Mt. Caledon as seen from above the main Caledon II-Tamrannoch rail line.
Drifting above Tamrannoch village at first, we made our way along the road that runs by my sweetie's home.Upon seeing Mt. Caledon, I charted our course toward On Sea. I thought it would be nice to see if the old monastery was still up on the mountain, above the secret spring from whence I recover the water to offer at my cafe in the Moors. The view was as spectacular as expected, and we were surprised to see a visitor from the mainland showing her respects. Apparently she was frightened by our approach and fled.
The Old Monsatery atop Mt. Caledon, with On Sea's coasline in the distance.
Steering the airship across On Sea, and over Free Flow, the former seat of the Barony of Bauerhoff de Caledon which I had to sell to Sir ZenMondo Wormser in order to escape the family debt my brother accrued, I pointed our little craft toward the Highlands. It is always rewarding to see some of the great architectural structures from both the past and present in the Highlands, such as the Academy of Virtual Wizardry, the Observatory, and Olf Fort Caledon.
The Academy of Virtual Wizardry in the Highlands.
We headed then posthaste toward the Port, as the day was fast dying. The late afternoon sun gleamed brilliantly off the waters of the Port, while the ships and boats bobbed rhythmically with the waves. There seemed to be little of the usual bustle of sailors and hawkers. Perhaps the weather being as warm as it been this High Summer, people decided to follw the customs of those of warmer climes, and decided to take a fiesta. Or mamybe they were preparing their own lighter-than-air ships to commemorate the day.
Caledon's usually industrious Port sits quiet and unburdened with labour in the warm sun.
I decided I wanted to take a closer look at our vast growing forest to the north, and steered the craft toward Tanglewood via the Duchy of Lionsgate. At first timid, and uncertain what the warm vapours of a volcanoe would do to a Zeppelin, I steered the craft close enough to get a view of the crater atop the mount, but not to close, as we pressed onward to Tanglewood. Indeed, it is a spectaculr sight to see a three-sim forest from above. The effect is impressive!
Poisonous gasses seeping from Lionsgate's mountainous maw.
Viewing the tri-sim forest of Tanglewood, Kittiwickshire, and Eyre from the air.
Having by now accustomed myself to the controls, and grew braver, and on our return trip, passed close to volcanoe, to inspect how active it was. Seeing the molten rock bubble unhindered was a most humbling experience, and fearing the noxious fumes could overcome us at any moment and plunge us to our deaths to in the ocean's depths, I decided to hastily move on. As if in vengeance, when I thought we had safely escaped the range of the insentient beast, a sudden blast of hot air sent us spinning out of control. 98 and I clung to the craft in terror, as I struggled mightily to regain control of the craft. I almost feared Cthulu himself would come forth raging after us, to extract the inevitable toll he would demand for my escaping the clutches of Vampyrism as a result of Dr. Mason's invoking Cthulu to free me of the dread disease. Finally acheiving mastery of the little zeppelin, we forged onward to Caledon I. Finally we were greeted with one of the most lovely sunsets I have seen in Caledon. The lingering fingers of light caressed the early evening sky as the sun sought it's rest in the bosom of the the earth, to suckle in comfort from the Mother till he regained his strength to begin his journey anew the next day.
Continuing to head south, we were greated by a picturesque moonrise in Steam City. I was amazed at the number of zeppelins that can be found lurkng throughout Caledon's airspace, most many times larger than my little skiff of the skies. Turning back through Caledon Prime and Caledon II, as we entered into Tamrannoch, our eyes were greeted with an ironic setting ... a full moon rising over the Sanitorium. At the time I thought nothing other than that the Sanitorium's resident gargoyle would enjoy this picture. Little did I know that later that evening, Mr. Dagger himself would tell us of his RL need to extremely reduce his time in SL, and that he was in essence saying "goodbye". I literally cried, because over the past several weeks, he had becaome a good friend of 98 and me, often stopping by to chat with us at either of our estates, go werewolf hunting with us, or taking building lessons from me. He built me a beautiful sign for my just-opening boutique at my Pavillion (more of that in the next post, when I have put the last of my builds I will sell in it, and have an official Grande Opening!), which I will cherish as a memento from a friend dear to me and my beloved 98. His leaving will be a loss to Caledon, as he is one of the "good ones" that quickly escape the savagery of the mainland, and find refuge in our faire Independant Commonwealth. Even now as I write this, my eyes literally moisten. It's always hard saying "goodbye" to a friend.
Full Moon over Tamrannoch's Sanitorium.
Finally, our journey had come full circle, and we returned to the Moors. My most beloved and I gazed down from the heavens upon my Pavillion, all of the architectural structures my own work. There is a sense of satisfaction in knowing one's builds bring great pleasure to others. Though I hardly make a Linden off of it, it is my most heavily-trafficked property, often being over 400, and frequently enough over 1000 people, and one time my traffic there was over 4000!
I had intended to continue our journey through the eastern Caledonian sims, but without warning, the zeppelin gave my problems beyond my control over my Fortune Telling Parlour. I asked my dearest love if he had a parachute. He said, "I used to have one." That boded ill for me. At over 250 meters in elevation, we had to jump ship. I guess what they say about cats always landing on their feet is true, because my Neko honey landed on the ground in no worse a state than while he was still in the craft. I wasn't about to trust my fate to the unknown, and donning my chute, I jumped. At 200 meters the device worked, and the chute opened, and I landed safely on Terra Firma. After some searching, I managed to find my blimp, and hiring a teamster and his wagon, had the aircraft carried back to my estate for repairs.
Safely parachuting to earth!
Sir Edward Pearse and Lady Christine McCallister-Peare's humongo-giga-gigantic Zeppelin
Frequency Picnic's Hobo Blimp above us in the distance.
With such an eventful day behind us, 98 and I headed back to his Tamrannoch manse for some personal time. Somewhere in Caledon Prime, we ran across Sir Edward and Lady Christine, and had a pleasant aerial conversation discussing the futures of Caledon, Steelhead, New Babbage, and the several Tombstone sims. After parting their company, 98 and I arrived at his manor, and the rest of the night is definitely not for the readers of this blog! *grins*
1 comment:
what a wonderful day we had my love
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