[Freebuild] Embervale - The Adventurers' Guild & the Luthier (Chronicles of Embervale Ep.07)

[Aurore]

THE BUILD

The Adventurers' Guild and the workshop of Guillemin, the luthier of Embervale.

As soon as that "double arrow" modified tile (3396) showed up, I knew I was going to use it for a timber-framed house inspired by the place I come from - Alsace.
It took me a while to figure out the design (and choose the colour)...but here it is!

The border is designed to be very easily removable to allow further expansion of the village.
All custom printed parts are from Briquestore.

More photos of the interior in the spoiler section below. 

Spoiler

 

 

 

THE STORY

In the last episode we left Alrune unconscious, stunned by a banshee’s wailing, her spirit drifting away in the ethereal plane. Will she be alright? Will her devoted uncle find a way of healing her? What’s for dinner?
Let’s just let those fundamental matters rest for now, dear reader, and let’s have a look about a year earlier.

Let’s go back to a nice fall afternoon, in the mountains at the border between the Elven Empire and the Human Realms. Let’s focus on a castle surrounded by a picturesque wine village and deep, dark forests streaked with turbulent streams. This place is called Embervale – a phonetic and misleading transcription of Ombreval, its name in the local dialect – but you probably already figured that out.

Embervale has a long and chaotic history. Over the past centuries, it had been besieged, captured, recaptured, occupied, and annexed by Elves or Humans, by one faction or another.
At the time of our story, though, it had been under control of the Empire for a couple of decades. The Elves had expanded the castle, improved the battlements, appointed a governor, and then seemingly forgotten about it. Yet the dreadful reputation of the Empire and the strength of the fort were enough to ensure peace, and the place was enjoying quiet, prosperous days.

Due to its location, the village attracted travellers of all stripes. Merchants, frequently, and many wanderers from the Human Realms coming to seek adventure in the mysterious mountains of the Elven Empire.
And on this day, on this beautiful fall day when our story is about to begin, Asceline the Head of the Adventurers’ Guild was gleefully attributing quests, selling gear and having drinks served to a colourful bunch of guests. Her business was thriving.

The story began with a handful of riders stopping by the Adventurers’ Guild of Embervale. Four men, wearing the dark red and silver colours of the closest Human barony.
ne of them, as Asceline realised when he loudly demanded drinks for his retinue, was the Baron himself.

“I sent three letters to Governor Voronthir, and he never replied,” he barked at Asceline – as if she could do anything. “Mind you, he never gave me back that mushroom knife I lent him last winter!”
Adventurers were starting to pay attention, always on the lookout for quest opportunities.
“I’m afraid he won’t be able to answer you anytime soon, sir,” Asceline said. “Everyone is sick in the castle, and they have closed the gates to all visitors until it gets better.”
“What kind of disease?” The Baron’s sergeant enquired. Some of the adventurers were now taking notes.
“The kind that, er – gives rash,” she replied. Neither the soldiers nor the adventurers looked impressed. “Very itchy? Extremely painful? Highly contagious?” Still no reaction.
"Did people enter the castle and never came back?” one of the soldiers asked, and beamed when he received enthusiastic approbation from nearby adventurers.
“Not really. Some did. It’s not the kind of serious epidemics that decimate populations, you see. Just a fleeting and very unpleasant inconvenience.”

Disappointment loomed over her audience. There was nothing heroic in facing a mild infection to retrieve a mushroom knife, and no reward had even been mentioned.

A few adventurers moved away.

 But the Baron was made of sterner stuff – and had subordinates to take care of the dirty work.
“Evrart, you’ll be going,” he ordered his sergeant. Who was, literally, saved by the bell as the bell tower of Embervale chose this precise moment to start ringing the solemn pattern that announced the arrival of an Imperial visitor.

 

THE CAST

Front, from left to right:
- Asceline, the Head of the Adventurers' Guild
- Guillemin, her husband, luthier
- Agnès, their housekeeper
- Pernelle, Angès' granddaughter
- Mahaut, the village elder
- Urbain, the apothecary
- Roland, Guillemin's cousin
- Two visitors from below the mountains
- Adventurers (bard, ranger, fighters, mages)

Behind, on horseback:
- The Baron d'Autours
- Evrart, his sergeant
- Two soldiers

Edited October 7, 2023 by Aurore
Fixed a picture

[Kai NRG]

Great build, the interiors especially are fantastic.  Intriguing use of those new bizarre cut corner tiles.  I'm trying to figure out if I love it or if I think it's a touch too much black.  Perfect use of those unprinted violins, I always wondered what unprinted elements like that were any good for!

I'm looking forward to the next installment of the story, don't make us wait too long!

[Exetrius]

I have no doubts whether I love the use of the 'double arrow' tiles here: I do! They add lots to the look of the exterior, and in general the timber frames are very well-done. I like the other fine details on the outside too, like the silver lute sign, the patches of foliage and the stone pavement. The tree has good height and density. I wish the trunk had a little more texture somehow, but I do like how the 2x2 rounded brick with technic holes serves a double purpose. There are many ways to create a LEGO tree, and this one feels fresh.

One the interior, there are many things to admire too, but what strikes me most are the attic filled with viking treasures, the brickbuilt chests of various sizes (love the printed Unikitty plates there!), the corner bench and the cradle! Really good stuff! 
Also, respect for making modular sections. I am currently making kind of a similar building, and it is harder than it seems!

And last but not least: the minifigures... Wow!   These combo's are so good!  Asceline herself is fantastic, and I find Roland and the female adventurer with the sword particularly inspiring, for their legs and torso respectively. 

In conclusion, one of your best builds yet!
 

[Grover]

What happened to the mini dolls!    Just kidding!  This build is a real work of art.  I am very impressed with the build, and the piece as a whole fits together very well.  I would not have expected that light blue to work that well here, but with the dark blue on the roof it really fits in well. Those double arrow tiles look great too, and I suspect that many builders will use that technique in the future!  The scale of this is impressive, and I love the careful execution of the stonework on the bottom, just enough texture but not too much, mixed with the crisp lines of the timber frame on top.  The weather vane at the top is a nice touch.  Your minis are top notch (which is unsurprising coming from you!), and I love their coordination.  Your use of printed parts on the inside is great, from the various foods to the wall hangings.  Love the idea of a luthier, too.  Where did you get an unprinted violin?  That looks like many of the luthier shops I have been to and is a great detail.  The fine detail on the furniture is very nice too, great minifig scale on the corner couch, and the use of the backward nexo shield on the chair on the upper floor is amazing!  I love how the antistuds are partially shown and look like wood carving at the head of the chair!  And where does that trap door on the floor lead?  Mystery!  I love it.  Thank you for sharing.  I always see more details each time I look at this.  Really outstanding build!

[zoth33]

I like the color scheme.  I like the contrast between the light blue wall panels and the earth blue roof.  The interior looks great, the clutter in the attic with the tan bat is a nice touch.  I also like the wood work on the interior.  Some great figs as usual and nice usage of some of the Hobbit/LOTR torsos.  Is that tree with the green fruit a pear tree?  The stone work out front looks nice with the grey and dark grey pieces.  Overall well done.  

[Professor Thaum]

Lovely build. Like @Kai NRG I wonder about those stranges black and blue tiles or is it 3 separate tiles ? In this case the black one is puzzling. But the front is gorgeous btw.

Nice and well furnished interior too (the baby bed and the attics )

[Alexandrina]

This is incredible. Probably the best representation of the old exposed-timber aesthetic I've ever seen in Lego (I love your idea of using those tiles for this purpose and will 100% be stealing it for my own creations in the future! ) but the interiors are wonderful too. There's something really cosy about them. They don't feel cramped, they feel like they're about to ring out with the echo of voices in a folk song chorus. Wonderful work!!

[Aurore]

@Kai NRG Thank you so much! The next two episodes of the story are already written - just waiting for the corresponding builds to be created (for Brickscalibur).

@Exetrius Thank you very much! I agree the tree trunk would need some more texture...further experiment with those parts will be needed! 

@Grover Awwwww, someone remembers the minidolls!  I happen to really like them, would you believe that?
Anyways...Thank you so much for this detailed review! I found the unprinted violins on Bricklink while looking for something else, and they actually sparkled the idea of a luthier workshop. I'm really glad the workshop ends up credible - I had no idea what such a place was supposed to look like! I took full advantage of one of the visits of my (guitarist of a) husband to a luthier in the vicinity to learn more. 

@zoth33 Thank you very much! And indeed, it's a pear tree! So glad you reconised it!

@Professor Thaum Thank you so much! The tiles on the façade are all monochrome - either black, or blue. I have to admit I absolutely love the black "double arrow" one!

@Alexandrina Thank you very much! Let's hope those new tiles will soon be made in many different, timber-framed-appropriate colours! 

[Simon_S]

There are so many nice details to spot in this :-). I really like what you did with the new tiles, I think they work really well. It's so cool that you made the whole build modular and that we can see in every room. I love the interiors! Especially the baby bed stood out to me, what a great idea! One last thing I want to notice and that I'll remember is using staircases for a roof. That makes the whole thing stable, looks nice on the inside and gives a lot of room which you can fill with details. Very nice build!

[Aurore]

@Simon_S Thank you so much for this detailed feedback! I have to admit I especially like how the baby bed worked out.

[jtooker]

Awesome build! I'm in awe at the detail you were able to simultaneously build into the interior and façade of the building!