A Change of Course

I need to get back to Caledon as soon as possible as the information that I have just can not wait. The majority of my trip back from Rome had been long, but finally I was on a ship bound for home...or so I thought.

"Awwright me luvver?" the captain asked me with a raised eyebrow as I stormed up to him from my cabin. I'm sure that I looked like quite a sight--a bit of a terror perhaps--all loose hair and bluster, mind you. "Ow bist?"

"How am I? How am I?!" I exclaimed in response to his Bristolian greeting. "Wot bist on about?! What craziness are you telling me?! How do you think I am?! I was told that this ship was going to Port Caledon. Now it is going to New Babbage instead? What kind of foolishness is this? Dash it!"

He could only stammer out that he had to change course and I wanted to hear no more of it. I looked out over the water and land was nowhere to be seen. It was too late to change ships. I had to resign myself to the fact that I would have to land in New Babbage and make my way to Caledon from there.

I calmed down and realized that I had rushed out in my gown and shawl. A nearby sailor was staring a little too long as I passed by him en route back to my cabin. "Do not make me have to give you the same treatment that I gave one of the Khedive of Egypt's sons..." I hissed, drawing a finger across my throat and slamming the door to his horrified expression. Soon there was a knock on the door and a gent with some sherry saying "From the captain with his apologies." Sigh. I poured myself some, the liquor warming me, and got settled once more--especially after sliding my trusty stiletto under my pillow.

This shall be a long journey back indeed.

(RP)

When in Rome...

Ah, the Eternal City...the food, the art, the echoes of an ancient past at every turn, and handsome sweetly-talking gents. Speaking of which, after tea at Babington's Tea Rooms, I had a lovely conversation with one near the Spanish Steps who offered to sweep me away to his lakeside villa in the country and shower me with jewels and lacy things. As tempting as that offer was, it will just have to wait another time as I was there for a purpose. I needed to acquire a bit of intelligence to bring back with me. Where is my contact already? I saw her and walked by casually and too closely, bumping into her hard. Both of us stopped and dropped our identical reticules, exclaiming profusely and making quite a giggling show of embarrassment and returning them to one another. She then went her way and I went mine...quickly climbing the stairs and off into the night.
I made my way to a crowded cafe and ordered an espresso, blending into the folks talking excitedly around me as I lit my cigarette and read the coded missive. I almost dropped my silver holder as my eyes widened. Oh no...

Although I'd much rather be decadent and showered with jewels and lacy things by an Italian nobleman, I must get this back to Spy Mistress C quickly...

(RP)

Bon Voyage: Gone to Other Lands!

As my typist is going overseas to England and the city of Rome, I shall be off on a journey too...but for...other reasons...

I shall see you all in-world again on Sept. 3, but do continue to check for postings as I shall keep you apprised of my (mis)adventures.

Right now, I must hurry as I need to catch the rail to the port! I have a steamer to catch! Ta-ta for now!

An Interesting Regency Evening

My Eyre neighbor, Mr. Welinder--proprietor of the Odditorium--stopped by and he and Mr. G. Hax and I had a hilarious chat.Mr. Hax is wrestling my squirrel Squeaky...Dr. Mason will probably have to treat him at the hospital (or as Mr. Welinder called it "the Swiss Embassy" and regarded it as suspicious for lacking patients) for squirrel bites now. Oh my, that just looks all sorts of wrong... Can you see me rolling my eyes? Poor Squeaky.
At one point, poor Lady Edwina was pulled into the crazy conversation's fray. Something about agents, houses blowing up, where was she at a certain time, she might not want to leave the region for a while...

At least I made some progress on building my Regency home today. I didn't want to leave it as an eyesore before my travels.

Beneath Vic City & Up in the Highlands

Yes...I jumped into a hole again. This time below Vic City. It seems Mr. Writer shares my love of finding hidden places in Caledon... We wandered the sewer system beneath Vic City. Does the Duchess of Carntaigh know how much sewage empties into her waters? I held my lace hankie close to my nose, although it was rather surprisingly clean down there. I do believe I might have to burn my dress now. It will never be the same and my maid might never forgive me for it.
I took out my trusty hiking stick (Mr. Writer feared a bludgeoning with it at first for some reason) and we then proceeded onwards to the Highlands, where we examined the archaeological dig...
And read the documents relevant to the history of the Caledonii...
What lovely views there are here in this region...

The Laval Identity: Called Into Action

I had been living a "quiet" life here in Caledon of an unassuming lady and shopkeeper. Albeit one who loves to dance at parties, ride her horse a little too fast, smoke long cigarettes, drink whisky, fight opponents with assorted weapons, and maintains a target range in her backyard...

The clues were there all along, I suppose, but it was a past I thought I had left behind...Oh, who was I kidding?

When Miss Connolly approached me about creating a Steampunk Ladies Spy League, how could I resist her invitation? Action, adventure, and intrigue were right up my alley. The other evening, I could not focus on part of my conversation with Mr. Writer as the Ambassador of Vulgaria had the gall to stand right next to me hurling accusations back and forth with Sir Hotspur at the Loch Avie Ball. Besides the fact that no one spoils a dance for me, I was livid that he'd had the nerve to disturb our lovely event! For a moment I thought I would need to reach for the pistol concealed at my ankle by my skirts. This was quite an unfortunate incident indeed as we do not need more troubles to befall our lands. It seems my past is about to become my present once more as my services will be needed for the good of Caledon.

And I know there are more of us out there...

Busy Caledon Sunday!

It being Sunday, I thought I'd go for my customary stroll, and ended up in the Highlands where I ran into Mr. Webb, who showed me his glowing floating globules... I grabbed a hiking stick and found this hole...where does it lead to? I shall have to return another time and find out! What is it with me and jumping into holes?
Today was the tea and opening of the Marie Curie Mayfair branch of the library and there was a very nice turnout. I think it will make a fine addition to our neighborhood...
Here you can see me, Miss Tammas, Miss Eldritch, the Baron and Baroness Bardhaven, Miss Lightfoot and Mr. Sands. I think we have one of the best library systems in SL. Dame Khygia and Mr. Drinkwater should be very proud of what they're doing for Caledon...
I ended my evening at the Radio Riel GenX with Gabi rave at Carntaigh, where we all had a lot of fun. Don't you love when the dances make us all run into one another like this?

House of the Rose Ball...

Tonight was a lovely ball thrown in Loch Avie by Her Grace, Eva Bellambi, in honor of its naming: "Taigh Ròis" (Gaelic for "House of the Rose"). I battled lag and crashing (twice, dash it!), but had a wonderful time dancing the night away with a lineup of quite handsome gentlemen!Mr. Writer, with whom I danced many times including a "replacement" dance, excitedly talking about travel, exploring Caledon and well...writing...
The always gracious and fun Jarl Otenth Padenborn, wearing his Orkney tartan...
The charming, handsome Sir Hotspur, who looked very dashing in his Lancers uniform. Edwina, get your smelling salts ready...
And Mr. Smashcan, who has just returned from a visit to Caledon's namesake country...
Thank you for the wonderful dances gentlemen! I had a lovely time chatting with you all!

...And Then the Tartans!

After the formal part of the ball, the rave began and the winner of the "Tartan for a Day" auction item got to have their chance to dance with Duchesses and the famous Tartans. Miss Burton, dancing as "Eugene" (complete with fishnet stockings), had no problem getting into formation...Of course, I--and many others--somehow "lost" the majority of their clothing. At one point, I was dancing with Mr. Goodliffe, who was a kilted satyr. How naughty he was! I created a special waistcoat for Her Grace Eva Bellambi--a cropped, more provocative version of the O Caledon perfect for her Tartan dancing. I also created new, special open-front waistcoats for the Tartans, which you can see here on Mr. Margulis and Sir Zen. Oh...my...
Ohhh...so very dreamy and hot...I am fanning myself and it has nothing to do with the weather....

Dark Victorian Dance: Let the Madness Commence!

The stars were right and creatures of the otherworld descended upon Cthulhu (aka Schnabel) Grove for a Lovecraftian Party thrown by the Dark Victoria group. Lord Edward looked positively ghoulish at the turntable as his lovely wraith wife Countess Primbroke, and Her Grace Gabrielle Riel, danced before him...Let the slavering begin! Lady Darkling dared me to touch the glowing Yog-Sothoth Avalanche. I thought better of it, knowing bad things would probably befall me...
Old gods and dark folk and wyrms, oh my!
There were tentacles to spare! Cthulhu O'Toole certainly had enough of them to go around!
He later made an appearance as a Mind Flayer and Miss Yith Begonia swirled dancing with hers. More tentacles, hurray! Tiny Cthulhu Goodliffe was threatening to drag folks away--particularly the ladies...
Was it all just a hallucination?

A Brownstone in Progress

One of the distinctive things to me about Regency as a whole is its brownstones. I am glad that so many folks have chosen to keep them. I know I kept mine as it seemed perfect for a split shop.

I love to build and retexturing the brownstone has been fun so far. My next-door neighbor Lady Edwina might beg to differ with me on that point and is probably frowning in disagreement. You can see the original look of my brownstone on what is to be the men's haberdasher shop on the right. I've been working on a different look for the left side, which is to be my women's shop. On the roof is a lovely area with a wonderful view where you can dance if you like. We seem to be developing a "rooftop culture" here. It is exciting to see everyone making Regency "home" and creating a new community like this.

The Moon is Distant from the Sea

For an anonymous gentleman...

THE MOON is distant from the sea,
And yet with amber hands
She leads him, docile as a boy,
Along appointed sands.

He never misses a degree;
Obedient to her eye,
He comes just so far toward the town,
Just so far goes away.

Oh, Signor, thine the amber hand,
And mine the distant sea,—
Obedient to the least command
Thine eyes impose on me.
--Emily Dickinson

E.Laval Fashion Review!

The Baron reviewed my menswear in his online journal today...

While I felt that he somewhat commended me, I winced at the word "loud" (knowing of his penchant for darker colors) and took issue with some other points, of which you can read in my comment to the post itself.

Once, in RL, over lunch I asked a very well-known symphony chorus conductor how he felt about reviews. He raised an eyebrow, looked at me and grimaced. "Fffft!" he practically hissed in disgust. "I don't. I just can't pay attention to them. I think about how I discuss and disagree with my colleagues. Imagine if we were writing the review--you'd have one person who loved it and another who hated it. It is too subjective."

Do not misunderstand me, as a new designer I am most certainly glad and appreciative for the review, and will still think about what was said. Everyone is entitled to their opinion...

An Ode to SL

I composed this little poem...

An Ode to Second Life

Oh, SL, what shall we do?
LL what is wrong with you?
When our sims just crash and burn
And we're ruthed at ev'ry turn?
Our items gone,
Our projects lost.
It's a price we pay
But at what cost?
Lagging, glitchy, missing, awry...
Our problems we can not deny
Patience thin
Expletives hurled
Despite it all...
See you in-world!

Sparring in Loch Avie

Sir Tele invited me to come and watch him spar with one of his brothers from Torvaldsland. I have seen them fight before in Scagnar and both are impressive fighters. The sparring grounds in Loch Avie are constructed and the weapons system is available for free and exclusive use only in Loch Avie. Its opening will be formally announced soon.Soon a crowd had gathered to watch that included Her Grace Eva Bellambi, whose generosity will allow us to be able to fight there. She passed out mugs of her uisge beatha and I sipped upon it as I watched the fighters go at it. Whisky makes everything better!
I was reluctant at first, not having practiced with the weapons. But after seeing Miss G. take them on, I was eager to go next and buckled myself into my breastplate. I gripped my sword tightly and Miss G. and I had quite the fight. I held my own against her and later, Mr. Goodliffe and Sir Tele as well. I shall tell you that grass does not taste good to eat, but we all must do so at some point...
Fighting is very tiring. I thought I'd take a break and rest upon the grass for a moment.
I was on my feet again when the sight of Sir Tele's back tattoo made me swoon. Between the tattoo and the kilt (you know how I feel about kilted men), oh my...so very dreamy... Even warrior women have breath arrested sometimes by the sight of handsome gents. Well, at least this one does...

Miss Laval in the Country

My rambunctious younger sister Baube and I went away to the Laval family country-house for the day to visit our Gran. It was nice to have a bit of fresh air among the apple and walnut trees and violet irises. I did a little sketching and curled up with a good book as the hummingbirds and butterflies flitted by. I have been a bit remiss in my creative life lately. I did manage this self-portrait though...

I was glad that Baube and I did not have another croquet incident again though! The last time left me hiding a scar just before a portrait sitting. Let us just say that I can wield a croquet mallet as well...

A polite "quiet" pasttime indeed.

Dancing the Night Away

Mr. Mako Magellan's grand opening of his menswear shop in Victoria City was today. I stopped by to show my support...and dance a "little". Here I am with Marcell Anatine who looked splendid in this Magellan ensemble. Very "Master and Commander..."Later on that evening, I headed over to the investiture ball for the court of Carntaigh...
I ended up with a full dance card tonight (thank my lucky stars given the notorious ratio here), and twirled about with gents such as Sir Zen, who looked very "fannnnnncy" in his court dress and the sword he was knighted with...
...and Jarl Padenborn, who is quite a wonderful conversationalist.
I stopped through Regency for a moment to find a group on my neighbors Mr. Knight and Miss Greenspan's roof--being flung across the sim in a homemade catapult. I had to excuse myself early as I was preparing to leave for the country, but I must try it sometime!

Investiture Ball Dance Card

I had a lovely time dancing with you all!

Just Another Saturday in Caledon

Which means being out and about like mad...No place with legends of pirates and rumrunners would be complete without its underground tunnels. After a fruitless attempt to see what was hidden beneath Victoria City, Mr. Margulis and I went to the Cay. You will have to find the entry yourself, but once inside, the tunnels take you to other points...Such as this very nice, quiet cavern...
After my tour was complete, I put on more somber garments and the Major and I took a minute to overlook Dragon's Light and Mr. Szondi's Fortune restaurant behind us...
And then I was off to the first meeting of the Dark Victorian group, which included Miss Tammas, Prof. Avalanche, Mr. Epsilon, Miss Schnabel, and Miss Begonia. I have been good lately, but a little sip of absinthe didn't hurt. Perched on Miss Schnabel's settee is her wayward cousin, Miss Matova...
...who along with her brother Phineas, will be staying with Miss Schnabel for a while. Something about fire and curtains-stealing. Mr. Matova is a...special...sort and after falling off to the ground, was delivered a swift kick by Miss Begonia. I do not think he noticed.
I made sure to check that I still had my reticule as I do believe he made off with many wallets. How he acquired the Guvnah's carriage license I fear I shall never know...

Steelhead Friday Dance: Wild West

Before SL did its wonderful-as-usual crashbang job on me tonight, I managed to make it over to Steelhead to their Wild West-themed dance. That's Sheriff Ortega up front moving to the beat as Quick Draw... Here I am dancing salsa with Mr. Goodliffe. Muy caliente!
I loved the cactus AV in the center there! I "think" it was Miss Picnic?
Afterwards, I went to Miss Skye Qi's to pick up some dresses I had awaiting me as gifts from a special gent and upon tp'ing home became stuck. We are talking in-one-place-turning-in-circles-calling-SL-all-sorts-of-names stuck. Questioning my reasoning for SL existence stuck. Ticked off to no end stuck. I'm not going to even talk about the wonderful grid meltdown later.

It is really really bad off tonight.

Below Fort Caledon

I had just called upon Mr. Margulis at Dragon's Light last night, when a sim region restart began counting down. "Would you care for an adventure?" he asked. "Yes!" I said and followed him to Fort Caledon in Caledon I. An adventure? How could I possibly resist?

At the top of the hill among its ruins, there is an unassuming park. Mr. Margulis said a bit of hocuspocusabracadabra and voila! The statue slid away, exposing an opening, and he hopped right in. I walked to the edge, shrugged and followed, landing below in a wondrous cavernous place, with magic words to tp you, and sights that you should really see for yourself.
He asked me to join him for tea and when I sat down, we were whisked away to another level in the form of an elegant underground mansion! I could not resist the console, pressing at buttons and pulling the levers, looking at projected images about building and such. The Major was dancing on a platform that I had materialized, but I pulled the lever again, dropping him below. Oops? I peered over the edge and he seemed to be alright...still dancing away.
I had a wonderful time. Thank you for trying to cheer me up sir!