The Valkyrie stands guard at the portal to the Mortal Realm. Not the most exciting of jobs, since the chances of Mortals finding the path that their winged mounts take to bring the souls of dead warriors to Valhallah is pretty slim. But Mortals have now developed their airships, which at least making it a possibility to be guarded against.
Now this may be a very strange thing to be posting about, it’s not particularly glamorous, or something you can buy but it’s important in another way to me. (For those new to my blog, I post about stuff that happen to me in my SL not just things or places, this I think is one of those significant moments.)
I’m in the “Blogger Room” of Fantasy Faire 2021. It’s not located within the Faire regions (we have to keep out of there til the 21st) and its location is only known to the organisers, merchants and official bloggers. This is where merchants put review copies for the bloggers to use in their posts about the event.
This isn’t just special because it’s my first time in the Faire blogger room, it’s also the first time I’ve been an official Blogger for any event and therefore first time in any Blogger Room, so quite milestone I think!
Fantasy Faire is I think unique in the amount of freedom and flexibility it gives to its bloggers. We’re not given quotas of x items from x number of shops and so many posts like some events. Its not all about shopping like those events, although obviously that plays a large part with all the cool new stuff merchants release and to raise money for RFL. The fantastic landscapes and crazy environments the World builders create are what I love and the stories and adventures they inspire.
Combining what the generous merchants have left for us with the no-doubt beautiful lands, I hope to have some fun posts for you. I suspect I shall be making several trips here, since as you can see in the image above, there are still lots of unfilled boxes and another wall of them out of shot, the room is less than a quarter full, so I look forward to seeing what other delights we are offered!
For those that don’t know (why not?) the annual Fantasy Faire of Second Life is fast approaching. This massive annual charity event that spans 21 regions,starts on 22nd April and runs until 9th May.
This year is going to be rather different for me though. On 31st March (Ava’s 8th Rez Day) I was invited to become one of the Official Faire Bloggers! I was and still am, very excited about this opportunity and was a fantastic Rez Day wish come true!
What’s the big deal you might ask. Well the official bloggers (Chroniclers) are allowed into the Faire 24 hours early. This may not sound like much, but given the number of avatars that descend on the Faire when it opens, things can get a little bit busy! If you’re trying to photograph the beautiful regions the talented creators have built, that can be very hard work when the region is crawling with people and slowing everything down.
Last year I saw the Faire from a different perspective as part of The NeoVictoria Project team. I was allowed backstage to donate an item at their store. This year as a Chronicler I have to wait to do my explorations until the 21st,which can not come fast enough.
Outfit:
Ava is wearing the NeoVictoria Medieval Hooded Robe. It will be one of the items available at the NeoVictoria Project booth at Fantasy Faire once it opens to the public on 22nd April.
I decided I wanted a new steampunk look too, but the Faire wasn’t the ideal place to shop for that. While there are lots of excellence shops at the Faire I couldn’t find quite what I was looking for, so I went to The Engine Room event. I picked up a few things that I didn’t realise I was missing until I saw them, like this neck corset by Silvery K, hat by Insomnia Angel and new hair to go under it.
Credits:
Corset: SteamPunk Corset with Watch (own creation from Full Perm items, ask for details)
Alara had heard the trembling and vibrations in the ground as she slept during the daylight hours. They got stronger the closer she got to the mountains and home.
She had seen machinery on a large scale sometimes pass nearby as she traveled at night. What were the surface-dwellers doing?
Rather than taking the cave entrance into the centuries old subterranean city her people called home, she decided to investigate what was going on. She climbed the slope in darkness, to a position where she could look down on the surface settlement and froze with shock.
They had always mined the rock miles above her home, but never had she seen a drill of that size! She looked down into the crater trying to visualize the layout of the city below. If they dug much further they would start to uncover old entrance tunnels!
The giant drill that threatens her subterranean home.
She descended the slope away from the settlement towards the nearest entrance, she must warn her people. No doubt some would already be scared by the inevitable increased noise, but she suspected the Elders would be dismissing it as just more mining if they had no idea what was above them. Stopped for now, but inevitably that drill will start again.
There were several Meet & Greet sessions at Fantasy Faire for NeoVictoria, the one I was able to attend was on 29th April and it was pretty busy! Quite a few of the existing members were able to attend, so the varied collection of interested players were able to get plenty of answers to any questions they had. I believe we may well have gained a few new players for our community!
Visitors may think that the large serpentine statutes around Cassiopeia are just that, statute. They would be wrong.
The statues are meant to be a warning reminder of the planets largest natural predator. Although they have not been seen for a long time and have almost become myth. Yet the evolutionary evidence of the humanoid population cannot be denied, having dark patterned skin that would allow them to blend into natural terrain like a chameleon.
Evidently the humanoid population did not evolve from apes.
Custom dictates bright coloured clothing only be worn in private, going against this is frowned upon particularly by older generations. They say all stories are based on a grain of truth and the same can be said for customs originating from necessity. In this case it was survival.
A question that remains unanswered though is why each serpent statute is accompanied by what those of Earth would call an Angel? Do they represent an alien race? Perhaps a visiting race that destroyed the serpents, to allow the humanoids to thrive. Were they guardians against the serpents, or their keepers? The answers are no doubt long lost.
The serpent statues of Cassiopeia
Credits:
Spacesuit:Space Cadet Bodysuit by {REC} at Agra Adara, Fantasy FaireSkin: Wild Space Skin Set from Stargazer CreationsHair: Raven Belle – Luxe Hair
This fictional piece was written for Fantasy Faire 2020 Faire Bloggers Challenge “Faire Folk”
At the Faire last year I wandered rather aimlessly, I followed the Bubbo Owls storyline and one day I went to a NeoVictoria meet & greet, apart from that I didn’t explore much. It was that meet that would change my perspective, I just didn’t know it at the time.
This year I was at the planning meetings and discussions of what NeoVictoria may do at their meets and discussed what items they would be offering for sale and as gifts. It was this last part that was most relevant, I volunteered to make a freebie gift.
On the evening of the Wednesday before the Faire began I was invited to the “Backstage” group so I could Rez the item for visitors to purchase.
The NeoVictoria stand in Fantasy FaireWith a stage for RoleplaysThe drinks barrel I made as a gift
On the Thursday morning I logged back in to have an explore.
It was surreal being in the Faire before it opened. My previous experiences had always been of bustling regions full of people. As usual I didn’t really have much of a plan of what I wanted to see, I just knew I had about 3 hours before the Faire opened and there would be people everywhere. I just wanted to see as much as I could before the masses arrived.
Since the NeoVictoria store is located in Auxenio’s Pass steampunk region, that’s where I started. When I stepped outside I was blown away by the surroundings. I started walking the paths to see what I found.
A glance down the street
And I see several of these beautiful creations
With the regions being mostly empty except for store owners making final tweaks to their displays and other creators taking the time to wander, it was blissfully quiet.
Blissfully empty streetsThe centre of the Region features a massive drill
I stuck mostly to the paths, with occasional detours, wanting to try and see as much as I could in the time I had. Traveling mostly clockwise around the Faire, I took in the sights of the created locations. Each one mind blowing or boggling in their design. I got about half way around before I ran out of time, but I had a large collection of snapshots taken as I went around. Here are some of my favourites.
The leafy pathways of Autumnia
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia
Lamented Fens – An eerie myst is everywhere
Lamented Fens – Not somewhere you’d want to swim!
A light in the distance? Who would live here?
Isle of Shadows – The sight of this creation is breathtaking
Isle of Shadows – Such detail on a massive scale
Isle of Shadows – Departing the harbour
Isle of Shadows – Off the brige into some welcome woodland
Isle of Shadows – A lovely small place just off the path
Now I look forward to exploring the rest of the Faire!
So it’s this time of year again Fantasy Faire is upon us. Another week and more of exploring beautiful location, roleplay and shopping in aid of Relay for Life in Second Life.
Last year I visited the Faire and for the first time was able to follow their week-long roleplay storyline. That was great fun and I wrote about it in my Bubbo Owls post. This year it appears the RP is called the Grizzly Cubs and I look forward to following this years adventure.
As I’ve mentioned previously, last year I attended a Meet & Greet with the lovely folks from the NeoVictoria Project. I submitted a character and became an official member of the community. They’re holding similar Meet & Greet sessions this year, so I shall be present for at least one of them to help out. I’m also possibly providing a freebie to be given out at the NeoVictoria location at the Faire.
What else is new this year is that I applied to be one of the Official FF Bloggers. However the applications are now closed and my names not on the list. I suspect this is probably due to the quality of my regular images, admittedly lower quality, but it’s usually because they’re un-staged and my focus is the RP or story. (I’ll be remedying that for the Faire) So instead I’m going to try and complete some of their Blogger Challenges which I’ve copied below:
Faire Folk – create a character from the Fairelands
I love Fantasy Faire in SL but rarely get to attend or take part in things. This year I decided to try and follow the rp instead of just visiting the empty scenes afterwards. This year one of the RP stories is the Bubo Owls, I kept up on what was going on through the updates page, so I had an idea what was going on when I eventually made it inworld on time.
It was great fun watching the story unfold as the kids explored, questioned and solved their way through the evolving story. There will be a few more twists and turns in the story I am sure!
I took a collection of photos in their base below the flying market and at various places we went to as I followed them around to different plot locations.
