I recently received an invitation from Gian (GiaArt Clip) – together with some very gracious words, thank you, Gian! – to visit Infinite Darkness, their latest region design. Having previously visited and written about Gian’s Buddha Garden (see here and here) and Monkey Island (see here), I hopped over at the earliest opportunity to explore.
Anyone who visited either of these two past designs is going to find Infinite Darkness very different – and yet, equally rich in the kind of detail that made both Buddha Garden and Monkey Island so notable as places to visit – and places with a story to tell. A clue to that story lies within the About Land description for the setting:
Good and evil, water and fire, light and dark, are the essence of Infinite Darkness. The majesty of the gothic style, the occult symbolism and the dark powers of the vampires will immerse you on a hellish journey.
– Infinite Darkness About Land description
So it is that visitors find themselves arriving within the ruins of a chapel on the proverbial Dark and Stormy Night – and if not already set, it is at this point for the viewer to be checked to Use Shared Environment. These ruins (the marvellous Chapel Ruins by Marcus Inkpen, whose structures Gian has used throughout the region, giving them all a subtle connection of style and look, thus allowing them to become a natural part of the whole) sit upon an island, and give the first hints of the Light and Dark theme. To one side of the the chapel is a tombstone draped with a weeping angel. Facing it across the chapel’s worn floor is a stone plinth topped by an empty-eyed skull staring at the angel, as if mocking it and the idea of life after death.
A long and narrow bridge crosses the water to link the landing point. It is lined with further motifs conveying the ideas of light and dark, good and evil. These start on the left with a reproduction of Le génie du mal just outside the chapel, with its depiction of Lucifer becoming Satan, his crown held limply in one hand as his other feels the horns growing from his head even as his angelic wings have become demonic, bat-like membranes. Meanwhile, at the far end of the bridge is what might be seen as depiction of the corruption of innocence in the form of a naked woman giving herself over to the predations of a demon.
These motifs continue at the top of the stone stairway climbing up the steep side of the isle at the far end of the bridge, and the stone figure of an angel holding out a golden apple, a serpent wrapped around its torso. A clearer depiction of the Lucifer / Satan mythology and its link to the “fall of Man” I’ve yet to see; with the statue also underscoring the idea that both good (aka light) and evil (aka darkness) are spawned from the same roots.
It is before this figure that the adventure of discovery truly begins; one that I do not want to write above in great depth, as doing so would spoil anyone’s visit. Instead I’ll endeavour to offer some pointers for explorers.
The pool over which the statue of Lucifer/Satan sits is backed from a high waterfall, tumbling from beneath the shadowed for of a house occupying the island’s central peak. A stream exits the pools and curves around the north side of the peak to eventually tumble down into the cleft hewn between this island and an even taller one to the east. A path follows the course of the stream, providing access to both a tall bridge pointing north over the surrounding waters to another plateau of an island. Demons line the bridge, which is watched over by the decaying hulk of a stone gazebo, the demons giving a clue to what might be found on the far side of the bridge.
Neither bridge nor gazebo forms the path of the path however; instead, it crosses the stream as it takes the first step in its downward tumble by means of an old tree trunk, prior to continuing on by means of steps cut into the living rock that lead to the darkened maw of a tunnel as it beckons the adventurous inside.
A second path runs southwards from in front of Lucifer / Satan and around that side of the island’s peak, using a weathered board walk and mossy path to guide people to where a mix of ancient steps and wooden ladder provide access to the shadowy house above. In doing so, the path also provides access to yet another high bridge, tis one stretching its arm out to the south to touch another flat-topped island, this one home to the darkened bulk of a church, whilst the bridge and path are again watched over by a stone gazebo, thus one in far better condition than its northern cousin.
Straddling the flattened top of the rocky pinnacle, the house sits above two waterfalls to west and east, the latter also falling down into the cleft separating this island from the one rising even higher beyond it. A bridge spans this deep, narrow gap between these two isles, linking the front door of the house with a switchback path leading up to where the top of the taller island gives way to a the impressive bulk of a Gothic house built in the style of a castle. Shrouded in a veil of heavy rain as if trying to conceal itself from view and with thunder rumbling overhead, this house, with its towers and giant figure raised against its west face, appears to be a foreboding place.
Both of the houses offers a rich mix of ideas and motifs, with both leaning into the ideas of the occult and vampirism mentioned in the About Land description. With interiors by ViolaBlackwood, both should be explored fully, offering as they do their own details and sense of narrative for the imagination to explore – and I’ll say no more about them here so as not to spoil things, as noted above. However, they are not all that awaits; there are the aforementioned islands to the north and south to witness as well; and all I will say about these is that they are both very individual whilst together then further the theme of light/dark / good/evil.
Meanwhile, for others who do follow the tunnel below the smaller house and mentioned above, a further motif awaits in the form of a skeletal boatman standing in his vessel like Charon waiting to ferry the dead across the Styx. fortunately, the living do not have to take his boat across the misty waters: a rickety bridge spans them to provide access to another tunnel and caverns awaiting exploration.
Whether or not you are – like me – fascinated by the visual motifs and prompts neatly woven into the setting or simply love places that stir the imagination and represent time well-spent in exploration – or have a love of things occult / vampire -, Infinite Darkness offers a lot to see and appreciate, all of which is beautifully executed. For those who do share my fascination for symbols and motifs, I will in closing suggest you cam overhead and look down on the setting from above using your camera.
If you do, you might sport the region design, with it’s west-to-east orientation looks remarkably like the layout of a cathedral. To the west lay the entrance (the landing point), with its long bridge forming the nave, whilst the tall island with its Gothic house/castle sit as the chancel with its quire (or choir, if you prefer), ambulatory and apse. Meanwhile, the island to the north and south form the two transepts, their aisles and that of the nave coming together at the island with the smaller house to form the crossing.
Thus within its form, the region offers a further juxtaposition of “light” and “dark”: in form it resembles the “light” of Christian mythology, whilst the further into it one progresses, the more one is surrounded by the the “dark” of the occult and ideas of vampire and demons, with the latter form what might be seen as the most holy elements of a Christian cathedral, sitting as they do over the what might be seen as the location of a cathedral’s chancel, again giving focus to the idea that what we regard as “good” and “evil” are born of the same roots (our own imaginations).
All told, a superb setting and one deserving of time and thought when visiting.
Addendum
As pointed out to me by Gian, I did actually miss a detail within the build that is worth pointing out. Those who do delve into the tunnels and caverns should mouse-over the items they find within them carefully, as one has a hidden teleport. Those who find it will be transported to what I’ll call the layer of the vampire; a place which contains a sense of the ruins of Whitby and Bram Stoker (without actually being so), and carries with it a further element of the occult. With a vortex-like opening at one end, it also suggests it might be a further entrance to hell. I’ll say no more here, and leave it to visitors to discover.
SLurl Details
- Infinite Darkness (rated: Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 