Tag: Exploring Second Life 2023

An entry in the Editor’s Picks section of the Destination Guide for Lyric recently piqued my curiosity, although I found it a struggle when it came to blogging about – not because there is anything wrong with the setting; it is simply that I’m cautious about writing-up locations that might public spaces and rentals, as is the case here. However, the setting is photogenic, so I decided to take some photos and offer a brief write-up.

Lyric is inspired by the Caribbean Islands of St Vincent and the Grenadines, where the architecture of different eras meet the uniqueness of the Island’s natural landscape. It is composed of three regions streamed together to offer its residents and visitors an opportunity to sail between them. Come live, love, and play!

Lyric estate About Land

This is in fact a couple of regions within a small estate. The first is a Full region utilising the land capacity bonus. Split between public spaces and rentals; it is joined on its eastern side by a Homestead region, both of which have been designed by Algernon (Algernon Bamaisin). A further point to note – as indicated at the landing point via local chat – is that Group membership (free to join) is required to use some of the sit points, etc., found throughout the public spaces.

Speaking of the landing point, it sits on the main road circumnavigating the region. Sitting on the west side of the setting, it lies between an advertising board that repeats the greeting found in the About Land description and the local harbour, with the latter offering the the colourful mix of architecture referenced in that description can be found in the form of shops to rent. Above and behind these sits a small town square dominated by a church and, to one side by a nightclub space offering open-air dancing.

It is here where private and public spaces overlap: the loungers and seating at the club space are restricted to group access, whilst the east side of the square is dominated by two rental homes, the path between them leading to more rentals – these in the form of beach cabins – below, while steps climb the southern highlands to the region, where more rentals are located, public paths winding through them.

Between the raised town square and the waterfront shops sits a narrow alley with a north-south orientation. Accessed where the road runs along the region’s west side, the alley is called, appropriately enough, Gloomy Alley, it is home to some of the seedier aspects which might be found in holiday / vacation spots.

To the east, a terrace with a large pool offers a view over the water to the Homestead region, on which more beach huts are arranged – although at the time of our visit, they did not appear to be for rent. Two smaller island lie off shore, again with seating set to Group. A rezzer down on the beach can provide boats to group members so that they can reach the eastern islands and land mass.

The latter forms long finger of land with the cabins to the south and a ribbon of sand to the north, home to a large pier. Beyond this lies a further full region which appeared to offer a mix of rental and private homes; however, whilst designed by Algernon, it appeared to be under a separate group ownership, so our explorations didn’t extend into it.

Open to a range of EEP settings which lend it to photography, Lyric presents an opportunity for gentle exploration and, perhaps for those looking for it, a home with a Caribbean vibe to it.

SLurl Details

• Lyric (rated: Adult)

For those wanting to obtain a touch of small-town winter might want to visit Aurelias, a Full region private estate held by Gorgeous Aurelia, and primarily designed by Sparkle (Sparkely Sugar).

Covered in a blanket of snow at the time of my visit, and sitting under a blue sky suggestive of a crisp winter’s day, this is a place offering a sense of old-world Americana, centred on a small town square where town houses mix easily with small businesses. The square itself – at least at the time of my visit – was still dressed for the holiday season, with snowmen, present boxes and Santa’s sleigh watched over by his little helpers.

Welcome to Aurelias, a place for all seasons. As you stroll along our shoreline, watch the seasons change and be enchanted by the beautiful scenery. Our lovely town is glistening with holiday cheer and humming with activity.

Aurelias About Land description

It is within the town square that visitors arrive – and will be offered a teleport HUD by which to travel around and which provides links to additional information, such as the Aurelias website. Whether you need the HUD or not is debatable; the region is easy to explore on foot, although the HUD does form a handy aide-mémoire as to whether or not all of the points of interest have been visited.

These latter include St. Aurelias Church, sitting on a hill above the town to the north-west; the Bumble Bee Café and gas station to the south-west the artists’ retreat of the Conservatory, the standing stones overlooking two corners of the coastline, and more.

All of them are easily reached by following trails and footpaths through the snow, bridges large and small offering the means to cross the local stream. As a part of the seasonal feel, the region includes a skating rink – a destination not noted within the HUD’s list of teleport locations, whilst the farm that is listed within it appeared to be absent as I explored.

Whilst this is a winter setting, there are signs that things are started to thaw, that spring is not far down the road; three are turning green and the blanket of snow is here and there holed by grass, moss and flower poking their way through in a promise of warmer times to come.

This promise of warmer days is liable to see the beach running along the west coast become a lot more popular than at the time of my visit. Cut by the mouth of the region’s stream, the beach runs from below a large (and public) mansion up to where the local church sits.

Following the beach past the church will cause visitors to climb a slope and around the north side of the region to one of those islands of green and colour bursts from the snow. Located at the end of one of the town’s roads, this presents a covered area of broken and uneven cobbles sitting above a waterfall, the townward side of which offers a horse rezzer for those who would prefer to explore on horseback.

Continue along the northern coast to its eastern extent and you’ll find the Rainy Café, a place that switches from winter to a sense of being in a tropical location. The snow gives way to grass and gardens sheltered from any off-shore storms by a reefs overlooked by a tall lighthouse sitting just off the coast.

As the name suggests, the café sits within a gentle fall of rain, its interior offers a dry retreat, the terrace just outside protected by the wall-height windows that hinge around their upper ends, and the eaves of the roof above them – although the decks beyond the terrace might suffer from a soaking should the rain decide to move!

A charming location with plenty of opportunities for photography, Aurelias makes for a charming, easy visit – and I look forward to returning later in the year as the seasons change.

SLurl Details

• Aurelias (rated Moderate)

Even before it was selected for highlight in the Destination Guide Editor’s picks, I’d heard that Bo Zano (BoZanoNL) had opened a new iteration of Elvion, and I’d added it to my list of regions to visit ASAP in 2023. I’ve always admired Bo’s work, and over the last several years he has brought us a range of visions for Elvion, and all of them have been utterly captivating and photogenic – and this latest version, once again a Homestead build – is no exception.

An island setting, Elvion emerges from the surrounding waters as a pair of low isles, the larger of the two running east from the landing point, initially as a narrow finger, then broadening out to the north and south, a shallow channel of water separating it from the smaller isle.

Reached via a simple bridge, the latter sits a the home of an ivy-draped cottage, a place that looks at first to be a little homestead, courtesy of the geese (both on the ground and circling overhead) and horses sharing the island with it. However, caught within the same EEP settings as the rest of the region – and which I recommend viewing it under -, this smaller island carries that same sense of mystery and age as its larger neighbour.

A path points eastwards from the landing point, and presents the best means by which to become immersed in that sense of mysticism and mystery. Along the way it passes under great broken columns which have tumbled to form gigantic arches pointing the way towards the ruins of an abbey-like building. Between the first and second of the giant “arches”, the bases of which are marked by exotic puffball plants also of large proportions, is a huge mushroom tree standing at the water’s edge.

Overlooked by a bench, this otherworldly tree marks the start of a way across the shallows – also marked by plants and reeds rising from the water – to where a stone tower rises from the thumb-tip of rock, standing like a guardian – or watcher – over the setting. From this lofty perch (reached by touching the door to teleport up to the single room), visitors can gain an eagle’s view of the main islands and their watery surrounds.

Lit by trees rich in autumnal colours and strung with lights, the abbey-like ruins offer a sense of timelessness; a place where peace holds sway and dreams come easy. Beyond it, a path leads onwards to a shrine caught within the branches of another tree whilst a second leads to the bridge and the second island beyond.

Within the broader part of the main island lay more ruins, suggestive of an outlying element of the abbey – perhaps what was once a small church. These sit at the edge of a stream issuing from rocks which oddly intrude into the ruins, as if the rocks arrive after the building had been built and collapsed.

The steam itself only flows a short distance before it enters the surrounding waters. In doing so, it indirectly points the way to where a swings sits off-shore under the branches of another tree. Close by sits a wooden pier marching across the water, yet itself separated from land by that same water. It offers a further retreat and place for reflection in solitude.

Through the setting there is a uniqueness that sets it apart from previous builds – notably, again, the EEP settings, which offer so much to the immersiveness that other Elvion builds perhaps haven’t quiet reached, as captivating as they have been. At the same time, there is enough within the region that offer links to past iterations – such as the shrine noted above, the two-wheeled cart on the edge of the smaller island and the presence of wildlife and animals throughout the setting.

Some of these – in the form of white stags – both offer a hark-back to past builds and add to the mystic / fantasy feel of this iteration. In this, they are joined by glowing chrysalis butterflies flying offshore and the magical rings of fish circling a Moon chair sitting part-way to the stone tower, the puffballs and mushroom trees and other exotic flora awaiting discovery. When combined, these move Elvion into a realm of the imagination, brought to life by the presence of the animals and wildlife.

Wandering Elvion is, for me, like coming home; there is a comforting sense of familiarity within each iteration of this region I find engaging. And I don’t mean a familiarity borne of similarities of design or the inclusion of familiar elements from one version to the next; rather there is a sense that Bo has an imagination and a flair for region designs I know are always going to be attractive to me; places I can appreciate and spend time within, wrapped in a since of freedom and exploratory delight.

Definitely not a location to be missed.

SLurl Details

• Elvion (Forevermore, rated Moderate)

Funky Banana is a region designer with a keen eye for detail and an imagination capable of presenting settings which can attract and enthral. I’ve covered his work a number of times in these pages, going all the way back to 2016. However, it has been a while since I’ve made any visits, so when Cloud Edge popped up on my radar screen, I decided to set things to rights once more and hop over to take a look.

The last couple of times I did write about Funky’s work was in covering Wild Edge (in 2018) and Summer Edge (in 2019); designs which clearly share a common element in their naming with Cloud Edge. Both of these designs offered much for visitors to appreciate – and so does this one, but in a very different way; in fact, I’d go so far to say that in its disarmingly simple design, Cloud Edge is one of the most imaginative region builds I’ve seen of late.

It is a setting more than adequately explained through its About Land description:

Welcome to Cloud Edge.

A high ground environment based above the clouds, surrounded by mountains. A place to escape, relax and enjoy the views.

And so it is that arrivals find themselves in the mountains, surrounded by high, snowy peaks and lower, snow-free ridges not so far above or below the tree-line that whilst the majority of their vegetation is moss on the rocks and hardy shrubs and bushes, a few stunted trees deformed by wind and cold into krummholz manage to survive. Between these ridges and peaks and the much higher surrounding mountains is a sea of white, the tops of clouds obscuring everything below from view and giving the impression that the peaks, ridges and mountain tops are islands sitting within an ocean of fluffy white.

The landing point is set on a broad wooden deck, also rising above the cloud tops (which are formed using Fluff Clouds by Satomi XOXO), and moored to a slender ridge of rock by a single wood-and-rope bridge. Watched over by a single crow seemingly unaffected by the altitude, the bridge provides access to a rocky path as it skirts around a small peak to run along the spine of the ridge to a second peak, passing the krummholz tenaciously clinging to its flanks.

A further bridge stretches out over the hidden abyss at the end of this path, guarded by a young eagle that periodically takes the air before settling back on a rocky perch. The bridge itself extends out over and into the clouds, vanishing before connecting to land once more. This it does by way of a finger of rock of a semi-regular shape suggestive of interesting wind patterns flowing around these peaks, and which is in turn connected to a further pinnacle of rock via a second bridge.

This bridge is allowed passage through the rock by means of a natural-looking tunnel burrowing its way through the flat top of this peak, which rises higher than the rocky finger to which it is linked, but not as high as the peak at the southern end of the ridge with its footpath. Beyond the tunnel lies a shoulder of rock on which a further deck has been built, offering superb views of the remaining peaks within the region’s boundaries, both of which are isolated from access by foot, and the largest of which features a powerful waterfall facing the deck like a shimmer curtain as it drops into the clouds below.

One of the things I’ve always appreciated with Funky’s region designs is the degree of minimalism he employs. Where others would be tempted to add life to a setting with – say – the addition of birds or animals or further flora, Funk keeps things such that there is know to give life to his settings and no more.

Thus, while it might have been easy it add trees hither and thither, or add mountain goats to “enhance” the sense of elevation, Funky resists, offering only those trees and birds required to underscore the sense that we are indeed at some altitude, allowing the surrounding clouds to speak for themselves. Similarly, the soundscape for the region is kept to the perfect minimum of the lonely moan of wind over exposed rock, the occasional cry of a crow and the slow growth of water falling over rocks as you approach the deck overlooking the falls.

Beautifully conceived and executed, Cloud Edge is visually impressive and offers plenty of scope for art and photography. Those who do so are invited to add their images to the Cloud Edge Flickr stream, whilst visitors are invited to claim a small gift from Funky’s Marketplace store.

SLurl Details

• Cloud Edge (Echo Mountain – rated Moderate)