Category: Second Life

Transport yourself to this abandoned island, among horses, seagulls, waves, snow-capped peaks; here nature has taken over, the beauty of a solitary place where paths and trails help us to appreciate all that nature offers us.

– About Land, Cloud Island

So reads the description for the public Homestead region of Cloud Island, another location in Second Life Shawn Shakespeare pointed me towards at the start of July 2023 and which I finally managed to drop into during the latter half of that month.

What appears to be a group build under the Country by V&L partnership, led by LunetteLuna and Vincy7, this is a setting which does pretty much what it says on the tin: offers a natural, almost untamed island location where nature is in command, and the touch of human hand is light. It’s a place ripe for exploration on foot or on horseback, and where lovers of all things equine will feel very at home.

These latter points are immediately apparent at the coastal landing point on the east side of the island, where a small cup of a beach, swept by spray and rain, is cupped within the protection of low-lying and outstretched arms of rock as they reach towards deeper waters.

Here, far enough from the spray, rain and flotsam the tide has brought to the sand to avoid getting wet, a horse is hitched to a rail, ready to rez a rideable version for visitors to use in their explorations. Roughly-made steps sit just behind this rezzer, pointing the way for explorations to begin.

Of course, you don’t have to necessarily take to one of the horses available in the rezzer; if you have a wearable horse, you can opt to use that, or you can opt for good old shank’s pony. Whichever you take, the island offers multiple routes of exploration, some forming trails which follow the natural lie of the land and might have – at least in part – be the result of the local wildlife using them down the years; others carry hints that humans are responsible for them, and sit as a reminder that whilst deserted now, the island wasn’t always so.

One of these trails circumnavigates the island, skirting between water and hillsides, passing around the coast and under rocky arches, revealing places to sit and evidence of past habitation and tragedy, with an attempt at preventing further such tragedies standing just off the coast to the north before the trail returns once more to the landing point and the stream tumbling down through the island’s single, deep valley.

Depending on the direction taken when setting out to follow the path, visitors might quickly come across a track running up the valley and the pool of water within it, or around the outside of the ridge forming one side of the valley as the trails climbs north around the island, a further path leading up to the head of the valley to overlook the falls feeding the broad pool below.

Another path almost reaches into the valley, this time from the landward side of the island. The path switchbacks its way up through the hills from the landing point, dividing as it goes, one arm reaching up and then down into the valley, another passing over the ridge separating the east and west sides  of the island, plunging down on the far side to re-join the coastal trail, whilst a third travels south along that same ridge to where it forms a headland and a bench under the spreading branches of an aged tree.

For those wishing to climb the snowy heights , a further path continues upwards into the snows and the clouds before once again switchbacking back down to the remnants of what might have once been a small homestead farm on the island – and if so, possibly account for the horses and goats now present across the landscape.

Rugged in its beauty, open to a wide range of EEP settings and ripe for photography and exploration, Cloud Island makes for an ideal destination for exploration and the camera-happy.

SLurl Details

• Cloud Island (Androviel, rated Moderate)

Lewis Carroll’s creation, Alice, and her adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, are a popular inspiration for Second Life creators and region designers. I’ve covered numerous Alice-inspired builds within these pages; some of which focus on the stories as a whole, others of which take specific elements of the stories to offer something of interest / fun for Second Life residents to explore.

With The Enchanted Library, Kaneha (Kaneha Atheria) uses Alice’s trip down the the rabbit hole  – a trip which first appeared within the manuscript Alice’s Adventures Under Ground before being expanded into the published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – as the leaping off point for the exploration of the magic of books and stories, with a focus on not a single tale, but 16 books hidden within her 4096 sq metre setting.

The adventure begins by following the White Rabbit literally down his hole to arrive a very particular wonderland. Further references to Carroll’s stories can be foot at the hole and along the path leading to a twilight garden. Here, scattered among the trees, flowers and ruins are numerous places to sit – and one to dance – all gathered under a skydome of stars.

Meandering between the various locations is a path of stepping stones. This switchbacks its way to where a large draughts board forms a waiting dancefloor, overlooked by the remnants of the chapel. Along the way are clues to the 16 stories and books –  I’m not going to list them all here; the fun is in discovering them, and some might be a little more obvious than others, depending on your point of view.

That said, there are hints that a girl will go to the ball, that a Modern Prometheus may not be quite a monster or that whilst also being undead can suck or that winter might well be coming. There’s also at least one direct reference to a specific young wizard sitting within the broader pointers towards the world of magical tales, whilst a table apparently set for an afternoon cup of tea reminds us that poison was a favourite form of murder for a certain writer of mysteries – although this might also be a reference to wider forms of writing, such as plays.

This latter point might be further indicated by the presence of an advice booth which brings to mind the one oft visited by a little boy who doesn’t have the greatest amount of luck when it comes to baseball (or with footballs – although that’s largely down to the little girl sitting behind the booth). Also awaiting discovery are interactive elements; not just the dance machine or places to lie or sit, but givers allowing visitors to enjoy a touch of poetry,  adding another twist of interest for visitors.

Small but making good use of the available space, The Enchanted Library offers visitors an warm and engaging visit.

SLurl Details

• The Enchanted Library (Yia Yuto, rated Moderate)