Full Plate

A very nice seaside build! The rockwork, water and frame are excellent :) Looking forward to more from you!

Thanks guys! Happy you enjoyed it Thanks! Who knows what that guy's up to

The snow looks really great here! Are those wooden pipes? Nice stone work as well Enjoyed your tour of Historica!

Welcome! I also think you did a good job for a first build What you can do to improve it depends on what else you have in your collection. Regular small plates or 1x1 round plates in different colors could do a lot to add texture to the build. You are doing great, so just keep on building!

Great work Titus! The story is very entertaining I think leaving the overview photos til later was a good move for the story. Makes you feel closer to the action somehow. Looking forward to the next chapter

Very nice It is certainly a colorful landscape and there are a couple of flower techniques I haven't seen before. Great job! Autumn is coming...

Intriguing story! I wonder what that bunny is up to...? The flowers on the roof are very nicely done, and that front door looks great

Like others said; this is an excellent first build Processing the background is something that I always have to do with my pictures, cos I don't have a fancy setup, so you're not the only one Keep on building!

Wow, very captivating story! Looking forward to what is coming next. The interior scene is well done, and that arch is just ace - grand and nicely detailed If you removed the black smudges on the edges of some of the photos I think that would improve the images. Or perhaps it's just me that notice these things, cos I tend get those myself all the time In any case, great work!

Solitary Council 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 It was a sunny day, but down in the forest it was still dim. The extensive canopy overhead was not letting much light through, giving the woods an eerie atmosphere. An old man was mumbling to himself while making his way through the underbrush. Although vegetation was heavy the man seemed to move through it with both ease and speed, deftly avoiding having his robe snagged by twigs and branches. The man was short, but surprisingly nimble. The staff in his hand used to move plants out of his path, rather than to support himself on. - 'Ho ho! You all just grow and grow!' he exclaimed suddenly, only to go straight back to his muttering. The old man kept on moving, his grey, matted hair swaying as he moved. The man left no trail after him - all plants moved back into place as he passed, neither broken nor bruised. As he moved onwards, the forest grew brighter and brighter. - 'Ho ho! Here we are!' As the man spoke, he broke through the edge of the forest and found himself standing in a great, circular meadow, in the middle of the forest. In the center of the meadow stood three huge trees, surrounding a peculiar stone formation. The man stood there for a while letting his eyes adjust to the light and taking in the full view of the place. He then began to slowly head down a small path towards the center of the meadow. On his way he stopped by a smaller tree growing out of a big tree trunk. The trunk seemed to have been sawed off previously and parts of the former tree was lying in the meadow, almost overgrown by now. - 'How are you this fine day? Recovering well I can see. Ho ho ho! You will be back to your former glory in no time.' The man's face turned less cheerful as he turned his eyes to the decomposing parts of the old, broken tree. - 'The earth will clear the corruption... But where did it come from this time...?' he asked himself quizzingly. After a few moments contemplation the man turned and walked up to the stone formation. - 'You have anything to tell me today?', he asked. 'We shall see.' The man put his staff aside and lay his two hands on the surface of the stone. - 'Ho ho! Cold as always', the man exclaimed and then closed his eyes and went silent. A couple of minutes passed before the man opened his eyes and removed his hands from the stone. - 'Silent little bugger, aren't you? Or perhaps you just don't want to talk to a surly old fart like me? Ho ho ho!' He turned to look at the huge trees. - 'Well, how about you then? Got anything to say?' The man stood silent for a short while and then turned towards one of the trees. - 'Mountain avens are blooming?' he asked, looking slightly surprised. He walked over to the base of the tree. The tree’s bark was completely white, and its leaves had a pale green shade. The man bent down and examined one of the many white flowers blooming by the tree. - 'Ah yes, they certainly are, and quite a few of them. Looks like the icy man-beasts are back. Ho ho ho! They sure made a mess of the world last time!' He looked up at the tree. - 'Well, someone will deal with it', he stated. 'And if not, it’s just the end of the world. Ho ho!' The man walked over to a dark tree bearing blood red leaves. - 'Looks like your heather is still growing in abundance. Well, I have no idea what that means, and I hope it stays that way! Ho ho ho! Who knows what those goblins are up to? Well, I guess I should look into it...' Lastly he turned to a tree with a golden canopy. - 'Anything from you? … No? Well, good for you! We can’t have chaos in all corners of the world all at once now, can we?' He examined the rock formation. - 'Well, grumps here still won’t talk to me, so I guess we’re on our own. Ho ho! I do hope you all help your brother grow back now. You need him as much as he needs you. And I need you all.' He picked up his staff and started back towards the forest. - 'And see what you can find out about this horrible corruption. It seems to resist the earth’s cleansing quite well.' As he passed the small tree growing from the stump he spoke to it shortly. - 'I only did what was necessary. I'm sorry it caused you such pain...', he said shaking his head. 'I'll be back to check on you soon. Until then; grow well!' And with that he was off into the forest. - 'Ho ho! This is getting interesting!' *** Yay for loopy monologues! Hopefully it was too weird to be boring, but not too weird to be understood Concerning the build, I’m not so happy with the white tree. Think it would have looked much nicer with some blacks and browns thrown in, but I wanted a purely white one for story purposes. Also wanted tan bark for the tree with orange leaves, but sadly I have no droid arms or bars in that color. Time to hit bricklink again Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it! C & C always welcome

This is great! My son would love one of these - better start building haha. Really looking forward to what the other seasons have in store

Certainly colorful, but still with a coherent color scheme! The design of the base of the tower looks very interesting. Good job!

Lovely build! Great landscaping, definitely looks like Avalonia Never saw a nest made from beard and ice cream before, but it certainly works well Like the mix of old and new greys in the tower as well. Great job!

That's a really spectacular backdrop I think a photo from a lower angle might look even better, as there us only sky on the backdrop. Your landscaping is really nice too, great job

Great staircase! Certainly a good spot for an ambush Those Algus should've stayed clear of Avalonia!

Nice little build! I'm rooting for Alric and his men High spirits goes a long way!

Wow, I really love this! Looks like a nice place to work And your song is awesome, did you write it yourself? Very good job!

Another massive build! And very diverse as well. I definitely like the center part a lot, but I'm Avalonian, so I might be biased That white tower is also really spectacular!

Wow, that's an absolutely gigantic build! But even with the scale you have put serious attention to details, and it shows. Great job!

Great tower! Looks like a nice place to spend a month

Thanks all for the kind words :) Happy to not have let you down Titus Sorry to have made you wait for so long though Thanks Garmadon! I do agree about the background, and I got that feedback from others as well. Guess I've grown used to using white as background, but gotta learn to adapt Made a new version of one of the shots with this in mind that you can see below. Would be happy to receive some feedback about whether it works better or not I hear ya man! Who wants to see grown men chomping on fish when there is tree bark to be seen? Added another photo below which gives a slightly better view of the tree bark. Have already disassembled the build, so can't take any new ones Also added a photo from one of my previous builds, which uses the same technique, only with axes instead of bars. Hope that helps Different background. A slightly closer view of the tree bark. Similar technique in a different build.

Making Camp 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 The crackling sound of the campfire brought back all kinds of memories to Sir Darby. Some of them fond. Most of them not. Sir Darby would always associate campfires with war, and memories of war were seldom pleasant ones. He had learnt the hard way that one was never as safe as one felt around a campfire. Sir Darby got out a whetstone and proceeded to methodically sharpen his sword. It was a habit he had developed from young - a way to remind himself that even here, in the warm glow of the fire, the harsh reality was still out there and he needed to be ready. The problem was; how could he be ready for what was to come, when he had no idea what to expect? Sir Darby had had to leave home for the Overgrown Isle with very short notice, without any men, and without even knowing the real reason for his departure. He had left his family at home, not being able to tell them much about where he was going, or even when he would come back. He was positive that he was part of some scheme, masterly manipulated from behind the scenes. But by whom and for what purpose was still unknown. All was not gloom however, because he was not alone. He was sharing this campfire with two of his most trusted men, with a third out to gather fuel for the fire to last them through the night. Things could surely have been worse. Sir Darby studied the two men at his sides. To his right sat Harlon Sherburne, a tall, dark man with a constant frown on his face, grilling a fish over the fire. Harlon was not the type to talk about himself, or to talk much at all for that matter, but Sir Darby could not think of anyone he’d rather have by his side in the heat of battle. Harlon had been Sir Darby’s right hand man for almost 20 years, always carrying out his charge well and above what anyone could expect. Not popular with the men, at least not at first, but a second-in-command didn’t need to be - he just needed to have the men ready for battle. In the end, a leader who kept his men alive was much preferred to one that kept them happy. The man on Sir Darby’s left was in many ways the diametrical opposite to Harlon. Kipp Wyght was a stout, red haired man, with a big mouth and a merry personality. Sir Darby also knew him to be fiercely loyal and the most skilled man with a blade he had ever seen. They had met only on Sir Darby’s latest military campaign, but Kipp had quickly proven to be one of the most valuable soldiers to the war effort, as well as an avid entertainer among the men, raising spirits wherever he went. Kipp was currently in the process of recounting an event involving a dead rat, a bowl of soup and a serving maid at The Fat Sow. From what Sir Darby could tell, the tale bore little resemblance to actual events, but Kipp’s stories seldom did, nor did they need to. Sir Darby smirked at Kipp's detailed description of the maid tumbling out the door just to land upside down in the water trough. - ‘...and since then, I'll never again be welcome at The Fat Sow!’, Kipp concluded his story. - ‘You forgot how she slapped you right across your face’, Harlon pointed out while turning his fish over. - ‘That was no slap’, Kipp replied. ‘Only the gentle caress of her silky smooth hand on my cheek; a memory that I will cherish forever!’ Harlon just sighed. The sound of twig cracking announced the arrival of the last man of their party. Nyle Ogden came into view carrying a bundle of sticks. Sir Darby hadn’t known him before they set out, and have even been reluctant to bring him along, but as Kipp’s younger cousin, Kipp had insisted on bringing him along. In the end Sir Darby had agreed, and in any case it was out of his hands. Nyle had put in a request of transfer to Newquay together with the other two, and the request had been granted. They were now Lord Cowden’s men, and Sir Darby should be happy to have them around. Still, from the looks of his damp pile of sticks, he was neither a seasoned outdoorsman, or a quick learner. - ‘Hey Nyle!’ Kipp hollered. ‘Good job fueling the fire! You can just put them down right here.’ - ‘Thanks’, Nyle mumbled and dropped the pile next to the campfire. Sir Darby knew that Kipp would sneak off later to find some proper kindling. Coddling people had never been Sir Darby’s way, and he had a hard time understanding why Kipp would treat his cousin this way. It was not his place to get involved though, as he had neither authority or full knowledge of the situation. It still irked him though. - ‘Are we getting close to Newquay yet?’ asked Nyle. - ‘About 2-3 days more to the coast, then we have to find passage over to the island’, Sir Darby replied. - ‘It is awfully cold here’, said Nyle. - ‘We’re pretty far north by now’, Kipp answered. ‘Probably as far north as the Mitgardian border in the east.’ - ‘But it is still summer’, said Nyle. ‘And Mitgardia is up in the mountains, while we’re in the low plains. Should it really be this cold?’ It was true that is was particularly cold. Sir Darby had not spent much time in this part of Avalonia, but even in the lower hills by the Mitgardian border it wouldn’t get this cold in summer. He had even noticed the leaves starting to wilt, which shouldn’t happen for at least another month, if not two. It was definitely not normal. - ‘It is... the Algus’, Harlon replied. Sir Darby was more than a little surprised. He had never heard about the Algus except for in the old wives’ tales, which he did not put much stock in. To hear this from a man of logic and deduction like Harlon was unexpected. - ‘I heard the rumour from some traders coming down from the mountains a few days before we departed’, Harlon continued. ‘They claimed that the Algus had appeared and with them had come the freezing cold. Some cities had been attacked, but their fates were unknown to them. I didn’t really take it seriously, until I had it confirmed by some of my... ‘sources’.’ - ‘But, that means they are close?’ stammered Nyle. - ‘I don’t know’, replied Harlon. ‘I don’t know if this is really the Algus of the legends, or if it’s something else. But there is something out there, somewhere, causing the cold, and I doubt they’re friendly.’ It went quiet. Sir Darby was processing what had been shared. The Algus. Possibly somewhere near. This was a surprise. And in Sir Darby’s experience, surprises were wont to kill you. - ‘Well, it won’t be a surprise anymore’, he thought to himself. ‘Now I can be prepared for that as well.’ Seems he had been right; one was never as safe as one felt around a campfire. *** My first post in a while now. A lot of work and travelling, but managed to build something in between things :) Also, decided to weave in some of the Algus event into the story. If I got any of the lore wrong, do let me know :) Hope you enjoyed the MOC :)

Thanks guys! Glad you liked it! Thank you for your kind words The mist is digital and I'm kinda split about it. On one hand it looks pretty nice and gives the right atmosphere, but it also makes the build look a bit dullish.

Nice! I like the tents And they're gonna need that fire to keep them warm.

Very nice! You got a very good curvature to the whole build as well as the stairs. I'm impressed at how snuggly you got the stairs to match up to the outer wall. Great job