Being creative

Inspired by Malakyte and all the work she has been doing in Triskele, I have come up with an idea (some help from Hobbit)for a 'welcome to the realm' type of quest in Carmarthenshire.

The idea is to give new people something to do when they arrive, even if the realm is quiet, and to help them to find their way around.
It involves a kind of treasure hunt (I know, I know, its not that interactive, but it is easy for beginners to do) at the end of which the player will have gained the 'keys to the realm' and explored most parts of it also.
I have passed the demo's and ideas to Oracle and will wait and see what she thinks.

I wont go into quest details, but what i wanted to share with you all was a couple of things which have helped me with it.
First the video's of the fantastic Torley Linden, especially the one on how to make tiny prims (so I could make the keys)
and second a fab site which makes basic scripts for you...genius!
A huge thank you to Torley and Hilary Mason and people like them, for giving so much free time and idea's to us all.

I will let you know what the realm think of my quest.

Long live Carmarthen?

Sadly things in my RP home don't seem to be getting any better now that everyone has come back from holiday.
In fact they are breaking apart...

The realm changes every time I enter it... not small changes... huge ones, like a whole hill and church vanishing overnight, and I have no idea what the grand plan is...my worry is that those managing the realm don't either.
I had a very bemused visit from the good knight Kendell the other day, he came back from a spell away and couldn't quite believe what had happened. We both tried desperately to RP our way around it, but sadly there is no RP plan in it.
I wish the realm would just shut.. sort itself out.. and then re-open.

I have tried hard this time not to get to involved too early, and I am very glad I did as tensions seem to be running high in the admins.
I find the whole thing very sad however, as the realm has so much promise, it just needs a stronger purpose.

I still hold a glimmer of hope... but time will tell

Fun in the Shire

Well I finally have some Second Life news

After spending a month or so getting a feel for Carmarthenshire, beginning to work in the Apothecary, setting up my cottage in the town, meeting people, drinking mead, doing the grail quest and generally settling in, the realm suddenly went quiet.
It seems everyone is on holiday or busy, all roleplay quests seem suspended until they come back and the place has been a little ghost town like.(see picture)

However last night, when out collecting herbs, I was set upon by a very hungry Orc, bashed over the head, tied up and taken to the Orc camp to be munched on for tea!!

(suddenly things were not so quiet after all!)

Thankfully the brave Knight, Sir Kendell heard my screams and yells and came to the rescue.
At first the Knight and the Orc did battle, but it soon became clear, as I was tied up at his feet , that many of the blows directed at the Orc were hitting me.
The Knight then set about convincing the Orc that he would bring him a better meal than me and he set off to kill a deer to bring to the camp.The Orc then placed me in a cage for safe keeping.
While Kendell was gone the Orc weighed up whether he should kill me anyway, put my head on a pike and wave it above the walls and pretend I was still alive.
I was torn between laughter at the Orc putting on a girly voice and prancing around being a 'lady' and terror at the thought that he might actually do what he suggested.

Thankfully I managed to stay alive long enough that Kendell could return having fetched the deer.
The Orc then ordered me to skin it(blrgg) for the him , which I did (not very well) and then while he chewed Kendell and I legged it.
The handsome Knight then gave me a ride home on the back of his horse.

What a great evening!
thanks to the Knight and the Orc

A new realm

Back to work today, feeling a little more human.
Teaching 40 kids about the most amazing birds in the world. Great fun.
Last couple of weeks have been a little lost, slightly unreal.

Speaking of unreal......

On the recommendation of dear mister Hobbit, I have been spending some time in Carmarthenshire.

After Triskele it became clear to me that I need to have a roleplay place in SL. Wandering around SL randomly confirmed much of what I felt when I first joined over a year ago. So much of the virtual world is shallow , concerned with commercialism and strangely false. Yet I feel at home in a roleplay environment, where the concerns are more human (or elf, dragon ,fae). More about people, less about money

Weirdly some of the most real encounters seem to come in these doubly unreal places. Perhaps it is because I am slightly shy. Taking on a mantle of 'Wren the villager' or 'Wren the healer' helps me to feel more able to speak to people. The words are still my own and generally come from the heart, but the mask helps (most of the time) to hide any awkwardness.

It probably says a lot about me that I find other SL interactions tricky, and invariable end up on the perimeter feeling like a wallflower. I don't suppose this is a good thing, but its me I guess.

Anyway, it seems for me to 'be' in the virtual world I need roleplay. So Carmarthenshire is being scoped, and so far it's looking very interesting.