Meeting with Haldor, the Master Builder of Bridges

[Simon_S]

You can find Chapter 1: a Mitgardian Adventure here:

 

"Wow, it's huge!"

"Have you seen that big bridge? I wonder how much weight it can carry before it collapses."

"I think it looks very solid"

"But how do you even build such a long bridge? I mean if I'd try that, every second stone would fall into the water."

Simon's companions were amazed by Haldors big house and even more by the big bridge that was the only entrance to it.

Simon: "My dear fellows, that's exactly why we're visiting Haldor. I'm on my quest to prove my dignity so I can inherit the sheep business of my father Osmund. I'm not quite sure what that means... but I thought: If I can learn how to build big bridges, that will help our village greatly to become a trade centre. Imagine how we could connect all the small islands and bridge every torrential river."

Haldor was an architect in his mid forties. He was also known as the "Master Builder of Bridges". When Simon arrived at his door, he was welcoming but still kept a distance to Simon. Just as one would expect from a famous business man and master builder. Still, he was more polite than expected and showed Simon how he plans his buildings.

Haldor: " And if you place all the stones like this, gravity will hold them all together in a big circle. That's why a dome is such a firm structure. But now imagine if someone takes out only one stone in the middle of the bridge... the whole thing collapses. That's what makes it difficult to build: It only becomes robust when it's finished and when the last stone is placed."

Simon was fascinated from Haldors little Bricks and started building immediately. "You are right! They hold each other together!" he cried joyfully.

In the meantime Haldor had to leave for a meeting with someone else. He didn't say with who and left discretely. He just said: "I have to leave. On the first floor are more Bricks if you don't have enough. I'll be back in an hour."

So Simon went down on the first floor and took a look and everything that was staying around in that nice building: There were many books about architecture and mathematics. He placed his bag, sword and shield near the stairs. Then he went around, astonished by what he saw. There were trophies which Haldor has won by building better than anyone else. In the midst of the room was a huge castle. It blew Simons mind. He couldn't stop looking at it. Then he started thinking about it: "Where would someone build such a large military structure? And why? We aren't in a war right now..."

In his curiosity Simon opened the drawers under the castle and find many maps. He started to study them, if he could find that castle structure anywhere on one...

He felt queasy when he found a map with that castle on it which wasn't far away from his home village. "Why would Haldor build a castle near my home?" It looked like Haldor planned some kind of military special operation in this area. Simon suddenly sensed that there was something wrong and that Haldor wasn't the nice guy he pretended to be...

In the meantime, Haldor quietly entered the room. He realized that Simon uncovered his dark plans. "He knows too much. He must die!" So he drew his shiny dagger and slowly sneaked up to Simon who was still sceptically looking at that map. "Only a few more steps.", Haldor taught. "Nobody will miss this nobody who's trying to prove his dignity. They will just think he was killed by a wolf or something like this."

As he was approaching, Simon saw something moving in reflection of that shiny crown trophy. He was just in time to jump to the side so Haldors Dagger only pierced through the air. While Haldor was still confused what happend, Simon punched him in his belly, disarmed him and killed him with his own dagger.

There laid the acclaimed master builder on the ground. Stabbed to death with his own knife.

Simon knew there wasn't much time. He took that map, got back to his sword and shield and run away. He could hear the screams coming from Haldor's residence: "Murder! Murder! Don't let him escape!"

The dogs were barking.

He run for his live.

The Crossbow men were already on the bridge, firing their arrows after Simon. Luckily they missed and Simon had a narrow escape.

He could get away and found a small hideout in a forest... but he couldn't return to the civilication. Instead of proving his father that he's a worthy son, he just murdered a fameous architect and now was considered a villain. His only hope was to get help from other outlaws. And to show to all Mitgardians his innocence and that Haldor was the real evildoer with his secret plans...

To be countinued...

 

Full build:

Backside:

More Pictures you can find in the Flickr Album: https://flickr.com/photos/buurli_burri/albums/72177720300780920

 

Edit: This was built for the 2022 Summer Joust. The Challenge was to build a bridge which is at least 32 Studs long. This build was quite an experiment. I started of with a shorter bridge but then choose to do a longer one which actually goes over 48 studs without supports. Then I first thought I'd just build a facade with an ugly backside. But that wasn't my style, so I took on the challenge and build a bridge that was viewable and beautiful from every angle. Problem then was, that you can't build a big bridge and place a small wooden house next to it. You only need a big bridge if you have a big house. And that's how this building developed. I still wanted to incorporate it to my Sigfigs Story here in the GoH so I figured out this story for that build ;-).

 

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by Simon_S

[The Stad]

Another amazing project from you, and a very entertaining story! I love your trees, the house, all of the interior scenes, and of course the bridge is very impressive.  I hope that model castle is a hint of what's to come...

[Garmadon]

A very pretty bridge (and a very long one!), and an unexpectedly tragic turn to the story!  The chaotic rockwork and those trees look superb as well, and I'm glad you took the extra time to add that interior   Looking forward to seeing that outlaw band and the castle at full scale too! 

[NOD]

Great diorama!  The bridge is an architectural masterpiece. The castle is also beautifully built. The story is interesting and exciting, I look forward to the sequel.

[jtooker]

Well that escalated quickly.  I love the bridge and how you incorporated the interior into the tower and worked it into the story.  The stone texture technique you used on the tower looks good and I appreciate how you continued it under the bridge; I'd like it better if more of the side of the bridge could incorporate the technique.  The roof and windows are simple, but effective and very fitting.

[LordDan]

Gorgeous bridge and entertaining story! The manor's interior is also super fun to look through, I love the mini models of the castle and bridge . My only critique is that I'm not a huge fan of this style of rockwork, with all the large parts, but that's more of a personal preference 

[Kai NRG]

I was postponing commenting on this until I could read the story--and I'm glad I did, what an intriguing turn of events!  You definitely made your character's future look exciting, can't wait to see where it goes!

The bridge is lovely, what a beautiful curve!  Really nice interior too, the tiny micros are all great.

[W Navarre]

Haha, the story is a great fun mix of fourth wall references and intriguing happenings, and of course the build is amazing, I love the small touches like the wing for blood and the map just the way the story describes, very well done altogether! 

[Grover]

This thing is crazy!  What an amazing build!  The bridge is fantastic, but the fact that you took time to detail the underside of it with plates and tiles is fantastic.  The curve looks great, and I appreciate the size.  The fortress looks nice on the other side, too, and that first perspective shot is great.  The model bridge is perfect, and I like the melted wax candle beards!  I love the fact that you built an interior, and the story is well done.  Love seeing your work!

[Simon_S]

On 7/25/2022 at 4:49 PM, The Stad said:

Another amazing project from you, and a very entertaining story! I love your trees, the house, all of the interior scenes, and of course the bridge is very impressive.  I hope that model castle is a hint of what's to come...

Thanks for the kind words! Maybe a castle will come in the future ;-).

 

On 7/25/2022 at 5:53 PM, Garmadon said:

A very pretty bridge (and a very long one!), and an unexpectedly tragic turn to the story!  The chaotic rockwork and those trees look superb as well, and I'm glad you took the extra time to add that interior   Looking forward to seeing that outlaw band and the castle at full scale too! 

Thank you :D. Yeah I really like the "chaotic" rockwork. It's still not really chaotic because all bricks are still in 90 degrees placed and not angled or anything. that makes ist stable and fast to build. I think the next chapter will be the outlaw band :D.

 

On 7/26/2022 at 12:24 PM, NOD said:

Great diorama!  The bridge is an architectural masterpiece. The castle is also beautifully built. The story is interesting and exciting, I look forward to the sequel.

 

Thanks Man :D. 

 

On 7/27/2022 at 11:16 PM, jtooker said:

Well that escalated quickly.  I love the bridge and how you incorporated the interior into the tower and worked it into the story.  The stone texture technique you used on the tower looks good and I appreciate how you continued it under the bridge; I'd like it better if more of the side of the bridge could incorporate the technique.  The roof and windows are simple, but effective and very fitting.

Thanks jtooker! The texture for the whole castle and the underside of the bridge actually took most of the time for this build. I almost lost my patience and thougth about changing it, since it took so much time. also, it made the underside of the bridge quite instable, because there's also a 180 degree snot incorporated. the combination of this together with the many small parts for texture and the length of the bridge made it sketchy.

 

On 8/1/2022 at 12:29 AM, LordDan said:

Gorgeous bridge and entertaining story! The manor's interior is also super fun to look through, I love the mini models of the castle and bridge . My only critique is that I'm not a huge fan of this style of rockwork, with all the large parts, but that's more of a personal preference 

Thank you :D. Yeah I can see that the style of rockwork is not mainstream right now... but I really like it and prefer it over clean rocks which are mostly built out of small slopes. also, it's a fast way to build big rocks and cliffs - so I can only recommend you try it out one day :D.

 

On 8/4/2022 at 4:08 AM, Kai NRG said:

I was postponing commenting on this until I could read the story--and I'm glad I did, what an intriguing turn of events!  You definitely made your character's future look exciting, can't wait to see where it goes!

The bridge is lovely, what a beautiful curve!  Really nice interior too, the tiny micros are all great.

Thank you for taking the time to read the story and comment here! 

 

On 8/4/2022 at 4:10 AM, W Navarre said:

Haha, the story is a great fun mix of fourth wall references and intriguing happenings, and of course the build is amazing, I love the small touches like the wing for blood and the map just the way the story describes, very well done altogether! 

thank you for the kind comment!

 

On 8/11/2022 at 3:18 AM, Grover said:

This thing is crazy!  What an amazing build!  The bridge is fantastic, but the fact that you took time to detail the underside of it with plates and tiles is fantastic.  The curve looks great, and I appreciate the size.  The fortress looks nice on the other side, too, and that first perspective shot is great.  The model bridge is perfect, and I like the melted wax candle beards!  I love the fact that you built an interior, and the story is well done.  Love seeing your work!

thanks :D. the meldet candle were done many times before... I think back in the days I've seen them often in soccerkids interiors. also, his interiors were very influental for my work. 

[Louis of Nutwood]

Absolutely mindblowing, Simon! That bridge is just a treat!

[Simon_S]

On 9/13/2022 at 1:16 AM, Louis of Nutwood said:

Absolutely mindblowing, Simon! That bridge is just a treat!

Thanks man :D.