Not long ago, Honour McMillan wrote an article on the matter of griefing and potentially criminal activities in SL. I actually quoted her in my own piece on the same subject. The images she used with the article were of a place called Rosemist Isle – which I admit to having been entirely ignorant of until I read Honour’s article and found myself not only in full agreement with her thoughts, but also captivated by the images themselves. As a result, Rosemist Isle immediately went on my “must visit” list for SL destinations.

I just didn’t expect to be visiting the region quite so soon as happened to be the case.

Honour visited Rosemist Isle to calm her temper and immerse herself. After having something of a crappy weekend (partially my own fault for being a bit of a twit with things I’m not going to bore you with), I felt that anything which captivated Honour would more than likely do the same for me.

It did.

The description for the region , designed by Nila Byron for the Rosemist Management group of KJ Kiranov, Xyza Armistice and Light Kaestner, reads in part, “The sim is dedicated to the Wonderment of Life, and the pursuit of Peace and Tranquility,” which is followed by an invitation to explore and enjoy the beauty of the isle. And truth be told, there is a lot to explore and enjoy here, both when exploring on your own or with like-minded friends.

This is a place deserving of time taken to immerse yourself within it. If you are fortunate enough to be able to run your viewer in deferred mode, I strongly recommend you do, even if you leave shadows & lighting set to none. Make sure you have in-world sounds enabled as well to further enhance your experience. There is an audio stream as well, but whether you turn it on or not, I leave to you.

The region has its own windlight setting, but for the majority of snaps I took, I opted to use Annan Adored Realist Ambient, as it softened some of the glow used within the region and which, if I’m honest, I felt in places made some shots look over-exposed.

One of the things I love about Second Life is the freedom it provides to simply just be. A great deal of my time in-world is actually spent on my own, exploring places like Rosemist Isle. This is not necessarily because I’m particularly anti-social (although I am very definitely very insular); rather it is more because when exploring on my own I have the freedom to really experience a place and both escape pressures (RL or SL) and also find space to listen to myself as well as letting my imagination run free in response to whatever I discover.

Rosemist Isle is perfect for this; the woods invite one to roam and put cares off to one side, while the various places were one can sit naturally invite one to stay and simply contemplate. Which is not to say it should be experienced alone; the very nature of the region does much to also encourage companionship, be it wandering or sitting together.

The imagination can certainly take wing here: there are unicorns in the woods, a tall ship, her gun ports open, lying in the lee of the isle, and carvings of dragons abound, all of which add to the fantasy feel of the isle and suggest stories waiting to be told.

And lets face it, anywhere which features dragons is liable to get a big tick in my book!

Regular readers of these pages will know that music plays an important role in my life; it is something I have with me almost constantly, and while my tastes might be eclectic, music if often a favoured companion. Sometimes the initial impact of a region is much greater for me as a result of the music I happen to be listening / is playing on the region stream to when I opt to make a visit (although there are times when the look and feel of a place suggests suitable music to me).

When I teleported to Rosemist Isle, I happened to be listening to Passacaglia by Bear McCreary. Nothing unusual in this, as it is a piece I listen to a lot – McCreay’s work is genius. However, with Rosemist Isle, the fit seemed to be perfect for me given my mood, and I confess that rather than exploring on foot, I found myself simply sitting in an armchair and camming slowly though the region, allowing my imagination to create scenes and stories to me as I “roamed”.

Even without music – streamed or personal – Rosemist Isle offers the perfect means of calming ruffled nerves and soothing the mind of stress, as such I have no hesitation in recommending it as a destination well worth a visit. It certainly eased my mood and raised my spirit.

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