Caledon Llyr Holds Closing Party

By Bixyl Shuftan

Caledon is a community and place familiar to many longtime residents, especially fans of steampunk. The place has a number of sims, over two dozen. But the land area used to be much larger. Much like Second Life in general it has gotten smaller over the years. Earlier this year, the Middlesea sim was closed down. While I heard whispers last week that another sim would be next, I didn't get a name until Saturday: Caledon Llyr. Located on the eastern edge of the estates, it was mainly a large island with a smaller island in the southwest corner and a ship off it's northern coast, water separating it from the adjacent three sims.

It turned out that the sim wouldn't exactly be vanishing but replaced. "It will be renamed, and have a new owner." I would be told later. But it still meant the old land would soon be fading away, "The sim is staying but the name is changing."

The place was permanently at Midnight, and had a spooky air to it with it's misty woods with wolf howls. Where there wasn't woods, there was often tall rocky mountains. The sim had the following description: A wild and magical land on the western border of Caledon; an explorer's last stop before sailing off into the sunset and the open sea, and (if the rumours are true) home to the infamous Black Moon Marauders. Sightings of fae are not uncommon here.

On the night of Saturday August 11, I was told by Cynthia Farshore that Caledon was having a farewell event for Caledon Llyr. But as it turned out, the sim was at full capacity when I got there, so I could only observe from a distance.

 I could zoom in and take a few pictures, though. So I did.

Later on, Cynthia would message me that a few people had left. So I tried again.

And this time I would make it over finally.

There were quite a variety of avatars present at the final salute to the sim.

Andrea Jones was there, sporting her firey avatar from the Burnstock.

Desmon Shang, Caledon's leader or "Guvnah" was also present.

People were of course sad that the place would soon be gone, but took it in stride, one saying, "All good things come to an end.  Maybe a good thing will spring up somewhere else." Tao Mistwalker whom was involved with the sim, responded, "Balance is always maintained. And sometimes things have to come to an end so that they can truly begin."

Jan Stroikavskoi spoke, "My way of saying I'm sad too. Llyr has been my second home since it first started up and it has always offered shelter to those passing through. Sig and I were married here too. ... it doesn't matter who has more.. it's the effect a place leaves us with."

In one of the adjacent sims, a building's owner would hang up a sign in support.

Conversation turned back and forth from jokes, to shopping, to attempts at pirate tales, to the sim being replaced by a new land, "From Des's point of view, it's stayin'. From ours, it's disappearin' and bein' replaced by a new sim." "The new owner will probably e making changes, though. Ya think?" "Well as I said when I first heard about it, everything eventually changes...it's a hard truth."

Eventually, more and more would start to leave. Tao would say, "Llyr has become an incredibly special place over the years. But as I said, that's because of all of you."

And so, Caledon had bade farewell to one of it's lands. Though as the space itself would not be going away, perhaps something special would arise in it's place.

Bixyl Shuftan

Final Day of the Fantasy Faire

By Bixyl Shuftan

Sunday May 3 was the last day of the 2015 Fantasy Faire, the yearly week-long fantasy-themed event that's both a fundraiser for the Relay for Life and a chance for builders to show off what they can do. And there were a few more events at the grounds before the event was technically over. This included an interactive roleplay in the Poppetsborough sim.

Apparently in the roleplay, a "Wizard of Knowledge" was responsible for chronicling wisdom and facts down, and some dark forces were after him to quite literally steal the knowledge from the people in the area. So they appealed for help. Avariel Falcon, who was there as I TPed in, told, "It's the dark claw of possible doom that is mostly dangerous and needs to be dealt with through charity and dance magic!"

Loki Eliot shouted, "COME TO THE CENTRE OF POPPETBOROUGH AND HELP US RELEASE THE WIZARD FROM THE GRASP OF DARKNESS! PAY THE KIOSK BY THE POND, WE SHALL WEAKEN IT WITH GOOD WILL!"

Loki and a number of others had on looks that made them look like human-sized versions of "The Littles," a cartoon from some years ago. "Look, I'm a Little!" one girl exclamed. But as they weren't a few inches high, they looked more like nezumi or the neko equivalent of mousefolk: human with mouse ears and tail. Another commented, "Maybe I should be my Mouseh fae self."

But eventually, they met their fundraising goals and declared victory, "MOUSE GUARDIANS RULE!"

The Mouse Guardians gathered their allies today at Poppetsborough and confronted the evil that had captured the Wizard of Knowledge. Though tiny demons circled about the hand wickedly and darkness fell over the skies of Poppetsborough they had found that charity, sharing, and love weakened and eventually banished the wicked hand that clutched the Wizard of Knowledge. The tears in Poppetsborough have closed and the skies are bright and clear. The Weasels, the Poppets, and everyone extend their thanks to everyone who attended their events and helped raise over 301,000 linden over the ten days to save Poppetsborough and to fund Relay for Life.

Read more on the event on the Fantasy Faire website (link).

Later on, there was another party at Poseidon's Abyss.

Among the dancers were two giant avatars, or Collossus, by Ceri Quixote. Ceri was the big girl on the right. While they might have a problem in any "Attack on Titan" areas, no one at the party minded them as they were just two more exotic avatars in the mix.

Trader Whiplash of T1 Radio was there in a Star Wars Jedi outfit. No telling if his dance partner asked, "Is that a lightsaber in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"

A third Collossus also joined the party.

As the party went on, an announcment was made by Random Parr:

NON STOP WOW  Fantasy Fair just hit 30 THOUSAND US Dollars and 7.5 MILLION Lindens in less than 11 days!    A heartfelt Thank You to Zander Greene and Elizabeth Tinsley for all their hard work, To all exhibitors and designers Congratulations and THANK YOU FOR MAKING A DIFFERENCE in our fight against Cancer!

Shortly afterward came another:

To those of you involved with Fantasy Faire 2015, a very heartfelt thank you and congratulations from the bottom of my heart and soul. You showed the world how we can kick cancer out of the universe!

Vickie Maidstone, Captain Friends Fighting Cancer RFL Team 2015

And so, the Fantasy Faire began to wind down, with people continuing to check out the builds across the thirteen sims. Second Life Newser will have some pictures on them later.

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From the Relay For Life Fantasy Faire 2014

Earlier this month in Second Life, the Relay for Life's 2014 Fantasy Faire took place. Although the place was set up to sell items for charity, it also got attention for the sims great designs. There were a total of 11 sims, mostly in a circle, setup next to the permanent American Cancer Society sim. Each was an eyeful to see.

The Fairlands Junction was the official entrance to the Faire. One appeared in a small island in a shallow lake with shops around.

To the north was a wooden walkway over a river in a marsh, which led around the sim, leading one west, north, or east.

To the west of Fairlands Junction, and east of American Cancer Society, was the Palace of Tears.

This sim was the scene of some dance parties.

Some events were on a boat in the air.

Which was carried by a dragon.

To the north of Fairlands Junction was the Sanctum sim with a flying palace.

North of Sanctum was the Blackwater Glen.

It was a mix of marshy woods, with wooden walkways providing a path over the water, and clear areas, with shops all around.

North of Blackwater Glen was Mourningvale Thicket.

The place was the darkest of the sims of the Faire, a dark forest, the trees keeping most of the sunlight out.

There were some elements of a dark RP game about, such as this headless body.

East of Mourningvale Thicket was The Faery Court.

The sim had the appearance of a fantasy village, though the west had a touch of dark from being next to the forest.

The east was a brighter shade of green.

Going east from the Faery Court was the sim of Heavenslough.

At both the west and south sides, there was a "Survival Station," where one could pick up a few freebies.

My favorite among them was the backback, with critters in the back. The rat in the cage is waving a flag that says "help."

There were a few more walkways over water, but they also went up and down hills.

And one sometimes went across rock, looking down at waterfalls and trees.

South of Heavenslough was Hopes Horizon, the Dwarfins' sponsored sim.

One went down a stone path ...

To a city of carved stone.

South of Hopes Horizon was Medhir Woods.

The place was simpler, with shops along the stone roads. I noticed places that sold treehouses.

And a magic shopp owned by Zachh Barkley, Second Life's self-professed "King of Magic."

Asperatus started off at the foot of a misty, snow covered mountain.

One went up the slope, and some stairs ...

And into a Steampunkish city in the clouds.

The place seemed to be held up by a combination of balloons and propellers

And it looks like there had been some roleplay going on, " 'The Revenge of Professor Timmons.' In it, the professor has built a treacherous robot, which damages our town’s power center.  They then make their escape to Asperatus.  We townsfolk chase after these miscreants, so there will be lots of excitement, fighting in the streets, and general mayhem going on. In the end, we will capture the bad guys, and there will be a great big celebration on Friday, 9 May.  After which, we will return the evil doers to NeoVictoria to receive their just desserts.”

West of Asperatus was Wiggenstead Moorning, the Tiny-themed sim.

The place reminded me a bit of Mulgore in "World of Warcraft," though instead of on mesas, the shops were placed around floating islands.

But the scenery wasn't just above, but also underneath on the surface.

To the west of this sim was back to the beginning at Fairlands Junction. So this is where the journey in pictures ends. It was quite a well-designed and visually pleasing place.

There are a few other links for Fantasy Faire pics, such as Daniel Voyager, Ciaran Laval, Loverdag, and the Fantasy Faire Photography contest.

There will be other events in Second Life. As I was writing this, the "RelayStock" was taking place, but the memories, and screenshots, of the Fantasy Faire will go on.

Bixyl Shuftan