Frolicking in Featherfall

Be the change you want to see. Folks are always saying that. I know I’ve mentioned this Faire has had me more in disguise than in me-guise (that’s a word now), and I’m sure no-one reading this little blog remembers way back in those strange days after Jasper Cove fell and before the Wylds rose, so you may not know that I, Your Queen, have been a shape-shifter.

As one of the few positive things to come out of my short sojourn at Castle Shithole, the unicorn guise has served me well over the years, and I suppose I do not talk about it a lot, possibly because I always have so many other things to talk about.

Anyway.

One afternoon I was preparing to make the journey from Isles of Tarrin down into Featherfall, and in an unholy coincidence, that horrible Cherish Gelato from Faewatch spotted me. It was easy enough to duck into a convenient shop, change into the unicorn, and continue my journey. There are, after all, so many horses and horse relatives in Isles of Tarrin that eluding a pursuer as a horse or horse relative would seem the simplest solution—and so it was.

It was, as I said above, absolutely the perfect solution to avoiding Ms. Gelato.

Being a unicorn, however, was not the perfect solution for Featherfall itself.

That’s because, as I’d forgotten to remember, Featherfall is entirely knitted. The whole thing. The ground. The trees. The houses. The food. Well, that creepy bear didn’t look knitted, but I am hardly a knitting expert. Everyone else seemed to be having a lovely time, though, so I tried not to think overmuch about the creepy bear and instead chose to do some exploring.

Pro tip: hooves and knitted terrain do not work as well as you would think! Which is to say they work together even worse than you might think. I tripped up a lot. And you could not have paid me enough to attempt to balance on one of the many yarn balls set out for people to have a go on: even people balancing on two legs seemed a bit wobbly: I shudder to think what it’d have been like with four.

I did eventually manage to find that an extended trot worked for handling the inevitable bits of fluff I was picking up on my hooves every time I took a step. At least I no longer felt I was in danger of unravelling the entire Realm and being left alone in some primordial void with Creepy Bear.

If it weren’t for that unspeakably annoying Cherish Gelato, this might have been a fun outing. I’d be tripping through here on my tiptoes and potentially using wings, and I could have enjoyed the death-by-cute landscape much more. If my existence had a bane, I’d choose for it to be Ms Gelato, although she’s hardly important enough so my existence does not in fact have a bane at all.

After lots of trotting with my knees artificially up in order to avoid the aforementioned unravelling nightmare scenario, I began to see glimpses of the next Realm around corners, and it was Wandering Woods, and that was perfect, because Wandering Woods is excellent for unicorning in.

I stepped up my gait and headed out of the Knitted Nightmare as quickly as I could. Just as I was about to cross over into Wandering Woods, I’m sure I heard her shrill voice screaming for someone to get her off this infernal yarn ball. I hope the locals sacrificed her to Creepy Bear.

Notes & Credits:

From the Author: another disclaimer—I loved Featherfall. I do know something about knitting, and in fact I used to teach knitting many moons ago before my arthritis got bad enough that I had to make some choices. Featherfall was a very brightly lit region, so when it came time to photograph an avatar there, I knew I wanted someone who wouldn’t wash out against a bright landscape. Gwyneth as unicorn seemed the most fun way to go, until I thought about it a few days after I’d shot the photographs and considered that navigating a knitted landscape with hooves rather than feet might be a bit of a challenge. And the bear really was creepy.

Featherfall was one of twenty-one regions in the Relay for Life of Second Life’s 2021 Fantasy Faire. Alas, the regions have faded back into the mists, so you will never be able to visit Featherfall yourself, but there are plenty of pictures and reminders you can see throughout the meta verse if you know where to look! Featherfall was designed by Kayle Matzerath and sponsored by Abraminations.