The Wind People

This is from an article by Kevin Whitney (kwhitney@swri.edu), posted to the Usenet newsgroup rec.toys.lego.

I haven't seen any truly original themes mentioned, yet (except for the Egyptians meet space aliens thread :)

How about the Wind People!

The Wind People are an advanced culture who dwell in high mountain canyons and live off the land. They have chosen to leave urban society, but have maintained their technology (and occasionally travel to urban centers for trade, education, etc). They use wind-powered generators as their main source of energy, and have built wind farms on the mountain passes.

These fields of wind-powered generators provide enough energy to sustain the community, and to power battery-operated utility equipment necessary for agriculture and maintenance.

Because the existence of this culture depends so heavily on the wind, the Wind People have become fascinated with harnessing the wind's energy in a variety of ways. Gliders and hang-gliders are common modes of travel in the region. Also common are wing-paks: small back-pack units with attached wings. The wing-paks are light-weight and portable, and allow for convenient personal transport.

Well, there's the background. Feel free to add to this.

Now, to put together a viable theme, we'll need one big set, a couple medium-sized sets, and some small sets. Here are my ideas. All use conventional LEGO parts:

Wind Power Control Center: This is the big set. This would have a few windmills on top of mountains made from the grey "rocks" found in castle sets. The windmills should be pretty easy to do also. Include a domed control room with panels and cabinets and what-not. Also a mini fig with hang-glider (can be done with wind-surfer) and a mini fig with wing-pack. The wing-pak is easy: aquashark helmet piece with dragon-wings where harpoon go (or a modified Blacktron jet-pak).
Transport Glider: This would be a multi-person glider with cargo area. Can be used for exploring the mountains, or making journeys to the urban centers.
Wind Monitor Station: Small weather station on top of "rock". One windmill and one min fig with wind-pak.
Hang Glider: Mini fig with hang-glider.

The more I think about it, the more I like this idea. I'll probably try to build a few of these models. Please feel free to e-mail me with additional ideas or suggestions for the Wind People theme; they will be incorporated into this page.

Play Well.

---
Kevin Whitney
kwhitney@swri.edu

[Science fiction]