Henjin_Quilones

Freebuild periods are roughly a few months in length; the third period is currently open, having begun January 1st. It will probably end a month before the deadline of the next challenge (which has not been announced, but will probably be in three months or so). Freebuilds are scored and earn points for the guild in the overall Gold Standings between the Guilds. Nothing really rides on the Gold Standings except guild pride and bragging rights, but that's part of the fun. So I would say that freebuilds are both for fun and for points. As for guild tasks and freebuilds, a freebuild is defined as any build that is not an entry into one of the official Inter-Guild Challenges (like Challenge II, which had its deadline today). So entries to complete the tasks, if they are put into their own threads and added to the freebuild registration thread as well, definitely count as freebuilds. I'm not sure if there is a thread to read up on all the details that you might have missed, but the New Member Guide can be helpful for some things, and asking questions as they come up, either on that thread or in this one here, is always welcome. Hope that helps!

@derEselausErgste, welcome to Avalonia! Great backstory and I look forward to seeing your builds. I'll get you and @Servertijd added to the members list soon. It's great to see more fresh faces around here!

Welcome @Servertijd! Nice looking fig and interesting intro. Perfect English is not a requirement for posting and telling stories, but I am sure your story telling and English will both improve as you go along!

An official welcome to Avalonia, @LordBevis! Your fig looks good, and hopefully we'll see more of his story soon! (Looks like you have a rather significant build there already, so I'm guessing we'll get a chance to see it in the near future...) I'll get you added to the first post as an official member shortly.

In general, most builders have their own stories that they focus on most of the time, but many choose to build things that aren't related to their stories for challenges. Sometimes for freebuilds, too, actually. There is no requirement that you only build things happening directly to your character. Sometimes challenge builds overlap with builders' main stories, but not always, and it is certainly not necessary. There is no "right way" to tell stories in the Guilds, nor is there a "wrong way" (except when a story directly contradicts an established point of lore or infringes on the stories of others, or crosses out of the medieval-fantasy realm of Historica into something else, like science fiction or the modern world). Vague scenes, with generic events lacking any backstory, are oftentimes what we see for challenge entries, in fact. You can build stuff in whatever order you want; there is no requirement that you do X first, then Y, then Z, and so on (except for posting a sigfig and brief bio for Guild membership). So start building what interests you, and then keep going!

We would be greatly pleased to have you, even if your building skills are greener than the verdant Avalonian plains! To upload an avatar, click your member profile in the top right corner of the site, and then click on the picture icon on your account page. That should bring up a window that lets you upload a picture (100x100 pixels) to serve as your account avatar. Uploading pictures in general is best (or at least easiest) done, in my opinion, through Flickr. At the bottom right of a picture on Flickr there are several icons, one of which allows you to share the picture; it looks like an arrow. That opens a window that allows you to choose different formats for sharing. BBCode is the one you want, and you want to use the size that is closest to 600x800 (or 800x600) to have pictures large enough to be seen but not so large as to crash the server. Copy and paste the BBCode into your Eurobricks post, and like magic a picture will appear when you post it. Most people crop off the end part of the code, to make it look prettier, but it works either way. If that doesn't make sense, ask more questions! Here is a good place, or even better is usually the GoH New Member's Guide, so that everyone feels more free to answer. Welcome!

Go right ahead! You can create characters from any guild, any time you want, as long as you are not claiming them to be part of someone else's family (without consulting them first, that is). A generic son of an anonymous nobleman from a general region of Avalonia is perfectly acceptable! Make up a whole horde of them, if you like! The more Avalonians out there, the better!

Tolkien is, I believe, from my rather extensive readings of the peripheral works of his (and his son's) corpus, the originator of the plurals "Elves" and "Dwarves"; "elfs" and "dwarfs" (and "elfin" rather than "Elven" or "Elvish") was the proper terminology of his day, and he fought his editors to change it to imply a distinction from the earlier beings, while still using the words and some of the related concepts. Hence the Disney film is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Aelf, the Anglo-Saxon root that gives us our modern elf originally denotes the exact same thing as fairy, and would have been construed by many in Tolkien's day as referring to a diminutive being who frequented the woods, much like we think of today with fairies and pixies (Tinker Bell, e.g.); but Tolkien was drawing out deeper Faerie, a world of deep magic that only touched our own in the liminal spaces (river banks, edges of meadows, dawn/dusk, for example) and was inhabited by races and beings decidedly NOT human, nor even typically friendly, even when fair and beautiful in appearance; a world inherently attractive but unsuitable for mortal humans to even visit, let alone stay, without direst consequences. Tolkien hated fairy stories that emphasized cute, small, harmless beings of trivial magic, and wished to lend a sense of gravitas to a world that he considered vitally important to poetry and literature in general. There is a lovely volume of his works entitled Tales from the Perilous Realm, which is a collection of short stories and poems of his that relate to Faerie, the Perilous Realm. Elves, in Middle Earth, are certainly not gods or any such thing; instead the Valar and Maiar fill that role; among the former number Morgoth, Manwe, Varda, Mandos, Ulme, many others (a sort of Olympian 12), and among the latter are Sauron, Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast, and the Balrogs. Elves instead are meant to represent the better side of humanity, while the Men of his story represent the worse. Sorry. Nerd-vomited there...

I used the unicorn for the Queen because it is the symbol for the Guilds, and she is the queen of the whole thing. The royal house of Cedrica has dark red as its primary heraldic color, but the Queen has added white and black (see the banner in the back of the hall behind the throne here). I want to say there is dark green in there somewhere as well (since the minifig shield with the unicorn has dark green on it), but I don't want the Queen to be seen as biased towards Avalonia, either, so I have left that out, except on the shields.

Thanks, this is definitely my favorite of the dragons I have made so far. All of the dragons are still built, but I'm not sure about a picture with all of them - I'm not sure I have the photography space to do a good job of it. I have the intention of someday building a scene with the four Mwamban dragons, but it still hasn't happened. Thansk, Rogue! I hope to develop the idea of the Mystic Isles further, too, fleshing it out more and displaying its uniqueness among the locales of Historica, rather than just some trees on islands. Thanks, en_zoo! I'm sticking to just the classical four, since that makes the most sense to me. I'd love to see you try your hand at dragon-building (or creature-building, in general) and strongly encourage you to do so! I'd be happy to give advice if you get stuck along the way. Thanks! Fantastical realism is what I strive for. Making it classy is just icing on the cake! It would work as a land-based creature, too, a sort of giant cat-lizard. I just like it with wings a bit more! Thanks! She's my favorite, too! I can crank these things out in a day or two, probably 4-6 hours of building on each. The wings are pretty stock at this point, and the frame and limbs are mostly the same, so the differences come down to what slope pieces I have to fill out the bodies in a given color scheme. And the heads. The heads are the hardest part for me, getting them to look even remotely natural.

I don't buy nearly as many sets as I would like to, and I don't typically buy big ones like that, but I do look at pictures and read reviews! Thanks! Thanks, Muakhah! Every statue is different, to keep it interesting. Servants of course have a different view on life and events than their masters do, so I think we need to see a bit of both. Thanks, I saw the bowls in somebody's diner scene once and fell in love with the idea. Thanks, Ecc! Thanks, Gideon! Glad you like the lighting. As regards your advice, I did try to straighten the picture, but my primitive photo editor doesn't have that much nuance, and any minor correction to one side skewed the other too much, so I called it a wash. I do try to keep my camera level, but it is not always perfect, even on the tripod...I'll try in the future to make sure that it is a bit better. And I hear and appreciate what you say about the bit of bowl and hand that peeks in, but even in hindsight I'm not sure I would change it. I generally don't fiddle with the build if I can avoid it during shoots, but maybe I should have here. Thanks! Only what you see is built. The floor tiling ends in a jagged edge and the tree is built up on some pieces to get it up into the scene, but it stops at the edge of the roof, where some LEGO cables keep it vertical. It was built solely for the intention of looking good in pictures, not for display! Glad to know people like preludes! Photography is the area I have worked the hardest to improve, since that is really what separates the boys from the men, so to speak, in the online AFOL community. I'm not sure what the chained ninja conveys, but I was looking for light grey/bley pieces to make statues unique, and that one came together. Perhaps I'll have a backstory for it eventually... Thanks! The tree was a last-minute addition, inspired by Ralf Langer's stuff, especially this tree. Thanks, en_zoo! Feel free to stop by and wander the halls of Druidham, whenever you want! There are plenty of courtyards and terraces to stroll about, too. The tree is a flex tube core, with travis bricks slid onto it at different angles to serve as attachment points; 1x1 rounds are used to attach most of the plates and tiles to the travis bricks, and then the whole thing is set at even more of an angle by hinge plates out of the shot, and further secured with some cables out of shot on top to keep it from toppling. It's a pretty secure arrangement, actually; my 1.5 year-old smacked the leaves a bunch and it didn't fall apart, surprisingly. Thanks! Glad you like the pictures! Happy to transport you! Hopefully future lighting experiments will be as successful! Thanks, SK! There are a couple of trunk gaps that bother me, but I fixed most of them. Scenic realism is my goal, here, certainly, trying to make the place appear like somewhere that the viewer could actually go. The Wood Triptych from the Summer Joust profoundly inspired me in that direction. Shadow is as much a part of photography as light, and one that is neglected in LEGO, I think, at least for its artistic value, as we typically try to eliminate shadows to show all of the little details.

Thanks, zoth! The whole floor, except for the raised sections, is SNOT, even the brown wood section under the table. I try to make the light in the scene only what could actually be supplied in the scene, rather than the typical diffuse light so characteristic of LEGO photography - I am caring less and less whether you can see every little detail or not, and more and more about capturing the feel of a place in LEGO. Conflict will come, since conflict always comes. Patience is a virtue, it is said. Thanks! Putting together satisfactory figs is almost as hard as building the whole thing, and partially useless, since you can't even see any of their legs! Thanks Gideon, I hoped the closeups would make the dialogue both more interesting and easier to follow. Thanks! Thanks, SK! I copied the floor from my earlier Throneroom of Cedrica, which I had copied earlier from Z's throneroom, so I can't claim originality, but it works nicely. It is something I'll probably attempt to keep in any further Cedrican palace builds, too. Tapestries and banners are of course essential for any castle, even if these are a bit on the simple side!

This is quite nice, and the concept is excellent as well. I agree with Grover that it is too clean for an old building on the water, especially with gulls (and their poop) everywhere. But storms and weather in general would stain the wood and batter it a bit, making it look aged. Or barnacles, perhaps, clinging to the sides? The all-brown color is a bit monotonous - perhaps a bit of brighter color here or there (besides white and black), or even some different browns, could have been good. Also, as I said in a different build of yours, I don't like the loose 1x1 round water technique, as I think it looks both unrealistic and messy, but I know that others undoubtedly disagree. Plus it is easier on the budget, I'd reckon. All that said, this is a nicely thought out build, with nice interiors, interesting spaces (like the patio), and some nice detailing. I hope to see more of Tradesmeet and its surrounding locale, as well as Varlyrio in general, soon!

Nice Gnome building, RA! They sure do live in comfort. There is a reason Henjin and Galaria brought some Gnomes back with them from Bandari when they returned to Avalonia...hot water is a nice thing to have, along with radiant floor heating! I love the Gnomish writing and style you have put into that part of it, too, with the oddly scientific and yet somewhat imprecise wording. Glad to see this race being given some love.

The build is a bit on the plain side, as others have said, but it is still nice. Given that it was recently captured, that could account for the oddity of the corner gate; perhaps that was not the gate, but a hole made in the wall during the assault. The size of the fort is unclear, as it seems like it is bounded about with the base, since the chests and supplies are against the edge like against a wall, but then it seems quite small and inadequate to be the base for much of anything. I like the cobblestones, and the pot on the fire is a nice detail, too. I like your story, even with the attack on the Queen, and I look forward to seeing more of it!

Those colors work so well together! I admit I was confused by the stairway, but then I saw how it connected to the customs post and my confusion vanished. I like the tower on the roof, and the boxes everywhere look great. I'm also glad someone else is using the Robin glasses for gnomes, as I think it is perfect! The 1x4 tiles in the corners look a bit crooked, but that is pretty minor. I am glad to see how the city is growing!

The lack of pictures in the thread makes it hard to give good critique and feedback, but I do like the CMF stands in the roof, and the droid arms with bars make for a good enclosure. The structure itself is nice, too, from what I can see of it, mixing columns and arches well. The posing of the figs and horses is also well done. Presentation could be cleaned up a bit more, cropping or otherwise editing out the background where it shows through the paper, but it looks like another good build from you!

This is truly splendid, Garm! I love the lighting, especially the forge, but the diffuse light filtering down from the ceiling does a great job of looking like skylights or something of the sort. The dangling chains are perfect for giving it a sense of character, and the bellows is a thing of beauty. When I finally build my own blacksmith forge for Druidham, I'll be looking back at this one to see different things to copy, and the bellows is one of those things. The SNOT floor with occasional crack is nice, as is the texture of the stone in the forge itself - just enough to give it some wear and tear without going overboard. The tool racks are great, too. The only thing I think needs to be fixed is the lack of any sort of wedge or rack for the barrels - wouldn't they be at risk of rolling every time you poured yourself a pint to cool off? I guess I also wonder why the dark bley stone arch in the back has a gap in it, but perhaps it is not a fully structural element. I am glad to have inspired the lighting efforts on this! Hopefully more builders will start to emulate the effort and give us beautiful shots like this one!

The forced perspective shot with the figures blurred and the background in focus is the best of the bunch, and looks great! I'm not as sold by the picture looking up at them, perhaps because there is not enough height exposed to really sell the effect. It still looks good, though. I would suggest varying up the technique on the rocks, though, as right now it is rather plain. That said, this is a nice build, and I hope to see more of the story soon!

I really like the use of the half-planet dome, though I do wonder if you needed to adjust the columns a bit to make it fit better - as someone else said, they seem to be leaning a little. I like the plates with bar as a detail around the edge, though I don't think it works under the arch, since it is straight and the arch is, well, arched. The colors are great, though, and I like the contrast between the brick texture and the rest.

Great all-LEGO scene here, Garm! I love the detailing in the back, and the way it lends itself to a believable interior as a result. There is clutter where you would expect there to be clutter. My favorite bit is that grind wheel; you've got me puzzling over how it is being held together. My only complaint is that the background is blurred in all of the pictures, when I would like to see it clearly at least a little bit; the foreground is very nice, but not so nice that all I want to see is it...

I love the water technique here, as it perfectly captures the look of surging water. Great job with that! The small trees are also nice, especially in the muted dark orange color. In fact, all of your colors look good together here. I think continuing the SNOT base on the left would have been good, though it does not look bad as it is, and perhaps some extra work on the dried stream bed to differentiate it from the rest of the ground a bit more would have been good, but as it is, I do like it. I also love the idea of having benders in Historica, so I hope you keep that going. I do a lot with elemental divisions with my dragons, and each has a special ability to manipulate their particular element, so it would be cool to see that happening elsewhere. Good work!

This is a nice little kirk, to be sure! I wish that you photography allowed you to show it off a bit better, mostly as regards the camera angle; as it is, we can barely see the tree in the back, and the ruined portion of the roof is almost completely hidden. I would suggest two things: one, begin a build with particular camera angles in mind, allowing you to focus your energies on detailing the parts that will be seen, rather than the parts that will be completely hidden (for example, if you are like me, the back walls of this are also textured and in grey, even though they could be completely absent or made of pink and orange bricks for all we see them). Two, play around a bit once it is built to try to get all the best parts in the main image. A bigger base would be good, as it allows us to see it more in context, and an irregular base could work well here. Also, for the wall textures, I agree with en_zoo about the 1x1 round bricks in the walls - it can work, but usually on a bigger scale; I think 1x1 round plates would be better, as well as setting the plates and tiles in the walls back a half-plate by mounting them on headlight bricks. They stick out too far right now, in my opinion. That said, I am glad to see Amos walking about and seeing the sights, and I hope he'll have more adventures soon!

The snow on the roof and ground looks very nice! You will equal SK in your snowscapes yet (maybe, unless he sabotages you to make sure you never equal his snow). The house looks great, especially the headlight bricks used sideways in the wall to give some nice clean (and closed) studs for texture. I am not sold on the grey shutters, as they don't fit the rest color-wise very well, and I wish there were an easy way to hide or fill the little gap in the trim up at the top of the eaves, but beyond that the house is excellent. The tree needs a bit of work, though. I wonder, if, instead of white leaf pieces, you had used 1x2x2/3 curved slopes with no studs on the dark green leaves, since that would match the texture of the snow on the roof and ground better, as well as allowing you to put the snow on the edges of the branches where it would more likely collect. (Also, as a side note, it is a fir tree, not a fur tree - though pronounced the same.) I really like the gathering of people, too.

Such lovely wares! The various pots and jars and jugs are delightful, especially that one with the two dragon bowls. I also notice the glass decanters with trans-clear minifig heads and trans-clear nipples - perhaps it was from Kaliphlin merchants that Queen Ylspeth got the ones she keeps in her council chambers. The roof looks good with those skis - is this what you did with all of those City Arctic sets after you took apart the display? Amongst all of the delightful little details that make the scene believable, my favorite is the hot dog buns serving as the rolled up ends of a scroll. What a good piece usage! The story is nice, too, reflecting the differing viewpoints of the different sections of Kali society quite well.