Night Garden

From Gwyneth:

Yes, Nathaniel and I ended our protracted visit to the Isle of Callisto, not far behind midwinter. We spent enough time in Awenia to get our bearings, refamiliarise ourselves with the contents of our Residence (and we did not overlook the liquor cabinet, but that is another story and shall be told another time). All in all, I am pleased with the work that has been done in our absence, and, Accords willing, I hope we will be able to launch a grand reopening of the Realm in the early Spring, ahead of the Great Faire.

What news of Awenia, you may ask. My much-gossiped-about falling-out with The Author notwithstanding, there are new kittens in the Pangurlands, and the Realm thrives in Winter under the combined guidance of Brán, Clutie, and Friðrós. I have not yet seen Friðrós, but I’ve been very impressed with her work in the Forests. Perhaps I shall find some way to reward her, over and above her yearly trip to the Faire. I was delighted to see she’s decorated the house I put on the edge of the Book Forest. Perhaps I’ll surprise her with a larger one—maybe a treehouse would suit her. I do love a treehouse.

Nathaniel has grown weary of the endless and wearisome string of hotels, so he’s got himself a lovely chalet in Fairystone, Bellisseria. He reports that his neighbour on the one side is a pleasant faery of muddled lineage called Avalon, but he will not speak of the neighbour on the other side; he says I’ll have to see it to believe it. How much more of a shock could it possibly be than running into Llwyd in Callisto? It remains to be seen, but if I were to foolishly declare I could no longer be surprised, I might find myself in more discomfort than I’d like.

I was charmed enough by Nathaniel’s description of the multiple Realms of Bellisseria that I looked into some properties there, myself. I decided to start small, in the Fantasy district of Shallots Web, and, wouldn’t you know it—I came across the most wonderful little treehouse!

I’ll talk about the treehouse itself another time: the best thing about having a home away from home that’s in a massive tree is, of course, there’s so much space for a little garden. It is most beautiful at night, because the Realm comes alive with bioluminescent trees and plants, so I asked Brán along to shoot these pictures at night. There’s a rope to climb to access the treehouse proper, but I chose to add a portal for those who prefer not to find themselves plagued by rope burns.

Now, even though it has been more years than I care to count since I found my way to this life, I still read and love portal fantasies, and there are no finer portal fantasies than Seanan McGuire’s masterful Wayward Children books. That’s why the message on the portal door reads only, ‘Be Sure’.

The combination of green and purple grasses works with the dark and light shifts of the Realm beautifully, and I added in some of my favourite large flowers and mushrooms to give a combination of whimsy and mystery. My favourite small flower, the dandelion, is here as well.

*What Garden would be complete without a gazebo?*

I will not tell that joke again—at least not now. But, you know. Gazebo. What isn’t visible from this angle is the waterway that surrounds my little island. But the seating inside the gazebo is a wonderful place to sit and watch the water. There are frequently boats, of all kinds, so I even get to enjoy a little folk-watching as well. Perhaps I will have Brán source a proper boat for us to tour the Realms via the waterways. Perhaps I’ll find a way to sneak up on Nathaniel in his cosy Chalet and surprise him one weekend whilst he’s trying to do paperwork without any interruption… you know, on second thought, that might not be such a great idea.

Another interesting thing to note, given I mentioned King Llwyd earlier— I’ve had a letter from him, saying he’d enjoy coming for an informal visit. By which I mean to say, he has announced that he shall be coming. Of course, it would be unthinkable to refuse him a visit, even if I wanted to. Still, where Llwyd goes, I fear drama follows. I’ll send a reminder to Nathaniel. Llwyd doesn’t say when he would like to make this visit, so I will be off at the break of dawn, just to make sure we have accommodation ready for visitors. Of course, the Residence isn’t built for visitors, so I’ll repurpose another building, or maybe in add in something suitable. Perhaps a cave: he likes caves. I laugh at myself: that was less than diplomatic of me, I suppose. And yet I admit that while part of me snarkily dreams of creating a cave system for him and his retinue that some of them might have trouble escaping… part of me also hopes they do not discover the cave beneath the Residence. If they find out there’s an underground pool, we may never get rid of them.

When the sun begins to rise, the bioluminescence begins to fade, but it’s still much easier to see the flight path to Eyrie, where the Realm’s main portal is. From there I can plot a course to Awenia with little trouble.

I love my Realm; I do. It’s home. But I’m not sure how long I want to stay there at a stretch, nowadays. Maybe I’ll do some further exploring in Fantasseria, although the Realm does have a homogeneity to it. There are so many other places to explore, after all. Don’t worry: I’ll get around to taking some photographs of my little treehouse-away-from-home sometime soon. For now, it’s back home to create some guest quarters.

Notes & Credits:

More Items from my Delightful Sponsors:

Eyeliner & Eyeshadow: Hexumbra, Peyton Eyeliner, Sativa Eye Shadow
Skin: Lumae (as Moth & Moon), Yvaine, in T1
Large, glowy, pointy mushrooms: Cerridwen’s Cauldron, Goblin Cap Mushrooms
Small Dandelions with poofy spores: Cube Republic, Dandelion 2024
Green Bushes around the base of the Tree: Cube Republic, Useful Bush. (I could probably write an entire story about how useful the Useful Bush is. I use it everywhere, and it’s never let me down.)

Other Fancy Stuff:

Avatar:

Wings: Evolved Creatures, Fae Wings v2
Hair: Truth, Smitten
Earrings: Sigma, Stone Dangle Earrings
Circlet: Everfaery, Kaia Flower Crown
Gwyneth is modelled on a Maitreya Petite X body and a Lelutka EvoX Gaia head. Her ear shape is achieved through the Birth Ears Deformer