CDC1 Tower: Nocturnus Watchtower

[Grover]

The tower isn't the most amazing thing, but I challenged myself to build it out of dark and light grey (not dark and light bluish grey) for the historical sake of this part of the contest and the pieces were limited.

Bob and the wizard passed a dark tower overlooking the road.  It looked like one of those evil towers out of Lord of the Rings, and sure enough, it was filled with what looked like orcs on the battlements.  Bob stared in amazement as they drove past.

“Where the &*^# are we?” Bob asked.

“We’re in western Nocturnus, as I explained before,” the wizard replied.

“Yeah, but what state?”

The funny man looked confused.  “I don’t understand.  This is Nocturnus, sometimes called the nightmare lands.”

“This isn’t New Jersey?”

“Not as far as I know,” the man replied with a shrug.

Bob sighed.  “Who are you?”

“My name is Razin, the traveling wizard.”

“I'm Bob.  Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Razin replied.

“And what do you do with these … things?” Bob asked, looking down at the crate he was sitting on.

“I am a wizard by trade, so I use some of those things to cast spells.  However, the magic business isn’t the most stable, I’m afraid, so I also sell components to other wizards, witches and spellcasters to help make ends meet.”

“Huh,” Bob replied, now pretty sure this guy was nuts.  “I’m not from anywhere around here and need to figure out how to get back home.”

“I would suggest that you try Albion.  Cedrica is the capital of all Historica, but there has been a lot of turmoil there with the many civil wars of late, and they have lost a good many people among the chaos.  We have a new queen, but she is still trying to organize things.”

“OK, sure,” Bob replied.

“Hold on, my spell is about to expire.  I need to re-cast it if we are to talk longer,” Razin told Bob.  He muttered and waved his hands about again, then looked to Bob.  “All right, it’s back again.  I think we should try and teach you some of the rudimentary language so you can ask your own questions.  I can get you to Albion, but I have a lot of other business, so you’ll be on your own after that.”

Bob nodded.  “Thanks for your help,” he replied, thinking that he needed to find a phone.

Previously

Spoiler

@Aurore, time for more flora entries!

Deadly Lavender (Atropa Angustifolia)

This rare flower is found naturally only in humid, swampy areas of Nocturnus, and when found is usually co-located with spreading starmist.  The plant is noted by its black stem and three leaves.  The roots, stem, and leaves are all highly toxic if ingested, causing hallucinations and delirium, and are sometimes dried and crushed to use in various poisons.  In the spring, lavender flowers can sometimes be seen on this plant.  Curiously, the flower is not toxic and is the key component in several medicines, poultices, and spells, so is harvested by herbalists and spellcasters.

Spreading Starmist (Prosopis Azure)

Commonly found across Nocturnus, Spreading Starmist is a low-growing bush with bright blue leaves and a black stem.  It grows in almost any soil and is considered a nuisance in many areas.  It also leaves black stems everywhere when it is done growing, causing headaches for cleanup.  The plant is non-toxic, and does not contain enough nutrients to feed livestock, so is not cultivated intentionally.  The wood is sometimes used for cookfires where it imparts a smoky flavor to meats.

Purple Locust Tree (aka Red Pea Tree) (Robinia Purpura)

This medium sized deciduous hardwood grows across lower elevations of Nocturnus and slightly into the other guilds in the area around Cedrica.  It has occasionally been planted in other areas where it can become invasive.  It is considered a nuisance tree due to the red pea-pod fruits it bears in the spring, which drop everywhere, requiring cleanup for landscaping.  The wood is hard, but is not particularly useful for building due to the small, twisting, and generally spindly nature of the tree trunk, which limits the size of boards produced from it.

 

Edited June 14, 2021 by Grover

[Kai NRG]

Great build, I once again really like the bright flora and the red horns on the purple branches especially.  The tower too looks fairly simple but has some really nice touches, like the angled 2x2 slopes.

[Niku]

Nocturnus tower!
I like the color of the vegetation and the shapes of it, I  suggest maybe the tower could use some of those colours too I wonder how it would look.
Thanks for sharing.
Ps. what a trip for Bob.

[Grover]

On 5/29/2021 at 2:53 PM, Kai NRG said:

Great build, I once again really like the bright flora and the red horns on the purple branches especially.  The tower too looks fairly simple but has some really nice touches, like the angled 2x2 slopes.

Thanks!  I had some fun with the foliage.  The tower was forced into simplicity by my desire to use only DG and LG.  I simply didn't have enough DG pieces to do much else, and many of the cool detail pieces that we have now were never produced in DG.

14 hours ago, Niku said:

Nocturnus tower!
I like the color of the vegetation and the shapes of it, I  suggest maybe the tower could use some of those colours too I wonder how it would look.
Thanks for sharing.
Ps. what a trip for Bob.

I think the vegetation is really the standout, too.  I tried to build the tower with only DG and LG, which was limiting.  At least this has a throwback feel to some of the original GoH towers from 2010, which was kind of what I had hoped.  On the other hand, if I had some of those side stud pieces I might have been able to incorporate some vegetation into the tower as you suggest, which would have blended the old and the new.  Oh well!  I didn't have a lot of time for this so did what I could and tried to score a few points for Avalonia while supporting Guild challenges!  Thanks for your feedback!

and PS - Bob's adventures are not over!

Edited May 31, 2021 by Grover

[mrcp6d]

A very Nocty-like build here.  I agree with much of the above regarding the foliage, the tree is great here with the red horns.  I also think the tower is really great given the restrictions you imposed!

[Louis of Nutwood]

Aaah, the classic style with the classic colors of a classic castle tower. Very inspiring to see there are still purists to this level! A truly great tribute for a 10 year gathering of castle builders and storytellers. The queen would be proud. Might be simple, but it's exploding with character and meaning, accompanied by a phenomenal take of a story, with a character we've learned to love so much: Bob.
Beautiful continuation with a connecting building style. I just can't get enough of Bob.
Skol, sire Grover!

[jtooker]

I like the trees!

[Grover]

On 6/1/2021 at 10:51 AM, mrcp6d said:

A very Nocty-like build here.  I agree with much of the above regarding the foliage, the tree is great here with the red horns.  I also think the tower is really great given the restrictions you imposed!

Thank you!  I had a lot of fun with the trees and foliage.  I'm glad you liked the tower.  It was somewhat challenging to build with so few and limited pieces, but it was also good to try to leverage all of my old dark grey into something resembling a tower.  I think that the old dark grey would make a really interesting tower if newer pieces were made in that color again.

On 6/1/2021 at 1:48 PM, Louis of Nutwood said:

Aaah, the classic style with the classic colors of a classic castle tower. Very inspiring to see there are still purists to this level! A truly great tribute for a 10 year gathering of castle builders and storytellers. The queen would be proud. Might be simple, but it's exploding with character and meaning, accompanied by a phenomenal take of a story, with a character we've learned to love so much: Bob.
Beautiful continuation with a connecting building style. I just can't get enough of Bob.
Skol, sire Grover!

Thanks!  I am glad you appreciate the classic nature of the tower since I was going for a classic feel.  And Bob.  I'm having a lot of fun with Bob!  Glad everyone seems to be enjoying his story!

5 hours ago, jtooker said:

I like the trees!

Thanks!

[zoth33]

Great use of color choices here.  The purple and blues really stand out.  The cart is simple but nice.  I like the small spire at the top of the tower.  

[kahir88]

Heh, Bob. Now, he is your trademark character. :D

[Aurore]

I really like the monochrome and rather square-ish look of the tower, and how it contrasts with the vegetation. And, again, I'm impressed by Bob's coolness! 

[mccoyed]

I think the aged gray bricks really work for this tower. I think the light gray detail pieces work less well, feels like there should be a little more of that or replaced by darker gray again for the texture.

Standout is the tree. I also think the cart is great.

[Grover]

On 6/4/2021 at 5:50 PM, zoth33 said:

Great use of color choices here.  The purple and blues really stand out.  The cart is simple but nice.  I like the small spire at the top of the tower.  

Thanks!  I was a little worried the colors would clash but I think they worked.  I didn't know what to do with the limited parts I had, so I'm glad you like the spire!

On 6/7/2021 at 4:15 AM, kahir88 said:

Heh, Bob. Now, he is your trademark character. :D

lol!  Yeah, he seems to be quite popular!

On 6/7/2021 at 6:57 AM, Aurore said:

I really like the monochrome and rather square-ish look of the tower, and how it contrasts with the vegetation. And, again, I'm impressed by Bob's coolness! 

Thank you!  I'm glad you like the tower.  It's pretty simple, but getting that color is kind of difficult nowadays!

On 6/8/2021 at 1:37 PM, mccoyed said:

I think the aged gray bricks really work for this tower. I think the light gray detail pieces work less well, feels like there should be a little more of that or replaced by darker gray again for the texture.

Standout is the tree. I also think the cart is great.

I was pretty limited in the bricks for texture.  I would have liked to use some 1x2 dark grey tiles, but didn't have them, and I was out of headlight bricks for texture.  Oh well, maybe I'll find more in the future!  Thanks for the feedback!