A Dragon's Tale: Making a Cross-Continental Journey

By Joshua Xavier

When my sister, Becky "Sha" Shamen, began her reporting career at the SL Newser, her first article was about the continents in SL. While researching for the article, her scouting missions discovered two narrow water passages, between Nautilus and Corsica, and one from Corsica to Gaeta. Since the Blake Sea joined Nautilus and Satori, she claimed that the longest possible, one way journey, in SL, without using a teleport, would span the continents of Satori, Nautilus, Corsica and Gaeta. Rather than attempt the journey herself, she challenged her readers to become the first explorers, inworld, to take this epic adventure themselves.

Now, more than seven months later, Joshua Xavier decides to take up the challenge. Knowing that this journey, at ground level, could not be done with a single means of transportation, because of rough terrain, water crossings and hundreds of sim crossings, he decides on air travel as the most efficient means of travel. Alas, planes and zeppelins are subject to destruction at sim crossings and could often get auto-returned, should he stop to explore sims along the way.

Luckily, Josh had just acquired a new SP Dragon Guardian avatar, named Katzu Kwattle. Unhampered by an external vehicle, Katzu would have an easier time crossing sims and making landings to rest or explore. His only challenges would come from dragon hunters and laggy sims. Like birds and planes, dragons tend to travel in straight lines. With this in mind, Josh gets a map of the four continents, gets out his straight edge and red pencil and lays out a course for Katzu to go by. The journey would start at the Southern tip of Satori, head NE to the Blake Sea, up the Eastern side of Nautilus, cross the Eastern water passage to Corsica, then East to Gaeta. The actual path and the time it took would not matter, as long as the beginning to end were travelled in an unbroken line. Zooming in on a single sim, on the map, Josh found it to measure 4 pixels square. From this he determined the length of one and five miles. From this, it was calculated that the planned journey would be about 25 miles.

Katzu began his journey on an abandoned isle in Yeeowler, at the southern tip of Satori. Little did he know, there would be countless more abandoned parcels and sims along the way. He begins by flying north, to get in from the coast, before turning NE to follow the flight plan. Soon, in the Bagheera sim, He spots Hwy. 8. Checking the map, he sees it follows the planned route, so uses it to guide his path. It seems like following the highways might be a good way to tour continents via land vehicle, until he comes to a large lake where the road stops at a "bridge out" sign. Following the highway works for several more sims, until it passes through a parcel which bans entry to those not on it's list. He finds his way around the area and back to the highway, but the problem keeps happening and it is often hard to find the highway again. He begins to get the impression that mainland inhabitants are not very friendly and welcoming to outsiders. Needing a better way to stay on course, he opens the world map and clicks on a spot, in the distance, which makes a red circle on the map which also shows on the radar and as a red arrow in the air as he flys. Now, each time he has to go around a parcel, the red arrow gets him back on course.

Katzu likes to fly at an altitude below 100m, so that he can enjoy the view and discover points of interest, but quickly discovers this generates it's own set of problems. As he flys, the changing scenery takes time to rez and if he flys too fast can be hit by things that are not seen yet. In one place, he found his progress halted as a building rezzed around him. Flying at higher altitudes, the same problems happened with bumping into skyboxes. Several times, security orbs returned him home, before he even saw what he had run into. Waiting for things to rez and flying around private areas added so much time to the trip that it had to be broken up into three sessions on line. We have shown where each of these sessions end on the map. Each session began by returning to the last location. The final session ended about a mile and a half short of the planned end destination, the East end of Gaeta, when a security orb sent Katzu back home. With that, Katzu decided there was no need to go any farther. He had proved Sha's theory, that such a trip could be made and was likely the first avatar, or at least the first dragon, to have done so.

Joshua Xavier

Introducing Katzu

By Becky Shamen

Before learning about Second Life, I was developing skills at making animated videos, for teaching purposes. Upon seeing samples of my work, a friend suggested I check out SL. The dragon in the video was named Katzu Kwattle (Quetzalcoatl) and his mission was to teach the principles which are the ancient foundation of every religion on earth.

One of the main reasons for joining and staying in SL was that it might provide pictures and animations that could be used in teaching the Ancient Wisdom. Over the last four years, we have developed avatar's personas to fill this mission. The exotic dancer (stripper), Becky "Sha" Shamen, becomes an enlightened member and supporter of "Community". With her theory that "Heaven is for Heroes", she becomes an explorer/Journalist, encouraging readers to embrace their inner Indiana Jones and go exploring in SL. Over time, several alts have been developed, in the hope that these could springboard to better prepared teachers. This process of spinning out new alts began with "Bach Shamen", Sha's brother. A separate account was used because, although Sha could change her display name to male, the account name would show his real name was Becky. We should note here that, many males, she had met, said that females had it easier than males, in regards to earning money and finding love in SL, so this added to the reason for trying a male avatar.

For about two months, Bach made slow progress, with getting L$ and girl friends, disproving the M/F theory. Then, he got sidetracked by the very means of his advancement. Wanting more wealth and friends, he turned from his inner mission to follow his older sister's path. Sha's brother morphed into her little sister. This "new" character served no purpose, other than just being a copy-cat, so eventually faded out of SL.

As a reporter, Sha felt that a male avatar might be better suited to some of the sims and adventures being covered. Since snapshots of him would not show names, she made a male alt, within her own account and called him Joshua Xavier. Josh appeared in a number of articles, under Sha's Newser Byline. Ultimately, a new SL account was opened for Joshua and he soon changed his display name to Josh X. Of note here, although Sha and Josh share the same oneness with this writer and have similar qualities, they have distinctively different personalities and sometimes even disagree on things.


Now, as his own man, Josh is also a reporter for the Newser. As a Scientist/Philosopher, Josh's stories span a different end of the spectrum from Sha's and may even fall off the scale of what will fit in the Newser. For writing "off the scale" stories, Josh would need to create his own, larger than life alt. After reading Xymber's article on SP Dragon Guardians, it seemed a good idea to reincarnate Katzu, into SL.

Josh did some detective work and tracked down Spider's shop on MP and inworld. At L$2,899, it was more than he could afford, so Sha sent him the needed funds. After the Friday night theme party, at Cutlass, Josh logged off and went to the marketplace.  Returning to SL, he opens the package and puts on the new avatar. Right away, we discover this avatar is way more complicated than just switching from human to furry. Knowing it would take weeks to perfect, we were still eager to take it out for a test drive. We changed the color of the belly scales, to match the original, christened him "Katzu Kwattle" and headed to Cutlsss, to find stragglers and compare the size and manuvering differences. Our friend Val was there and we had a long chat, as I played with finding good camera angles to capture the dragon that is the same height as the club's walls.

Although Josh and Katzu can't be on SL at the same time. using two viewers, either can meet up with Sha. Such meetings are hard on our notebook computer and both Katzu and Sha have more than average draw weight, as avatars go. Still, we wanted to see if it could be done, so Katzu came on, using the SL Viewer and Sha came in, using the Nirans Viewer. With great effort, we set up a snapshot of Sha, dressed in colors of fire for an upcoming theme, interviewing Katzu as to who he is and what his mission will be. That conversation shall not be given here, but shall reverberate in the writer's mind, in the weeks that follow.

Within days, we learned that it was much easier to navigate and take pictures of Katzu, when he walks on all four, a.k.a. quad mode.

Getting used to this avatar is like learning a new software or viewer. In the long run, his high cost is offset by not needing other accessories like clothing, shoes and hair. It comes with two HUDs that allow changes to looks and movement. The AO has many preset animated gestures and even 12 animated grunts, giving him a limited dragon vocabulary. The #3 grunt sounds, unmistakably like HELLO. By clicking the AO off, he will follow  the regular AO or dance HUD and drop back to quad with a click of the mouse.

You may or may not see any Katzu stories in the Newser, but they will turn up at ShaAdventures.blogspot.com from time to time. A hint of his mission can be found in the fact that Katzu calls himself a Makara, rather than a Dragon.

Becky "Sha"  Shamen

UUtopia

By Joshua Xavier


I have had a life long fascination with the architecture of churches and temples. As for the religions they house, not so much. Recently, a friend began forwarding e-mails called Daily Word to me. These were created by Unity Church. I liked them, because they fit my own philosophy, so I began to think about it more. I remembered seeing a Unitarian church in the Destination Guide, so returned there to get the landmark. The Guide gives a brief description.

Visit Unitarian Universalism, a community that focuses on a belief that there is a common thread of humanity that joins all of us. All are welcome at the services, held every Thursday at 6.30 p.m. (Pacific). At other times, you can sit in the quiet of the sanctuary or visit the coffee shop and library.

When I arrived there, I went in the visitors center. On one wall, there were seven gold plaques, which I took to be the principles of Unity. I found these to be so compatible with my own thinking, I actually looked to see if there were any Unitarian churches near my home in L.A.

One thing I noticed on UUtopia was the lack of walls, which also fits my way of thinking. There are many gathering buildings, with open air construction and circular seating. Among them, we find the Baha'i Center. The Baha'i and Unitarian are two separate religions, but share the same principles.

“So powerful is the light of unity that it can illumine the whole earth.” —Baha’u’llah

The buildings weren't the only beautiful thing. Although flying is permitted, it is much nicer to just walk. Everywhere you go, the scenery is like a well kept park, with fountains and waterfalls and gardens, with their sacred geometry.

In this place, there is no priest or minister to warn you of fire and brimstone if you do not listen to his interpretation of what God wants from you. Just being on this sim makes one feel closer to heaven. As I explored each area, I looked forward to the next delight. From the contemplative tree house, I could see some violet energy bursts, arranged above a circle on the ground. When I went and stood in the circle I felt somehow rejuvenated. I don't know how this could be so, or if that was what it was for. I can only suggest you go and test this rejuvenescence for yourself.

I saved the main meeting place for last. This is where the congregation meets on Thursday evenings. It is a natural setting, with no roof or walls. It makes other churches and temples seem like whitewashed tombs. The development of unity and oneness in Secondlife has always been an important part of why both Sha and I came and stay here. The UUtopia sim has done a masterful job of incorporating these ideals into the very geometry of the place.

In real life, I am a founder of a group called "The Keys of Knowledge" http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Keysters/info in which J.J.Dewey teaches. The group is dedicated to seeking higher principles to live by and gathering together in what is called "Molecular Order". Three samples of JJ's teachings, on this topic, taken from the group archives, follow.

"When we incarnate as humans we acquire a body which is composed of billions of tiny lives that are cooperating together in a molecular order so the lesser lives can have a greater experience through you, the greater life. Now it is time for the human race to do the same and prepare bodies of manifestation that will draw forth greater lives so we can individually go in consciousness where no human has gone before." - http://freeread.com/archives/765.html 

"We are all composite beings made of many lesser lives and to maintain the cohesive force to keep the lower lives together to maintain the higher, attention must be focused on the higher energies of soul. Without this attention and the drawing forth of spiritual power then the forces holding the lesser lives becomes diminished until, eventually, the lesser lives come apart and return to their native element. This produces a death or disintegration of the person as he is. This is comparable to a water molecule of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen which has been together for millions of years falling apart and returning to the two separate gasses of hydrogen and oxygen - no longer having the properties of water." - http://freeread.com/archives/1180.html

"When we move from one kingdom to another we still keep our individual identity but we go through a process of fusion where the many become one with a greater life." - http://www.freeread.com/archives/134.html 

http://slurl.com/secondlife/UUTOPIA/69/80/26

Joshua Xavier

Sha's Thoughts: Josh on His Own

By Becky Shamen

 This is the new member of my avatar family. His name is Joshua Xavier, but it didn't start out that way. He began as an alternative costume for Sha, after hearing from males that it was so much easier for females in Second Life. Like wearing a furry, she would wear him and go about experiencing the flip side. The problem was, the disguise had one flaw, in that, even when attempting a made up name tag, people could still see the real name of Becky. To get around this, a second account was opened, using the gender-free name, Bach Shamen.. Bach made a great start as a man and even attracted some girl friends, As Sha's younger brother, he lacked a mission of his own and was caught up in fulfilling the dreams of other males, making money and finding love. After proving that SL men could make money and date pretty women, he returned to the nest, so to speak, by becoming Sha's sister, almost a twin, save a darker shade of hair. For a while, they worked at the same club, on alternate nights. Since the computer could only handle one at a time and there was little difference between them, Bach soon fell out of use.

When Sha became a news reporter and adopting characters to fit the sims  and lifestyles of the places being explored, it began to make sense that some stories are best told from a female perspective, while others from the male's. Sha's male avatar was dusted off and used in two stories, as a narrator for topics that required no exploration to write and were suited for a more authoritative speaker. By using trick photography, the two could even seem to be two separate people. He was given the name Joshua Xavier, to give maximum polarity from his progenitor.

When a new account was opened, Sha donated L$3000, to let him shop for macho clothing, like airship captain, knight in shining armor, and leather jackets. Perhaps there will even be a motorcycle in his future. As yet, there is no sharp line between what stories will be taken by Sha and Josh, but in general he will gravitate to the science/philosophy, mental end of the spectrum, while Sha shops the feelings, desires, heart side of the street. It will be an educational experience for their player/writer (moi), developing the flip sides of the coin.

Becky "Sha" Shamen