SkaForHire Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 (edited) Although it doesn't count, here is my build for the leaving home challenge : DSC_1958 by skaforhire, on Flickr In the middle of the desert the people need to be tougher than the land, or the land will swallow them whole. For almost a millennium small communities in the Parched Lands (the Eastern Kaliphlin Desert) have relied on aqueduct systems to bring water to homesteads scattered throughout the remote desert. The cool water that originates in the Rakath mountains is the life blood of many who live near or along the Mountainside road (I don't think we have a name for that road that runs parallel to the Rakath Mountains). Often these people keep to themselves, trade with mountain mummies who come down during the trading season, and produce just enough subsistence to survive. It is a hard life, but an honest life. Artur Bolingbroke is no different, as long as anyone could remember, the Bolinbrokes had a farmstead along the great aqueduct. By all accounts he is an honest and hardworking man that does not mind giving a weary traveler a cot and shelter from the dust storms that plague the area. Every day it is either plant, weed, harvest, or till the small patches of soil his family has worked over the years. This season things have been tough, out of the two small plots, only one now grows. With the elemental attacks disturbing the aqueduct and reservoir system up the line, water connection has been tenuous at best. Artur was only able to save one plot by diverting all of his water there. Today the water flows well, and normally Artur and his two sons, Milton and Henri would get to work tilling the dead field and replanting. But today is different. DSC_1953 by skaforhire, on Flickr Artur has heard the call to battle. His wife Alinia is angry that her husband has decided to take up arms. With a new daughter, Olsa, still a babe in her arms, she will have to run the farmstead by herself while he is gone. She has told him that " War is for rich men and fools," and that "the world never cares a lick for the parched lands dirt farmers, so why should a dirt farmer go and risk his neck for the world?," and "Revolword? he isn't going to come here. What did he ever do to you?" But Artur knows that he must go, it is his sacred duty to protect the land -- the land he tills and the land his sons will inherit. DSC_1934 by skaforhire, on Flickr So he goes, and he takes Bella, their cow and their rickety old cart and hopes that both will provide him with enough money for a decent suit of light armor and a weapon. And he hopes that when he returns that with all this war out of the way he will be able to sell that weapon and that suit of armor for a new cow and cart to keep his farm running. If he makes it home... Alinia is mad, she needs that cows milk, but Artur knows with the crop failure there will barely be enough food to feed his three children and his wife, let alone their limited livestock and himself. So he ignores her accusing gaze and Henri's plea to take him along to fight in the war, and he accepts Milton's apple and gives them all a hug and a kiss before he leads Bella towards Petraea and onto Queenscross. DSC_1939 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_1940 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_1962 by skaforhire, on Flickr DSC_1941 by skaforhire, on Flickr Sorry, still don't have a good way to get a sheet hunt for a clear background here. Edited February 2, 2013 by SkaForHire Quote
LukeClarenceVan Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Love the inclusion of an aqueduct, great work. Quote
Niku Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 A nice idea and great execution of it. Really inovative. Quote
kabel Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 really cool aqueduct and the fields nicely done as well. Few Kaliphlin mocs actually depict the agricultural side you that guild, so I like this quite a bit! Quote
Maxim I Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Wow ska! Really wow! Everything you build in here looks so perfect The aquaduct, the little house, the crops, ... Really great job Quote
soccerkid6 Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 really cool aqueduct and the fields nicely done as well. Few Kaliphlin mocs actually depict the agricultural side you that guild, so I like this quite a bit! I totally second all of the above The fields are very well done, I like how easy it is to distinguish between the dead and flourishing Quote
Kai NRG Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Great idea with the aqueduct, entertaining read as well! Nice little house and the plants on the columns are a nice touch! Quote
Kayne Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Beautiful MOC! I'm not sure why, but the way the the home is built into the landscape I keep waiting for Uncle Owen to come out yelling for Luke Quote
Infernum Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Wow! Love the aqueduct and the fields! Nice story too! Quote
Mike S Posted February 2, 2013 Posted February 2, 2013 Nice MOC Ska! I like the aquaduct and really like the hut. Two possible points of improvement though, 1st the aquaduct should probably be level across the middle unless you intended the water to be flowing in from two seperate sources; 2nd If the hut had maybe two brick high walls around the roof I think it would even be better. Quote
Ecclesiastes Posted February 3, 2013 Posted February 3, 2013 Great stuff, I was waiting on seeing a good aqueduct! Quote
SkaForHire Posted February 3, 2013 Author Posted February 3, 2013 Wow ska! Really wow! Everything you build in here looks so perfect The aquaduct, the little house, the crops, ... Really great job Thanks! Very kind words, I still wish I could build at angles convincingly though! really cool aqueduct and the fields nicely done as well. Few Kaliphlin mocs actually depict the agricultural side you that guild, so I like this quite a bit! I felt the same, so I knew I had to do it for the mini-challenge, I also wanted to get away from Eastgate a little, which would look more like Avalonia than the rest of Kaliphlin. I totally second all of the above The fields are very well done, I like how easy it is to distinguish between the dead and flourishing Originally this was going to be the tale of two farmsteads, each family having one plot, and two houses. One house would be decrepid, the family a little twisted, but the father there would still be going to war too as a direct comparison. The story was going to be about the rewards of diligence. Beautiful MOC! I'm not sure why, but the way the the home is built into the landscape I keep waiting for Uncle Owen to come out yelling for Luke I felt that way too after I built it. But paying a little homage to one of the greats, even by accident, doesn't hurt. :) Nice MOC Ska! I like the aquaduct and really like the hut. Two possible points of improvement though, 1st the aquaduct should probably be level across the middle unless you intended the water to be flowing in from two seperate sources; 2nd If the hut had maybe two brick high walls around the roof I think it would even be better. Thanks... I don't think the pictures showed it well... but it was actually a valve system and reservoir in the middle. The second half with closer columns is actually lower than the first half (water would come from right to left here) The channels were slightly different sizes too. I didn't have the right pieces to make a more complicated system, but it originally was going to have a lever and pulley system to shut off flow. Thank you everyone for the comments! Quote
NiceMarmot Posted February 4, 2013 Posted February 4, 2013 That's got to be the cleanest and most organized farm I've ever seen! BTW, thanks for naming that road. I'll get that onto the map when I do an update (whenever that is). Quote
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