Category: Second Life

Located in the north-east of Sansara sit the natural realm of Sawrey Forest. The work of Valerian Kronfeld, this full region offers a range of connected settings linked via teleport boards and teleport portals, each with its own identity, with some folding within them common themes.

The main element is Sawrey Forest itself, located on a sky platform and presenting a single, contiguous setting off woodland, rugged cliffs and rocky uplands. The Landing Point is tucked into the south-west corner of the location, which also presents the first of the teleport boards providing access to the other locations waiting to be explored.

Welcome to Sawrey Forest! This mystical woodland invites you to embark on enchanting walks through extensive trails. Discover secluded spots perfect for cuddling with loved ones or simply relaxing in nature’s embrace. Whether you’re seeking adventure or a peaceful retreat, Sawrey Forest offers a serene escape for everyone. Come explore the beauty and tranquillity!

– Valerian Kronfeld, describing Sawrey Forest

A sign points the way “to the Forest”, and the start of a series of paths and trails winding through the trees and snake around the rocky uplands. Along the way are further signposts pointing the way to the principle destinations of interest waiting to be found.

The main paths are gravel and easy to follow, with bridges crossing streams, and grassy or semi-paved paths take over where the gravel fades. As well as these, there are zip lines for quick crossings between elevated points and those lower down (and also a ladder in one place!), helping people to get around.

Such is the design, the paths meander and turn through the forest in such away as to make any visit a delightful exploration, with the various locations within it cleverly set-out so as to be somewhat invisible from one another, with the walks between them suggesting of greater distances between them.

The places tucked into the forest include The Tower, rising against the cliffs marking the north-west corner of the setting, a cosy round room sitting at its top, under a pinnacle roof and offering views across the landscape. Then there are the tree house and the tree cottage (which are two very different places!); a walk up to the high plateau with the lake below it; and the mystically-named Magic Piano and Gaia, among others.

As to which order a person encounters these when exploring is entirely a matter of choice, the paths and trails dividing and coming together to offer different routes of exploration. Along the way there are places to sit under the trees, alongside the waterfalls, etc., bright bursts of flowers, rounded out by local birds, fish and wildlife.

The majority of additional locations offered require the use of the teleport board at the Landing Point. There is a strong oriental theme linking several, with a spiritual theme also present. The one exception to the need to use the teleport board comes in the form of the Caves – which can be reached from the board or via a teleport portal waiting to be found within the forest.

Given my love of the Far East, it should come as no surprise that I was particularly drawn to Zendo, with its large body of water bounded by rocks and bamboo thickets. A meditation centre sits on a hill overlooking the lake, which is crossed by three bridges hopping their way over two little stepping-stone islands. This is matched by the Zen Garden, again with open water and open-air walks and the opportunity to play board games.

My personal choices aside, all of the additional locations reached via the teleport board (and which extend down to the ground level) offer their own attractions, large and small. All of which makes Sawrey Forest an engaging visit.

SLurl Details

• Sawrey Forest (Sawrey, rated General)

Back on May 2022, visited The Wylde, a quarter-region design by Jazaar Silvermoon (Jazaar Heartsong) and AmiandAeon Silvermoon (AmiAndAeon), presented as a public garden for people to visit and appreciate as it sat alongside – but entirely separate from – their private home (see: A walk in The Wylde in Second Life).

Since then, Jazaar and AmiandAeon have acquired the rest of the Full region on which their home and The Wylde stand, allowing them to expand the latter whilst also offering a second public space to visit, which they’ve called The Nightgarden. The latter is both separate from The Wylde with its own Landing Point, but also connected to it – at least it is for those who are observant and willing to explore carefully! With the expansion, Jazaar kindly sent me an invitation to pay the region another visit.

The landing Point for The Wilde remains on the west side of the region, immediately adjacent to one of the gates and walls marking Jazaar and Ami’s home, which occupies the south-west corner of the region and is not open to public exploration.

The public path heads north, very quickly branching into a Y to offer two choices of exploration. Which you opt to take is entirely up to you. One leads the way through the trees to where a small cuddle deck sits out over the waters of a brook (and more), the other offers a meandering path through the woods with multiple discoveries to be made along the way.

As I noted when writing about The Wylde in 2022, there is a mystical look and feel about it, with the paths offering much to see – rabbits, unicorns in a hidden meadow (where people might also dance), statues, ponds, gazebos, streams – all of which allow the setting to speak for itself as it unfolds before the eyes as one wanders. Luminescence hangs in the air and graces exotics plants, teardrop lanterns hang from boughs, and the density of trees and shrubs ensure you’ll want to keep a keen eye in order to observe everything.

Depending where you wander, you explorations may be aided by the timely intervention of a bridge to span a stream or body of water – or you might find stepping stones to help keep your feet dry. Rotating rings of stone blocks, a bubbling cauldron and statues of fae folk and (perhaps) pagan deities add further mystery and magic to the setting. The centre highlands are dominated by two large structures, a mystical rotunda sitting between the stubby peak of a frosted mounted topped by an eleven garden. There are at least two routes up to the rotunda (one passing under a Fantasy Faire “gate”) – but again – I’ll leave you to find them!

The Nightgarden is, as already noted, the latest addition to the setting. Occupying the south-east quarter of the region, it stands both on its own as a place to visit via its own Landing Point, and as a place which can be explored alongside of The Wylde, to which it is connected by hidden paths (one of which I found and will say only this: bridges here don’t only span a gorge, they might also heave beneath them a part hidden in plain sight and which doesn’t end at a waterfall).

Welcome to the Nightgarden, a mystical world of starlit serenity. Follow the paths, explore the phosphorescent flora, bask in the waterfalls from the floating islands, and discover the portals that lead you into even more discoveries.

– From The Nightgarden’s About Land description

Surrounded by steep rock, The Nightgarden offers a deep water lake which can almost be circumnavigated, the shoreline awash with luminescent plants and rich foliage, as  blue water tumbles from islands of rock floating overhead. Some of this pools in depressions atop the cliffs prior to tumbling down one more, some falls directly into the lake. Strange plants also float above the deep waters, sharing the air with the rock islands – the largest of which has a garden of its own waiting to be visited – and lanterns.

Watching over this is a house of glass, an arboretum rich in exotic, glowing flora. It stands back against the cliffs, inaccessible save via the teleport boats, one moored on the waters of the lake, the other serenely moored against the arboretum, each with an touch-teleport ring mounted upon its deck. Nor do things end there; below the waters is a further realm, again alive with colour and filled with detail, just waiting for people to slip below the waves and explore.

Throughout all of this – The Wylde and The Nightgarden alike – are many places to sit and relax, cuddle, dance and generally lose yourself. Well worth visiting and exploring.

SLurl Details

Club of Friends is rated Moderate.

• The Wilde
• The Nightgarden