Freedom

Last night I was inworld for a cleric meeting. It was to be a speakers meeting with our new Divine Emissary Scyber Magne, to go over various Guild things and plan ahead.
Malakyte, Scyber, Alphonsus and myself attended.

I must say it was great to see Alph again after so long, even if it was to see him cut down his involvement in the guild and step down as Emissary.

Anyway it became apparent soon that the meeting was going to take a different tack, when we discovered that the new dark realm ruler Sarin had started his own cleric group, with 9 members worshiping 5 dark Gods who don't even appear in our Pantheon. Then we also discovered that the founder of the group was the realm queen Leanne.

I have spoken briefly to Sarin in the past about another issue, and he seemed OK, just having fun roleplaying and doing his evil thing.
However he has a very different view of the realm than I do I suspect. His world is driven mainly by him, he plays the moment, not the game as a whole, 'If it feels right, go with it'. I guess he's a shootem up player, rather than a strategist.
I tend to over think things, look at the intricacies of the world, feel the threads that bind us and try and strengthen them. I have always played strategy and puzzle games.
I would love to know how the realm leaders play Triskele.

It has always been billed as a freer place than Everwind was, in fact Leanne recently told me in plain words that all Guilds were instructed to NOT copy Everwind in any way.
And yet Guilds were formed, and encouraged to develop and make rules and guidelines and get people involved in 'group belonging', not just individual roleplay.
I was asked to help out, despite wanting to be just a plain acolyte again, and I agreed (foolishly or not)
So for the last 4 months or so, Alph, Mal and I have been working hard to make the guild, form orders, recruit clerics, write spell lists, create Pantheons, provide a place for worship, decide ranks, make tasks etc, etc,... which we have been hard at work doing.

So the question is this. Have we got it wrong?
Is what they want in Triskele a truly free roleplay? one driven by the individual, free to do as they please. Anarchic, independent, dynamic, ever changing and unbound.
Or is it one where the individual is guided by the group? Ordered, loyal, steady, joined by friendship and boundaries, honourable.

One is very different from the other, both can be great in their own ways, both with brilliance and flaws.

If the first is what is wanted, then we have wasted the last 4 months setting boundaries that were not required.
If so, then the Clerics can be freed, to roam where they will *chuckles* do as they please, worship whomever they choose, and I can head off into the ether and find my nature Goddess somewhere else.

Life in the garden

Age verification is coming to Everwind, to ensure the safety of minors and to protect the owners of the realm from litigation.
However, it will, sadly, mean that many players will be lost , either through choice not to verify or through inability to verify due to technical or practical difficulties.
I have managed to verify, remarkably easily and with little fuss, and I am not to bothered about security (after all my own government just lost a disk with my address, children's ages and names, and my bank account details on it, which is much worse). I don't have any money for anyone to steal anyway.
I understand why Grace and Slip have decided to do this, and respect their decision, and yet I am wondering if I will stay or not.
The thing which has me thinking, is a message from the Queen of Everwind and sim owner, on the forum board about this issue.
It reads:
"I appreciate a great deal that you love and play in Everwind so faithfully. But I have to tell you, while that's all well and good...I ain't willing to put myself or the safety of a minor out there on a limb so you can have a place to play. Your threats to leave or your "disappointment" over this decision are not going to score you any points. Everwind has never been about traffic or dwell or income (obviously) or even entertaining other people. It has always been about my need to create and our desire to see people appreciate it. I'm not here for you....and you are not here for me. Everyone of us are in this for themselves. Other than your avatar, I don't know you people. Anymore than you know me. You are essentially strangers...why on earth do you think I have some obligation to ensure your experience in Second Life is pleasant? Do you ensure mine?"

This whole episode is extremely sad, and this posting by the Queen I find deeply upsetting. I will allow that the posting was made in anger and frustration, however it seems to say that the people of the realm don't matter, that she has made this place for her own gratification and to show off to people, like a show garden at a festival.
I know gardens like this, perfect, neat, cleverly planted, wisely pruned, yet devoid of life.
And while they may look good, they lack a heart, a life beat. There is no bird song, no buzzing of bees, no richly coloured butterflies.
I come to Everwind to be with people, not just to appreciate its beauty, and the people of the realm are more important to me than the virtual 'bricks and mortar'.
The Queen has 'no obligation to ensure my experience is pleasant', but I would hope that she had the heart to care about the other human beings who are here. And I have no obligation to Everwind either, and yet I do feel that I wish others to enjoy themselves here, otherwise I wouldn't spend hours and hours teaching acolyte classes, writing about virtual herbs, creating quests and dealing with enquiries. If I didn't care, I just wanted to play things my way, I wouldn't do these things, I certainly don't do them for personal gain or gratification, I don't want everyone to think how great Wren is, I just want fellow beings to have the chance to experience something wonderful.
The world that has been created in Everwind by the King and Queen, is also created by all who dwell here, we all make up the whole.
I love this place, and I recognise all that they have given to us, in time, money and effort, and believe me it is appreciated, but I don't know if I want to be in a perfect place where the 'wildlife' is seen as an ornament to, rather than a part of, the garden.

Gerrof my land!!

I am a landowner!... well renter actually, not quite so grand.
But I have my own piece of SL for the first time ever, and am now faced with what to do with it.
I decided to get a quiet place for meetings etc, that wasn't in the realm, and therefore didn't have any problems with interruptions, OOC things and rezzing objects etc
So I have rented a 'fantasy friendly' bit of land in a PG sim, and now have a blank canvas to work on.
I am limited in prims, so it will have to be simple, but I am looking forward to it immensely.
Its funny, I have been so busy with all the admin things I have been doing as speaker, that I had forgotten to have fun here.
Its nice to be allowed to be creative for myself, in my own time.
I wonder what will happen?

Time to wrap up, its cold outside

Well the snow is blanketing the ground in the realm now, and I felt it was time to find some warmer clothes for Wren.

So off we went to the SL Exchange to find something.

Now Wren is a bit fussy about what she wears. She's fairly poor, has very modest taste in clothes and wont wear fur, so we were in for a challenge.

I typed 'winter' in the women's clothing search and had a look at what came up.

Unfortunately it seems that even in the depths of winter, the residents of SL still have a yearning to wear as little as possible

The young christmassy lady pictured here, was the general theme.

Now Wren feels she might get a little frosty wearing an outfit like this, not to mention the comments she might get from her acolytes.
Although it might give them a chance to try their skills at curing hypothermia and frostbite!

Needless to say she didn't go for it. In the end we found a nice burgundy dress and a warm wool coat and cloak.

Perhaps I can convince her to try something more skimpy for the Christmas Party!

The beauty of change

Well, i'm back.
Broadband has returned and so has Everwind. I am actually quite glad I missed the whole crisis.
It seems that there was some bad feeling in the realm towards the King for leaving, and too much gossip by half. Anyway things have worked out between them now and he has come back.

Me, I went away for a while, missed it all, and came back to a world reborn.
The Realm has squashed into two sims, rather than three, but somehow it has worked.
Whoever actually manipulates the land and places the buildings etc in the realm (I am presuming its Queen Grace) has a real eye for beauty. I know its not real, its simply a computer generated world, but standing on the hill, looking at the autumn colours in the trees, listening to the sounds and catching the sparkle of the waterfall, is amazing.
Then I look up at it's started to snow! I cant tell you how excited I was (we have no snow in RL yet), it was like being a kid again. How odd that even virtual places can give you that sense of wonder in nature.

Wren

Treading softly

Although I am still not able to get back to my second life, I have been hearing vague rumours via email and IM’s that all is not well with the virtual world.
It seems that Everwind has been going through a crisis.
The King and Queen of the realm (the sim owners) have split up, and the King has taken half the world away with him!
Its yet another thing which underlines how unreal it all is, and fragility of the place. That a King can leave his kingdom, and actually take it with him, mountains, rivers, buildings, the lot... It takes a bit of getting used to.
I had just begun to get a real feel for the place, to find a role for Wren and begin to think on how to forge out a permanent place, and now..??
I guess the whole of second life is like that, dynamic, changing, creative and destructive at the same time, that's what makes it unique.
Its like the people who make it, like the thoughts in their head, a virtual representation of their dreams, fantasies and in some cases nightmares. Its unlike anything I've ever come across, and that's what intrigues me.
Hopefully Everwind will continue, and by the time I return things will have settled down.
If not then I guess I can go find someone else's dreams to wander around in.
Don't worry I’ll tread softly!

Its funny how things works out (or not)

Its ironic. I started this blog, primarily to chat about my experiences in Second Life. And now I cant get in!!
Due to a clerical error on the part of my telephone provider, British Telecom, my home phone was cut off. (they thought I was moving house, which I am not) After a week of huge stress, I finally have my phone back, but now my internet provider has cut my broadband. Due to the line being re- connected they cancelled my contract and I cant get broadband back for 7 to 10 days. So its back to slow-slow dial up, and this means that Second life is out of bounds.
I usually inhabit the Realm of Everwind, a fantasy roleplaying sim, and was really looking forward to the grand ball at the castle, which was held last night.
But sadly 'wren'derella couldnt attend, thanks to the big bad fairy that is BT. (*sigh*I bought a new dress and everything!!)

One thing that this whole episode has made clear to me, is how much I depend on the internet in my life.
It was quite shocking.
I bank online, I do much of my work admin/emails etc online, I book train tickets, use maps to find the schools I visit, look up facts and figures, order things, buy presents on ebay, etc.. etc.. and when thats all done I spend much of my spare time playing my part in Everwind.
Its strange to think that this hunk of metal, wires and electricity, plays such a big part in my life.
But I suppose its more than just that, its a portal to all the people, places and services that I need...the wires simply connect us.