Last year I began my explorations at the region where the NeoVictoria Project was based, this year though since I’m also selling some stuff at the Faire, I’m starting from where my shared store is located.
As with any of my other Wanderings it was on foot, only resorting to flying when I fell off stuff. This way I feel you experience The Faire at its best.
I was awed each time I crossed into the next region, they are all so varied and beautifully crafted every year. Somehow this year I managed to make it all the way around the square the Faire makes on the works map, with just minutes to go before the Faire closed for pre-opening region restarts.
I’ll have plenty of FaireLands inspired stories for you over the coming weeks I’m sure, but today I simply have a collection of teaser photos.
Athenum
Bassett Town
Broceliande
Fairelands Junction
Mythspire Ridge
Necturn Moon
Opet
Sunken Honey
Sylvuselah
Tenpyo
The Chrysillis Gardan
Hunros Mine
You will find links to all the Regions on the Fantasy Faire Blog when the Faire is open.
Vivendia is the latest build by Camilla Runo who built two incarnations of Varsargen and also Skullingtown for Halloween last year. Ars Vivendia has a slightly more serious air to it, more like a peice of clasical art than the other locations Camilla has created. As I explored it felt like I was walking around inside an old painting. It’s setting is of an old Italian town near the sea with fantastic views inside and out.
The landing point is the yard of a small house outside the main town, beautifully rustic.
On the way up towards the town you can see to one side a small island seperated by a narrow stretch of water.
Entering through the open gates is where you really feel like you’re stepping back in time. Inside the town is made up of narrow streets with bightly lit shops, cafes and hotels in an evening setting, so the place feels kind of maical.
Through to the other side of the town there are some other buildings stood apart from the rest.
At the top of the hill is an old church with beautiful stained glass windows and lovely sunset views.
Several of the buildings can be explored inside as well as admired from outside, so come explore for yourself.
Ava wakes with a start in her bunk in the makeshift office. There’s no question of what’s woken her, it’s the roaring sound of thrusters loud and powerful enough the building is shaking.
She jumps down and runs to the doorway, it’s still night, but from the emergency lights on the surrounding buildings she can see what’s happening. Where the Helix soldiers camp had been is now bare earth except for a few empty crates and torn tents, the noise is a fleet of their transport ships taking off.
Time is going to be short, the civilian residents are going to panic when they realise what’s happened. Ducking back into her office she switches on her drone control terminal, it bleeps to indicate its running on battery power since the outposts generators had gone along with the soldiers. Logging into the system she brings up the list of nearby AMZ craft, now very glad she’d disguised the signature of the cargo ship as just another drone when she left it in orbit. The soldiers would only know if they actually saw it and right now it was fortunately on the other side of this miserable rock. Sending the command to wake up the droid pilot and initiate landing sequence as close as safely possible, she enters the data wipe command on her terminal and heads for the door.
Moving quickly she dashes from door to door of her friends that had also been woken and says to each of them “Get your shit together, we’re leaving. Clearing at the top of the hill in ten minutes if you want off this rock.”
Nine minutes, 37 seconds later…
Ava stands at the top of the loading ramp, one hand on the security forcefield control, the other holding a pistol. There’s only so many stasis pods on board and she’s being very selective who gets one.
She knew this day would come and had made provision, ordering more than just drones and office supplies from AMZ.
If they weren’t a resident of the community from the Hellas Crater, they weren’t getting onboard and there are already two bodies on the ground as testament to her resolve.
There were a fair few more would be freeloaders on the ground by the time the hatch was closed.
Once there are as many people as stasis pods she closes the ramp and presses an intercom panel on the wall to instruct the pilot. “Tinman, get us out of here, set course for Mars, the Southern end of the Hellas Crater”, she says before heading to the freighters minimal living space with the others.
This morning I woke up to find an announcement in the new Helix Discord server saying that it wasn’t closing…
I wanted to inform everyone the status of the sim and Helix overall. We want to thank everyone who enjoyed Helix and wanted to relive some of that. I want to say that we appreciate the support! With that being said, the sim itself is not going anywhere, however after evaluating the overall situation of the sim and other consideration, we are doing a sim revamp/retheme. As such, the sim will temporarily be restricted until we are finished.Renters have been refunded and are being given time to collect their items.
Thank you all and stay tuned.
Honestly I’m not surprised, considering the owner couldn’t be bothered to turn up on opening day.
Why I’m censoring the name I’m not entirely sure
Combined with the abruptness of the closure of Helix City, I knew this would come sooner or later. The fact he’s using past tense (enjoyed instead of enjoy) suggests rather strongly that whatever comes next won’t be anything like what we have now. Along with the fact we were all ejected from the land group:
[3:34] : You have been ejected from ‘|Helix|’
You wouldn’t do that for a remodel, unless you didn’t want or expect people to return after you’d finished. The message may say that the sim isn’t going anywhere,but whatever happens next this is still an end.
It is an end to roleplay stories that people have spent time and effort creating, perpetuating them during a location move and then adapting to a change of Lore (which wasn’t really needed and just made things confusing). To be rejected and abandoned overnight on a whim, is just..well I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.
I found this fantastic outfit by Fallen Gods at an outlet sale recently, its part of their “Rust” collection and feels very steampunk. But being one of those impulse purchases we all make sometimes, I really had no idea where or when I might actually wear it.
Then I saw a video Isabelle Cheren who paid a visit to “Timeless”, an installation by Cica Ghost. I decided that it would be an ideal location for a photo or three.
One of the coolest thing about this outfit is the hat, so I couldn’t not include a couple of close-ups.
Hat Rear
Hat Front
There are some wacky and fun sights to be seen at Timeless, including a variety of furniture with some unusual animations in:
(Click the little expanding icon on the right-hand side that appears when you hover over the image to see the clip full screen.)
Outfit Credits:
MARIE ROUILLE full avatar +Fallen Gods Inc.
Lipstick: Bad Pumpkin Lip (Halloween Collection 2020) – TREND
Here I continue my Sci-Fi roleplay that started in Helix City then Hellas Planitia crater. There’s a change in the story Lore here, in line with that of the Helix owners story. Previously the roleplay was set on Mars as an outpost/frontier community and luxury goods or supplies were shipped from Earth. Now Mars has become more developed and the frontier is out beyond our solar system (exact location not specified).
Ava has arrived in the frontier town and found premises to use as a shipping office. The shipment of business essentials (see post) has also turned up and she’s ready to open up shop.
2022/02/16 07:50:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: we all got houses and started explroing the land and all the humans ran to the woods. there al hill people now then thwre is a townys [2022/02/16 07:51:39] Ava Bloodrose Delaney (Ava Bloodrose): /me rolls her eyes "oh great, the desert dwellers became Hill Billies!" [2022/02/16 07:51:47] ViçṮФЯiâ: me and seffy went up to ask question and got guns pionted at us. so now seffy is straped[2022/02/16 07:52:19] Ava: maybe I should go chat to these fools [2022/02/16 07:52:21] ViçṮФЯiâ: and me to i got stonefish out [2022/02/16 07:52:53] ViçṮФЯiâ: that is what we was trying and it got heavy fast [2022/02/16 07:53:50] Ava: However I suspect it may well be that they're the kind of folks that don't like you unless you're 100% Human [2022/02/16 07:53:55] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh and lomax is very nice. he owns the junk shop and you could find all types of stuff there
[2022/02/16 07:54:57] ViçṮФЯiâ: called me rasist but they dont know what i've been thought. i dont trust a lot of human
[2022/02/16 07:56:06] Ava: How can *you* be the racist, when you are the one being mistreated? [2022/02/16 07:56:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh and thankyou for makeing shorld my bike mad it here [2022/02/16 07:56:27] Ava hugs Vic[2022/02/16 07:56:37] ViçṮФЯiâ: smiles
[2022/02/16 07:57:31] ViçṮФЯiâ: its just how my life gos. see the horns and think danger. but im a big softy [2022/02/16 07:58:33] Ava: Well, I didn't personally do it, like your bike, I got loaded up on the ship as bous stuff forthe grunts to sell
[2022/02/16 07:59:51] ViçṮФЯiâ: there is so much going on when we was shoved of the ship i lost it and i had to ask people and you know there no help i had to steel it form inpownd [2022/02/16 08:00:13] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh and my old cred stick works here [2022/02/16 08:00:24] ViçṮФЯiâ: i had money [2022/02/16 08:00:36] ViçṮФЯiâ: just could not use it in hellas [2022/02/16 08:01:09] Ava: Well that's a bonus!
[2022/02/16 08:02:13] Ava: well now I'm kinda defrosted and office set up, I should probably start looking for customers, who would you suggest? [2022/02/16 08:03:39] Ava: If lots can be found in hte junkyard, there must still be stuff that *can't* ? [2022/02/16 08:06:19] ViçṮФЯiâ: maybe link up with muddy hes got a shiping corpo building. but i dont know what he ships. maybe set up a order link with lomax so he can get more then junk to [[2022/02/16 08:08:15] ViçṮФЯiâ: i dont think the hill people use the town much and i dont know how thay got ....OH yes there is cows and goat in the hills i never seen befer [2022/02/16 08:09:00] Ava scans the barcodes on the various crates with her eye augment to find the one she wants while vic replies, then places her palm on a crates reader to open it. Rummages inside and come back round with a couple of small packets [2022/02/16 08:09:45] Ava holds up a pack of cigarettes to vic "here, catch" and tosses it to her [2022/02/16 08:10:11] Ava: junkyards don't usually have those I suspect [2022/02/16 08:12:12] ViçṮФЯiâ: atches it and looks at them . i think so lot of people smoking here. i dont like the tobbacoo just weed [2022/02/16 08:14:06] Ava: Well I had the office put some in the crates because they were in high demand at Hellas [2022/02/16 08:14:40] Ava: I had orders for them by the crate, til the dumb helix grunts came along [2022/02/16 08:15:58] ViçṮФЯiâ: i do feel that there is ways to make money here like old helix [2022/02/16 08:16:23] ViçṮФЯiâ: im starting up my weed growing again but im selling it this time [2022/02/16 08:16:45] Ava: very smart [2022/02/16 08:17:22] Ava points at the pack in vics hand "well now you can cut it with baccy" [2022/02/16 08:18:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: i found a old hydorponic set up and got it working with all the stuff penny showed me [2022/02/16 08:19:39] Ava: well that's cool, a proper set up is what you need, if you're gonna sell it [2022/02/16 08:19:45] ViçṮФЯiâ: oo ok will do or freak the cigg tube and make weed ciggs to sell [2022/02/16 08:21:03] Ava: but if you're selling the stuff, doesn't that then make your kit valuable? Is it secure where you have it? [2022/02/16 08:21:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: lomax is down for some weed but making the hill people trust me that all im doing it trying to sell weed with out them trying to shoot me [2022/02/16 08:21:51] ViçṮФЯiâ: yes it is right in my house
[2022/02/16 08:21:56] Forcefield: whispers: Warning shield is raised
[2022/02/16 08:22:02] ViçṮФЯiâ: no one can get to it i think [2022/02/16 08:22:13] Ava taps a button on one of her cuffs.. [2022/02/16 08:22:40] Ava points at the forcefeild she'd activated, secure *enough* though? [2022/02/16 08:23:33] ViçṮФЯiâ: well i dont have one of them inmy place [2022/02/16 08:23:53] Ava: my point was, that could be arranged [2022/02/16 08:23:55] Ava smiles [2022/02/16 08:24:08] ViçṮФЯiâ: just my doors and not telling a lot of people [2022/02/16 08:24:25] ViçṮФЯiâ: oh smiles
[2022/02/16 08:24:36] Forcefield: whispers: Shield is down
[2022/02/16 08:24:38] ViçṮФЯiâ: i will have to show you my place [2022/02/16 08:24:55] ViçṮФЯiâ: so you get a idea what im up to [2022/02/16 08:24:57] Ava taps the button again to deactivate it [2022/02/16 08:27:22] ViçṮФЯiâ: i think seffy lives above you to [2022/02/16 08:28:05] Ava: does she? Getting in there is da,m awkward with the door hidden around the back [2022/02/16 08:29:33] ViçṮФЯiâ: yes but i think she likes it that way not easy to find[2022/02/16 08:31:58] Ava: I'll have to try catch her sometime. I thought I might have had to rent it, so I had somewhere other than the office to sleep [2022/02/16 08:34:03] Ava: So I get these company-issue bunks to sleep on [2022/02/16 08:34:09] ViçṮФЯiâ: nods smiles i got a top floor place [2022/02/16 08:34:27] ViçṮФЯiâ: and it had a little landing dock to for my bike[2022/02/16 08:35:52] Ava: I will have to come visit your place for sure at some point soon
My friend Isabelle made her own Ted talk about being a Blogger & Vlogger a while back which made me think about the direction of my own blog and how I seem to have drifted off course.
She talked about how some bloggers get paid and others don’t and no-one (except those getting paid) know who is. There seems to be some kind of culture here that isn’t very palatable. Big brands want bloggers to have high numbers of followers (1 Thousand Flickr followers seems to be a standard requirement on applications, despite it not actually being a blogging platform) before they’ll accept you as an official Blogger. This makes sense from their point of view, they want maximum exposure. The way these follower stats work in reality though, it certainly doesn’t mean that many people will see it. It’s a false measurement to base a decision on.
But this post isn’t about money,it’s about appreciation, or sometimes lack of it. The first and only time (so far) I have been accepted as an official blogger was for Fantasy Faire last year and I was very appreciative of the opportunity.
It would appear given how hard it is to be accepted by shopping events or stores, that we are expected to be just as appreciative, all the time. To work, because that’s what it is, for free to help them sell stuff. I have tried applying to stores and events, but now I’ve stopped to wonder why. This blog isn’t one of the huge number of fashion blogs around, I’m just telling the story of some parts of my SecondLife experience.
What I have experienced at Fantasy Faire was different in the best way. I had several “Thank you” messages directly from creators for featuring their work, particularly smaller designers.
Those two words make all the difference when you’re doing something for just the joy of it. They’re not expected, but are nice to hear occasionally.
Perhaps people are more gracious at the Faire because it is a charity event, with a buzzing happy vibe of enthusiasm of a community come together to raise money for a good cause.
Fantasy Faire this year will take place between 21st April and 8th May 2022. I’ll be putting my blogger application as soon as they open, obviously!
The Dryad wakes slowly like a flowers petals opening. When her eyes open she suddenly becomes aware of the temperature. It’s too cold, it’s too dark, she shouldn’t be awake yet. Being bound to the cycle of nature and the Seasons, she shouldn’t awake until Spring when the first green shoots appear. Something is wrong, she must find out what’s going on. Sticking her head out of the entrance to her underground sanctuary, she looks around to see white everywhere.
She finds some boots to protect her feet, usually she’d be barefoot but dare not walk on the freezing snow, frost is as dangerous to her as it is to plants. As she walks through the Human settlement she sees green grass poking through the snow, this is what’s woken her but how?
There’s no sign of industry that she’d heard of further south that made the climate warmer, just the usual primitive wooden homes. She visits a few of the buildings to see if there was anything amiss but found nothing unusual.
They have ships in the harbour so perhaps they have brought something here, or learnt of something that’s causing the problem.
Then she glances up and sees the temple up on the mountain, perhaps that has the answers.
She wishes she’d brought a cloak as she begins the ascent, touching the trees on the way up for reassurance, they are still slumbering as she should be.
Inside the temple she finds evidence of rituals and sacrifice, but these are not the usual practices of worshiping nature and beings such as herself, as could be found at the stones further down the mountain.
The locals still worship her kin it seems
These were darker works, the fools had evidently heard of crops being raised artificially out of season to the South and thought this was how it was done.Â
Inside the temple
With her bow she knock everything off the Altar in anger at their foolishness. Picking up a collection of scrolls featuring illustrations similar to the altar goods she glances at them in surprise. These are old, so very old but she recognised them. The fae races had worked hard to destroy all copies of this arcane knowledge, in order to preserve the balance of nature. She knows what she must do.
Waiting at the doorway of the temple, to get some warmth from their fires, she is impatient until dawn. She was going to need all the help from nature she could get for what she had in mind. As the sun rises she takes a bud from the vines encirling her body and places it into a shallow hole she was able to make in the frozen earth with the end of her bow. Standing back she raises her arms and chants quietly calling on the dormant natural world around her.
Directing the energy into the barely buried bud she encourages it to grow and expand until the building is encased in leaves, the shoots running up between the stones of the building like roots through foundations of a house and pries them apart.
It takes time and a lot of effort but eventually the roots demolish the building entirely into rubble. The shoots recede and combine into a single living thing…a blossoming tree. They wanted out-of-season plants, this is what they shall get.
Exhausted and barely able to stand she returns to the forest to hibernate until Spring actually comes.
When I had been told by Camilla Runo the builder of Vargsangen that it had returned I was excited and just had to go explore! I thought I would wear something warm and furry like my previous post. But once I collect this New Year’s special skin from Fallen Gods that completely changed, a Dryad post was in order. I had earlier been out for a walk (in the odd world of Real Life) and I saw daffodils sprouting, which doesn’t usually happen for another couple of months and that gave me an idea, to which I added a fantasy twist.
The build is expected to close at the end of January 2022 so get over and check it out. Here’s a few extra snaps that didn’t fit into the story:
Back in May 2020 I wrote about a SciFi roleplay region called Helix, followed very shortly after by the news of it’s closure. This wasn’t however the end of my story, it was just the start of a storyline that’s run across multiple locations in SL on and off for the year and a half since then.
Now the former owners of Helix have returned with a new location called World of Helix. This isn’t a city this time though, its more an outpost town with cilivans as well as military personnel that they describe as an adult sci-fi Western.
You arrive in the woods outside the town, which is behind you with the wilderness in front of you.
After a brief glance at the nearby structures (more on that later) I headed into town to see what it has to offer. Immediately at the gates you get the tone of the place with guards posted outside.
A glance Left
A glance Right
I entered cautiously taking a glance each direction before heading left to walk a circuit of the town.
All seemed fairly regular civillian establishments, including the requisite pink neon entertainment. As I approached the place where I’ve decided my character will set up shop, I’m reminded of the military presence by way of a dark green truck next door.
Inside the truck
On the way more can be een in the distance
Heading in that direction through a gateway there’s a few landing pads then the rest of the area contains Military personnel and installations.
Passing all this brings me almost full circle back to the entrance gate of the town. However coming from this direction I noticed something I’d missed before.
The local gun shop
Given my characters history of transporting weapons I had to have a quick peek. I was surprised there would be such a shop with the military around they might have wanted to restrict civillian weapon ownership. But what better way to control weapons than by controlling the shop?
Since I’d completed a circuit of the town it was time to have a look out into the wildnerness. Out here there’s a wide selection of buildings and terrain to be seen.
(Please bear in mind some of these are rental homes and may well be inhabitated by the time you visit, so don’t just walk in uninvited.)
Looking at the map on the website it’s quite evident I’ve only shown a fraction of this great new roleplay build, so I’d recommend any Sci-Fi fan come check it out and join in the RP if they wish. I would definitely suggest reading the story setting on the website before engaging in roleplay.
World of Helix is planned for public opening on 15th January 2021, so do drop by and take a look!
Photos were taken on 29th December 2021, so things may look slightly different by the time the 15th January 2022 comes aroud, but not much.
Following on from my previous post, Awakening bridging the RL time gap between Hellas Planitia closing and World of Helix (post coming soon!) opening to the public.
Ava awakes to a beeping sound, a priority message has been received and she’s been woken up. Groggily she taps the flashing envelope icon and reads with growing shock.
---Message Start---
From AMZ Outreach Office:
Ms Delaney
I'm sorry to have to break this news to you, but based on the beacon of your capsule and the signal of drone 116s transponder, you're no longer near Mars. It would appear that at the time of this message transmission,you are headed for the planet Ithemba. You may even have arrived by the time you receive this.
We have contacted Helix Corp and informed them of the situation. Helix Corp representatives should not hinder you, provided they have received their correspondencece, but are under no obligation to assist you. Any assistance you get from them will depend on what you can negotiate in situ.
Given this turn of events we are sending a droid-piloted shuttle instead of the requested drone. This will contain a number of drones and related equipment and supplies that will allow you to operate localised services.
--Message Ends--
Ava reads the message a second then third time and sighs “Damnit” she mutters. At that moment she’s lurched to one side, she sees the crate above move slightly but doesn’t fall,. The ship was manoeuvring, apparently descending by the feel of things. It seems they have arrived.
