I am a fully paid-up member of the Elicio Ember Appreciation Society, and I have been for well over a decade. Elicio is a man who has both a beautiful personality and a fabulous creative vision which brings together elements of fantasy, science fiction and the natural world in the most fascinating and engaging of blendings.
His region designs have long graced Fantasy Faire – not every year, admittedly; but in the years where his work has been present I’ve personally felt a greater draw to visiting the Fairelands than perhaps in those years when his presence has been absent. And I say that with due respect to all the other builders of Faireland worlds, most of whom have drawn me to some degree.
In 2016, one of Elicio’s designs was Otherworld, a quite marvellous imagining extending from below the surface of the waters to a high plateau. I found myself visiting it multiple times and climbing its stairs and wandering its paths and gardens to the point of making a very short video about it at the time.
I’m clearly not alone in both my love of Elicio’s world building or of Otherworld in particular – earlier this year, Akiko Kinoshi (A Kiko) opened Nymerion, a very special place within her Akipelago estate.
Both a rebuild and a reimagining of Elicio’s Otherworld, it captures the beauty of the original, offering it under a new and quite stunning EEP Day Cycle whilst also offering new touches and twists. The result is a location which is genuinely and completely captivating.
The Landing Point sits on the high plateau, a semi-flooded wetland rich in exotic plants and rocks rich in glowing runes and occasional crystal spires. In and of itself, this plateau is captivating and ideal for photography. In the original it also incorporated the suggestion of dragons through the remnants of bones.
This is something Akiko has very much enhanced within Nymerion: the dragons themselves are herein present – indeed, their eggs form the nucleus of a local hunt you can learn about when visiting – just touch the hunt posters scattered around to find out more.
Nor are the dragons the only lizards to be found here: the setting is also the home to dinosaurs, all eager to keep an eye on comings and goings – like the dragons – but which are content to allow visitors free passage without the risk of becoming a tasty snack.
Stairs lead the way down to the lower levels, where might be found suspended walkways and paths around the great legs of rock supporting the high plateau. These are interspersed with glass pavilions offering places to sit whilst hidden stairs offer further means to reach the areas sitting just above the surface of the waters below.
There appear flying and water craft melding elven design with sci-fi tech to be found. None appear to be linked to any form of rezzing system, and so finding them can be a random matter of stumbling upon them. I also found that whilst the flying craft appeared to work, none of the water craft did, and several were piled up under one of the lower pavilions.
Whilst the central waters here are shallow, they do deepen abruptly to the south and west, where a flooded realm awaits – and I’ll leave you to explore it.
This is very much a realm where time should be spent not just in exploration and / or photography, but in simply savouring the EEP Day Cycle. The latter doesn’t simply running through day / night, running over the default SL 4-hour “day”, it transitions through a number of different EEP settings, each of which casts Nymerion under a unique sky and lighting. If I’m honest, I’m not sure all work – but those that do give the setting an additional layer of mystery and magic.
Offering a homage / recollection to the original Otherworld by Elicio, Nymerion carries with it Akiko’s own touches which make it both unique and engaging in its own right, making any visit highly worthwhile.
Slurl Details
- Nymerion (Akimori, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 