Silk Road 5: The Grand Finale

Covering stops 86 to 102 on the Silk Road Hunt, which brings us to the very end.

Stop 86, Celtic Creations, gives us this little decorative oasis thing, and that chest affair you can see on one of the rocks - it's a separate component and it plays a tune.  You can also see me lurking in a diaphanous silken outfit behind the foliage.  I'm lurking, because that outfit is a little too diaphanous for public display.  This is still Not That Sort Of Blog.  (It's nice, though. The outfit.  In private.)

Stop 87 had to drop out due to illness - I hope they get better soon!  So, on to Geisha Dreams at number 88, and this "Sakura" mesh teacup, seen here with green tea, though there is an alternative empty version.

Stop 89, Jinxed Toys, gives us two Noble Arabic Necklaces, one for a man (a Sultan) and one, shown here, for a woman.  I thought, in SL at least, I wasn't wrinkly enough to be a Sultana, but apparently I'm wrong.

Necklace theme for men and women repeated at number 90, Iron Tiger, with this Caravan Necklace.  The gent's version has fewer dangly bits.

"Scherezade's" (sic) Parlour from 91, True North Designs.  Furniture set, including rug and screen.  Nicely made, and of course "Scheherezade" is a bit hard to spell.

Stop 92, SANNA Science & Art... the animated texture specialists give us several versions of that Asian Elephant and Desert Oasis, singly and (as here) together.  Some time, when they're in a Hunt, I should do an animated GIF of their offerings.  These static snapshots just don't give the full effect.

Blue Mesh Gypsy Tent from 93, Botanica.  Neat decorative piece, would fit right in with many of the other decorative scenes we've had.

Stop 94, Rozamyndi's, gives us men's and women's outfits.  I'm wearing the women's one, though you can also see it on the box... the blue box holds the men's one.  Doesn't tell you a lot about it, that box, though I'm sure the gentlemen will look perfectly fetching in... whatever's inside it.

Texture pack from 95, Surface by c. loon.

Texture pack from 96, Black Magnolia Imports.

Texture pack from 97, Pixelcat Textures.  I hope, dear readers, you are able to contain your excitement at all these shots of boxes.

Stop 98, House of ACCentaury, gives us no fewer than three delightful decorative screens.  I think the screens have taken second place for certain with this one.  The small octagonal tables started strongly, but they just didn't have the staying power for the long haul.  Maybe next year, guys.

Stop 99, Steaming Ahead, and a couple of boxes of rings for ladies and gents.  I had to pop on a pose stand to get even a semi-decent shot of one of them.  I'm glad they didn't use massive amounts of bling to draw attention to the jewels, anyway.  So many idiots designers still do.

 

 Stop 100, **bacidalucia**, and this mesh turban and scarf, unisex, and also available in red.  Scarf comes in unrigged and several sizes of rigged mesh, which is nice attention to detail.

Yes, I know that looks very like two piccies ago, but look at my wrist.  That's the bracelet from stop 101, Elemental Jewelry.  Also available in a larger masculine size.

And so we come to the end!  A whole pile of additional gifts at the last stop, from which I was able to construct this charming scene.  Couple of texture packs in the foreground, there, too... and, towards the back of that little gazebo, a small hexagonal table.  We are just brimming over with innovations today.

This Hair Ornament was also in the bonus gifts.  It would look a lot nicer if I had had hair on at this stage.  These unpacking sessions always make my outfit go all peculiar.  As you know.

 

And so we come to the end.  My thanks, as always, are extended to the merchants of the Hunt, who've laboured long and hard to provide these many gifts; to the inestimable Mr. Perryn Peterson and his tireless crew of organizers; and to my many comrades-in-arms in the Hunt group, without whose help, support and encouragement I would have torn my hair out by the end of it.  Wait, I did tear my hair out, you can see it in that last shot.  Never mind.

Silk Road 5: the Mountain Rose Village mini-hunt

Stop 85 was an epic adventure in its own right, with much adventuring in caverns and rummaging behind piles of stuff and meeting, frankly, more giant spiders than I am personally comfortable with.  (I am comfortable, for future reference, with any integer number smaller than 1 when it comes to giant, or even moderately sizeable, spiders).  But to object to giant spiders is to cavil and carp and quibble, and I don't do any of those things.  Well, not much.

The nineteen mini-hunt gifts were well thought out, too, and fitted the theme of the hunt, with historical outfits from various places along the Silk Road, and a plethora of decorative and furniture items to put in the large house which was among the gifts.  At the end of it, you'd get quite a palatial SL dwelling.  I didn't tot up the full Land Impact of it all... actually, though, I don't think it was too outrageous, for what you get.  Pretty much all traditional SL design, though, rather than optimized mesh... but people can get mesh optimization wrong, so maybe that's for the best.

Anyway.  Let's see the pictures.

Starting with a three-panel screen.  Nice to see the fine old Hunt tradition being kept up there.

Bedroom and bathroom furniture.  While the bath has a cuddles menu, the bed allows full-on naughtiness to take place... dash it all, the one time Tali isn't around to help me test the animations!

Fun little thing for dispensing milk and cookies.

Small table with goblets.  Can't help feeling the table has four sides too few, but never mind!

Children's seating furniture.  This will be of relevance later.  I am too tall to pass myself off successfully as a child, though.

First of several outfits - actually, several sets of outfits, for different sexes and ages.  This one makes me a grown-up Arab Beggar Lady.

Decorative wall hangings with maps of the Silk Road.

Entrance hall furniture with seating and a choice of rugs.  Basically, by this stage, the rugs have won it, I think.

I have moved up the social scale a bit here, but am still an Arab Lady.  Other sexes and ages of Arabs are also available.  I have to admit, I make a no more convincing Arab than I do a child.

Decorative panels in inlaid wood frames.

More furniture - a bit random, this set!  Stove, hammock, table and coffeepot...

Geographical alert!  I am now a very unconvincing Indian Princess!

And here is where you put all that furniture.  A full sized Desert House.

A smaller sized building for the kiddies' stuff.  See?  It all comes together, does this.

An Ali Baba style pot, that you can sit in.  Distinctly hard to get out again, I found - I stood up, and was stuck inside it.  Maybe there's a trick to it that I haven't found yet.

Pool... thingy... with cuddles and stuff.

I am now a Venetian Lady.  And a lot more convincing, given that there are occasional blonde Venetians.

Kitchen and dining room furniture, including a rug with dances.

And the final outfit, in which I am an unconvincing Mongolian Lady Dancer.  No blonde Mongols either, you see, at least not as far as I am aware.

 

So there we are.  I must say, the powers that be over at Mountain Rose Village have pulled out all the stops with this lot!  Well done to them.

 

My next post should finish off the Hunt, thus enabling all you readers to cherry-pick the best loot before it ends.  That's the plan, anyway.

Silk Road 5: Next Looting Installment

Must make an effort to get this finished before the Hunt ends!  So, another big slab coming up.

Stop 61, Lunar Seasonal Designs, and this Genie's Lamp Oasis pool.  Clicking on the lamp gives you a menu which allows you to retexture the pool, add various decorative elements, and so on.  I think they did something similar for the Steam Hunt... anyway, it's a good idea, and it's well implemented.

Stop 62, Timeless Textures, and (surprise) a texture pack.

And another from their sim neighbour, the USC Texture Tomb at 63.  An old favourite of mine, of course.

Stop 64, Rainy Fey Creations.  ObDisclaimer about the creator being a personal friend.  Necklace and earrings, the sort of thing we've seen before in the hunt... and a jewelled scimitar, which we decidedly haven't.  So, plus marks for originality as well as quality there.

Stop 65, RVi, Ali Baba's Treasure mesh chest.  Surprisingly economical on the LI, there, in fact.

 

Stop 66, stoned, and Lapis Lazuli bracelets (for ladies) and cuffs (for gents).  You can just about see it, because my hand moved just as I was taking the picture.  Isn't that always the way?

Stop 67, LilArt Creation, and another texture pack.

An Old Wagon in mesh from stop 68, Papilio.  Old, but in jolly good nick, I think!  How I wish I could say the same of myself.

Stop 69, the Ferret & Hedgie Shoppee, and this perfectly splendid Genie Hat.

Stop 70, Fuubutsu Dou, and a Kagaribi/Fires Basket.  Presumably, Kagaribi means something like "fires basket" in Japanese.  Well, I wouldn't know, would I?  Never been east of Clacton, me.  Anyway.  There it is, and it's pretty slick.

Stop 71, United InshCon, a coalesced object comprising a hookah, a set of sitting pillows, and a table.  What shape is the table?  Need you ask?



Stop 72, another texture pack from Virtual Textures.

 

 "Silk Road V Gift" from stop 73, Arkenstone.  It's a rug.  It's a nice rug, don't get me wrong, but I feel that little gripe about not knowing what to expect coming back to me.  OK, it's just me griping....

Stop 74, Holly's Fashions, and the Jeannie harem outfit.  (This thing automatically sent the male version the day after I'd picked up the gift... it's basically the same outfit but without the top.  I am not modelling that for you.)  The colour shading on the top seems a little strange.  It's better in dim light, but in bright sunlight, as there, it looks oddly flat, almost cel-shaded.  Maybe that's intentional.

Stop 75, Belle's Cabinet of Curiosities, and Ali Baba's Tea Table.  With much decoration, too.  Good old Ali Baba, he knows how to take tea in style. 

Stop 76, Aster's Builts, and an Arabian Tent Resting Area.  I said to Tali (who's buried under those barrels in the corner) that if your Arabian Tent is tired, now we have somewhere for it to rest.  Sometimes I wonder what she sees in me.

Stop 77, Panda Panda, and the Blue Night and Camels Folding Screen.  It folds.  It's shown unfolded, here, obviously.

Stop 78, Never Ever, and the BlueMoon necklace (ladies' version, gents' equivalent not shown).

Stop 79,  Sheds n'Shacks, and their Hide n'Peek Jars.  Big clay jars with various sitting positions in and around them.  You can see a blonde head peeping out of one jar, right?  And Tali's legs sticking out behind another one?  We had lots of fun with this one.  Strongly recommended.

Stop 80, Chaos, Panic and Disorder, had two main gifts, the Persepolis Necklace (ladies' version worn here)....

They also had an in-store mini-hunt which yields no fewer than nine Persian Rugs, in a variety of hues (Navy Blue shown here).  With that, the rugs leap into a commanding first place, leaving the screens and the octagonal tables fighting it out for second between them.

Stop 81, Chimeric Fashions, with a turban, brass face mask, and veil (also available in white, not pictured).  Nice, if specialised.  We have got to that stage of the proceedings where my outfit becomes increasingly eccentric, of course.

Stop 82, Lindy Modern & Retro Shoes, and these Aisha shoes are definitely on the retro side, I think.  Nice, though, and I really should wear flats more often.  There is something more butch for the men, but I don't have a picture.

Stop 83, Timeless Décor, offer this nice furniture set, with pot plant, and little boxes whose lids open and close, and a screen and an octagonal table.  It's a brave fight back, but the rugs' lead is going to be hard to beat at this stage, I fear.

Stop 84, Peckbeth Clothiers, perplexed me, but not for long... well, probably for too long, really.  There is a pagoda, containing that mesh coat in the first picture for the gents... but there is also a second gift, that turban thing which is more suitable for the ladies.  I was in agonies lest I had missed a pagoda, but it turned out I hadn't, the second gift is concealed in something else.  If I'd missed one of the Hunt pagodas, I'd never have held up my head again.

 

The mesh coat is a bit odd, I fear, because it's got an alpha texture... those black bits you can see are actual holes in the weave.  Fair enough, but there's an alpha for your body, too, leaving the distinct impression, if someone looks at you closely, that your torso is missing.  Well, de gustibus non est disputandum and all that.

 

That's it for now.  With luck, the next instalment will cover the massive mini-hunt at Mountain Rose, and then the next one will cover the rest of the Hunt.  There may also be a digression on more serious topics.  You have been warned.