DrColossus

AoM: Stable, Phase III - A Meeting in Raven's Eye

Recommended Posts

[Note: This follows on from the previous entry: A Shipment Goes Missing.

This one's long too, but hopefully worth reading. Thanks!]

In a valley at the foot of the PIkesteel Mountain, a river from the north finally exhausts itself in a small stream, and a pond. Around this stream the tiny village of Raven's Eye has grown up over the years, the inhabitants descended from Guild and Clan travelers alike. Raven's Eye doesn't see much trade... or rather, it sees it go by, to the east and the north. Travelers between the guild lands of the Bay of Storms, the dwarves at Pikesteel, and the Great Elk clan rarely need to stop in. And yet, the village is the perfect place if one needs to keep an eye on those travelers.

Raven's Eye is a sleepy town, where a man can fish to his heart's content in the quiet chilly waters outside the old church. The villagers believe that leaving a blossom of the Breath of Spring flower on the church's little table will bring fortune. If the fish have any way of improving their fortune, they haven't told anyone.

FishingattheChurch-1.png

The church is built in the old style, the architecture that was outmoded even before the Guildsmen arrived here. Common wisdom says the steep slope and points help shed the frequent snows that blanket the area. But the dragon motif above the doors tell the true story: a pointy roof is harder for big things to land on. Superstition? Perhaps. But the church remembers, even if the people have forgotten.

Inside, the two archers speak with Olin the Smith, who has come to call this village his home, while he earns some money to continue his travels. They speak quietly in the dim glow of the stained glass, the fresh scent of the Breath of Spring mingling with old wood.

2014-03-0220100846.jpg

"I don't understand what all this has to do with me... OR with Sigrd!" Olin said. He was still a little off-balance, since these two had come into his village demanding to speak to the smith. When they heard he had a horse, they were even more insistent.

"We've told ye, friend," said the woman. "There's trouble brewin' round here, no mistake. That suspicious-type with the chest full o' gold was on no peaceful mission, ye can be sure. First, we hear of unrest in Pikesteel. The third cousin of the dwarven king, suddenly made chief of all the mining operations after the previous chief gets burned alive in an accident. In the Great Elk lands, the Chief's right-hand man killed in a fight with a minor lord - over what? Who knows? But there's something afoot, and restless folk are suddenly finding the nerve to act up. And now we find that fellow carting gold from the dwarves towards the clans. It's all too much to ignore!"

"But I still don't understand. I'm just a simple smith, in a tiny village..."

"A strategically important village, lad," broke in the man. "Raven's Eye overlooks the route between the dwarves and the clans. A well-armed light cavalry unit, or better, some horse archers... If they were based here they could put a stop to whoever is causing all this mischief!"

"But we don't have stables for a cavalry unit! We don't even have any soldiers!" Olin protested.

"Aye..." the woman said, indulgently. "But ye can make weapons... can ye not?"

And with that, it was decided. Just like that, Olin was living his dream, serving as blacksmith to his very own army unit. He built a stable worthy of a horse archer unit, and Sigrd began to teach the men of the village how to properly fall off a horse.

b73c1383-6b7b-480e-8a6f-72a3de76288a.jpg

Soon, the village was humming with activity - well, comparatively... and Olin prepared to lead this new unit on exciting adventures in Mitgardia!

A Bird's Eye View of Raven's Eye

The church is at the pond, on the left. Olin's new military stables are on the higher ground, on the right, where Sigrd is showing an unfortunate new soldier what it's like to ride a cranky horse.

A woman of the village (I couldn't get the beard and the hair to fit together) opens the gate to the stable grounds, while a local man tries to tempt one of the new horses with a vegetable.

RavensEyeOverview_2.png

Edited by DrColossus

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I guess you keep improving your "ski roof" technique :) Coolio! Beautiful phase 3 entry man. If you want some CC order some small plates for land texturing dude

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I guess you keep improving your "ski roof" technique :) Coolio! Beautiful phase 3 entry man. If you want some CC order some small plates for land texturing dude

Hahaha, SKI ROOOOOOOF! Yeah, something about it really appeals to me.

I agree, I need to get smaller plates and some wedges. The landscape is still very Minecraft-y, and I can only do so much covering it up with plants.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The landscaping looks really cool, I like your usage of foliage, the stream and all. Your roofs need some improvement though because like this they would lead to dripping cealings the first rain coming down. And once you're done, you should post you best pic in the HoM thread.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone! I was using hinges for the ski-roof (and tile-roof, I guess) initially, but I've come into some of those angled bricks with the studs on top, so I'm going to try that out on the stable and see if it makes it any cleaner/watertight.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good landscape and interesting storyline :thumbup: The roof of the building on the left does look prone to leaks right now, mainly because the roof ends inside the walls, rather than outside.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi all! Thanks again for the great feedback. I wanted to show off the more-or-less final version after making some changes.

1) To fix up the roof of the church, I built up the sides a little more. This gave me space to put the hinge for the roof panels and cover in the sides with plates, so it's essentially water-tight. I was also able to raise the slope pieces in the front so there's less of a gap between them and the roof pieces. This shot shows it from below (including the stained glass, which I really just like the look of; it very much makes it feel like an old wooden church up north). I also wasn't super-happy with the edge of the roof so I simplified it a bit. You can see the whole building in the overview shot (the second pic). The new version:

2014-03-0820135056.jpg

And the overview of Raven's Eye as a whole! I still don't have any wedge pieces, but I tried to break up the straight lines of the brown/green plates by putting in some snow plates. I tried to put them in places where the normal walking paths around the village wouldn't go. Lots of fun!

d33a79fe-b77d-445a-8100-d648bbfd8a63.png

UoP Credits Claimed:

1) Hyrdology (Flowing Water)

2) Hydrology (Pond)

3) Anthropology (Village life)

4) Landscape (Flowers and dense foliage)

Thanks for your consideration!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Nice work, it certainly does look better :thumbup:

I really like the ski roof on the stable personally, though it does look a little odd that it has so much more snow than the other roof.

Good job on the foliage and water too, those waves/ripples are excellent :sweet:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

+1 for village life, flowing water, and flowers/dense foilage. I can't really give you pond as there isn't much of a pond in the build IMHO.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

+1 for village life, flowing water, and flowers/dense foilage. I can't really give you pond as there isn't much of a pond in the build IMHO.

I do like the use of skis for the roof!

+1 UoP DoH for all claims- good job :thumbup:

Thanks very much! I understand about the pond, it's quite small. The sharply pointed roof I really enjoy, especially now that I've taken it into my head that the style originated ages back as a way to keep dragons from landing on one's house.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.