Inside Kaliphlin Day 9 -- The Triumphal Arch of Petraea

[SkaForHire]

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!

[Ecclesiastes]

That surely shouts triumph! I really like the scale of it and all the colors give it an Kalphlin feeling for sure. The brickbrick also works really well as a road for triumph here!

[Gideon]

Beautiful build, it really shows the splendor of Petraea! This gives me a feeling of Central Asian architecture (like Samarkand), which I think fits Kaliphlin very well!

[soccerkid6]

The bright colors give a very triumphant effect and I like the large dome on top Great road design too

[Kai NRG]

Great job ska, I really like the coloring and the road also looks great! This is actually probably my favorite of yours so far, really like the hugeness of it!

...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!

Should I say that it's too true?

[Gabe]

Lovely build ska, the white pillars and arches are nicely compimented by the inset coloured panels. The arch reminds me a little of Constantine's arch in Rome.

[robuko]

Very nice, Ska! I love the use of colour and the fluted pillars. Those little pot-bellied domes on the corners are superb. Great backstory too! It might be worth persevering with the postcard shot

[Wedge09]

Really nice work :thumbup: I like in particulary the use of the grey bricks with Masonry profiles for the street

[TheLegoDr]

Brilliant!

The brick brick road works really well. I hadn't considered doing something like that before.

The build is very imposing and impressive. The colors work really well and add to the Kaliphlin style. I really love the conqueror and the magistrate statues on top. Very clever.

[Infernum]

Very grand scale! Love the domes and statues! Great work Ska!

[SkaForHire]

That surely shouts triumph! I really like the scale of it and all the colors give it an Kalphlin feeling for sure. The brickbrick also works really well as a road for triumph here!

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.

Beautiful build, it really shows the splendor of Petraea! This gives me a feeling of Central Asian architecture (like Samarkand), which I think fits Kaliphlin very well!

The bright colors give a very triumphant effect and I like the large dome on top Great road design too

Thanks Gid and SK! I was hoping for the monumental effect.

Great job ska, I really like the coloring and the road also looks great! This is actually probably my favorite of yours so far, really like the hugeness of it!

Thank you! It is one of my favortie too.

Lovely build ska, the white pillars and arches are nicely compimented by the inset coloured panels. The arch reminds me a little of Constantine's arch in Rome.

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.

Very nice, Ska! I love the use of colour and the fluted pillars. Those little pot-bellied domes on the corners are superb. Great backstory too! It might be worth persevering with the postcard shot

I think you were the one that suggested something should go in those corners, sometimes the simplest element is the best for the situation.

Really nice work :thumbup: I like in particulary the use of the grey bricks with Masonry profiles for the street

Thanks!

Brilliant!

The brick brick road works really well. I hadn't considered doing something like that before.

The build is very imposing and impressive. The colors work really well and add to the Kaliphlin style. I really love the conqueror and the magistrate statues on top. Very clever.

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.

Very grand scale! Love the domes and statues! Great work Ska!

Thanks!

[Kayne]

I love the way this turned out Ska! Marvelous work!

[Maxim I]

I love this so much!!!!! It makes me really proud to be Kaliphlin

So many things to like and I can definitely see that it is coming from you

In January, I will make a special monument as well to celebrate the victory at the Battle of Mpya Stedor!

[Erynlasgalen]

I love the way this turned out- it is just grand enough for us Kaliphlins!

The brickwork over the mosaics are my favorite part, I love the clean lines over the bright colors. You did a great job on researching the history of the arch as well, the lore behind it makes it even better.

[Mike S]

Excellent job on this! Definately one of your finest MOCs I've seen. Everything looks perfect here.

[kabel]

really great arch here SKA, I suppose you have to be procrastinating big time to come up with awesome stuff like this!

[Mencot]

As I said on flickr, love those colors you used on this. And now I noticed the size of that thing, whoa it is big

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.

I have once used the brick brick, not really as road but here:

But it looks really real good as you have made it

[Garmadon]

Great build, as others have said, I really like the brick road.

The whole arch is very nice (and big ).

I agree that this is one of the best builds of yours that I have seen yet

[MikroMan]

NIcely done, very eastern look!

[Mattiusxavier]

Super job bud! The top of the arch with the Taj Mahal element is great!

[ZCerberus]

Great colors. really nailed that middle eastern type vibe. Stellar work.

[Str0ngbad]

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to comment Ska but this is great! It's much easier to appreciate the scale of it on a computer as opposed to my phone and the varied colors are superb. The ornamented areas at the crest of each arch are my favorite parts.

You really weren't exaggerating when you said you had an awful lot of those grey masonry 1x2s were you? And it looks like you cheated a little on the magistrate's torso.

[SkaForHire]

So many things to like and I can definitely see that it is coming from you

Why, because it is giant and white and uses columns?

I love the way this turned out Ska! Marvelous work!

I love the way this turned out- it is just grand enough for us Kaliphlins!

The brickwork over the mosaics are my favorite part, I love the clean lines over the bright colors. You did a great job on researching the history of the arch as well, the lore behind it makes it even better.

Thanks Kayne and Eryn, I wouldn't have been inspired (well motivated too) without you two and the others in the group.

Excellent job on this! Definately one of your finest MOCs I've seen. Everything looks perfect here.

Thanks Masa, as our second celebrity builder of the tour, that is a huge compliment!

really great arch here SKA, I suppose you have to be procrastinating big time to come up with awesome stuff like this!

Yea... sadly, you might not see my last two tour builds... that was a lot of procrastination and now the piper needs paid... or at least I have to get some grading done to hit deadlines.

As I said on flickr, love those colors you used on this. And now I noticed the size of that thing, whoa it is big

I have once used the brick brick, not really as road but here: http://www.flickr.co...hotolist-dyUkkN

But it looks really real good as you have made it

I really like how you did yours, nice an integrated - a great realization of that part! I took the easy way out and made some grandiose road.

Great build, as others have said, I really like the brick road.

The whole arch is very nice (and big ).

I agree that this is one of the best builds of yours that I have seen yet

Thanks!

Super job bud! The top of the arch with the Taj Mahal element is great!

I am not sure why we have not used many of those yet... or maybe I was the only one that was a fan of orient adventurers.

Great colors. really nailed that middle eastern type vibe. Stellar work.

Thanks Z! Great to hear from you.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to comment Ska but this is great! It's much easier to appreciate the scale of it on a computer as opposed to my phone and the varied colors are superb. The ornamented areas at the crest of each arch are my favorite parts.

You really weren't exaggerating when you said you had an awful lot of those grey masonry 1x2s were you? And it looks like you cheated a little on the magistrate's torso.

I have more. One slushy cup more to be exact. best 21 dollars ever. Actually, they gave me some sort of extra discount that day and I paid 4 dollars a cup, so it is actually 12 dollars... I hope I can find them some day in the other colors.

Let me know if you get some days off for brickfiestsa, if there is one person there I know, I might go. I have been debating registering just to show this MOC. I really like it.