kabel

The Algus Saga: Fighting Ice with Fire

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Not far from Thorshaven in Harald's Fjord, shortly after the beacons had been lid:

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Ulf, a veteran of the war against the elementals, had enough of it. Hadn't he lost everything in the last war already? Hadn't he given everything he could to take his family to this safe haven in order to start again?

Ulf was tired of fighting, tired of moving, tired of giving up everything he loved so dearly. And so, he had drenched his house in tar and was now ready to put everything to the torch - no, these beast were not going to take his home from him! He'd much rather see all of it burn down infront of them than see them turning everything to ice. Sure, he didn't mind the Algus turning the ashes to ice, and if need be, his ashes as well. He didn't care anymore!

Ulf's friend Harald, however, wanted his friend to live, wanted to rebuild everything next spring, if there ever was going to be another one. So he waited for Ulf to finally get moving and so he too saw the Algus approach freezing everything as they moved along:

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As soon as the Algus touched anything, it instantly froze and whereever they walked everything turned white and cold. Harald was so stunned to see these creatures that he forgot to push off the boat and take care of himself and so got to witness something amazing:

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As soon as Ulf's house erupted in a ball of flames the Algus stopped moving as if they were shocked. Ulf, actually expecting to freeze up every second, also noticed that with the torch in his hand noting happened to him. One Algus tried to freeze him from below his feed, but nothing happened! Ulf was surprised and slowly noticed that the Algus were avoiding his torches. Suddenly, he heard their leader scream an aweful cascade of sounds of an unintelligible language!

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Ulf and Harald didn't trust their senses. Was this it? Was this the answer to the question many wise Mitgardians couldn't answer? Was fire the way fight the Algus?

Well, at least it kept them at bay for as long as the fire was burning and only the gods knew what would happen after this!

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Additional shots:

The Fjord's sea bottom:

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the freezing/burning tree:

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err, the river isn't fully frozen yet! Only the part were the Algus walk ..

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Very nice build kabel, you've done a good job capturing the sense of the out of place ice with the sharp contrast between that and the green! The half burnt roof is really well done also!

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Lovely rock-work, waterfall, and river kabel, it's great to see the Algus being pushed back! :thumbup: Excellent house as well, the burning roof is very nice!

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Great, great build. One of my favorites from you. I love that icy water, and the accompanying story is awesome.

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Aha, so the Algus are not invincible! Mitgardian's newest foes will be conquered with the help of their oldest friend, fire. My spirits are lifted by this halting of those icy bastards!

Wonderful story, I absolutely love the twist. I was preparing myself to watch Ulf become just another ice sculpture, but then he figures out the key to the Algus' defeat. Fantastic! I hope he will have a part to play in the continuing developments.

The build itself is genius. The juxtaposition of the normal landscaping and encroaching ice is nothing short of stunning. The frozen waterfall, icy landscape, burning house and wolf-bound Algus soldier give this build such a dark vibe. It looks really great compared to the normal, green, Mitgard landscape. So cool, definitely my favorite entry into this storyline thus far!

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Well thanks for all the praise guys! This build had actually stood there and collected dust for over 3 months now and I'm happy I finally got it done!

There is one thing though I'm not so happy about. Actually the waterfall is not meant to be frozen. Running water is always transparent and starts to form white foam when moving. And that's why I used clear transparent and not blue transparent plates to show this effect. Maybe I should take another shot from right above to make this a little clearer.

Or what would you guys suggest?

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Well thanks for all the praise guys! This build had actually stood there and collected dust for over 3 months now and I'm happy I finally got it done!

There is one thing though I'm not so happy about. Actually the waterfall is not meant to be frozen. Running water is always transparent and starts to form white foam when moving. And that's why I used clear transparent and not blue transparent plates to show this effect. Maybe I should take another shot from right above to make this a little clearer.

Or what would you guys suggest?

BTW, I did get the idea that it was probably supposed to be running water. It does kind of look more like ice I think because it's all at the same level. Flat implies still. Still clear with a bit of white suggests ice rather than water. (Also the fact that there's snow in the build means that ice makes sense.) Running water has ups and downs, and especially the foam would be a little higher up, as I'm sure you know. Now, how to convey that in bricks... that's another matter!

The foam could possibly be pushed up slightly if you used tiles and simply stuck them in with friction, or, if you used 2x1 tiles which have no understuds, just a gap and could thus be pushed up a little (and would also stick out down below). I'm not sure however if that would really make much of a difference. The other thing would be to tilt some of the 2x1 plates you have there and surround them with cheese. The problem with that is it may well be rather too large of a bump.

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The other thing would be to tilt some of the 2x1 plates you have there and surround them with cheese

hm, sounds like what I did at the place where the waterfall hits the sea, guess I'll have to work around that idea in my next build. Thanks a lot! (How do you actually say pal, or dude or mate to a girl?)

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Good to know they have a weakness. Very good job on the posing and environmental effects!

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hm, sounds like what I did at the place where the waterfall hits the sea, guess I'll have to work around that idea in my next build. Thanks a lot! (How do you actually say pal, or dude or mate to a girl?)

You can say dude, at least, I say that to my sisters. Don't know that they really appreciate it, but anyways! :tongue:

I would think pal would apply too. IDK. :laugh:

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Lovely landscape, it's great to see the finalized pictures of this :wub: I love how the house overhangs into the river, and that you actually have the support beam going down through the water to the bottom.

The waterfall is definitely the highlight though, looks so natural :thumbup: And I thought of it as running water, not frozen, when I saw it. From my past experiences, it seems that often when using trans clear water in a build that has some snow, many people immediately assume it's ice.

Featured this on my website: link

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Very nice! Good to know those frozen warriors aren't invincible......

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This is a lovely build and a unique twist to the ongoing story. In retrospect it seems so obvious - fire and ice. You've illustrated the concept well. The house is nice, especially the way you just boat your way up to the front door. My favorite features are the built-up and detailed fjord and the waterfall itself, which looks very much like running water to my eyes. The rockwork is pretty good too and I'm really surprised by how well the old-style conifer trees look in this setting. Good work and keep on building!

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Featured this on my website: link

wow cool, thanks a lot dude, I really appreciate this!

I'm really surprised by how well the old-style conifer trees look in this setting.

Well yeah, they are actually not that bad and if you sourround them with tons of other vegetation they usually end up looking like small, northern or high alpine coniferious trees!

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Great build, kabel! I love the waterfall and that you included the underwater section as well :thumbup:

Excellent rockwork too :classic:

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Great touch the frozen balkony part kabel...! The waterfall is amazing too!!

Edited by Gunman

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Excellent work! I like the rockwork and waterfall :wub: . The landscape looks nice, too.

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