We have worked wonders today.
We went through the seven million Linden barrier. Ten hours later, we went through the eight million barrier. As I write, we are less than 650,000 from something incredible: the all-time record for ANY fundraising event in SL history.
This record is ours for the taking, and we intend to do just that. We’re already laying plans.
Stay tuned – Zander Greene
If you were to fly into Dragon Spire you would find a rather desolate landscape, a flat almost formless landscape of molten stone shrouded in mist and smoke. At the back of the region lies a deeply shadowed cave.
As we approach the cave we find the source of the smoke and desolation. A mighty dragon lords over its domain its golden hoard sparking in the gloom, reflecting the light of the phosphorescent gems.
So where are the Faireland residents? The eager merchants rushing to trade their wares during the few short days that these lands are united?
Who could live in such desolate a land? To find the answers we must return to our path, for as we step from the alien world of Titans Hollow we find ourselves confronted by a wall of stone, a solitary passage leads us inwards. We are underground, enclosed in the tunnels carved from the very rocks on which the dragon vents his flames. With no light from the sun or moon above we are guided by the soft sheen of the crystals that erupt from the tunnel walls, and the subtle glow of subterranean plants, which, although a unique species could easily have been spawned from the alien flora of Titans hollow.
The Dragonspire is the creation of Kyhle Sion, its winding tunnels lovingly crafted in Mesh units and then joined together to form one of the most impressive mazes of tunnels that the grid has ever seen. As you head deeper and deeper into the tunnels, be careful nto to ignore the signs that will guide you safely to the stores if that is what you wish. But if you have the time, turn down that tunnel the slides off to the right, plunging down into the depths.
To be lost in these tunnels is both disorienting and claustrophobic. The smog of dragon breath permeates the tunnels and it is easy to wander for 15 minutes only to find you are back where you began. Having recently read Tolkien’s The Hobbit to my young daughters (no movies for them, cruel mother am I) I cannot help but conjure up the imagery of Bilbo and the dwarves entering the tunnels of the misty mountain. Where there was outright beauty and craftsmanship in all of the builds we have seen , epitomised perhaps by the gorgeous deep hues of the Tiffany lanterns of Titans Hollow, Khyle has brought technical mastery of the tunnels and woven it together to form a glorious maze that would grace any adventurers fantasy.
But we are lost, wandering through smoke filled tunnels, the sound of dripping water our only companion, how will we find our way out? When all hope begins to fade we hear a ringing that echoes through the tunnels. Dwarves, mining the tunnels no doubt. We run towards the sounds and hopes rise as the sounds grow louder until finally we round a corner and see ahead of us a not the ringing hammers of the dwarves, but the ringing tills of countless merchants enjoying the Faire in the way they know best.
We have found our way back to the one true path that will lead us on through the Fairelands and soon we emerge from the tunnels into the fresh air once again.
We are leaving maze-like tunnels of The Dragonspire now and logically we should progress now to the neighbouring Faireland region, the Valley of Ishnar. But we shall not, instead our next stop will be the Final of the “regular” Faireland regions, Lumenaria. Why are we skipping past the Valley? You will have to wait and find out.
Prim Perfect 