Category: Second Life

We dropped into Bart Bader’s Homestead region of Kindred Spirit at the weekend as we bounced around Second Life. It’s a place that has recently had a make-over, a Bart noted to me as we chatted while I took photographs in preparation for this article.

I did have it as a rural country sim, but returned to my love of Fantasy for this build. Every month I’ll be making small additions to keep it fresh. We’ve had a few of the Photo clubs using it for their challenges, so changing things up helps keep it fresh for them.

– Bart Bader, discussing Kindred Spirit

With the new design, Bart has created a setting that is eye-catching and imagination calling. The fantasy element is evident almost from the time of arrival, but in the must subtle of ways. The landing point, located towards the south-west corner of the region, sits at the end of a meandering track illuminated by ornate lighting posts that glow from within, the delicate forms of Noke Yuitza’s glass roses growing large to one side of the track, a crystal raised amidst ruins on the other. More fantasy elements await the opportunity to reveal themselves as visitor explore the region.

This is a place of multiple settings, each carefully separated from the rest to give a sense of space and privacy, all of them drawn together by landscaping and theme into a contiguous whole that draws visitors ever deeper into a feeling that they are in a mystical realm. Beyond a three-way bridge, for example, the path branches, one arm dipping down to the west where a ring of elven arches encircle a netted bed, while a second arm leads to a cliff edge sculpted by the fall of water from high pools to form arches, walkways and vantage points offering views to the east across the bay that cuts deeply into the landscape.

Here steps lead down to the very water itself, where tiles of flagstones raise their backs above the gentle waves, leading the way to a cavern below the cliffs – a place, Bart informed me, recently added as a part of refreshing elements of the build over time. The cavern, cliffs and their surrounds present multiple places to sit that in turn offer a captivating view to the eastern extent of the region of which more in a moment.

The region is split into two large islands linked by a single narrow bridge. The more northern of these islands continues the presentation of multiple settings ranging little track-side cosy spots to more hints of elven influence together with medieval twists – notably the low-lying ruins at the north-east headland of the island. To the east lies a marvellous grass-topped plateau to the east, home to the remnants of what might have once been a little chapel, but is now home to the first of a number of Mistrero Hifeng’s sculptures to be found within the region, and an aged piano.

To the eastern end of this almost garden-like setting stands a circular gateway with stone steps beyond forming a cleft that descends once more to water level, and what can only be described as the most marvellous water garden that dominates the eastern side of the island – and perhaps the region as a whole – with its beauty.

It is here that frosted trees raise their boughs to the sky as they in turn rise from the waters, forming an extended copse through which mist swirls and stepping stones wind. Awaiting discovery here are sculptures, statues, more of Yoke’s glass flowers, a little draped pavilion with winged chair and ornamentation and more, all watched over by another of Mistero’s statues sitting atop a winding stair. It is a place just made for photography, and with several places to sit and appreciate it scattered through out.

Standing tall over this quite beautiful setting, and at its easternmost extreme, there rises a tall tree. It is home to an elven platform reached by a covered stair that coils upwards around the tree trunk. Reached via a path passing beneath what can only be described as water splashes frozen in time to form a series of arches, the tree stands as if looking eastward across the Sundering Sea, awaiting sign of ships sailing from the far-off lands of Middle Earth to reach the hallowed lands of Aman, of which Kindred Spirit might be considered an offshore pairing of islands.

It is this water garden that so captivated me on looking outward from the southern island’s cliffs, and which I would suggest is the gem of this evocative region. However, the north island has one more setting – possibly easily missed when crossing the bridge if one is focused on following the track eastwards. Clearly revealed from the high elven platform and sitting on a low shelf of rock thrusting out into the bay is a glass pavilion (a Trompe Loeil design popular with region designers), fronted by a deck built out over the water. Home to the cosy bric-a-brac oft found in the presence of men and women, it is distinctly un-elven in look and feel, yet it fits the setting perfectly, not only offering another little setting-within-a-scene, but also reminding us that while Aman was the spiritual home for Tolkien’s elves, it was by no means exclusively so; and thus with the pavilion, Bart adds another delightful twist to the fantasy themes running throughout Kindred Spirit.

Now to be sure, there is a lot of mesh and textures used throughout the region which can impact performance, so disabling shadows when walking around or dropping draw distance might be advisable. However this is a small price to pay for spending time in what is, without a doubt, a captivating, utterly photogenic setting, one that calls on the imagine to take flight.

SLurl Details

• Kindred Spirit (Kindred Spirit 2, rated Adult)