The Fairelands Quest: "The Pilgrim's Forest"

 

Among the things to do at the Fantasy Faire to do is The Fairelands Quest.  Part story, part game, one  gets prizes for completing parts as one progresses, and gets a large amount at the end. The theme is year is "The Pilgrim's Forest." 

The Bard Queen has good news. Possibly great news. A cache of soul-seeds has been found.

The ancient seeds could be the key to creating a powerful force against the Unweaver. But who can know if they’ve held their magic after so many years? That can only be discovered if Fairelanders – as many as possible – are willing to take on a pilgrimage to bless the seed, prepare it for planting, and solve the riddle of the ritual that will awaken a hallowed forest.

And so the Bard Queen asks, “Will you take a seed and try?”

To play the quest you need the HUD. You get it at one of the various HUD vendors across the Fairelands sims. The ones at Fairelands Junction is at (148/161/19). If the sim is busy, try one of the others such as Moonfleet Bay (133/154/76). The vendor with the Basic Hud needs 250 Linden dollars. If you want the Deluxe HUD, which also has an outfit you can do the quest in, that takes 350 Lindens. 

 

 Once you have the HUD giver, you find it in your inventory, click on it and select "add." It, in the form of the Faire symbol, will appear in your hand. Click on it, and a folder will appear with the contents in your inventory.

 

 

The Deluxe HUD package  has Fantasy-themed outfits for men and women, and human/furry and tinies,

 

After "click and add" on the HUD and "Hero," your companion in this quest, you visit the Bard Queen in Fairelands Junction to start it.  If you have trouble finding her, head to 209 108 95

 

 You then head to Willowton Cuthbert to see the first shrine. Once you do, you get a message from Hero, asking for you to meet up with her. 

 

You then head to Kalliaaya to meet up with Hero.

 

 You then visit the shrines across the Fairelands. After that comes the next step. 

 

Have fun questing,

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

 

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This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

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SL Video: "Scrooge - A Second Life Christmas Carol"

 

 (click here if the video does not play)

 

 From AVTV in Deccember 2022, an encore presentation of "A Christmas Carol" filmed in Second Life

 

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

 

This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

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PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).

 

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Seen a first class spooky haunt for Halloween? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

 

This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).

 

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

 

This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).

 

The "Corsean Encounter" Book Event

 

 Saturday August 30 at Noon SL time was the "Meet the Author" event at the Premier Business Center, organized by Jarden Alexis, to help publicize the novel I wrote a few months ago, "The Corsean Encounter." About thirty people showed up to hear me talk about the novel, then after the discussion we went to the party room where DJ Nydia played some tunes. 

 

So far, the event has worked with sales going up. And more people are checking out the Newser lately as well (more on that later). We'll have some more pictures up soon.

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

 

This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).

 

The Fairelands Quest Is Up

 

 Good news for Fantasy Faire fans, anyone who likes an interactive story, likes games with big prizes, and especially all three. The Fairelands Quest is finally up and running. This year, the name of the Quest is "The Dreamcaster's Cauldron."

The Bard Queen is perplexed.

All across the Fairelands, there’s been a rash of bad dreams. Not just bad — really bad. Teeth-gritting, terrifying, haunt-you-all-day-long nightmares.

Sleepers are waking in a panic. In some, annoyance turns to fury. Assertiveness turns to aggression. Sadness turns to deep despair. Throughout the lands, violence and misery are spreading in ever-widening circles.

What could possibly be happening?

To get the Quest HUD, it's located in Fairelands Junction and most other central areas of the other Fairelands sims (at FJ, it's at 44,139,87 ). You will see a pair of kiosks labeled "The Dreamcasters Cauldron." For just the HUD, quest companion, and lantern, pay 250L in the smaller kiosk. The larger has those and a number of outfits, one for male and female for normal sized avatars, plus a few for dinkies.

 

To play, you'll need to attatch both the hud and your companion Pax. The outfit is optional. So is the lantern, though it will help you see in dark places. The first step is to find the Bard Queen, who explains the situation. Then you have to find the dreamers, presumably followed by your companion Paz. After that, well, we'll see.

More on the Quest, and the Fairelands, later.

 

https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Fairelands%20Junction/44/139/87

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

*Addition* I thought the first thing after talking to the Bard Queen was meeting with your companion. But that wasn't the case this time. 

 

Nydia Tungsten Publishes Third "Switched Destinies" Novel

 

Seven years after the publication of her first novel, "Switched Destinies," and five years since it's sequel, "Switched Destiny: Kevin's Return," Nydia Tungsten has finally released the third book of the series: "Switched Destiny: Acceptance of Fate."

 

It's been many years since a laboratory experiment sent Kevin Baron to a world of magic, populated by people resembling many of the animals of his former one. He has come to be the head of one of the land's most powerful houses, and a large loving family. But he also made some enemies doing what was right, and has just withstood a plot that could have cost him almost everything if not for the help of his family and a strong new friend and ally.

But the challenges of life on this world continue. Aware of the powerful magic he passed on to his children, he begins training them. After a miracle saves the life of one child, he desires to know more about the Goddess of this world. Some challenges seem almost impossible to overcome, but through determination, his magical ability, his friends and family, or some combination of the three, he gets through them.

This is Kevin's third story, in which he and his family go through new challenges. But not all challenges have quickly resolved endings.

 

"Acceptance of Fate" is available on Amazon for $14.25 for the paperback, and $4 for the kindle version. 

To read the interview with Nydia about the first story, Click Here. 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Game Review: Dreamlight Valley

 

Have you ever wanted to interact with your favorite childhood story characters, and maybe some characters from stories after your childhood? There's a game in which you can: Dreamlight Valley.  In this adventure, you interact with a number of Disney and Pixar characters, sometimes multiple ones, to carry out quests and other objectives,

 

Read the review in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.  

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

 

This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).

 

Update: "The Corsean Encounter" Now on Paperback

 

 

It was a few days ago that yours truly announced his novel "The Corsean Encounter" was finally published and up on Kindle. The paperback wasn't available then. But as of a couple days ago, it now is. So now you can get the sci-fi tale done by the editor of the Newser on both Kindle and paperback on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DRT58H37/ 

So what's next? Yours truly has been working on a sequel: "The Corsean Encounter: Prelude to War." I've also been working on a fantasy tale, "Tales of a Metamorph." 

But writing those won't stop me from doing stories for the Newser, and as always will continue to write about the people, places, and events of this virtual world.

Bixyl Shuftan

"The Corsean Encounter" Up On Kindle

 

 

I don't normally post about my activities outside Second Life, but this has been a project decades in the making, and is finally up.

 

Those who know me well recall that besides having a longtime interest in current events, I've also been reading science-fiction and history. Most science-fiction stories involve aliens with either advanced or tribal technology. Technology in a Medieval or Colonial Age state? Not so much. 

So introducing my first published story: The Corsean Encounter.

Theadore Smith, sentenced to a Soviet gulag, gets a second chance when the train he's on has a wreck in Central Asia. Making his way south with his companion Leonid Kakanov, they're ambushed by Muslim tribesmen, and have to seek shelter in a cave they stumble upon. Finding a strange machine, it teleports them to another cave. They emerge not on Earth, but another world. Running into some of its not quite human inhabitants, whom live under Medieval conditions, the initially friendly encounter turns hostile when they're captured by a local lord, whom turns them over to his superior.

After a period of time in which Theadore learns the local language, the overlord takes the two humans to his Emperor as a gift. At the Imperial Palace, they learn more about the land and it's people. They get attention from some people who see value in their knowledge. They also run into the ambassador of a nearby land which is somewhat more advanced and not an empire but a republic, Gideon. But some consider the humans little more than monsters, whose lives are of no real value. Can Theadore and Leonid convince enough people of importance that they deserve more than a lifetime in a dungeon, or worse? And what can they do for the Gideon Republic, which many in the Empire want to settle old scores with?

For now, the story is available only on the kindle version, though kindle apps can be used on computers, tablets, and some smartphones. The paperback version will be available soon. 

You can find the story on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DRDZSTHC

And stay tuned for the sequel: "Prelude to War."

Update: "The Corsean Encounter" is now available on both Kindle and paperback.

Bixyl Shuftan

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

 

This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).

 

Do You Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newspaper will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyones name or picture or use an alias for them).

 

Nydia Tungsten's "Switched Destinies" Now Available in Hardcover

 

For fans of Nydia Tungsten's stories, some good news. Her novel "Switched Destinies" is now available in hardcover. 

"Two souls, viewed by many of their kinds’ as eccentric lunatics, suddenly find themselves switched within their parallel universes. Now in strange new lands, each is having to learn about the other side of the mirror. In the all new Switched Destiny's"

 

Switched Destinies is the first novel Nydia published, and has been followed by a sequel, with a third story in the works. An interview with Nydia about the novel can be read (here). 

 

 The story is on sale on Amazon (here). Hardcover costs $25 USD, with the paperback costing $14, and the Kindle version $3.

Bixyl Shuftan

"Switched Destinies", Novel by SL Writer, Has A T-Shirt Available

 

 

 For fans of "Switched Destinies," a novel series written by Second Life resident Nydia Tungsten, good news. On her Zazzle page, there's now a T-shirt available for purchase, with pictures of the cover art of both the original book and it's sequel. 

For more about the novel, read the 2018 interview with Nydia. 

The Fairelands Quest

 

The Fantasy Faire is known for many things. Among of which is the Fairelands Quest. This year, the theme is "The Seven Layers of Joy." You'll find vendors for the Quest HUDs at the TP entrance of Fairelands Junction, and most of the other sims of the Fairelands. There's a basic HUD for the quest alone, and a Deluxe HUD for both the quest and an outfit. They cost 250 L and 350 L respectively. 

Once you make the donation, you click on your inventory and add the item, which appears on your hand as a double-F. Click on that, and the contents will appear in your inventory. This year, there are separate outfits not just for men and women, but human/furry avatars and smaller ones for tinies. The human one comes in Anatomy, Belleza Jake, CZ Slim, Legacy, Maitreya, Signature Davis, and Signature Gianni.

Putting on the outfit is optional (it took a while to figure out where the pants were). Once you put the HUD on, you get some backstory to the Quest. It's been seven years since the Bard Queen fell ill to a fever, one that was treated by the Quest that year. But the doctors weren't sure it was an outright cure, and told her she had to wait seven years to make sure it held. It has, and she should be happy. She is overall, but something is worrying her. Your first part of the Quest is to find her somewhere in Fairelands Junction and talk to her. 

Your next step is to find Theo, your snow leopard companion for the quest. Unlike companions from previous years, he doesn't sit or over above your shoulder, but walks beside you. He directs you to your next spot, where you find his friends, the companions of the seven previous quests. They explain what they plan to do, and they need a little help. So it's combing sixteen sims for pieces of what you need, at least for the first part of the quest. 

The release date for the second part of the quest has not yet been announced, at least as of the writing of this article.

Happy questing,

Bixyl Shuftan

Do YOU Have A Story?

 

On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you, the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

 

This is where you the readers come in.  On occasion, Second Life Newser will print an article or picture submitted to us by one of you. We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.

SL-Newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section, edit,  and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyone's name or picture that's clearly someone or use an alias for them).