Savor Serenity: here be dragons in Second Life

Savor Serenity – click any image for full size

It’s been a year since we last visited Savor Serenity, the homestead region designed by Gidgy (Gidgette Adagio); since then the region has relocated and undergone something of a rebuild. So when CybeleMoon (Hana Hoobinoo) suggested we pay the updated setting another visit, we made time to hop over and take a look.

There is no set landing point for the region – or there wasn’t during our visit  -, so I’ve arbitrarily chosen one here, based on the location of a welcoming note card giver. It’s tucked into the south-west corner of the region, which is actually a good place to start explorations.  The introductory note card offers a quote from John Lennon that perfectly sums up Savor Serenity’s various incarnations:

I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams aren’t as real as the here and now?

Savor Serenity

Those familiar with the region’s layout from late 2017 might, on camming over / reaching the centre of the land and in considering the region’s windlight and flora, be forgiven for thinking little has actually changed. A familiar pool of water sits at the heart of the region, partially enclosed by what might have once been a fully surrounding octagonal wall, while to the east, steps rise from the waterfront to structures of distinctly elven design. But first looks can be deceptive.

The great Mallorn trees with their elven flets and platforms that once rose from both within and without the flanks of the great wall are now gone, taking with them some of the Tolkienesque feel that Savor Serenity was part of an elven enclave.  In their place are ancient stone buildings, connected by raised paths and stairways wrought of stone and rock.

Savor Serenity

But these are places seemingly long abandoned; walls are pitted and broken, nature’s vines and trunks and shrubs are slowly laying claim to halls and footpaths. Only etching on the glass of the few remaining glazed windows gives a hint that this one once a realm where elves and beasts lived in harmony. Now, only the beasts show themselves, the dragons of Lennon’s quote.

The largest of these wonderful creatures stand to one side of the great pool, wings magnificently spread, head and long neck lowered and stretched, great mane of spikes raised even has flames curls and flicker from wide-open mouth. It is a stance of warning, of guardianship; a great firedrake protecting the land it still regards as home. It is also a magnificent tableau of which visitors can become a part (suitable clothing advised to fully fit the scene!).

Savor Serenity

Elsewhere, smaller dragons sit within the ruins of the the stone buildings or guard the waiting throne high under the eastern dome, or offer lamps to light the way through darkling places, and are immortalised – if such beasts are not themselves immortal – in stone throughout. Their presence, together with the glass etchings, give flight to the imagination: just who were the people who once shared this place with these great breasts, and who nurtured them and clearly loved them? And from whence did they come – and where did they go?

And it is not only our imaginations that can take flight; located on the shore close to the great dragon is a sign allowing visitors to summon a winged beast of their own, and to take flight upon its back to experience something of the life and rapport the long-vanished people once enjoyed with their dragons.

Savor Serenity

Nor is that all. Within this land are secret, treasured places awaiting discovery. Follow the paths paths ruins and under tress and across rocky upheavals to a dragon-topped spire to the north-end, and you’ll find a gallery of CybeleMoon’s magnificent art; veritable tales and fables wrought each within a single image. Should you find your way to the foot of the great wall, you might also find a portcullis offering a way to passages that lead to further secrets in art awaiting discovery, and beyond it, a place to rest with the one with whom you shear your heart – or for just sitting in contemplation alone.

Beautifully conceived and executed, with places throughout  – on land or under it or on the water – awaiting discovery, which places also to sit or to dance, Savor Serenity remains an absolute delight to visit, and a joy for eye and camera to see. Photos can be shared via the Savor Serenity Flickr pool, and donations towards the upkeep of the region are appreciated.

Savor Serenity

SLurl Details

• Savor Serenity (River Hill, rated: Moderate)