[Rockwail HSS] Guard of Rockwail

[Exetrius]

A Rockwailer guard gazes over the Boulder Bogs. Standing guard on the ancient city walls is a rather uneventful job. The Boulder Bogs are a damp, foggy, and thoroughly smelly place. Not much ever approaches the isolated city. The waters – or rather, the sizzling green soup surrounding Rockwail, are inhospitable to most life, though lizardfolk and other tough-skinned creatures are able to swim in them. As far as the eye can see (usually not far) there are boulders with varying degrees of vegetation on them, and more green soup. On the rare clear days of the year however, the view is not awful. But today it is. Today will be another boring day on the Walls where nothing happens...




... or will it?

For a brief moment, the guard thought he heard a voice, far in the distance. Any activity above the water level, other than the moving of birds or other small creatures, is notable in this swamp. There are people going outside the walls to hunt and gather resources that are not found or grown inside the city, but those people can rarely be heard from afar. Did he imagine hearing it? Now with his full concentration, he looked and listened again.




There it was! One voice, two, nay, three even... something was approaching! Travellers? Enemies? A handful of unusually loud citizens? The fog was thick as ever, so whoever these voices belonged to: once in sight it could be too late. The Rockwailer Guard had to identify them as soon as possible. Maybe today wasn't going to be as uneventful as usual!


---

Thanks for reading, if you did! The lore is is new here, but the build is definitely not. Let's go back in time in time for a moment, see additional pics below. It's the beginning of 2019, I was creating builds to further illustrate what happened in the Nocty Civil War. I was gradually starting to think about how to move the overall Nocty story forward, by making builds of 'turning point' events. I decided I wanted to depict Rockwail, the forgotten stronghold city, silently taken over by Raavage's skeleton army that he was building, being stormed by the forces of the Resistance. I was going to call it "Liberation of Rockwail", and it was going to be both an awesome architectural-landscaping build and an epic battle scene. I went all in on complex and subtle angles for the wall to add a sense of realism, but it created a lot of problems that needed to be solved. And every other part of the build also took more time than I had hoped. I put the build aside several times and started/finished other builds (most notably "EVA 02 & Tokyo 3" and "Lego Universe: 10th Anniversary Tribute"). In May 2020 I finished the build as you see it here, but still intending to make a battle scene with boats and grappling hooks or something. In late 2020 I concluded that despite all effort that went into it, it wasn't the ideal build for the scene I had in my head. I photographed it so I could put it on my year 2020 build collage, and uploaded it to Flickr in January 2021, but still kinda wanted a Civil War scene with it. However, my motivation to do that decreased and I moved on, thus never posting it here in the Guilds. I also thought the photos I had didn't really do it justice, and same for the order in which I uploaded them. This was "confirmed" by the amount of faves/likes that was much lower than I was expecting (not a healthy mindset!). I couldn't help but feel that I wasted some of the build's potential. It didn't help that due to covid there were no expos to show off this build in real life. 

However, I've come to terms with all of that. I think it's a fantastic build, one of my finest works to date. Above all, I've learned that if you have an ambitious plan, you should expect it to take (much) longer than planned. I could have done it 'quick and dirty' and finish up the story of the Civil War sooner (which Nocturnus would have benefited from), but at the same time I can't. No halfhearted builds, sorry! I have more Rockwail in the pipeline, and this time there will be both important lore and an epic overall build. Oh, and I figured I'd enter it in the HSS. Why not, right?  Hope to bring it to you soon!*

Cheers!

Spoiler

Inspiration from this build and this build by @-Sunder-

*I'm trying to live a social life and graduate and get a job and build other ideas too, cut me some slack! 

Edited December 29, 2023 by Exetrius
title update

[The Stad]

Glad we got to see this build, and I like the story you've written to accompany it.  I love all the funky angles on the wall, and the buildings inside the city are very well executed.

19 hours ago, Exetrius said:

*I'm trying to live a social life and graduate and get a job and build other ideas too, cut me some slack! 

I'm glad you've got your priorities sorted properly!

[jtooker]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:26 PM, Exetrius said:

However, my motivation to do that decreased and I moved on, thus never posting it here in the Guilds. I also thought the photos I had didn't really do it justice, and same for the order in which I uploaded them. This was "confirmed" by the amount of faves/likes that was much lower than I was expecting (not a healthy mindset!). I couldn't help but feel that I wasted some of the build's potential. It didn't help that due to covid there were no expos to show off this build in real life. 

However, I've come to terms with all of that. I think it's a fantastic build, one of my finest works to date.

In general I think it is a fine build, but I like some of your other builds better; Merodaquinas - Trout's Crossing being my favorite.  I'm often shocked which of my builds are liked more than I think they'll be and ones I personally like but get a luke-warm reception.

The build as a whole, is my favorite part, I think it works together well.  But as I look at the details, there isn't a whole lot that stands out on its own.  The noxious swamp is probably the best individual part, IMO.  The interior is great - I do like how it is visible from the back while having a 'complete' view from the front.  The stonework around the roof is great, but I don't like the roof tile technique itself.  The courtyard and tree look great - I wish there were some view that could capture this from the front angle.

The short writeup/store pairs very well with the MOC.  It brought me in quickly and leaves me wondering what is going to happen next.

p.s. awesome job getting on LEGO Masters!  I need to find a way to stream over-seas.

[LordDan]

This is definitely a great build, IMO! I love the bubbling swamp water, the sideways studded sections of the wall are very unique and look good, and the interior is very nice ( I also like the roof techniques used there). I remember seeing this awhile ago on Flickr, but it’s good to see it here with a full story and details!

[Grover]

Nice little story there.  Always good to see some nocturnus builds!  I like your use of the new weird light yellow-lime green teeth in the water/acid.  Nice use of the sand green that doesn't look like Avalonia, too.  The wandering line of the wall looks great, and the splash of color from the fall tree is a great contrast for the build.  Nice work!

[Exetrius]

On 9/12/2022 at 6:40 PM, The Stad said:

Glad we got to see this build, and I like the story you've written to accompany it.  I love all the funky angles on the wall, and the buildings inside the city are very well executed.

I'm glad you've got your priorities sorted properly!

Thank you! Haha, yeah 'funky angles' is now a term that I hope to use more often 

 

On 9/14/2022 at 12:07 AM, jtooker said:

In general I think it is a fine build, but I like some of your other builds better; Merodaquinas - Trout's Crossing being my favorite.  I'm often shocked which of my builds are liked more than I think they'll be and ones I personally like but get a luke-warm reception.

The build as a whole, is my favorite part, I think it works together well.  But as I look at the details, there isn't a whole lot that stands out on its own.  The noxious swamp is probably the best individual part, IMO.  The interior is great - I do like how it is visible from the back while having a 'complete' view from the front.  The stonework around the roof is great, but I don't like the roof tile technique itself.  The courtyard and tree look great - I wish there were some view that could capture this from the front angle.

The short writeup/store pairs very well with the MOC.  It brought me in quickly and leaves me wondering what is going to happen next.

p.s. awesome job getting on LEGO Masters!  I need to find a way to stream over-seas.

Thanks, I really appreciate your feedback! I can see where you're coming from. I reckon it's not 'incredibly pretty', it's more about presenting an interesting location in a way that feels real somehow. But of course, I have it in 3d to experience, while you rely on photos. The higher angle was meant to show a bit of what is at the back, but is not very effective. I should have done a side view, but I didn't.  Also yes, LEGO Masters..  So much fun! 

Speaking of Trout's Crossing, I'll have to write a post about it too. But I'll happily take your compliment in advance! 

14 hours ago, LordDan said:

This is definitely a great build, IMO! I love the bubbling swamp water, the sideways studded sections of the wall are very unique and look good, and the interior is very nice ( I also like the roof techniques used there). I remember seeing this awhile ago on Flickr, but it’s good to see it here with a full story and details!

Thanks Dan, glad you like the walls and story too! 'Unique' is definitely what I went for, while retaining the features that -Sunder- put into his walls. 

8 hours ago, Grover said:

Nice little story there.  Always good to see some nocturnus builds!  I like your use of the new weird light yellow-lime green teeth in the water/acid.  Nice use of the sand green that doesn't look like Avalonia, too.  The wandering line of the wall looks great, and the splash of color from the fall tree is a great contrast for the build.  Nice work!

Thank you! 

Edited September 15, 2022 by Exetrius

[Kai NRG]

It's a really neat build, I love the rockwall concept and you were definitely ambitious with the angles.  I also really like your swamp technique.  There does seem to be a lot of color variety going on, I'm not sure I'm sold on having dark, olive, and sand green all in the same build like this.  But that's nitpicking.  Glad you shared this great build with us in more detail here. 

[Umbra-Manis]

You certainly captured a nice swampy feel! And great work on the angles with the wall, it feels so natural. 

[Exetrius]

On 9/15/2022 at 11:17 PM, Kai NRG said:

It's a really neat build, I love the rockwall concept and you were definitely ambitious with the angles.  I also really like your swamp technique.  There does seem to be a lot of color variety going on, I'm not sure I'm sold on having dark, olive, and sand green all in the same build like this.  But that's nitpicking.  Glad you shared this great build with us in more detail here. 

Thanks! I think the variety of greens is necessary though as they have different functions. Lime for the water, spring yellowish green for water vegetation, sand green for architectural highlights. Dark green is used for moss and growth on stone, but I think olive was needed to separate foreground from background. That said, I like greens. 

On 9/17/2022 at 4:51 AM, Umbra-Manis said:

You certainly captured a nice swampy feel! And great work on the angles with the wall, it feels so natural. 

Thank you man! 

[mrcp6d]

This is a nice build Exetrius!  The angles in the wall are really well done, and the lime green / neon green works really nicely as the acidic swamp.  I do wonder what some tiles would have done to the inner sections of the walls though.  All the studs in those sections are kind of jarring to me.  Having 70% of the studs covered by tiles and/or foliage might have cleaned things up some.

[Exetrius]

On 9/19/2022 at 4:05 AM, mrcp6d said:

This is a nice build Exetrius!  The angles in the wall are really well done, and the lime green / neon green works really nicely as the acidic swamp.  I do wonder what some tiles would have done to the inner sections of the walls though.  All the studs in those sections are kind of jarring to me.  Having 70% of the studs covered by tiles and/or foliage might have cleaned things up some.

Thanks mrcp6d! I can see what you mean with the exposed studs. Some sections do bother me a bit too, but I still stand by my decision for the very rough rock look. 70% coverage would be too much, imo. If I had made this build today, I may have tried spamming it with dark grey quarter circle tiles, since I now have quite a number from the PAB wall. Thanks for your suggestion though!

[W Navarre]

I love the use of teeth for the splashes! 

[mrcp6d]

16 hours ago, Exetrius said:

dark grey quarter circle tiles, since I now have quite a number from the PAB wall

oooooh, that's a nice pickup.  Little jealous over here all of a sudden!  

[Exetrius]

On 9/22/2022 at 8:18 PM, W Navarre said:

I love the use of teeth for the splashes! 

Thank you! 

On 9/23/2022 at 4:33 AM, mrcp6d said:

oooooh, that's a nice pickup.  Little jealous over here all of a sudden!  

Yeah, happy to have them 

[Sympatik Brick]

I love the swamps particularly. Really inspiring!

[Exetrius]

On 10/9/2022 at 10:17 PM, Sympatik Brick said:

I love the swamps particularly. Really inspiring!

Thanks! :D

[Simon_S]

As W Navarre and Sympatik Brick already said, the Swamp looks great! The tooth pieces are a nice detail. And the colour works really well here :D.

[Exetrius]

On 10/22/2022 at 10:41 AM, Simon_S said:

As W Navarre and Sympatik Brick already said, the Swamp looks great! The tooth pieces are a nice detail. And the colour works really well here :D.

Thank you, Simon!