November 2017 Challenge: Hunters Fall

[LordCartoart]

This looks like a very safe place to be in the Zombie Apocalypse. Safe behind walls along the mountains, seems like quite an ideal survival place. Good work so far!

[Wingshaw]

Those mountains are much better I have to agree with Mouse: it's a bit hard to get the full context of your map at this point. I think adding some more details will help.

Wingshaw

[XCali]

Well they look all right, but its a bit difficult to tell if there's no ground and rivers and things to tell me if they look all right in the context of the landscape you plan.

Wouldn't it be better to finish the drawing bit before colouring it, so that all the land is visible? Just a thought...

Are you talking about the blank part of my map? If you are, I was thinking about scanning my drawing and duplicating it and using a layer mask to erase the blank part and draw the assets for it separately. (With a pencil it is incredibly hard to draw tiny things.) Anyway that is my plan so far. I have a few cool additions in the works, I'm looking forward to showing it to you

[XCali]

This looks like a very safe place to be in the Zombie Apocalypse. Safe behind walls along the mountains, seems like quite an ideal survival place. Good work so far!

Hehe, thanks. And I do agree fully, that is, IF they were up against zombies. Huhuhu, they are not. (I picked option two)
In fact, there might be a reason the map's name is Hunters Fall.

Those mountains are much better I have to agree with Mouse: it's a bit hard to get the full context of your map at this point. I think adding some more details will help.

Wingshaw

Cool beans, thanks.
Like I said to Mouse, the blank part is going get separate assests. ( Also drawn. But a little bigger and the scaled down. ) Anyway, that is the plan

[XCali]

Hi everyone!

Thought I'd take a go at some of the monsters for the map. A Sightless Fox(Name still in planning phase) coming in at 6metres long. Incredibly formidable. And secondly, the Quilled Skyur(Name is a WIP). While standing at 3 metres tall, it also has big spines sticking out of its back and they tend to quiver when the beast locate prey.
Just a note, these are creatures from the world in my Novel series.

Onwards! I'm going to use the foxes heads as my title badge. And maybe the Quilled Skyur for a corner on the planned side bar where the Fort is top down.

Tell me what you think.

### Latest WIP ###



Quilled Skyur:

[XCali]

This was written from my phone. I'll edit it a bit tomorrow when I get home. So, hopefully, there aren't too many mistakes. :p

Anyway, enjoy

~Nights of Sambria~
Hunters Fall

Side story


Chapter One
Preparations

What had he gotten himself into? The Fort was almost finished and he had command over a small army. Yet, unease still gnawed at his bones. There was something in the air. Enough battles fought had carved it into him to expect the unexpected.
But those doors, even he couldn't start to guess what was behind them. An old enemy was already battling inside him, uncertainty.

A sword slid against metal.
He spun at the sound only to see his second in command.
Relief washed over him at the realization. His countenance had become too heavy.
With a sigh, he asked,
"Captain. Is everything ready for the crescent moon?"
The captain straightened.
"Yes, sir! Archers are on the wall and all troops are back behind the wall."
"Good, I have no wish to risk the soldiers when the light from the Morning Trees fades. Give the order for the horn."
He shared a knowing look with the captain nodded in affirmation. Though the man hesitated and said,
"Commander, a small party of adventurers had arrived. What do you suggest we do?"
Haryn regarded the captain and pondered the situation. The Fort still had some construction to undergo, and in turn wasn't open to outsiders yet, but he looked out over the fading light in the valley and said,
"Let them in and give them a place to bunk. There are too few places to stay safe while the Morning Trees go dark. That is all."
The captain saluted and left the room leaving him to his thoughts. His fingers scratched at his week-old beard. He would need to shave soon. Stepping out onto the balcony, he walked to railing and looked out over the last light of the day.

A sudden reverberating sound startled him only a moment. It was the horn to signal the start of the dark nights. The nights when the moonlight was too dim to ensure the light of safety from the Morning Trees. He had heard the sound many times, yet still, it gave him chills.
He shrugged it off and from his perch, he watched the gates lock closed with a audible thud.
Everybody was safely inside. And that was a great peace to his heart.

Suddenly the door burst open, and a young soldier ran inside. His breath coming in labored pants.
There was fear written all over the soldier's features. The signs all too familiar.
"Report!" Haryn barked.
The young man gulped but finally caught a breath.
"Commander. It is your daughter and Stefon."
A tight knot curled in his stomach.
"What happened and where are they?" He asked, unable to keep the tension from his voice.
"They went to the cave, sir. Two hours ago, and they have not returned."
Haryn hissed as a sudden weight punched his nerves.
"They know the Trees are going dark tonight!! Why would they... Soldier! Get my second in command to send five hunters to go find them and hope it is not too late."
"Y-Yes, Commander!"
With it, the young soldier darted from the room.
Haryn clenched his fists over and over and looked out into the darkening night. And all he could hear was his thundering heartbeat. His daughter was out there, and though she and Stefon was quite capable fighters, it did not garruntee their safety when the Trees lost their light. A fear he hadn't had for decades consumed him.

[XCali]

(I changed the guy's name from the previous chapter. From Itoo > Stefon.)

Here is chapter 2 of my maps story. Stuff is happening.
Enjoy.

Chapter 2
Secret in the Door

~Tilma~

The cave was silent. And only the flickering torch made any kind of noise. Tilma smiled as the three story high doors appeared in the torchlight.
“I still feel we shouldn’t be here, Tilma. Not now.”
She turned to the voice and scrunched up her nose at her companion, Stefon.
“Are you afraid of a little dark?”
The man groaned and finally shrugged.
“You know I’m not. But, the Morning Trees will lose their light tonight. And you know full well what that means.”
As he talked she wagged her head from side to side. Not really caring about the fact they could get in a lot of trouble coming here. And it would not come from the Fort. Still, as the door got closer, her resolve renewed.
Nothing anybody had done had come close to opening the main door of the three. But, she had an idea. A crazy idea for sure, as they were risking the dangers of being outside and more, being outside when the nights would be without the protective glow from the Morning Trees.
A faint hum filled the air and Tilma quickly held up a hand to silence Stefon.

He stopped and gave her a questioning look.
“What is it?”
“Shh, listen.” She stepped closer to the door. The huge frame was intimidating to say the least.
But upon nearing it, the hum became louder. Yet, it was different than before. The spinning mechanism in the middle of the door wasn’t spinning at a breakneck speed like it always did. It was turning almost lethargically in its cycle across the door. Tilma beamed at the find.
“It’s slowing down! I knew it! You see Stefon, it was all about the timing.”
She glanced back at him unable to keep a smug look from her face.

Her companion shrugged in defeat and said,
“So, you were right. I’ll admit to that. But, can we go back now?”
Tilma immediately leveled her fist at him.
“No! We just got here.”
The act of him dragging a hand through his curly dark brown hair showing his agitation didn’t faze her. It was true, he had a point. Yet, the adventurer in her wanted to explore further even if it was risky.

Though, instead of protesting, Stefon said,
“You know, your father is going to have my hide for this one. Let’s be quick.”
It only made her huff. He knew as well as she did her dad considered him in a good light.
With no reply to his words, she shifted her leather armor into a more comfortable position before she stepped to the middle of the big door. The circular mechanism spun slowly enough that she could actually start to see smaller handles.

She waved her hand and said,
“Stefon, boost me up. I think there is something up there worth inspecting.”
Without warning, his bigger hands grabbed her waist and hoisted her up onto his shoulder. She squirmed about and managed to get a knee next to his neck and then a foot onto his shoulder. Stefon grunted when she pressed a hand into his face,
“Is that … ugh … necessary?!”
She grinned.
“No, but I like annoying you too much.”
“Hey! There’s no time for that. Hurry up.”
It took some careful shifting, but she balanced herself on his shoulders and his grip on her shins helped hold her steady. The spinning circle was in reach and Tilma started to time the slower spins. The seconds ticked by and she focused on the handle, counting softly under her breath.
Then with a flash of her hand she grabbed the next handle. She expected the thing to stop, but her body went surging up as she gripped the handle with white knuckles.

From below, Stefon shouted,
“Tilma! Are you hurt?”
As he said it, the circle slowly came to a stop and Tilma breathed out a sigh of relief. But, when she looked down, she was more than twice the height up from where she was before. A fall from this height could be trouble.
She grunted under the strain on her arms. But she replied,
“Ah, um, yeah. Though, I would like it if you could catch me.”
The affirmative shout came from below.
She took a few breaths and was about to let go when a hole in the circle caught he eyes. With the thing normally spinning incredibly fast, it was no wonder no one saw it.
“Wait, I see something…”

It was clear Stefon asked something from the ground, but she ignored him as she stuck her one arm into the hole. Inside there was a knob like protrusion and she pulled at it.
Not a moment later, the whole door shook and she had to grip the handle tighter as it started opening. But her fingers started slipping.
“Oh no! Um, Stefon, try to catch me!—”
She lost her grip and fell.
Air rushed past her for a moment before she struck arms and heard Stefon grunt loudly with the fall. They both tumbled to the ground.
As their momentum stopped, Tilma let out a whoosh of a breath.
“Now that was thrilling.”
A frustrated sound spilled from Stefon's throat.
“One of these days, you are going to get us killed.”
She glanced at him and made a sly smile before she got up.
In front of them the biggest door of three stood open. And the little light of the torch only revealed a few meters into what looked like a hallway.

Without waiting, or helping her companion up, she grabbed her torch and her knapsack and walked forward.
It was then great big bladed traps came into view. They looked lethal to say the least.
But, as she got closer, the hall revealed more and more traps. Yet the strange thing was their movement was clearly slowing down. She touched her dark blue braid and played with the end.

A crunch sounded right next to her. She jumped. Only to see Stefon there with her.
“What do you think it means?”
“I don’t know.” Tilma said sincerely.
Then with a reverberating thud all the visible traps came to a stop and every noise from just a moment before went silent.
The dark hall sent chills up her spine. All of sudden, she didn’t want to explore this discovery alone with Stefon anymore. She started to turn,
“Let’s get out of here—“
A scurrying sound filled the hall, and it got closer and closer, and Tilma pulled out a blade.



(You are welcome to point out errors. I tried to keep it clean. )

[XCali]

Hi everyone,

Before I get to the map I will say this, what follows is me not playing it safe.
To be honest, I was tempted to make it a more normal color, it is a heck of a lot easier to make mountains an earthy color. But, for what I imagined in my head for this area in my novel's world, the mountains are ice blue.

Anyway, it was fun so far in tweaking and playing around to get the mountains to balance out. I'm hoping you throw ideas my way to make the land to mountains blend in more without it looking like a night map. Which it is not.

Oh, I would really like to hear your thoughts on my monster concepts.

Here is the map:




EDIT: I see a little layer slippage, I'll fix it. And the fort is still in planning phase.

Have a nice day,
Omri

[XCali]

Hiiiiii,

Hope you are all doing well.

Today I started with the wall of my fort. And I also did some shading for the land. I realized I've never gone all out in shading the land, so it is a fun new process.

### Latest WIP ###

[Mouse]

Hi Omri

I'm a bit pressed for time right now, but just dropped by with an idea on how to make the mountains work a little better with the ground colour.

If you look at the thumbnail the transition between blue and brown is really quite sudden, even though you have already blended it a little. I would consider mixing the two in a slightly different way - by having streaks of the brown fading away up into the lower slopes of the mountains, and some of the mountain blue streaking into and fading out in the flats. Not such a horizontal blur line, but a jagged interlocking pattern - not too regular. Feel the mingling of the colours....

Probably not describing it very well, but I'll drop by later and see if I can understand my own suggestion