A Phase of Holi

From Gwyneth:

My darlings, we are at the Great Faire! Of all the events we attend each year, our favourite is the Fantasy Faire, where we meet friends old and new, wonder at the myriad Realms, and of course, shop.

Now, there is an expectation, I suppose, that we will see wonders at the Faire. But the overpowering aura that is Holi made even the most jaded of the Shining Throng gasp (discreetly). What architect could envision a city built upon the back of a great stone tiger? The answer, of course, is Alia Baroque, who always gives us something to remember. These lands he crafts out of the mists that Junction calls are truly something to behold.

We arrived on a lush walkway, planted with palm trees and ferns, and I suppose it was when we passed the first enormous paw that we realised what we were seeing. Bran couldn’t wait to start taking photographs, and of course he sprinted off to do just that and we did not see him again for hours. Luckily for him, there was plenty for the rest of us to do as well.

Kvit became completely entranced with these pools. There’s a large one that leads out into the ocean of mists, and then there are a couple of smaller ones farther up in the city. Bran made me, I kid you not, fly over and hover above a lily pad for a solid hour (well, it felt like an hour!) while he composed and shot this photograph.

Bran’s photographs keep improving. I keep telling him he should exhibit somewhere other than just the Gallery in Awenia, but he resists me, the ingrate. We walked a little further in and explored the jungle, too.

Kvit got a little nervous at this point, but I assured him that the Fairelands are always perfectly safe and there is nothing to be worried about.

“You just aren’t seeing the tiger for the trees,” he replied.

“You dim bird! It’s forest: you can’t see the forest for the trees,” I said. “It’s idiomatic.” I said it slowly. “Id-ee-oh-MAH-tic. See?”

At this point, he flew away from me. I just laughed at him.

Back we went to the lily pond, where Kvit insisted he’d just saved me from an untimely death.

“My death,” I said, “will not come for some centuries yet. I will likely outlive you.”

“Bah.” This was a derisive caw. “I’m an archetype, Gwyneth.” Then, just to infuriate me, he said it slowly: ‘ARK-eh-type.’ Get it? That means I’m never going to die. You are stuck with me. I am immutable, yet I change over time. Like water. Which is also archetypal. As an aside, do you have any snacks?”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course I have snacks. Who do you think you’re talking to?”

I squinted across the horizon. “Bran— what is that Realm in the distance?”

Bran cleared his throat. “Your Fae Majesty,” he said. “I am pleased to inform you that that,” and he pointed, “is a massive cat tree.”

I gaped. “We must go there!”

“At once, madam?”

“Oh, great gods no!” I gestured. “We have the rest of Holi to see, and I’m not leaving ’til we get to experience the colour poofs.”

We were due at our digs in Lavendell for dinner with much-missed friends, so we left just after the every-hour-on-the-hour colour poof. It is a sight to see, and I will be back to experience it again, I’m sure, before the Fairelands fade into the mists.

You come, too.

Notes & Credits:

Sponsored items are noted with a “*”

Dress: Arkona, Dawn Court Gown* (Get it at the Arkona Faire Store in Holi!)
Kvit: Expertly portrayed by CKit Falconry‘s White Raven Shoulder Pet* (Get your own owl, and gear to match, at the CKit Falconry Faire Store in Harmonious Glade!)
Skin: Lumae, Edie, in the new-for-faire tone Powder* (Get it at the Lumae Faire Store in Yuum Balaal Grotto!)
Tattoos and Makeup: Find The Fish, Dawn Court* (Get it at the Find The Fish Faire Store in Holi!)
Ears and Ear Cuffs: Illusions, Elfin Ears & Barocco Ear Accessories (Get them at the Illusions Faire Store in Gwath!)
Hair: Raven Bell, Lavender, Shimmer Edition (Get it at the Raven Bell Faire Store in Gallery Gaillard!)
Arm Bands: On A Lark, Woven Armband with Gem (Get them at the On A Lark Faire Store in Holi!)
Nails: Eventyra, Nordic Summer (Get them at the Eventyra Faire Store in Nox Aeterna!)
Circlet: Deviance, Erulisse Circlet, The Maiden (rare) (This is very old, pre-mesh, but I still love it. You might find it on Marketplace, but it won’t be cheap.)
Gwyneth is styled on a Legacy Classic body and a Lelutka EvoX Billie Mesh Head.

Holi is one of 18 regions in the 17th annual Relay For Life of Second Life’s Fantasy Faire. Sponsored by Fallen Gods, designed by Alia Baroque and Garvie Garzo.

Celebrating its seventeenth year, Fantasy Faire 2025 is the largest gathering of fantasy designers, enthusiasts, roleplayers and performers in the virtual world. From Thursday, April 17 to Sunday May 4, treat yourself to shopping, dance and theater performances, DJ parties, auctions, questing, our Literary Festival, thematic events and roleplaying as thousands of Second Life residents and creators bring their own visions together to support the American Cancer Society’s vision of a world without cancer.