Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

The Forgotten is a Full region I stumbled upon entirely by chance whilst thumbing through the Destination Guide trying to remind myself of an entry I’d seen a while back but had failed to make a note of. I didn’t find it, but in coming across The Forgotten, I found a region that is quite fantastical and just slightly abstract and well worth a visit.

The work of Elfie Lionsheart (who has the delightful user name of Elfing Shenanigans), The Forgotten is a region that deserves to be seen rather than merely described; a place that is without a singular theme per se, but where imagination and reality intersect to present a place of beauty, mystery and depth.

A magical swamp born from sorrow, lighting the way for explorer’s to follow. A castle in ruin, gardens left to despair. Eyes of lost statues left only to stare. Whispers of sadness from voices long gone, dancing fairy dust left to sing its last song.

– The Forgotten, About Land Description

Sitting under a dome of stars  – or perhaps star stuff, given the fact the a massive full Moon hangs in the sky beyond – there is a sense of timeless age to the setting, together with a sense that it is a place where the tales of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien mix without being overly swayed by one or the other. Or perhaps mix is the wrong term – it is perhaps a place that combines the imaginations of both men to present a place they would both feel comfortable in walking through.

The landing point sits towards the north-west of the island where a huge plateau that rises above the rest of the region, a stone-and-grass table on which sets the castle ruin of the About Land description. A cavern on the opposite side to the path leading up to the ruins is the home of the landing point, fronted by wooden board walks that wind out from it over the swamp also mentioned in the region’s description.

This swamp is a mix of water, green growth, strange plants, giant tress and unexpected creatures – although finding your way free of it might take a little care (hint: look for the anthropomorphic street lamp on a deck and the log bridge to drier land (or alternatively, visitors can continue to follow the and lanterns board walks over the swamp waters to the places that lie within them).

The rest of the landscape comprises a mix of trees, rugged, low hills, overgrown paths, unexpected dwellings and the most engaging ruins and statues, some of which speak to elven influences, others to human while some provide pagan echoes – all of which again combine to add a depth to the setting that is utterly unique. More than depth, they suggest a sense of mythology for the region.

The most impressive of these statues is a great carved stag standing over the swamplands, a proud beast placed on a shoulder of the castle’s plateau, it is the work of Elicio Ember, and its presence marks the second time I have seen it within Second Life in the space of a week, and for me it suggested a spiritual link between the elven influences of The Forgotten and with Elicio’s Mythspire Ridge at the 2022 Fantasy Faire.

Away to the north-east a flat headland pushes a rounded snout out into the water, topped by a wild garden watched over by a dryad. South of this, across a shallow inlet that cuts into the land, sits a more human abode – a store in fact, where one of the region’s more unusual inhabitants patrols: a fat-beaked dodo (and it is not the only oddity perambulating across a part of the region). Not far from here, up a stone stairway, a trio of Romany caravans sit, although whether they belong to people or the cats that have claimed one of them is open to debate.

But as I said, this is a glorious region that should be explored rather than described – and I’ve left a lot of what is waiting to be found out from this article to encourage visits. It is a place that is, despite the sadness within its description, a genuine playground for the imagination.

SLurl Details

• The Forgotten (Peaceful Shore, rated Moderate)

Just about four years ago I visited the Village of Ahiru, a full region themed along Japanese lines with the About Land description indicating the inspiration for the build is the Edo period – although as I noted at the time of my original visit, whilst the core inspiration for the region – home to the Blue Lotus Okiya geisha group – might well be Edo, it is not actually set within that period, as the modern touches to the public areas of the region tend to reveal. Given that four years have passed, I decided to jump back and see what might have changed.

A mixed public / private setting, the landing point for the village is located in the sky, where general information can be found together with free male and female kimono outfits for those who want to dress more the part for a visit. A map of the region just across the landing garden provides both an overview of the region’s layout  – including the locations of the 15 private residences to be found within the village – and click-to-TP labels to the major public areas.

While 15 private residences may sound like a lot for a region, they are all located on the east and southern sides of the region and away from the majority – but not all – of the public spaces.

The parcels for the private homes come in a number of sizes, allowing them to be grouped together without feeling crowded, with the positioning of a couple of public spaces between the main groupings helping to give a further sense of space around them. Most of the houses sit behind hedges and fences, the entrances to them marked by green rental boxes, making them easy to identify (and avoid) – although some of the smaller units are directly approachable along the public paths, so keep an eye out for their green rental boxes on their walls.

The majority of the public areas for the region are located on the north and west side, where a large island is home to the Blue Lotus Okiya theatre, a garden area, the Osen / Oden and the Ochaya tea house, which still commands part of the high grounds in the region. The latter is a custom build for the region, and offers a classic Edo take on these traditional tea houses with their strong ties to geisha. It also looks down to where the Osen and Oden sit.

The main building of the latter appeared to me to be larger this time around than with my original visit, but this could just be my imagination. Certainly the familiar indoor and outdoor pools remain ready for guests. The grounds of the Osen form one of the areas where confusion between public and private areas within the region can occur: an open gate and path lead from the pools at the back of the facility and around a shoulder of rock to one of the smaller rental units – although it is hard to appreciate it is a private abode at first glance.

Reached via bridges, the major residential spaces are mixed with a pair of little eateries and are dominated by the Ahiru temple and shrine. This is located straddling the crown of the highest hill within the region. It is separated in part from the private homes by a finger of water curling around the base of the hill, helping to form it into a headland with water on three sides in part fed from the falls dropping from the hill’s cliffs. A single bridge provides the means to reach the temple.

On the west side of the region sits a largely artificial island nestled between the public spaces to the north and the residences to the south. It is connected to both via bridges, and I refer to it as “largely artificial”, as the larger potion of it forms stone terraces, one just above the waters and the other raised on arches which hide a small dock below them.

The terrace above is set aside for dancing, while the more natural part of the island forms a series of stepped flowerbeds down to the water that are mirrored across the water on the northern island as the land here also steps down to the region’s inner waterways. Facing the terrace island to the south and well clear of the private homes is a small commercial area sitting over stone quays and paths that end in more wooden wharves.

Camming around, I noted that at least one of hidden areas of the region remains, but appears to have been cut off from access. Whether by accident or design, I’ve no idea. However, whilst somewhat redressed since my original visit, Village of Ahiru retains its natural beauty and appeal, making it a worthwhile visit.

SLurl Details

• Village of Ahiru (Ahiru, rated: Moderate)