June Entry: Druid's Tree

[MysticMagellan]

When asked by the lord of the lands why he lived in a tree out in the middle of nowhere, the druid replied, "Your castle may be made of stone, but iron his stronger than stone."

After letting the lord look appropriately ignorant, the druid explained. "My tree is made of ironwood. Have your wizard do the math."

[Lich]

nice mushrooms!






And the maps nice too!

[MysticMagellan]

Most of the exterior is done here. I had a lot of fun figuring out a good texture for a tree as seen from above. Ended up tweaking some photos I took recently of tree textures. Tossed out all the other trees for now as they were very distracting. Drew some fern bushes (which took way too long) and flowers and a grass texture with subtle beveling to give the appearance of rolling mounds. I've tried to give the water a semi-transparent look to give the illusion of depth, and I might add some debris and plants to it, but I'm going to move on to filling out the rooms of the tree first (there will be three stories) and come back to the exterior later if time permits.

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[Redrobes]

Lovin this. My only crit is that the water looks like it has green dye in it instead of it tinting stuff green with more depth. If thats still on a layer then maybe you could tweak that a bit.

[Talroth]

Very nice, I like the idea.

Question: How do you access it from anywhere in the world?

[StillCypher]

Lookin' pretty sweet, but I agree that the really green water is a little ... off?

[ravells]

I like the green water - it works for me.

I really love the map, it has a very self contained feel to it. Lovely clear style as well.

[Gamerprinter]

While I agree with everyone - nice druid's tree, well done graphics work, I also have to agree with Talroth. The challenge specifically states this to be a "home away from home".

So, MysticMagellan, you need to somehow tie this location by some means for the Druid to access from anywhere he travels, whether through some teleportation device, an anchored sanctuary spell or something.

The challenge is more than just to create a home for somebody, it must "travel" with the user everywhere he goes - reread the challenge rules for this month to be sure.

Otherwise great map location.

GP

PS: I'm fine with the green water myself. I hate the fact that most mappers will only use blue for water in maps. I'll do that only for convention when the water is difficult to see amid the background. But I live in Illinois and rivers here are muddy brown. So I make my water green, brown, red, black and sometimes blue. In fact the water in my bathtub and sink in my entry is teal, which is really blue green. Don't let anyone force you change your water color - its fine!

[Steel General]

Isn't there a spell "Transport Via Plants"?

[MysticMagellan]

I was so wrapped up with the design that I forgot the access anywhere prerequisite. Anyhow, here it is...


Long ago a druid found and shaped the wood of a massive ironwood tree into a home for herself. She spent decades of her life living within its protective shell. Then one day a pride of evil dragons came to the forest where she lived. Unwilling to abandon her loved home, she cast a spell of awakening upon the great ironwood tree and together they departed to safer woods. When the old druid died, the ironwood tree sat silently mourning for many years, until one day a young boy, lost in the woods, hid beneath its leaves for shelter. The tree opened the door to the boy and let him inside, where the boy found the old possessions and wisdom of the tree's first master. That boy became a great druid in his own right, and became famous for his ironwood home.

Few know that the Druid's Tree is sentient. Fewer know that it is capable of withdrawing its roots and walking the earth of its own accord. In addition, the second Druid of the Tree enchanted his staff so that he could travel far from home, and still sleep in his own bed at night.

Summary Notes: The Druid's Tree is an awakened ironwood tree that is linked with a magical staff crafted from one of its branches. Upon command, the staff plants itself in the ground and grows into a young ironwood enchanted with the ability to transport up to six visitors to the Druid's Tree. The planted staff remains behind, but allows any transported visitor to return to its location by touching the outside of the Druid's Tree and asking politely.


NOTES: The interior layout resolution is a little too small to my liking, so I will probably create closeup inserts of each room. I'd like to be able to see the bloody chicken head.

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