[FB] Leaving Cold Rock

[robinnilsson403]

Old man Meciar returned to the small spring in the cliff again. Without this spring Cold Rocks would be a dead place, but with the help of the water plants could grow. The dirt, on the other hand, had to be carried for miles - but that didn't matter to Meciar - Cold Rocks was a safe from raids. There was only a small opening that led into the hidden ravine that Cold Rocks had been built into many years ago.

Meciar filled his bucket and turned around, and there he was, Janduin. He was not in his traditional white robes, but instead was dressed as he was going to do some dirty work. A pair of old pants and a worn shirt with both belt and suspenders. And he had a backpack! Was he going to the villages to trade like that?

 

"Uncle Meciar..:"

"What are you wearing! If you are going to trade dressed like that they'll rip you off!"

"I finished watering the t'mat, uncle, and just as I agreed with uncle Seirin I'll be leaving now."

"Leaving!? What has gotten into your head?! You are safe here. With us."

"I am not looking to be safe."

"Seirin! Get over here! What have you done to the boy!?"

 

Seirin walks over with his eyes closed. Janduin realized that Seirin hadn't talked to Meciar, opposed to his promise the night before.

"Well, Meciar, you see Janduin here wanted to know what happened, and how he came to be here..."

"And what?! You told him?"

"I don't know much of it, just that his mother..."

"Don't talk about it! It is evil I tell you!"

"But Meciar, Janduin is of age. He can make his own decisions now, and if he wants to explore his past, so be it."

 

"So," Janduin said "what can you tell me before I go, uncle Meciar?"

"Boy... I don't know much more than you already do yourself. Your mother approached from the north. Not a single piece of cloth was without holes, and there was some blood. She had gone thirsty for days, so it must have been a few days since she was at some civilisation, but as you know, that's not hard to do in this area."

"We must also tell you about her last word" Seirin interjected. "Juric, Estair, Janduin. We assumed it was three names, and we named you the last of the three. But it could as easily be villages, hills, rivers..."

"Or a spell" muttered Meciar. "Anyhow, we haven't heard any of them before or since."

"True" said Seirin "and I've kept my ears open every time I've been outside this ravine. I know it's not much to go on. Just north, and ask around. Otherwise you could go towards Petraea and the university. Perhaps someone there has heard those words before."

"Thank you, uncles. I promise I will see you again some day."

"Now, take good care of yourself Janduin!"

 

Later that day...

"Well, well, well, Meciar. I almost thought you didn't want Janduin to go."

"I didn't! Who will now serve tea?"

 

I first built this to add to my collection of builds inspired by the book series The wheel of time, and just as I was finishing Gideon told me that Book III was about to start, so I adapted the build to start of my story. For the original plan I needed some more space in front of the cliff, that's why there's some empty space. Some of my other previous builds may also be adapted in the future, where they fit in.

It's all built in modules, on two 32x32 moduverse baseplates, and parts of the cliff can be removed to ease transportation.

Any criticism, ideas, help, and what not, are most welcome! I know I'm bad at taking photos. I think I lack the patience for it...

[TitusV]

Wow, such an explosion of rockwork! IMHO, I feel like a little less mixing of colours may not hurt the overall style, a bit more like the ground which looks very pretty.

I also really like that you've added interiors, good job

[Gideon]

Interesting backstory and location! It fits very well with my idea of Kaliphlin that the availability of water dictates where people live

The Moduverse base hints at more to come...?

Something I think it could have been improved on this build however is that the rock wall color mix is a tad too busy. It works OK in the close-up picture, but on the overall picture it makes the shape of the build hard to distinguish.

[Kai NRG]

Bold choice with the mixing of colors, I like it on the close-ups, where it's balanced by the less "busy" ground, but as Gideon said it's a little too powerful for the eyes when the whole MOC is visible.  The arches and terraces built into the cliff are fantastic though!  And I also really like the water/well!

[mccoyed]

Very interesting looking rockwork, IMO. I think it looks slightly better from a distance but even if it's a bit too busy, it gives an interesting basis to try some stuff I haven't seen very much in more classic approaches to rockwork. I'd be curious to see what something like this could look like with 3-4 colors as a limit. I like the furniture in the interiors too. The use of taps is very interesting.

[robinnilsson403]

11 hours ago, TitusV said:

Wow, such an explosion of rockwork! IMHO, I feel like a little less mixing of colours may not hurt the overall style, a bit more like the ground which looks very pretty.

I also really like that you've added interiors, good job

Thanks Titus. Choosing which colours to include in a build is one of my weak sides. I tend to add "just one more". 

11 hours ago, Gideon said:

Interesting backstory and location! It fits very well with my idea of Kaliphlin that the availability of water dictates where people live

The Moduverse base hints at more to come...?

Something I think it could have been improved on this build however is that the rock wall color mix is a tad too busy. It works OK in the close-up picture, but on the overall picture it makes the shape of the build hard to distinguish.

Well, I don't think I'll add more baseplates in the near future. It was more about availability and suitability. They are very sturdy.

11 hours ago, Kai NRG said:

Bold choice with the mixing of colors, I like it on the close-ups, where it's balanced by the less "busy" ground, but as Gideon said it's a little too powerful for the eyes when the whole MOC is visible.  The arches and terraces built into the cliff are fantastic though!  And I also really like the water/well!

Thanks! The idea with the arches was to use much tan around them, to make it look more "worked". I forgot it around the well though. 

6 hours ago, mccoyed said:

Very interesting looking rockwork, IMO. I think it looks slightly better from a distance but even if it's a bit too busy, it gives an interesting basis to try some stuff I haven't seen very much in more classic approaches to rockwork. I'd be curious to see what something like this could look like with 3-4 colors as a limit. I like the furniture in the interiors too. The use of taps is very interesting.

Thanks! The tap thing just came up when I was playing around with furniture for the build. It used up all the tan ones that were in storage, so I wonder where Janduin would have been seated...?

[Henjin_Quilones]

I like the build, but I agree with the others that the rockwork is too busy when seen all at once. It is not even that there are too many colors, per se, but really that they are so evenly mixed as to jumble together. Perhaps in the future, should you build something like this again, you could create different rock layers, much like what one would see in the American west as a result of the erosion of different layers of sediment deposits. It is just a thought. Welcome to the guilds, too!

[de Gothia]

I agree with the other about the busy rockside but at the same time I like the fact that you tried and see if it would work! The arches in the rock makes a great "man made" tocuh to it. 

 

Nice to have you here in GoH! :)

[soccerkid6]

The rockwork is really eye catching, and while the color mixing/ratios could be refined, it does give a nice unique Kaliphlin look
Neat plant designs, and the interiors are excellent too.
 

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next!

[Grover]

Welcome!  I love the story, and the interiors are great.  As some of the others have said, the blocky colors are busy, although less so when you see the whole build.  Of course, you run what you brung, and for the bricks that you have, it's lovely.  Thanks for sharing, and I hope to see you around the guilds!