Category: Reviews

Soyokaze (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Soyokaze (“gentle wind”) is the home and dōjō for the Soyokaze clan, a school for C:SI sword combat, and a RP environment honouring the samurai and the Edo period of ancient Japan. It is also the home of the  Bushido Challenge, which is one of the most involved challenges I’ve yet tried in SL, being both immersive and engaging.

The Soyokaze-ryu can be found on the ground level of the region. Here, set deep within a river gorge, sits a small village, the wooden buildings standing on either side of the gorge, a stone bridge spanning the waters. This place is clearly of of strategic import, as it is overlooked by two stone-built castles.

Soyokaze (Flickr) – click any image for full size

There are opportunities galore for photography here, and clan members offer a warm and friendly greeting. Period costume is not required (indeed, it should be pointed out that the clan is dedicated to preserving the best and oldest of traditions of the Edo period, rather than being set in the Edo period – hence the seemingly odd appearances of things like a soda drinks dispenser, dart board and modern-era gamer’s chairs in some parts of the region). That said, some light role-play does, I’m told, take place within the region at times.

As a centre for C:SI sword combat, the school welcomes enquiries from interested parties, which should be addressed to DomoKun Giotto or Kasumi Hashi. There are a number of combat zones placed around the village, mostly notable the impressive form of the school itself, nestling in the neighbouring valley.   If you’d like to rez props for any photography, rezzing is open, and auto-return set to 21 minutes – but do please remember to pick your bits up if you finish within that time.

Soyokaze (Flickr) – click any image for full size

For those who wish to extend their visit, there is the Bushido Challenge. This involves coming to the aid of Princess Ayuki, trapped in a labyrinth of tunnels by  malevolent spirits, and is – as mentioned at the top of this article – one of the most engaging challenges I’ve attempted in Second Life, and recommend it. But be warned, it does require a fair amount of time (or at least, one or more return visits), and a couple of parts of the challenge can only be solved through the assistance of / co-operation of others.

Assisting the princess is a case of stepping through the teleport portal, found within the village, and then solving seven challenges involving the Bushido code: Gi (justice & morality); Yu (heroic courage); Jin (compassion); Rei (polite courtesy); Makoto (sincerity); Meiyo (honour) and Chu (duty & loyalty). Each challenge is reached through its own portal, starting Gi (although it is possible to take some of the challenges in any order you choose).

Soyokaze (Flickr) – the entrance to the Bushido Challenge

The challenges are all varied in nature, mixing logic, elements of a hunt, learning a skill, solving riddles, exercising good timing, and so on, offering a complex quest in which – for a part at least – you’ll need local sounds audible in addition to having a friend on-hand to assist you. As you solve each challenge, don’t forget to claim your reward from the treasure chests located within each challenge area.

Instructions in places may not be all that straightforward, so if you get stuck and any point, find your way to Princess Ayuki (who stands in one of the tunnels behind a portal), and she’ll offer you some tips / advice.

I confess to not yet having completed the challenge, largely down to running out of time during my initial visit, and not having anyone on-hand to assist in the challenges requiring co-operation, so I cannot say how things finish (and wouldn’t spoil it for you, even if I did!). One thing I will say is that, while I enjoyed those elements of the quest I have completed (and look forward to solving the rest), the one part I’ve had a lot of fun with is the archery challenge. Scripted by Yamil Dagger, this is quiet simply a lot of fun, whether or not you’re playing for prizes – indeed, I’ve since been back for another couple of rounds, simply because it is so much fun.

Soyokaze offers an enticing mixture of a photogenic environment,  the chance to join an established C:SI combat clan, and the opportunity to engage in a quest that has just the right mix of fun, frustration and a growing desire to overcome the mischief of the spirits and reach the conclusion.

Add to that the village tavern, which offers a cosy place to meet and talk with friends and clan members, and Soyokaze presents itself as a very engaging place to visit. Very thoroughly recommended!

My special thanks go to どうも (DomoKun Giotto, who has designed the region and is clan Sōke along with Kasumi Hashi) and to Akiko Yuki for their time in making me feel welcome and facing a barrage of questions, to ジョイ (Kimicko), for her assistance with part of the Bushido Challenge quest, and to Yamil, for his encouragement as I took the archery challenge.

Related Links

• Soyokaze SLurl (Rated: Moderate)

Cantrip De Savor (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Occupying a quarter of a region, Dez Akemi Melomane’s Cantrip De Savor lives up to both of the elements found within its name: it is magical in looks, and a place to be savoured when visiting.

Currently caught in the depths of of winter, it offers an eye-catching retreat from the cares of the wider worlds, edged with a hint of mystery in places. There is plenty for all to enjoy, and the SL photographer is liable to find much to keep him or her occupied, be it in picturing the landscape as a whole, or focusing down on the individual little touches, of which there are plenty awaiting discovery.

Cantrip De Savor (Flickr)

Built around a watery inlet complete with a small island, the land invites visitors to wander the paved road around the edge of the water, away from the run-down gas station and on past the cabin on the hill, the little tea house and store, and the gazebo with its snuggly sofa and cushions, until they come to a hollowed-through tree trunk bridging the water to reach the little island, overlooked by a ramshackle old skiing lodge. On the island sits a charming coffee house, warmly lit and with an outdoor brazier and chairs for the hardy, while beyond it, another bridge leads back to the mainland, where more awaits  discovery.

It’s on the east side of the land that the mystery of the place is perhaps most clearly seen, because it is there one will find sections of an old railway track, improperly laid out, incomplete and seemingly forgotten. Alongside them sits the hulking form of an armoured (and armed) stream train, converted to run on tracks of a different kind, a biohazard sign close by giving a stark warning to all who approach.  Quite what they mean when taken together is up to the visitor to decide, giving the land an additional narrative to be enjoyed.

Cantrip De Savor (Flickr) – click any image for full size

The beauty of this build is hard to resist – were one even to want to offer resistance. The rural look and feel to the landscape, shielded from the rest of the region by tall rocky cliffs and peaks, offers something of a contradiction to the run-down look and feels to many of the structures occupying it, yet both bind into a visually pleasing whole, which comfortably enfolds the more cosy stopping points, such as the little coffee house and Dez’s little Branch store, which sits tucked unobtrusively into a corner.

This is definitely one to be savoured; there’s far too much magic in the air to pass up on a visit – so why not go see for yourself?

Cantrip De Savor (Flickr) – click any image for full size

Related Links

• Cantrip De Savor (Rated: Moderate)