Steam Hunt X: The Final Stretch

This could be a longish one, I fear, but bear with me.  Although there are only fourteen stops left to do, some of them have more than one entry - one in particular has a substantial mini-hunt.

We start with this Steampunk Hat from Panda Panda (number 86) and a more quintessentially Steam Hunt item it would be hard to imagine.  (The two globular things are particle bursts caught in the act of poofing from the pipes.  For some reason, I look exceptionally leonine in that shot.  Must be the hat.)

Stop 87, COVETED!, and this Cog Bed, with a full suite of animations installed, which will not be demonstrated here because this is Not That Sort Of Blog.  I'll just say I have no complaints on that, or any other, score.

Mesh sari from number 88, The White Armory.  This is actually rather nifty.  White Armory seems to have embraced mesh clothing and started doing it rather nicely.  There is a suit for the gentlemen, but I don't have a picture.  Sari about that, guys.  (You knew that was coming, didn't you?)

It looks like a bag, but it is in fact a texture pack, of Art Nouveau cloth designs from number 89, Black Magnolia Imports.

Speaking of Art Nouveau, here's a mesh three-part screen in that style from number 90, SR Leatherwerkx.  This shops's been doing advanced sculpting work for yonks, now, and it's good to see them moving into modern techniques.  The screen has been carefully placed so you can't see what's happening on the Cog Bed.

Stop 91 was Drow Science, and this is one of a set of little airship mesh models - this one is static, the others rotate in various different radii.  Drow Science provided a similar gift in a previous Hunt - same format, different airship.  Perhaps there is a set to be collected here, and I would not be averse to that at all.

Stop 92, Berthold Steampunk Works, gives us this splendid Victorian Living Room in a rezzer... it is economical on the old Land Impact, the furniture is variously scripted and animated - in short, this is a very nice thing indeed.  If they do other Victorian Rooms as well, you could do a lot worse than to investigate them.

Total of four gifts from number 93, HOT Couture.  Here, I am relaxing on the Living Room sofa with a congenial catlady, and I am wearing the Cog Lorgnette pendant and have that little butterfly thing (a Lava Jump Sprite, if I'm remembering right, which I might not be) perched on my shoulder.

They also provide two larger furniture items, this mesh Steamy Rug and that park bench.  The bench has a range of sitting animations, and I should really have tried them out, but I was very comfortable where I was.

Same applies to this sumptuous creation here, the Steam Dream Cog Chair from ~XM~ Designs (number 94).  This is seriously cogged up.

 

Now, we move on to the mini-hunt at number 95, the NeoVictoria roleplay sim, which I've always had a soft spot for, ever since I snickered at their mis-spelling of "mores" and they very classily thanked me for pointing it out and corrected it, instead of hitting me with a blunt instrument as I deserved.

Starting off with this scripted Souvenir Calendar, showing January here.

Then we have this notably be-cogged Dreaming of Steam Orb.  If you look closely, you may spot a familiar leonine silhouette sitting cross-legged in mid-air inside it.

A similar sort of thing, though for a different purpose - this is a Prison Sphere (Sidhe Trap).  There is an accompanying notecard detailing the background of this thing in the NeoVictoria setting.  There is simply scads of information about NeoVictoria's RP setting, it is very detailed and immersive indeed.

Change of pace with this Steamy Dreamboat vehicle.  There is space for tinies to sit on that chest thing on the roof.  As you can see, it is entirely suitable for pottering about the waters of Caledon.

Another Prison Sphere, this time a Nyx Trap.

Another Steamy Dreamboat, this time the Pirate version.  There is a subtle clue as to its piratical nature.  Here's a hint, it's on the flagpole.

A two-person Steampunk Covered Seat with an overhead light.

Last of the Prison Spheres.  This one's a Loam Trap.

Finally, we have a wine glass, which you may or may not be able to make out in my right hand, and an accompanying Toast HUD, which you definitely can't see.  Press an appropriate button on the HUD, and it plays a toast-related animation.  That's drinking toasts, of course, nothing to do with toast that you spread butter and marmalade on.

Moving on to number 96, Enchanted, and this Cog and Clock Steam Table.  Very coggy and kind of neat.

I squee'd over this a lot, and I'll tell you why.  When I was a young Glorf and dinosaurs ruled the Earth, I was greatly enamoured of the "Professor Branestawm" stories of Norman Hunter, often illustrated by the great Heath Robinson himself.  So, it appears, was Myrddin Janus of stop 97, Myrddin's Emporium, and he has presented us with a lot of contraption-related sculpt maps, and this thing, which was made with them.  It is - to the very life - Professor Branestawm's Pancake Making machine, as illustrated by Robinson, and seen here in the act of flipping a pancake.  It is perfect - well, as a realization of the machine.  Professor Branestawm's inventions were never quite perfect.  This one is why his home town is famous for its round paving stones.

 

Interesting aside: American readers may not be familiar with Heath Robinson, as they have their own, equivalent, contraption designer, Rube Goldberg.  I discovered, in conversation with Tali, that the Danes also have their own contraption designer, Robert Storm Petersen, better known as Storm P.  Clearly, the need for elaborate contraptions is one which transcends all barriers of nationality.  Anyway.  This one made me clap my little paws in glee, and the sculpt maps are handy to have.  Sculpts, being a sort of compromise between prims and proper mesh, are kind of a Heath Robinson improvisation themselves.

OK, yes, on with the Hunt.  Three items from stop 98, Urid Dal's Hat Shop, and none of them a hat, which surprised me - points to the merchant for avoiding the obvious, there!

There is a unisex Grey Umbrella, which can be furled or open, and has associated animations.

For the gentlemen, there is this mesh Icosahedron Cane.

And for the ladies, there is this Pink Fan, which opens and closes, and with which you can fan yourself. 

 

And very nice all three of them are, too.

 

Finally, I arrived at the Hyborian Steam Platform high above Mieville, and promptly grabbed the box of little extras at the end of the Hunt.  Just two items, but oh boy are they worth the trip.

 

I'm sitting on one of them, the Cog Table from Casa de Bebe.  It's a nice decorative mesh table, and would probably look nicer without a tall blonde lioness sitting on it.  But next to it is that Cog and Clock Bookcase from Park Place Home Décor.  Tali and I both took one look at it, and thought yes, that fits right in with my tower in Burroughs.

So here it is, permanently installed on the north wall of the library deck, and looking absolutely splendid in my opinion.

 

And that, barring a couple of bits of backtracking later, is it.  Thanks as ever to the Hunt's organizer and motivating spirit, the inestimably worthy Perryn Peterson; to his merry band of helpers; to the merchants who've given so generously of their industry and ingenuity; and to the community of hunters as a whole, who make it all such fun.  I will now rest my paws and prepare for the next one.