Tag: Exploring Second Life 2021

It’s been over a year since my last visit to ARNICAR India’s Homestead region, making it long overdue for a re-visit. So when Shawn Shakespeare sent me the LM for the winter 2021 setting, it served as a reminder to get my boots on and go pay a visit.

Sitting beneath a twilight sky that gives the setting something of an other-worldly feel, Between Autumn & Spring offers a marvellous winter setting that is one of the cosiest and most romantic I’ve so far visited this winter. This actually comes as no surprise, given ARINCAR’s eye for detail.

The primary landmass rises from a frozen body of water, a low-lying, if semi-rugged island. Somewhat oval in shape, it is crowned by a tall house occupying the flat top of its rocky spine. Warmly furnished, it sets the tone for the rest of the setting’s touches of fantasy, comprising two floors connected by an external ladder that climbs one wall to reach a balcony outside of the bedroom.

Ringed by trees, the house sits on a hill that, under its blanket of snow, forms a series of broad steps down to the lowlands between it and the frozen water. Stone stairs pass down the slope to the south, passing by way of the setting’s landing point and onwards to a garden space marked by an old stone wall. From this, paths around the outer edge of the island offer routes of exploration – and there is a lot to see in following them.

To the east, for example, a bridge supported by balloons passes over the ice to reach a little circular bump of rock that, in spring and summer, would be shaded by the broad span of the oak tree that sits upon it. A second bridge, rough in form, then leads on to a second small island and and a covered skating rink offering a seasonal diorama.

From the main island’s north shore extends a finger of land pointing to a solidly built ruin of a building that has been converted into a summer house. Inside, a fire burns in the hearth, and the table facing it is set for two to sit and enjoy a slice of Christmas cake – or cuddles on the room’s large bench seat.  Westward, meanwhile, and across the ice where children skate, sits a second pair of islets. The larger of these offers an old greenhouse that has also been converted into a summer house. But how to reach it in warmer months when the water is no longer frozen might appear to be a problem – until one remembers the ice-locked rowing boat moored at the east side islands.

In and around all of these locations are multiple places to sit, vignettes to admire and photograph, and views to appreciate. Along the edge of the main island for example, visitors will come across a couple of snowmen (courtesy of Cica Ghost, and not the only pieces by her awaiting discovery) looking for all the world like an elderly couple out for a snowy stroll – and possibly not appreciating the cold in the air, going by their expressions!

Or there are the penguins who have clearly staked a claim to two more rowing boats. These have been pulled from the water and then unturned on a wooden deck to prevent the snow from filling them and so form the perfect perch. Meanwhile, out on the northern promontory, deer watch the comings and goings of visitors, unperturbed by their presence, and a couple of ptarmigan appear to be discussing the weather  – or possibly whispering hopes that no-one decides one of them might be better gracing a festive dinner table!

Throughout the setting are multiple places to sit, indoors and out, some of them providing views of these and the other vignettes awaiting discovery, other providing places to simply sit and think – or cuddle – and take photos. Fireplaces, again both indoors and out, help keep some of these warm whilst other might best be enjoyed wrapped up against the cold and drifting snow.

Rich in whimsy and seasonal delights, ripe for photography and wrapped in a charming soundscape, Between Autumn & Spring is another graceful setting by ANRICAR, and not one to be missed.

SLurl Details

• Between Autumn & Spring (Everlong, rated: Moderate)

Luane’s World is a region I’ve oft visited over the years, it being a popular destination that is always rich in detail and visually impressive through every iteration, thanks to the care region holder LuaneMeo pours into it. However, I have to admit it has been a few years since I last visited when it has been dressed for winter. Hopefully, this post helps rectify that fact.

For 2021, Luane presents a rural setting centred on a frozen body of water bordered by lowlands to the south, west and north and highland to the east, the latter also forming the region’s landing point, safely fenced off from the cliff edges and risk of falling to the lake below, while two routes of exploration extend away from it.

The first is via a high bridge spanning one of the three channels into the lake; the second takes a set of steps down the eastern slope to where the path splits north and south. The northern arm of the path points the way out for the region and into the adjoining residential regions Luane also operates, and which sit outside of this article. The southern arm of the path offers a route around the lands surrounding the lake, eventually meeting the path away from the landing point and the high bridge by the landing point.

The highlands across the bridge are home to an open air café presided over by bulldog riding mini Santas while their “little” helpers (who are a good deal taller than the Santas, if shorter than us!) take care of stuffing sacks with goodies. Alongside of them a long, snowy slope runs westwards to join the path circling the lake.

A relatively gentle incline, the slope can be walked down (or up), but for those making the descent, a sign board at the lip of the slope offers the chance to take a sled down the hill – just watch out for the gentle curve in the slope   and the slight risk of hitting some low stone marking the far side of the snowy trail!

Being frozen, the lake is ideal for skating, as proven by the penguins zipping and dancing across it (plus one Emperor Penguin who appears to have decided skis are a much better option!). Those who wish to join them ca find skates available at the little pier on the western shore, close to the box bridge crossing another of the channel leading into / out of the lake.

This pier is also home to a  – wait for it – bumper car rezzer. While this may at first sound odd, allowing for some unevenness in some the ice elements on the lake, the cars can be a lot of fun for scooting around the lake and offer three different modes of driving, depending on whether you want a quiet pootle or engage in a little friendly competition with friends – just do be aware of any skaters (including the penguins!) also on the ice.

For those seek a little respite from the cold, the lowland offer a number of places visitors can retreat into; a total of five cabins and cottages are available, all furnished and ready to offer a touch of warmth to counter the snow – although one might take a little bit of locating 🙂 . Also awaiting discovery is a cave with a touch of Christmas spirit hidden within it.

Beautifully laid out, easy to explore, rich in opportunities for photos, Luane’s World remains a delightful place to visit.

SLurl Details

• Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu – Winter (Le Monde Perdu, rated Moderate)

“It’s small but I wanted to be able to add details,” Tolla Crisp told me after inviting me to visit her winter setting, an offshoot of her Frogmore (and Mousehole) regions (although quite separate from them). I have no problem with small settings, even when a complete Homestead region is concerned, because small can often be better.

In the case of Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region, small brings us a  little and engaging touch of Tolla’s homeland, as she notes in the About Land description:

A tiny Swedish Village of childhood memories, snow covered landscape, warm Fika Shoppes, and the light sound of Reindeer paws.

For those unfamiliar with fika is at the heart of Swedish coffee culture, a social institution involving the practice of taking a break with a beverage and snack that is widely accepted as central to Swedish life. Traditionally, it involves a cup of coffee enjoyed with a pastry, although the coffee can be replaced by alternate hot beverages such as tea and hot chocolate, and juices and squashes for children. In addition, the term can also be used to mean an informal meeting, generally within a business and between management and business.

Crisp Kringle offers plenty of opportunities for both. Along the little village street  can be found a little fika café where a hoot drink and pastry can be enjoyed indoors, while a couple of outdoor spots offer either hot chocolate or mulled wine for those needing a warming of the hands an tummy without necessarily wanting to stop and sit a while. And while the idea of a fika and a meeting might be couched in business, here it also relates to the way people can visit, meet, explore and enjoy entirely informally.

From the icy landing point, the street rises by a series of steps to pass between various small businesses (including one with a sense of being Santa’s workshop) before descending down to another frozen body of water. This is large enough to support some ice skating (skates available via a sign on the ice), with the ice certain think enough to support a lot of weight, despite someone having hack a hole through it  for some ice fishing, as evidence by the reindeer (large and small) stress testing it from time to time with heavy jumps.

Also to be found are cabins where further warmth can be found, together with opportunities for cuddles, or the for daring, an outdoor, coal-fired hot tub awaits.  While for those who fancy a quite skate away from the main pond and the town, a small pond sits over the hills.

Small, but with a lot of detail to be discovered and photographed, Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region offers a nice winter setting with just a hint of Christmas to be found within it without a hint of the usual schmaltz to spoil it.

SLurl Details

• Crisp Kringle – Frogmore Christmas Region (Malfurion, rated Moderate)

I’ve already said I’m a Hera (zee9) fangirl. So when an IM from her drops into my chat window, it immediately grabbed my attention:

Hi there, you may remember me saying in a notecard a couple of build back that I most likely would never do Neverland, well just to prove myself wrong I just did, thought you might like to visit.

– Hera (Zee9) in telling me about her latest build

And with that, I was reorganising my list of places to visit and then on my way to visit another chapter in Hera’s evolving story of Neverworld settings, places born of the imaginations of children; places of escape and fantasy that, as we grow up, become increasingly hard to find as the paths become overgrown and eventually lost to the demands of work and life.

Neverever Land is a place that holds within it touches of J.M. Barrie’s tale of Peter Pan, Wendy, the Lost Boys and Captain Hook whilst offering a setting that is undeniably born of Hera’s creativity. It also starts with a story – a further chapter concerning Jane (Wendy’s daughter from the epilogue F.M. Barrie added to his original story of Peter and Wendy four years after its publication) – and introductory  notes. Both should be read in full before proceeding further.

With the story and notes read, it’s time to enter the house and – as with some of the recent builds that have carried us into Herea’s Neverworld – is to find the story book the will carry you to Neverever Land, and I’ll use her worlds to introduce it:

The Neverever land exists at the edge of dreams just before the wall of sleep.
It is not like the real world,
even though it may at times seem very familiar.
Yet Neither is it the land of sleep and dreams,
Because the people there are all awake.
It is created from what is left in memory of the real once the mundane has faded.
A place of wake dreams or daydreams.
What happens there is not real,
But might change forever that which is.
It is the neither neither land.
The funambulatory path between the worlds.

Hera (Zee9) describing Neverever Land

And so we find ourselves in an] circular archipelago of islands rising from a glass-like sea that captures their reflections through a mist of surf. Only it’s not a sea nor surf; we are in fact among the clouds, the islands floating in a world of their own, surrounded by more distant peaks. The central island has a peak of its own that rises from a sandy beach landing point, a path spiralling upwards to where the first of several stone bridges connect most of the islands one to the next, while two rope bridges complete the possible connections from landing point to islands, so providing multiples roots by which to explore.

In taking a leaf from J.M. Barrie’s book, the setting is rich in motifs. There’s the Lost Boy’s camp, a garden suitable for Tinkerbell, a cavern that perhaps forms Peter Pan’s hideaway, a further camp that might be seen as the home of some of Tiger Lily’s tribe, and out on the water, a pirate ship that might be that of Captain Hook. Perhaps the clearest motif of all, however, is the crocodile; even if he does seem a little… tied up … in things in one location!

This is a place very much where visitors have space to find places to sit and relax without being overcrowded in any way. There are also – as always – plenty of opportunities for photography.

After the intensity of recent builds such as Whitechapel (see here for more) and Whitby (see here), Neverever Land presents a distinct and relaxing change of pace within Hera’s recent designs; as such it makes for a very different – but nevertheless equally imaginative – visit.

Slurl Details

• Neverever Land (Island of Jahesa, rated Adult)

For a brief time in August / September 2021, Hera (Zee9) brought back her fabulous role-play environment of Shadezar to her home region. An iteration of her Kingdom of Sand build, it may well have have originally been inspired by Shadizar The Wicked City, from the Conan sword and sorcery stories by Robert E. Howard; stories set in the pseudo-historical “Hyborian Age”, a time “after the destruction of Atlantis but before the rise of any known ancient civilisation”.

I wrote about the build alongside of Hera’s equally captivating Venesha in Sharing in Hera’s Dreams and Visions in Second Life, shortly after which Shadezar relocated to a new home in the sky above Majilis al Jinn, another role-play environment that might be considered from a similar swords-and-sorcery setting within it own uniqueness.

Both setting are located within a Full region utilising the Land Capacity bonus available to private Full regions and held by Atossa (herminetic). Atossa actually invited me to reacquaint myself with Majilis al Jinn back at the time I visited Shadezar back in August, so my apologies to her for having taken a while to get to actually write about her setting, which has been designed by Atossa and Calein Flux.

The two locations are linked by a central landing point, where visitors and role-players can gather all the information they may need prior to visiting either location.

Shadezar is very much as it appeared with Venesha on Hera’s own region, offering those who missed it earlier in the year to enjoy exploring and finding the many opportunities for photography and imagining Howard’s world  – even if his Shadizar was described as a centre of thievery and debauchery. Given I have previously covered it, I’ve focused primarily on Majilis al Jinn within the photos here.

An island of worn ancient cliffs sheltering a garden of wonders; Lost for countless ages in the midst of a vast ocean, home to Jinn, Elves and gentle spirits.

– Majilis al Jinn description

Teleporting from the landing point will deliver arrivals deep underground, with one of several routes of exploration – out to the sands of a beach, through tunnels to hidden caverns, or up winding stairs and straight stairways leading off of rooms and chambers of their own, to reach the main build with its gardens and grand palace.

With its open rooms, curtains, water features, and high central dome, the palace has a sense of comfortable coolness whilst offering plenty to see whilst winding stairs lead up to rooftop pavilions and seating. It is also within the palace visitors can find an art gallery containing reproductions of classical painting that are offered for viewing pleasure. This gallery also includes a teleport disk, one of several to be found throughout the setting to help people find their way around. the ground level points of interest.

Nor is this all. For those one enjoy something a little different, the teleport disks also offer access to two further sky builds: a space station for the sci-fi oriented, and a Warbugs airfield for those who fancy a little aerial combat.

Rich in detail, a pleasure to explore and with opportunities for resting and photography, Majilis al Jinn, together with Shadezar and the other destinations in the region make for an engaging visit.

SLurl Details

• Majilis al Jinn / Shadezar (Sands of Time, rated Adult)