Category: Exploring Second Life

Update, April 25th: Burrow Wood County has closed, and Monica has relocated to a one half of a Full region, now home to the twin builds of Burrow Wood by the Sea and Burrow Wood, Road to Nowhere, both of which have been built to Monica’s specification by Teagan Lefevre. SLurls in this article have therefore been removed – please see my updated blog post for more. 

Occupying the north-east quarter of a Full region utilising the private region land impact bonus, Burrow Wood County is held by Monica Mercury as a ground-level public space, designed by Teagan Lefevre of Le’eaf & Co fame.

This fictional back-road Tennessee town was inspired by several amazing SL creations visited by the owner, and her real life ventures.

– Burrow Wood County About Land

A visit commences at the landing point, tucked into the south-west corner of the parcel and backed against the centre of the region. It is here, a short distance from the mouth of a tunnel from which a rutted track emerges, that the local bus stop sits, helping give the impression that visitors have just arrived by public transport.

From here, the track continues to where a bridge spans the local river; a bridge which marks the track as once having been a single-line spur of the local railroad, and perhaps the bus stop originally an end-of-line rail halt. Beyond the bridge, a dirt track dips down into a small hamlet sitting by the waters of a broad body of water, an off-region surround giving it the appearance of a river.

This is a place which has perhaps seen better days; maybe it was once a cosy little fishing village built along one of Tennessee’s many rivers. However, time has not been kind to it, leaving a couple of unpaved roads serving the remaining local businesses, marked by the presence of an ever-hopeful motel, and some scattered dwellings.

Almost all of the local businesses appear given over to food and beverages, from the bar of Frank’s Place through the diner and café shop to Carroll’s Oyster bar and shop, within only a little grocery store trying to break things up. Their presence suggests the motel may do better business than might at first appear to be the case, even if the entrance to one room is boarded up; or perhaps this sleepy little fictional corner of Tennessee is still popular among the fishing fraternity and holiday makers.

The latter point may be borne out by the presence of the little office sitting across from the motel proper. It sits ant the entrance to a small group of cabins and trailers sitting alongside one of the water channels. The OFFICE sign hanging on one of its outer walls suggests it is from here that the cabins and trailer sitting on the bank of the river beyond are available for rent by visitors who also likely contribute to the seasonal well-doing of the local businesses.

Ramshackle it might be, but the village still boasts a Sheriff’s Office, and there is no doubting it has a gentle photogenic air about it. The large pool sitting at the head of the river (which may have borrowed its name from either the song as a little joke – you do have to cross the river Jordan in order to reach the hamlet – or from neighbouring Virginia’s river of the same name), is apparently open for swimming, whilst kayaks are moored alongside what appears to be a rentals hut built on a deck extending over the edge of the water.

Those following the grassy path down to and around one side of the pool can make their way to where nature is slowly reclaiming the remnants of an old waterside barn – although a local artist also appears to be claiming it for their own use!  Further back in the undergrowth lies an old schoolhouse in a greater state of being overwhelmed by mother nature.

Expressive and photogenic, Burrow Wood County is a pleasant, easy-on-the-eye visit.

SLurl Details

• Burrow Wood County (Aston Creek, rated Moderate)

Kawaii City is a place of two halves, occupying as it does a pair of sky platforms. Built by Naru Darkwatch, the city is named for the Japanese culture of cuteness – although its dystopian-come-cyberpunk lean doesn’t perhaps at first match the more familiar appearance of Kawaii as exemplified by the phenomena of Hello Kitty and Pikachu, although it does resonate with manga / anime styles of cuteness.

Each half of the city – called simply Kawaii City and Kawaii City II – has its own landing point, and given they are both located in the same region, it is possible to move easily between the two, and noted below. Whilst there is a commonality of looks and backdrops between the two, each very much has its own character.

A place where you can come and chill and relax or roleplay in a cyberpunk post apocalyptic setting please respect the TOS and have fun.

– Kawaii City About Land

Kawaii City is the larger of the two builds, its landing point located on a broad street running north to where the entrance to the Kawaii Café can be reached up a flight of stairs and a covered auto teleport provides access to Kawaii City II. The café and the teleport require acceptance of the local experience order to reach / use either one, whilst the structures around the entrance and the street provide a mix of façades, places to sit, eateries and places with casual role-lay might take place.

Further south, the street narrows to pass through a narrow, arched neck to become a warren of alleyways rising and descending, each with its own little attractions and the occasional dead-end.

The landing point for Kawaii City II sits alongside a small café at the edge of what appears to be an industrial complex of some description. Pipes run overhead and alongside the waters as they are channelled away from a large pool that sits as a barrel blocking the way forward. However, a freight elevator running horizontally on rails offers a way across the water for those who wish to explore further, and who may as a result find their way to a subterranean club. Alternatively, metal steps rise to an elevated walkway which also spans the water; beyond it, raised roads and alleys run between buildings and places of business, most of which are, like those in Kawaii City, façades which form backdrops for potential photography and / or role-play.

A single street opens off of the industrial complex, but doesn’t run far, wedged as it is between more façades. However, looks can be deceptive: those who look will find the entrance to a bar which looks like it might have send the Mandolorian walk into it. Close by, the narrow neck of an alley leads the way to where a decidedly deco-looking frontage of an old radio hall theatre has clearly seen better days. Another alley provides access to a further upper level forming an L-shaped brace of alleys in which RP might take place and where one might find the auto-teleport connecting it with Kawaii City.

I’m purposefully not saying too much more about the locations, as explorers and photographer will doubtless find their own particular points of interest, and there are elements what are better explored than described. Suffice it to say, Kawaii City and Kawaii City II make for an interesting diversion and offer the potential for a range of casual role-play activities.

SLurl Details

Note that Direskin is rated Adult

• Kawaii City Landing Point
• Kawaii City II Landing Point

Shawn Shakespeare suggested I might like to drop into Les Salines, the latest region design from the pairing of Tolia Crisp and Dandy Warhlol (Terry Fotherington), offered under Tolia’s Frogmore brand. And for those who like westerns, it might well hit the spot.

Apparently located on the edge of the “Mojave Desert Refuge, Arizona”, Les Salines offers an interesting and curious mix. On the one hand, it has all the look and feel of the Old West: a town sitting on a desert plain, its wooden buildings lining a couple of rutted tracks, the earth packed and hardened by the passage of uncounted hooves and wagon wheels. Sidewalks are little more than boards fronting the various businesses and laid out over the bare earth between them – doubtless offering little in the way of dry footfalls when the rains decide to pay a visit.

Frogmore presents Les Salines: A full region, wild west adventure from Tolla Crisp and Terry Fotherington. Everyone is welcome at Les Salines and Frogmore group members have rezz rights. The town is jam packed with details with visits to the saloon, bank, blacksmith, photo studio, general store, hotel, and much much more! Be sure to check in with the sheriff as well! Everyone is also welcome to join their photo contest and a notecard is available at the landing.

Les Salines Destination Guide entry

A sign indicates the town was founded in the 1860s; but precisely what caused settlers to establish it is unclear, but a mine (or quarry) might be responsible, perhaps being the site of a gold mine; or perhaps, given the local waters, it became a natural place for stagecoaches heading west to pause in their journeys; or perhaps that same water made it a suitable point where the locomotives could quench their huffing thirst.

Dominated by a large hacienda overlooking the town (and another a short distance away, apparently long deserted, Les Salines may equally have grown up as a result of a railhead being established here in order to ship cattle eastwards for and the hungry bellies of America’s growing cities.

Whatever the reason, the town, with its fancy signage façades over its various businesses, has clearly seen better days. Their walled flanks and flat roofs all look tired under the heat of the Sun, and stage and brush is starting to intrude into the heart of the town, suggesting its population might be in decline.

The founding of this town is just one of its mysteries; another is the period it represents. On the one hand, the buildings, the stage and reliance on horses and wagon points to a time perhaps in the latter part of the 19th century – say the 1880s or 1890s. This is perhaps supported by the photographer’s studio (photography having moved west in the decades following the US Civil War) and the presence of the rail lines.

However, the train sitting on them appears to be hauling fright cars from a more recent era, whilst the overhead cables which switchback their way down the main street look more akin to carrying electrical power than in echoing the taps of a telegrapher’s touch on his key. Not that any are actually hooked-up to any of the buildings their poles stand alongside as they zigzag over the street.

Further mystery is added by the fact that while the Mojave sits mainly within California, it does extend out and east into both Arizona and Nevada – although the Desert Refuge (aka the Desert Wildlife Refuge / Reserve, founding in 1936) sits within the Arizonan corner of the Mojave (a place also, and coincidentally, home to the infamous Groom Lake and also Nellis Air Force base.

Of course, Les Salines doesn’t have to reside anywhere in the US west (hence the sign noting in sits on the edge of Nowhere!), but these little suggestions give the setting a sense of mystery and mixed age when allow the imagination to run free when visiting. They also offer lots of opportunities for informal RP for those so minded – although the primary aim is to present a photogenic location; and as the Destination Guide notes, there is a lot to see, indoors and out.

I will note that with shadows enabled I did find my viewer struggled a couple of times when flycamming and / or loading textures, but on the whole, Les Salines makes for an interesting and engaging visit.

SLurl Details

• Les Salines (rated: General)

Camis Sierota (Camis Lee) and Tamara Sierota have once again redressed their homestead region of Perpetuity, returning it to what could be referred to as a North American theme, the region having spent a while dress as a European for part of late 2022 (see: A European styled Perpetuity in Second Life). However, unlike the last time I visited the region when it was dressed in something of an American theme (see: Perpetuity, USA in Second Life), for the start of 2023 the region offers a look of the Great Outdoors, and in doing so could represent almost anywhere in the wilds of the United States or Canada.

Surrounded by tall mountains on three sides which dip down to touch an open sea on the fourth, the region is cut through channel of water which may have started life as an inshore freshwater lake prior to the waters within finding a choice of routes outwards to reach those laying beyond its shores.

In doing so, it has split the land into two distinct areas, with an additional pair of low-lying banks of grass, shrubs and reeds poking slender fingers above the channel’s shallows. In meandering through the setting, these waters offer a place for the local wildlife to drink, and the local waterfowl and birds to swim and or / hunt.

Along both of the channel’s shores and on the pair of low banks might be found elk, bears, beaver, cranes and ducks, while overhead geese circle as if trying to determine the best approach for a watery touchdown and a bald eagle passes by, possibly looking for a perch from which it can watch for salmon or other fish straying too close to the surface and offering themselves as a possible catch of the day.

The larger of the two landmasses is where the major signs of habitation might be found. To the east, sitting on a flat-topped rise in places buttressed by rocky cliffs, sits a small homestead ranch.

This is a place where sheep and dairy cattle are reared and horses kept, the latter sharing a pair of interconnected corals with the sheep. A single large barn provides indoor protection for the animals when needed as well as marking the landing point for visitors, whilst the stone-and-wood built ranch house is cosily furnished in keeping with its rustic western looks.

Westwards, the land splits, part of it sloping down to meet the waters of the inner channel, part of it rising as a rocky-sided hill crowned by a tall wooden watch tower. This overlooks the northern coastline as well as presenting a grandstand view back over the region towards the high mountains. Both the tower and the lowlands can be reached via a grassy trail running down from the ranch before it divides, and this can be followed on foot or horseback (take a ride from the rezzer at the barn or were your own if you have one).

Before reaching the water, the trail down slope – also used by local elk to reach and partake of the waters – passes by a small single-roomed cabin. Like the ranch house, the barn and the watch tower, this provides a place for folk to sit and relax and perhaps enjoy a cuddle or two. An outdoor fire pit and chair offer a superb view back eastwards along the water’s channel to where the spout of one of the two geysers the region boasts can be seen rising against the backdrop of a more distant headland.

The geysers sit at the eastern extent of the second of the main islands, sitting at a point where the land turns northwards to form a promontory helping to separate fresh water from salt. Their spouts rise from two circular hot springs, three smaller pools sitting between them, the group all hinting at a degree of volcanic activity relatively close by.

Behind them, the land rises quickly, punctured by outcrops of rock and home to more of the fir trees which also sit on the larger island. This is a place where more wildlife might be found, including bison and squirrels, moose and more elk. Along the trail rising up the island’s slope visitor will come across a litter of bear cubs who are busy helping themselves to the contents of picnic baskets, there being no sign of humans to keep guard over the bounty.

To the west, the island reaches a flat-topped brow overlooking the waters separating the region from the surrounding mountains and their hills. This hilltop is home to another cabin, this one larger than the one down by the channel below, offering a little more comfort to those who wish to rest here a while. An outdoor well provides fresh water whilst moose and chickens keep an eye on the property.

This is another setting perfectly put together by Camis and Tamara, one which is – as always with Perpetuity – highly photogenic, and is a place finished with a fitting sound scape.

With thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the suggestion of a further re-visit.

SLurl Details

• Perpetuity (Envylicious, rated Adult)

Celestial Glade transports you to enchanted forest, full of magic and exploration. Tucked away, you will find romantic spots to dance and cuddle with that special someone.

– Celestial Glade About Land

So reads the introduction to Celestial Glade, a Full private region utilising the Land Capacity bonus primarily designed by Roxy Chronotis (Roxy Christenson).

A mystical setting, the region is predominantly open to the public, although the north-east corner – separated from the rest of the region by tall curtain cliffs – is given over to a private home, and there are some rental cottages sitting within the south-west corner, so the usual warning about trespass and disturbing people’s privacy is given 🙂 .

The landing point sits to the south-east corner of the region, located within a gazebo formed from living trees. It faces the Lyrical Grove, a place for live music events (schedule on the board alongside of the steps leading up to the Grove) and the Lyrical Star Café, reached by descending a further set of steps from the landing point.

Two further exits lead away from the landing point; one passes through an open field dominated by a single large and very aged tree. Clearly a space for outdoor events, it is bordered by smaller trees, waterfalls, and gigantic crystals; while there is nothing overtly Hobbiton-like about it, a Tolkienite like myself would likely not be surprised to find Bilbo Baggins and his friends and very extended family to be celebrating his elventy-first birthday under the shade of the tree…

The second route away from the landing point provides access to a path meandering under boughs and past glades, tall walls to one side. The latter partially enclose a small commercial marketplace in which store spaces (if available) can be rented. A path from the “birthday field” also runs past the entrance to this space, passing between it and a pond to join the first path as it continues on it way through the region, branching here and there along the way.

These paths wind between ribbons of hills, tall peaks and blocky mesas, crossing streams and rivers along the way, passing under the shade of trees and through the coloured carpets of flowers. In doing so, they lead the way those romantic spots for dancing and / or sitting and cuddling. They also pass by or offer the route to, the region’s major points of interest.

The latter – which can also be reached via a network of stone teleport disks – include a glade of table-top games, ruins on a promontory, a restaurant and nearby café of distinctly elven styling, and a winding climb up the highest peak within the land to where the slender finger of a tower points a tall spire towards the sky, its teleport door guarded by a dragon.

Whilst not specifically inspired by Middle Earth, the touches throughout – the aforementioned field with its great tree, the elven-style buildings, the odd Hobbit hole – all give Celestial Glade as shading of Tolkien; one which is acknowledged in a very subtle manner, as careful explorers may note in their travels.

Also awaiting discovery is a wizard’s hideaway, the ruins of a church where weddings might be held, mystical wells and stairs winding around the trunks of trees to reach high platforms. All of this adds to the attractiveness of exploration, as do the local EEP settings, which I would advise visitors to use in order to appreciate the region fully.

Should you not feel in the mood for walking through the region and feel the teleport network risks missing some of the details tucked into valleys and under trees or within gardens, there is a horse rezzer just down the steps of the path leading away from the landing point, allowing visitors to explore from the saddle. Just keep in mind the horse will vanish if you opt to dismount 🙂 .

Relaxing, tucked into a river sound scape, Celestial Glade should come as a welcome retreat for those who needed, and an inviting place for photographers and explorers.

SLurl Details

• Celestial Glade (Chronotis Empire, rated Moderate)