For want of the need to unwind, I found myself in-world and re-visiting The Outer Garden, the always-engaging garden world designed by Bisou Dexler. The last time I visited, he gardens had moved from a sky platform to the ground; with this visit, I found it has not only moved back to the sky, it has relocated to a Mainland region.
The Outer Garden has always been a place of beauty and enigma, and this remains the case for the current iteration. The core of the build are the ruins of what appears to have once been a mighty manor house, much of it roofless and caught within the glowing light of a misty morning / evening (take your pick as to the time of day) which haunts the huge building with a ghostly glow.
The landing point sits at one end of the ruin’s main hall running from west – and the landing point – eastwards, various rooms and halls opening off of it, each with its own theme or secret. The first of these, opening on the right as one walks away from the landing point, forms a watery garden where water tumbles from the walls and forms a curtain within the arch of the room’s great window. These falls feed into a stream running within the room, shrouded in mist, and with trees and plants growing along its banks to form a mystic garden enclosed by the high stone walls.
Further along the hall sit another room, this one under a surviving part of roof of the manor house. Cluttered with furniture, it forms a cosy yet untidy space full of the warmth of life and a sense of retreat. Balloons float within the room, and a bed and painting canvases suggest this is home to someone, and the manor house not entirely deserted.
And there is still more: a broken access way into an inner garden the manor house may once have surrounded; a hall heavy in vines and with a stairway within it forming an artistic statement rather than being intended to anywhere; and a strange room of vanity screens and bed and an mannequin, all of which appear to be trying to tell a story. All bring character to the setting and are linked by smaller details waiting to be found along the hallway.
Beyond the ruins, the land continues to be shrouded in mist, the inner courtyard garden flank on this far side by the broken remains of the main house and a smaller, glass-roofed hallway now serving as a unique, if narrow, tea house.
The garden is also home to both a carousel and what looks to be a small Ferris wheel. Lit by a hundred glowing bulbs, the latter is beautifully ornate, if lacking cars one which people might ride around it. Beyond this, amidst the trees and mist lie still more ruins, chapel-like in form, but sans anything within their broken walls.
In my previous visits to The Outer Garden, teleports offer then means to visit two more settings The Moon is Serene and The Rose Garden, both of which I had in the past enjoyed spending time within. While the Destination Guide entry references a teleport mirror within The Outer Garden’s landing point and providing the means to visit other gardens, I confess that I did not see any such mirror either at the landing point or during my wanderings. Ergo, the images here only represent the main build.
Whether my lack of success in finding any teleport is down to my own failure or because the other gardens mentioned on the DG description are no longer available, I have no idea. If I did miss both teleport and additional spaces to explore, then the fault is mine alone, and I offer my apologies to Bisou from missing them.
Even so, The Outer Garden still retains its sense of beauty and mystery whilst offering multiple opportunities for photography and for simply escaping and relaxing. As such, it remains a recommended visit.
Related Links
- The Outer Garden SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld