Category: Exploring Second Life

The house on my right was a colossal affair by any standard–it was a factual imitation of some Hôtel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion.

– “Nick Carraway” in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

These are the words that strolled through my head when I came across the Destination Guide entry for the current build at One More Light’s home region in Second Life. Even before reading the accompanying text, the image for the entry had me leaping to thoughts of the palatial West Egg home of the enigmatic Jay Gatsby in Long Island and the focal point for much of what occurs in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s enduring novel.

So you can imagine my pleasure when on arriving in the region I found the primary building within it – a grand hotel – named for Fitzgerald’s ultimately tragic character. However, this is not a further take (for there have been several in SL) on the novel or any of the films it has inspired, but rather a vacation and events venue established to offer visitors a taste of the roaring 1920s and the opportunity to help raise funds for RFL of SL’s 2022 season.

As a Relay for Life of Second Life (RFL of SL) team, One More Light were the recipients of the 2021 Spirit of Relay award, and Gatsby’s is their latest themed fund-raiser for RFL.

Within the setting, you can not only be transported back to the 1920s in style, but you can also book a room at the hotel during its main fund-raising period (which opens on May 5th and runs through until May 15th, 2022), and be free to make use of the hotel’s facilities and attend the various events being held throughout that period (and which are also open to the public at large – as is the the hotel and its grounds, outside of the rooms and suites for guests).

Wearing 1920s regalia is not a stated requirement for visitors, I would suggest those opting to stay at the hotel might be advised to do so, and period costume can also help immerse casual visitors to the setting – something that is helped by the novel approach to getting to the hotel.

Rather than dropping people in front of or within the hotel, the landing point delivers visitors to a road tunnel below the hotel. Here, a period car can be rezzed and used to drive up to the hotel. The car may be a British MG Roadster dating from the 1950s, but it suits the mood of the setting and offers a nice touch.

Emerging from the tunnel, the road presents itself as a cobbled coastal way running along the shore of Long Island beneath a bright summer sky. It would have perhaps have been nice to see the “weather-beaten cardboard bungalow” Carraway stayed in as one sweeps around the long curve of road that ends at the entrance to the hotel, but again: this isn’t intended to be a take on the book itself; Gatsby is simply a title by which to evoke the period – although that didn’t stop me looking for possible links (real or imagined!) to Fitzgerald’s novel.

Cars can be parked in the walled and fountained courtyard below the hotel proper, where a trio of period vehicles already sit. Note that one of these is a prize in a raffle to help with the hotel’s goal of raising funds for One More light and RFL, and has been donated by Surplus Motors.

Up the steps from the car park sits the hotel’s main building. Whilst not a great stone-built edifice in the style of Gatsby’s mansion, this wood-face giant shares some common elements with its namesake; the frontage either side of the entrance has what appears to be relatively young ivy climbing the walls, intended to evoke a feeling of age, for example. The grounds sit as a mix of formal and informal gardens and lawns, whilst the rear wings of the main building embrace a terrace suitable for hosting the overspill of a grand party such as Gatsby was renowned for throwing – even if he rarely participated.

The ground floor of the hotel holds the majority of the public spaces: the reception, lounge, restaurant, bar, coffee house, gentleman’s billiard room and indoor pool. The floors above offer as range of rooms and suites that can be reserved via the booking form noted above. At the time of my visit, an art gallery looked to be in the process of being set-up, the doors from which providing a means to access a terrace on the north side of the hotel that spans the gap between it and a grand galleried theatre, complete with stage and ideal for hosting events.

For me, a further touch of Fitzgerald’s story can be found towards the rear of the hotel. Below the winged terrace, and reached via twin stairs, said a lido and swimming pool. While an inviting and charming setting, it carries with it faint echoes of (particularly) of the climatic scene with Robert Redford’s Gatsby in Jack Clayton’s 1974 film. This is made all the more poignant for those looking for elements of the book (again, I would emphasise, such are not the focus of the setting, but rather nice-to-find hints – whether intentional or otherwise – for those who do enjoy the story) is the little pier extending away from the grass and beach below the pool. Looking at it, I could almost imagine Gatsby standing there, wistfully looking out to where the green lit of the Buchanan‘s dock light blinks.

But whether or not you are a fan of the book (and / or its multiple film versions), the Gatsby Hotel makes for photo a worthwhile visit for photography and for helping to raise funds for RFL of SL.  Congrats to Lily, Abigail and the One More Light team for their hard work.

SLurl Details

• One more Light: Gatsby Hotel (Magical Garden, rated Moderate)

In October 2021, Hera (zee9) opened a setting inspired by the historic English port of Whitby, Yorkshire and the role it played in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It was a rich setting, deeply evocative of the tale of Stoker’s Dracula, Victorian Gothic horror and the period’s fascination with death, the afterlife and immortality; and I wrote about it at the time (see: Visiting Dracula’s Whitby in Second Life), although such is Hera’s creativity, the town folded into the mists of time to make way for another of her designs.

However, for those who missed it back then, I’m pleased to say that Whitby is back once more, and Hera is hoping to leave it and Goatswood standing for longer this time around whilst she works on another setting. As I visited Goatswood a few days ago (and writing about its return in Hera’s Goatswood returns to Second Life), I hopped back to have another tour of Hera’s Whitby, keen to see what had changed.

As I noted by in my 2021 article, Hera’s Whitby is not so much drawn upon from the real place – although it does touch upon aspects of the town (such as its history as a whaling port, the presence of the great abbey ruins, the long climb up to its location overlooking the Esk river valley, and so on) – but more from the fictional world of the legend of Dracula.

However, what I perhaps hadn’t appreciated at that time was the manner in which Hera’s build had been influenced by Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 film Dracula. The fault in not noting this back in October 2021 was purely mine rather than any lack of clarity on Hera’s part; I confess the film is something I’ve largely blotted from memory due to the complete miscasting of Keanu Reeves in the role of Jonathan Harker.

But Reeves’ performance aside, the slant towards the film gives the setting an interesting twist, as do the ways in which Hera has altered this iteration from her October 2021 build.

Take for example, the manor house occupying the hilltop near the abbey ruins. In the first iteration of the setting, this leant more towards the actual manor house said to have been built from stone taken from the ruins of the abbey; here it has been replaced by a structure intended to evoke Boleskine House, the one-time residence of Aleister Crowley. Also, the famous church sitting alongside the Abbey ruins has completely gone, now replaced by a Saxon ship burial mound.

Whilst the original Boleskine House once stood on the south-east side of Loch Ness, its relocation to Hera’s Whitby is not entirely out-of-place. In his time Crowley was (among other things) a noted occultist and ceremonial magician – themes not entirely removed from the ideas of mysticism, immortality, black arts and magic that tend to get bound up with stories of Dracula and vampires. Similarly, the ship burial cavern isn’t entirely out-of-place given the Esk estuary was home to an Anglo-Saxon community (and indeed, the town was the home to the first known Anglo Saxon monk, Cædmon).

Elsewhere, this version of Whitby maintains direct links with the original build. Down on the waterfront one can still find the Spouter Tavern (celebrating Whitby’s links to whaling), and just down the street from it still sits the funeral parlour named for Madame Helen Blavatsky, whose thinking and writing did much to elevate matters of the occult, spiritualism and life and death amongst Victorians, and so may have indirectly influenced Stoker in his writing.  Meanwhile, at the back of the manor house and through its gardens, what might have been Lucy’s tomb once again awaits visitors.

The setting also retains its atmospheric EEP settings – although I’ve intentionally used day settings here, so please make sure you have your viewer set to Use Shared Environment to fully appreciate Hera’s work. As well as suiting the vampiric theme of the setting, it gives Whitby a touch of the Lovecraftian; a rich mysticism with and added sense of the unknown.

There is also a wealth of detail awaiting discovery here, from the streets of the town to the catacombs beneath the Abbey ruins. In this, visitors should pay particular attention to the manor house, which has a wealth of detail that both builds on the setting’s theme and reflects the life of Aleister Crowley (up to and including his presence on the dining room wall). Do note that these touches are not limited to the rooms within the manor; there are also some to be found under it and within the gardens to the rear of the house.

As with Goatswood, this iteration of Whitby is reached from the region’s landing point, dressed now as a railway station. Just take the red train by clicking in the open carriage door, and you’ll be whisked to Whitby’s little railway station. From here it is possible to either walk down into the town or up to the abbey and manor. While it is not required, I would suggest going to the former first, then climbing the steps up to the abbey from there; it helps capture some of the feel of the physical Whitby, and allows you to become more immersed in Hera’s setting.

Those visiting are further invited to dress for a visit if they so desire – Victorian, vampire or steampunk (Whitby town is home to regular Steampunk Weekends) – but this is not mandatory.

SLurl Details

• Goatswood / Whitby Landing Point (Cloud Lake, rated Adult)

A labour of love that was created during a time of healing and personal growth. It symbolizes new beginnings and hopes for a better future. The destination is open for all to enjoy and is the perfect place to relax alone or with a loved one.

– SL Destination Guide entry for Anyas Awakening

I was led to Anyas Awakening after reading the above description within the Destination Guide recently; it struck me as so heartfelt that I had to pay a visit – and found a setting that is utterly engaging in its mix of natural beauty, mystique and fantasy.

Occupying a Homestead region, Anyas Awakening appears to sit under a night-time setting (or at least, that’s how I found it during separate visits each lasting a couple of hours apiece, promoting me to use my preferred daytime setting for the photos seen here). The landing point lies to the north of the region where a large gazebo sits within a forest glade. A note card giver lies between it and the archway leading to the rest of the setting, although at the time of my visits, it was not responding to being touched.

The trees around the landing point give the first hint as to the wooded nature of the rest of the region. A path runs down under the arch of the landing point to where it joins a trail crossing the region in a north-east / south-west orientation. Across this trail from the landing zone’s path there rise a set of steps leading up to a raised glade sitting at the base of high cliffs.

Running due south, the glade ends in another set of steps offering the way to where the ruins of a church stand, and aged courtyard to one side and a paved path that turns east to where a bridge spans the waters at the edge of the main island to reach a smaller one that serenely floats above the water, another place of worship or celebration that carries a unique human / elven mix that makes it an attractive destination.

Whilst it may once have been a place of worship, the church now looks to be used as a place of calm retreat and music; a garden of peace and calm where doves and deer have gathered. A piano sits within the ruins as a haven for butterflies, while candles reflect their light in a polished mirror.

More ruins lie within the mid-level glade below the old church and also atop a rise at the north-east end of the main trail, where they can be reached by a further set of steps.

These latter ruins also contain a sense of peace and retreat, a swing hanging from one of the stone arches facing the carved figure for the forest goddess. Her form can also be found at the south-west of the trail, where she stands over the waters of a pool fed from falls that drop from a horseshoe curtain of cliffs.

Within this simple description there is much more waiting to be found; from swings to seats to walks among the trees, while statues and carved figures, together with lights strung within the branches of shrubs and trees add to the setting’s mystique. Wherever one roams, the woods are rich in the sound of bird song, while deer keep an eye on all the comings and goings and the sound of piano music drifts on the breeze from the church (five options are available from the piano, but perhaps the most well suited piece in Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata).

I’ve no idea quite what Anya experienced that led her to create Anyas Awakening – and I’m not about to pry; knowing isn’t important. What matters is the fact that the setting she has created offers a most serene and refreshing retreat, rich in detail and form, with opportunities for photography aplenty. For those wanting to spend time in quiet contemplation, reflection or simply regathering their wits, I can think of no better place in which to do so.

SLurl Details

• Anyas Awakening (Palila, rated Moderate)

My first introduction to the work of Hera (zee9 – then known as Kora) came getting on for a decade ago, when I first visited Venexia and Goatswood, two separate builds developed for role-play. At the time, both were popular spots for visitors, with Goatswood possibly the more popular by virtue of its more general setting.  However, both departed Second Life in 2015 and while Venexia has reappeared from time to time since then, I think I’m right in saying Goatswood has largely been absent the grid. At least until now.

As pointed out to me by Cube Republic, Goatswood is now back (for a time at least), sharing Hera’s region with an updated version of her Whitby build (which I wrote about in October 2021 (see Visiting Dracula’s Whitby in Second Life), which I hope to get to in the next few days; for now I want to focus on Goatswood.

Welcome to Goatswood

Well it is that time again when I get the call of the wild and must return to Goatswood 🙂 . It is a virtual Victorian Gothic novel [and] was always my favourite region of all the ones we created for RP 10 or so years ago. For me it had a real heart and soul that the others lacked; many people passed through it and made homes there. The role play was IMHO as good as it gets. This version is very different as there is no game set up, but I feel that for me this version is better in many ways I hope you like what you find.

Hera (zee9)

Set in the period 1860 – 1900, Hera describes the village as being somewhere in the Midlands of England – although I always felt it to be closer to the Cotswolds, something perhaps referenced in the fact that Hera modelled the basic design of Goatswood on Castle Combe, Wiltshire. It was developed specific for easy-going role-play set within that era, and while that may not be central to this current iteration, there is little doubt that Goatswood very much retains the heart and soul of the original.

As is common with Hera’s recent builds, Whitby and Goatwood share a common landing point, both being on the same region. However, for this iteration of the builds, the landing point has also undergone a change, now having about it a touch of Harry Potter, presented as it is as a railway station with two steam trains are drawn up to the platforms. The red train to the right (when looking at them) offers a journey to Whitby, while the green train calls at Goatswood. Just click on the carriage through the open door to be transferred to the required destination.

Those who recall the original Goatswood may well recognise elements of this version – the railway station, the Roebuck Coach House, the church – but these have some subtle difference within them. The Roebuck, for example, now has a grand carving of a stag above the main door, while the church no longer has a steeple atop its tower. These, together with other changes to the setting that allow this iteration of Goatswood to stand apart from its namesake as a quiet independent setting, rather than an mere copy.

One of the major attractions of the original Goatswood was the care with which it had been built; there was a real sense of place in the way the village and its surroundings had been put together. This is also present within the new iteration. Anyone familiar with the Cotswolds or, more broadly, the counties of Oxfordshire,  Worcestershire, or Warwickshire as a whole will realise the beauty of Hera’s build richly replicates the beauty of the countryside through those counties.

Exploring the region is something for which a good deal of time should be apportioned. While many of the houses may be shells, there is nevertheless a richness of detail awaiting discovery along the paths of the village and along the gardens. Those buildings – such as a Roebuck Coach House, the church and manor house, plus a couple of places outside of the village itself (which I’ll leave to you to find 😉 ) – do have interiors waiting discovery.

The setting also retains much of the mystery of the role-play that formed a part of it – including a couple of places I confess I don’t remember, which is not to say they weren’t present back in 2013/14, when I made my original visit. While these may not be present to encourage role-play this time around (Hera requests anyone wanting to more than explore and take photos contact her first), they nevertheless further help bring the overall mystique of the village to life once more.

Goatswood is the story I never got around to writing, about a place that never existed, where I would have loved to have lived. It is a world full of haunted places, Gothic folk tales and shadowy occult mysteries. It is set in a time when attitudes were just beginning to change due to advances in science and technology. And yet this advance caused a counter reaction in many, who tried to revive older folk traditions and beliefs in Magic.

In the countryside most people still carried on as they had done for hundreds of years. They still retained a strong belief in natural magic, folk tales and herbal remedies, and yet they had their feet planted firmly in the reality of a hard working life on the land. A really great example of this can be seen in the recent television miniseries “The Living and the dead”.

– Hera (zee9)

Now I am an acknowledged “Hera fan” and so am obviously naturally drawn to her work. However, if you have never seen one of her regions before, or if you have never had the opportunity to appreciate Goatswood, then I urge you to take the opportunity to do so now. It is one of the great classics of Second Life.

SLurl Details

• Goatswood / Whitby Landing Point (Cloud Lake, rated Adult)

It’s been some 18 months since I last dropped into Whimberly, the homestead region held by Staubi Reilig (Engelsstaub), so given the fact the last time I visited it was in the autumn of 2020 and we’re now in springtime, I thought I should hop back and have a wander once more.

Once again, the region sits within a ring of mountains and offers a mix of gentle lowlands and rugged low hills. To the north-east the lowlands hold a broad meadow, rich in yellow alirium, ringed by a dirt track. It sits as the widest point of the island, the rest of the landscape curled around a finger of water that reached inward to its centre.

Waterfalls tumble from some of the higher ground to the east into what may have once been a pool of water all on is own, but which has broken out to the south and north to meet waters that may have once been a deep inlet to the west, to leave the centre of the region as a slender ribbon of land reached by a pair of humpbacked bridges.

South and west, the landscape forms the more rugged parts of the setting, a path climbing away from the landing point and the field to run over the top of the waterfalls to pass a hilltop cabin before dipping down to a roll through a bowl of land to either reach a watery terrace below the cabin, or offer a route on south around the region, both paths watched over by deer.

Take the path on around the southern side of the land, and it will eventually bring you to another cabin sitting at the end of a tree-lined walk. But before getting to it, there is the option to take a right run and cross the waters via one of the dainty bridges and reach the middle island. Here people can enjoy tea on a deck extended out over the water or cuddle in the neighbouring rowing boat, or pass on a little further to where a more formal picnic can be enjoyed, together with time on the swings behind the blanket – just don’t upset the rabbits!

A second bridge allows people to cross back to the north-east finger of hills that border the field and landing point, offering a coastal walk to where the region’s “land office” is tucked away, complete with coffee on offer outside and a path back to the field and the landing point.

The cabin to the south-west is perhaps the most substantial building in the setting, being a mix of stone and wood. One of Cory Edo’s distinctive designs, it looks out to the west and a shingle-and-rock beach that has a small  bay of its own as the land runs northward once more between open waters and those flowing outwards from the middle of the region.

Both of the main cabins are cosily furnished for those looking for a temporary retreat and sit-down / cuddle, each with its own outdoor spaces – the watery terrace notes earlier and, for the southern cabin, a little coastal area below the house, complete with a pair of chairs for enjoying the view.

Those who continue north along the peninsula extending away from the southern cabin will find another place to sit out on a little boat moored next to a rickety pier and beyond it, through a cut between two rugged hills, a little hut set out for fishing (which a little chipmunk appears to be enjoying!) and a chance for some hearty stew or some eggs whilst appreciating the view back over the water to the slender middle island.

As ever, Whimberly is again rich in details awaiting discovery, with lots of opportunities for photography, all rounded-out by a super soundscape. It thus retains its reputation as once of SL’s ever-popular public regions in which to spend time.

SLurl Details

• Whimberly (rated: Moderate)

Where the soft breeze of the sea wind touches your face, where you smell the fruits of the trees. Where in the evening the flowers spread their smell, where life is simple and slow, and your glass of wine always filled.

– From Lemon Trees Mediterranean About Land

So reads the description for Lemon Trees Mediterranean, a Homestead region design by Lian (LiandavK) that I’ve hopped into a couple of times over the course of the last month or so, and have finally managed to sit down and write about.

As the name suggests, this a public setting with a lean towards the Mediterranean, although it is distinctly a place of two halves. Lemon Trees Mediterranean refers to what might be regarded as the main part of the setting, offering a high landing point amidst aged ruins on a plateau top, with a pair of villas sitting below it, reached by a long stairway that descends the finger of a hill pointing south.

The first of the villas sits bounded on two sides by water, one of which is actually a bay that cuts into the landscape. The villa, with bell frame raised to one end, has the look of a converted chapel about it; a long, single-floored building with what might have once been the priest’s room alongside. Now it forms a simple house, the courtyard outside given over to a place for music and dancing, the far end of which forms an open-roofed bar.

The second villa sits half way up the hill, tucked into two shoulder of rock, one of which forms the base of the landing point plateau. It is more suggestive of a private home (but one open to the public rather than an actual private residence), with a light snack set out on the table on the terrace, the house simply but comfortably furnished. Modest rows of vines are growing on the slopes below it, suggesting this is a working home, whoever occupies it taking the time to produce their own wine – so perhaps the bar at the second villa is their means of selling their produce to any visitors who drop by.

Both villas have views to the south and east, the latter looking out over the waters to where the sea has carved the rocks of a ribbon islands, and the view more directly sough looking over the bay to the southern end of the region.

This southern end of the region can be reached via a tree-shaded path that runs due south from the steps leading down from the landing point. It sits as a somewhat different location to the villas, being set out as a spa complete with its own landing point bounded on three sides by coastal waters. Most immediately facing the walk leading to it is the main swimming pool, its waters warm and inviting, wooden decking stretching out from one side around an aged tree to form a place set for music and barbecues.

Beyond the pool, and setting between it and the southern beach, sits the main spa building, complete with further decks on its beachward side. The building offers a mix of environments: the main section providing lounges, a bar and dance floor; the smaller section presents what appear to be private bedrooms / treatment rooms.

This is an interesting setting in that the spa area is signed in different places as “PG” and “Adult”, although the region itself is Moderate. As such, the signage may appear to run counter to Second Life maturity ratings, but it is intended to give fair warning that some of the furnishings to be found within the smaller section of the spa building and out on the south deck include Adult animations and poses. The spa also has its own group (free to join), but this doesn’t appear to be a requirement for access to any of the areas within it, or to the “Group Access” elements of one of the sets of teleport discs found throughout the setting.

There are also various activities available as the spa – the smaller of the two swimming pools has poses (including dives into the water), there is a sign that can be touched for swimming in the Linden water, a jet ski rezzer. All of which add to the spa setting. For those who want a little more privacy, the north-west corner of the island offers a secluded sing sitting over a rapidly flowing stream that drops away from the local waterfalls.

All of which makes for an engaging visit with some excellent opportunities for fun and photography.

 SLurl Details

Auto 1 is rated Moderate.

• Lemon Trees Mediterranean
• Lemon Trees Spa