It has been but a month since my last visit to Lintu’s (KorppiLintu) always-engaging Simurg, so this might seem a rapid-fire return. However, being the time of year that it is, the parcel has been redressed from its autumn / Halloween design to a winter / seasonal setting – and Lintu was kind enough to drop me a personal invitation to come and take a look.
Added to the above is the fact that Simurg is a parcel rather than a full region, and Lintu is adept at demonstration just what can be done to present richly engaging settings in Second Life without the need to go all-out on an entire region. This is something I have always admired when designers do so (and have tried to achieve myself within the parcels I’ve held / hold, even if I’m too selfish to share them!); thus visiting Simurg is always a personal pleasure for me.
Simurg + Winter Valley sees the setting region to something of its “split level” design, with Lintu again using elevation to give a sense of space and quite literal depth to the location, whilst also allowing for the inclusion of another “hidden space” within it to further enchant visitors.
Visits commence on the elevated aspect of the setting and to its western side. Here, within a wooden gazebo visitors can purchase Simurg products via a wooden Christmas tree and look out over a snowy environment whilst deciding if they are suitably dressed for the winter. I most certainly wasn’t, my qipao dress being way to summery – so I fixed that by adding pair of elbow gloves 😀 .
From the Landing Point, a path points eastwards, bracketed to one side by a decidedly warm looking log cabin (one of Cory Edo’s excellent designs), with a large covered veranda complete with fireplace and blankets on the sofas to keep folk warm.
On the other side of the path, and close enough to the cliff edge to provide a view out over the valley below, is a boarded look-out point with warming braziers and wooden seats located behind a heavy rope set out along posts to prevent folk stepping too close to the edge and possible slipping over it.
Also facing the cabin from across the main path is another, single-room cabin, reached by a shallow set of stone steps. With glazed walls and an open space before it again looking out over the valley, it is set far enough back so as not to be rudely staring into the dormer windows of the house directly below it. The main path passes behind this little cabin, skirting under a backdrop of rocky cliff faces and then descending gently down towards the valley below.
In descending the slope, the path passes by Lintu’s workshop (open to the public) and links to the end of another path leading down from the front of the little cabin. It then ducks under a lynch-gate before dipping again and curving around to meet the carriage track passing up along the valley from its very south-eastern corner. A stage coach guards the track here as it blends with the off-region landscaping (as does a fence to stop people colliding with the region’s edge).
The track runs alongside a broad pond through which a local stream passes – although both are now frozen. The fact that they are means the pond can be used for ice skating – just touch the hearts floating over the ice. The track follows the edge of the pond to where it narrows into the neck of the stream. Here it is crossed by a little hump-backed bridge and the little village square on the far side, with its Christmas tree, little stalls, coffee shop and tailor’s shop.
Beyond the bridge, the frozen surface of the stream offers a way into the Fairy Cave, where more magic awaits other who venture inside, with two romantic little settings to be enjoyed.
Throughout all of this are little touches and details that mark Lintu’s care and eye for creativity. Cats roam and play inside her workshop, the cabins and house are all furnished, places to sit can be found throughout, deer and wolves can be seen among the woodlands in the off-region landscaping (and within the region in a few places!) while white horses wait to greet you in the cave. And all the while the chimes of a music box playing When You Wish Upon a Star might be heard, landing another layer of romance to the setting.
All in all, Simurg + Winter Valley presents another photogenic and enjoyable setting form Lintu, and I recommend it for a wintertime visit!
SLurl Details
- Simurg + Winter Valley (Lunar Valley, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 