The Haunted Seas

Celebrating Halloween in Second Life

One of my favorite pastimes in Second Life is building, and I’ve wanted to create an undersea environment for awhile. So when Max Kleene, a regular performer at my venues, suggested a haunted area for Halloween, I thought, “Why not?”

Building underwater in Second Life can be a challenge. The lighting is murky and to maintain the illusion that you are submerged you need plants and critters (corals, fish, seaweed, sharks, turtles, dolphins, etc.) that move as if they are being carried by currents or swimming.

Then there was the atmosphere and theme. What should the area look like? What should people be able to do besides listen to music? What color scheme should I use? Most of these questions get answered as I start to build, and figuring the answers out is great fun. So here is a list of what you can find at the Haunted Seas.

Overall Build
The area looks like a jumble of rocks and sunken debris - the remains of a shattered ship, statuary and stone pillars covered with coral and kelp - inhabited by a vareity of critters who can be seen swimming about.

The Landing Area
Since the area is haunted, I designed a creepy landing area beside the sunken ship. It is inhabited by a bad-tempered Kraken with lots of teeth.

Walking to the Venue
From the landing area, you move through multi-colored waves washing across the bottom of the sea. On either side are rocky outcrops, tall coral, and kelp beds with areas to explore interspersed. These areas include:

• Dolphins diving down from the surface in pursuit of fish

• A photo area where you can take and submit photos to our photo contest (note the contest is over).

• The cracked statue of a man’s head covered with colorful coral. Directly in front of him is a treaure chest with free gifts.

• The entrance to the Oracle’s cave. The entrance to the cave is marked by a waterfall. You walk through the waterfall into a winding tunnel with floors that glow with multi-colored lights. At the end of the tunnel you will find the Oracle in her private chamber. Ask her a question!

• The entrance to the venue is marked by two mermaids holding seashell lights aloft. Passing between them you will be showered by falling stars.

• Once inside the venue, you will see a giant octopus with water moving beneath it. This is the main dance area.

• The venue has walls formed by pillars of stone all around it. Tall strands of kelp grow up their sides. Fish and sharks also swim within the dance area.

• At the far end of the dance area is the stage - a large turquoise and blue stone jutting out from the venue’s walls. Poseidon stands guard at the back of the stage with his trident raised.

These descriptions should give you a basic understanding of what you’ll see in the video. Below are links to music by each of the musicians who performed. Many thanks as always to these wonderful singer/songwriters for sharing their music with us. I can’t wait to welcome each of you back to Arbors.

Auwfie (Haunted Seas):

Rasp (Haunted Seas):

Amberele (Gravity):

Max (Songs for Ukraine):

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