EverWing

By Becky Shamen

  Recently at club Cutlass, we had a big Dj spinning tunes. By big we mean, he was a huge dragon, named Geerkil, that could barely fit in the club. Sha told Geerkil that Katzu had recently done an article about dragon sims, in the Newser.

   Geerkil asked her to extend his invitation to Katzu to come visit and report on his own favorite, new dragon realm, Ever Wing, on the Commune sim in the far NW corner of the grid. On hearing the news, Katzu buffed all his claws and horns, picked up and rubbed a local bunny under each arm, and flew off to Ever Wing. His report follows.

   The landing point at EverWing is a large, flying, three level platform, which is known as the Lounge. This is also where the dragons have their big social gatherings. The Lounge can hold many dragons, much larger than myself and it even has a set-up for DJs. I noticed the sim was playing Geerkil's music channel and that added to the pleasure of the adventure.

   In the center of what I called the dance floor, there is a teleport with five destinations on the sim. I tried all of them and was amazed at how big one sim can look. Each destination is at a different altitude on the sim. Each area is rich in mountains, trees, waterfalls and lakes, but thanks to "off sim" backgrounds, look like the scenery continues in eight sims surrounding you. So far, the music and scenery alone are making this a great place for a dragon to stretch his wings.

   At one level I spotted a pair of large dragons, stretched out by a lake. Being new here, I approached with caution. They welcomed me and, when informed I was writing about the sim, were open to answering my questions about the local dragon life. The dragons each have a human size, which they use when being more efficient, building things. What do they like to do, in their spare time? The shiny metal dragon explained that they all liked tweaking their dragon av mods. This fits right in with all the furries, back home. As we talked, he worked on his latest head. It was kind of like watching Sha, building at her workshop. I seem to have been there at dragon dinner time, as each of them excused themselves in pursuit. I took off to view every bit of the place that I could. One of the things I've observed in my dragon adventures leads me to a new theory. We have all noticed that time seems to run at a different speed in SL, from that of RL. I think dragons have a whole different speed of time. I'm not sure if it's faster or slower, but.....dragons.....do.....not.......scurry.....very..........fast.

 

   Every area I visited was beautiful. Rather than repeat the same list of superlatives, I will warn of the one, minor mishap that I encountered there. I was flying in one of the lower areas and turned flight off to land. My aim was off and I landed in water. After seeing how nice everything looked, above water, I decided to walk about below the surface, to see if the designers carried the details there. I found a cave entrance and decided it was only natural to explore inside. Well, it turned out to be closed to the public and a security orb sent me back home. Lesson learned, I went back to EverWing and explored some more.

 

   You don't have to be a dragon to enjoy EverWing. The atmosphere is very relaxing and the scenery provides countless backdrops for photos. This is one LM that I will use many times.

 

Commune (116, 217, 259)

 

Your scaly friend,

 

"Katzu"

Uhre, Dragon Realm

By Becky "Sha" Shamen,

After spending a week developing Sunny Beach, this reporter was so full of been there,done that, she couldn't find another adventure to tempt readers with. Sha comes from a big family. Long before we discovered SL, we created a series of animated 3D characters, of which Katzu Quattle was a favorite. Katzu is a somewhat scary-looking, large purple dragon, who is actually a very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful Makara. When not growling and breathing fire, his voice sounds like Sean Connery's (http://shaadventures.blogspot.com/2014/01/old-poser-animations.html bottom video). By getting the Guardian Dragon avatar in our alt account, we were able to bring Katzu into SL. Katzu has already been featured in past Newser articles, including one in which he made the longest, one way flight possible in SL (about 25 miles). We brought Katzu back from his long vacation, to see what kinds of dragon adventures he could get into. We'll let him tell, in his own words.

* * * * *

Katzu:

I knew, as soon as they let me out of inventory, the first place I wanted to visit. In Sept. 2013, Sha wrote about a fantasy roleplay area, which she called "Vanwenia" (from the Elven word for Hello). The collective of sims, then numbering 39, is only about five kilometers West of the Sunweaver Estates and was divided into realms. There were areas for Elves, Dwarves, Humans and Dragons. Comparing the maps from then with those from today, we see there are now only 34 and some have moved or changed names. Where Sha had visited all the realms and made friends with Kings and Queens, she had seen few dragons. I was determined to meet the local dragons and see life from their perspective. 

 

As it turns out, on my first visit I managed to have my first meeting with the local king, Tsargoth Runeclaw, who was giving hunting lessons to a young dragon. At 7.6m tall, when on two legs, I thought I was the biggest dragon around, but Tsargoth made me look like a VW bug, parked next to a passenger airliner. Tsargoth welcomed me to the realm and I spent several sessions exploring all the sims I could get into, without use of a TP. The terrain is beautiful, thickly forested, with mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls, caves and hidden valleys. Flying above the mountains, I would swoop down and land at points of interest. If you like castles, you're gonna love this place. On my latest visit, I spotted a group of dragons and flew up to the caldera, where seven were hangin' out.

Given the location, this group was doing anything but chillin'. Three of them were big adults and two children played around and nibbled the claws of adults. Another adult, closer to my size and a human sized biped completed the group. I asked what name I should put on my map for their realm. It is called Uhre and they pulled out a map to show the 12 connected sims (highlighted on map), that make them the largest realm in the area. I listened to their conversation, for a while, to get a feel for how locals interact socially, then brought up that on Sunweaver sims locals seem to like gathering for theme parties, to shake their tails on the dance floor and tell silly puns. I was informed that they too..."might" shake their tails....but that is a secret.

Picturing these massive creatures dancing together got me thinking. I did a search and found an adult dance club, called Dragon Spire. On my first visit to the club, I was alone and noted that the doors were big enough and hall spacious enough to host a large group of dragons. I returned several more times, at different time slots, to see if the club got any traffic or regulars. As I met dragons there, I learned that the club is always open, although probably gets more traffic from noon to early evening. I even made a few new dragon friends there.

 

So there you have it, my friends. In Second Life, if you can imagine it, there are sims and clubs for it, somewhere on the grid. I'll be sure to join you on the next fantasy, as soon as I've had a bit of rest, upon my hoard of gold coins, which Sha paid me.

 

"Sha" (and Katzu)

Reflection Island

By Grey Lupindo

Reflection Island is a beautiful place where residents can live or visit.  Reflection Island (206, 14, 22).   The island is lush, with lots of trees and waterfalls.   Exotic sounding birds sing and call to one another and add to the tropical atmosphere.  While my home on Syzygy was being transitioned, I rented a tree house apartment there from Spirit Rock Rentals.  The island is a mix of fantasy and nature. There are dragon tours, lakes, lots of meditation places, volcanos, and more.
 

        I especially enjoyed the dragon ride, found at Reflection Island, Reflection Island (95, 147, 24).  This is an excellent way to get a first look at the island.  As his wings swoop up and down, he flew me on a tour.  Don’t be alarmed by the fire and growls.    

     Reflection Island is owned and managed by longtime residents, Ka Brevity and her partner, Seth Haalan.  Ka has been a resident since 11/10/2006, and Seth since 2/23/2009.  Their group is One World, Many Paths.  Their notecard states, “There is something deeper behind all the magical and metaphysical teachings in spiritual traditions and philosophies. Our vision is that by bringing people of diverse but sympathetic views together, these deeper truths can emerge and become more clearly evident to all involved.“   

        Chakra spheres and meditation sites are located throughout the island-- in water, underwater, beside fire pits, in a volcano, and many others.   One meditation tower, located at Reflection Island (225,119,28), offers an ocean view.  Jump off the tower, and you’ll splash into a refreshing pool.  Climb through a little door at the edge, and you’ll be transported to a maze-like structure in the sky. I explored this build and found a beautiful book on alchemy and a life-size chess set.    

     On the island, near the dragon tour, there is a library to explore and get items at, some of them free.  Many other places can be explored, too.   For example, The Nest, a treetop platform, is located at Reflection Island (190,70,148).   A beautiful underwater park is located at Reflection Island, Reflection Island (206, 220, 8).   Sea turtles and sea horses, lovely coral, schools of fish swim by.     There's a bathing pool with lavender water for residents, too.  Mermaids will love this place. 

        For SL residents who are interested in exploring  spiritual and philosophical ideas, Seth holds discussion groups and maintains a library of writings on his webpage, www.dragonintuitive.com.   I attended one of the lectures, which are held in the Hall of Creativity, located at Reflection Island (128,123, 2036).  Six or seven of us participated in the lecture that Seth led on the topic of “Fun”.   I had to leave before the discussion was concluded, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the exchange of ideas.         

Grey Lupindo