[OL - Ch1 Cat A] The Realm of Hades

[Khorne]

First Chapter: The Heart of Darkness (Land Ho!)

I am on the run.

The Realm of Hades is real for I have seen it. I witnessed the demons that lived therein and now I run. What have we done to earn this curse from the Gods?

Like many others we set out to discover new lands, which we eventually did, but it was not at all as expected. Together with several other men I was sent out to forage and explore our surroundings by my Lord and Commander of the expedition: the blessed Henri Antoine La Valette, de la Rocheforte. May the Gods watch over this noble man. We should've known this land was cursed from the start. At first sight it looks and feels like home. The cold, the snow, the pine trees. Yet around every corner there lurks something new and it changes our entire experience of this land. Above all, though, the desolateness and primeval wildness gives me the creeps. All one can hear is the creaking of trees, the howling of the wind and the movement of nature in general. These forests are alive, but we know not with what.

Our group hit a small body of water and decided to take a break. We heard the singing of birds, which we had not heard before. We admired the sounds, but they were like the sounds of the mythical sirens, only meant to enthrall us. Before we knew it, several of our troops fell down and arrows whizzed around us. Out of the tree line they came, painted devils, servants of Hades. Cruel heathen dogs. I scurried away and saw them slaughter and enslave my comrades. They cut off their scalps and proudly displayed them as trophies while yelling bestial shrieks. They stole our blue coats and wore them to mock us. Despite the cold, many were dressed in nothing but leathers and some even went bare-chested. Their head was shaven, bare for a spiked ridge across their skull and their faces and bodies were festooned with hellish markings.

I was lucky to be able to scurry away. Who knows what my fate would've been? May Zeus bless my journey so I can make it back to Henri and recount what I have witnessed.

Two unedited pictures:

Edited January 24, 2016 by Khorne

[TitusV]

Oh, lovely cruek build! Very Nice vegetation and minifig posing!

[blackdeathgr]

Best edited pic so far! Yay for Oleon! Shall we take revenge?

[Khorne]

Thanks for the comments. Criticism is always welcome . I don't build that much, but I'd like to do it more often and get better at it. My collection is rather limited at the time, though . Expect more from this tale of discovery by Henri, I plan on expanding on it with a freebuild or so.

Best edited pic so far! Yay for Oleon! Shall we take revenge?

Revenge? Who knows how many of these devils are out there! We ought to proceed with caution and look for survivors, then assess the situation and look how we can strengthen our position on the island without wasting too much men and supplies .

[blackdeathgr]

Our mighty fleet leaves in a month, heading back home. They will deliver notes to our noble King. Don't forget to write about this incident with the natives so that he knows and plan accordingly. Maybe he sends more canons and an extra regiment or two to exact revenge on them ...

[Captain Genaro]

By Zeus, words cannot describe my horror at seeing how these savages murder fellow Oleons I am entirely of the mind that we must have our revenge!

The editing in the first picture is perfect and does a superb job at setting the scene. Furthermore, I like the aspen trees (I might have to copy that design) and the pond.

[Bregir]

Wow, I really enjoy your narrative style. It is very dramatic, and goes well with the dramatic story.

I think the fog in the first pic is a bit too much, but appreciate the dramatic effect.

Thanks for the comments. Criticism is always welcome . I don't build that much, but I'd like to do it more often and get better at it. My collection is rather limited at the time, though . Expect more from this tale of discovery by Henri, I plan on expanding on it with a freebuild or so.

Revenge? Who knows how many of these devils are out there! We ought to proceed with caution and look for survivors, then assess the situation and look how we can strengthen our position on the island without wasting too much men and supplies .

It's all about learning!

[Khorne]

By Zeus, words cannot describe my horror at seeing how these savages murder fellow Oleons I am entirely of the mind that we must have our revenge! The editing in the first picture is perfect and does a superb job at setting the scene. Furthermore, I like the aspen trees (I might have to copy that design) and the pond.

Thanks! I didn't come up with the aspen trees myself, though, I saw the design sometime ago in some other MOC (probably in Guilds of Historica or something) and it just stayed in my mind. I like the look too . The pond actually looks better in real life. In the photos it's just like it's built from black bricks while in fact it are trans-black bricks over a blue underground. I'll have to work on my photography skills some .

Wow, I really enjoy your narrative style. It is very dramatic, and goes well with the dramatic story. I think the fog in the first pic is a bit too much, but appreciate the dramatic effect. It's all about learning!

Thanks! I love a good dramatic story . An unknown and uncharted land covered in thick forests, inhabited with wild tribes, is just fuel for the imagination and I love telling a story .

[Vedauwoo]

How did you make the little sigfig with flags insert?

....and can we get it in a widget so all factions can make one?

[blackdeathgr]

How did you make the little sigfig with flags insert?

....and can we get it in a widget so all factions can make one?

Hahaha, I was just thinking the same!!!! It is really beautiful!

[Captain Dee]

From an artistic and creative viewpoint this is a really good build, despite being so violent and graphic! The trees and other natural features are nice and the posing is really good. I like the edited effect, but I also think it may be too much - it's hard to pick out some of the details although in fairness they're easily visible in the unedited pics.

The richness of the story is good - sometimes amateur writing is a bit much but this fits the scene perfectly. It's also a nice counter to the thought that Oleanders are the ones always lusting after native blood!

Good work.

[Khorne]

How did you make the little sigfig with flags insert?

....and can we get it in a widget so all factions can make one?

Hahaha, I was just thinking the same!!!! It is really beautiful!

Haha, thanks! . I made the avatar in Photoshop. You probably could make a widget to "pimp" your avatar like this, but my programming skills aren't really all that top-notch to make such an application, sadly. The flag is an Oleon variant I made myself:

From an artistic and creative viewpoint this is a really good build, despite being so violent and graphic! The trees and other natural features are nice and the posing is really good. I like the edited effect, but I also think it may be too much - it's hard to pick out some of the details although in fairness they're easily visible in the unedited pics.

The richness of the story is good - sometimes amateur writing is a bit much but this fits the scene perfectly. It's also a nice counter to the thought that Oleanders are the ones always lusting after native blood!

Good work.

Thanks! The mist is rather thick because I wanted to mix the natural fog from the forest with the aftermath of a a small gunpowder fight. There'd be lots of smoke there, I reckon.