baby, someone is crazy, and it's you

Taupo has a new maze. Sim sized. No, I'm not kidding.



That's a view from the outside. It doesn't make so much sense until you realize that's an enclosed sky level that encompasses the entire sim. Yeah.

It gets worse...

[1:18] Cossack Dagger: We should probably map this out...
[1:18] Dennis Albion: sure
[1:18] You: Wait, you HAVEN'T??
[1:18] Dennis Albion: you know how i do things
[1:18] Dennis Albion: i throw it up in the air, see where things land
[1:18] Cossack Dagger: Because guess who will have to save the people too dumb to TP out? Me. I'd like a map.

So...now we're here. And agh. No map. No clue. Lots of twisty-windy passages all the same.



That's a shot of it with the ceiling off, the best contrast I could use to show the corridor layout. That's not all of it, that's just all of it I was able to get in one shot.

The fellow with the white wings is Cossack Dagger, Rogue Sky Fae and what passes for a keeper of the peace in Taupo. The fellow in the black cloak, of course, is King Dennis Albion. Who built this.

[1:24] You: How big were the prims used for the base and the ceiling?
[1:24] Dennis Albion: its a giant prim 256x256x1

Yes, just for general information? At least on my machine, they do cause a bit of lag. Even with the drag on the processor though, I have to admit, the cool factor? Kind of outweighed that.

I quickly got out of talking range, just walking down one corridor.

[1:25] Dennis Albion: ok IM time
[1:26] Emilly Orr: Man, I feel nine inches tall
[1:26] Emilly Orr: So possibility of secret rooms, plus the sim sized maze, people are going to be running through this, or it's just here until someone comes up with a keen idea?
[1:27] Dennis Albion: how do you mean?
[1:27] Emilly Orr: Well, I know you mentioned rats and spiders and the like
[1:27] Dennis Albion: i mentioned possibility of npc monsters
[1:27] Emilly Orr: So, is it going to be equipped for anyone, or you contemplating renting it out to RP groups, or...?
[1:28] Dennis Albion: i'm open to ideas, right now, i just want to set up a dungeon
[1:28] Dennis Albion: a maze, like classic D&D

The which he's done, and rather efficiently, I might say.

Save for the lack of map thing.

Flying at my top speed--which I grant, is slow at present, at ludicrous speed I can cross three sims in twelve seconds--it takes me twenty seconds to fly across the maze. Note, I will not be able to do this once he puts the ceiling back on.

Couple notes: first, the SLUrl I linked? Will apparently take you to the market below the maze. Oh, well.

Second, that if you reduce your draw distance, lag drops considerably.

[1:51] Dennis Albion: i just got boosted to 32 FPS, i reduced the draw distance to 64
[1:51] You: And......rising.....to....huh
[1:51] You: Looks like around 18
[1:51] You: Whoo
[1:51] Cossack Dagger: lol
[1:51] Cossack Dagger: Ooo...
[1:52] You: Hey, that's zippy for me!
[1:52] You: Normally? I'm not kidding, I get around 8
[1:52] Cossack Dagger: I get around 50.
[1:52] You: Yes, yes, I know, you and my landlord with the dual-core
[1:52] You: I have a Frankenbox, sue me
[1:52] Cossack Dagger: Triple-core.
[1:52] You: Phhhht
[1:52] Cossack Dagger: lol
[1:53] You: I also have a brain chip with a handy crush-your-av function, don't tempt me
[1:53] Cossack Dagger: You do, too?



So yes. Now Taupo has this...thing. Huge. Just HUGE.

And the new Temple of Lloth?

Is right over the maze. Hee.



[2:12] Emilly Orr: [2:10] Temple of Lloth Door whispers: Lloth Rejects you, begone!
[2:12] Emilly Orr: Guess I've been told. :)

So now, we have a request!

WANTED FOR TAUPO: EFFECTIVE MAPMAKER! Please apply to Dennis Albion directly, who will provide you with a good sturdy knapsack full of Taupoan salted fish, hard cheese, 50 feet of silk rope, and writing implements, and send you on your way.

Try not to starve.

the secrets that you keep are at the ready

((RP MODE))

Nostalgia hits at the oddest times, and for the oddest things. I miss Lumindor. Oh, it's still there, but changed beyond recognition--I miss it as it was. I miss the trees. I miss my tree. I miss the sithen, and the sound of wind through leaves, knowing some of those leaves would shiver and turn odd colors at the touch.

The thought of trees going away...saw to trunk, and the protracted slow death of such long-lived things...it shudders my soul. I can't bear the thought of it.

Mostly, though, I just feel loss. Hollowed out from the thought of it, from the feel of such...absence, from the land.



I'm hollowed out for another reason, these days. Coming into winter with empty branches of my own, so to speak. When Lilit heard of the transformation that befell Valruna--again--she brought me out, controlled and barricaded, to see what had been wrought.

When she returned to Hell, I decided enough was enough. I found a mage who wished a bargain. He made one with Lilit. The wording was simple, and woefully foolish on his part: one task, and she'd be free.

Of course she accepted.

We did that one task, our paired hands moving, the world grey for me when it wasn't red. And when we were done, when I raised dripping hands before my face, I felt her leave me.

And I was alone, only myself, for the first time since my young demon hatched his upstart plan.

My first thought, of course, was my Raven. I returned to the lands above to find news I'd never expected to hear: of his death in far lands. To this day I do not know what happened, or how he fell.

But he will not be returning to me. And the lad from the East has vanished to each and every trace I'm capable of casting.

The Court is shattered. Valruna is lost to me, and all in it. Lumindor...I barely recognize, denizens or dells. And Taupo increasingly feels like a dream, fading.

Alone in the world to make my way. It's not the first time. But it will be far from easy this time around, precarious balance hard-bought, Lilit's practicality removed. Oh, I can still wear her form, and I think I will never lose the hunger, for certain things.

And I still have the tentacles...though they begin to fade.

But I am not her. And I must find out where in this world, there is, for me to be.

the lighthouse beam has just run out

I won't say Taupo's dead. I won't. I refuse. As long as there are players who wish to play, players who wish to keep a sim alive, a sim is not truly dead.

But I'm watching it stagger less than two weeks after opening, and it hurts. The potential of failing...again....it hurts.

Chief among the problems is the fact that the woman interested in storytelling there is so hidebound by Gorean traditions, she can't see past them to see the larger strictures of the grid, and grid roleplay realities.

I'm sure all know that feeling of trying to argue the brick wall into stepping aside?

The brick wall will eventually move, compared to Miss Dae.

*sighs and walks back into limbo, tail hanging down*

a woman came up to me and said I'd like to poison your mind

Potentially? I'm going to get in trouble for this one.



I attended a coronation today for a Queen...who is only Queen in Tiny Empires...which is a game played within the world, on its own little HUD.

Yeah.

Don't get me wrong, the coronation was lovely, and I do think it took a concerted, unified effort on the part of those people who are interested in this game to make sure who they wanted--as a whole--ascended to the throne of her line.

That? That's kind of cool.

How'ver, there's the rest of it...



This is the HUD device, fully expanded. It's a turn-based game, so for the most part, it's a lot of hang out and wait, followed by clicking yes-no buttons. Buy land...sell land...answer surveys...have random events.

It's slightly less boring, for me personally, than watching paint dry. Though depending on the color of paint...

See, here's the thing I don't get, and I can't find a way to get. The King of Taupo advocated his subjects play. And then warned us all, that this game had destroyed friendships, destroyed marriages, that we should be careful and remember it's a game.

Personally? I can't see how this game has destroyed friendships. I leave my liege and go to one who pays better. Okay, it's a game. I have three subjects under me, two of them leave for another liege? It's still a game.



This is the HUD device closed. It doesn't take up that much space. Certainly much less than the Hybrid hud that controls ears and tails of any of my Hybrid avatars.

Beyond the fact that it's a game within a game? Is the fact that apparently, some part of the roleplay in Taupo is hinging around Tiny Empires. That, to whatever extent, the interaction that goes on in the kingdom, is being decided in a small...very boring...turn-based HUD game.

...Yeah.



See, this is why I said this is going to get me in trouble. If Taupo is going to revolve around the events in a HUD-based game...I think they're welcome to it.

Problem is, where do I put my tree now?

Maybe it goes back into storage until the next place...but it's definitely an issue to bring up at Friday's meeting.

Well, they were saying they needed a bad guy. Maybe I'm it. Because I really don't understand what the draw is, I don't care about any of the outcomes, and while I'm sure Queen FoxyKim will be a wonderful liege for the subjects under her...I can't find it in my heart to get enthused about it.

*sighs*
And another angle on gambling and Second Life. Can't say I disagree...

I know that there's no retrieving

would you mind if I hurt you
understand that I need to
wish that I had other choices
than to hurt the one I love...

(what have you done now?)



I finally got pictures of the big tree last night. To date, it's the most massive tree I've seen on the grid. At least...to live in.

I know I'd better stop trying
you know that there's no denying
I won't show mercy on you now

I know I should stop believing
I know that there's no retrieving
it's over now

(what have you done?
(what have you done now?)



This is the main platform. Suitable for a small dance, an intimate dinner for twenty, or meeting with all the current nobles of Taupo.

I, I've been waiting for someone like you
but now you are slipping away
(what have you done now?)
why? why does Fate make us suffer?
there's a curse between us
between me and you

(What have you done?
(what have you done now?)



The upper platform area. More suitable for small intimate gatherings, or just appreciating the view.

would you mind if I killed you?
would you mind if I tried to?
'cause you have turned into my worst enemy
you carry hate that I don't feel
it's over now

(what have you done?
(what have you done now?)



Behind the pair of trees, that's the wall around the village. In case you hadn't gathered that these are big trees.

I will not fall
won't let it go
we will be free
when it ends



And waaaaay off in the distance, to the right of this picture, is the Maneater. My puir wee twig, now, compared to these paleolithic trunks.

I, I've been waiting for someone like you
but now you are slipping away
what have you done now?
why? why does Fate make us suffer?
there's a curse between us
between me and you
between me and you...

my heart can't possibly break when it wasn't even whole to start with

((RP MODE))
((sorta))

Life on the grid was decidedly odd last night. The gallery shows at Altered were sparsely attended, but we did manage to raise, between private donations and sales of art, slightly over L$12,000 for the child in need of care after sexual abuse. All of us at Altered humbly thank you for your donations and your caring hearts.

After that, though, I had what felt like ten thousand things to do, so I hopped through several sims, pulled by the whim of offered teleports, until two hours later, everything seemed resolved. I breathed a sigh of relief and thought of what to do next. I decided to go home.

Home did not seem to be there. I tried several times. In the process I was thrown off the grid twice, and both times tried to return home, and ended up in odd telehubs.

In utter frustration, I went to Taupo. I met the Royal Advisor, and briefly spoke with the new innkeeper. Both seemed rather bemused by me. (I think the bemusement wasn't all me--be fair, the inn profoundly lacked a door! [It was being repaired.]) Then I walked through the gate--I'm small enough I don't need to open it, I just push through the bars, it's a very large gate--and saw the largest tree I'd ever seen in my life.

I don't have a good picture, I'll get one--but it's fully six platforms in one on the main level, a trunk that makes my Maneater look like a twig, another massive tree trunk that supports a free room--but wait, it's not done!

To one side is a set of stairs, and past that is a hollow-trunk tree with another platform room, giving the owner two large open-air rooms and two large closed rooms for the whole arrangement.

It's magnificent. Alazarin Mondrian, he makes the best trees. I'll bring back pictures when I can.

In the meantime, past that, I attracted the attention of the Guardian of Taupo, a Sky Fae who'd washed ashore in the kingdom some time before. I think I can be forgiven--I've mostly been involved in the outer world, but since those responsibilities are easing, I'm going to be getting more involved with the business of the kingdom. We exchanged stories of our lives, and parted in good spirit, and I went downstairs to begin building the second version of the cuddle rug.

(Having found no cuddle rug rigged for three people? Frustrating. I have had no recourse but to build it myself. Do drop me a note in world if you happen to know of any good animated cuddle poses. Singles, couples, or trios--I will make them work!

(I'll probably be selling them once I've finished. I can't be the only member of a triad who's run into this!)

But apparently, all is not well. The crisis that killed Steelhead's Sushi is spreading. To wit:



This is one of Taupo's Beluga whales. As you may have gathered, it's not in the water. I'm somewhat disturbed by this.



Another shot across the waves.



Creeping around the side with my cam. The tree you see on the shore? That's my Maneater. When I'm next able, I'll shoot my tree, and the big two-tree structure. Just so you can see the size difference.

It doesn't end here, though. Miss Neome, after helping me get the cuddle poses right (much appreciation for her efforts, there) wondered about fins. I flipped on mine and took her to EmeraldEver's shop, truly one of the best places for mer attire and moves. But I would not swim in the little testing bay area. I wandered to the larger sea and I would not swim either!

I thought it was just me, but then another denizen of the deep waves came in, and she couldn't swim either!

THE OCEANS ARE CURSED! WE'RE ALL DOOOOOMED!!!

...or, it could have something to do with why more than 400 regions on the grid were down last night, including Rivula. Apparently there are bigger problems than we know....

key largo, montego, baby why don't we go?

Poison Apple, the next art show from my artist, will occur sometime this upcoming Saturday. She does not yet know when; she's awaiting images from two of her muses, and then the frenzy of edit. Check her journal for more details.

[[UPDATE: It should, I stress, SHOULD, be this Saturday, September 9, 2007 at both 2pm and 5pm SLT (to account for domestic and international traffic). Check back for updates, this is a mature (NOT child-appropriate!) show.]]

I promised pictures of Taupo; I want to get more, but for now, this is what I have.



The view from my front door, showing part of one island, and allll that ocean.



View of the second island. There was a third within view, but it sank this morning. :)



The two maneaters, side by side.



And the arena, where fighters go to practice combat skills.

I'll take more later, when I'm not so tired. :)

we'll be falling in love, to the rhythm of a steel drum band, down in Kokomo

Honestly, some days on the grid, it just doesn't pay to get up of a morning.



I mean, when your world spontaneously decides to malfunction across the board...and has been doing so for more than a week...the suspicion begins to occur that what's broken, cannot in fact, be fixed.



However, there are bigger things happening than discovering I can still dance with broken feet, or learning what my collarbone tastes like. I'd like to speak to an interesting sim in progress.

Taupo is a roleplay sim under development, it's been in the building stage for about a week now. Dennis Albion and Anna Adamant are the King and Queen there, as well as sim owners and major contributors to the process. You've probably seen their work if you've gotten married, or been to a wedding, in world--they do a lot of wedding poses, wedding floral displays, wedding furniture. In point of fact, Anna makes most of her income selling flowers, and glittery jewelry pieces. (They bling, of course, the only drawback--but I'm willing to forgive her even that, because she's one of the few women who actually manage to look charming wearing bling...)

The history of the world, and the people who live and work there, is still under development. But at present it's a series of archipelagos, small islands on a mostly water sim. They're thinking elves, and my mind is absolutely intrigued by the idea--because honestly? Yes, there are elven lands on the grid, but tropical islands populated by elves? I think that's a concept that's not been widely done, if at all.

They seek players. Merfolk if they'll come, and tell them what they want to see, the ocean they want to swim through. Other roleplayers if they're interested, and word is slowly spreading. Dennis wants a cordial environment, courteous, polite--he says if Taupo were a movie, in terms of rating the land would be given an R--adult themes, but no force/capture, no dark RP for the sake of it, no sex in the streets.

And frankly, there are worse things than encouraging roleplay with a sense of fair play, roleplay without force/capture and slavery, roleplay for the joy of the game.

Child avatars are not disallowed in Taupo--I have the Princess of the land, little Miss Moody, as my next-tree-neighbor--but with absolute strictures: if you seek to be a child in Taupo, you will be a child. No sexual situations will be allowed, no ageplay in terms of adult interaction and adult themes--nothing the Lindens have declared verboten. Innocence, mayhap, revisiting childhood a second time--and again, how is this a bad thing?

Taupo is intended to be a members-only sim. If you wish to visit, you can, freely. But to build, to live, to roleplay, beyond simply looking over the world, will require membership in the Taupo group. It's free to join, and they'd love to see you. As it's not--quite--open yet, roleplay occurs every evening from seven to nine pm SLT.

The magical islands of Taupo--sea breezes and world trees, magic and whimsy--this could be a very good thing.

Come see us. If you want more information, feel free to message me in world--I'll give you what I have. After all, I'm the current advisor to the King, completely by accident--I should live up to the title.