New World Notes

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE THIRTEENTH: FROM OLIVE TO SLATE TO MAROON, AS DARKNESS FALLS; INTO PERIWINKLE, PURPLE, AND UMBER, BY MOONLIGHT

"Only thirty-plus sims to go," balloonist Cubey Terra announces, as we arrive on an unfinished platform in Olive.

"So we're about two-thirds done, then?" party member Trimming Hedges queries, as some cheers erupt around him. He calculates, then adds: "So about three more hours, then."

"Oh my God," Miss Cailyn Miller whispers, her halo briefly dimming (or so it seems, from where I stand.) "That makes it 5:30 am [my time]". For Miss Miller comes to us from across the Atlantic, from the United Kingdom, and now the completion of this journey looks to steal her evening sleep in its entirety.

"Dear fellows and ladies," I say, sensing their growing weariness (and mine), "we must set ourselves to finish the rest speedily! Let us walk and walk and walk like we have never walked before!"

"We must continue," says Lupis, "on to Slate."

And so to Slate, bounding over hills, dimly lit by the coming moonlight, and the quickly receding sun, and over to Maroon, just minutes ahead of encroaching night.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE THIRTEENTH: FROM OLIVE TO SLATE TO MAROON, AS DARKNESS FALLS; INTO PERIWINKLE, PURPLE, AND UMBER, BY MOONLIGHT"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE TWELTH: VILLAINS MET ON THE WAY TO BOARDMAN, PEACEFUL FIELDS FROM TAN TO SAGE TO TEAL, AT SECOND DAY'S END

AT THE HEART OF BOARDMAN: 6:05PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

Somewhere along the way to Kissling, company mate Zero Medici relays
a private message to me:

"For your information, we got Fueltanker Cotton, Jack Dayton, and Swat
Greenstein tailing us... and they are not friendly."

Indeed they do not seem to be, for on they way down the steep cliffs of
Kissling, I am separated from my party. Dropping down the cliff face.

And as I fall into the shallow banks of the Kissling plateau, I get to my
feet, and realize that two heavily-armed midgets dressed in Germanic
soldier uniforms are standing there. Regarding me silently.

Waiting, as they have for a long while, throughout our trip, for the right
moment to strike.

As soon as they appear, however, they are gone, leaving me to ponder
what plans they have in mind for myself, and my company.

Screwing my courage to the sticking post, I head on to Boardman, another
placid "suburb", and meet my party there, besides another helium balloon.

Thus rejoined, we make for Tan, pausing to stop besides a glassy skyscraper
and a small air field.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE TWELTH: VILLAINS MET ON THE WAY TO BOARDMAN, PEACEFUL FIELDS FROM TAN TO SAGE TO TEAL, AT SECOND DAY'S END"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE ELEVENTH: FROM MINNA TO FREELON TO CLARA WITH A HEAVY HEART; TO PERRY UNDAUNTED AND TO KISSLING, ALARMED BY A STRANGE DISCOVERY

AT THE HEART OF MINNA: 5:25PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

"To MINNA," says Lupis, in Natoma. "Westward bound."

"Go West, young man," Miss Pendari Lorentz agrees, "go West."

So into Minna we go, a ruddy, chaotic place, marked at its center by a home made to resemble the fine designs of that modern American builder, Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright. From there, we finally make our way to Freelon, another hilly land of implausible architecture, where a pyramid is nestled next to a castle, and nearby, a stone edifice which evokes the Baroque era. To gain a better vantage of it all, I attempt to ascend a grassy peak-- but only consign myself to much futile climbing and falling.

Only after a moment do I realize my party is standing there, watching me flail away at this fool task.

"He's knackered," Cailyn Miller observes.

And so, perhaps, I am. For in all truth, the length of this journey-- what has already been traveled, what remains to be traveled-- begins to weigh on me. Anything to relieve this walking, walking-- this damnable walking-- begins to seem like a thing to be welcomed. For all the wondrous sights and exquisite adventures we have encountered thus far, the burden of the trip ahead, and the duties of leadership, have become nigh impossible for me to bear. Who am I, I wonder now, to take on this task of my own free will? What was I thinking, I seethe to myself, to believe that crossing a continent that had grown twice in size since my last journey would therefore take but twice the time, to fully traverse? What, indeed, was I thinking?

No. Cease all doubt, and recrimination. Press on, man, regardless; press on, sir, though it try your soul.

Be a man, and press on.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE ELEVENTH: FROM MINNA TO FREELON TO CLARA WITH A HEAVY HEART; TO PERRY UNDAUNTED AND TO KISSLING, ALARMED BY A STRANGE DISCOVERY"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE TENTH: A DIVERSION TO DA BOOM, THEN TO RITCH AND THE GARDENS OF ZOE; FORWARD AND UP TO CLEMENTINA; DOWN TO NATOMA

AT THE HEART OF DA BOOM: 4:52PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

"We are avoiding Perry," my cartographer Lupis informs me, "for the sake of the class."

"No sir!" I rage back. "We shall pass through Perry!"

The travel plan as initially conceived will require a quick diagonal traversal through a corner of Perry, so that we can make our next stop, at the heart of Freelon. But in several minutes, a scheduled class shall be taught in Perry, and Lupis fears the emergence of such a large party as ours into Perry, will cause the fabric of the region to tear asunder. But I shall accept no deviation of the course as already laid out.

"We avoid no place!" shouts Marker, in agreeance.

"But we will pick it up afterward," protests Lupis. "I changed the map, we shall hit all of the sims still. Perry is simply postponed."

"Lupis," I enthuse, "you are a genius!"

Therefore, onto Da Boom, passing a giant lizard that guards this jumble of stores and other strange edifices. Then pushing forward to the equally eccentric land of Ritch, and pressing along to Zeo, where park ranger Higbee Protagonist fosters the land with flora and fauna of all kinds.

"Do you like the beginnings of the wildflower press?" Protagonist calls down. And in truth, we do. And here we are joined by Cienna Rand, who cries, "I bring the gift of radio to our excursion!" For Miss Rand is an authoress on the phonograph, or "DJ", and as we continue the journey, the air is filled (for all who would listen) to soaring music-- all of which, per her clever design, contain the word "walk" within its lyrics. To wit, for example: "For I would walk ten thousand miles...", or "Walk like and Egyptian," and so on.

But the musical merriment is interrupted on the way to Clementina, when I realize:

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE TENTH: A DIVERSION TO DA BOOM, THEN TO RITCH AND THE GARDENS OF ZOE; FORWARD AND UP TO CLEMENTINA; DOWN TO NATOMA"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE NINTH: ONWARD TO MORRIS; HAPPY CAMPERS IN AHERN; RAISING CHAOS IN LUSK; GAME FOR RIZAL, BUT TROUBLE DETECTED IN TEHAMA!

AT THE HEART OF MORRIS: 4:24PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

"Ah," says DC Lament, as he comes out to greet us near Morris, "The famous Hamlet." He joins us for a time, along with Alfa Rubio, a bare-chested ruffian of the American school.

On the way to the campground region of Ahern, DC Lament wonders aloud about our defenses: "Did you guys take my advice in Jessie? Go in with guns blazing."

"We haven't gotten to Jessie yet," my cartographer Lupis tells him.

And indeed, we yet have dozens of regions, oceans of time to cross, before we even come in sight of that violent land. Still, the danger that awaits us there has hung over our heads from the very first step.

"I have a Tommy gun," Pituca Chang announces readily.

"I have an M60 that really sprays," Lament informs us. "It's freely distributable, as well."

"I say we drop a bomb into Jessie," snorts Dionysus Starseeker, "then enter."

"We shall consider that tactic when we reach that land," I say. "Which should be, by my guess, around Midnight tomorrow!"

Some groans at that. Nevertheless, we continue through Ahern, and then into Lusk, a land that has been turned entirely into "suburbs", as the Americans call it.

Were the quiet residents of Lusk to peer from their windows, they would see an extraordinary sight, in this our caravan of one score adventurers, men and women of all condition and color, aliens, flying creatures, and so on, pushing through their peaceful hamlet like a band of Bedlam escapees.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE NINTH: ONWARD TO MORRIS; HAPPY CAMPERS IN AHERN; RAISING CHAOS IN LUSK; GAME FOR RIZAL, BUT TROUBLE DETECTED IN TEHAMA!"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE EIGHTH: THE SHORES OF LUNA, THE TRAGEDY OF CONEY, THE PROVING GROUNDS OF DARKWOOD, THE HILLS OF DORE AND BONIFACIO

AT THE HEART OF LUNA: 4:02PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

We make brief stop at the shore of Luna's lake, where we are joined by Fred Noir. Then proceeding North to Coney, where I expect to see the amusement grounds that the Lindens had opened there, in the previous year.

Instead, when we reach its center, we find nought but open field.

"Long gone," says Pituca Chang with little sentimentality.

Such is the nature of the world of Second Life, where much is transitory, dependent upon the zeal of its residents. This zeal waning, projects are disassembled, visionaries and architects shoulder their belongings and move on to the next fertile ground... and enterprises of great pitch and moment, crumbling into obscurity, forgotten utterly.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE EIGHTH: THE SHORES OF LUNA, THE TRAGEDY OF CONEY, THE PROVING GROUNDS OF DARKWOOD, THE HILLS OF DORE AND BONIFACIO"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE SEVENTH: DAWN IN FORTUNA, UNDERWATER IN FAME, TANKS IN BALANCE; FROM THE PLAINS OF OAKGROVE TO THE PEAKS OF GIBSON

AT THE HEART OF FORTUNA: 3:35PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

"Fortuna!" I crow. "Fortuna and glory!"

"Is anyone working out the whole distance?" the angelic Cailyn Miller wonders aloud. No answer comes readily, and I fear that no one has been keeping account of the length we've so far traveled. (Company note: And here we're joined by Rikoala Jack and Aries Twilight, and surely others that I have not been scrupulous to take note of, in my journal.)

"Next to the west," says Lupis, "to great Fame."

And yes, good reader, we go then to a land called Fame, where the sun has emerged in a scarlet gold that turns the region's lake into a sheet of newly-forged glass, just emerging from the furnace. And as the day establishes itself beyond all ambiguity, most of us trek into and under the deep water, treading West along its bottom to the land of Balance.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE SEVENTH: DAWN IN FORTUNA, UNDERWATER IN FAME, TANKS IN BALANCE; FROM THE PLAINS OF OAKGROVE TO THE PEAKS OF GIBSON"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE SIXTH: INTO CORDOVA BY FORCE, RACING INTO GEORGAN AND BRILLIANT; RACING THE COMING DAY, IN BETHEL

AT THE HEART OF ABBOTS: 3:13 PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

All has become dark, as we trek beneath the raised airfield and the monorail system of Abbots. My party has gone on ahead of me, up and over the high ridge into Cordova, the "sandbox" region, where residents build fantastic objects at their whimsy. But as I reach the edge, to join them...

"I CANNOT PENETRATE TO CORDOVA!" I shout down into the valley.

For indeed, I cannot. The region has become so populous, and the objects within in so dense, Linden's very laws of nature now bar me from entrance.

I rage, I spew. "SOME MUST MOVE ON!"

I am shouting down the ridge, hoping my party can hear me.

One does: "GO TO MORRIS!" On the footfills beneath me, Bam Perkins yells ahead, relaying my message to the next member of the company ahead of him, and then to the advance party, still in Cordova. "TELL THEM!" Perkins hollers. For a moment, it seems as if the journey will end right here, confounded and undone by the natural forces of conservation.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE SIXTH: INTO CORDOVA BY FORCE, RACING INTO GEORGAN AND BRILLIANT; RACING THE COMING DAY, IN BETHEL"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE FIFTH: IN THE VALLEY OF ALBION, TO THE LAKE OF NOYO, TO A TREEHOUSE IN RODEO, A TEMPLE IN IMMACULATE, THENCE TO STINSON AND COWELL!

AT THE HEART OF ALBION: 2:18PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

"Hello, Weary Travelers!" the fairy-winged philanthropist called Bhodi Silverman greets us, as we arrive over the mountains of Albion, into the valley below, at its center. "I trust your journey is going safely thus far?"

"No ruffians... yet," concedes Medici. "But I fear the worst is before us." All know he is speaking of the "damage-enabled" lands ahead, where our wits must be most sharp.

"Yes, so I've heard!" answers Miss Silverman. "I hope you're all well-armed?"

"Indeed," I acknowledge. "I expect many in this party will meet their death, in due time!" Miss Lorentz sniffs quietly. "But the adventure is in the walking!" I continue. "And death is but a slight delay!"

"Hamlet," says Bhodi, her wings glinting a furious jade, "I must say, you certainly are willing to risk the lives of others for a good story!"

Bloody humanitarian!

Regardless, she joins our company, as did the angel-winged Cailyn Miller, earlier, as do bognish Mars and the mysterious DuPlessis Guillaume, a dying man who floats along with the company for a time in a dust bin or a flying casket.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE FIFTH: IN THE VALLEY OF ALBION, TO THE LAKE OF NOYO, TO A TREEHOUSE IN RODEO, A TEMPLE IN IMMACULATE, THENCE TO STINSON AND COWELL!"

THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE FOURTH: DESCENDING IN DAVENPORT WHILST REACHING FOR THE FIRE!

AT THE HEART OF DAVENPORT: 2:07 PM (PST); 4th of March, 2004 anno Domini

"A fire ahead," Miss Fairchild murmurs. For ahead of us, at the center of Davenport, is a high mountain ridge, and at the peak of that ridge, is a giant signal fire, flickering in the distance. Between it and us, a sheer cliff drop, a deep river, and on the other side, a sheer cliff climb. These are the geologic obstacles that did not exist in my first expedition, across the continent of Second Life. And they are impediments that I did not plan for, when I expected with much blinkered insouciance that the world, being twice its former size, should only require twice the time to traverse. Not so, I fear now.

Not so at all.

"Oh well," my cartographer Lupis announces, "only one way to the center of the sim, JUMPPPPPP!!!" And the brash lad leaps into the canyon, followed soon after by Zero Medici.

"I REGRET NOTHING!" shouts Medici, on the way down.

Continue reading "THE GREAT EXPEDITION II, PART THE FOURTH: DESCENDING IN DAVENPORT WHILST REACHING FOR THE FIRE!"