Category: Exploring Second Life

It was back to a wintry setting for me recently after an invitation of region Holder Tolla Crisp to visit a seasonal offshoot of her Frogmore estate regions: Winterset Hollow. Designed by Tolla and her go-to landscaper, Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington), the region is intended to offer a Swedish-style winter setting – as its name suggests.

A Frogmore Christmas Region from Tolla Crisp and Terry Fotherington. Enjoy your stay in our Swedish inspired winter village.

– Winterset Hollow About Land.

By dint of my viewer hiccupping, I arrived within the region with my viewer settings reflecting the environment of the region I had just departed – a night with a Moon low in the sky. It was actually a set of environment settings which suited Winterset Hallow, and so I retained it for some of the photos taken as I flycammed through the region and have included them here. With the landing point located towards the centre of the region, this is a place blended into the surrounding snowy mountains to present the idea of a town deep within the rugged Swedish countryside, one perhaps cut-off from the rest of the world by the snowbound weather.

A long central cobbled street climbs (or descends, depending on your point of view!) through the middle of this blanketed town as it sits as if within a deep valley, houses and small places of business on either side. At the top end of this street is the local chapel, providing it with a commanding view back down over the town and its old fountain. Sitting with its water frozen, the latter is also overlooked the local coffee house. All of the business are furnished, with many of the houses either fully or partially furnished, offering many points for exploration (and escaping the snow!), although for those who prefer, there is outdoor seating as well. At the far end of the street compared to the chapel, a pair of holy-wrapped street lamps mark the steps descending to where a covered bridge spans a frozen body of water to where more steps slope down to what might – but for the snow – be a country road.

The broad expanse of snow curves north to come to an end before woodland with trees frosted with snow, naked branches reaching upwards and a narrow path winding between them. This path leads the way to where a pond has been converted into a skating rink, and else well-defined paths path onwards through the trees to snow-covered farmland tucked beneath the rocky arm on which the little town sits. To the south, the road continues to arc around the foot of the town, passing between it and a shoulder of a hill on which a trio of cabins sit. From here, and in summer, the road climbs the southern hills before ending in another tree-enclosed trail above the town. However, for winter, this rising road has perhaps been converted into a ski run complete with lift rising upslope beside it. at its upper reach, the slope offers a large deck built out over the hilltop, providing clear views of the surrounding mountains.

Whether you view the slope leading up to it as a road or not doesn’t matter; the deck, set with tables and with food and hot drinks on offer, propane heaters warming the air to make it a welcoming look and feel. Across from it, the little ski lodge provides snowboards for those wishing to make a fast descent back down the hill. Beyond the deck and ski lodge, the winding path runs between the tree to where a large, partially-furnished house sits above and separated from the rest of the town. Perhaps it is a private dwelling or perhaps it is a guest house; either way, it faces a footpath dropping down a short slope to where smaller houses flank a playground and the path connects back to the town’s chapel. before dropping away again to reach the northern farmlands under their blanket of heavy snow.

Rich in detail (and admittedly, a little heavy on viewer performance even with the recent improvements), Winterset Hollow offers a lot to see and photograph – including the local wildlife – and makes for an engaging visit, rich in a sense of the season and to enjoy. My thanks to Tolla for the invite!

SLurl Details

• Winterset Hollow (Pinewinds, rated Moderate)

At the start of the year I made a return visit to WQNC, an iteration of the Wo Qui Non Coin region design by Maasya I first visited in September 2021. With the end of 2022 approaching, Shawn Shakespeare suggested I make a return and witness the current version of the setting, which has relocated since my January 2022 visit, and downsized to a Homestead region. Not that the downsizing makes a difference; Maasya has a talent for creating captivating settings, and whilst this one may well be within a Homestead, that certainly remains true. In fact, I would suggest that it is perhaps a design that speaks closely to her self-described isolationist nature.

The setting takes the form of an east-west oriented island, a slender finger of rock rising from the surrounding seas, cut almost all the way through by a canyon, the western end of which blocked by a high table of rock, and what would otherwise by the open eastern end partially enclosed by a high-rise apartment building of indeterminate age. It is at the foot of this high-rise that visitors initially find themselves, standing knee-deep in tidal waters lapping a small beach. This gives the impression of literally having just arrived – whether by boat or by swimming or simple luck on having survived some event, is hard to tell. However, the overall design of the location does suggest some form of apocalyptic upheaval may have taken place.

A tunnel passes under the foot of the apartment building to provide access to the canyon beyond. A teleport sign is mounted on one wall of this tunnel; at the time of my first visit, this provided access to the skybox, but on my return visit it appeared to have restricted access, as attempting to use it left me floating in the air within the tunnel. Beyond the tunnel, a path winds through the canyon – a street winding through tall buildings backed against the rock walls of the natural canyon, such that they form their own man-made gorge. Neon and LED lights glow from street lamps and signs on the buildings and signs, some of which are mounted on metal poles to span the width of the road like latter-day Torii gates – much of the signage suggests this island street lies somewhere amidst the string of islands which make up the nation of Japan.

Follow the path to its western end, and the rock walls close to a narrow stair leading upwards, the bottom end marked by a traditional Torii gate. Ancient-looking lamps (fitted with LED or neon illumination) light the steps as they climb to the western table of rock to where a shrine is guarded by a pair of stone kitsune. Quite where the power for the lights is coming from is a mystery as this is hardly a bustling thoroughfare; the buildings are heavy in vines, shrubs have claimed ledges and windowsills and also the rooftops – together with the odd tree have claimed. Thus, there is a sense of this strange location having been deserted a long time ago – although quite why is for your own imagination to determine; to me, there is a hint of a global catastrophe having overtaken a city (or the world), leaving this enclosed alley with its cliffs of buildings as the sole survivor of a drowned township.

The sense of mystery prevalent throughout the setting is added to by the ambient sound system;  a distant sound of electronic drumming reverberates through the air, mixing here and there with echoes of music coming from somewhere – including one decidedly season tune. Also mixed in with the hissing crackle of electrical shorts from fallen power lines. Alongside of this is a sense of isolation and separation, as if this might be the last remnant of civilisation. In this, and as noted above, the setting might be seen as a reflection of Maasya’s nature; her Profile defines her as someone preferring her own company, and perhaps not overly friendly towards strangers. This is something I can actually attest to, having been summarily banned from the region (without much of a prior warning) as a result of standing still for too long whilst taking photos during my visit; so I would advise visitors to keep on the move, just in case!

Outside of this (while at the same time keeping it in mind), the region is as photogenic and eye-catching as Maasya’s previous builds and well worth witnessing.

SLurl Details

• WQNC (Blue Reef, rated Moderate)

From time-to-time in these pages I’ve asserted that holding a complete region, be it Full or Homestead, is not a prerequisite to being able to design a setting which can be opened for public enjoyment. What matters is not the size of the land held, but the creativeness in using it, and I’ve offered numerous examples of this through these pages: parcels within a region which have been carefully and lovingly curated to present an engaging and inviting place to visit.

Another example of such a location is November Rain, a 4096 sq metre parcel sitting within a Full region, and in which Semina (Semiiina) – Sem to her friends and fans – has established a cosy, atmospheric setting where people can come, explore,  take photos and listen to music.

Come and explore the autumn themed café: November Rain. Grab an umbrella, take lots of pictures and meet new friends. Curl up with a hot drink in the Café and listen to live music and the sound of autumn rain.

November Rain About Land

I was alerted to the café’s existence by reader Morgana Carter, who IM’d me the SLurl and a note after my recent piece on three Mainland cafés (see The coffee houses of Heterocera in Second Life), suggesting it might be a suitable addition to that series. Whilst clearly not on the Mainland, after visiting November Rain, I had to agree that the setting did deserve being written about (in fact, I’m not alone in this, given the location has recently been featured in the official blog).

Located on a sky platform, this is a setting that doesn’t need a lot of description in terms of exploring and looking out from things; it is small enough to get around easily, and the focal point is obviously the café in terms of where to go.  What I will say is the to appreciate the setting fully, visitors should used the local environment settings (menu World → Environment → Used Shared Environment).

This is because November Rain is richly atmospheric, the environment settings reinforcing the sense of the month in the Northern Hemisphere, a time when autumn is definitely on the wane, the days are shortening and darkening, the weather is on the turn with rain and leaden skies – but there is also a promise of winter and the romance of snow and starry skies lies just over the horizon, complete with cups of hot chocolate and roaring fires.

The stone-built café sits at the end of a gate path winding through the surrounding trees.  A large sign to one side of the landing point offers links to the expected info on the setting, its guidelines and the opportunity to join the local events group. A link to a calendar of events is also provided, although at the time of my visit this appeared to be largely devoid of dates. Still in bloom, the woodlands around the café offer and assortment of details to discover: a fox curled up sleep here, a reindeer with antlers strung with lights there, a vixen with her cubs sheltering from the rain falling from the evening sky, cats playing on the front porch…

Inside, the two rooms of the café offer a warm and decidedly cosy setting, the first room offering couch seating and the café’s serving counter with a rich selection of cakes and drinks suitable for the festive season. More seating can be found in the second room, together with a stage for live music sessions and a small dance area underneath the skylight. For those who like the outdoors, a table and chairs can be found under a parasol next to the front door to the café, while back among the trees is a romantic little hideaway.

Compact, rich in detail with plenty of opportunities for photography (limited rezzing available to group members, but please pick up after yourself if you make use of it). November Rain is a delightful visit.

SLurl Details

• November Rain (Vitamina, rated Adult)

It’s fairly well established through the pages of this blog that I have a thing for regions with a Far Eastern design, whether they are intended to offer a Japanese setting, a Chinese setting or a fusion of the two. Learning about such places (particularly if they are intended for public visits, rather than focused on residential settings!) tends to have me reaching for my camera and then mashing the teleport button.

So when Ryū Ojo (Sosaki) sent me an invite to visit her Full region design of Oshu, it moved pretty much to the top of my list of places to visit and start prepping a post about. However, on my arrival I quickly realised that rather than following my usual practice of visiting a region, exploring and writing notes, then returning to later to photograph and blog, this was a place I had to write about immediately – although in fairness to Ryū, she is still working on the final details within the region, so if you do drop in on reading the post around the time it is published and see some unfinished elements – blame me for being too keen to write about it, not Ryū!

Oshu is Ryū’s first full region build, and she has gone all out with it, opting to use the additional Land Capacity option available to Full private regions. In doing so, she has created what is effectively a tranquil setting cast with a Japanese theme that is completely timeless in nature. When exploring, you feel you could just as easily be in a remote part of modern-day Japan, far removed from the hustle, noise and heat of city life in the modern era as you could setting foot into a feudal province in the country’s Edo period. However, also awaiting discovery are elements which offer visitors a touch of fantasy and of futurism.

No formal landing point hand been set at the time of my visit, although Ryū indicated to me one would eventually be set, complete with a welcome area, so things many change in this regard when you visit when compared to the description of  my explorations below. That said, my wanderings commenced in the north-east uplands of the setting, where a board meadow backs itself against the off-region surround.

This is the first indication of the care Ryū has been taking in designing the region, carefully blending it along the northern edge and to the west and east with the surround, giving the impression that the region is part of a greater landscape, one rising to high mountain peaks as can be found throughout the islands of Japan, their foothills blanket in rich woodlands.

This meadow is itself a place of mystery; great standing stones lie within the shade of autumnal Japanese maples, their general colour and look suggesting then have been hewn from the rock strata running through the region (including thrusting up through the grasslands of the meadow), but who may have roughly formed and erected them is a mystery. Upslope from the meadow, and backed by a ridge of rock, is a stone arch. Perhaps it may have once been part of a larger structure with some connection with the standing stones, although its carved nature suggests that it is of later origins than the standing stones. Lit by a shimmering green light, it is in fact an experience-based portal offering a connection with Naruru Bay, a modern-era role-play-focused Homestead region.

The core of the region is focused on a small settlement surrounded by trees. At the time of my visit, these were still being furnished, with the largest being built over a pond, falls to one side allowing the water to tumble to a smaller pond and thence over larger falls which step there way down over southern cliffs to where a channel meanders out to the south-side bay.

This settlement is an utterly tranquil location, the trees shading it from the Sun (and hiding it from view), the paths and terraces linking the houses to Zen gardens,  and bridges spanning the waters, all watched over by dragons either made of bronze or flying free. As well as its sense of serenity, the settlement contains the greatest sense of timelessness within the region, while a long stone stairway descends the slope below the west side Zen garden, pointing the way down to the southern bay and a temple of light built out over the waters.

Time should be spent exploring the region, as it offers many points of interest and detail. Wildlife and domestic animals can be found throughout, as well as elements of fantasy – the aforementioned dragon, a kitsune statue and, for those who seek it out, a hidden secret.

The latter is not easy to find, but it lies beneath the settlement: a series of tunnels winding down to a series of caverns where huge fungi grow, and a path might be found passing from cavern to cavern to eventually come to two pairs of doors. At the time of my visit, the entrance to these tunnels came by way of passing through a tall curtain of water and then carefully treading between it and another; however, Ryū noted to me this may change.

However, these tunnels further contain another aspect of the timeless mix within the region: the tunnels leading down to the caverns appear to have been cut suing modern tools and are lit by electric lights, suggesting they were made using tools of a later era than the Edo looks of the settlement. The caverns, meanwhile have that sense of fantasy, whilst the pairs of double doors take visitors into a sci-fi like set of rooms of unknown purpose (again, at least at the time of my visit).

For a first-time Full region build, Oshu is engaging and richly detailed and something for which Ryū should be justifiably proud. Primarily designed for photographer / explorers, Ryū also indicated to me it might also offer some degree of role-play (possibly connected to Naruru Bay  given the presence of the portal), although time will likely tell on this. In the meantime, this is a destination well worth visiting, and which I hope Ryū will submit to the Destination Guide when she is happy with the design, so that it might be appreciated by folk from across SL.

SLurl Details

• Oshu (rated: Moderate)

In looking through my Exploring Second Life archives, I was surprised to note that it’s getting on for two years since my last visit to Sharon Hinterland’s Otter Lake, a  place which has relocated since my last visit in February 2020, so I took a quick TP to renew my acquaintance.

The last time I dropped in, the region offered a rural location, rich in a layer of realism (as with the first time I visited in 2019) which made it instantly attractive and memorable. The rural element has been retained with this iteration, but mixed with certain waterfront small town feel. For those already finding locations in SL a little cold from the northern winter setting many are already hosting, Otter Lake retains (for now at least!) a feeling of summer and warmer days.

A tranquil place to hang out with friends, listen to ambient music, or to walk about and explore. If you’re a photographer come by and take some amassing photos. This is not a rental sim, so come explore the , town, take a walk or ride around the sim.

– Otter Lake About Land

The “real” sensibilities folded in the region commence at the landing point. Located on the north side of the region, it takes the form of vehicular ferry drawn up to a wharf, giving the sense that visitors have just cross the waters separating the region from the surrounding hills. The ferry perhaps came via the river winding into the waters from the north and a ferry terminus that might lie somewhere along its length.

Those arriving are offered a note card to introduce the setting, noting that it is not residential, and entirely open to exploration and photography.

This card also points out the setting has, as far as possible, been built along a natural scale, meaning that avatars with an average height in excess of 2 metres might suffer from headaches when trying to pass through doorways, and camera positions (especially those offered as a default on the official viewer and those TPVs using the official viewer’s defaults) may require adjustment to avoid being stuck behind intervening walls and ceilings. To help with this, those using the official camera defaults might want to read the following: Tutorial: Viewer Camera Presets in this blog.

A paved road runs south from the ferry wharf. Follow it, and it will lead you all the way to the southern coast of the region before turning east and then back north to reach the the waterfront town.  Here the road passes between the water’s edge and squat apartment blocks with shops and places of business on their street-level floors. A second road runs behind these buildings, separating them from the woodland at the heart of the region and the places they in turn hide from view.

Two routes branch from the main road as it runs south from the the ferry wharf.  The first offers a shorter route to the town, looping past the local garage along the way. The second is where a junction in the paved road gives way to the rutted track running to the west through the woods and forking to offer access to the west side of the setting, and a very rural mix the is rich in its composition.

Here can be found wooden buildings both set back from the water and braced against it. From the fishing lodge through the stores and bait shop, one half of these waterfront areas seems to be from a bygone era, with vehicles dating from the 1930s through 1950s. Touring it, I gained a slight Bayou vibe to the place, added to by the the more tumbledown waterfront huts to the north.

However, given the surrounding mountains, the stone-built houses and the modern floatplane moored at the fishing lodge, this vibe quickly faded to give way to one more fitting: that of a remote place deep in the wilderness somewhere in the America or Canada, accessible as something of a place far removed from the rest of civilisation, surviving by its own merits as both a place to visit and a remote spot open to fishing vacations, with patrons flying in via the floatplane, if they so wish.

All of the cabins, houses, ground-level stores, the places of business, the shops and garages are furnished and open to visitors to explore and / or use for photography. Rezzing of props  is open to Otter Lake group members (with the group free to join) – but as always, please make sure you pick things up when done!

As always, an engaging, worthwhile visit – and keep an eye out for some “hidden” sitting spots within the woodlands.

SLurl Details

• Otter Lake (Labor of Love, rated Moderate)