A Fantastic Union: Winterfell and Caledon

Earlier today, almost (but not quite) quietly, a significant development in the Second Life grid happened when two of the major land masses in the fantasy worlds actually connected with each other by joining sims, so that a narrow channel of water is all that is needed to cross from one to the other.

The Independent Republic of Caledon (Guvnah: Desmond Shang), a collection of 33 regions (or sims) with a primarily Victorian steampunk theme has joined with Winterfell (owner: Serra Anansi), the 10 sim state with a darkly medieval theme inspired by the novels of George RR Martin in the sequence A Song of Fire and Ice.

The joining of the two has long been a dream of both Desmond Shang and Serra Anansi, who are long time friends. Indeed, it was Desmond who urged Serra to set up the Winterfell sims in the first place, as she told Prim Perfect readers in the October edition of the magazine: “My friend Desmond Shang (of Caledon) got tired of me always talking about how I would set up an island if I had one, and he finally said ‘Just do it already!!’ So I did.”

So it was a real treat for me this morning to stand beside Serra on the cliffs of Caledon Cape Wrath and gaze out over the narrow sound at the snowy slopes of Winterfell Absinthe (the green hills of Cape Wrath suuggest an interesting micro-climate here; probably snow does not stick because the rocks are still cooling after their eruption from the seafloor).

We stood and gazed and shared our excitement at watching this key stage in a carefully nnurtured project come into existence. Caledon’s expansion has been slowly northward, with the recent development of Caledon Morgaine being followed by the ongoing development of Caledon Brigadoon. On the Winterfell side, the new and most southerly sim of Winterfell Absinthe has broken with the medieval tradition to follow a path closer to the nineteenth century Gothic, thus linking Winterfell and Caledon’s themes.

So there was much to celebrate this morning. And having gazed for a while, I pulled a handy felucca out of my Inventory (really, never leave home without one) and Serra and I sailed across the strip of water.

No photo shots of that – I was feeling too queasy from the determination of the boat to turn round and round, and run (very fast) before the ever-veering wind. To say nothing of the fact that it was leaking – badly.

Serra very kindly too the tiller, and after that our progress was somewhat swifter. Still, I hink you can see I was not quite my usual photographically competent self – that tree (she says disapprovingly) is somewhat blurred. Still, we were both delighted at having made the crossing so simply, and so easily.

I was especially pleased to be present – not least because Winterfell was the Sim of the Month in our October magazine, and – in a very few days now -Caledon will be the focus of our new December issue!