Tag: Natthimmel

Konrad (kaiju.kohime) and Saskia Rieko are back with another iteration of their Nathhimmel Homestead region. It’s a place I always enjoy visiting as Konrad and Reiko offer imaginative takes on places, myths and events from the physical world, and I’ve covered it on numerous occasions in these pages.

For the latest iteration of the region, Rieko and Konrad have turned to mythology of South America – specifically that of Viracocha (aka Huiracocha), a creator deity originally worshiped by the pre-Inca inhabitants of Peru, and later appropriated by the Inca.

The stories and legends surrounding Viracocha highlight his role in the creation of the universe, the Sun and the Moon, and humanity itself. According to tradition, after forming the rest of the heavens and the earth, Viracocha wandered through the world teaching men the arts of civilisation. As such his character is complex, blending elements of a god of creation with those of a wandering deity who brings knowledge to the people – and while he came late to the Inca Patheon, the cult of Viracocha is regarded by some as having been more important than the cult of the Sun god.

Given the complexity of his role in various mythos, Viracocha had a long list of titles, such as the Old Man of the Sky, Lord Instructor of the World and the Ancient One, and went through multiple transmogrifications. Legend claims he created peoples then destroyed them before recreating them and educating them before dispersing them across the land. As a wanderer, he journeyed widely teaching and instructing before departing across the Pacific Ocean – and as Kon-Tiki, Viracocha was said to have brought Inca culture to Polynesia.

With Vira Cocha, Konrad and Saskia present a personal take on the legend, complete with their own telling of the tale, which can be obtained at the Landing Point (click the Info sign).

The setting presents a landscape surrounded by mountains and water, suggesting a lake island – perhaps one on Lake Titicaca, where Viracocha is said to have created the the Sun and Moon – and indeed, a huge Moon, as if freshly-made, sits low in the sky. Carrying a sub-tropical jungle feel, the land forms a U to enclose the water that also surrounds it. Paths offer a route around the land, carrying visitors to various points of interest.

The latter are many and varied and offer a series of unique elements to the build. Statue-like rocks stand as echoes of the legend of Viracocha creating people from stone. Then there are pod-like structures raised on stilts; they are not of an Inca design and their smooth surfaces and looks give them an other-worldly – or at least a futuristic – look. Mixed with these are very contemporary elements – surf boards, the wreck of a truck converted into a beach shack, modern-looking wooden decks offered as hang-out spaces; all of which combine to give the setting a sense of mystery and welcome.

Hints that this is South America are provided in various little touches of detail  – Capybara, snakes, flora, all of which contribute to the depth of the setting. A real sense of mystery can be found to the north-west side of the island, where the path around the headland is marked by small bonfires, as if lighting the way to a place of night-time rites. They encourage one onwards and around the headland.

An engaging setting, well worth exploring.

SLurl Details

• Vira Cocha (NewMoon, rated Moderate)

For May – the start of which has become somewhat indelibly linked with science fiction over the last several decades – Saskia Rieko and Konrad (kaiju.kohime) bring us their own epic sci-fi tale; one with its roots in a galaxy-spanning civilisation called the Ythari.

Born long before most others, the Ythari were driven by their insatiable intellects, boundless ambition and an overbearing pride and arrogance which perhaps led to their downfall.

The Ythari once ruled over a vast and enigmatic galaxy known as Veilspire — a name derived from its most haunting feature: a towering, luminous rift that cuts across its heart, like a tear in the fabric of space-time. This anomaly called the Axiom Rift, existing in the very centre of the galaxy, is believed to be the result of their final and most ambitious experiment — perhaps even the very thing that led to their disappearance.

– from the records of Dr. Khiraan Valis

Konrad and Saskia have always produced richly engaging settings within Second Life, often drawing on inspiration from locations and event on or from our physical world. Ythari – Echoes of the Silent Stars, however is utterly different in theme and tone – although its depth easily equals that of any of the previous designs the couple have presented. Whilst it might not draw from events and locations we might all directly research, instead being born entirely of the imagination, it nevertheless comes with a rich back-story; one capable of forming the basis of a novel from the likes or Asimov, Heinlein or James S. A. Corey (aka Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) for an entire novel.

Mixing a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for understanding with towering abilities and intelligence, the story of the Ythari is one of a galaxy-spanning empire built not on war or dominion, but on the foundations of science, intellect, and an ability to conceive everything within their galaxy from the quantum level to the macro, without any apparent discontinuities of scale.

Veilspire was no ordinary galaxy. Unlike the spiral and elliptical galaxies known to modern astronomers, its structure bore evidence of deliberate engineering. Star systems arranged in mathematically perfect formations, gravity-defying megastructures orbiting black holes with impossible stability, and entire regions where time seemed to flow at inconsistent rates, with the centre of the creation, The Axiom Rift — all hints that the Ythari did not merely live in their galaxy, they designed it with the development of The Equation of Being.

– from the records of Dr. Khiraan Valis

It is also a tale of galactic overreach and a hubris which – perhaps inevitably – could only result in one of two outcomes. Outcomes which themselves might perhaps be indistinguishable from one another, thanks to the passage of aeons and when looked upon through the eyes of a far-future humanoid race stumbling across the crumbling, but still magnificent relics the Ythari left in their wake.

As they neared the completion of their greatest project — an attempt to rewrite the fundamental laws of reality — they miscalculated. Or perhaps they succeeded too well. One by one, their great cities, planets, even the whole solar systems fell silent … The Ythari simply… ceased. Their towering spires, their quantum archives left behind as if abandoned in an instant. No bodies. No signs of struggle. Only silence and the mysterious humming of the abandoned Axiom Rift.

– from the records of Dr. Khiraan Valis

To best appreciate the setting, make sure you have your viewer set the Use Shared Environment, and you have media set to play (at least initially in the case of the latter). The arrival point will provide you with the back-story in the form of a records / log entry by one Dr. Khiraan Valis, an archaeologist dedicated to uncovering the mysteries of the Ythari.

The latter is played back over the computer screens and consoles at the landing Point, and really is worth listening to. For those who prefer, the same information can be obtained by clicking the traditional Natthimmel greeting (and setting name) on the ground of the Landing Point, and accepting the offered folder. This contains a notecard with the  information given within the narration. For those who do listen to the audio, I would strongly suggest pausing media playback (click the movie camera icon / button towards the top right corner of the viewer’s window), as the narrative track can otherwise overwhelm the ambient sounds within the setting.

Stormy, eerie and caught under a roiling, almost angry Expanse in which the eye of a galactic core balefully stares from one horizon, this is an environment for which words – genuinely – are not enough. Beyond the consoles and systems at the Landing Point, as left by Dr. Valis and her team, this is an assuredly alien setting. Within it, a water-like sea slips into a low-lying landscape. This initially appears to be dotted with strange tree-like groves. However, closer inspection reveals them to be more rock-like than organic – or perhaps they are the fossilised remains of something; and while there is the odd tree to be found, organics as we might recognise them are few and far between.

Even the paths laid across the water have a geometry about them that feels alien. None lead directly from A to B; instead they seem to be some kind of mathematical expression, as much a part of the gigantic towers and other structures within and floating over these strange lands.

Broken, decaying, and ominous even when countered but the roiling heavens beyond them, these structures are riven by massive discharges of energy, themselves accompanied by rolling booms which fall upon the ears as the funerial beat of drums. Whether these discharges are is being generated by whatever remain powers keep at least some of these artefacts raised in defiance of gravity, or whether the explosions of light and energy are the angry response of the atmosphere to their hulking presence, is yours to determine.

Not all the structures are airborne or massive; floating on the waters are polygonal forms, cables and relays on them looking as if they might have once drawn power from the waters – or discharged it into the waver over which they sit. They sit around the remnants of the great towers as if part of their ancient function. Steps climb the interiors of the towers, while outside of one is an indication that the Ythari might not have vanished completely.

The very few who dare to explore their ruins tell of anomalies time fractures where the past leaks through, machines that seem to remember their creators, and strange, whispering voices that seem to come from nowhere. The Ythari may be gone, but something of them lingers. Watching. Waiting.

Beautiful, visually impressive, rich in narrative and creativity, edged in mystery and a hint of dread, Ythari – Echoes of the Silent Stars is a magnificent journey of the imagination.

SLurl Details

• Ythari – Echoes of the Silent Stars (Natthimmel, rated Moderate)

I first encountered the region designs by Konrad (Kaiju Kohime) and Saskia Rieko, hosted on their Homestead region of Natthimmel (Swedish for Night Sky), in May 2023. At the time, they were offering a visually immersive interpretation of Göbekli Tepe, Turkey (see: A Night Sky with a touch of history in Second Life), and I was immediately captivated; like the late Serene Footman and Jade Koltai, Konrad and Saskia had captured the essence of a place within the physical world most of us would likely only witness through on-screen images and film, and allow us to explore it in person.

Since that time, Saskia and Konrad have continued to offer settings and environments reflective of the world – indeed, in one case, the cosmos – we inhabit. I’ve never failed to be awed by their work, the span of their creativity and imagination; thus, I’ve attempted to record much of their work in these pages.

For early 2025 (having opened on February 26th, 2025), they have drawn on a tragic feat of exploration from over 100 years ago – and done so in so subtle a manner, the core might easily be missed. At the same time, their canvas is so rich, it still has the power to speak volumes to us on the nature of life and the human condition.

Terra Nova presents a frozen environment caught in the twilight common to our polar regions; ice floes hug the cold, green waters, their frigid surfaces rippled, pitted and crumpled from endless collisions and as a result of freezing / thawing / freezing in confined pools of water forcing them to fight one another for space. Around them stand great towers of ice suggesting they are hiding the vast bulk of their mass below the waves, as a full Moon hovers on the horizon, its size magnified by the depth of atmosphere through which it is seen.

In the distance and dark against the horizon, stand the blocky forms of human habitation, lights visible while the lamp of a floating warning buoy flickers close by. They act as a siren call, drawing people across the ice and the planks painstakingly laid across and between the floes. As the structures are approached, they reveal themselves as huts built on the ice, whilst a colony (or perhaps a waddle, if they are actually just passing by) of penguins quietly disclose the fact this is somewhere in the Antarctic. But where? And what might this place be?

A ship’s harpoon sitting on the ice alongside the largest of the huts, together with the canvas boats moored on the water suggest this is a shore-based whaling station. The fact that it is possible to see the graceful forms of humpbacks breaching the surrounding waters might well support this, and it is certainly one direction the imagination can run fully and freely. But there is another.

On the 15th June, 1910, the converted sealer Terra Nova departed Cardiff, Wales, for Antarctica. Originally built as a whaler in Scotland in 1884, the ship already had a proven career operating in both Arctic and Antarctic waters as a sealer, survey / exploratory vessel and in recovery operations for other expeditions. In all, her career lasted almost 60 years, coming to a sad end in 1943; however it was that departure from Cardiff in 1910 that marked perhaps her most famous voyage, as she was the transport for the last expedition to the Antarctic continent led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott.

Beset by issues and misfortunes from the start, the story of Scott’s Terra Nova expedition is most keenly remembered for the the tragic loss of the attempt to reach the South Pole – the overall focus of the expedition – which resulted in the deaths of all the men who made the final trek to the the Pole, only to find their rivals led by Roald Amundsen had reached it first. It is this tragic and now legendary “race” that is commemorated within Konrad and Saskia’s Terra Nova – and done so in a most poignant manner.

Alongside the Landing Point is the traditional Natthimmel welcome, sitting just over the water. Clicking it will deliver an information folder, within which can be found a poem, a beautifully framed and told lament to Scott and his expedition.

“Do you know of the land-walkers who came here once?”
asked the elder whale, his voice a ripple through the water.
The younger one flicked her tail, sending a stream of bubbles upward. “Many have come, many have gone. But I sense you speak of a tale worth telling.”

“Ah, yes,” the elder murmured. “A tale of struggle, of ice,
of those who dared to race where no fin could guide them.”
The younger whale listened as the elder sang of the land-walkers who arrived on a ship of wood and iron, calling themselves explorers.

– extract from Terra Nova, by Saskia Rieko

Through this lament, which quotes a part of Scott’s final entry in his diary (dated 29th March, 1912), the setting falls into place: the huts crouched on the the ice stand as a reference to those the expedition variously established – most notably Scott’s own hut (which stands to this day) on Cape Evans, Ross Island; the harpoon reminds us of the heritage of the Terra Nova herself; and whilst Scott’s expedition took place in the long days of Antarctic’s summer, the twilight lighting of the setting.

Meanwhile, the landscape falls into place as both the ice shelf from which Scott’s final three teams set out on the attempt to reach the South Pole and the hardness of the frozen landscape with which they had to contend, while the haunting audio stream (do make sure you toggle the accompanying audio stream on when visiting, it is offered as a haunting alternative to local sounds) accentuate the magnificent desolation – to quote another explorer of an altogether different age – of the frozen continent and the isolation faced by Scott and his men.

While the lament serves as a reminder of the sad end of Scott and the four men who joined him on the final trek to the South Pole – Edward Wilson, Lawrence Oates (who, stricken by frostbite and scared he was becoming a deadly burden to his colleagues, was said to have stepped out of their tent to his death in a blizzard with the quietly-spoken words, “I am just going outside and may be some time”) Henry Bowers and Edgar Evans – it also perhaps serves as a commentary on those of us concerned about the continued maltreatment our planet and how we might be remembered (if we are remembered at all) in the future –

“Even in the end, they thought of those they left behind.”
The younger whale exhaled a plume of mist. “A sad story.”
“A true one,” the elder corrected. “And in the deep, the truth matters.”

– extract from Terra Nova, by Saskia Rieko

A truly heartrending setting when seen and heard in context, Terra Nova is fully deserving a visit and contemplation.

SLurl Details

• Natthimmel: Terra Nova (NewMoon, rated Moderate)

In the heart of the Yukon, between the small, forgotten towns of Mayo and Chicken, lies the enigmatic Misty Lake. This secluded body of water, perpetually cloaked in a thick, eerie fog, is a place where silence and shadows dominate.

Thus opens the Destination Guide description for the Misty Chicken Lake, the latest (at the time of writing!) landscape designed by the Second Life partnership of Konrad (Kaiju Kohime) and Saskia Rieko, and located within their Homestead region of Natthimmel.

I have no idea if Misty Chicken Lake is purely a place of the imagination or whether it has been inspired by a lake somewhere close the the Yukon  / Alaska border, but I can say that the towns of Mayo and Chicken do reside there; Mayo sits on the Canadian side of the border and Chicken on the Alaskan side, separated by some 250 km as the crow might fly  – although by road the route is longer!

Part of this route  – again, assuming the Mayo and Chicken of Canada / Alaska are intended to be the same as those mentioned in the setting’s DG description – passes along the Top of the World Highway, running from the wacky world of West Dawson (home to locals such as Caveman Bill, who raises chickens in a cave whilst himself living in another cave close by) to Little Gold Creek (aka Poker Creek on the US side), where the friendly joint border crossing resides, before continuing onwards into Alaska, where a turn onto the Taylor Highway will bring travellers by raise and fall and twist and turn, to Chicken.

Misty Chicken Lake, Nathhimmel, November 2024 

Certainly, this remote part of the world has more than its share of hills, mountains, woodlands, lakes and rivers, so inspiration might have been drawn from one such body of water along what is regarded (when open to traffic – which tends not to be the case in winter, I believe) this most isolated and get-away-from-it-all holiday trails for the adventurous. However, given its overall description and design, I suspect that Misty Chicken Lake owes far more to Saskia and Konrad’s fertile imaginations than anything the physical world might offer. This is something perhaps supported by the rest of the setting’s engaging Destination Guide description:

This secluded body of water, perpetually cloaked in a thick, eerie fog, is a place where silence and shadows dominate. Tall, ancient pines encircle the lake, their dark green needles shrouded in mist, casting ghostly silhouettes along the shore. The trees seem to guard Misty Chicken Lake, their towering forms swaying slightly, as if murmuring secrets to the fog. Even on still days, a damp chill clings to the air, hinting at mysteries hidden deep within the shadowy waters. Locals say the pines remember everything, and that under a full moon, the forest whispers to those brave enough to listen.

From this description, it should seem obvious that Misty Chicken Lake is a place of mystery, caught under a perpetual, misty evening sky out of which surrounding mountains loom as pale phantoms rising into the darkness overhead, at times hidden from view by the darker fingers of the many pines occupying the lake’s shores and inland areas. The night setting lends a sense of foreboding depth to the setting, something added to by the mist seeping through the tall grasses and wildflower and creeping between the trees while wrapping itself around their trunks as if laying claim to them as it rises from the waters of the lake.

Passage through the landscape is best achieved via the raised boardwalks, illuminated by lanterns and lamps. Starting from the Landing Point, these will guide you through the trees and across the waters of the lake. The boardwalks will also provide access to several – but not all – of the locations tucked among the trees and awaiting their opportunity to greet visitors. Arachnophobes like me may initially be alarmed by the carpeting of cobwebs found throughout the landscape to give it a frosted look in the pale light; but while they may in places come close to overrunning the boardwalks, be assured you’re unlikely to run into any of their creators.

Chief among the locations waiting to be found are the converted containers. Designed by Konrad, they offer four vantage points  / places in which to sit and pass the time, all of similar design but varied in complexity. Each comprises at least one container converted for use as a retreat, with large windows cut into or replacing side panels and tops. Three stand on their own, either on the ground or atop frames of weathered iron girders, each with its own interior lighting and seating and, in the case of two, heating and refreshments (a stove and a radiator for outer warmth and tea for inner).

The most complex of these structures sits to the north-west; three containers stacked together on their own frameworks of girders, the stairs switch-backing up from the boardwalk to reach them, the uppermost offering both indoor and outdoor seating, the lower two with outdoor decking.

However, these are not the only places where visitor might sit and pass the time; as hinted at in the introductory story available at the landing point (touch the greeting stones on the ground there to receive a folder containing it and other information), there are a couple of camp sites to be found here as well, and an open deck for sitting – although as I’ve noted, you’ll have to depart the boardwalks to find some of them.

Whilst on the subject of available information; this includes note on the Natthimmel gallery, which has often been a feature of the region, together with a landmark to reach it. However, when I attempted to use the latter, I was redirected back to the Landing Point.

Given the late evening / night environment within the region, photography can be both highly atmospheric and a little tricky; fortunately, should you require more light, the region works under a range of environment settings, adding to its photogenic beauty. As always, a visit is  recommended.

SLurl Details

Misty Chicken Lake, Natthimmel (New Moon, rated Moderate)

From the east and south the land rises in a gentle slope, climbing gently to the west and north to meet with the upward sweep of land for the north side of the region so that all three slopes slopes form the low hump of a hill before falling back towards the western edge of the region. Across this landscape and broken by precious few trees, is spread a blanket of lavender, running from the water’s edge on all sides and drawn into regimented lines and blocks by avenues of grass in places topped by short lines of paving stones.

This is a tranquil place, the eastern shoreline interrupted by two bays pushing into it, the smaller of which looks like a giant thumb has been pressed into the ground to leave an indentation for the surrounding waters to claim as theirs. Such is the lie of the setting, were the wind to come from the east and passing over these bays, it is not hard to imagine it driving waves to where the shore breaks their progress so they transfer their momentum to the lavender, causing it to ripple inland and up the slope to wash around the house atop that single low hill.

Boxy and long, the house presents a tiled roof to the sky which extends out over a north-facing veranda, affording it some protection against the likes of sunshine and rain. It is counterbalanced by the rising second floor of the house rising from the southern end of the house to provide sufficient space for a cosy bedroom. Aside from broken ruins a short walk down slope, the house is the only human-made structure on the island – and the only place still occupied.

With its low-walled garden lushly overgrown with flowers allowed to grow wild on one side and the other planted with cobbles, the house exudes the tranquillity that seems to flow outwards over the surrounding lavender and to the very edges of the region. Alone and at peace, this is the home of Madame Loutre, the last inhabitant of this restful setting, and the spread of aromatic plants growing around it are known as the Lavender Fields of Madame Loutre.

But who is she? I hear you ask, and where might this place be found? Well (and to ignore the surrounding waters, I’ll let Konrad (Kaiju Kohime) and Saskia Rieko explain, for they are the people who have made our journeys to this place possible:

In the secluded one-house village, nestled deep within the enchanting region of Provence, resides the mysterious Madame Loutre, an ethereal otter spirit … Madame Loutre is both a guardian and a secret keeper of the village, known for her wisdom and the enchanting, calming presence she bestows upon visitors. The villagers from nearby towns speak in hushed tones about her magical abilities and the tranquillity her lavender brings. This idyllic haven remains untouched by time, a place of quiet wonder and mystical charm.

– From the Nathhimmel website

Saskia and Konrad are, of course, the designers of Nathhimmel region settings in Second Life and which have appeared in these pages several times since the couple started offering their work as places for Second Life users to visit and photograph;  and the Lavender Fields of Madame Loutre is the latest iteration of their work, having opened at the start of June 2024.

This is a design which – quite genuinely – does not require description or explanation; it speaks beautifully and clearly for itself. The house offers a focal point around which endless stories might be woven about the mysterious MMe. Loutre – who she might by, why the locals think she has magical powers, what has given her a love of lavender – and more. The landscape offers subtle opportunities for photography, whilst dotted around three sides of the region places to sit / rest are awaiting those who seek them. Should props be required for photography, then joining the local group (no charge) will provide rezzing rights – but do please remember to pick your thing up afterwards!

The landing point, located in the south-east corner of the region includes a link for obtaining additional information on the region (although the supplied notecard does give details on a previous Natthimmel design), and a teleport link to the region’s gallery – although this was without art at the time of my visit, so possibly awaiting a new exhibition. Neither of these latter points detract from the setting, which offers a relaxing and gentle visit for all who choose to drop in.

SLurl Details

• Natthimmel: Lavender Fields of Madame Loutre (NewMoon, rated Moderate)

It was back to the Homestead region of Natthimmel, held by Saskia Rieko to witness the latest design by her SL partner Konrad (Kaiju Kohime) after seeing a tweet by Laskya Claren (who also assisted with the notecard introduction to the build). To be honest, it’s a setting that would have attracted my interest, but Laskya’s tweet helped me to note it sooner rather than later, given it is by Konrad and Saskia – who are establishing a solid reputation for region designs representative of physical world locations (for example, see: A Night Sky with a touch of history in Second Life) – and the fact that for this particular build they mix three of my non-SL interests: astronomy, theoretical space science and science-fiction as the springboard for the imagination. However, Laskya’s tweet was timely in that it pushed me towards visiting sooner rather than later.

The astronomy comes from the use of the Gliese 581 system as a inspiration for the build and its associated story. This is a dwarf star (M spectral type) located some 20.5 light-years from our own solar system, and which in 2005 was discovered to have one of the smallest extrasolar planets ever found orbiting it. Called Gliese 581b (the “b” indicating it to be the first planet known to be orbiting the star, whilst “Gliese” referencing the 1957 catalogue in which the star was record – even though it has been observed well before that year). It is actually one of three planets currently known to be orbiting the tiny star, with three other potential planets – Gliese 581d, Gliese 581f and Gliese 581g – thought to have been discovered later proving to be the result of stellar upsets within the star affecting the instruments on Earth attempting to locate exoplanets around it.

From these fact, the region spins off a story of the future discovery of artefacts on the outermost of the three Gliese 581 planets, Gliese 581e (as all the planets in the system are tidally locked with their parent star, always keep the same face towards it, the observed artefacts could not be surface features moving as a result of Gliese 581e’s axial rotation). This discovery leads to a crewed mission to the system aboard the UESS Rocinante, thus bringing in the first sci-fi reference, the Rocinante being the hero ship from The Expanse series of novels and stories by “James S. A. Corey” and the associated TV series (as well as also being a classic literary reference to adventures, Rocinante also being the name of Don Quixote’s horse).

A second sci-fi reference also lies in the text with the reference to ansible communications – a term first coined (and subsequently built upon) by Ursula le Guin, and used by many sci-fi authors, including Orson Scott Card. It is also in the notecard that the reference to theoretical space science appears, the Rocinante using an Alcubierre Drive for interstellar propulsion.

This introductory notecard actually serves as a mini short story in is own right, rather than just and introduction to the setting. In doing so, it sets up the imagination, offering a framework by which we might – if we so choose – explore the setting: what actually happened aboard the Rocinante? Were the note affects on the crew the result of the indicated damage to the drive system or something else? What caused the vessel to crash on the planet? Systems failure? Human error? Deliberate malfeasance by a member of the crew? Were the logged reports of alien creatures the result of genuine sightings or further hallucinations?

Thus, visitors can opt to put themselves in the role of the recommended salvage / rescue mission; or, if preferred, as members of the Rocinante’s crew encountering this strange world on which they have been cast – be it Gliese 581e or somewhere deep within a rip in the fabric of space/time brought about by the failure in their drive system. Or, if preferred, visitors can simply use the eerie, other-worldly environment for photography; there are no rules here in that respect. However, one thing I would recommend is to visit using the local environment settings (World → Environment → Use Shared Environment) and with the viewer’s Advanced Lighting Model enabled (Preferences → Graphics → make sure Advanced Lighting Model is checked – no need to enable shadows).

A different but engaging location which, whilst entirely imaginary, nevertheless folds into it some nice touches of science fact and theory wrapped into an engaging visit.

SLurl Details

• Natthimmel (NewMoon, rated Moderate)