What happens when you’re invited to dinner with friends, only to arrive at their little place in the country as the Sun is setting and the Moon rising and find music playing, the front door open, but no-one home? All you have is a hurriedly written plea for help:
Please help!!
Bob went to the wood this morning saying he’d be back in a few minutes, but he never returned. I’m worried!!
I’ve gone to look for him. Please come help me. Follow the river until you see the rock bridge and cross the river into the woods. I’m going to look at the cave and also lover’s leap. I don’t think he would have gone to Bat Hollow.
You’d hopefully set out to to provide the requested assistance. And thus you’d be drawn into the realm of Spinnervale, the seasonal experience designed by Debi Baskerville.
The river you’re asked to follow is located behind the house, a short walk away. “Rock bridge” is perhaps a little bit of a misnomer, as what you’ll actually be looking for is a set of stepping stones fording the water a little way upstream from the house.
On the far bank, the path turns sharply right, running under the shadow of a low cliff and up a shallow rise to where a sign points the way to either Lover’s Leap or to the Great Cavern. The way to Lover’s Leap is marked by steps cut into the rock, offering an easy route up to the plateau above. Before you take either route, however, walk down the far side of the slope and take a torch from the waiting basket (“get light” in chat). The best thing to do from here on is to swap to first-person view, as the light cast by the torch will accurately follow your camera and moves (what appears to be a function error within Sansar prevents it from doing so when in third-person view).
Here the route passes a pergola with benches beneath, strung by the nets and folds of spiders’ webs – a portent, perhaps? Facing the gazebo is a rocky formation weathered to form a set of natural step climbing upwards, inviting you to follow. They lead the way up to a wooden bridge crossing a narrow gorge – the infamous lover’s leap. Beyond this, the route winds up into the trees and shadows, where webs once again become prominent – and larger shadows move within the darkness!
The path to the Great Cavern offer move of a clue that you might find those you’re seeking – the steady beat of slightly ominous music. As you approach the entrance to the cavern, another noise will grow: a strange sucking, hissing sound, coinciding with the appearance of more webs. And inside the cavern you …
Well, you’ll have to pay a visit yourself and find out. However, particularly sensitive arachnophobes may want to think twice, both in the cavern and in the hills above Lover’s Leap!
Spinnervale is an entertaining experience given the time of year, and Debi has come up with a handy way of allowing for object interaction (remembering Spinnervale was opened before the Discovery Release made more direct object interaction possible in Desktop mode). It’s a nicely atmospheric build and makes for a fun explore.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 