The person, be it gentleman or lady,
who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.
Jane Austen
My peripatetic ways have led me to many different places in
Second Life (SL) and to meet many different people. One of these is my old friend, Brendon
Patrick MacRory whom I first met when I’d visited the Age
of Sail inworld earlier.
Well, Brendon has been up to new ventures since we last
hung out inworld. For some time, he’s
been inviting to visit him in there. As
anyone who knows me in SL, scheduling is somewhat problematic for me. (Significant Other insists it is in Real Life
(RL) for me as well. But, that’s another
story.) Anyway, I recently accepted
Brendon’s invitation and joined him and his friends in Regency
Somerset, a sim dedicated to the Regency Era in England.
I arrive in the Port Austen area of the sim where I am met
by Brendon and his two friends, Merry
Chase and Cara
Cali. I’m immediately struck by the
scale and detail of the sim.
My hosts welcome me to 1813 where “King
George the III, not feeling himself in mind, his Son, the Prince of Wales,
George the IV, is Prince Regent, meanwhile, we are at war with Napoleon of
France on the Continent and the Sea, while at the same time, involved with some
conflict over in the Former Colonies.”
Looking
down from the quayside, a harbor is at my feet.
A small boat is tied up and a bathing wagon sits at the water’s edge
waiting for holiday makers. Behind me is
a row of shops which sell all manner of Regency merchandise for those needing
such.
Brendon,
Merry, and Cara are themselves attired in a manner which makes them look like they
just stepped out of a BBC production of Pride
and Prejudice. (Which happens to be
Significant Other’s favorite novel and I was instructed to plug in this
story.) They talk about their
inspirations for the sim deriving ideas from Jane Austen, Charles Dickens (OK,
he was a Victorian but close enough.), Patrick O’Brian,
whose collected works look down on me as I write this (Yes, I know, he’s
definitely neither lived in the Regency Era nor even Victorian times but he does a pack a lot of
Regency period detail into his writings!) and many period drawings and pictures. Merry says that much of their brainstorming was
done via Pinterest and Cara adds that Pinterest
boards were a very
important part of the building process.
Brendon explains to me all the Pintrest pages devoted to specific items,
like pubs and taverns, seaside resorts, Bath, the Crescent, clothing and style,
tea sets, etc. (It’s interesting how the
new social media tools are being used to expand the capabilities of older
ones.) Cara maintains a blog about the project.
We begin
to take a constitutional around the sim to show me its buildings and
layout. Brendon tells me that it’s based
on the RL town of Lyme-Regis
in southern England which was featured in two of Jane Austen’s novels and one
of Charles Dickens’s. He also mentions that
another small, English town, Porkellis.
Our first stop
in our stroll is Nelson’s Blood Tavern where fine drink and dining and a clean
room are available for the tired traveler.
The furniture and fixtures along with the attention to detail (Who else would
put petit fours in their sim?) are standard features in my friends’ work I’m
beginning to learn.
I ask them
why they selected the Regency Era for their work. Merry replies that Brendon was planning to do
a Regency area for a long time, Cara has always wanted to build Regency, and she’s
interested in just about all of history so she tagged along for the ride. Brendon believes different people have different
reasons, but the style of the Regency, its nouveau-Classical revival, the pageantry
of the military, the love of country are all appealing. Also, the Age of Exploration, the Age of
Romance, Beethoven, and Mozart are all additional reasons for him. Cara adds the Age of Revolution and the start
of women’s emancipation. (I’m beginning to
suspect that she’s a closet Bonapartist.)
Cara continues that their
sim is included in Antiquity which is a group of historical sims, and like all
estates has expanded and contracted over the years. Merry states there were already Baroque and
Victorian areas in Antiquity but a Regency one was missing from between those. They felt it's a popular time because of the
works of Austen and O'Brian so they knew it would appeal to lots of people. Also, with the current two hundredth anniversary
cycle of Jane Austen and the Napoleonic Wars underway there should be an
audience. (And, sometimes, Cara adds, a
BBC production gives them a shot in the arm!)
Leaving the tavern, we continue
walking through the beautiful landscape of the sim. Having lived in England for a number of
years, I can appreciate the similarities to the RL English countryside.
After
a bit, we come upon the Royal
Crescent which is a reproduction of the one in Bath, England. I felt
a wave of nostalgia come over me as I haven’t seen the originals in years and
once spent much time on that street. Unlike RL, I’m able to enter the buildings
and look around. As usual, my friends
have outdone themselves. Lighting, wall
coverings, and room dimensions add a feeling of realism which is hard to describe
(OK, maybe if I was a better writer, I could!)
and really must be experienced to be truly enjoyed.
Leaving the Royal Crescent, we walk along a small river
until we come to a hedge maze and farm country.
The feeling of a small, English town is complete for me. The pastures with the sheep near the estate
homes with their gardens makes me expect to see Jane Austen come around a
corner and greet us.
We
complete a circle in our promenade which leads us back to Port Austen where we
come upon the Orangery and
a Martello tower. Along the way, the Baroque neighbors are
pointed out to me.
The latter was a standalone
fortification erected across England and her Empire during the Napoleonic Wars
for defense against invasion. I’ve never
been in one and couldn’t resist the opportunity. (Yes, Significant Other does have an opinion
on this behavior of mine.)
The former looks like a
greenhouse and is laid out as a conservatory for a social setting and includes music
and plants. Also, the ghost of Jane
Austen inhabits the building and she visits us while we’re there. We are also visited by Mademoiselle Charlotte
Giroux who resides nearby and is one of the finest Regency dressmakers in the
sim. My friends hope that she will open
a shop on the quay.
The Orangery and a nearby
farmhouse will ultimately be replaced by baths and a reproduction of the
Assembly Rooms at Bath. So, I’d
recommend hurrying over to see these and Jane’s ghost. (I’m not sure what will happen to her in
these renovations.)
Before I leave I ask about
how long the sim will remain open. The
reply is hopefully for a while but nothing is forever in SL.
During our walk, I’ve asked
who else has helped in building this sim.
Brendon, Merry, and Cara have talked at length about other residents
such as Crotian, Jacon Cortes, Tiamat Windstorm, Sere Timeless, Aldo Stern, and Jacon Bexter
are mentioned. Twelfth Night supplied Jane
Austen’s ghost. If I’ve omitted anyone,
I apologize in advance, your work is beautiful!
As for future events, there
will be a country fair in September.
Dates and other specifics have yet to be finalized. As they become known, I’ll publish them in
this blog.
As I prepare to leave, I
think about all that I have seen. Regency
Somerset is step back into another time and place. Considerable time and effort have gone into
its creation. This is yet another
example of what can happen in SL when people with passion and creativity look
to build something inworld. Brendon, Merry, and Cara have done a magnificent
job!
I encourage all who either
are interested in this period or who wish to see some brilliant work to come
by.
And if you do, please wear
period costume and be mindful of those who are roleplaying there. If you really want to help then use the
donation jars located throughout the sim.
Regency Somerset is a half sim and tier is expensive and borne by
Brendon solely. Show your support. Too many exceptional sims have had to close
recently for lack of funding. Most of
all, enjoy your visit. See the detail
that exists there. Ring the desk bell in
Nelson’s Blood. Savor the pies in the
kitchen. Or, look for the lady bug in
the rose bushes.
My
visit is drawing to its end and I want to thank my hosts, Brendon, Merry, and
Cara, along with Mlle. Giroux for their hospitality and taking the time to show
a Colonial boy around their world and having the patience to deal with my
questions. I also want to thank them for fond memories of
an earlier, happy time in my life.
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’ve included below links to
a few photos from my visit. But, as
always, I encourage all to visit the site for themselves and not rely on my
crude efforts as a photographer.
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.
Photo No. 1 Port Austen
Landing Zone
Photo No. 2 Beach
and Bathing Wagon
Photo No. 3 Martello
Tower
Photo No. 4 Shops
Photo No. 5 Nelson’s
Blood Tavern – Exterior
Photo No. 6 Nelson’s
Blood Tavern - Interior
Photo No. 7 Nelson’s
Blood Tavern – Dining Room
Photo No. 8 Nelson’s
Blood Tavern – Guest Room
Photo No. 9 Nelson’s
Blood Tavern – Harborview
Photo No. 10 Bridge
Photo No. 11 Residence
Interior
Photo No. 12 Royal
Crescent Memories of Bath
Photo No. 13 Baroque
Neighbors
Photo No. 14 The
Hedge Maze
Photo No. 15 The
Farm
