gedren_y

The terms 'elf' and 'fairy' are still subjective in English. I have a whole rant that I could go into about the entomology of the words, and their cultural derivations and deviations. Given that this is expected to be a fantasy theme, the thread is probably in the right place.

I don't know if this has been reported, but the invisibility tool has changed so that separate parts of minifig torsos and legs are not recognized. It used to be possible to make only part of them invisible, now it makes the whole part invisible. I used this once to create an edge detail out of minifig legs, but that capability is now gone.

Just think, Mike, in thirteen years you'll have two teenagers at the same time.

I didn't intend it to look like that, but you're right. Now we've got a transvestite troll. Nope. All of the mushrooms and the squiggly plants at the back are Brickforge, though the tan/dark tan and glow-in-the-dark/turquoise mushrooms are no longer available. The other non-Lego parts are Brickarms. I like to bring laughter to GOH. I knew Lord Damaximus would get into the spirit. 'Hippy kicker' indeed.

My vig that began as just some table scraps and a big-fig troll is up. The Dancing Troll

Somewhere outside Eastgate, not far from Lord Damaximus' troop encampment, is the ruins of an ancient temple. The oddly symmetrical plants and feeling of desolation make it a place most try to avoid. On this day, though, a handful of soldiers were ordered to investigate a potential troll sighting. To their delight and humor, the troll proved quite friendly as he performed some kind of ritual dance. He was an Avalonian troll, on migration south for the cold months. The soldiers concluded that this troll was relatively harmless, and could be left alone, but they decided to search the ruins more fully before returning to report to Lord Damaximus. -------------------------------------------- The build sans troll. Close up 01 Close up 02 Troll alone

Wonderful way of depicting volcanic glass. Are those trans-black tiles?

I just finished a small vig that began with table scrap and a troll big-fig. I will try to have it up tomorrow. I'm thinking the setting is near Eastgate.

If the mound is supposed to be sandstone, why not build it horizontally? There is an older Lego color, if you can get your hands on it, that should go well as variation in sandstone, light yellow. Yay, I have a new tag. Must be for my storytelling ability.

UoP DoH +1

More Mpya Stedor, wonderful. I'm with Gideon on the credits, all but the windows +1. They were a bit easy. I have some of those fence windows on my LDD Lost Vega build.

UoP DoH +1

UoP DoH +1 on both claims.

A perfectly dark build, rightly suitable to Nocturnus. And the Princess Bride reference doesn't hurt.

[shay Liih quietly slips back into the tavern. Doc Gooshie was quite generous regarding access to his library. She had found something relating to the Book of Confusion, in a tome written before the Great Migration. She quotes. . .] Shay Liih: "Behind the laughing maiden, under the dead mountain, listening I am. Water flows before the endless drinker, thought has little meaning to the Green. Echos don't quite reach, knotted until the faithful comes, listening I am." Verse nineteen. Dinna think Ah could 'member it all. [Master Gabbold steps up to Shay, capturing her arm.] Master Gabbold: That is some skill you have, Captain. Thank you for the warning, but you might not want to quote the Mad Elf. Too many bad feelings from the last time someone started teaching his word. Shay Liih: Whaddaya mean? Ah was qoutin' mah peoples Book of Confusion. Uh . . . Ahh . . . Oh! Ah've gotta send word ta Sdair! [shay Liih rushes through the tavern. Nearly falling over some priestly looking men staring at a map, she makes haste to the stairs.]

A master work, as usual. I wish I had the time and resources to pull off something of that scale. I wouldn't worry about the expanse of dark tan. It acts as negative space, and directs the eye to the pathway. That in turn creates the flow, so that you don't miss the successive details as your eye moves up the tower. Oh, and the Hendrix reference just makes me smile.

The complete package, Gabe! Beautiful tower, detailed wall, awesome griffin, and the figs are just icing on the cake. Thanks for including a representative of the Cobalt Vale City Guard. The Minister of External Affairs, Aturl Prndrn, will be pleased that his attempts at good relations with the neighboring Kaliphlin communities and the University of Petraea have borne fruit. Griffins, being part bird, are covered under the protection statutes of the Nestlands Clans.

I have a likely theory as to why TLG created the mini-doll. Just my $0.02 on the matter. If this theme is actually Fairies, and not Elves (because of bad German/English translation), then I would expect a lot of Tinkerbell/Smurf-like buildings. I would also expect, large (compared with the mini-doll) insects, mice and other animals. Even if the translation of the word Elves is correct, we could still see that kind of scale. If the 'tiny magical creatures' idea is the correct intent of this theme, this could actually be a Friends spin-off if they were to inhabit the same world, just closer to the ground. There is also the possibility that TLG is going after the female fantasy market. An anime style elf theme similar to ElfQuest, or Winx Club if fairies. Any of these options would be fine by me.

Wonderful tree designs. I may have to try that.

Having your figs being tinkerers should be fine, but always remember where you are. Magical gems and weapons are supposed to be rare, and that often items 'magiced' by a wizard fade over time in the hands of non-magical people. I think we should leave the Baghdad battery alone for the time being. Too many theories, not enough facts to back them up. Leave the electricity to Monster Fighters. GOH has glass, and potions capable of changing people. Rarity is the watchword here. Also, get the potion wrong it will kill someone, or just not work. Same with 'exploding powders.' I had someone die horribly experimenting in the story of a recent build. As others have said, get some bricks and start building. Play with some designs, because we'd like to see this culture you're creating.

I took what you found, and did a search on IMDb. Sorry, but the only Naida in their listings is a character from the 1915 film The Living Death. I also did a search for Elves, to try and find any upcoming movies that TLG might have licensed. The only thing I found was an animated fantasy that has been listed as "in development" since October 2008, called King of the Elves. I can't get much because I don't have a Pro account, but the bit of summery I can see is this: 'A Mississippi man becomes the reluctant ruler of a mythical race of elves after he saves them from a deadly troll.' I doubt this is it, though. This is most likely an 'in house' theme. TLG launched Friends, and apparently it sells. Then they license Disney Princesses, and do a limited run and they sell. Looks like TLG is just developing that niche market further.

Don't worry about reproducing it. The initial idea for the placement of this in Mpya Stedor is somewhere behind several larger buildings. The building's history suggests that it was originally just a warehouse for a more important marketplace purveyor. The remodelling has made the place more impressive than the location would normally warrant. Yeah, "accident." The story of Tolin is used as a cautionary tale against reckless experimentation. Maybe DM can do a vig of a Mpya Stedor University Professor recounting the tale to his/her class. I just happened to have that large figure armor and the new brick separator on my table, When I found that the armor fit onto the separator, I had to use it. Camel armor just seemed like the most likely justification for including it. The Nestlands Clans worship the Armored Eagle Goddess. Of course they are going to do something to attract birds. If one of them dies, his body will be offered to the birds. The form of the roof is actually the result of my limited supply of reddish brown tiles. I had those already built for quite some time, as the original build they were made for got demolished by a cat. The form is based off of the nose-cones of two Chima vehicles. Varying shades of blue are common in the Nestlands, due to the abundance of cobalt in the region. The door design is something I've been playing with ever since I bought the Brickarms crates. I used the real Lego doors as part of the roof.

Yes, I know the bow and stern need to be extended upwards. I will be revisiting this, but I wanted to see if the airplane parts could achieve the look and functionality of the old castle boats. As for the horizontal wood look, that could be achieved with stickers or printing, as Lego is wont to do. I tried to give the build some of that by alternating reddish brown and dark brown plates as I raised up the sides. As you stated, the original large Viking ship was too large. I bought the smaller set. Lego also reused the same basic build of that set for one of the Hobbit sets. I was thinking of making a small ice flow and a 'frost giant' enemy. I was considering doing the 'frost giant' in a similar manner to the Crystal King from the Power Miners theme. I envisioned what I was building would be along the lines of a $50 set.

The top left image is the kind of anime elf I was referring to when I mentioned the idea of the reuse of the orc hair/ear piece. Yes, given the reported set numbers, this looks like another mini-doll series. If this is going to be something like the Belville Fairy-Tale sets, then I'm all for it. I missed out on those sets, and now am kicking myself for it because there were some wonderful detail parts in those sets.

I don't mind, actually. The friends hair works on standard minifig heads, and I have no issue with fleshtones. This might be even better because there is the possibility that a wider range of elf ear tones may become available. I buy for parts, not sets, so what theme we get the elf parts in doesn't really matter to me. I also have no problem using pastel colors.