Grover

WOW!! This is a masterpiece! Welcome back, and double wow! Where to even begin? Usually size is inversely proportional to level of detail and you have both. I really appreciate your detail on the town walls: texture is there, but it's not obnoxious. I sometimes see greebling done to such an extent that a build is OK from 10 meters away, but when you get close it looks odd. Yours is highly detailed, even up close, yet has a lush texture from a distance. Spectacular. The roof is beautiful on the house in the first picture. I really like how you use the 1x1 round corner tiles to make implicit Tudor styling, rather than the traditional SNOT tiles at an angle or tiles sandwiched between slopes. I'll have to remember that. The stacked tiles/plates between floors in the house has an awesome effect, and the wood arches and joists beneath look great. The town wall is also well done. I like the curved slope corbels, and I love that the merlons are actually head height. Functional crenelations are often overlooked, and a build has a lot more realism to it if they are not simply vestigial, so nice job on that! Do you have an HSS post yet? If not, you should make one for Oxenfurt! The town square is phenomenal. I assume you used a net beneath that? The use of the hammers interspersed with the studs, tiles, and occasional plant is fantastic, and your color choice there is spot on. I love that you have flags draped everywhere. I sometimes forget to add those decorative touches to my builds, and your inclusion of them really brings a touch of life to the build, making the city vibrant. The kids being chased in the alley, the fruit vendor, goat herder, guy with injured leg, the man sleeping in front of the vendor and the vendor with junk piled so high it's about to fall over are hilarious touches to the scene. Nice use of the realistic one plate high stairs too. The vines climbing the wall have fantastic detail with the leaves and whip, and the snakes look great intertwined as a vine. The archway done with the tiles over wedge plates is a very creative way to build a solid and symmetric arch! The tree leaves peeking up over the wall and in the alley are very subtle and amazing details that sell the build. Last, but not least, I really like your sky. It is tasteful and does not detract from the build. The all-lego shot where you can't see the edge of the build really adds to it. Amazing build, fantastic work!

It's OK, you're building for Mitgardia, you can just get the white pieces sorted first! (To be fair, I really did get my green and grey pieces sorted first since I usually build in Avalonia!) And good to see you back!

Fantastic! Welcome aboard!

Love it! The baby skeleton popping out of the ground is great! And the use of the Ninjago skeleton head gives a more menacing feel.

Fantastic! Love the homage to the Guarded Inn. You've done a good job incorporating the feel of the old Castle line while expanding it a bit and bringing more detail. Very nice incorporation of the newer elements (sunflower for example), and you've done a nice job blending all the flora in with the curved and wedge plates and color blocking so the vegetation feels organic but not chaotic. Well done!

I'm glad that I have been able to help and give back to this community that has helped me through the years. Welcome, and we are happy to have you!

Welcome! We are happy to have you! And a warm welcome to you as well! If your building style comes from the western Mediterranean, that fits Varlyrio well. I think that if I had to pick a real life city that had the closest style to Varlyrio, it would be Venice. That being said, there are plenty of areas within Varlyrio that have other styles, and there may be some other areas that could fit too, so I would encourage you to read the guild threads for each guild (Nocturnus wasn't open in Book III, so you'll have to look at the Book II thread). Also, be aware, even if a guild is not open (which may be the case if we have a staffing shortage initially), you can be in another guild and still build in another realm. This is largely a logistical issue when you need to report to a guild leader for questions, organization etc. One of our members, Exetrius, built almost (if not entirely) exclusively in Nocturnus in Book III despite it not being open, so don't let that stop you if for whatever reason Varlyrio is not open at first! Welcome back! Life always takes precedent, but if you find some time, you're always welcome! Build at your pace and leisure! I myself have had times in the past in which I have not been able to participate fully, so jump in when you can! Very cool! Welcome to the guilds! I have admired many of your builds in the main historic forum for a while now, and am excited to have you join! Fantastic! Welcome! I am glad you have joined up, and Mitgardia will love having you! Small, large, anything in between, all builds are welcome (except when there is a size limit, then you have to keep it within that... ). Looking forward to seeing your work!

Thank you both! Great to see some familiar faces returning!

Gorgeous! Looks to me like a Dalig Ulv HSS build! I love the base where you have those long curved slope pieces for the snow. It looks great, like huge drifts. The mill is of course the centerpiece and looks good. I like how it's not this huge mill that we sometimes see as this stylized overblown building. These aren't modern wind farms, they were small medieval mills, and particularly in the mountainous Mitgardian region, wind is plentiful, so a small mill would be more than adequate to grind grain. The goats are very nice, and I like how they're crowded into the foliage. For that matter, the light purple works well with the mountain climate, and the dark green around it looks more like an evergreen because of it (particularly given the pines behind it). Almost blending into the background, the stable is great! No way a horse would not need good shelter in the mountains! The steep pitched roof and the sort of passive solar design (not really an 'idea' back then but more of a common sense way to harness as much heat from sunlight as possible) is fantastic. The brown pine tops behind the house are very nice, and I like the overall muted tone of the colors, a true spring has come to the mountains look. I like how you have enough story to provide a lot of threads for ideas, but not too much to really tie it down to some intricate story. Great job, and great to see you building!

We'd love to see you back, Apocalypseburg or not! Your sigfig can always be looking for a piece of equipment as his children run off with it!

This is a gorgeous MOC. I am impressed that you were not only able to make it digitally, but that you built it out of bricks. It looks great the show! The color scheme with the dark blue and the purple is fantastic, and you did a great job balancing detail and buildability. It looks like a Bricklink set. I love that you have an interior, and the spiral stairs are a nice touch. I like the sand blue tiles inside, and the courtroom setting. Well done!

Yes, digital builds are allowed! We usually try to level the playing field by disallowing bricks in colors that have never been made and things like that, so you couldn't for instance make a build with the half corner arch (38585) in sand red. I am terrible at digital building myself so I am unfamiliar with the exact rules on them, but they are generally pretty standard from what I recall.

Very nice! This looks like a Bricklink set! Love the exterior. The octagonal shape is nice, and you have some nice texture on the Tudor sections on top. The dark red roof looks good, and I like some of the little details like the bluebird nest. I hope you and your stepson have fun with it!

This thing has some serious detail! The inverted 1x1 plates is a great idea, and works well with the fireplace bar. I wasn't familiar with that chair piece, but it appears that is new. I'm not 100% sure it looks comfortable, but it does look like a well detailed chair! The pen upside down as a wax melted candle, the firewood stacked next to the hearth, the SNOT built rug on the floor, the chain and wheel window and various foodstuffs... I am always impressed how much detail can be packed into a small area. This reminds me of @soccerkid6's interior builds. The photography is excellent as well! Great job!

That is a gorgeous build. The overtouching definitely gives the feel, but it does obscure some of the finer detail. I really like the stone archway. It is very nicely done. From what I can see of it, I like the organic feel of the snow. Do you have an unretouched photo anywhere? I'd love to see more detail.

Very cool! Love the olive and lime together, they work brilliantly here! I must admit, I keep reading the title and imagining Sigourney Weaver's character from Ghostbusters saying "THERE IS NO DANA, ONLY ZEUGL!" The dark brown and brown here are nice together, and the splash of bright pink tongue is great. The splats and trans fluorescent yellow really bring the juxtaposition with the more muted dark grey and dark red. The chains hanging are a very nice, organic touch that breaks up the right angles of the stonework, and I *really* appreciate the 2 plate stairs. So often (and I am guilty of this too) I see 1 brick stairs because they are easy, and in reality, if you look closely, they're just too big for a mini, so your detail work here is very nice. Well done!

Awesome! Great to see you back and in Avalonia to boot! I hope your work slows down for you soon! We are getting logistics prepped for Book IV, but keep your eyes on the board in the next couple of weeks... And a shout out to @T-86(swebrickLUG) and @socalbricks, two of our other Avalonians!

As we prepare for Book IV, we would like to gauge interest in each guild and get an idea of who is still around. This is a Guilds of Historical poll and the results are not anonymous, but is not binding: you can still change your mind if you choose a different guild. If you are new and wish to join, please vote! If you are just reading but aren't interested in joining the guilds, please leave this for the guilds so we can accurately gauge interest. For those of you who are new, each book, you are able to pledge to a new guild if you wish. You are also allowed to start a new sig fig in any guild at any point. If a guild is closed, as Nocturnus was in Book III, you can still have a sig fig there and build there, but you will officially report to a guild leader of another guild and any guild scoring will count for your 'official' guild. Any questions, comments, or suggestions are welcome below.

Great shot with the lighting! And the Lady of Pain's head is great NPU! Some of the finer details in the stonework are particularly noteworthy. The SNOT 33 slopes at the top of the arch are great, and the nexo shields inside the arches give the appearance of curved corners vs. the pointy middle, which is very nice. The pentagonal element with the stud on top that hardly anyone ever uses you found a great use for on the columns, too. One question: How is the monster suspended? Is there a connection straight back? Is it hung with wire? Are the supports photoshopped out? It looks very clean. Very nice work overall, thanks for sharing!

Gorgeous build! A missed opportunity for Kaliphlin! I've seen that palm trunk design before, but I think only a few people hit the PAB walls at the right time to be able to pull that off! It looks good. I'm undecided about the up and down palm leaves, although I understand there's not a lot of wiggle room there. The upside down bush for dead leaves looks great! I think you really hit the tone of the desert with the sun bleached, washed out color palette that Lego offers in the tans and nougats. The water is fantastic and a great burst of color, like the clothing. I love your choice of olive and lavender for the plants along the water, and how you have gathered the plants around the water looks very natural, plus it suggests that the patch of flora unattached to the stream is likely a low spot that has water. The monkey stealing fruit is hilarious, and the camel tracks through the sand is brilliant. I wouldn't have thought to leave the studs open, but it draws attention to them and looks great. The humor of the guy fleeing the gator and the little touches like the bird in the nest and the rat by the barrels is great. The clay fowl feeding bowls work well, and the iguana is great! You have a lot of beautiful builds on Flickr! Keep up the awesome work!

Glad to hear this! One thing we are agreed on so far is that we'd at least like to start a little more peaceful to add some everyday flavor. We are trying to figure out a balance... it can be tricky, but we're never going to compete for attention like Instagram or something, so this will still have a more laid back pace than that. This seems to be the general consensus, so I think it's going to remain so. We definitely draw the line and canons and firearms. It is good you point this out. Thank you for your feedback! That would be most welcome! The feedback here has always been very good. You are doing a great job at being almost a one man show for feedback at ClassicCastle! I agree. I am working on this. When I joined, I had to scavange around a bunch of threads to find everything. I am going to try and clean up some stuff and see if we can't make it easier for a new member to find everything to get started. The Kali University is very cool. I have been trying to participate, and I am hopeful we will get a lot more action going on there in Book IV... Thank you for your feedback!

Thank you! I love the old castle torsos. They seem to fit right in! Thanks a bunch! We tested a number of combos but that dark green/tan was definitely the best. I'm hoping to collect a number of these olive limbs for a larger hops field at some point.

Thank you! I am honored and excited for the next Book! Although I am biased, I agree with you: I think we have some of the best fantasy builders out there. It's a lot of fun to be in the midst of such great talent! The story is great, although the collaborative storytelling aspect is what keeps me hooked! I really agree with the not being bound by turns, points, etc. I think a lot of us here feel the same. We all have busy lives and I'd rather turn ins something good than something rushed. Sorry you don't have the time right now, but we'd love to have you back when you do, everything will be here!

Thanks! I was pleased how well they resembled the original. Funny you should mention the beer because there is a brewery... You would be quite welcome!

Thank you! The hops plant kind of made itself through the availability of the various plant pieces in specific colors, but it still took some experimentation, so I'm glad it looks good! As for the roof of the house, that took some doing. Quite a few angles and rebuilds here and there, and that funny tooth piece at the peak was the best I could do. I filled in a few holes with those little stem pieces too. I was pleased how the dark tan wolverine claws could look like either discolored roofing or maybe errant pine needles. Thank you! Thanks! I think one of the things I love most about the Guilds of Historica is the collaborative story telling atmosphere here. We don't have a 'turn' based RPG or anything, but all the characters and scenes are interconnected and sometimes interact. Couple that with the ability to build as much or as little as you have time for, and I really like the pace. If you are ever interested in that kind of building, come check out the Guilds! We are getting ready to gear up for a new book in our storyline. As for the roof, the majority is built from set 10322 the Medieval Town Square, and it's part # 27261. I didn't have any in tan, so I ordered some from Pick a brick on Lego. There's also some filler of 10187 (the dark tan wolverine claws), the tan 49668 plate with tooth at the peak, and some 68211 stems in tan to fill holes. Glad you liked the roof!