Travelogue: Caer Firnas

Our next stop on the tour of Caledon is the Duchy of Caer Firnas, due south of Kintyre and east of Greystoke.

As the Steampunk Wiki notes:

Originally discovered by ambiant Kukulcan, the island was named Caledon Glamorgan. The resources of the island were quickly tapped to make the island a hub of commercial and technological developement.

For reasons that are not completely understood, the house of Glammorgan abruptly relocated to a northern county. While records are not clear, during the tumult of this transition, the reclusive Vivito Volare and his Lady, the Dame Fogwoman Gray laid a decisive claim over the island.

The train station anchors one end of the island, with its bridge and tunnel connecting Caer Firnas to the rest of Caledon.

Although the Volares are not present as often as they once were, their touch can still be seen - for example, in the seasonal decorations that still adorned the island when I visited. The midwinter sun hung low in the sky as I took the above picture, casting the trees in an eerie light.

The other feature of note is the mountain that can be seen everywhere in the duchy. It is hollow in the center - man-made, or from volcanic activity? Knowing Duke Vivito and Caledon, either explanation is possible.

Edit 2/10/12 7:47 pm: Sadly, a little birdie tweeted that the Volares may be abandoning Caer Firnas to the wilderness, so enjoy this corner of Caledon while you can!

Caledon Caer Firnas and an Aside About Viewer 2

Today's visit was to the Steampunk Duchy of Caer Firnas, home to Mr. and Mrs. Vivito Volare, the duke and duchess.

Caer Firnas now uses a new viewer feature, the ability of an estate owner to set the Windlight settings on the client in order to create a particular look or mood. The smoggy look chosen suits the Steampunk theme of the duchy.

On the bridge from Greystroke to Caer Firnas, looking toward Oxbridge Village:

The train station:

Statuary befitting the Chinese Year of the Bunneh:

Near the graveyard, I saw an enormous set of mechanical feet. What manner of beast could this go to? I wondered.

Looking up - and up and up - gave me the answer:

In the graveyard, if one manages to escape the zombies, one can pay respects to the departed, including the late M Linden, as I do below:

I despise the new 2.x viewer with a passion, yet Linden Lab continues to add useful features to it. I appreciate the work of developers of third party viewers, such as Phoenix, who add those features to a 1.x-style interface. We can now use the "control Windlight settings" feature and make use of multiple attachment points in Phoenix. Of more dubious value is the ability to see Display Names.

Our Lady of Hope Returns to Caer Firnas

Just as last year, Our Lady of Hope Teaching Hospital made an appearance in Caer Firnas (though it seemed oddly shorter than I recalled). In addition, Mrs. Volare (Lady Caer Firnas), serving as co-chair of Caledon's RFL team, has placed the RFL vendors outside the hospital. A "two-fer," as they say: learn about cancer, donate to fund cancer research.

Through the entrance, on the right, is the library, with information about different types of cancer and links to the Aetherwebs for more information.

On the left side was the operating theater, and some sort of magic. Touching the pads around the operating table would send one into a reverie of sorts in which one would imagine one's self actually within a cancerous organ. Below, I visit a cancerous breast:

Back in the operating theater, I moved carefully around the jugs of ether and antiseptics...

...and around the scalpels.

Thank you, Mrs. Volare!

Clanks and Kraken in Caer Firnas

I had heard a rumor that Caer Firnas had been infested by zombies and air kraken. Never one to shirk my civic duty, I visited the duchy, heavily armed.

I saw no zombies, though I did see several air kraken, patrolling near the cloud layer.

Oddly, however, Caer Firnas seemed to be guarded by a population of clanks. I first encountered the unusual sight of a steel cloud, raining on this lonely snowman:

This creature stood tall on enormous legs...

...while this one stood guard, showing his patriotism.

As I said, I saw no zombies, but perhaps this is why: a freshly-dug grave. Was it full of zombies?

Or perhaps the Volares got rid of a few other unwanted guests?