Gideon Jura's Entry into the Summer 2015 House Decor Contest
2nd Place Award

Faber really inspired me with his story so I'll try to follow his up with my own!

A long time ago, on a shard far far away, a very young Gideon Jura attended an IDOC of a castle owned by a legend named Telamon. The IDOC itself was rather uneventful - within moments I was left wondering how people could pick items up so quickly. But I definitely found something that day that was worth more than gold. While waiting patiently for the house to fall I couldn't help but realize how much care he had put into each area of his house. The house itself had become more than a home, it had become a landmark.

Starting out on UO:R - all the way back in late summer of 2012 - one of the main things I wanted to do was decorate. In the beginning it wasn't anything fancy - house addons, furniture, and maybe a few furniture dye tub charges. But you don't need all the pixel wealth in the world to make a beautiful house in UO. Scouring the internet for screenshots of houses, custom houses, and decor contests, I started creating a library of different things I liked that players had created in game. Still to this day I have a file of screenshots and things I have yet to borrow but hope to one day use myself.

I am very indebted to the creative people of UO:R who have helped me put this house together - LesClaypool deserves the highest thanks for he sold me the Fortress and I am very in debt to him for that. Telamon, Upgrayyed, LesClaypool again, Markos, Mobolin, Peace, Basoosh, Lutz, AlexCCCP, Faber, ReZon - really the list is too long - but you've all inspired me with decoration ideas, tricks, and themes. I am also very indebted to everybody I've hounded for particular items - thank you very much for helping me out with this project. Huge thanks as well to Descartes, Avery, and Musician for leading OS and PwN, the members of both guilds, and the generosity of Vella. Big thanks to Blaise also for hardly ever complaining about the lag I'm sure he's experiencing as my neighbor. Lastly, I am very thankful and indebted to Telamon, the staff of UO:R, and the volunteers who make this place possible. Logging in here most nights has helped me through some rough times and I appreciate it more than you guys can really know.

With that all said, here's the top floor.



The idea here was to go big. Real big. That waterfall is intended to look like it's coming off the mountain top there and spilling down into the top floor where you can see a Map of Sosaria (credit of course to Dalavar for that idea).

This part wouldn't have been possible without Peace, Matron, and El Horno. The waterfall, chessboard, and sandal display all use table runner catwalks. Big thanks to their inspiration!

Close up of the waterfall:



Close up of the Map of Sosaria:

Each city is marked with a Pegasus Statue and Rune.



Above the Map of Sosaria is the Chessboard - monsters versus animals. Thank you to Zyler, Jupiter, Mes, and others who competed in many UO:R chess matches for giving me this idea.



This is a close up of the sandal collection. This is Frenulum and 555s pre-patch collection - all hues from the dye tubs are represented here and labeled so people can see how they look in game. Thank you again to Frenulum, 555, and ReZon for allowing me to host these here.



The rest of the top floor is intended as an event history. Mobolin's castle is the inspiration! Moving clockwise around the upper story..

Valentine's Day: Huge thanks to Deacon - I missed Valentine's Day and he ran a contest with many of these as prizes which was incredibly generous.



Pirate Invasions, 1st and 2nd Anniversary, and St. Patrick's Day:



Easter:



Christmas, Land Rush, and 4th of July:



Thanksgiving: Big thanks to NoNameAllstar for donating these items.



Halloween: These have been my favorite events throughout UO:R's history. I know I'm not alone in that feeling either - hopefully The Night of Horrors makes a return this year!!



Much of the remainder of the house is rather cluttered. This is where the Servants of Jura have been hard at work producing the goods to go to market. Thank you to everybody who has shopped at my vendors over the years. The servants are currently enjoying a much needed vacation at the beaches of Magincia.

Bottom floor: Boothby provided both the inspiration and items to make this level possible. Thank you sir!



To the east you can see the servant quarters which actually look pretty comfortable.



There is a game room and a small break room to eat meals.



The central room houses the major crafting area.



Here you can see a Hype Train on its way to Yew Bank with a load of goods.

To the west is where the specialists work.



Elite smithing wares are produced here.



And lastly, This is where I rest after a long day at work..