The Ruins- Collab Display Part I

[ZCerberus]

On the road to meet the Dragon Masters, Sir Burress encounters an ally from his former life. In the ruins at the crossroads between the Zugal’s Eyrie and Dragon Keep, Nocturnus’s General paces the ruins praying his spies were correct, and that his former friend, Sir Burress, lives and is traveling the road alone. He had heard Burress was saved from death, but hopes it is not too late to save him from whatever dark magic the Hand has placed on him. Grimm sees a man dressed in black approaching from the distance and Grimm orders his guards to hide. He steps into the road to confront the black knight. He is startled when he can recognize his old friend in the eyes of the undead knight standing before him.

General Grimm: Sir Burress- you’ve certainly seen better days.

Sir Burress: Silence wolf. I would cut you down were I not on an important mission. Step aside and let me pass and I shall consider sparing your life.

General Grimm: Nocturnus is a dangerous land, you think I would travel alone?

General Grimm motions his hand and two Grimm Guards step out from behind the ruined walls.

Sir Burress: And how do you propose to kill a man who is already dead?

General Grimm: I do not plan to kill you Burress.

Grimm and his Guard begin to circle Burress. The dead man draws iron and raises his shield when he hears a familiar voice.

Miress Greenclove: Whatever magic the Spire has placed on you, I shall see it undone.

Miress looks at Burress with a great pain in her soul. His skin is gray and dead, his silver hair has completely fallen out and his muscle atrophied. How he still stands in such condition is impossible for her to tell. Yet she can still see the “Green Knight” in his eyes. If realizes if she completely breaks Malicia’s spell Burress will die again. Instead she can only enchant Burress for a short period of time.

Miress Greenclove: The damage is more extensive than I thought. He can only be healed in the Mystic Isles of Avalonia at the Altar of Hardool. We haven’t the time to bring him to Avalonia. I can place an enchantment on the Green Knight, but it will only last a few days.

General Grimm: Will he remember what you have done?

Miress Greenclove: He will remember nothing. Tell us Burress, what is your mission?

Instead of speaking, Burress strikes at the nearest Grimm Guard and disarms him. Burress pulls the guard to his feet and places a blade at the guard’s neck.

Sir Burress: Withdraw or I cut this man’s throat.

General Grimm: If that is what it takes.

Grimm nods and he and the remaining Grimm Guard rush Burress. Sir Burress slits his hostage’s throat and quickly decapitates the other guard before Greenclove’s hidden Elven guard and General Grimm tackle Burress to the ground.

Miress Greenclove: If we you won’t reveal the Spire’s secrets to us, we shall extract them from you through the power of the elves!

******** About the MOC **********

This is the first MOC that is part of the larger collaborative build done by Torgar and me. Though I did most of the building, Torgar was a substantial contributor so I have decided to NOT tag this MOC with my signature.

It was tricky to do a Nocturnus landscape build. We wanted it to look baren yet interesting at the same time. There will be more to see with this build when we reveal the entire collaborative display.

********** Other Parts of the Story **********

Throne Room at Farnhorn Collab Prelude Part I

The Spider's Chambers Collab Predlude Part II

The Ruins Collab Display Part I

Dragon Keep Collab Display Part II

Zugal's Eyrie Collab Display Part III

Fracture Collab Display

[Scaevola]

Great landscape. The trees are superb as are the small yellow flowers. The ruins walls look a little too immaculate for a ruins wall however (and some more rubble around the ruins would enhance it as well). Excellent work

[Thomas of Tortuga]

Although the story is great, I'm not sure the landscaping lives up to your standards. Although it's textured nicely, the ground seems too monochromatic, and the buildings don't seem ruined so much as half-finished. In my humble opinion, thicker underbrush and some more oddly colored flowers, as well as some rubble around the walls, would help fill in the empty space and make the moc seem more full and complete.

[ZCerberus]

You'll see more pictures when the whole collab is up. This section is a bit bare I agree, but we'll see if it is viewed in a new light when everything is up. I do agree I wanted the walls more over run with brush, but we actually completely ran out of olive green leaves!

[Lord Vladivus]

This is great- I must admit I'm a fan of the way you've done this one. The landscape looks barren and folorn- quote Nocturnian! Story is brilliant too, looking forward to the next instalments.

[Gideon]

Nice landscaping, especially the trees and the various details of the landscape. The storytelling and it's illustration with the minifig posing is excellent, as well as the photography

I agree however that there are some areas of the ground which look a bit "rough cut" and not as detailed as I would have expected, so I'm looking forward to seeing the whole collab!

Edited May 27, 2014 by Gideon

[de Gothia]

Great work my friend! I really love the colors of the moc and the ground fits as said before great into Nocturnus! The leaves are altbrick?

[ZCerberus]

I agree however that there are some areas of the ground which look a bit "rough cut" and not as detailed as I would have expected, so I'm looking forward to seeing the whole collab!

Many of the bare areas had minifigures or were left open so you could see through to the minifigures on the collab. Hopefully that will make sense when all the photos are up.

Great work my friend! I really love the colors of the moc and the ground fits as said before great into Nocturnus! The leaves are altbrick?

The yellow, tan and brown ones are alt bricks. I had to modify my technique for those, but they look good in the display.

[Gideon]

Many of the bare areas had minifigures or were left open so you could see through to the minifigures on the collab. Hopefully that will make sense when all the photos are up.

I assumed that there was a reason Looking forward to the rest of the photos!

Edited May 27, 2014 by Gideon

[Infernum]

Massive! Love the story! The trees are great, as are the flower-things and ruins!

[Dragonfire]

Great MOC!

What heads did you use for the Grimm Guards? Are they the cannibal heads from PoTC?

[soccerkid6]

The trees and ruins look fantastic The flowers and bits of stone sticking up here and there are nice touches

[ZCerberus]

What heads did you use for the Grimm Guards? Are they the cannibal heads from PoTC?

I think so.

[MassEditor]

Great composition and wonderful story again dude. Honestly I've had no real enticement to purchase aftermarket bricks until now - those trees are awesome!

I've learned how difficult it is to make interesting Nocturnus landscapes. My third Warlords build is focused more on landscaping than the others, and it's definitely been a challenge to craft such a dark landscape.