Who says ...

Who says you have to be a cat to enjoy Caturday?

Rawr!!

The medieval-magic roleplay regions of Mystara have added an adorably silly Out-of-Character play area and my wee pixy alt took full advantage of having LOLville (Slurl) all to her self. She stomped around on her Guineasaurus (from Intrigue; SLurl) for quite a long time today, bedecked in her blue bunny jammies and silly glasses. If you don't have your own massive rodent, grab a free LOLkart to muck about in, ride the train, or check out some of the more ... um .. scatological activities.

What's in My Closet: Merwear

For a little while now I've been role playing a mermaid in the fabulously gorgeous Mystara regions (SLurl), my character growing in her story and now in her wardrobe. She started off as a poor castoff from her home shoal, her only clothing self-made shells for modesty and a rope belt to carry things (her land form, since sirens can transform, will be covered in a later post, maybe).

A simple outfit for a cash-poor mermaid. I made the shell bra and the rope belt is from a BINA Summer Kirtle outfit (SLurl).

Since some time has passed she's been able to acquire more cloth to replace the shells and fashion a new style belt.

More cloth this time also means fewer sculpty rezzing issues. This is most of a BINA Tende Cloth outfit.

Accents from elsewhere in my closet round out the ensemble but of note is the tail, a modified freebie from Deeplight (SLurl). I love the wet/dry hair from Sirena (SLurl).

Mystara Rebuild

The Mystara role play community (SLurl) has grown another region and used the process to add to the whole community's story line. A massive storm unlike any in living memory lay ruin to the original land, but providence shined when additional land rose from the sea and the gods whisked created a larger, more complex settlement in the hills of the new land. Or something like that. The whole thing was very complicated and I haven't spent enough time in-world to really grasp the whole thing. Besides, as a mermaid in Mystara, I'm mostly concerned with the the waterways and for now, not much as really changed beyond new rivers and a few expanded areas. But the head honcho, Annie Ibanez, has promised exciting things for the Merfolk.

In addition to the new wasters, I have explored the land areas, both as a land walking mermaid (Sirens, you know, can take human form for short periods) and as my tiny pixy, Zyx Flux. Here are some pictures from today, starting with the new Merfolk Queen's throne.

This is near the line between the two regions, near an existing set of ruins. The storm did not seem to affect the depths in the previously existing region all that much.

A major new area for Merfolk and for the a new shipping company has been added. The shark-infested waters feature a seabed dotted with dangerous stalagmites. A path from the docks leads to the hilltop village.

Near the docks are some ruins adjacent to a mystical, mushroom-filled cave. Atop the mountain above the cave is a marvelous .. erm .. pavillion? Cathedral? All I know is that it is dragon territory and unless I want to become a meal, I need to stay away from it. Whatever it is, the structure is from Elicio Ember and Cerridwen's Cauldron Creations (SLurl), like much of the flora (particularly the swamp) that festoons the land.

Somehow the storm moved the swamp from the southern edge of the first region to the southern edge of the new region. Ours is not to wonder why, ours is but to prance like a happy pixy amongst all the beauty. This could be my favorite land-based area in all of Mystara.

If you had taken the path from the docks to the village, you would find a meticulously planned, terraced community with everything you need for a medieval urban life: Jail, magic shoppe, tavern, blacksmith, and more. Be careful around the sewer grates, though, for you can easily wind up in catacombs, the hidden storehouses of the black market, and other nefarious places.

The village also features cemetary, homes, a beautiful castle and fabulous views of the forest.

I'm very much at home in the forest, when I'm a pixy. The enormous trees are threaded together with rope-and-slat bridges and generous platforms. No one race claims the platforms, but you will see elven influences everywhere. Of all the Mystaran races, I hear the least from them but they seem to have a mighty impact.

When you come to explore, please wear an Observer tag, available free when you arrive, but be prepared to stay as part of the community. It is a free-form, high-quality role play with many active members and lots of opportunity.

Mystara

I've been spending my Caturday looking for freebies and such for the Lucky Kitty Crew (Web) and exploring a beautiful Fantasy Role Play (RP) sim, Mystara (SLurl). Unlike other RP places I've visited lately, this one seems to be robust and thriving despite being but one region.

When you arrive you'll find a well-organized introduction in a beautiful setting. There are freebies such as clothes and then some to help you get started in RP, information for first time players, and copious details about Mystara's back story and residents. Residents of the region were always around whenever I popped in throughout the day (very crashy today) and were helpful. While it took me some reading to figure out that pixies would belong to the Mystfolk group, I was rather more interested in the Merfolk group.

The reason being that the Mer areas are spectacular. For some reason I can't figure out, I had a landmark for one part of the extensive Mer waters so when I first visited Mystara I started there, not knowing that the region was for RP. This picture is from the courtyard section and it only begins to do justice to the Mer experience. All the waterways are connected via tunnels so surface dwellers have only a hint as to the extensive realm our finned friends have. Not only are the waters beautiful, but details are abundant even in parts that could have been left bare to save prims. I even found an opening to a tavern in a cave. Clearly the Merfolk are an important part of the Mystara society.

By the looks of this castle, there is a royalty class, too. I haven't looked inside the castle yet but this picture shows that the surface area is also beautifully landscaped. Some fantasy foliage dots the landscape, but the gardeners wisely stuck with mostly "normal" flora, providing continuity across the region and keeping people grounded (pun intended) in the relatively familiar. Looking at a view like this makes me wonder how such fullness was crammed into the standard number of allowed prims. The landscape is lush while the structures are detailed inside and out.

The Western view is one of my favorites. One of my pixy alts did most of the non-Mermaid exploring today and she kept coming back to this view. The bridge you see is just a small part of an intricate and well-planned infrastructure to negotiate around the region. Also included are some very, very nice caves, tunnels, and other adapted "natural" formations. This is not the natural color of the sky, though. I fiddled with the Windlight presets for this shot and the previous picture of the castle, changing the clouds, water, and general brightness levels, too.

I plan on visiting on a weekday to see if the lag is still as bad as I found it today. Typically weekends are bad across The Grid so this might not have been the best of days to visit. And I'd also like to observe some of the RP. This is the first such place that I've visited in a long time that actually had people in playing roles. Most of what I've seen in any Role Play group has been people standing around chatting Out of Character, being (Away), or effectively being statues.