[Freebuild] Embervale - Dark Elven Carriage (Chronicles of Embervale Ep.08)

[Aurore]

My entry, as a team with @Sympatik Brick, for the collaborative category of Brickscalibur.
Check his build here!

And, also, a new episode in my main storyline the Chronicles of Embervale... 

THE BUILD

My very first vehicle, and very first attempt at creating other Dark Elves than my main characters Alrune and Dresghar. I'm now very tempted to make a full-fleshed faction, Warhammer-miniatures-style, but I digresss.
Here is a high-end but cumbersome carriage of the Dark Elves, traveling through the rugged mountains around Embervale and getting to know the local population...

More details of the decor, minifigs and carriage in the spoiler section below.

Spoiler

 

 

THE STORY

Previously in the Chronicles of Embervale: a flashback brought us back when Embervale was ruled by a certain Governor Voronthir. Alrune had never set foot there, and Evrart was a sergeant for a neighbouring baron of the human Realms. As said baron was visiting Embervale to solve a minor conflict with the Governor, all of a sudden, the bell of the village made its ring heard…

As the bell started to ring in Embervale, the quiet village became a hive of activity. Such a backwater corner of the Elven Empire hardly ever got visits from officials – even the local governor set foot outside of the castle only if he was really forced to do so. Imperial elves mingled as little as possible with the human populace of their most remote borders.
But the bell was announcing imperials and rumours and contradictory information were spreading like wildfire. Who? Why? Good news, or bad omens for the villagers?

The visiting baron was not the last to want to know more.
Upon interrogation, the town crier explained him he had rung the bell because the miller’s son said there were imperial troops approaching.
The boy had been warned by an adventurer.
Who had heard it from one of the foresters.
Who said a little bird had told him.
At which point the baron’s sergeant had the greatest difficulty to prevent his liege from punching someone in the face.

As the rest of the day passed on without any imperial elf showing up, most of the visitors from the Adventurers’ Guild left the village for places with more action and less damp squids. The baron, meanwhile, decided to stay. Partly because he had no intention to give up on talking to the Governor despite the hermetically closed gates of the castle, and partly because the local beer was excellent.

And as he and his men were about to order their third round, a small black bird came to land on their table...
“What the…? A crow?” One of the soldiers exclaimed with a large yet imprecise hand gesture intended to expel the intruder.
“I’m not a crow,” the bird stated, scowling at the man. “Not everything that’s black and flies is a crow, you ignorant grunt. I’m an alpine chough!”
An awkward silence was the only answer – during which the baron glanced at his beer with much suspicion.
Yellow bill and red feet, you see,” the bird went on, unimpressed. “That’s an easy way to distinguish an alpine chough from a crow, which is all black. Anyways. If you get me a portion of this excellent roasted ham they serve here, I’ll tell you all you want to know about the elves who are approaching. Who were approaching – actually.”

Perhaps it was the beer, perhaps it was curiosity, the fact remains that the baron ordered a portion of ham for this unusual informant.
And, between two pecks at its lunch, the little bird told them about travellers it had seen in the mountains above Embervale. A big carriage and a handful of riders. They were what humans called dark elves, most probably, because they were clad in black and there were pointy bits on the (black) coach.
The chough had spent some time perched on the carriage, and one of the elves had given it half of an excellent goat cheese. Then it had left them to tend to some important bird business, and the next time it had seen them, they were as good as dead.

“What happened?” The baron snapped when the bird chose this precise moment to take the time to preen its feathers.
"They were ambushed!” The chough answered with such a sudden wing gesture that the closest soldier spilled his beer. “Scary creatures! Cats and wargs! Claws and fangs – and weapons! They took the carriage!”
"Any elf left alive?” The sergeant enquired.
“Maybe. At least, I haven’t found the body of the nice one who gave me cheese.”
“I would have expected the survivors to show up in Embervale cryin’ to their governor like little kids to their mama!” The baron sneered. “You dare to explain why you tell us rather than some pointy-eared rascal?”
“You’re not even able to differentiate a chough from a crow! Don’t expect me to care for the differences between you primates,” the bird replied in the same tone.

This time, the sergeant was not quick enough to prevent his liege from throwing a punch. But don’t you worry for the little chough! It dodged, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying roasted ham - while watching one of those classic tavern brawls that is bound to happen in any self-respecting fantasy story when someone loses their temper in a bar.

Edited January 22, 2024 by Aurore

[Kai NRG]

The black carriage really stands out against the light forest--as do the reddish horses.  I'm trying to think whether I like that or not   I think I do, but I wish there were more landscaping in front of the carriage to break it up a little.  As happens with black, a lot of the detail gets lost in the photographs so I'm glad you included shots of just the carriage, it has some nice stuff going along the sides.   Impressive that you managed to include an interior!  I really like the rockwork style, though the shape of it feels square--and in general everything feels pretty much on grid throughout this build, with all the tree leaves being flat and the road straight most of the way.  I think a bit of rock and maybe another tree in the front right corner would have helped break that up.  Speaking of trees, the light and dark yellows are just beautiful and go so well with the olive and lime green!

[Yperio_Bricks]

I wish i had one horse Great scene! I really like that you included those "wooden" tiles in the base. They blend in well. The rockwork looks great, as does the black coach, which looks heavy and unbreakable. The trees and horses provide some color, but my favorite detail is the small shrine with that splash of color of the blue flame piece.

[Aurore]

@Kai NRG Thank you so much for your detailed feedback! I hear you with the general square-ish, grid-like look of the landscape...Perhaps if I had envisioned this build as "a landscape with a coach" rather than "a coach on a landscaped base", it would have ended up looking more natural.  I'll definitely keep it in mind next time I build something like that!
Oh, and an interior was absolutely needed! Loot for @Sympatik Brick's cat warriors!

@Yperio_Bricks Thank you very much! I'm really glad you noticed and enjoyed the little shrine! The wooden tiles are @Sympatik Brick's idea, and I agree it's a pretty great idea which really gives personality to the base.

[jtooker]

Superb trees, they really fit the scene. As does the decorative border of the creation.

[Grover]

Gorgeous! I can say many of the same things here as I said about @Sympatik Brick's build: the rockwork is outstanding, the color choices are grand, the border is awesome... lots of great stuff.  There's a few small ways they differ, such as the little shrine carved into the hillside that I adore and most obviously the carriage. Kudos to you, getting an all black build to have that much definition is difficult.  The lattice windows, titanium wheels, and the art on the side help, but the texture really pushes it to clarity.  The action shot of the orc jumping down is great!  The easter egg goat is hilarious.   The closeup of the drow heads is good, too!  The only thing that looks a little staged is the horses rearing up, but they are pretty limited there, particularly on the harness. I absolutely love that you wrote a story to go with it, and it's not just a couple of sentences to sketch something, it's an actual story that moves the plot in Embervale along.  Fantastic!  Love seeing your builds!