Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld

I received a special invitation from Nessa Nova and Natalie Starlight to pay a visit to the latest iterations of their Lost Unicorn estate, which officially open at 12:00 noon SLT on Saturday, August 7th. As a long-term admirer of their work, which I’ve blogged about numerous times in these pages, it was an invitation I was only too happy to accept.

As this is a preview piece, this article is going to be a little different to my usual travelogues, as rather than offer something of a walk through of the settings, I want to talk about the atmosphere that Ness and Natalie create within their region designs, and why I find their work so attractive and memorable. I’ll also note that that while both regions offer dedicated EEP settings, the images you see here have been taken with one of my personal EEP Fixed Sky settings, as I wanted to offer more of a personal take on the regions and their mysticism – so please make sure you have your viewer set to Use Shared Environment (World → Environment) when you visit.

The Lost Unicorn estate has long been the home of the Lost Unicorn Gallery. Traditionally housed within a great castle watched over by the gigantic form of a dragon and seated upon its own island, the gallery has been home to some of the finest fantasy art, both mixed media and produced from images captured entirely in-world, that Second Life has to offer by some of the platform’s greatest talents.

With this iteration, the gallery retains its castle setting, but with a new building design that conjoins the main region thanks to a narrow stone causeway. The off-region surround that cups the the main Lost Unicorn region and which blends with it to the west and north, also extends south and west, giving the impression that the gallery and castle sit along the sweeping curve of a distant land’s mountainous stretch of coast.

The castle is a stunning structure, one of the most unique in terms of the blending of styles that I’ve seen in-world. Great elven arches combine with burnished minarets as water tumbles from high platforms to form curtains along straight and curved walls of stone within which galleried halls rise one another the other, and doorways unexpectedly open onto open-roofed courtyards and gardens or rooms where skylights allow sunlight to wash walls and floors.

Crowned by a building that combines the looks of a medieval cathedral with a distinctly elven tone as it sits on a saddle of rock, the entire gallery structure is  utterly enchanting for its sheer beauty, the art it contains, and the unexpected little spaces that await discovery – such as the jazz venue and the Storybook Nook.

The Jazz venue is something I didn’t expect to come across. Presided over by Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, it is not a place one might readily associate with a fantasy realm – and yet it works, presents another unique tale to the gallery’s ever-growing story. Soimilarly, the Storybook Nook presents a cascade of memories for those who visited Nessa and Natalie’s former region of Storybook Forest.

Down the steps from the landing point, the causeway to the main region – now called Finian’s Foraois (Celtic for “forest”) – adds a touch of Tolkien to the mix, guarded as it is by the Argonath,  the great carven statues of  Isildur and Anárion. Here, rather than guard the passage of the Great River Anduin as it flows into Gondor, they bracket the entrance to the forest.

Passing through the arch – and crossing into the estate’s Full region – was for me akin to stepping into Middle Earth. Not just because of the presence of the Argonath, but because the forest beyond the rocky veil that sits between the two regions brought to mind thought so Greenwood the Great before darkness fell across it, and a time when the paths beneath its great canopy echoed to to happy laughter of Sindarin elves and men and dwarves could find safe passage through the wood. A time long before it became the brooding shadow known as Mirkwood – although look closely in places, an you will see possible portents of the darkness to come, as baleful eyes here and there appear from within the foliage, glare for a moment and then fade away.

Here, under the shade of the giant trees, paths meander and streams bubble. Deer and rabbit, otter and bear are to be found roaming, and the very air seems heady and light as mist curls and sunlight filters across paths or fills glades with light.

But it is not only a sense of Second Age Middle Earth to be found here, and many influences await those who wander.

There is the little market on the hilltop for example – might it be found in Middle Earth or Middle England at the time of the Knights of the Round Table or of Robin Hood? And then there is the brooding bulk of the second castle, cold stone and heavy walls a world away from those of the gallery castle, and within it more touches of Arthurian legend and the romanticism brought forth by the likes of Thomas Mallory and his Le Morte d’Arthur.

Then there are the garden spots and glades with their own settings. places watched by unicorns and set of afternoon tea. But who are to be the guests? Inhabitants of Lewis Carroll’s world, perhaps, so some others?

This is the magic of Lost Unicorn, a magic that filters through each and every design Natalie and Nessa present. It encourages the imagination to soar unfettered, nudged by all that we see, large and small – as with the eyes noted above. Within it, those who have visited past designs will find threads of their presence – from story books to Celtic tales and medieval myths, all of which cast the mind by to lost Unicorns of the past. At the same time, the settings offer something entirely new place with stories as yet unwritten, where the echoes of elves and knights comfortably rub shoulders with the spirit of the Great American Songbook whilst looking into the eyes of Marilyn Monroe without any hint of jarring juxtaposition or misplaced design.

Thus, the Lost Unicorn estate remains, as always, a place to be savoured as much as explored – and needless to say, rich with opportunities for photography as well as for creating stories abound throughout. Yes, there is a lot for the viewer to handle if you run with shadows enabled, but the effort is more than worthwhile, as you will be rewarded by an immersive trip into a realm of fantasy and legend that is genuinely unique.

SLurl Details

• Lost Unicorn Gallery main landing point (rated: Moderate)
• Finian’s Foraois (Lost Unicorn, rated Moderate)

Biné Rodenberger has once again been busy with her home region of Binemust, building a new space for people to explore. Whilst the ground level retains the layout based on the Bungenäs region of Gotland, Sweden’s largest island – and which I visited last September – the winter sky platform that was present at the end of 2020 (see here for more) has been replaced by a setting that offers a mix of of dystopia, sci-fi and fantasy, all sitting with a landscape that has a touch of an alien feel to it.

A strange and barren place where no plant can grow, but where people of all shapes and sizes can enjoy art, culture and good take-away.

Biné Rodenberger, describing her new Binemust sky platform

Enclosed within a mountainous surround that in places blends with the region to give an almost Grand Canyon-ish feel, the setting can be divided into a number of areas that are both separate to one another and flow together as a complete scene. The largest two of these is the ruins of a town perched on the edge of the canyon’s wall to the south of the setting. Beyond this to the north lies a raised table of rock encrusted with black crystal-like rocks that form an uneven blanket.

Casting a shadow over part of the latter is the strangest of structures: a large platform that appears to be resting on the plateau courtesy of a massive column-like foot. “Appears” because multiple motors arrayed along its underside turn four-bladed propellers look like they are giving the platform stability and actually supporting some of its mass. Perhaps they might be intended to even lift it up into the air…

The landing point for the setting sits between the crystal field and the slope that drops down to the ruined township, a set of open gates set into the long wall that divides town from plateau inviting arrivals to descend the slope and explore what lays beyond the wall. Similarly, a narrow path free of crystals runs along the top of the slope to reach the foot of the strange platform.

Looking like it has been cobbled together over time, the platform offers a conglomeration of living space, commercial area, and what might be working spaces. A chain of floating crystals surround it in three sides, rising step-like around it. A bright arc of energy passes from one to the next to reach one floating directly over the platform’s highest roof, as if it is drawing power from the plain of dark crystals below. A buggy and wreck of a car sit on a deck to one side of the platform, with no discernible way of being removed, whilst on another deck sits a literal flying boat.

Below the platform, the remnants of the city clearly point to it have suffered some kind of apocalypse, but whether this is natural or the result of something like a war is impossible to tell. The wall that divides it from the rest of the landscape looks to be somewhat more recent that parts of the town, suggesting it is a more recent and possibly defensive addition.

Similarly, the relationship between the platform and the city is unclear, although the commonality of languages (English and Japanese) visible in both suggests they might be related. Perhaps the platform has been built by the inhabitants of the town; but if so, what is its ultimate purpose? If not, is it a wandering visitor, here to replenish supplies and gather energy? The story behind both is left entirely up to visitors to write.

Beyond both of these locations to the north of the crystal field is another modern structure in the form of what looks to be communications centre that like the town has weathered hard times, Also to the north is an ancient henge that gives a further fantasy twist to the setting. Oval in shape, the latter is dominated by the living skeleton of a great dragon. Possibly becalmed by a ghostly voice that sings quietly, the dragon sits within the stone arches like Viserion raised by the Night King, but with his flesh and sinews, organs and muscles, all long lost to the passage of time to leave only his great bones as he flexes his wings and periodically rises from his haunches to survey the landscape around him.

Pet, guardian or predator, the role of the dragon is also unclear, its story again left to visitors to tell for themselves. Perhaps it is simply part of the artistic element to the setting – more art (notably by Bryn Oh) can also be found at various points in the town. However, the presence of the henge in which it sits does nicely brackets the rest of the setting with a sense of history, being mirrored to the south and within the water of the canyon by another ancient element: the wreck of a Viking long ship, the familiar signature piece Biné always includes in her builds as a mark of her heritage.

As always with Biné’s designs, the setting is rich in detail, the sound scape offer additional, at times almost haunting, depth, with numerous opportunities for photography waiting to be found.

SLurl Details

• Binemust: The Platform (Binemust, rated Adult)