[Freebuild] Hot pools on the hunt

[Eyrezer]

The build: Hot pools on the hunt

The story:

A steep mountain range ran through the heart of the Enchanted Forest, dividing the very ancient forests in the northwest with the merely ancient forests in the southeast. The range went by many names to the peoples of the forests: the Wizard’s Spine, Titan’s Jaw, or merely “the range”.

One particularly tall peak had, in times past, been volcanically active; now, geothermal vents still peppered its southern flank. If you knew where to look, some of these vents emerged in thermal hot pools, providing a steamy respite from the surrounding snow and ice.

The Varana sisters, Ooru and Gudoo, used the thermal pools as waypoints on their hunting expeditions. Despite the sulphurous emissions, the pools were the perfect spot to remove their snow shoes, warm up, dry out their sodden fur cloaks, and brew a little tea.

On this expedition, the siblings had a special target: the elusive giant snow bear. It would be a challenging hunt – to even find a bear; let alone kill it. Snow bears had long, white fur, which provided almost perfect camouflage against the snow and the ice. If you were skilled enough to track one down, you then had to content with their sharp claws, almost as long as a Varana head.

Still, Ooro and Gudoo were excited by the hunt: Not only would it challenge their skills but when you were paid upfront with a gold bracelet – with the promise of a second on completion – how could you not be excited!

Build notes:

Spoiler

• Just a quick build to get some more practice building natural looking terrain. The torsos use Rio Durant head and Stitch torso, and made me think of the Japan snow monkeys. I’ve called them Varana, which is apparently a D&D race of intelligent ape-like creatures.
• I have a specific part in mind for the snow bears, but you will have to wait until a future build to see what that is.
• Finally, I looked unsuccessfully for a name for the mountains in the Enchanted Forest. If there is one, I’ll happily add it to the list for a bit of extra continuity in the lore.

C&C welcome.

Edited January 13, 2022 by Eyrezer
Adding links

[Sympatik Brick]

Really nice little build and cute minifigs. 

[W Navarre]

Cute vignette! The yellow steam is great. 

[jtooker]

Great job transitioning from the snow to the warm pools.

[Exetrius]

This is such a fresh build, and great in a number of ways! You nailed the nature part: from the snow, to rockwork; the steaming water and the sulphurous gas, well done! The keetorange a great addition to the overall colour palette, too! But the Varana and the shrine-like part take this to a higher level! Great posing, and a custom fantasy race done right, plus I love the 'echo' of golden accents. 

The only thing that looks a bit odd to me is the skeleton arm on a clip, but otherwise a lovely build! 

[Blufiji]

Based off of the hotspring monkeys from Japan? Nice work. 

Edited January 5, 2022 by Blufiji

[Eyrezer]

Thanks for the comments everyone! @Blufiji, yes that was part of the inspiration.  Thanks @Exetrius. The skeleton arm is meant to be a bone blade, but I didn't describe it in the narrative, so probably odd a bit weird. I'm really enjoying finding uses for that clip part from Vidiyo, used here for the fire brazier.

[Grover]

Nice!  I like all the little details in the snow and the use of the SW heads.  The white hair and yeti heads are NPU as well.  I like the nice little story to go along with the build too!