine build, and well thought-out! :thumbup: I enjoyed reading it and it had some educational value for me, too. Oh and the micro scale version is a cute. :laugh: 

One note, if you're on PC I find the images to be very large, I usually go below 800 pixels in both dimensions.

Edited by Exetrius

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It's clear you've put a lot of thought into this one, the story has a lot of great content that adds to the tale. Just the little things that make it extra.

The roof is really well done, the misaligned tiles look great. The interior is fantastic too.

Great work!

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On 10/2/2019 at 6:56 AM, W Navarre said:

I love the micro compared to the full size version!  Great roof! The inside is sweet too, great texture for the chimney.

Thanks!  I had fun modifying the micro from its original state.  I'll keep changing it as I add to the castle.  The texture on the chimney is done with the modified 1x2 plates with a rail, set half a stud back on jumpers.  It's more dramatic in person, but I haven't figured out how to really capture it on camera yet.

On 10/3/2019 at 12:30 PM, Exetrius said:

It's a fine build, and well thought-out! :thumbup: I enjoyed reading it and it had some educational value for me, too. Oh and the micro scale version is a cute. :laugh: 

One note, if you're on PC I find the images to be very large, I usually go below 800 pixels in both dimensions.

Thank you!  I try to research my builds as much as historically possible (magic and dragons notwithstanding).  Thanks for the note about the images.  My browsers have always automatically resized them, so I'll try and use the medium vs. the large version on the BB codes for Flickr from now on.

On 10/4/2019 at 2:59 PM, Basiliscus said:

It's clear you've put a lot of thought into this one, the story has a lot of great content that adds to the tale. Just the little things that make it extra.

The roof is really well done, the misaligned tiles look great. The interior is fantastic too.

Great work!

Thanks a bunch!  I am hoping to add to the story bit by bit as I try to complete HSS and participate in the challenges.  I know the roof tile technique has been done a lot before, but I had fun doing it, and I hadn't seen a big sand blue roof before.  The hardest part was the top of the building where the tiles attach to the roofline.  It's a little tricky there, as there's one line that isn't attached to the rest of the roof, and the main roof just sits on panel pieces.

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Great job on this! Repeating what a lot have said, but good use of color and technique with the roof, nice use of the door-roof and animals. The micro-to-minifig comparison adds a ton to this build. Excellent work!

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Excellent work is this smithy, Sir Grover!
 

First of all, I love the fact that you do have a micro perspective of the whole village of Prenmôr. I encourage other builders to do the same (me included), as it adds more knowledge of the living environment in which we are building (maybe having a sole topic to add only micro-scales of all our villages and cities, as a glossary).

The roof certainly stands out, as a lot of people mentioned. Great tile-work. Very impressive. But the stonework deserves mentioning too, as it is very well done. Adding the inverted slope prior to the bluish-grey slopes when starting the roof is a well thought solution to add more design and depth to this unusual architecture for a blacksmith shop. The hinges on top are awesome too. The chimney is great too, though I would have added another round of (maybe black to add some impact color) studs to show some soot and grime.

The animals give a lot of life to the build. For some reason I feel that chickens always come along with forges. Don't ask me why. I do believe a larger bush of grass or some foliage would add even more life, though. The use of wood is great and balanced. Using the door as part of the roof is intelligent too. Congrats!

I was hoping to see the interior, and I'm impressed. Sooo much stuff (built stuff!) in this tiny space! Outstanding job, mate. I love the forge, the arches, the materials. Also, the light from inside the forge - is so cool! The glowing hot iron bar is terrific, too. Ah! And nice minifig posing and head-choices.

Finally, it makes me very happy to see how much effort you've put in the backstory. I felt it to be very informative and emotional, especially when adding Alis as an apprentice blacksmith. I do hope to see her grow and develop into a master blacksmith. 
 

Great work, overall, Sir Grover. 
Hope to see more of it. 

Cheers!

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That little tool box using corner panels and 1x2 'backrest' element is genius :wub: Nice slate roof tiles, and the forge interior looks very functional.
Fun use of the door as a roof too :thumbup:

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On 10/25/2019 at 8:26 AM, Rogue Angel said:

Great job on this! Repeating what a lot have said, but good use of color and technique with the roof, nice use of the door-roof and animals. The micro-to-minifig comparison adds a ton to this build. Excellent work!

Thank you!  I had some fun with the forge interior for sure, and I'm glad that the micro-scale is working for folks!

On 10/27/2019 at 5:17 PM, Louis of Nutwood said:

Excellent work is this smithy, Sir Grover!

First of all, I love the fact that you do have a micro perspective of the whole village of Prenmôr. I encourage other builders to do the same (me included), as it adds more knowledge of the living environment in which we are building (maybe having a sole topic to add only micro-scales of all our villages and cities, as a glossary).

The roof certainly stands out, as a lot of people mentioned. Great tile-work. Very impressive. But the stonework deserves mentioning too, as it is very well done. Adding the inverted slope prior to the bluish-grey slopes when starting the roof is a well thought solution to add more design and depth to this unusual architecture for a blacksmith shop. The hinges on top are awesome too. The chimney is great too, though I would have added another round of (maybe black to add some impact color) studs to show some soot and grime.

The animals give a lot of life to the build. For some reason I feel that chickens always come along with forges. Don't ask me why. I do believe a larger bush of grass or some foliage would add even more life, though. The use of wood is great and balanced. Using the door as part of the roof is intelligent too. Congrats!

I was hoping to see the interior, and I'm impressed. Sooo much stuff (built stuff!) in this tiny space! Outstanding job, mate. I love the forge, the arches, the materials. Also, the light from inside the forge - is so cool! The glowing hot iron bar is terrific, too. Ah! And nice minifig posing and head-choices.

Finally, it makes me very happy to see how much effort you've put in the backstory. I felt it to be very informative and emotional, especially when adding Alis as an apprentice blacksmith. I do hope to see her grow and develop into a master blacksmith. 
 

Great work, overall, Sir Grover. 
Hope to see more of it. 

Cheers!

Thanks!  I'm glad you liked the build.  You're right that I could have added some black soot and potentially made it taller.  I may have to modify it once it becomes part of the castle wall, so we shall see.  As for the ground cover, you're right, chickens were everywhere in the medieval times, so I'm trying to incorporate that in my builds, along with seagulls.  The build is supposed to be new, where the ground has been cleared, and in a rocky terrain at the top of a seashore, I suspect there isn't much in the way of bushes, so I left them out.  I'm going to keep going on with the story, so hopefully you will be able to enjoy seeing the characters unfold as they grow!

On 1/29/2020 at 2:01 PM, soccerkid6 said:

That little tool box using corner panels and 1x2 'backrest' element is genius :wub: Nice slate roof tiles, and the forge interior looks very functional.
Fun use of the door as a roof too :thumbup:

Thanks!  I actually had to order those corner panels in brown from B&P to finish this, along with the tool rack brown fence and two orders of the 1x2 sand blue tiles, so glad they were noticed!

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