In the forest of Chakryn in Second Life

In my last couple of Exploring Second Life articles I’ve referenced re-visiting regions that have existed in-world without necessarily changing much over time. These posts prompted Miro Collas, another seasoned SLexplorer to remind me about Chakryn Forest, a place that has been in existence for getting on towards a decade.

A collaborative design between region holder Bettina Tizzy, landscape artist Andrek Lowell and Eshi Otawara, Chakryn Forest is a place that has changed little over the years since my last visit, back in 2013, and it was pretty well established even then. As such, it sits as something of a time capsule in SL; claimed in 2008, it has little in the way of mesh within it, retaining instead, and “old world”, so to speak, charm.

As the name suggests, this is a forest realm, a place where gigantic redwood trees tower into the sky, spawned from megaprims spun by Zwagoth Klaar at a time when prims were limited to a humbling 10x10x10 metres. Their presence alone will set the bells of memory ringing for those of us who remember working in prims back before mesh arrived and we saw the size limit leap to 64m on a side…

There are no real paths here – it’s a forest after all – and so explorers need to find their own way from the landing point through the trees to discover what lay within, be it the exotic plants, the swooping, dancing sprites or the little camp sites and the more hidden places to sit. The supplied windlight is a little basic, so I do suggest photographers experiment – the images here were taken with a variety of settings, rather than using the default.

For those in the mood, there are a number of quests to be found scattered through the forest and initiated by the likes of Elementals, Fae folk and Hobbits. All require finding objects and returning them to the start point of each quest in order to receive a reward. I confess to not having tried any this time around, so I assume all are in working order. When exploring, beaware that there is a secret place hidden away, lit by candles and offering another glimpse back into the history of SL; hanging decorative nets “woven” from textured cylindrical prims.

With the right windlight, Chakryn Forest has an ethereal feel to it; there is a sense of mystery between the trunks of the great trees, while the exotic flowers scattered about and the floating (in the air and on the water) Elementals give the forest an other-worldly feel. Animals are not in evidence, which is a good thing, given any wanderers would likely not handle the terrain with its slopes and folds while static animals probably wouldn’t look right. However, there is a rich sound scape to go with the setting, so have local sounds enabled when visiting.

Like the tress within it, Chakryn Forest is enduring; old it may well be in terms of component elements, but it is still an engaging visit. More particularly, its age makes it very much a part of SL’s growing history; so when you visit, do please consider making a donation towards its continuance through one of the red flowers scattered across the forest floor.

SL Details

• Chakryn Forest (Chakryn, rated: Moderate)