The year is turning and, for those of us in the northern hemisphere autumn is once more starting to show its face. With it comes the popular redressing of many regions in Second Life to provide autumnal (or Fall, if you prefer) colours. One of these is the Homestead region held by Flower Caerndow, which she offers as a public space for people to explore, enjoy and photograph.
Presented as Shades of Autumn, a name which precisely describes the setting, this is a landscape rich in the greens, browns, and golds, and so on associated with the season. However, there is so much more to appreciate here than a single season.
This is a landscape dominated by ruins, the largest of which being a Norman-style keep sitting astride the region’s northern highlands – as one might reasonable expect. With the curtain walls of the inner ward largely intact, the keep carries with it a sense of romance inside and out. Close by, and overlooking the water’s edge, is a single tower, perhaps one a part of larger fortifications which once formed a ring out outer defences for the main castle but now offers a point from which to appreciate it as it now stands – and imagine how it might once have looked.
Away to the south and occupying what is effectively a broad headland, sit the ruins of a chapel. It is far enough away from the castle so as to suggest it always stood outside of the Castle’s walls – not an uncommon state of place for the medieval period – but close enough that it could be protected by the presence of whoever occupied the castle. Together, the castle, tower and chapel are not the only ruins to be found within the region, but they are the most visible for those arriving in the setting.
While it is not enforced, the landing point sits towards the east side of the region, close to the tower ruins and the shallow bay it overlooks. It’s a vantage point offering a good view of the keep as it sits upslope, whilst also close by is a broad pool of water which forms the region’s most unusual natural feature.
Clearly sitting over a natural spring, this pool is open on two sides, allowing the water from it to tumble outwards, dropping by means of little falls and two narrow streams to reach the surrounding sea, thus effectively cutting the land in two. Fortunately, visitors are spared any wet feet thanks to the three bridges spanning the streams, even if two of them are slightly makeshift in nature.
Although the ruins clearly point to the island being occupied during medieval times, they do not mean the Normans were the first to inhabit it; also occupying the slope leading up the keep is a ring of Neolithic standing stones. They indicate there is a much older tale to be told about the island and its past. A further sense of mystery (and fantasy) is added through the presence of crystals and otherworldly-seeming plants (particularly in the keep’s inner ward) and the presence of statues here and there, all of which further add to the sense of romance found within the the keep.
And romance is very much the focus here, alongside that of photography, with any backstory we might care to create while visiting purely a matter for our imaginations. This focus on romance can further be found throughout the setting in the form of the many places visitors can find to side, cuddle and simply pass the time. Some of these are easy to find, others might require a little more in the way of exploration.
This is also an island with a secret; one which is not that hard to find, admittedly. It takes the form of an Experience-based teleport portal, and delivers visitors to a sky island which not only continues the theme it also – in Flower’s own words, offers a memory of the region’s previous iteration, thus connecting the two. Follow the path there to the portal leading back to ground level.
With a richness of beauty and nature, Shades of Nature is an engaging setting to visit, one which is – quite obviously – highly photogenic. The attention to detail is superb, and the way in which Flower has brought everything together is pretty much perfect. Definitely not one to miss.
SLurl Details
- Shades of Autumn (Enchanted Remnants, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 