Gabe Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 Bloodleaf shrine lies near the edges of the mighty forests of Avalonia, built in honour of a famous elf warrior who fell there centuries ago, fighting in the first drow wars. It is said that when his blood stained the heath, the undergrowth grew up and strangled his foes. The area is famed for the red heath that now grows around the shrine, which has been used by the priests and priestesses there to make their special incense, which they burn day and night in the shrine’s braziers. Researchers from Kaliphlin’s University of Petraea have long been interested in the healing properties of these and other herbs that grow around the area. Medical lecturer Dishan Rubati and her centaur research assistant were already deep in study there when the plague struck Avalonia. As refugees from the surrounding villages began to arrive, they used what they had learnt so far to start producing not only healing pastes and potions, but also disinfectant from the volatile plant oils. Previous chapter Next chapter Note: the above are revised photos after Z convinced me of the need to spruce up the staircase - thanks Z for the good suggestion! I made a few other tweaks here and there as well. The photo below is of the original version, for comparison. Anne and Edith, exhausted from fleeing Brevis, managed at last to find their way to the sanctuary. The shrine guards, whilst overwhelmed by the constant stream of refugees, do their best to offer what small comforts they can. While relieved to have found a safe place to rest and regather their strength, Anne still frets about her missing family and is keen to move on soon. Young Edith worries too, but is momentarily distracted by the tall elf who leads them to spare beds and offers them some food. "You don't see beauty like that in Brevis!" she muses to herself. Secretly she schemes to find a way to talk to him alone, but he seems preoccupied dealing with the current influx of people to the sanctuary. Dishan Rubati impatiently waits for Brix, her centaur research assistant; "Brix, how are those bindweed samples drying out? Also, do you have any more hedgehog pine needles, i need more for this batch of disinfectant!" Although Dr. Rubati is a hard taskmaster, Brix wouldn't be anywhere else - the work is fascinating and his botanical knowledge has increased markedly since coming to the shrine. Above the bustle of the ground floor, preistess Dryadelindas performs her daily offerings of fresh incense whilst the rangers keep watch. A bonus shot of the furniture from Dr. Rubati's laboratory on the ground floor - it was a bit cramped in there to see properly, so i thought i'd take a separate pic. The bench is set up with a custom press for extracting plant oils. As the plants are crushed, the oil seeps out of a hole in the base of the table and into the bucket below. Of course, it's a bit tall for Dr. Rubati to operate, so she has a step ladder to reach the crushing mechanism and lever. Safety first! ~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for looking everyone! Best of luck to all in the challenge! Ps: I am seeking UoP certification of the following credits for this build please: Architecture - 1x Roof technique Architecture - Advanced SNOT (for the circular 1st floor balcony) Landscape Design - 1x Tree Anthropology - Life in Avalonia Quote
-Carson Haupt- Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 I really like the foliage and the drying racks! The architecture is great too. Quote
-Horizon- Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 Everything looks great Gabe! The top floors SNOT looks really nice. The tree is really perplexing... Great Job all around! Quote
Gideon Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 Wonderful shape of that building! I also like the brick-built tent Quote
Kayne Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 An inspiring build Gabe! I absolutely love the shape and colour scheme Quote
Scaevola Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 Excellent! The snotted roof is great. as is the tree that winds around the build. I wish it had another floor though, The large roof makes the tower look a little dimunitive Quote
odidoma Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 Nice build and great technique and also a a lot of great solutions! Nice build and great technique and also a a lot of great solutions! Quote
Lady K Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 Absolutely beautiful build! The round shape has a very peaceful quality to it and I love the roof! The details on the building are great as is the staircase! Fantastic all around! :D Quote
mccoyed Posted June 11, 2014 Posted June 11, 2014 Wonderful architecture and I love the gnarled tree. Not crazy about the tent as it doesn't quite suggest tent to me. Brickbuilt tents seem very challenging however, I was afraid to attempt with my own go at it. Top-notch presentation also. Quote
Thomas of Tortuga Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 (edited) Very nice work! The sand green, dark red, and white work wonderfully together on the tower, and the details like the drying racks and the tent are terrific. The tree in the background looks good, too, although there are some gaps in the bark. EDIT: Never mind about that, I just realized that's all one tree! One thing I noticed was the contrast between the peaceful greens on the tree and the tower, and the red and orange leaves on the ground. I think the scene might look a little better if you made the leaves on the ground stay in the green family, rather than changing so dramatically. Also, is that ... Peter in the tent? Edited June 12, 2014 by Thomas of Tortuga Quote
MKJoshA Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 The snot work! It's amazing! Great job with this build and it's fun to see some old characters popping up. Quote
TheUtilityBelt Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Spec. Tac. Ular. The architecture is :0 I love the color choices except the orange and D/Red on the ground. Is that Peter? Haha! Quote
Gabe Posted June 12, 2014 Author Posted June 12, 2014 I really like the foliage and the drying racks! The architecture is great too. Everything looks great Gabe! The top floors SNOT looks really nice. The tree is really perplexing... Great Job all around! Wonderful shape of that building! I also like the brick-built tent An inspiring build Gabe! I absolutely love the shape and colour scheme Nice build and great technique and also a a lot of great solutions! Absolutely beautiful build! The round shape has a very peaceful quality to it and I love the roof! The details on the building are great as is the staircase! Fantastic all around! :D The snot work! It's amazing! Great job with this build and it's fun to see some old characters popping up. Thanks everyone, I'm glad you you like it! Excellent! The snotted roof is great. as is the tree that winds around the build. I wish it had another floor though, The large roof makes the tower look a little dimunitive Thanks Scaevola! I was actually planning to either have a off-centred tower rising out of the second floor, or an orrery on top of the roof, but i ran out of time. I am planning to revisit this architectural style again someday, so i'll save it for then. Wonderful architecture and I love the gnarled tree. Not crazy about the tent as it doesn't quite suggest tent to me. Brickbuilt tents seem very challenging however, I was afraid to attempt with my own go at it. Top-notch presentation also. Thanks Mccoyed! I quite liked my little tent actually... although i'm sure i could refine it somewhat if i spent a little more time on it. I agree they can be a tough challenge, i've built a few of them now and i always have to think quite a bit about how to tackle it. Very nice work! The sand green, dark red, and white work wonderfully together on the tower, and the details like the drying racks and the tent are terrific. The tree in the background looks good, too, although there are some gaps in the bark. EDIT: Never mind about that, I just realized that's all one tree! One thing I noticed was the contrast between the peaceful greens on the tree and the tower, and the red and orange leaves on the ground. I think the scene might look a little better if you made the leaves on the ground stay in the green family, rather than changing so dramatically. Also, is that ... Peter in the tent? Thanks Thomas! Ohh, yeah that's not meant to be Peter, whoops my bad. I was so planning to put the Bavarian CMF in there originally, i should have stuck with that and not tried to get too tricky. If you look carefully, you can see he's got Leiderhosen on, so clearly not Peter! Thanks also for your comment on the ground foliage - i agree that the ground looks too busy but i'm not sure myself that it's the fault of the red leaves. The point of having that colour ground foliage was to tie dark red as an accent colour right the way through the build. The orange could probably go though. Getting the green herb buckets and gnome out of the way would help too. Spec. Tac. Ular. The architecture is :0 I love the color choices except the orange and D/Red on the ground. Is that Peter? Haha! Cheers UtilityBelt! Noo, it's not Peter i promise, just a look-alike! Ugh i feel so embarrassed about that mix-up. Yep i'm coming to agree with some of the comments about the ground cover - definitely losing the orange (and maybe some of the olive as well) would help unify the colour scheme. Oddly enough i was much more worried about my use of white for the staircase -i ummed and ahhed a bit about whether or not to change it to light bley. Same (in reverse) for the lintel details on the ground floor. I find white is a hard colour to work with in large blocks, it's just so stark. Quote
Tomsche Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 A great looking build Gabe, I said it before and I stick to it, I`m jealous of the roundness of the building Quote
Yooha Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Wow, that looks fantastic! The tree looks super, and the shape of the building! It must have been challenging building it. I wish we could see the inside better. Maybe putting a small LED inside somehow? Or a candle? Quote
Gabe Posted June 12, 2014 Author Posted June 12, 2014 A great looking build Gabe, I said it before and I stick to it, I`m jealous of the roundness of the building Thanks heaps Tomsche! No need to be jealous, just get yourself a bunch of 1x4 hinge plates (the ones that hinge horozontally), and you'll be making your own round buildings in no time. You do need a *lot* of them though - i must have used about 70-80 of them in this build alone. Wow, that looks fantastic! The tree looks super, and the shape of the building! It must have been challenging building it. I wish we could see the inside better. Maybe putting a small LED inside somehow? Or a candle? Thanks Yooha! Ah yes, interiors... the structure was designed in a modular fashion so that interiors can be seen, but then i went and layered a great stonking tree over the roof, so it's actually not that easy to get to... I should get into using LED lights in my mocs, that's something i've never tried before. Quote
de Gothia Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Yummy yummy! I love how this turned out Gabe! The shape and design of the shrine is epic! So many cool figs and details to look at! And that tree!! A great entry for sure! Quote
StickFig Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 +1 UoP vote for these categories: Architecture - 1x Roof technique Architecture - Advanced SNOT Landscape Design - 1x Tree Anthropology - Life in Avalonia Great display! Quote
Torgar Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Excellent. I love the color scheme, and the tree is awesome! Quote
Gabe Posted June 12, 2014 Author Posted June 12, 2014 Thanks Lord Vlad, deGothia and Torgar, glad you like it! The jointed tree sure was fun to build. Thanks Nstickney for the UoP votes! Quote
ZCerberus Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I also really like the color scheme. The roof is excellent as well. The tree is cool, I know you have experience with that with all those sweet birds you've built. I don't know how to improve it, but I wonder if there is some way to cover up the side of the stairs so it doesn't look so "unfinished". No good ideas since it curves. Quote
Kai NRG Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 Excellent work here Gabe, gotta love that roof! Great job on the tree too, +1 UoP credit, for all four! Quote
kabel Posted June 12, 2014 Posted June 12, 2014 I have no clue whether you have amanita shrooms down under, as it totally looks like it. And I don't mean this as an insult, but as a mere praise. The whole thing has a totally psychadelic feelingt to it, which I think really fits the topic extremely well. Man, you stuff really rocks! Quote
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