The first in a series of episodes recounting the spiritual journey of a young man.
About this creation
APOCALYPSIS
Episode I
A Journey Inward
A figure wound his way quickly along an ancient cobbled trail, with heart pounding and breathing heavy from the hard climb and the thin mountain air. It was adrenaline and desperation that kept him moving through the rolling cloud cover of the ancient old growth jungle. While his breath came in hurried gasps, all about him the great forest was blanketed with a heavy silence.
Out of the mist, ghostly grey silhouettes of the forest world formed about him. With each footfall, new forms up ahead came into being, while those about him faded again into the grey as he passed. Now and again the tinkling sounds of tiny streams would penetrate the silence, telling of waterways cutting their passage along the mossy forest floor. And into the clouded cathedral of leaf and limb high above, rose the dim shades of massive tree trunks. From the ground up, the great pillars ascended skyward to vanish into a gentle swirl of fog. Their buttressed roots below fanned outward from their trunks, split, then twisted and writhed, before plunging into the boulder strewn earth to wind along the forest floor like great serpents.
As the figure rushed on, he ducked beneath giant roots that arched over the path. He leapt over small boulders, and wove through patches of ferns, grabbing hold at times, onto twisting, low hanging vines for balance and support. The space between the earth and the canopy above was growing ever greater as he hurried on, and the land continued it’s climb, higher and higher.
Up ahead the mist was thinning. There, the moisture-laden leaves above began to shimmer as morning sunlight broke through the canopy and poured down in silver shafts. Over the stillness of the mountainside and the ever present tip-tap of dew droplets on leaves, came the faint hiss of rushing water. The young man followed the trail to the right as it cut back and descended steeply in a stair-step fashion between massive boulders towards the growing sound of the falls. At the bottom of this dip, the trail made a another sharp bend to the left, and the jungle’s roof suddenly opened up.
The surrounding mist vanished with a soft rush of cold, wet air. Above it’s thunderous undertones, the loud hiss of the falls came down upon him now crisp and clear. He found himself standing in an opening; a cavernous stone sanctuary scooped out of the jungle mountain by the tireless years of tumbling boulders, rushing mountain water, and following air. Craggy cliff walls, dappled with sunlight, towered upward in an almost vertical climb, and tangles of roots and vines slithered down over moss covered ledges and outcroppings, to hang limp above a calm glistening pool of water at the base of the falls. There above the white veil of falling water, lay the gaping black mouth of an immense cavern.
The young man stopped for just a moment to catch his breath. He’d been following the path for days with little food or sleep, and the arduous trek up the mountain left him weary to the point of exhaustion. He stood there gasping, taking in his surroundings, and then the realization of where he was seized him. “This is it,” he panted. “This is it.”
As quickly as caution would allow, he began to climb the steep walls. He worked his way up the slippery, vertical ledges along side the roaring cascade, and finally reaching the top, soaked to the skin by the over-spray, waded into the middle of the cold, rushing water to face the mouth of the cavern.
Then, the purpose for his journey, which had been driven from him by weariness and blind desperation, descended on him like a thunderclap. The thought stifled him, and he stood frozen, staring into the watery passage way. Slowly he turned from the cave to look about one last time.
Beyond the falls, beyond the tree line and the misty mountains, there on the horizon, was the light of the morning sun pouring down over all the world. “Not even in my dreams was it this beautiful,” he whispered breathlessly. He shook his head and thought to himself, “Not like this. And here’s where it happens. All of this beauty, all of this life, this creation...and this is where I go to die. Or is this where we all die, all the world, all of us?”
And with that thought, he turned again to face the great cavern. He took a deep breath, and striding into the oncoming current that issued from the mouth of the cave, he plunged towards his destiny and into the darkness.
just amazing!
the best story set up i ve seen to date!
the environment is superb,and the photoshop
gives it an eerie atmosphere!
exactly what i m aiming for with cybercity!
i hope i ll be there next year!
good show!
can t wait to see the next part!
Sheesh, easy on the literary imagery there, Jack London--we here nuthin' but simple buildin' folk. We can only hur so many adjectuvs 'for our brains get hurtin'.
Hey Mark!! Still luvin this creation! I wanted to tell you that I just thought of a really cool new Apocalypsis journey that you could do, but I could NEVER pull of. Your next scene should be him stuck inside an erupting volcano.
hm, It's certainly a good story. however the pictures look a little to animated. I specifically like the picture showing the falls for the first time. The set is very detailed and beautiful, great job.
hm, It's certainly a good story. however the pictures look a little to animated. I specifically like the picture showing the falls for the first time. The set is very detailed and beautiful, great job.
I'm absolutely perplexed as to how you made all of that, and the computer graphics are stunning. Great work, and fun writing. Cathedral of leaves or something; a very nice play on words.
Grats on MOTD. Your lighting is great, awesome depth of field and the story is very interesting. Just need to tighten up your PS masking and your are set.
Can't wait for episode 2.
Mr.Kelso, this is without the slightest doubt the most beautiful moc in the world. the scenery, the setup, the design, and the whole moc is just so, incredible! its just, in one word, Beautiful! and the story is amazing! your very good with words. i can't wait 'till part two comes out!
The scenery work is absolutly brilliant, the storyline is fantastic and gripping, overall, this installment, and most likley the entire series, is and will be a work of genious. ~T
Fantastic work. The scenery and story line leave me speechless (so to speak). All of it is beautifully done. Great work as always and congrats on MODT.
Phenomenal build Mark! The scenery is just amazing, I love everything. The waterfall effects are beautiful too, as is the cave entrance. Keep up the great work!
Oh, and congrats on MotD! This deserves it!
This is the ultimate marriage of photoshop and Lego creation -- Raves Siskel & Flava de Wheek...
You have not seen epic Lego MOCs until you have seen Apocalypsis -- Rants the New York Times...
All Lego building has been cavemen hitting rocks with sticks up until now with Apocalypsis -- Slobbers the Washington Post...
You have never said, "I am not worthy," as hard as you will say it now -- Comments Brick Review
Quoting Brady G
You forgot to shave off some of the white pixels around the leaves you placed there, and is that picture the great wall of China?
Yeah, my photoshopping work still has a lot of room for improvement. The pic of the forested mountains includes a waterfall...although it definitely does look like the Great Wall now that you mention it.
Thanks for the nice comment, Dave. This one's my baby! Part two is now well under way, and will hopefully be finished by summer's end...I've had this concept in mind for a few years now, and trust me when I say it's only going to get better!
Great descriptive story combined with awesome creations?!?!?!? Am I in heaven?? Oh, wait, no. I'm at Mark Kelso's page. At first I couldn't tell the difference.
This is fantastic. The MOC is breathtaking and the storyline only adds to the magic. Wonderous.
PS - It was tempting not to chastise you for not having continued this story as of yet!
This may easily be THE best MOC I have seen. Not the BIGGEST but the BEST. I love how you did the trees! And the waterfall is incredible! The rock face is also cool. The foliage is great in the forest!
Wowwww...
the lego craftsmanship is astounding not to mention the story, which was moving even though it didnt have much of a plot.* amazing.
*that is a compliment, it is hard to move someone with something so simple. It is profound unto itself.
I just can't believe that you made a MOC as good as the "Invisible Hand" and put into it a more personnal feeling... it's so uncommon and TRULY awesome !
ya. uh i gots a question! where do buy these legos? where do you keep these legos? how to you have the heart to dismantle these legos? HOW! HOW! you make me feel tiny.
Inspiring, LEGO can be art! One of the parts especially, caught my eye as being exactly right: "...All of this beauty, all of this life, this creation..." Key words there: "this creation." I love how the beginning of the story slowly, yet eagerly builds up to the cave. And I mean: THE CAVE. You also did very well in giving it all an organic look. Inspiring.
*sheds tear... The MOC itself is astounding, the cave/lake & waterfall are beautifully done. Beyond that your photography & PS skillz are simply fantastic. Nicely done, Mr Kelso, nicely done indeed.
Wow, building skills that rival Goldman and a story that rivals Young. Excellent work. I especially liked the cave and waterfall. Well, and the jungle scene for that matter.
That's it... I quit! Just put my bricks in storage and go cry in the corner. Words fail, and the ones that don't were already put forth by my moc-brothers below. When you said you were posting something this week, I had no idea! Thank you Mark. ~ Chris.
I agree, the landscaping is incredible and the story is very well written! I plan on taking a motion-grapics major in college so the fact that there are professional artists on here is very uplifting!
As everyone else has already pointed out, this is a beautiful piece. However, I have to say that there is too much photoshop usage with your pics. It does help to tell the story, but for me, it takes away from the creation itself. Brilliant job on the pics themselves, and the story is inspiring. The brick-work on the mountain/cave is very clever and I will have to borrow that idea down the road. Lee.
Only a few times in MOCpages history have we seen a MOC that has immense proportions yet amazing detail. All of these [including your Invisble Hand] have been technological MOCs...the only one comparable [in somewhat the same style] is the "Tsunami at El Katar" [http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/24639] done by Jacob C. His is about a once in a million occurence [not very original], happening to a huge castle. [not very original either] Your MOC is an example of raw, untouched beauty that doesn't change over time, just waiting to be discovered. This is probably my favorite creation on MOCpages [good story aside, MOC by itself], a lot because it is so original. Sorry for my rambling, can't wait for the next installment!
Beautiful, the trees are awesome, the landscape wonderful, I also noticed you incorperated your "block of scenery" and your vines(which are both great by the way).
Can't tell you how fantastic it is that you're creating your own Lego worlds now, instead of ships from movies (which were brilliant in themeselves, but this is a whole other level). An inspiring mix of quality building, intriging storytelling and photoshoping. Thank you. Please don't make us wait too long for the next installment!
An interesting mixture of awesome, awesome, and awesome. The trees, cliff, and waterfall are all very creative, as well as... well, everything else. Looking forward to the next installment. ~Jon
What inspired you to create this along with writing the story? This is unusual stuff to see. Is it autobiographical, fiction, or a mixture of both or what? By keeping many details anonymous like the young man, you create characters that others can identify with. The construction at times look like renders, is everything lego? It's all impressive.
Really great work on the forest, it looks very organic. Fog effects are nice as well. Your foreshadowing really reminds me of Dante's Inferno. I'm very interested in seeing where this leads.
