THIS IS A CASTLE… OR: “THE MARKSBURG-CHALLENGE”

Hosted by Eaerendil on Stratics:

Hello fellow friends of the medieval landscapes!

This is a bit a different thread – not exactly off-topic, only a bit. You all know these typical UO-moments in RL, when you see something and think of an ingame-phenomenon…

Ok, I was visiting the ONLY completely authentic, never destroyed or new-built castle in whole Germany, at the river Rhine. It is part of the UNESCO world culture heritage and lies upon a hill directly at the stream. It is in an absolutely unique condition, just like from the 14. or 15. century. It is, however, built in the years shortly after 1231…

Here we go, a view from downhill:



Nicely placed, it never was IDOC, only a bit worn during the centuries…





The walls are 3.5 meters thick. Now idea how much this is in Inches or Feet, but it is ALOT! The guys feared that the whole thing would crumble down some day…



This is the toilet from outside…



…and from inside. Intelligent design: You sit between walls 3.5 meters thick and all that comes out of you drops onto the garden. Organic plant growth…



THIS, my friends, is a wooden chest. Shame I forgot my soulstone with GM Lockpicking…



A painting recovered from a shipwreck showing the guy who placed the castle here…



Nice Dexxer-Suits, reforged, imbued and refined. I wish, we had metal armor that looks like that stuff! So fancy… I would love to wear such a helmet!





THE TOWER!



So, and finally, we come to the pointe of this little thread: I love castles, but I think, they would look better, if they were customizable.

Consequently, I am offering a contest: The person, that is able to build a castle looking (a bit) like this one…






…designed on an 18×18 spot on Drachenfels or on TC1, will be rewarded with attractive prizes. Deadline is September 14, 2014, 20.30 Middle European Time.

UPDATE!

In order to widen the range of potential participants I split the contest into two parts:

Part 1: The Permanent Marksburg-Castle. Place a 18×18 on Drachenfels and win gold on DF or ATL (you can choose). 50 millions for the winner, 20 millions for the second winner, 10 millions for the third winner. This is the main challenge and the castle will be made permanent on a free account openly accessible for everybody. Your task: Finding a nice spot on Drachenfels (which is not hard, there is PLENTY of space), placing an 18×18 spot, designing the Castle and decorating it.

Part 2: The Test-Center Marksburg-Castle. In order to motivate people to particpate that do not want to use a free account for placing on Drachenfels, I would offer a special TC1-Challenge. Same conditions as in part one, only on TC1. Awards: 20 millions for the winner handed out on ATL (10 millions for the second winner, 5 millions for the third winner).

Your building will be evaluated according to the following sheme:

Location: 5 Points
Architecture: 10 Points
Decoration: 5 Points

Every contestant can get a maximum of 20 points.

It is NOT the goal to re-build the castle shown above, as it is impossible to do so on only 18×18-plots. But it is the goal to build a castle that is inspired by this historical model.

If you want to participate, please write your statement in this thread! If your castle is ready, please contact me for handing out the runes for the jury.

Thank you!

Good luck!