Category: Wanderings

As the name suggests, these are my wandering around SecondLife. For more Sci-FI focused locations Click HERE.

Halloween 2021: Once Upon a Spell

My explorations of SecondLife’s Haunted Houses of 2021 continues with Once Upon a Spell. I went to the last page of the list of Haunted Houses on the Destination Guide, simply because I don’t like being totally conventional.

The arrival point is at the entrance to a kind of mystical forest setting with thankfully just a couple of boards for their inworld group and Flickr (regular readers will know how much I hate lots of clutter at an arrival point). As I went forward I came to some autumnal red and gold leaved trees, I was immediately reminded of Pumpkin Town a location from last year.

Coming out of these trees, through a tunnel I arrived at a campfire in what felt like a more bayou swampy kind of place, suggested by the rickety shack on the other side of a small stretch of water.

As I continued into the forest I encountered another shack, but this one in much better condition, evidently maintained by the resident witch.

Just past here are two rows of pumpkins forming a path uphill towards a house, but I went the other way into the green darkness of the forest. This took me to another larger area of water, bordeed by waterfalls and a bridge crossing it at the far end.

I followed the lakeshore til I came to the bridge then turned back towards the pumpkin-bordered path and the house at it’s end.

TRIGGER WARNING: SPIDERS and CLOWNS BELOW!

(Yeah I know, it made me cringe typing that, why would you be reading a post about a Halloween location and not expect such things? But I know people that are sensitive to them.)

Around the back of the house is the bridge across the lake I saw earlier,at the far end of which is a big spiders web you walk through to get to the next area to explore.

Through here it opens up into another large area with a big top, a cemetery, a haunted mansion and a ghost train.

The haunted mansion was the most tempting to me and turned out to be the largest part of this area.

I’ve not shown everything here, your visit wouldn’t be fun if I did!

Arrival point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Magical%20Desires/63/11/22

Outfit Credits:

Halloween 2021: Skullingtown

After blogging several spooky places last year, I thought it would be fun to do the same again this year. First up is 80Days-Skullingtown.

The arrival point is in front of a tall pair of gates that instinctively you might proceed through, but wait! I did as I always do and look behind me on arrival, you should do the same here. There is a graveyard and a massive pumpkin patch back there to see first.

As you explore you’ll hear an appropriately tinny version of a tune from the film The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is quite haunting and coming from the creepy merry go round near the entrance.

Heading through the main gates you’re in small town square with lots of appropriately spooky paraphernalia scattered about around and inside the houses and towers. Some of these are just scenery, but several of them you can enter and explore. I picked the house straight ahead first, stopping at the bottom of the steps to admire its creepiness for a moment.

Looking up at the looming house I realise how damn short this sexy skirt is, good job it comes with undies!

I then had a wander around the other buildings to see what surprises were in store!

Builder: Camila (Camila Runo)

Arrival point: https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/White%20Widow/146/149/34/

Outfit Credits:

This post was featured on the SecondLife Community Blog on 6th October 2021.

Hellas Planitia Rebuild – a Sneaky visit

I’ve been meaning to do this piece for quite a while, but the folks kept adding,expanding or moving things, now apparently it’s complete.

Because I like to write about places from perspective of a newcomer and I’m a member of the community here I decided to go in disguise,using an Alt avatar. I’m sure they’ll forgive my little deception eventually, but it did help get a fresh perspective on the place.

The arrival point is on a landing pad next to a rather battered old spaceship and provides a good view of the surrounding area, which is mainly shipping crates I thought at first, til at the back I saw a vehicle, I thought it would be best if I didn’t try to drive it off. You’ll also find a teleporter here that takes you to the Deep Space Hub located at Moonbase 3.

Heading on towards the entrance I was greeted warmly by Jadzia, who told me a whole bunch of useful stuff and answered my questions. Quite a lot of it I didn’t actually know, because the place has changed a lot and there are lots of new storyline elements I wasn’t aware of. (So it wasn’t a waste of your time and breath, Jadzia.)

I continued left into town and followed the main street to do a circuit of the place. There’s lots of places to see and explore here, providing lots of opportunities and locations for roleplay.

There’s a few other places that you reach by Teleport doors, but I’ll let you find those for yourself, wouldn’t want to spoil everything.

What’s different I find about Hellas is the community effort and storyline that’s genuine. They did live in a city called Helix which had to be evacuated (the region closed) and they did find themselves homeless, so they settled in a dusty crater and built lives for themselves.

Some of the regulars

This story and the environment it creates, very much gives you the feeling of an old Western frontier town or mining colony. Like the old West, it has attracted some not very nice characters(story wise), doing things that would make them criminals on Earth. As a result the authorities on Earth are taking an interest and trying to assert themselves on the populous. Alongside this you have a not-so-reputable mining company that are trying to do the same, as they restart mining operations in the crater. Hence some newer less derelict-looking buildings about the place.

There are lots of post-apocalyptic, dystopian and shiny space station locations in SecondLife which I’ve seen lots lately. Hellas is different in that Earth is still happily ticking over, life going on as normal. The citizens ignorant of or uncaring for those that have chosen this remote life.

Landing point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kind/243/223/3012

Outfit Credits:

  • Skin:[Stargazer] Variety Skin Set BOM – Apex Teal -Mainframe July 21
  • Bodysuit: G509 Tempest from Graves
  • Boots: G613 Alliance Ankle Boots from Graves
  • Sword: [.fn] Plasma Arsenal – Blade -MainFrame July 21
  • Hair: Azren Hair [Fatpack] by Raven Bell
  • Body: Maitreya 5.1
  • Head: Genus Project– Strong Face

Vortex of Lust – Part 2

In Part 1 of this post I covered the Central Market and brief snaps of The Surface and the Aurora ship. Now I’m going to expand on those, first the Aurora. When you arrive on the scaffold it feels very dark, but I didn’t realise why straightaway. I headed down the steps towards the lights of a tent. The place is surrounded by hydroponics capsules for growing food and wind turbines for generating power. Inside the tent loks like field equipent, like they just arrived.

If you look upwards you can see why the place is so dark, the massive looming form of The Aurora above you. You can see here the sheer scale of it is pretty impressive! Taking the lift at ground level takes you up into the ship and the entrance to a massive complex maze of corridors.

I’m not going to do a step-by-step tour here, the place is just too big. Here’s a few of the highights.

Now to head back down to the Market and from there, the Surface. The lift drops you above a wooden palisade wall which made me think of a Gorean panther girl camp, but don’t worry it’s not. Just old RP memories on my part, the metal staircase dispels that thought rightaway. Down the wooden ramp and out the gate is a path through partly cleared forest. Not so unusual until we take a look around whats on either side.

Heading first to the steam vents I can see the extend quite some way, but it’s what’s causing the steam that’s more worrying.

Next I enterthe woods and investigate the stone ruins, the tower proves quite interesting..

Having seen that beautiful building in the distance I just had to have a closer peek, which involves going through a swamp though.

I’ll leave you to explore the inside. While I was exploring, one of the community asked if I’d found the ice cave yet. I hadn’t so they showed me. It’s down underwater so you’d have to know it was there to find it I suspect. There’s an NPC down there too.

I had to find my respirator for down here

As you can see this place is huge with lots of locations to roleplay. One thing though had me and possibly you wondering..where’s the Lust? There’s quite a few kinky toys about the place, but not really Lusty as such. However it doesn’t take too much imagination to think that maybe the portal pictured below (that can be found near the ship Aurora) is perhaps said Vortex of Lust.. Even less imagination required from the other side, which has a beautiful fantasy landscape you should defiitely come and explore.

The Vortex the place is named after perhaps?
A Fantastical landscape awaits on hte other side, so go check thi out too!

Landing point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vortex%20of%20Lust/59/124/3017

Website: https://www.vortex-of-lust.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/6n7VmeRKtB

Outfit Credits:

Vortex of Lust – Part 1

I came across Vortex of Lust through a post in the Cyber Alliance discord server,which included the description below.

The refugium known as the Vortex has a wide variety of geographic features, from the familiar to the fantastic.

The centre of it all, both proverbially and literally, is the Free Market, which rests on a floating platform anchored to a derelict mass of rock that floats above the surface.
Above the Free Market the Battleship Aurora rests collided with another splinter of levitating rock, hosting a portal to the Floating Islands, a place of beauty and mystery high above the Vortex.
The surface is a wild and dangerous place with frozen seas, endless mazes of tunnels, treacherous swamps and far more treacherous inhabitants. Travelers to the surface should be well prepared.

This description had me very intrigued and the images more so. The locations appear to range from steampunk through urban and into cyberpunk, dressing for this place could be a challenge!

Given the mention of battleships and ice lakes I thought a full body protective suit seemed the best option, along with a few survival accessories.

First view on arrival

I like a clear uncluttered landing point with clear signage and as little surplus stuff as possible. The Vortex has this, however it also has a lot of information to be shared prior to entering the RP area. Most of this relates to the HUD used here, which auto-attaches as soon as you accept the regions Experience permissions. There is a new players area that talks you through it all. Once you go through there you are guided to an are that tells you about the multiple locations here.

The New Player Area

The different locations

You leave this are via the Vortex at the centre.

You emerge through the Vortex into a new area that feels quite steampunkish at first glance.

A rather impressive portal
You arrive here through the Vortex

This is the area known as  Central Market. Despite modern aspects like the grage door and submarine, inside things are quite antique or industrial.

Behind the garage door is a study type room with old book cases and antique desk, but with a full tech suite upstairs.

Heading over to the submarine it only seems to serve one purpose, the local jail.

Around the corner I find signposted The Jolly Harbor Tavern and The Surface, I take the Tavern first. I reminds me of Drune Diesel in atmosphere for some reason, maybe that’s due to the piano in the corner, but looks like an interesting place to roleplay.

Now to explore in the other direction towards “The Surface”, following the signs direction I see a crashed plane and crane above some kind of gantry.

There’s also a buildy to the left that I thought I’d check out first, I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of the machinery is, but the other peice of hardware in the room hints at some not-so-innocent activities.

Carrying on my journey I head towards the gantry to see what awaits, a lift that descent to the surface.

At the bottom is an interesting place that looks like it’ll be fun to explore, you can see in the first snap that the place extends quite some distance before the view is obstructed by trees, which instantly makes it feel more mysterios.

Since the Central Market is essentially in the middle of the region, in terms of elevation, there’s also the airship Aurora to be explored above. There is a similar lift next to the submarine that takes you there.

I’ll show you some more of the Surface and Aurora roleplay areas in Part 2.

Click Here for Part 2!

Landing point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vortex%20of%20Lust/59/124/3017

Website: https://www.vortex-of-lust.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/6n7VmeRKtB

Outfit Credits:

This post was featured on the SecondLife Community Blog on 6th August 2021.

Ancient Order of Centaurs

Following up on my previous posts featuring my new Centaur avatar and the Centaur Parade, I’ve come to visit the Ancient Order of Centaurs (AOC) .  Although today I visited as a different “Taur”from Jinx called the Felintaur, which has the body of a large feline instead of a horse and was kindly donated to the Blogger room.

You arrive at a large circular landing point with four exits leading in different directions.

Arrival point

I opted for the one located directly behind me because I saw something interesting in the distance.

There was an intruiging arch that seemed to be mad of some large creatures rib cage over the path.

The AOC grounds cover four regions styled in a High Fantasy medieval appearance. There are long winding woodland paths everywhere connecting all the various places.

 Leading to some lovely places to see and explore. Some of which are available to rent, I only spotted the “Private Property” outside the first one on the way *out* however.

No fantasy location would be without an abandoned castle..

If you want a nice aerial view over the place, there’s a handy lift:

There’s even a market where you can shop for many things Centaur related that I may well be returning to soon.

As usual with my blogging photo trips it’s not usually good for SLT so no-one around, but they do have regular meetups, a timetable is located at the landig point. I think I’ll try and make it to one of those at some point in the near future.

Landing point http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Centauria/127/130/30

Credits:

  • Feline body: Jinx : Felitaur – Jinx Store
  • Feline coat applier: FF2021 SE1 Felitaur Applier – Event Exclusive
  • Human body: Maitreya Lara
  • Human Body skin: HEL female + Fallen Gods Inc. FF2021 Exclusive
  • Tattoos: Nefekalum Tattoos – Thisbe (Silver) – Mid Summer Nights Dream Event
  • Hair: Raven Bell – Nereid Hair – Raven Bell Mainstore

The Time Machine

Relaxing in the balcony lounge of the Old Caladar club she ponders on recent events. There’s been a lot of visitors in outlandish or just plain strange garb lately in the City. Not that she can talk, her attire for attending the club tonight was perhaps better suited to a performer than an customer, but the management didn’t object so long as she kept buying drinks. She wonders where all these strangers come from and where they go to afterwards, not many of them seem dressed for travelling a great distance. Has some mad professor actually managed to make some kind of time travel device? Maybe it’s not so reliable, since the visitors have been seen to vanish into thin air, as if sucked out of existence..or back to their own time perhaps?

Location: The Old Caladar , Drune Diesel

Credits:

Items From Engine Room

  • Hair: Raven Bell – Celeste
  • Hat: Insomnia Angel . steampunk top hat
  • Gloves:..Silvery K..:*SteamDiva Bento Glove
  • Shorts& Blouse: *:..Silvery K..:*SteamExplorer

Others:

 

Drune – Diesel City

Another Drune installation is here and what a difference it is! A mix of Steampunk but with some newer tech thrown in. Just looking at the vehicles parked on the streets it’s quite a range from the Batmobile to worn out hovercars. It feels like your walking through multiple genres and time periods at once, but it really works.

The landing point is very appropriately located in an airship, I had an explore of the docking area building before takig the elevator down to the ground level.

Arrival in Airship bar

Like other Drune builds there are lots of lights everywhere, but not this time the neon of the cyberpunk styles of the past incarnations. There’s lots of shiny metal everywhere that reflects the light and making the place feel brighter, but then darker in the shadowy areas. Lots of the buildings are accessible and not just facades, as we’ve come to expect form a Drune build, attention to detail.

When you step out the tunnel from the elevator, you come to the first of many vehicles lining the streets. I did my usual routine of making a circuit of the streets to get my bearings and found some surprises.

By the time I reached the garae I was only about a quarter of the way around the block. I see some steps and explore and it’s here that I find there appears to be two levels of roads, since I found myself back on tarmac at the top.

Then I started seeing how many doors would actually open, as expected of Drune build, plenty.

Radio station – City Radio

Cinema

Private investigator – Deckard & Associates

Pub – The Garrison

Club – Old Calabar

Hotel – Cortez

One thing I did notice was absence of an aerial walkway area that have been included in the last two cyberpunk builds. Maybe simply because it wouldn’t have been appropriate in 1940’s era, but then neither would hovercars. Overall another fantastic build that anyone should visit and explore, whatever genre you’re into.

One last note a quiet little waterfront spot I found for those that enjoy misty sunsets, if you can find your way there (when using Region Shared Environment).

Landing Point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blissful%20Summer/204/123/2835

Credits:

Usually I like to wear something in-theme when exploring places, I really wasn’t sure what would class as DieselPunk. So it’s even more of a mix and match than normal this time!

Durty Feckers

Ava entered the village and had a look around, inevitably it being an Irish village, there were two establishments, a pub an a pie shop.

The pub was conspicuously empty

The pub however was mysteriously quiet except for some rowdy tourists outside, A little exploration found a gypsy wagon, also empty.

An empty gypsy wagon

An old stone cross marked the edge of the village, beyond which she could see a tower bathed in green light, a path of glowing clover leaves leading the way.

Onward she went inside and looked in wonder upon the rainbow-drenched cauldron.

A rainbow-drenched caulron surrounded by glistening water

After several moments of wonder, she sees another small light coming from a small arched opeing in the wall.

An enchanting grove lies behind the tower

Beyond she found an enchanting candlelit grove. Perhaps the village resident have all been spirited away?

Come be enchanted by the lovely little village, Ireland.

(The pub did start to get a crowd at a later hour, so come for that too!)

Arrival Point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Wensley/63/188/26

 

Golgothica – Wagons Wickermen and Windmills

At the end of my last post about Golgothica I mentioned returning to check out the chapel and the windmill. Well..I’ve done that and wow there was so much I missed out!

First I had a glance inside the suspected tavern, lovely little place, more on that later..first the chapel.

You have to head down the side of the tavern that lets you reach a bridge across to the rather spooky-looking place.

Crooked headstones are all around as you enter, a brief glance at a few before finding the entrance to the building at the near end.

Entering the Chapel the roof as fallen in which lets in beautiful shafts of light, making it feel quite serene.

Heading back the way I came between the houses I come across what would appear to be the front entrance to the tavern and take a better look. It’s small but ideally cozy for a small community to socialize in the warm together.

I come to the front of the tavern

Very cozy, just what you need with all the horrors outside.

Carrying on through the town I come across some wagons, it appears there are gypsies are in town, or is it maybe a permanent arrangement?

In the distance I’m expecting to see the windmill that I’d seen from walls of the castle on my last visit, but no. What I see instead is the entrance pillars of a stone circle!

I hasten along and something else catches my eye beyond the stones on the coast side, which is the appropriate place for a Wickerman.

The reason I’m so excited? One of my favourite films is The Wickerman (1973 original obviously,not that crap remake that doesn’t even deserve the name from 2006.)

I re-enter the stone circle to try out the ritual animations the altar there has to offer, before heading out the far side in search of the windmill.

Nice ritual pose

Lots of detailed props

A Sense of forboding

When I found it though it was a little bit of a shock inside. It’s suitably atmospheric, with some great props, enough to give me an uneasy feeling to get out.

Atmospheric props

The fact you can’t avoid stepping inside a circle might bother some people.

I’m no stranger to folks putting pentagrams upside down and stuff, they think it’s cool and scary (this is no criticism of the place,but of a stereotype portrayed in films), it’s fitting for a build like this and plays to the horror movie stereotype well. I stepped into the windmill and realised I’d inadvertently stepped right into the middle of a chalked circle on the floor. Something never to be taken lightly, so I made a prompt exit.

As I emerge I see a large statue of a werewolf attacking its victim. This feels a little out of place for some reason, not seeing any other references to such so far. Passing the statue I step into the light of a fire, in the middle of the gypsy camp from the opposite side.

Statue of a werewolf with it’s prey

I enter the camp and it feels very cozy

While I look around I again realise I’m in the middle of something, this time a massive pentagram. Not so worrying as a circle, provided its oriented correctly and I didn’t get any bad vibes off this one.

There’s also some fun things in the tents, including a gypsy dance one..

After my trekking around I felt in need of a brief rest so I headed to the windswept beach and walked for a short distance before I found a cozy campfire and a lovely view of the sea.

Arrival point: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Blissful%20Summer/131/128/3047

Previous post: Golgothica – Enchanting Woods and Layrinthine Castle

Outfit Credits: