en_zoo

lovely architecture, details and path I'm not sure about the dark blue, though. I see that others have said that it catsches the eye, but I had to look closer to notice it. It might just be my eyes (oh man..), but this is something I'm trying to work on - I love dark blue and planning to use it a lot, yet in the pics it never really 'shines'.. Do you think is simply due to the pics or is it actually me? x)

very nice shot, Legofin. I've had a hard time photographing my 'immersive' scene too, but I reckon ur result is much better than mine Also love that house on the left

1 - Henjin_Quilones 2 - TitusV 3 - Captain Braunsfeld

I think you're too hard on yourself, Titus. I've really enjoyed your build, especially the sequences with all the activities going on. As for the texture, if you mean the one on the wall, that's exctly how I like it. If you mean the one on the gorund, then yes, as you say, it's just a little I quite like it averall and I'm quite impressed you managed in 12 hours!

Ep. 5 Laesonar Episode 6 Laelariel [Part 1] " … I've been looking for an order of knights of which I used to be... well... a member of and from which I got... well... separated. This bear heraldry is unmistakably theirs. Their major temple was empty when I got there and I later found out that those bandits had stolen everything from it. I gave in to rage and attacked them mindlessly. Pretty much as you did, Laesonar. Only, my adventure didn't end so well." Laesonar seemed distracted. The trees around were slowly turning smaller and the undergrowth younger. "… Laesonar?" "Yes. Sorry, Armin. I've been listening." "Is everything ok? You've been quiet for a while." "Sorry. I was initially focusing on this guy who's following us, but now I can smell something..." Krisly gave a start: "What? We're being followed?! Why didn't you tell us? How many are there?" She grabbed her bow, quickly reaching for an arrow. "You don't have to worry about it, it's just a kid." Armin was surprised: "What? Where? I haven't heard anything at all! And how can you tell it's just a boy?" "I can hear him clearly. He knows his steps, so he must be a local, yet he still has much to learn about the art of stealth. He's very young and keeps his distance – I say he's no threat." "Wow... Ok well, so why are you so concerned, master half-elf?" "I can smell something. Something... bad." Helga reached for her axe while approaching Armin. "What is it, Laesonar? Armin, can you smell anything?" "Actually, now that he mentions it, there is something of a stuffiness in the air..." "It's not just stuffiness, master paladin. Something is foul here. It's like something has been rotting for a while, something big." Elysande was worried now. "Wh... what? You mean like a dead beast or something?" "I'm afraid not, Ely, it's much bigger than that. I fear something really wrong has been going on here. Something really unnatural." That last word echoed in everyone's mind, placing a dark cloud over the once-happy little crowd. Laesonar noticed. "At least we're soon going to find out. The smell gets stronger at every step." Armin was impressed and confused at the same time "This man... How can his senses be so sharp? How many other things am I going to find out about him?" "… You're quite the unusual one, Laesonar, do you know that?" "As a matter of fact, I do. But I can never say that, else everyone thinks that I'm vain." Everyone smiled slightly. "If anything, I've managed to defuse the situation a bit.." thought Armin, while striding through the undergrowth. The forest was thinning out and the trees were slowly giving place to bushes when the little group could glimpse the border of the forest. Now they could all clearly detect that smell, getting stronger at every step, together with their anxiety. Unable to wait any longer, they all ran to get beyond the last trees, where a meadow opened up in front of them – in the distance, a small city rising up right next to... a huge hole in the ground. Gobsmacked, they all stared down the hill. Unsure at first, they started to understand. Helga dropped her axe, Krisly fell to her knees, unable to believe her eyes: "That... that's Laelariel! How is this possible?!" A shiver went down Armin's back. Laesonar's words echoed in his head "Something wrong and really unnatural". He swallowed heavily, then finally spoke up: "Holy Emptiness! What on earth happened to this lake??!" ---------------------------------- What can I say, guys? I'm not quite sure whether I'm happy with the result, actually. I guess the Summer Joust made me go a bit ambitious The perspective has been my worst enemy here, this was a great challenge. The lack of pieces didn't help, in particular I ran out of green cheese for the trees. This again made me fight with the perspective as the trees at the left were supposed to be closer and hence bigger than the ones at the back.. As for photography, I've taken a million shots and was never happy. At the end I surrendered to this one. I've got only this one, as the MOC was literally built around it and it was hence impossible to go for another angle - only a centimeter off and the scene wouldn't have been 'immersive' anymore. There had been another, slightly bigger, shot possible, hadn't I run out of medium blue too.. Anyway, I've enjoyed tried my hand at this kind of macro-micro-scale. I already had the idea of the empty lake and the Summer Joust provided the right occasion, at the right time, with the 'immersive scene' category. There are more critiques to make - I'll leave them to you guys I'm open to suggestion on how to improve the perspective. Hope you enjoy the finally-short episode too Thanks for reading ^^ Ep.7

I've almost missed your comment, LJ - thank you very much! ^

This is awesome and I'm just speechless

lovely palette, lovely sand, awesome idea and use of those helmets. yet the fun happening behind the walls is just wicked

Lovely vignette, Ex. and always good to read your story ^

Thanks HQ, nice to be intriguing you with the story Also thanks for your comment about the rocks, gonna have to keep that in mind. Thanks Merc, glad you like the rocks in particular as they were one of the main points. Also happy to know that you're waiting for more of the story Thanks Titus, agreed about the pics, they were rushed. Let's see how it goes next time ^^ Thank you Brandon, the layering took me a while to figure out, but managed to get it as I wanted --> very glad you appreciate it! ^^ Thanks Maestro, it's nice to know that people are following along with the story ^^ And good that you like those mushrooms, I really wanted to have them there and took me a while to figure out how exactly. Thanks SK, that thing with the tree I tried to do few times and never managed, so this is the first time Glad to know you like it ^^

My time here in GoH hasn't reached the year yet, being this one of my last: and this the first I posted here: I guess there isn't much of a difference, but you can probably see something if compared with my very first MOC, a little more than a year ago : I built only a couple between my very first and the firat one for GoH, so I guess that counts? As for the reasons, it was actually @soccerkid6 's suggestion ^^ I had met him and LJ over on ClassicCastle but wasn't satisfied with the activity and the ampount of feedback there, so he suggested to take a look here. Guess what? He was right More: the UoP project. Though it isn't quite in full swing anymore, I take that list of 'exams' as a guideline to try my hand at all the basic techniques that a proper builder should know. More yet: the possibility of writing my own story, on a shared storyline-backgorund as well as the chance to intertwine it with the others' without restraints, as opposed to, for example, LoR, which doesn't allow the same freedom (and which I was actually about to join at the time of SK's suggestion). This last point is very important for me. As many of you know, my life and job don't allow me a full commitment to building just yet. Here I have the chance of keeping on with my story and builds at my own rhythm without feeling pressure. .. if you're going for a presentation, Ecc, I guess it's worth mentioning some of the old builders that were part of the community and that, correct me if I'm wrong, contributed to the development of the LEGO community at a higher level, bringing new techniques etc. about, even though they're not active anymore. DC has already been mentioned, but others like Legonardo and Cesbricks come up to mind immediately.

hey nice vignette here Muakhah! I normally prefer big MOCs, but your small ones are particularly convincing I also like the lore behind it, I can't wait to see more of Khadira's evolution! speaking of which, I'd be curious to see Khadira's location on a GoH-map.. or had you alrady done so and I've forgotten/missed it? as for your own comment, I think you textured well enough the front part of the floor. The rest could use some more variation, but I'm not sure how much your collection allows for it, as you say. One easy thing that I can suggest is to remember that you can use 3 plates to form a brick - in this way you could, for example, replace one of the tan bricks on the wall with 2 tan plates and one dark tan. That'd already add some colour/texture in an easy way; same goes for the floor. Also, I see that you have SNOT parts there - you can use them to add texture on the wall by SNOTting some tiles, for example. Not sure if that's what you're looking for though..

Awesome job here, Kai! I love all the details and how you managed to stuff them in such little space

Ep. 4 Laesonar Episode 5 Healing Wounds The sunset was approaching as the fresh air of the forest turned chilly on Laesonar’s face, while the half-orc’s body on his back started to become heavy after the long march. He looked up towards the top of the steep hill they were climbing; Armin wasn’t exactly having such a great time either carrying his load. “You do have a thing for shields, don’t you, master paladin?” “For these shields in particular, I most certainly do.” He replied smiling, keeping his secret. “Say, do you always dress purple or is it a special occasion?” “Do I have to gather that you don’t like such colour?” “On the contrary, it happens to be my favourite. I just wouldn’t wear it myself.” “I see.” He looked for the words in his head. “The peaceful stability of the blue and the restless passion of the red merge together and turn into purple – a splendid example of balance between opposites.” Laesonar smiled “This guy is just the best” he thought, right before Helga’s voice reached his ears: “We’re here!” The top of the hill was flat, with a small clearing between rocks and trees. “You’ve been here recently, haven’t you, ladies?” “We have. From this height we can easily keep the surroundings under control, while the forest is dense enough to start a fire without worrying about being spotted.” “It’s unlikely that they will follow us tonight.” Said Armin while approaching the fainted half-orc. “Laesonar, can you please help me here? I want to check her wounds. Hmm. Not too bad after all, she should be better soon. Now, all I have to do is concentrating on her wounds and on my will to heal them, draw energy upon…” Armin’s words faded away in Laesonar’s head. What was happening? He knew those words. He had heard them before and he could hear them again right now in his head, as everything around him became silent. He could see Armin moving his lips, but no, that wasn’t his voice. It was a soothing, beloved voice. “What is this? Is it some kind of memory?” Dazed, he approached Armin, who was moving his hands above the half-orc’s body. Suddenly, an image in his head – skinny hands, feminine lips – right before Armin’s voice could reach him again: “… until the energy is finally released.” A pale blue light glowed under the half-orc’s body. Armin took a deep breath. “Armin… I… I…” “What is it, Laesonar?” He didn’t answer. Instead, he recalled those instructions in his head, concentrating, moving his hands as Armin had just done. Finally, the same blue light glowed again. It followed a moment of silence. Everyone was astonished. Krisly broke the silence first: “Laesonar… Can… Can you heal wounds?!” “It looks like I can… I guess I had just forgotten about it…” Armin was bowled over. “How… Where did you learn that?” “I have no idea… You must’ve triggered something, perhaps a memory. I heard a voice in my head and…” The half-orc was recovering her senses, flinching, coughing loudly, trying to stand up. Armin and Laesonar pushed her back down on the floor. “Let me go you b#######! I won’t tell you anything at all!”** [**translated from Orcish] “It’s ok, it’s ok! We’re going to help you. Wait, don’t move! You’re wounded…!”** “Let me go! I’m gonna…”** She opened her eyes. Realising the situation, she stopped for a moment, then started to struggle again. “Who are you? Let me go!”** “It’s ok, we’re friends, we’re going to help you. Now calm down beautiful, you’re hurt!”** Surprised to hear her language, she stopped moving. Gasping, she stared at Laesonar. “Yes, good. I’m going to get you some water. Do you speak the Common language?”** Armin helped her to sit up. She grunted and held her belly, looking around. “Who are you people?” “My name is Laesonar. It’s nice to see that you feel better. These are Armin, Helga, Krisly, Elysande and… Yes, come to think of it, what’s your name, old man?” The old man came closer, approaching the half-orc. “Hello, Gruusha.” The half-orc grunted “Daniau? Where are we? What happened? Who are these people?” “Long story short, the bandits under Digby put us in chains. These people killed them all and freed us. As for why they did it, we shall have to ask them.” Helga picked up some wood “We could all do with a bit of rest, some food and some water. As for us, the chieftain’s personal guard was the man who killed my brother. I wanted revenge and Laesonar here accepted to help me, that’s why we attacked those bandits.” The old man sat down “The chieftain, uh? You must be referring to Digby the Lunatic. That piece of s###!” The half-orc grunted in unison. Armin seemed interested to know more: “Did you know him, old man?” “I did. My name is Daniau Guernon. I’m the head of the merchants’ guild in Weastioven, as well as one of the members of the city’s High Council. Digby was the chieftain of his group, but the rumours had him working under someone else. What I know is that he definitely got some help when taking over my city. I opposed him and they made me a prisoner.” “Which kind of help did he get?” “Troops, especially archers. But also goblin and orc soldiers.” At these words the half-orc grunted angrily and then moaned with pain, still holding her belly. Armin approached her, checking her wounds: “Take it easy, my lady. You haven’t fully recovered yet. Your name is Gruusha, right? Do you know those orc soldiers?” She shook her head “No. My people don’t normally have much to do with Orcs as they always try and make us slaves, so we’re always on the lookout. The bandits probably had the same intention so they caught me and wanted me to tell them where my people are. I didn’t spit a single word! That’s also why I was in Weastioven. I was sent by my chieftain to find out more about these rumours while looking for a commercial agreement with the merchants there. Now that Laelariel is out of the game, my people need new partners to exchange our goods with.” Krisly gave a start “What do you mean with ‘Laelariel is out of the game’? I have friends there!” Daniau spoke up first: “Laelariel thrived thanks to the fish trade. We, in Weastioven, were one of its best partners, buying fish and selling our salt, which they used to preserve the fish. Unfortunately, these half-orcs don’t seem to get the importance of such a product.” Gruusha grunted loudly “I’ve already told you, Daniau, we won’t exchange our stuff for salt! We don’t need salt!” Krisly pressed Daniau “Hang on! What happened to Laelariel then?” “I do not know. The trade simply stopped. Because of the civil wars, drows, bandits and so on, we haven’t been able to go and verify in person yet.” “Then we should all go there first thing in the morning!” Krisly’s suggestion took everyone by surprise. Gruusha broke the silence first, followed by Daniau “No. I have to go back to my people.” “Same here, now that Digby and few of his best men have died, it shouldn’t be hard for us to take the city back. I need to be there as soon as possible.” “Then what about you, Laesonar? What are your plans now?” The half-elf had remained silent so far, being more interested in the food. “So, you ladies want to go and check out this Laelariel place, uh? – Gnam gnam – You said there’s fish, but no salt, so I gather there must be a river or something?” “Yes, there’s also a big lake.” “Well I don’t see why not. I like fish. And after all, I haven’t found out how I got into this forest yet.” Armin was surprised at these words. Elysande noticed: “Laesonar has lost some of his memories. Apparently, he appeared in this forest few days ago, but doesn’t know how, nor why.” Armin watched Laesonar eating for a moment, thinking about what little he knew about him. He recalled in his mind Laesonar’s jump during the battle, his approval of his words, his newly rediscovered ability to heal wounds. He smiled slightly “Well, master half-elf, it looks like you’re full of surprises.” “Am I?” “You’re quite the warrior, you can heal wounds but you say you don’t know how you learned and now your memory… Oh, and you can speak Orcish?” “Ah, right. Well, not as much as I’d like to, actually. But what about you, master paladin? You haven’t told us about those shields yet.” “That’s true. Well, I’d be honoured to join you and the ladies for this Laelariel mission, if you’d allow me?” “It would be my pleasure, indeed. What do you ladies think?” Helga got visibly excited “It would be awesome!” “Very well. So we shall go and see this lake. In this case, I’m going to have time to tell you about those shields during the march, am I not?” ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Full MOC:

hehe I hope so and good luck to you guys for the Summer Joust! ^

lol it does, right? xD

Thanks Titus. I'm sorry, I don't feel like committing as I might have to call it off later on, which would be disappointing for everyone including myself. I currently have a WIP on a new chapter of my story which I have to finish so that I can use the bricks for something else. Then I'll try and enter the Summer Joust, but to do all this I have 'only' a month and a half.. which means I'll do it alone, so if I can't make it no one loses anything (except me, that is) ^^ Thanks for the push though. I do hope that my life and job will stabilise at some point!

Thanks Grover! I've been working on landscaping, so good to hear that the training pays off ^^ As for the house, it was instead my first attempt - glad to hear that you like it!

Thanks Blufiji, I've almost missed this post of yours! Glad you like the pathe that way as I like too and I o intend to try and stick with it for a while ^^

awesom build, Sleg. lovely landscape and bridge, cool wagon (so jelly of those cows.. !), but hey, the reeded bank steals the show! oh and I love that brick-build lyre! nice to see the tutorial for your pine trees too, I've silently been waiting for it!

I must second HQ - lovely round shape with your usual top-noch texture. I, too, really like that small black roof. Also, nice that you noticed how cool vines and plants are

whoa awesome pose here! love the bushes too - glad to hear you've more characters to intorduce, can barely wait!

awesome job her, SK. stunning resemblance with the original and really nice follow-up to your previous 2 builds - love that type of Tudor on double tan wall

hmm exiting WIP indeed!

@Henjin_Quilones @The Maestro @Brandon Stark @ZlatanXVIGustaf hey guys, just reading this. would be great to be in with you, but I can barely find time for building I'll try to enter the Summer Joust with one single build, but not even sure about that you guys go ahead and represent Avalonia well. Long live the Dragons!