Welcome to the Homes and Tomes House Rally #32 – Crypts for the Newly Dead!
We’ll start off in guild chat to let late-comers join up, and then switch to raid/group channel once everyone is on board!
I’m your host Kuerden Basajuanak, and tonight we’ll be looking at some brand new NotD housing! This is my favorite decorating time-of-year, and people do such great creepy retreats to look at! Some darker than others!
As we take a look at these houses, don’t forget to reward the designers by liking creativity and/or style! Try to wait until everyone zones in to LIKE a house though – otherwise the house can shift in the list and make it hard to find!
DON’T FORGET THOUGH!!! A good rating means more people will visit and enjoy someone’s hard work!
For anyone new, we’ll be visiting houses via the Housing & Leaderboards selection of the main EQ2 menu. Sometimes the numbers have shifted a little, just ask if you can’t find it!
So set your Leaderboard for Small Houses and Recently Published and head to:
The Mad Hatter Boutique (#2 Small Homes/Recently Published) by Cheribomb
A Personal DojoHere we have a cute idea - A costume shop for NotD! As you zone into the Dojo, you are immediately presented with the Masks & Hats section. To the left are Womens masks, and to the right Mens.
A bit of mist by the doorway and Misty Red Tiles create a nice creepy effect, as does the Mossy Briarwood Dividers. Add some scary decorations and some spider webs, and the first room looks cool! The signage helps orient people to the wares and location.
It’s also very nice to see the assorted NotD (or otherwise Halloweeny) masks and headgear available all in one place!
Go through the door and you come to the Costume area with leg, head and full manikin displays. Look around a bit at the wares! Another neat use of the always versatile Dojo!!! Take a sec and give a rating if you’d like!
Next we are on to:
Melalei’s Necromancer Raid Shop (#1 Medium Homes/Newly Published) by Spinsong
A 3-room ApartmentHere is another creepy shop! This is a little place necromancers go to purchase needed wares! On zone-in you are presented with a dark and foggy, with an Actor as proprietor (yay!).
This is a very straight-forward decorating project – no reskinning or florid decorations – just a minimalist job that works really well!
Walking through the tapestry takes you into another similar room (again with an actor), that includes a grave and a mourner for the house designer. Fun!!!
Returning to the main room, go through the grated door (Rusty Prison Door). It’s a bit hard to click on, but you should be able to get it open. Here we have another room that I thought was keen for the spider web with the human-sized wriggling cocoon in the spider web!
I thought this house was excellent because it is beautiful and effective WITHOUT elaborate decorating tricks! You don’t have to spend hours in the layout editor to make a great house! Here it’s done with minimum items and a great layout – and lots of fog generators!
Take a sec to look around a give a rating if you like!
Our next house is:
Secret Crypt of the House of Bayle (#17 Large Homes/Recently Published) by Some Weird Guy
Everfrost Summer HouseHere we have a fantastic, amazing house just published by some weird guy… (DISCLAIMER: I AM THE WEIRD GUY). This place took a few months of part-time work to complete – so here it is! Feel free to break down and weep (via emote) if I talk too much!).
On zone-in you are presented with a view of the main hall. Extensive statuary was used, and the room is dominated by 4 Qeynos Guardian statues front-lit with Shadowed Chandeliers. These can be resized very large for a really impressive effect!
The line of twin apprentices (yes I do have that many alts) guard the entrance along with two actors. Everything is skinned in black marble.
Ahead is the large white sarcophagus of Bayle Shiverfist and his wife. Only the wife is present – Bayle is MIA in the Void. There is a large book on his bier with info on the Bayle line.
The pads surrounding sword are designed to use the shimmer-effect deliberately as is the large sun on the ceiling. I picked three motifs for the House of Bayle: The Sword, the Sun and The Lion. The pad in front of the book is a teleport portal.
Three actors are present, representing a couple of my characters, and a monk guard on the steps. Go past the monk into the Gold Room. Vallius Bayle and the first Lords of Qeynos are here. The altars are selected based upon their backgrounds.
Return to the main room and break left. This is the White Room with the middle three Lords et al. The one with the Rose is Antonia’s direct descendant. I wanted to have her here, but I couldn’t get a good likeness, and the bobblehead sucks!
Return to the main room and cross it again. This is the Red Room and has the last three Lords. I changed the crypt style to wood to make it feel more modern.
Return to the teleport pad in front of the book (in the main room) and pick Chamber of the Faceless Guardians. Here you will see several actors discussing matters (assorted alts).
Next take the teleporter to the Pool of Making. Here I stole the idea of a crafting circle from HaT – all the crafting tables are buried under the pool. Lots of collectible items here to give visual interest.
Finally (YES!) pick the Room of Ways. This is my central nexus to all my chars houses. I used the Reflecting Mirrors here because of the interesting effect of a mirror and a portal. Unfortunately, the lighting does not affect them uniformly.
Assorted other portal objects are present…
The Everfrost Summer Home actually offers a lot of opportunities for decoration. Some of the surfaces are complicated to work with – but a two or even three floor revision are possible!
Now on to:
De Vampir Manor (#5 Massive Homes/Recently Published) by Crazyapple
Mistmoor Crags EstateOn zone in you are presented with a really well-set up tableau! Really compelling using a Firiona Vie statue and Leaning Cypress with Lamps! The Erudite Bookcases frame the entranceway and add a library-like effect! Apparently vampires are avid readers!
Go left up the long stairwell to a nice vampiric bar! This place would be great for a vampire guild! To the side is another reading room with a nice dark look! Above the bar is a GRAND BALLROOM! Really neat – with actors dancing!
The next room clockwise is a undead throne room leading to what I think is the empty Master’s Crypt.
Proceeding clockwise, you head up another stair to a very creepy dining room. Next door is a refrigerator – take a look in them.. A Chapel and Altar are set up on the other side.
Take a few minutes to look around and don’t forget to rate it if you like it. I thought it was a wonderful effort!!!
That’s it for tonight folks! We are going to try to do a special Guild Hall crawl soon to look at other guild halls whose décor is truly notable! We’ll also be scheduling a Proof is in the Pudding Faire soon for anyone who wants to get their Solstice Earring – so keep an eye out for announcements!
Good Night Everyone!
