Otherworldly

Synergy Lab is currently running an Ice & Fire event, which naturally meant I was over there to check things out as soon as possible. Creators are allowed to use both the books and the show as inspiration. I would have liked to see a few more items that were clearly inspired by either (without infringing on any copyright) rather than being more generic fantasy/medieval, though that is always welcome as well!

Two creators that brought some very nice decor items were Del-ka Aedilis and Fantavatar & Moonstruck. The former has created a set inspired by the furnishings seen in Stannis Baratheon’s study on Dragonstone whereas the latter has made a safe that might even suit the Iron Bank of Braavos!

I love well-researched period clothing and accessories and with this hennin Old Treasures has really hit the mark. A hennin is the classic “princess” headdress, a cone or steeple, often with a veil attached. They are associated with the late Middle Ages, particularly with Burgundy and France, which is why I opted for a Burgundian-style gown from the Muses to go with it. This is an older release, so it has two general fitmesh sizes rather than fitmesh for specific bodies, but that works fine for gowns.

J’adoube, sponsored by The Looking Glass, is a fascinating build filled of both whimsy and beauty. Giant chesspieces, chessboard-patterned flowers and butterflies, boats with trees sprouting from them. It feels like walking into a different reality, a sidestep away from the world as we know it. I could not resist the opportunity to blog some of the beautiful pieces that make up J’adoube, though I knew I could not possibly capture a similar feeling to the full sim. Instead, I opted for showing off some beautiful period clothing from Old Treasures and Portal (including a couple of great gifts/cheapies at the birthday round of We Love Role-Play) over a game of chess in a garden.

As the first entry in a clothing line, Old Treasures has released the Gentilhomme set for the Fantasy Faire. As soon as the Faire opened, I sent Ran over there to get the doublet (he felt the pants looked a little too muscular in the shading for his tastes) and he opted for the very well-priced mixed colour pack in the RFL vendor. This kind of well-made medieval clothing for men is not exactly common in Second Life, so we were both happy to see Old Treasures move into this market. And since he dressed up so prettily, he gained himself an invitation to my private chambers (mild nudity at the end of the post).

Portal has a new gown out at We Love Role-Play and I am delighted to see that this relatively new brand continues to develop. Well-researches historical gowns are a major SL weakness of mine and the beautiful Isouda dress hits the right spot with a high-waisted and full-skirted model. The texturing is very nice and the choices of colours excellent. While you cannot demo all the colours, I feel that you can buy the fatpack (which is the only option available) with confidence, especially at the excellent price at the event (L$700).

At the December round of We Love Role-Play I came across a new and very promising creator. The brand is called Portal and they have just a few releases out so far but the focus on historical clothing captured my interest right away. Their item for WLRP is a classic medieval gown called Marguerite that is rigged for Belleza Freya, Legacy and Maitreya Lara. I hesitated a bit at first since there is only a HUD-driven fatpack available, though this makes sense since at least half the fun with this gown is how you can mix and match the six independently colourable areas (sleeves, pads, bodice, outer skirt, inner skirt and lace). The price point is a little higher than similar all-in-one options from brands like ContraptionN, but on the other hand it is a full gown. So, I picked it up.

I haven’t found much time for Second Life this last week, but now the weather has turned a little worse, giving me some time to share some beautiful treasures with you. Despite being on a mobile connection and a laptop, I managed to make my way to the Epiphany when it opened. Once there, my luck held and I was able to collect much of the Fair Lady set from Old Treasures.

In time for Valentine’s Day, Roawenwood has put out a set which I guess one could call romantic BDSM at We Love Role-Play, the “Yearning Heart Collaring Ceremony”. Well, that was an excellent excuse for breaking out a silk set from the Plastik/Petrichor & Lune for myself and getting Ran to wear a newly bought and very princely necklace from Old Treasures for the current round of Enchantment. Which, btw, I will be showing you more things from soon since I may have acquired yet another Teeglepet horse.

This started as an entry for Enchantment’s photo contest for their King Arthur-inspired round. Together with the Homeric epics, the Arthurian legends were among the first stories I fell in love with in the form of retellings for children and the wonderful Classics Illustrated before I got to the “real” versions of the legends—which of course with the Matter of Britain is a very nebulous thing given how many different versions there are! In any case, of course I had to attempt an entry for the contest given my love for the legend, it was just a matter of picking ONE favourite scene/element. Fortunately, it also had to be one that could be portrayed in SL, which narrowed the field somewhat. In the end, I settled for Arthur’s body being taken away to Avalon. Yes, there should be three queens—I guess the other two are hiding in the back (or front, rather)—and Excalibur is generally back with the Lady of the Lake rather than in Morgan le Fay’s hands, but we are allowed some liberties and personal tweaks. Like I said, there are so many versions anyway.

Old Treasures is a fairly newly launched brand which already has released a small but very well-made collection of pieces inspired by history and/or fantasy. For this post, Ran and I selected three pieces to showcase; a wearable for each of us and a piece of furniture. The easiest choice was definitely the throne, released for the GoT-inspired round of Enchantment a while back. It is called the Archon of the Fourteen Flames Throne and well…the company we formed a couple of years ago happens to be called Fourteen Flames. We definitely appreciate it when someone makes pieces inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones but uses more subtle naming schemes like this.