Sula Sgeir – or Sùlaisgeir in Gaelic – is one of the most remote isles to be found in the British Isles. Less than a kilometre in length and about 200 metres across including a headland, it is marked by high cliffs, frequently inhospitable weather, and remains uninhabited by humans for most of the year.
The island is most famous for its population of gannets, and (more infamously) for the annual autumnal ‘guga’ hunt for young gannets by men from the Isle of Lewis, 70 kilometres away, where the bird is considered a delicacy.
I mention all of this because Sula Sgeir is the name given to the latest Nathhimmel region build by Konrad Rune and Saskia Rieko, this time additionally assisted by Art Oluja (Artistik Oluja) who has added a fantastic soundscape to the setting.
However, rather than focusing on the actual island of Sula Sgeir and its bloody and callous hunt, Nathhimmel’s Sula Sgeir focuses on an underwater environment through which visitors can engage in their own far more pleasant adventures: diving, swimming and exploring the ocean depths either freely or aboard a 2-seat mini sub or on a “jelly(fish) ride”.
The Landing Point is a small deck on an outcrop of rock rising above the waves and loomed over by a gigantic Moon. While this island is small, it does contain the skeletal remnants of a great dome standing behind it – a possible hint of a waiting mystery?
The deck includes givers for a swimming HUD, the “jelly ride” (which is a wearable vehicle by Art), and a rezzer for the mini sub. The latter is of Konrad’s design, and a neat little 2-seaters for sharing with someone or simply enjoying on your own.
Beneath the waves is a strange and haunting world, one in which it is very easy to take on the spirit of Jacques Cousteau when exploring its depths.
However you opt to go, once you are underwater it is essential you have local sounds enabled to add to the sense of immersion as you move amidst fields of tall seaweed, forests of twisted corals, and over an almost alien landscape of strange luminant aquatic plant life.
In the shallower waters, sunlight attempts to probes the water, shafts of light spearing down. Elsewhere it is possible to spot the red glow of ocean floor vents and the now quiet mouths of fumaroles gaping wide, the heat that may have once caused them to once belch clouds of mineral-rich gases long since moved on.
As visitors skirt jellyfish and schools of fish, the flickering, hazy light will eventually reveal the giant denizens of this world. A trio of giant manta rays appear to holding a council session; humpback whales slowly emerge through veils of shimmering, fading sunlight, whilst the ghostly forms of blue whales appear from within the forests of seaweed and kelp-like growths.
This is a place holding secrets as well. The humpback whales have their great heads dipped as if in mourning, the lifeless forms of two divers in deep sea gear with airlines detached and the visors of their helmets glowing eerily, floating before them, caught in a state of neutral buoyancy before they could reach the surface. What happened to these poor souls is open the question – perhaps they are connected to the secret hidden in deeper waters.
Then there are the glowing fronds and planets and the strange blue veins to be found in some of the rocks. What do they signify?
It is to the north and west where this ocean’s secret lays. Here, the the sea floor falls away sharply and sunlight is left behind. At first it appears to be an abyssal deep where not even the whales stray, leaving only the tall fonds and watery growths. But then, from between the growths comes a dance of light, a flash which demands attention.
Close on this lone point of light and it will reveal itself as an abandoned deep ocean structure, its domed roof mindful of the wrecked dome at the region’s Landing Point. Pipes run into it from the surrounding seabed, but what might it be? And what is it lying within, expanding and contracting slowly as if in respiration? Those are questions to be answered by your own imagination.
For my part, I will only suggest that getting down to this strange structure is possibly best done using one of Konrad’s mini subs. Whilst a little choppy on the controls, they handle well enough, and going down into the depths of the setting in one definitely heightens the sense of mystery and deep-diving adventure.
My only other observations would be to make sure you obtain introductory notecard at the Landing Point – it contains a backstory touching on the mysterious nature of Sula Sgeir. Also, as if it needs mentioning, do make sure you use Nathhimmel’s Shared Environment when visiting, and for the best immersion, make sure you are running a PBR capable viewer.
I have never failed to be impressed by the designs Konrad and Saskia create for Nathhimmel, and this remains the case with Sula Sgeir. Fascinating, and engaging, it is a genuinely captivating aquatic environment given additional life by Art’s soundscape, and definitely not a destination to be missed.
Slurl Details
- Nathhimmel Sula Sgeir (New Mon, rated Moderate)
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