Category: Reviews

I’ve followed the work of Kaiden Tray (KaidenTray) – together with his long-time collaborator and RL wife, Pandora Ceridwen Tray (Voodoo Macabre) – both in the design of dedicated designs under the KTL Destination brand and on behalf of other region holders since 2018, and was recently intrigued by a series of notices issued via the KTL Destinations Group about a new development: The Halloween Experience: Salem 1692.

Specifically developed as a Halloween 2026 experience, Salem 1692 is another joint presentation by Kaiden Pandora. As the name suggests, it presents a return to the period of the Salem Witch Trials, offering both a come-as-you-please opportunity for exploration or to participate in guided tours – as well as special events.

A point to note with the couple’s work is that it is always exceptionally well-crafted; they combine design, atmospherics/environment and soundscape, and this is especially true for Salem 1692.

Do please use the Shared Environment settings why visiting the Full private region utilising the Land Capacity bonus from LL – if you find it on the dark side, a lantern is offered at the Landing Point, so just ADD that to your avatar. Also make sure you have local sounds enabled.

As noted, the region is open to come-as-you-please explorations (given the period and theme, dressing the part might be fun!), and there will also be guided tours exploring the history and folklore of Salem and its dark witch trials.

The latter are pay-to-participate activities, with the core details being:

• Tours will be held every Friday, Saturday and Monday through October, commencing on Saturday, October 3 – see the poster to the right.
• Tickets are L$500 each, available via the Marketplace or a kiosk at the region’s Landing Point.
• Tickets are for any single tour – you don’t have to buy a ticket for a specific date. They are on a per-avatar basis and are transferable (not Copy), so you can purchase one and give it to a friend.
• You should be available in the region at least 10 minutes prior to the start of any tour (with your ticket!). Late arrivals will not be able to join the current tour.

In addition to the tours, there will be  a further series of special VIP events featuring the Legends Cabaret Dancers and Burlesque Dolls. Details on these will, according to the information provided on the experience be made available via “notices in the in world groups, social media accounts, or Discord where they will be sold”.

And if that weren’t enough, there will be a range of entertainment events, such as 3 hours of music on Saturday, October 3, starting at 14:00 SLT with Coralie, followed by Mimi Carpenter at 15:00 SLT and Amforte at 16:0, at the Forbidden Fairgrounds. Again, details of any additional event will likely be announced through the Group, etc.

When visiting on your own, explorations commence on the east side of the region at the run-down docks. From here the best path is inland past the shipwright’s warehouses (and the teleport board linking key points in the region), to the houses behind – where a Teagle horse rezzer can be found for those wishing to explore on horseback.

Note that there is an active SL Experience within the region – so do accept this when you encounter a request from the Bee Designs Experience. If you don’t – you’ll be missing out!

Not all of the buildings in the setting – understandably – have interiors, but those that do could be worth looking inside J .

The overall atmosphere of Salem 1692 is very well done – and the lamp given at the landing point will be required during a thorough exploration. While the main paths through the region are obvious, they are not the only route – so keen eyes might be required to find everything.

Even the juxtaposition of things like a modern(ish!) Ferris wheel, sky spinner and other modern fairground attractions don’t look entirely out-of-place given the region’s overall theme. One might even say that, huddled in a corner of the setting as it is and even with its own spooky touches, the fairground sits in a little trepidation of the rest of the haunting and darkness across the region.

And I have to admit, the drum kit and telegraph pole in the ruins of the chapel at the Forsaken Revival Grounds look like they belong there. Although heaven knows what locals in Salem village would have made of the amp and speaker sitting on the stage 🙂 .

There are a few rough spots within the region where physics might need adjusting – on exiting the fairgrounds, for example, I ended up walking up through the roof of the church gate there. However, these are far enough apart not to interfere with overall enjoyment.

In all, an engaging, immersive and fun region for exploration rich in detail – I’ll look forward to perhaps jumping in on one of the tours.

Slurl Details

• Salem 1692: The Halloween Experience (Wandering New York, rated: Moderate)

Sitting on the west coast of Satori is Cedar Trails, a Full region presenting an Oregon coast themed region-wide park. The work of Artie Huntsman (Fresita Doll), it is a location I found out about via the SL Trailblazer Atlas, which I recently covered in these pages.

However, the fact that I did should not be taken to mean this is a location only of interest to horse riding enthusiasts – it is beautifully put together and offers a lot to see, do and photograph throughout, whether or not you’re on horseback.

Cedar Trails is a peaceful mainland destination inspired by the Oregon Coast. Enjoy peace among pines, coastal views, and quiet paths. Visit & stay awhile. Enjoy our restaurant, coffee shop, bar, event space, hiking & access to sailing.

– Cedar Trails About Land description

The water access mentioned in the About Land description refers to one of two coastal bays presented by the park. This bay provides a rez zone, allowing boating fans to access Satori’s coastal waters and – just across the local water corridor – the waters of one of the Bellisseria Houseboat theme areas. This makes Cedar Trails an ideal destination for anyone wishing to sail / boat up to the park from their Linden Home (and gain a BBB passport stamp).

The second bay provides more of a beach area reached by passing by the park’s trio of chalets (available for rent?). These sit between the two beach areas, and a short walk downhill from the Landing Point.

The latter sits in the south-west corner of the park, elevated on a table of rock above the waters running into (and out of) the rez zone bay. This comprises a mix of general facilities – information / welcome centre, which includes a useful map of the park and its points of interest, refreshment stations, little shops for campers and a social space and events area.

The Landing Point is also where those wishing to follow the trails on horseback and who don’t have their own horse, can take to the saddle via the Teagle Horse rezzer – click the tethered horse for one to ride, then right-click and sit on the rezzed horse (you may need to disable any AO before sitting), and you’ll also get a riding HUD.

As you depart the Landing Point area on foot or horseback, you’ll pass a sign about the Cedar Trails Stone Collection. In short: as you explore, keep an eye out for the painted stones scattered along the various trails; touch them as you find them to obtain a copy. There are 108 stones to collect, each with a lifestyle message painted on it – but I’m not sure if all 108 are put out together or whether they are rotated in groups; during my visits I only found stones numbered between 30 and 60. Certainly, putting them out in groups perhaps offers greater opportunities for re-visits by those wanting to collect and entire set.

A small hint here is that many of the stone can be found on or near the Cedar Trails trail signs.

The paths through the park are numerous and present lots of choices for the keen explorer, together with passages to various points of interest – look-out points offering good views / photograph opportunities, a meditation / yoga area, waterside camping area, swimming areas, and more.

The park offers a mix of trees – Norwegian spruce, Ponderosa pine, wild pine and the mighty Redwood –, plants, flowers, and underbrush. All of these, coupled with the mix of elevated landscape, gentle slopes and rocky cliffs, outcrops and peaks make Cedar Trails marvellously attractive; a landscape lending itself to a range of EEP settings other than that provided as the Shared Environment.

If there is one possible negative to be had it is perhaps with the lack of additional horse rezzers. Cedar Trails presents multiple places where one can dismount and perhaps take a seat – but doing so will cause any of the locally-rezzed Teagle horses to be deleted after about a minute.

So, if you are using one and wish to resume your ride, there is no way to do so without walking back to the Landing Point.

But that said, and as noted, walking is a perfectly acceptable means of exploring Cedar Trails – and possibly preferred given the beauty of the setting. Keep an eye out for the little details – an otter having fun, a log drifting on the current from a waterfall, the birds overhead, the tunnel to the swimming hole – and possibly the coolest rubber duck around.

Those wishing to socialise during a visit can sit down to a table-top game at the RV camp area, which sits just off of the main Landing Point and neatly set to present the idea vehicles here have just arrived via the local road tunnel.

Neatly done given the overall limitations of terraforming on the Mainland and highly photogenic, Cedar Trails is well worth visiting and exploring. Props for photography can be rezzed on joining the local Group, if required. However, given auto return is off please do remember to clean-up anything you put out!

So – happy trails!

Slurl Details

• Cedar Trails (Whitemud, rated Moderate)

So, a brief Exploring Second Life this time around – but hopefully a quirky and fun one, featuring a rather unusual and a little small destination.

Museums are a popular form of expression in Second Life – and rightly so; Second Life is recognised as a valid tool for education, and museums are an ideal means of self-learning. Developed and curated by German resident Novadien, The Museum of Curious Laws (Museum der Kuriosen Gesetze) does exactly what it says in the name – presents a series of laws from around the world which are decidedly curious – and in doing so presents an opportunity for visitors to educate themselves as to what might or might not be a recognised law somewhere in the world, or perhaps more of an urban legend or something similar.

In presentation, the museum offers a “law” in the form of a large poster-style information board (in both German and English) with the law and its country / location of origin. some of these board go on to offer some of the reality of the situation, some provide clarity on what has come to be misunderstood about a law – such as with the Japanese “Metabo” Law of 2008; some level the question open as to whether or not it might be real.

In all cases, greater clarity to be gained by clicking on the Law Case File beneath each poster. This will provide a notecard delving into the law and its basis in reality or – as with the so-called “UK Parliamentary Death Ban”, the more urban legend nature of a “law”.

The Museum is not overly large – it sits on a 1024 sq metre parcel and has just two open-plan floors. However, this makes it an ideal visit without becoming too repetitive or onerous. Instead, it sits neatly into the area of quirky curious, which both helps it live up to its name and make for an engaging little visit.

Slurl Details

• The Museum of Curious Laws (Kankovan, rated Moderate)

SL Trailbrazer Atlas is a Group / resource founded and operated by Lara Toge (Ghostly Dismantled) specifically for those who enjoy horse riding in Second Life. It operates through multiple channels – the Group, an in-world resource centre, on Discord (invite only), and via a dedicated website.

In all truth, I only recently became aware of SL Trailblazer Atlas, and given horse riding has been a favourite of mine to which I recently has cause to return (see: Of a Grumpy Troll and Two Loons in Second Life).

The core aim of the Atlas is to provide all horse riders in Second Life with information on:

• Places where people can enjoy horse riding along trails and paths, either using their own horse or (where offered) via a horse rezzer.
• Detailed information – maps, trail notes, landmarks, length of time required to complete a ride, level of difficulty, potential hazards, etc., – on the trails and paths, to make sure riders are as informed as possible.
• Where applicable, and local riding events organised by the region holders / estates hosting the trails.
• The opportunity to leave a Trip Advisor-style mini-review via the website on any trails travelled.

Every trail rider in Second Life knows the frustration: you set off to explore somewhere new, only to run straight into dead ends, missing rez zones, or unexpected ban lines. I built the SL Trailblazer’s Atlas to fix this; creating one trusted, central place to find great trails, not just any trails. Most of all, it is here to highlight those breath-taking hidden gems that always get lost in standard search results.

– From the SL Trailblazer website

The best route for initial engagement with SL Trailblazer Atlas is the in-world resource and the website.

• The in-world resource centre provides:
  • An A to Z of maps of all currently-recorded trails across Second Life. These are a mix of single regions and multi-region estates, broken down into alphabetical groups.
  • Each map shows an outline of the trail(s) available at each location, and is clickable as an information board.
  • Clicking on a map will deliver a folder providing: a texture map showing the trail(s), a landmark to the start-point for a ride; information specific to a ride – areas that are off-limits to riders, potential hazards, whether there is a local horse rezzer available, etc., (potentially subjective) comments on region crossings; general information on the host region, generally provided by the region holder / admin.

• Among its resources, the website provides:
  • General information on the group and all resources.
  • An A to Z of recorded trails, similar to the in-world breakdown, but obviously not delivered to inventory)
  • A calendar of riding events.
  • Information of navigation HUDs available through the Marketplace which lend themselves to trail riding in SL.
  • The reviews pages mentioned above.

Additionally, the in-world Group and the Discord server provide the means for general conversation and feedback.

In use, SL Trailblazer Atlas delivers on its promise. While some of the in-world maps on the information boards are in an odd ratio, the textures provided through the folder on each location are – in the case of single-region riding – adequate to help in making your way around. However, if you do need to reference a map, I would suggest pulling up your chosen route via the website and flip between the map there and the viewer.

I took the opportunity to use the Atlas to find a couple of trails to ride – Cedar Trails (which has an upcoming Exploring SL article which will be appearing in these pages very soon) and the Lunamere estate (also due a write-up from me in the future). The former was perhaps the easier ride, as it is in the Great Outdoors, and so more amenable to horse riding, but I trying enjoyed both.

If you’re into horse riding in SL as a rider, a group organiser or stables owner, I really do recommend utilising the SL Trailblazer Atlas or contacting Lara in-world or via the website (who is also looking for assistance in running the Atlas!) if you haven’t already. Also, if you’re aware of a riding trail that isn’t recorded as a part of the Atlas (or indeed, one that is no longer available), then please do let Lara know via the website submission form.

Related Links

• SLTrailblazer Atlas HQ (Crimson Valley, rated Moderate)
• SL Trailblazer Atlas Website