Moments later the tower began to spin faster and faster, and Hawkmoon realized in astonishment that it was disappearing below the ground, the flame passing harmlessly over it.
The Jewell in the Skull – Michael Moorcock.
The towers of the Kamarg were the bastion of that land’s defence against the brutal hordes of the Dark Empire of Granbretan. These towers were armed with esoteric and sorcerous weapons that turned the tide of battle in the first assault against the Kamarg, but ultimately were overcome one by one as the onslaught continued unabated for months.
I have been asked to produce a master model depicting the fabled towers of the Kamarg to go along with a range of miniatures depicting the forces of Count Brass, Dorian Hawmoon, and the bestial legions of Granbretan. Here are my concept sketches:
Started working on the base of the tower now, but nothing much to show for it.
Lovely design. Just one observation. Would a traditional stone-and-mortar construction survive any rotation vigorous enough to be deemed “spinning fast”?
Just sayin’!
Thanks Paul, the simple answer is ‘no’ – I’ve no doubt that it would crumble and collapse under the rotational stresses. However, the design is intended to be accurate to the descriptions in Michael Moorcock’s book and also be reminiscent of the artwork of James Cawthorn (a close personal friend of MM). So there needs to be a suspension of disbelief with this model.
Personally, I dislike the idea of it spinning fast and imagine it slowly rotating downwards. I included a spiral groove around the bottom of the tower as a guide track for the whole thing to screw down into the tower’s base.
Thinking about it, the context would be “dpinning fast for a stone tower”!! In which case a graceful screw-like descent into the earth would be entirely appropriate 😀
See, the ecology of dragons can always be explained!