Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

Earlier in the week I was chatting to Cube Republic about Sharon Edwyn’s Goddess Temple after he’d visited it on the basis of my recent article.

During the conversation he asked about Hera (zee9) and whether she’d opened up any region designs recently – and guess what? Within 24 hours of that conversation, I received a Group notice indicating that Hera had opened not one but two themed settings in the same location!

Well, I don’t know about you, but that was a loooong, hot summer! But now that it’s cooling down a bit, Lili and I are looking forward to some cool late summer nights with events at Studio 54 and the new Club Paradisio. Before we get to that, though, I thought it would be fun to hang out with some friends of mine in Elysia, the Garden of the Gods :). It’s all very Greek and relaxed – lots of beaches and temples just to stroll around and unwind.

– Hera’s notice on Elysia and Studio 54.

These are two very different designs, pretty much standing at either end of our entire recorded history, here joined by a creative talent and a partnership, so both are covered in this piece.

Elysia, Garden of the Gods is the first of the two settings I’m going to be writing about here, both in terms of it coming first historically speaking, and because it might be the shorter-lived of the two given the wording of the notice (Hera’s designs have a habit of vanishing without warning). As the note above makes clear, this is a visualisation of the Ancient Greek conception of the Elysian Realm.

Also known as the Fortunate Isles, the Elysian Realm was – mostly, at least – seen as a place where the heroic and righteous would live a happy afterlife of indulgence. With Hera’s design, we’re taken to a sort-of modern Elysium: a home to the gods whilst also a place where we can indulge ourselves in sun, sand and swimming without the need to shuffle off this mortal coil in order to reach it 🙂 .

Featuring a climbing hill of temples and pavilions watched over by a mermaid and guarded by white lions, this is a place rising from the blue of the sky like Olympus above the clouds, a complex centred on a temple dedicated to Zeus and before which Dionysus – in keeping with the theme of pleasurable indulgence – sits ready to welcome guests.

The Landing Point, interestingly, does not sit before the setting, but high up to one side and to the rear of the complex. This encourages wandering and exploring – and there’s a lot to find given the compact size of the setting. Gods and goddesses watch over progress, while pavilions and pools offer tempting distractions – including a terrace bar and party space (the Club Paradiso mentioned in Hera’s note?), while the surrounding beach offers more places to relax.

Also located at the Landing Point are a couple of sign boards for Studio 54 and the Soul City Junction. Both boards are an Experience-based teleport, and the two locations are a joint venture between Hera and DJ Lili Belmonte, with the latter (I think) intended to be the Landing Point for the former.

Both carry us from the ancient past to the New York of the 1970s and the famous Studio 54 nightclub based in mid-town Manhattan within a venue with quite a long history going back to nigh-on 100 years, and which continues today.

As the Landing Point, Soul City Junction drops visitors into one of Hera’s famous street scenes, albeit on a smaller scale and (apparently when first seen, at least!) without the fantasy elements common to Hera’s builds. Instead we’re presented with a straightforward representation of 1970s New York – although “straightforward” does not mean “uninteresting”.

Smaller than Elysia, Soul City Junction is still nevertheless worthy of exploration as attention has been paid to detail, from the graffiti to the cars and even the interiors of some of the business premises. One of the latter is the entrance foyer to Studio 54 (which takes the form of a touch-operated teleport to the club). However, before taking the TP there, make sure you take a look at the Voodoo lounge across the road for its “touch of Hera” 🙂 .

Studio 54 focuses on the club’s 1970’s heydays, but also appears to touch on some of its prior history as a venue as well, together with more recent elements within the venue. For example, the galleried upper section directly above the club floor perhaps offers both a hint of the club’s past as a theatre and its more recent venue as a cabaret  / show venue. Meanwhile, above this sits the Rubber Room, a reimagining of the original club’s fetish venue which gives it a complete and attractive makeover.

My inspiration for doing all of this was Lili, who I found out a month back is a great fan of disco, soul and all things 1970’s,  and had always dreamed of playing at Studio 54 :). She woke me up in a way to the simple joy of the music. Why you may ask would anyone want to do anything else on a night out other than have good time?

The Junction grew out of the club, I just wanted a complete 1970’s world to disappear into. It is another fantasy, although I have tried hard to capture the look and feel of the era … please enjoy it for what it is 🙂

– Hera on Studio 54.

Events at Studio 54 are due to kick-off in September 2026 – there is a local Group to join for details of when and times. In the meantime, it and Soul City Junction are available to visits. As noted, I’ve no idea how long Elysia will be around – so do hop over sooner rather than later if you want to see it.

Slurl Details

Nadia is rated Adult

• Elysia, Garden of the Gods
• Soul City Junction (and Club 54)

In August 2025, I visited Goddess Temple, a quarter full region design by Sharon Edwyn. Dedicated to the Sacred Feminine and with a particular focus  – although not exclusively so – on the goddess Hecate (HEK-ə-tee). I found it a genuinely magical setting, mixing elements of physical world mythology with a sense of mystery and mysticism.

More recently, Goddess temple has relocated and expanded and in mid-August 2026, Sharon re-opened it to the public, and I was curious to see the new design.

Still occupying a Full private region utilising the Land Capacity bonus available to such regions, Goddess Temple now occupies almost an entire half of the region. More importantly, it has both maintained and extended its sheer beauty whilst deepening its atmosphere of reverence and air of mysticism.

The Goddess Temple was created as a place to honour the Sacred Feminine and to celebrate the Goddess in all her different aspects, forms, and expressions. There are two main temples within the sanctuary, dedicated to Hecate and Aphrodite, but throughout the Goddess Temple you will also find statues, symbols, and other elements representing many different goddesses from the ancient world. Each one reflects a different aspect of the Sacred Feminine and the archetypes connected to it.

– Sharon Edwyn on Goddess Temple, describing Goddess Temple

The setting retains much that will be familiar to those who visited the previous iteration of Goddess Temple, expanding on the overall design and on the motifs neatly folded into it as well. The result is that for those of us returning to the location, there is both a sense of the initial familiarity as might be felt in making a returning pilgrimage and of experiencing something new.

This is particularly true of the Landing Point with its paths, canopy of forest-lie trees and hints of ancient structures. The crossing of paths here, together with the information board, will immediately be familiar to those returning for the first time since the move, but a quick camming around will reveal elements of the new – perhaps most noticeably the much extended path running to the east.

This is a setting split by a long, broad channel of water also pushing its way eastwards. Fed by high falls and dropping over much smaller ones as it seeks the open waters east of the region, the channel at first appears to be and intentional physical barrier to travelling further south into the setting. However, appearances tend to be deceptive.

Certainly, the views south over the water from various points along the paths are tantalising. Across the water and marvellously cut into the high cliffs and rock formations inland are signs of life: vine hung balconies push through the foliage and archways allow glimpses of corridors and rooms from under overhangs and more vines and branches, with some curtained by waterfalls. But how to reach them without getting wet? Even if one to wade across, there are no obvious steps up into any of the visible rooms or hallways.

The answer to that question lies along the east-pointing path and beyond the pavilion it passes, shaded by the forest’s trees. Find the route and it will open the way to Aphrodite’s temple and also to where a gondola sits quietly moored alongside ancient ruins. Accept the Experience on sitting in the boat for the first time, and you will have your means to cross the water smoothly.

In this, your destination is obvious: across the water sits another gondola with room to moor alongside it. It floats beneath the tall figures of carved dogs – the companions of Hecate. Between them and the cauldrons illuminating them, lies the shadowed entrance to her temple.

This temple is utterly magnificent in nature and contains elements related to Hecate’s legend. A tall figure of the goddess stands at the back of the temple against a blue sky, facing the circular pool of water which takes up the main floor of the temple. The sky and water remind us of Hecate’s connections to both, whilst the torches she holds aloft speak to her role as protector and guide. Spaces opening off of either side of the temple form libraries, reflecting her roles as a goddess of wisdom and (perhaps) a practitioner of magic.

One of these libraries offers the entrance to a large complex of rooms and hallways – some of them being those so tantalisingly visible from the far side of the water channel. Most are open to the public. However, I’m not going to describe them here, as they all deserve to be witnessed first-hand. All I will say is that the stairway located mid-way through them leads up to a private residence – so please, no trespassing there!

As well has Hecate, Goddess Temple continues to encompass other goddesses of legend. Here again, the presence of water perhaps plays an important role. Persephone, for example, has a statue out on the water channel. Like Hecate, she is linked to the Underworld, so it is not great leap of the imagination to see the water flowing through Goddess Temple as a metaphor for the Styx, separating as it does the aboveground gardens to the north from the “underworld” of the temple and its associated rooms and corridors to the south.

Aphrodite is also celebrated here, her temple rising from the eastern waters of the setting whilst she also – in the form of Venus – watches over the bathing pool within the underground complex; the pairing of temple and statue with water again neatly referencing her connection to the sea and seafaring.

I could ramble on in this respect, but I’ll save you the pain of my burbling! Suffice it to say, when visiting, be sure to keep an eye out for the signs sitting close to some of the statues, as these will provide additional information for those interested in the various goddess and deities celebrated here.

What I will say is that the new iteration of Goddess Temple builds on the last, presenting a deeply captivating, immersive and beautiful setting, rich in detail. It carries with it a genuine mix of myths and architecture which, whilst based on western histories, also touches on eastern roots as well (e.g. Hindu Shakti) through the modern referencing of Sacred Feminine.

As Sharon notes, Goddess Temple should not be seen as an attempt to manifest any form of historically accurate representation of ancient temples or historic sites. Rather, it is a place in which to find peace; to rest the mind and spirit, and celebrate the natural. For this, the setting offers multiple places in which to relax on both sides of the waters splitting it – but I’ll leave you to discover them in your own explorations!

Slurl Details

• Goddess Temple (Moonlight Dreams, rated Adult)