Otherworldly

I love how ornate the Carai outfit from Petrichor and Ersch for the Warehouse Sale manages to be even though there isn’t a lot of it! The thin chains drape beautifully from the pieces of filigree and the fabric (for which there are several different HUDs) is subtly patterned.  There is, of course, also a HUD for the metal which offers lots of different textures.  Prefer feminine pastels or darkly sensual hues? The choice is yours.  I am always drawn to lush colours and I wanted something suited for a courtesan to lounge about in an opulent bed in. Speaking of the bed, it is a favourite of mine, the renaissance canopy bed from Fantavatar & Moonstruck.  The other new release in this post is the hair from Wasabi, featuring two thick braids that can be draped over your shoulders or pushed back behind them. Here I’ve got one of each. You will find it at the Fifty.

Whenever she sought solitude, she went into the labyrinth No one else was allowed to come there, it was for the queen and the queen alone.

We Love Role-Play closes on the 28th of April and you do not want to miss this beautiful and detailed medieval gown by Grasshopper St. The Eleanor Sideless Surcote is very good when it comes to historical accuracy and offers several options for how to wear it and how to colour it. Yes, you can do a parti-coloured gown and yes, you can add on heraldic embroideries as well. You are also able to wear just the kirtle with a belt over it instead of having the surcote as well. All depending on how fancy and formal you want to be. This is definitely one of the best medieval gowns I’ve seen in Second Life.

Also from Grasshopper St is the Inlaid Circlet, though this one you will find at the Fantasy Faire. The same goes for the labyrinth and the matching gazebo by Fantavatar & Moonstruck.  I will try to give you a better look at the whole labyrinth as well, but I didn’t manage to do a garden setup that I was happy with for this post.

The Monk Outfit from Cosmos is one of several releases for male avatars at the current round of We Love Role-Play and while I don’t own any of the male bodies it is rigged for, the covering nature out of the outfit meant I could get away with using my Slink Physique Male body to show it off for you. This is a nicely meshed and textured outfit which is made very useful by the texture HUD that offers three different colours (brown, red and white/grey) and also options for different symbols on the chest (or none, as here).  That means you can use it to portray monks of different varieties.

This particular monk is of the sneaky kind, out to explore a secret passage in an occult library. This is a release from Fantavatar & Moonstruck for Chronicles & Legends: “Creatures of the Night” and as you can see the middle section of the shelf set can be clicked so it slides sideways. For best effect, of course, you need a door or a passage behind the opening. Here I am using one of the lower levels of Fanatik’s Arkaig Castle.

A lonely tower by the sea, a queen in self-imposed solitude. That is my second offering for We Love Role-Play, featuring the new releases from Grasshopper St and Les Encantades.

From Grasshopper St comes the Berengaria Crown and Medieval Veil. These are beautiful pieces, perfect for an accurate medieval look. The crown can be stripped down a bit by removing some of the ornaments and the HUD also includes several metal and jewel options. The veil comes in silk and cotton and rigged as well as unrigged.

The Revna gown is an intricately adorned dress that offers a lot of flexibility in how you combine the colours if you have the fullpack HUD. I had some minor quibbles with the fit of Blanca, the other Les Encantades gown I showed, but Revna is clearly a newer mesh and perfectly rigged to Maitreya Lara. It also includes fits for Belleza GenX, Kupra, Legacy and Reborn.

Royalty is the theme for the current round of Enchantment and Fantavatar & Moonstruck has made a chest fit for a queen, with elaborate painted decor on all sides. The chest is scripted so that you can open the lid and use it for storage. At the default size, I think you might even be able to hide a body in it, should the need arise. ;) I’ve sized it down somewhat for these photos and set it up next to a furniture set from the same creator.

The pretty gown is Alisse from Senzafine and the Maia hair another find from Magika’s 50% off sale that is still going on. The castle is one of my favourites from Fanatik, the Dungan Castle; I really love this sitting room with the large fire place and have appropriated it as royal quarters.

The ancient temple lies half-buried by the desert, its secrets swallowed by the shifting sands. But it is said that at times, when the wind has driven the dunes just so, the legendary Mouth of Truth is once more revealed and those who dare may approach it.

The Mouth of Truth, by Fantavatar & Moonstruck, is based on a marble mask from Rome, likely depicting the face of the titan Oceanus. It has a single pose in which your avatar sticks a hand into the mouth. In her notecard accompanying the product, Luna Barak also shares this:

“According to enduring medieval legend, it will bite off the hand of any liar who places their hand in its mouth, or, alternatively, any who utters a lie while their hand is in the mouth.”

For this scene, I made an oracle out of it instead and placed it among the Ruins by Fanatik. My Truthseeker wears the gorgeous new Pandora gown by Tres, which features three different skirt styles: solid side panels, sheer side panels and no side panels. The skin as well as the eyeshadow and the metallic tattoos are all free prizes in the Free Dove & alaskametro hunt. Don’t miss it, there’s a total of ten prizes, including one more skin. The hair is Echo by Wasabi, which comes with two style options and hair clips that can be turned on or off.

It is not every day that you find a unicorn grazing outside your house, though chances are certainly better if you live in an enchanted forest cottage. Be sure to always greet the unicorn in a kindly manner, for although friendly at heart their horns are sharp and they will defend themselves if need be. Carrots and lumps of sugar are very welcome.

I am not sure which is the cosiest and laziest day of the year for me, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. Probably Christmas Day given all the leftovers available and the lingering food coma. Poking around in SL and taking some pretty pictures is about as intensive as things have gotten today. I wish I had a fireplace IRL to curl up in front, but I had to settle for enjoying it through my avatar. And while the Mangiafuoco Fireplace from Fantavatar & Moonstruck is pretty cool, I am not quite sure it would fit in my living room. ;)

HollyDays is a new release from deviousMind that you can pick up for L$50 per colour for Wanderlust Weekend. Very festive and with two options for the holly pasties, a covered and a peekabo version. The thigh highs from Luxuria match it nicely in colour and theme; these are available at the Arcade and also come as tights. The classic updo is the latest style from Wasabi, an unrigged alpha hair with options for bangs and streaks.

The spooky season may be over, but since October was a busy month for me, it seems I still have some darkness to work out. Or perhaps it is just a result of being inspired by some nifty releases such as the Arch to Hell from Fantavatar & Moonstruck and the Blind Prophet headcovering by lassitude & ennui. The latter is available at the just-opened November round of We Love Role-Play and features a peculiar kind of headcovering that covers your eyes and sports a pair of horns. In fact, it makes it look like the horns are part of you and the cloth draped over them and decorated with metal symbols. Its truly weird and unique.

Fantavatar & Moonstruck has several Egyptian-inspired items out at the Fallen Gods 14th Anniversary Market, as well as an item in the Duat hunt, which led to this Cleopatra-inspired look. Given that, I could not resist placing her in a Roman villa and lounging on an opulent Roman both, both courtesy of Del-ka Aedilis though only the bed is a new release, for the Narrative Event.

One evening, a young lord walked through the gates, leading instead of riding a fine horse, with ribbons tied in its mane and tail. He went up to one of the elegant townhouses and knocked on the door. After a while, a servant opened the door and the lordling gave him a letter. Then, he retired to the nearby fountain to let his horse have a drink while he waited for a response.

On September 24th (that’s tomorrow!) the 2nd annual SL Renaissance Festival opens its doors, running until October 3rd. This is a charity event supporting Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and it will consist of four sims of shopping (naturally with plenty of items available that donate the proceeds wholly or partially to the charity), auctions, events such as performances, tournaments and classes and also booths presenting various roleplay guilds and groups. Schedules are posted to the official website, linked above, so make sure to check it out to see what the festival has to offer.

Since the bloggers got a sneak peek of the sims today, I used that opportunity to dress up and pose in front of the gate leading in to the tournament arena. My gold-brocaded gown is from Kitty Creations and it includes matching slippers and the necklace that I am wearing. The gown comes fitted for a range of bodies. My hair is an earlier release from Fantavatar & Moonstruck.

Welcome to the Roman Bath from the Civitas Series by Del-ka Aedilis. Classic and elegant, it a perfect addition to a roleplay sim needing a public bath house. The two tritons bearing braziers at the front are not part of the build but a separate release from Fantavatar & Moonstruck, but I thought they fit really well in thematically and they also show how you can add more of a fantasy touch to the setup. The Tritons include left and right versions and here I have sized them down considerably; at their original size they would make great centrepieces for a temple or similar setup.

The basket with bath supplies is also from Del-ka Aedilis and can either be worn or rezzed out as a decor item. Here, the bath slave (dressed in clothing from On a Lark) is holding it to welcome visitors to the bath. I also want to mention the skin because this is a brand new release from alaskametro for the Spoonful of Sugar Festival, benefiting Doctors Without Borders. Estrella is a 100% donation item and is available in five tones for LeLutka Evo X.

When I spotted the Violette shirt from Rosier, I knew I had to send Ran shopping. One quick jaunt over to the Warehouse Sale later and a bit of inventory hunting and he was ready, having paired the shirt with the very handy BOM leather leggings from Toksik and a pair of boots from Hotdog.

I then setup the Renaissance Canopy Bed from Fantavatar & Moonstruck in the Cosimo Townhouse from Del-ka Aedilis and told him to hop on. The animations are all intended for couples, but quite a few of them work just fine with a single avatar as well.

The sumptuous bed comes with a HUD that offers texture options for the wood and all the various fabrics.

Given the upcoming ban on gachas, I decided to revisit another deviousMind gacha for this post; Chandra Meehan’s gachas will definitely be sorely missed as they have always been designed so that ever item is perfectly useable on its own. For this post, however, I am showing off the full Sylvari set, complete with the rares such as the headdress and the petal skirt.

The pose, which comes with the glowing orb, is another Be My Mannequin? creation. It has a very mystical feel, which is why I went full on fantasy with the look and the surroundings.