Ambush in the Cerean Pass - Book II Challenge 1A

[HammerBro]

It was early morning by the time the trio found their way to the rocky outcropping. Hobbs set down the bags, looking rather confused and ever so slightly disappointed. Quite honestly, while it now seemed naive in his 20-20 hindsight, he was expecting to arrive here in the dead of night. The pink light of dawn seemed to be a painful contrast to the dark blood that was going to be spilt before the day was done. He shut his eyes, a sigh escaping from between his lips as he rubbed his shoulder. The packs had not been overly heavy, but had still left him stiff from carrying it for so long. Beside him, his comrade did the same. Jango ran a hand through his short hair, the shade of leaves in the first few moons of autumn. Apparently the man had struggled more than his counterpart had. He seemed rather tired from the excursion. The signs could not be helped, and Jango certainly did not complain. Hobbs had never seen Jango utter one complaint...except, of course, when it referred to him. A man of little patience, that one was.

“My lord, is this the place?” Hobbs asked, turning to face their captain, perched atop a silver wolf. The man looked down to his soldier, black eyes void of emotion or light. Those eyes were impossible to meet. Even now, some time after the young follower had joined Fether Rodun, the gaze dropped and shattered on the jagged rocks that jutted out of the earth. Like teeth, the brawny man thought, trying to swallow you. The musings startled Hobbs more than it really should have. By the emblem, where had that come from? He must have been spending too much time around Jango. Fether cocked an eyebrow at the ripple through Hobb’s calm, but decided to ignore the shift altogether. Instead, he turned to the older and wiser of the pair.

“What say you, Jango?” Fether asked, having his steed kneel so that he may survey the area. The creature he had ridden was not a sleek, beautiful beast that was on the brink of domestication. No, the beast was just that: a beast. All three men had seen it disembowel many an enemy and destroy many, many more. No one but Fether himself know how he seemed to control these creatures, and yet, he did. As his lord walked up beside him, Jango glanced towards the small path that led through the ravine, the same path that they had neglected to take.

“Are you certain that this is as narrow as the path goes?” Fether asked. The man before him didn’t look up. Instead, his thin eyebrows narrowed above a hooked nose. He was the sort you would expect in a library instead of at war, and yet, here he was.

“Yes, my lord.” He said. “If we can trap them here, there is nothing they can do about it. Fish in the barrel, my Lord.”

“Right then…” Fether murmured, turning to Hobbs. “Take your position by the outcropping and wait for them. When the party comes, attack without mercy. I shall come in from behind and Jango will cut them off ahead. Do you understand.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Excellent. The Shraliek have been wandering carelessly through our lands. It is time we’ve stopped that.” He growled, his stone cold eyes narrowing at the pass, as if he could already see where their bodies would lay.

It was midday when the trio came blundering down the pathway. From the cave he crouched in, Hobbs made a sour face. He loathed the mixed Shraliek breeds. Then again, it was simple to loathe anything in this position. He was cramped and uncomfortable. His fingers curled and uncurled around the shaft of his prized spear. By the Gods, he wanted to plunge the obsidian blade into someone’s flesh and be done with it! He almost wished that Fether and Jango would allow him to take on the party alone. One of the orclike creatures paused. Hobbs stiffened. Was this it? Was this the moment to lunge? One of the wretched beasts looked up and sniffed the air. His red, piggy eyes squinted in the direction of the cave. Something wasn’t right. The soldier felt the muscles in his leg tense. The moment that the vile beast looked away, a cry ripped out of him as he propelled him into the air, wielding the spear with both hands.

The travellers only had time to look up and screech before they were upon them! Jango jumped out from behind the cover of the rock, and Fether charged forwards from the shadows. The sharp tip of Hobb’s spear pierced a seam in the Shraliek’s leather armor, easily cleaving through that and the ribcage. The bloke fell, dead. Behind him, silent as a fox and trice as crafty, Jango parrayed a blade away. The Shraliek screeched at him, faltered, and lost his balance. That was a fatal mistake. The blade pierced the armor and cleaved its arm from its torso. The neck was slashed out moments later

The last target seemed to be putting up more of a struggle. Once the adrenaline had died down enough for Hobbs, he turned to see his lord battling with the final traveller. The beast swing its jagged sword towards Rodun who missed it only slightly. Back and forth, they sparred, the battled filled with narrow misses. Hobbs gasped and ran forwards, only to be grabbed by Jango.

“Let them fight.” He said quietly. “Fether can take care of himself well enough.” Hobbs opened his mouth to protest, but earned a stinging glare. When he turned though, his lord lifted his polished sword into the sky, and with a cry, brought it down, removing its leg from the rest of its body. A hellish screech tore through the air, only to be silenced a moment later. Hobb’s eyes widened. He had the upmost respect for the man, for his lord, but this was something he had not seen before. Beside him, Jango smiled smugly. Lord Rodun knelt down, wiping dark blood from his blade. He turned to his two followers and nodded.

“Search the bodies and gather your possessions, we must return to the outpost before dark.” He said coldly before placing it back in its sheath. He whistled once and the wolf came barreling out of the shadows, stopping inches away from his face. A thin, rare smile crossed his lips as the man reached out, patting it once on its muzzle. Another victory for Black Spire, taken by Lord Fether Rodun. Hobbs was shoved into moving by Jango. He looked back once to see three bodies, swiftly growing cold. He smirked. What a marvelous ruler to live by.

Here shown fig-less. This build was my first use of the sideways rock technique, which I have learned can be quite fragile.

Thanks for viewing!

Edited January 15, 2014 by HammerBro33

[Wedge09]

Really nice work :thumbup: In particular the stonework

[Gunman]

nice stonework and nice use of colours.. i like it!

[Lord Vladivus]

Nice entry! Great build, I lik the figs!

[Gideon]

Nice fig posing, and good job with that rockwork!

[de Gothia]

You have really improved your mocs! This is your best yet! Fun to see that you go for some angled rocks! I´ve to try that myself!

Great posings and the photos are perfect! A good entry for sure!!

[HammerBro]

Thanks, guys!

I worked hard to make the rocks turn out well and I'm glad they did. And all the colours went into making it diverse and less bland.

I really surprised myself with the 1x2x3 inverted slope just above Hobbs. I didn't like the openness on the side and just started putting in pieces to cover it up and still have the sloping effect. Now the close up of Hobbs is my favorite picture.

I would also like to gain UoP points for this build in the following categories:

• Landscape Design - Sideways Rocks
  
• General Building - Minifig Posing
  
• Military Science - Battle Scene
  

[Niku]

Looks very fine, and the rock work is very professional.

I like the figs also, they look menacing.

[gedren_y]

UoP DoH +1 for all claims.

[Duvors]

Great build, but the Shraliek are on the side of the Black Spire so... who are the traitors?

[Torgar]

Great entry, I love the minifig posing and the rocks!

[Lord Vladivus]

Great build, but the Shraliek are on the side of the Black Spire so... who are the traitors?

That thought crossed my mind, and the Shraliek are also dwarf-Orc types, with bushy beards and short legs. Or perhaps they're a splinter group from the Shraliek. Civil war breeds betrayal after all.

[soccerkid6]

Excellent rockwork and I like the bits of dark red, dark orange and olive green. Your figs look great, I especially like the use of the shoulder pauldron things (from Star Wars sets right?)

[HammerBro]

That thought crossed my mind, and the Shraliek are also dwarf-Orc types, with bushy beards and short legs. Or perhaps they're a splinter group from the Shraliek. Civil war breeds betrayal after all.

I wanted to use some troll parts and as the Shraliek are a tribe of Nocturnus, I supposed that there would be offshoots from that tribe. These guys are indeed a splinter from the Shraliek and they remained in the caves of the Rakath Mountains. They are also rather ignorant of the political events now occurring in Nocturnus, as they remain isolated in the mountains, and blindly follow the leadership of the Nocturians. I only continued to call them Shraliek because I wanted to show where the breed came from and since they were not much different that their ancestors, keeping in mind all the traits of other tribes. Sorry I didn't address this earlier, it was perfectly clear in my mind, yet I don't understand how I neglected to mention it.

Excellent rockwork and I like the bits of dark red, dark orange and olive green. Your figs look great, I especially like the use of the shoulder pauldron things (from Star Wars sets right?)

Thanks and yes, the pauldrons are from the arc troopers in star wars.

Thanks, Torgar!

[Lord Vladivus]

I wanted to use some troll parts and as the Shraliek are a tribe of Nocturnus, I supposed that there would be offshoots from that tribe. These guys are indeed a splinter from the Shraliek and they remained in the caves of the Rakath Mountains. They are also rather ignorant of the political events now occurring in Nocturnus, as they remain isolated in the mountains, and blindly follow the leadership of the Nocturians. I only continued to call them Shraliek because I wanted to show where the breed came from and since they were not much different that their ancestors, keeping in mind all the traits of other tribes. Sorry I didn't address this earlier, it was perfectly clear in my mind, yet I don't understand how I neglected to mention it.

That's a cool idea!

[markus1984]

Good job at the vignette.

Nice colours and figs!

[Infernum]

Nice work on the rocks! Love the figs too! Nice border!

[HammerBro]

Thanks guys!

[Erynlasgalen]

Very nice work on the rocks, and the limited color palate works great on a MOC this size.

UOP: +1 for Landscape sideways rocks, and Minifig posing. I would like to see a little bigger MOC and more mini figures to give credit for a battle scene.

[HammerBro]

I've updated the story to give it a little more substance.

[Gideon]

UoP DoH +1 for the claims, even though I agree with Eryn that it is a tad on the small side to be a proper battle scene.

[Kai NRG]

I agree with Eryn that it's more of a 'fight scene' then a battle scene, but I'll give you credit for the other two UP claims! Those rocks are particularly good!

[mpoh98]

Great work! I love the rockwork! :D