Full Plate

The Tranquil Meadow Chapter I: The Tranquil Meadow Chapter II: Old Bagshaw's Residence Chapter III: The Poacher Chapter IV: Making Camp Chapter V: Solitary Council Chapter VI: Escaping Home Chapter VII: Waylaid Chapter VIII: Archery Practice Chapter IX: Honour the Fallen Bonus Landscape: Avalonian Countryside Sir Darby was making his way through the wild grass. It had been a while since his last time here, and the little path he'd usually follow was all but gone. Before long he reached his destination; a huge tree growing amidst a pile rocks, right in the middle of the meadow. This was the place where Sir Darby would come when he needed some time away from life, some time to think without distractions. He put his sword aside and lay down in the grass. His head was full of thoughts, but right now he needed to focus on just one thing; the letter he had received last morning. Eyes on the canopy overhead, he took a deep breath and let his mind go empty. Soon enough he felt the calmness come over him; now he was ready. Sir Darby started by recalling the letter, trying to figure out what about it that made him feel so uneasy. It was nothing extraordinary to be given orders by letter, although most times he would be delivered a summons, and then receive his orders directly from his superiors. Still, it had happened before, and Sir Darby thought it no oddity. What was strange, however, was the nature of the charge; colony defense. This had never been Sir Darby's strong suit, and although he had been handling camp defense during his military campaigns from time to time, securing a civilian colony was very different from securing a camp full of armed and battle-trained soldiers. Dealing with civilians required a softer touch, and Sir Darby decidedly didn't posses such. Moreover, the location was also a bit of a surprise to Sir Darby. Why send him to a small, newly founded colony at the edge of the Isles? Surely, the timber from the colony generated plenty of wealth, and was the raw material of many lords' extravagance, but where was the threat that required the deployment of one of the realm's greatest swordsmen and tacticians, not to mention the men serving under him? To Sir Darby this seemed nothing but a huge waste of military resources, so could there be other, underlying reasons for this order? Putting him on a remote isle would certainly be pleasing to some of the decadent lords in Albion, who were less than ecstatic about him. Sir Darby wasn't one to play the high society game, and his brutal honesty and serious demeanor had landed him in hot water more than once. He always meant what he said, and said what he meant, but that was not how these lordlings did things. Luckily, his wife, Delwyn, seemed to have a knack for smoothing things over for him, and he knew things would have been much worse without her. Thinking of his wife lead his trail of thought to his family. Newquay was far away, and it was not clear how long he was to hold this position. If it was a particular threat that needed to be dealt with it might be over rather quickly, but if this was about general colony defense then he might be relocating for an extended period of time. Should he bring his family with him? No, he quickly decided. The Isles was no place for them. He had never brought his family along for any of his military campaigns, and although this was slightly different, he saw no reason to bring them this time either. He wasn't worried for his wife or his son, Gerald, they would be ok, but his daughter, Janelle, was now almost 11 years of age, and she was an adventurous girl. She would most certainly demand to come along if she knew what was going on. In any case, Sir Darby needed more information about his orders. When was he to head out? How many men was he to bring? Who was he to report to? The orders were signed by Sir Bagshaw, an old but respectable knight that Sir Darby had served under on multiple occasions. The irregularities of these orders did not add up with the usual competent work of Sir Bagshaw. Regardless, the starting point was clear; it was time for Sir Darby to pay old Sir Bagshaw a visit in Albion. That should allow him to sort out a few things about these orders. As Sir Darby got to his feet and grabbed his sword, he felt better already. With determined steps he walked back to his estate, leaving the big tree looming behind. *** I would like to request UoP DoH credits for the following: Landscape design: 1 tree type (the big one). Landscape design: dense foliage. Hope you enjoyed the MOC :)

Very nice action scene! That pincer can't be fun to fight your way out of Great job!

Fantastic little scene! Your rockwork technique looks very interesting, and the result is great! And the architecture on the beacon is great as well. Awesome work!

Really nice landscaping and minifig positioning! Goes very well with the story. Great job!

Excellent rockwork! Another very nice beacon, great work!

Great fire and smoke effect! The landscaping is very nice as well. Nice work!

Wow, impressive! Very nice architecture and I also like the statues a lot. Great job!

Great job on that house! Nice and detailed. Like many others I also like the fountain in the corner, and I like your effort to make a dust trail after the wagon's wheels. Adds the feeling that the wagon is going pretty fast, which I suppose it would have to if Onicius couldn't catch up to it Well done!

Very nice! I really like the range of plants you have in the garden. Great job!

Sir Rikkard 'Full Plate' Darby hereby pledge loyalty to Avalonia. Sir Rikkard is a war veteran and came into knighthood by way of merit rather than by birth. As a street child of Albion he was forcibly drafted into the army in his mid teens, and not much is known about his life before then. In the army he showed a keen aptitude for battle, and quickly gained a reputation for his skills, also earning himself the nickname 'Full Plate' as he always entered battle with a heavy armour that he allegedly forged himself. Besides skill with the blade, Rikkard also showed a good insight into warfare tactics, as displayed by him making many successful, critical decisions on the battlefield when out of contact with his commanders. After serving in multiple campaigns and racing through the ranks Rikkard was knighted for his bravery and skill, and was subsequently given an estate just west of Albion. He is often consulted on wartime matters, and is also involved in training of new recruits from time to time. Sir Rikkard is a man of few words, and has little interest in socialising and politics. He is loyal to those he trusts, but he does not hide his disdain for those he believe unsuitable for their office, and have more than once slighted those of high birth, leading to him gaining a number of enemies in the high society of Albion. Although he is undeniably capable, he has been attacked on the matter of his low birth by those opposed to him. Being weary of socialising, Sir Rikkard have taken to remaining in his estate more often lately. However, he has just been informed that he is to be assigned to the remote startup colony of Newquay on the Overgrown Isle, just off the north-western coast of Avalonia, to provide security for the local Lord there. The Overgrown Isle is a prime source of rare timber, allowing for these to be harvested without having to travel too deeply into the Mystic Isles. For years day trips have been made to the isle to procure the timber, but recently the decision was made to set up a colony on the isle to increase production and, of course, revenue. From what Sir Rikkard has heard, the colony has not been faring well, having lost many workers to the woods, feeding the notion of a great and dangerous power in the forest. Sir Rikkard is not one for superstition, but he has also seen far too many strange things over the years to rule anything out without a proper investigation. Practically, his new charge would mean relocating for an extended period of time, and Sir Rikkard is not sure how he feels about this, mostly because of his two children, but in the end a charge must be obeyed and he knows he must go. He is not ignorant of this situation most likely being the work of one of his enemies in Albion, who would prefer to have him at a comfortable distance in the Isles, but is there anything he can and should do? Sir Rikkard has much to think about, not to mention preparations to make. The story begins shortly before Sir Rikkard starts his journey to the Overgrown Isle, whose location I have indicated in blue on the map. I hope this isle is still free to claim, as some old maps seem to refer to it as "Alara" or something similar, but it doesn't seem to be present in any of the newer maps. But if it is taken, do let me know And sorry about the bad font, didn't know what font is used for the map. Also, do inform me if I have inadvertently conflicted any pre-existing lore. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the GoH concept, but to begin with I think I will be doing some UoP freebuilds and Avalonia tasks, unless you have some better suggestions of what I should do Happy to be aboard!

This is really awesome! Seeing all those incredible MOCs of yours in one diorama is nothing short of spectacular! You are an inspiration Thanks for sharing!

Nice work! Like others I think the breached part of the wall looks awesome! Great work

Stunningly beautiful!

This one looks really great! The pig looks very realistic and the whole build is so detailed Awesome work!

Very nice architecture! Great job

Looks great! I like the base alot, the use of teeth for snow-draped ground is clever. The purple leaves looks interesting also Good job!

Love this! Really got that cozy feeling Great job!

Thank you all for your input Glad you enjoyed it!

Hello! A small shack I made as a home for one of my son's "flying guys" (essentially a minifig with wings attached). The house had to be high up so only he could reach it, and with no roads going there. Between the choices of treehouse and house on a cliff, I chose the latter, for simplicity's sake, although the thought of building a treehouse sounds like a lot of fun. So here it is; The Stone Shack. After it was finished and I had taken the photos, my son asked me why there was a fence there, since the guy could fly. Good point... Oh well This is my first time trying to make a "greeble wall" and also making walls and roof with strange angles. I've seen really excellent examples of this here at EB, so I wanted to try some techniques to do it. I found it quite a challenge, even in a small build like this, and especially mounting the roof was a pain. But hopefully I've learnt something from it. For some reason, which I can't put my finger on, I'm not really happy with how the greenery turned out. Maybe it's too similar to what I've done before and it is starting to feel generic. Time to try something new perhaps Hope you enjoyed the build! C and C is always welcome

Fantastic scene! Though I don't know much about boats, this looks really pleasant to me

This looks really great! Too many awesome details to mention them all, but I really like how you managed to get the "cramped alley" feel to it, especially in the first photo. Great job!

Nice build! I really like the perspective in the first photo

Nice build! I really like the decorations on top of the bookshelves and the ink jar Great job!

Speechless... A piece of pure beauty you have created here. The color scheme is great, and I like the inclusion of dark orange on the ground, not just the trees. This is a real inspiration, thanks for sharing

Looks really great! Dungeon, rabbit hole, ghost The technique you use to make air pockets in the soil/rock looks great! Great job!