J.
R. R. Tolkien
Last year, my friend and Research Assistant (RA), Tera Trenchcoat, (Yes, she’s still with me.
Significant Other believes it’s because she can’t wait to see what trouble
I’ll get into next. I’m still going with
a sense of duty, professional curiosity, and my jokes.) brought us to the Da
Vinci Gardens in Kalepa. I was impressed and blogged about
the sim then.
I’ve been meaning to get back to have a look around and
finally had a chance this week. (I try
to write about what my readers ask about but sometimes I write for myself. There’re advantages to being a literary type,
or, at least having pretensions to being one.)
I arrive
at the landing zone and as before am overwhelmed by the spectacle around
me. Tall towers and castles stretch out
from me as far as I can see on islands in a sea which reminds me of the
Mediterranean on a sunlit day. (I have
seen the Mediterranean Sea on a beautiful sunlit day so I know what I’m talking
about. I wasn’t always confined to
cyberspace!) The sea stretches to the
horizon beyond the archipelago.
Da Vinci
Gardens is wide open and seems to just go on.
Stairways and causeways lead from one structure to another. Doorways are everywhere. Giant condors soar overhead. Teleports hint at further secrets.
The
architectural style is eclectic. From
Middle Earth to Moorish. Dark Ages to
the samurai. Sci fi to who knows
what. Ships of sail and other means of
propulsion yet to be identified. Ruins
loom over one island. A telescope aims
at the sky from an observatory.
A very
active imagination has been behind the layout of Da Vinci Gardens.
I want to
see it all, to do it all. But, I know I
don’t have much time. So, I bound up the
spiral staircase in front of me all the way to the top. (I’m finding I get just as dizzy on spiral
staircases in Second Life (SL) as I do in Real Life (RL). Remind to tell you about my trip to the
Statue of Liberty some time.)
At the top
of the stairs, a dragon stands.
A very big
dragon who breathes fire and smoke.
A very big
dragon who breathes fire and smoke and who is saddled and ready to ride.
Why not?
The beauty
of SL is that no matter what happens inworld, we can always close down and
restart.
I mount
the very big dragon who (you get the picture, I won’t repeat myself) and launch
into the skies.
Problem
number one. How does one steer a fire
breathing dragon? (Give me some credit,
after fumbling for a while, I looked for instructions. There were none.)
Eventually,
I get the situation under control. (All
those hours spent on flight simulators finally pay off.)
I
soar. I dive. I hover over an erupting volcano. I sweep through the courtyard of the Dark
Ages castle. I have a blast. (Significant Other just sighs.)
Somewhere
along the way, I learn that this dragon is a combat dragon intended to fight
other dragons. I have fire control if I
want and health gauge for my beast in case I start something I can’t
finish. (Significant Other smiles
knowingly.)
Fortunately, for my brave stead and me, we
encounter no other dragons. Yes, I
resist the temptation to burn down buildings or roast the condors.
Problem,
number two. How does one park a fire
breathing dragon and dismount?
I’ll keep
it simple.
We end up
at the bottom of the harbor surrounded by very big fish with very big
teeth. I guess at this point, my dragon
figures out whom he has riding on his back yelling “Hi ho, Silver, away!”
because I find myself standing alone on the sea bed except for those very big
fish with very big teeth.
At this
point, discretion being the better part of valor, (As Corporal
Randolph Agarn once said, “He who runs away lives to run
away another day!”) I teleport the Hell out of there and head home.
And that,
dear reader, is my adventure with the dragon at Da Vinci Garden.
The
feeling of flying among the condors and looking down on the beautiful scene
below is an exhilarating one. The sim
permits avatars to fly but trust me on this, there’s nothing like flying on a
fire breathing dragon. (Even if I do get
soaked in the end!)
I plan to return to Da Vinci Gardens in the
future and further explore all its secrets.
I’d like
to thank Tera for introducing me to the sim originally and sticking with the
team as we work our way across the Grid!
I’ve included
links to pictures of my dragon riding exploits below but go and see for
yourselves. You’ll be glad you did!
As always, I’m grateful to
all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who
was passing through their lives.
I welcome feedback from
readers, please either comment on my blog or
e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com
.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
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