Category: Reviews

Mount Campion is the highest point on the Mainland of Second Life. Sitting on a high ridge of hills running along the north side of Heterocera, it is home to the Mount Campion National Forest, a series of high granite steps that reach almost to the mountain’s green peak.

As the name suggests, the rocky steps and plateaus are home to a rich forest of fir, cedar, maple, birch, beech and more, tall and short, all  casting their boughs over paths and trails that wind up and and down between their trunks and over the rocks, shaded from view above by the umbrellas of green held aloft by the trees.

Designed by Marz (Mar Scarmon), the forest is home to many secrets. Scattered through the woodlands, for example, are houses and cabins. Some stand at the side of the tracks that wind through the park, others within their own gardens, or with gardens close by; some appear as mountain cabins, others are more whimsical in form. All are picturesque when caught under the right light and from the right angle, and most sit at places where the paths through the forest may fork or reveal a new route through trees or between rocks or up to higher elevations or down to some below.

But the houses are not the park’s biggest attraction; that take the form of a series of tunnels and caverns that sit beneath the steps and plateaus of the park, awaiting discovery just behind the cliffs and rock faces.

There are many ways into – and out of – this network of tunnels and caverns. Some sit at the edge of the park’s paths or open unexpectedly onto them. Others lie at the end of trails that break away from the main paths that at first seem to just meander through the trees. Some even lie behind doors found at the bottom of gardens or within the cellars of houses.

It is only once you’re within the caves that you really appreciate how cleverly they have been put together. Using mesh kits and prims, Marz has built a convincing and consistent set of tunnels and caverns that rise and fall, divide and come together, run to dead ends or to walls that hide hidden turns and climbs up or down. Natural in form, many have the look of having been shaped by the passage water (and water can still be found in some). They are lit throughout by flickering torches, while sign posts – the same as those found along the trails outside – sometimes offer suggestions on directions to take whilst wandering through them.

Such is the design, just when you think you’ve seen all there is, something new pops-up, such as an unexpected opening that leads out to another part of the paths and tracks of the forest. Some of these can be surprising because they st close to another opening, but managed to pass notice whilst hopping in and out of that other tunnel. Others emerge from the network on a precipitous ledge that in turn reveals itself to be another path that clings to the vertical faces of the the mountain faces – paths that might otherwise be missed in a too-hurried walk around the park’s trails and paths.

And therein lies another part of the magic with this design: the paths wind and meander, rise and fall, drop through canyons, disappear into tunnels then reappear – but ultimately they all link together, offering multiple ways to explore the park and appreciate all of its many touches – the hidden paths, the statues, and so on, and also its features – gardens, houses, tunnels and caverns.  All of which makes for a rich and rewarding visit.

With thanks to Elora via Annie Brightstar

SLurl Details

• Mount Campion National Forest (Campion, rated Moderate)

Update: Elivon re-opened in August 2021 at a new, Full region location – see my review here. As such, the SLurl here has been modified to point to the new location.

When we first visited Elvion back in early 2019, we found it to be a magical ¼-Homstead parcel dressed as an elven retreat quite bewitching in its design and layout (see: Elvion: an elven sanctuary in Second Life). Later that year, Elvion relocated to take up an entire Homestead region, bringing with it a wholly new design that presented visitors with a setting beautifully suggestive of the open countryside of a national park, complete with distant mountains (see Elvion expands in Second Life).

Sadly, Elvion vanished from Second Life when its designer, Bo Zano (BoZanoNL) and his SL partner, Una Zano (UnaMayLi) opted to take a break from SL. However, Miro Collas, who first alerted me about Elvion back in 2019, prodded me via Twitter over the weekend to pass on the news that Bo and Una were both back in SL, and that Elvion would be opening anew on July 12th, 2020; so we scurried over to take a look.

The new landscape offers something of the look and feel of Elvion’s late 2019 design: there are the distant mountains / hills framing one side of the region, the low-lying grasslands cut by water, and familiar bridges that span said water. However, this is no reproduction of a previous design. There is a lot that is wholly unique to this iteration of Elvion that make it unique to itself and that carries with it a sense that rather than emulating a past build, this is in fact a continuation; that were we to follow the coastline far enough, or perhaps climb over the north-western mountains, we’d find ourselves once more looking out over Elvion’s past landscape.

This is also a place that offers a echo of Elvion’s more mystical elements. Tucked away behind a screen of giant oak and fir trees, for example, lie the overgrown ruins of a gigantic cathedral-like  structure (a clever kitbashing of Mark Inkpen’s Chapel Ruins, a long-time favourite of mine).

Rising from among the trees, this is a place where water drops from high on the walls, flooding its lower floor even as more water bursts from rocks at the base of one wall. These rocks may one have been part of the foundational stone on which the great building had been established, but they have been rudely thrust upwards by some cataclysmic event that perhaps brought about the structure’s ruin. For those who wade across the shallow flood waters, a set of steps lead up to where a fountain awaits, doves keeping watch on the stone benches alongside it.

Away from this mighty ruin, and across the low-lying grassland and the swift-flowing river flowing through it, lies a smaller ruin, this one of an old tower. It is reached via two wooden bridges that use a long, slender mid-stream island to span the fast-flowing waters. Fed by falls tumbling from the north-western highlands, the waters of the river have a crisp, cold look to them, as if they are largely melt water originating in the snows of the mountains, so the bridges are a welcome means of reaching across them.

The eastern bank of the river shares offers space to both the tower ruin (with the curio of an old barber’s chair sitting within it) and a small summer house converted into a cosy bedroom. The latter also has a little fenced garden close by, offering one of the regions many places to sit – another can be found just to the north of the old tower, where a bench swing hangs from a high bough.

It is around the summer house and old tower that the richness of Elvion’s wildlife can be particularly found, as deer graze amidst the lush grass, watched over by birds, and heron sit patiently on the rocky banks of the river, awaiting lunch in the form of a passing unwary fish. In addition, elk can be found on the island and close to the cathedral ruins, while geese circle overhead and seagulls ride the breeze over the region’s eastern bay.

The presence of the animals and birds again echo past Elvion designs whilst adding that attractive sense of depth we like to see in region designs. They also add a tweak of humour as well – keep an eye out for a couple of members of the Rat Pack and two of the Three Stooges who are hanging around the island (I understand the third Stooge and another member of the Rat Pack might get to be added!).

Finished with a rich sound scape, and with much more hidden away awaiting discovery (do keep an eye on the region’s coastline, as there are one or two little areas of peace and solitude tucked away!), Elvion once again presents a natural setting perfect for exploration (including via a wearable horse, if you have one) and for photography.

SLurl Details

Elvion (Tempted, rated Adult)