Goatswood is an RP community set in a rural English village. While not referenced in the notecards I wonder if the name is a tip of the hat to Ramsey Campbell's fictitious village of the same name. The build is loosely based on Castle Combe, in Wiltshire, but has a personality of its own.
You arrive at the train station of Mortchester. Large, Victorian and the initial starting point for all the various notecards and HUDs as well as a few vendors along the aisles.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/NeverlandX/33/52/2002
Catching the train to Goatswood you disembark at a little country station and move into the streets of the village.
And what gorgeous streets they are too. Discovering that Kora Zenakova and Baal Zobel are responsible for this sim after having visited the Venexia sim (
which I detailed here) comes as not surprise.
The texturing is stunning and obviously made by someone with an understanding of Jacobean architecture.
Many of the buildings look perfectly normal from the outside but, like many things in Goatswood, appearances can be deceiving.
Bonus points are awarded for actually having the Church aligned on the east/west axis.It's minor details like this which make the realism of the build so impressive
Mushrooms hold notecards which tell the explorer some of the stories of the location.
Houses are available to rent, even if you decide the RP is not for you but you just want to live here that's allowed as well.
Little details like a crossing ford help sell the feel of the place.
The standing stones, a site of rumour and speculation.
The Gypsy encampment.
The village Maypole. The old traditions are very strong in the village.
The setting puts me in mind of Summer Isle from
The Wicker Man. There's plenty of old magic in the history of the place and the residents are free to incorporate as much or as little of that into their own roles as they like.
While I don't have the time to devote to RPing in this sim it's a lovely build that I could quite happily spend time just strolling through. When I visited I was lucky enough to hear a gypsy woman practising her violin and just sat and listened for a half hour or so.
