The Harsh Beauty of Skjern

Greetings Dear Reader-
The post this week is decidedly adult, and probably not for everyone. This week, I had the privilege to interview Poseidon Dagostino, one of the premiere designers of Gorean Sims. These sims are for serious role play, and as such make some extraordinary demands on the designers... Imagine if someone handed you the complete works of Charles Dickens, or the Odyssey, or for that matter, the Nancy Drew series, and told you to make it into a world where avs could inhabit the roles in the book. John Norman has written 26 novels of Gor, and these are the basis for this RP world.

As the designer and associate designer of 7 sims so far, Poseidon and his design firm- the Trident Group- have a lot to consider. The culture of these novels is similar to that of our world's, as inhabitants were actually transplanted from Earth. Skjern is modeled in part on the Vikings life circa 1000AD, with a farming, fishing and mining based economy that intertrades among the better than 20 plus sims that make up the Gorean presence in SL. When he designs a sim, Poseidon also has to consider the "playability" of the environs.

So let's visit, shall we?

First stop, we disembark from a "serpent" one of the longboats of Gor.

Very nicely organized with common spaces as well as homes for rental...

These fellows are Bosks, big, shaggy, and not too talkative...

Baked goods! Who knew? Bosk pie anyone?



The Village Smithy- very important guy in the Iron Age...


Here is the Great Hall, for the feasting and general celebration..





And of course, the kitchen behind it where the meals are prepared...




The Scribery is next- where the note keepers and map makers work.


Now matter where you go- there you are- Great maps!


Next, down in to the salt mines- a labyrinth under the village..



And from there you can get to the Arena, where contests and tournaments are held,
warriors come from all over to compete-kind of like Yankee Stadium...


And this nasty place is the jail or dungeon if you will..


And once they let you out, you can clean up in the baths...quite civilized in my opinion..


And don't forget the beehives, need that for the mead making..

From Skern, we traveled to the Vosk River Outpost- home of outlaws, and the notorious Panther Girls- women who have rebelled against the male domination of Gor and left the society to form their own village..

Complete with a sunken villa- Well Done, Poseidon!




The visual serenity belies the rather fierce rp fighting that goes on here...


And finally, the Panther Girls outpost...a whole other world, aerial and interconnected, with rope swings that take you across the chasms.



As you can see, Poseidon makes a complex design look easy, like it has always been there...



Well, Dear Reader, that is a peek behind the veils of 2 of the Gorean sims- as I said these are mature rp areas and not for everyone, and as such I shall let you seek
out the landmarks if you want to join them.