The Stad

As I often do, I bit off more than I could chew with this project. Unfortunately that means that I will not make the entry deadline tonight, but behind the spoiler is my progress to-date. Good luck to everyone who will be competing for the prizes! This has been a ton of fun so far, and I want to reiterate to @Grover and the rest of the leadership team how much I like this Guild/technique-specific format. It was a great opportunity to break out of my typical style and try something new.

@Yoggington and @Henjin_Quilones thanks for the feedback, I think you’re right.

Wow. That’s about as Tolkienian of an answer as I’ve ever seen on this forum. It’s almost like you’re a teacher and have put some academic rigor into the study of etymological evolution…

Left or right?

@GarmadonThank you, I am starting to enjoy working in micro-scale for exactly the reasons you described. I don't have the space, bricks (or time!) to build at a monumental minifig scale, but I can really push it with micro-scale. @T-86(swebrickLUG) Thank you, the rockwork and angles were both a lot of fun, but also took up by far the most time in figuring this out. @LEGO Train 12 Volts Cheers! @jtooker Thanks, the stairs were the second tablescrap after the gazebo that drove the creation of this piece. @Ben S Thank you, "atmospheric" was one of my main objectives with this project!

Previously: Visiting Sorgheim Makny and his father had spent several nights in Sorgheim as guests of the Hersir. During the days, the nobleman had shown them much of his lands, while in the evenings the members of his household had entertained them with songs and stories around the hearth. When his father announced that it was time to resume their journey, Makny was eager but reluctant, for as much as he was happy to continue the adventure with his father, he had greatly enjoyed his stay among the rustic but comfortable accommodations and their gracious hosts. Sorgheim was perched upon a spur that thrust out from the lower hills at the mouth of a long vale. It was just above the point where two rivers met, one flowing out of the narrow valley and into the other, which was a great winding current that crossed much of the central plain at the heart of the Burial Isle. It was the smaller river that they followed now, first to the far end of the valley -where they left their horses at a small farmstead- then up into the rocky hills. As the river cleaved its course between the craggy cliffs, their path soon narrowed and climbed, and the trees and canyon walls pressed in steep and close beside them. They spoke very little, and the woods along the trail seemed silent but for the ever-growing voice of the river. Every so often the canyon would open up and Makny would look to the high, snowy mountains all around them. In those moments he sometimes thought he saw bright, distant flashes of color, like tiny shining gemstones embedded in vast sheets of rippling alabaster, but when he looked again he would see nothing but pristine whiteness before the trees closed in or they passed behind the shoulder of another ridge. After two days of steady marching the trail had narrowed to barely a goat path. They continued upon it for several hours until, as the sun climbed toward noontide overhead, they came to another clearing. Approaching it, what first struck Makny as strange was the structure, like a lantern the size of a building, jutting out of the undergrowth at the foot of the mountainside. Then he came further into the clearing and was shaken again to see two statues, vividly life-like, standing at the foot of a grand stairway that leapt from the clearing and across the river. Makny looked around in stunned silence then noticed his father looking calmly up above the treetops and followed his gaze. His breath caught in his throat. “Remnants,” his father spoke quietly, reverently, barely louder than a whisper. “This land, my son, was called the Burial Isle long before any jarl claimed sovereignty. It did not get its name from its barrows, crypts, or tombs. Long ago, an ancient people, before they departed these shores, buried what remained of their empire in this distant corner of the known world. Hidden by remoteness, or scoured from memory, the lands across the water did their best to quickly forget them.” He turned and faced Makny, then gazed across to the island at the other end of the stairs, guarded by more statues and bejeweled with an intricately wrought structure. “But a few of them lingered. Remnants. They guarded the memories and secrets. Custodians and caretakers. Preserving a legacy, though it might never again be built upon. Forgetting a little more every year.” He paused, and Makny saw a distance and melancholy in his father’s eyes. ”But for all that is forgotten, there is much we still remember.” His father put a hand on Makny’s shoulder and smiled like a man returning home after a long journey. “And, perhaps, you may yet remember more than a great many of your fathers before you.” They did not cross the bridge, but passed a while in the roaring silence above the river. Then they made their way back to the farmstead, saddled their horses, and rode on to Førstlys.

Outstanding! Now the real question: is that your Great Hall build nestled in there at the top, and are there any other interiors hidden away on the back?

Well, now this just makes me excited to see you build out the rest of the modules!

Great micro build. I can’t find the original to compare it against, but it’s got a great composition and proportions, and you’ve got some NPU with the stairs and the mountain assembly. I also appreciate the snowy trees off to the side giving the whole image a little more balance.

Posting to fulfill the WIP requirement for Category A of the challenge. Starting with the rail system at the top and bottom, but incorporating some additional internal structure for a couple of reasons - I want sturdy attachment points to the base, I want extra rigidity for applying larger elements to the sides, and this particular assembly is for a large tree that will have a large, spreading canopy, so I need some tensile strength to keep the cantilevered branches from pulling the whole thing over. The other rail is for a gently-curving wall that will use 2x4 tiles for cladding, more images to follow.

I really appreciate seeing your thought process in pictures and reading your trial-and-error commentary alongside it all. I'm excited to see your final product! I know it's tough working with a system as rigid as Lego, so there will always be inherent limitations to the shapes that can be achieved, but my impression right now is that your roof seems very conical, rather than domed. I don't know that there is any reason why it needs to be domed, but it does seem like a departure from the classical look of an observatory. Maybe there's a story reason for that though...

That is a wavy wall! Since I don't know what you're trying to portray from a narrative perspective, I can't really comment on how effective all the ingots are. That said, based on your floor pattern, it might be interesting to integrate some of the larger or smoother plates into your masonry pattern. That could help break up the pattern and tie the two surfaces together (if that's desirable to you, of course).

@Grover does this count?

A very clean build here with just the right amount of details. It’s a great backdrop for all the story.

@Seagull King of Vaughan Thank you for the kind words! Like any other creative enterprise, it’s all about practice and iteration.