SkaForHire

Day 14 has us revisiting some of Kaliphlin’s wildlife. We are in the northern badlands on safari, and this morning you are all in for a treat – a lone Oliphant has wondered onto our safari’s path. huntcard by skaforhire, on Flickr But what is this? Lerik’ai? This is a rare treat indeed. It is not often that one gets to see these often hostile and private people. It looks like they have their eye on our Oliphant bull too. DSC_2883 by skaforhire, on Flickr Oh my, cover your children’s eyes, the Lerik’ai are going in for the kill! Oliphanthunt by skaforhire, on Flickr Well, let’s get out of here before they decide to come after our tour. lerikhuntwhite by skaforhire, on Flickr ---------- The previous days on the tour: Day 1 - The Withered Woods Day 2 - The Jungles of Gorr Day 3 - The Lone Mountain Day 4 - The Qar-Akhen Marshes Day 5 - The Dune Sea Day 6 - The Great Dragonboat Race Day 7 - Arkbri Falls Day 8 - Okatowan Gardens Day 9 - The Triumphal Arch of Petraea Day 10 - Amrakect Market Day 11 - One Year Party Day 12 - The Lion Dance Day 13 - The Fighting Pit of Mophet Day 13.5 - Digging for History

I would guess that a topic with two freebuilds in it would get scored higher, or even double that of a post with only one freebuild. But who knows. I just know that I want to keep the gold system around for the next chapter because it does give some people added motivation to build. (Not me really, but it has been said before).

Hello travelers who could not stand the sight of blood and / or ran out of dinars at the fighting pit in Mophet, I am glad you joined us for some additional sightseeing today. archmappost by skaforhire, on Flickr Just a half day’s ride outside of the small city of Mophet is the Arkbri River. For over 5,000 years there have been settlements on this river. Many of those settlements have been long abandoned and swallowed by the earth. It is the job of Archeologists from the University of Pretraea to dig up the remains and study them. Archpost by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2861 by skaforhire, on Flickr No one likes sifting through dirt! DSC_2862 by skaforhire, on Flickr Overview DSC_2871 by skaforhire, on Flickr Professor Nightman -- " You can't wear that artifact, it belongs in a museum!" digwhite by skaforhire, on Flickr Remember folks, it is illegal to pick up archeological artifacts unless you are a licensed archeologists and / or have paid the proper official with a substantial bride… errr… licensing fee! The previous days on the tour: Day 1 - The Withered Woods Day 2 - The Jungles of Gorr Day 3 - The Lone Mountain Day 4 - The Qar-Akhen Marshes Day 5 - The Dune Sea Day 6 - The Great Dragonboat Race Day 7 - Arkbri Falls Day 8 - Okatowan Gardens Day 9 - The Triumphal Arch of Petraea Day 10 - Amrakect Market Day 11 - One Year Party Day 12 - The Lion Dance Day 13 - The Fighting Pit of Mophet

You are very patient with your photography, and it pays off. Your photo editing skills are top notch too. It was your excellent presentations that put me over the edge to stop being lazy and actually present at least one edited photo per build. As for the light, I had to double take to find what you were talking about, I don't think it is that noticeable, and your light is all coming from one angle - presumably the bounced flash, I think it looks natural enough. I bought a light tent to control my light, but then I found out I build too big usually for it... I think something that absorbs light might be your best ticket, a felt like darker color might serve you well -- especially since you edit most (all) of your shots.

Yeah, I finally got a chance to sit down and comment on this wonderful MOC and there were no more pictures!!! Will do when they come back up again.

Excellent work! So, did the bear win? I take back what I said on the group board, that gate really put it over the top. Wow, so many good builds from you!

Awesome work! I too am curious about the roof. I am not sure where those flowers came from, but they look really good on your building!

Congrats on the almost anniversary! Very cool statue and that is one of the best cakes I have scene in Lego! I bet the tourists had no idea they were coming to a party today!!!

If it is bandit in nature, I would try to camouflage it either with other rock formations around the tower or maybe vegetation. Maybe a trap door by the front door?

So cool!!! My favorite piece has to be the cyclops eyeing up breakfast! The flags are a really neat idea, and the wall cut-aways are perfect. SOOOO GOOOD....

No challenge, we are in transition. We assume ZC is in charge of this transition, but he is a little busy at the moment. However, all freebuilds until June 30th will get scored towards the final tally for "book 1" (the first 6 challenge period) gold. After June 30th, we don't know for sure what is going on. I would assume (and hope) that all free-builds after the 30th would count towards book 2, or maybe even a "summer MOC-off" between the guilds.

Maybe I should have posted this here... Postcardarch by skaforhire, on Flickr

Agreed about the FP! I wish I could see the scorpions up top a little better, just curious there. I like the fish swimming up river, that is cool. Also, it is neat how the foam and river divide, but I think perhaps some blue pieces under the foam may make the transition more natural. You are getting good at following around the tour bus! :) You truly are from Kaliphlin, taking the Do it yourself tour to save money rather than the official tour! Great work, I look forward to more of your builds.

Thank you! I have not seen it done yet, but I needed something that would stick out as a road. Also, about two weeks ago I got three cups of those bricks from a PAB wall. I love them! Just wish I would have had one of the other colors to offset the side of the road with the road itself. Thanks Gid and SK! I was hoping for the monumental effect. Thank you! It is one of my favortie too. Great to see you back Gabe, we missed you! I looked at A LOT of arches before starting, Constantine's was one. I am glad it resembles a real triumphal arch. I think you were the one that suggested something should go in those corners, sometimes the simplest element is the best for the situation. Thanks! Thanks! It took me a while to find enough white pieces to put those together, I wish the pedestals were more impressive, but I thought it added good story. Thanks!

I agree with Ecc's comment, and I thank you for showing me an alternative to minifig leg cross windows. Those look great! I like the feel of this ruin, maybe one day it will get restored! :)

I already mentioned I liked the flowers, but I missed the mosaic work, it looks really good. The story is progressing nicely, and the introduction of the snowelves is a great dimension for Mitgardia. Although it doesn't really make sense, perhaps a different color at the base of the structure would differentiate it from the snow. Looks even better not on your phone! Glad you found some internet after we parted ways.

I like it... Looks like we have a subplot brewing before the hostilities. I really like the wagon, and it was a good story. Clever dwarves.

A little over half-way through our journey, I am sure you all have plenty of wonderful stories and sun burn...errr tans. Just in case you had too much rice wine at our last stop and can't remember where you have been the last 8 days, we have had this itinerary with portraits made up for you: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Today we are in our wonderful capital city, Petraea. While here, please remember to restock on supplies we have another week's journey ahead of us. postcardcapital2 by skaforhire, on Flickr As we leave the city we will be passing by one of its great wonders (number 3 of the 11 wonders of Petraea) The Triumphal Arch of Petraea. Located in the now deserted Old East City, the Arch has been in use since the days of King Az'Kabar of the Fourth Great Kaliphlin Empire. He built the arch as a monument to his conquests. Postcardarch by skaforhire, on Flickr 200 years ago during the Great Blightstorm, the eastern portion of Petraea was completely buried under the desert sands. The only structure visible was the Arch as it stood on a hill. Nothing else in the east city was cleared, and now the arch sits almost a mile outside the city’s eastern gate. edited3 by skaforhire, on Flickr Since the fall of the Fourth Empire, it is not uncommon for soldiers to march out (from west to east) of the arch for good luck, but it is said that marching into the arch (from east to west) without achieving the honor of a recent military victory would lead to ruin. Since the mighty armies of Kaliphlin have not done much conquering in the last few centuries, the tradition is mostly left to the town and regional guards on patrol. Here you can see one small squad making the right of passage into the seas of sand beyond the capital. DSC_2816 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2837 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2819 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_2817 by skaforhire, on Flickr Two likenesses of King Az'Kabar, the Conqueror and the Magistrate, sit on top of the arch. Thank you for joining us today, we have a special trip for your tomorrow -- rumor has it, not even the guides know where we will be! Stay tuned, and make sure to pay your baggage handler well, you wouldn't want to wake up tomorrow without your tent and headscarf!

Yeah, I had the same problem. You actually have to hover over the little share icon at the bottom right-hand corner of the black border, then all the old options pop up.

I think in the very beginning when there were a bunch of left over medieval cultures, someone decided that they were all in Kaliphlin, hence the Mediterranean, Sub-Sahara African, New World, Middle East, Indian, and East Asian influences on mocs and culture. We actually used to have members that were completely East Asian in their story and style... who knows what happened to them, but they once existed. If another guild opens up, I think an East Asian influenced culture would be pretty cool. Great MOC Masa, I really like the stream, the rocks and the water are great!

Excellent work!!! What a lovely waterfall! It does look like a refreshing place to rehydrate. I guess this means we need a canal system around the falls, unless this is a side stream coming off the great escarpment?

Great work Robuko! Although this year, GEAR lost a lot of money betting on those pandas...

The smaller maps usually are more detailed. You can find all of NM's collected here.

I went to one of the Lego stores here in the Dallas area, and they said they had at least 7 Mr. Golds in their store already. (I got mine from a Toys R Us) That means there were at least 8 Mr. Golds in North Texas alone!!! It seems disproportionate. I kind of owe it to my fiance to sell it if she wants, she has been so patient with my Lego hobby, and we could pay for a honeymoon with that money... but I really want to keep it.

A really excellent build. I agree that it looks very realistic.