From the Wyverns nest

Phoenix Rising

In April 2009, the old Abalus sim was reborn from the waves, this time as a homestead class sim and named “Abalus Tor”.  Thanks to Daryth Kennedy having saved the old terrain shape, the new Abalus retains much of the landscape of it’s predecessor.  There have been, and still continue to be, some tectonic movements.  Notably gaps have opened up in the ring of mountains together with a small active volcano.  The central lake has also lost a significant amount of depth and in most places this can be safely waded through (unless you are a tiny).

As you enter Abalus Tor from the Equus Lone Star Ranch area the first area you come to is the beach.  This is a flattened sphere megaprim  beach using one of the standard sand textures from the library.  On the beach there is a small food area, a covered hammock bed and a lifeguards post.  All of these came from the BAHIA Tiki and Zen beach shop in Bahia,  This shop has a wise selection of fairly well priced items, from beach huts and surfboards to beach bars and fires.  My only complaint is that most of the items are no modify since there are a few bugs in the items that could do with tweaking.  One example being that the food table has a utensile dispensor containing no-copy knives and forks (so only one copy) and it’s no mod so I can’t replace them with copy-enabled substitutes!

Walking up the hill further into the sim leads to an observation area with views over the waterway between Abalus Tor and Tir Zephyrus and views into the heart of Abalus Tor.  From here you get your first glance of the tree-house forest area that makes up the majority of Abalus Tor land area.  Two paths lead away from the observation area, one going west across a rope bridge to the volcanic island, the other leading down and to the north.  First we take the bridge to the island.

On the volcanic island we have a small dock area with a 7Seas Fishing installation.  Following the dock around and you get to a wonderful sculpted steampunk lighthouse from the ~JD~ Mechanical Toy Factory.  This lighthouse was fairly steep at L$2490.   However most of the other lighthouses on the Isle of Wyrms are also  steampunk in origin, so this is keeping in the overall theme.  At the same shop as the lighthouse can be found a selection of other goodies, notably some nice seating (a couple of examples are also used in Abalus Tor) and assorted steampunkery.  Within the lighthouse can be found a “Mom Jarmans Bakery” where cookies are always free!

Retracing our steps back to the observation points and taking the north bound path leads us down alongside the interior of the eastern mountains.  Walking down the trail, there is a bridge overhead leading into the trees and and the central fishing lagoon can be seen to the east.  Soon we come to a couple of waterfalls, these are by Siss Truss and are fairly low prim.

Walking onwards, soon the observatory comes into view.  The design of this building is based upon a Martello tower.  These were defensive towers mostly built during the England-France “100 years” war and can be often found at defensive coastal positions in British or former British colonial lands.  The window and wall textures are Castle textures from Textures R US and cost L$700 per pack.  The actual observatory area is kitted out in very nicely priced astronomical items from Chrystin Hathor’s Emporium in Caledon II.  This is also the place to visit if you want to buy a coffin!

Walking back up the path leads to a path leading to the bridge into the tree-houses that we passed under earlier.  There are only actually two houses on the tree platforms, most of the platforms just providing viewing and a means of traversing the trees.   The trees themselves are Ancient Stands Deep Forest from Botanical.

For flora and fauna, there are also a few Heart Garden Centre trees dotted around the sim as well as a number of trees made and donated by Morrigan Vendetta.  Growing in the meadow areas there may also be found grass by Moonshine Creations.  This grass has been put to very good effect in the neighbouring Equus Pasture sim.

Abalus Tor is still under development, as it should always be (very few builds seem to survive more than a few months).  The only addition to the sim currently missing is a stargate.  This will be added.