There are many beautiful regions in Second Life presenting all manner of settings and environments and put together with care and love for the enjoyment and appreciate those who visit them. It has been my privilege and joy to visit many of them over the years, and to write about them. Some have faded away with the passage of time, but remain in photos and memory; others are reinvented periodically to offer something new and enchanting or mysterious or fun to visit, and some – and their designers – have become established in a growing catalogue of places I regard as personal favourites; places I will happily revisit time and again.
One such region was that of Winter Moon, a place I visited on several occasions between 2013 and 2020 and wrote about on three of them. A Homestead region held and designed by Dream Shadowcry, it was always a place of serene beauty and opportunities to decompress and renew. However, and for reasons unclear to me – or perhaps because the region was retired at some point; I genuinely have no idea – I lost track of Winter Moon in late 2020; so when a little bird whispered in my ear that Dream was back with a new setting (and with a new name for herself – Dream Softpaw), this time occupying a Full region, I knew I’d have to play a little catch-up.
Oblivion – for that is the name of the setting – offers all that I found so attractive in Winter Moon, but with a richness of detail which can only come within a Full region’s additional Land Capacity. A veritable tour de force of design, it is – without hyperbole – simply magnificent in presenting a place that is rich in celebrating nature’s beauty; a veritable tapestry of ideas and themes deftly woven together into an engaging whole.
The “official” landing point (not actually enforced, so people can teleport out and back in anywhere within the region) sits at the southern end of a suspension bridge which appears to have been modelled after Liberty Bridge connecting Buda and Pest across the Danube. However, rather than spanning a river, here the bridge links a large sandbar occupying the south-east portion of the region with the main landmass. Also unlike its namesake, this bridge has only one suspension span, and is not a walkway in the traditional sense; rather, it is a garden space reaching out over the water to the rocky northern tip of the sandbar, where it drops down by way of steps to ain unsurfaced path leading to a grove of fir trees crowning the highest point above the surrounding sands.
Both ends of the bridge are marked by boxwood hedge arches, with the northern end also having steps descending from it to a small headland of sand dunes matted by wild grasses, together with a beach where a large deck has been constructed, complete with a walled garden area and upon which comfortable chairs, braziers and parasols have been set out to allow visitors to relax and enjoy a cocktail or glass of wine, together with selections of fresh fruits, – just don’t sit on the furry occupants of one of the chaise lounge!
Westward, and beyond another boxwood arch, the path climbs the slopes of the main island, meandering through and between grasses, ferns and wildflowers and beneath the tall fingers of high fir trees and redwoods as they form a not-too-dense woodland. Branching mid-climb, a part of the path wriggles its way to stone steps as they slip down to a further deck, this one raised over the rocks and cliffs sitting at the landward end of the setting’s sheltered bay. Meanwhile, the rest of the trail continues upwards to run along the spine of the island, skirting the edge of a wash of lavender as it adds a splash of deep colour to the greens and browns – and even the pinks and reds of the blossoming trees sitting amongst the fir trees.
Bursting clear of the trees, the path provides access to a huge glass-and-iron greenhouse, now converted into a chandelier-hung bar, a further place to sit and relax. Beyond it, on the high headland, an eye-catching floating stage reached by wooden steps and held aloft by three large balloons as it overlooks and small and slightly overgrown dance floor to outside and the cliffs that drop away to a further beach on the other. The latter is marked by a massive rock arch which itself sits close to a final sentinel at this end of the island: a stone pavilion raised at the end of a slender finger of sand – although how you reach it is a matter for you to determine 😉 .
Across the endite setting are hints of fantasy and romance gently woven into the setting to add to its beauty: a gentle voice might in places be heard singing on the breeze; an empty mausoleum has been converted to a quiet retreat; the beacon-like braziers point blades of light towards the sky; an armchair surrounded by (mostly!) quiet cattle content to simply observer whoever uses it, awaits those in a contemplative mood; a clockwork owl keeps a careful pair of eyes on the comings and goings of visitors…
Oblivion is without a doubt one of the most visually engaging, soul warming settings it has been my pleasure to explore; the depths of detail Dream has provided are wonderful to find – hence why in some cases above I’ve given hints, not directions, on what you might witness! – and the sheer natural flow form location to location is utterly sublime, while the many places to sit and share or rest in solitude further add to region’s welcome – and increase the desire to spend time within it.
Simply outstanding.
SLurl Details
- Oblivion (Avalon Shores, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 