The Great Erase

I agree, lol...

The history of SL is buried deep in mystery. It's not often that someone speaks of the old times.

tl;dr

Valdora, indeed I did! I had a conversation with Salazar via the sufficiently advanced technology of Instant Messaging and appreciated learning from him about your family history. No worries, and I do hope to see you inworld soon.

More info about The Longest Journey can be found here, it's full of rich nuances and a lush ambience:

http://www.longestjourney.com/

You're most graciously welcome. ^_^

Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it!

Thank you Ursa. It took quite a while to put my thoughts down on paper. I started writing my account about two months ago and, I must admit, was rather hesitant to publish this because of the horrible events that transpired on Earth right after Christmas. In spite of that, I felt it important to show that life goes on and what can happen when people help one another.

My best to you,

Valdora

Champie:

My, my, you are a bit of a smart aleck, aren't you? Which doesn't surprise me since your last name is "Jack." My first husband's family had a bit of a sarcastic streak also. It wasn't always the most pleasant, but by G'al it was never dull! Never in my dreams did I think that I would actually end up back here, in my home world of Urtahra. The place names may have changed, but the rose still smells as sweet.

Thank you, by the way, for all the help you have given us with the forest and Phyneas' trust. It is a blessing to see you and others help out with restoring the forest to something of it's former grandeur. I must say it is beginning to feel like home again!

With appreciation,

Valdora

Pretty fuckin' killer!

Very true words, Siobhan (another lovely name by the way). My hope is that others who have made their way back here step forward and make themselves known. I'm anxious to hear their stories and perhaps learn what may have happened to some of the people I knew before.

Regards,

Valdora

I would like to reemphasize how interested I am in these tales.

What a cryptic posting, Anne. For some reason the first thing that pops into my mind is Telador Isle. Perhaps the allusions to Myst that people have been making are influencing my train of thought here. I know many of the folks on Telador arrived there after access to D'ni was cut off. Salazar had also spent time there, trying to find a way to cross back over to this world. It is strange, the seemingly random events in one's life that bring people together. Had the DRC allowed D'ni to remain open, our family may have never returned here.

My interpretation of your message may be completely off the mark. If so, please excuse my "total drama."

...wondering...

Valdora

Oh the stories I can tell! One of my next projects will be framing prints of some of the photos I managed to keep, from before The Erase. Salazar wants me to scan them into the computer and print the enlargements, but I prefer making them the old fashioned way. Most of them feature my parents, Fraunklin and Elsia Baysklef. There are quite a few of Mohses and me, and Salazar when he was quite young (he was really big for his age). Look for those in the near future at the cafe. They are some of my most treasured possesions. I hope to see you soon as well.

Blessings,

Valdora

Thank you Alicia. It was a long time in coming, but it has proven to be well worth the wait. I feel so much more optimistic now. More like my old self. Hopeful.

Onward and Upward!

Valdora

Oh my... I can't even bring myself to quote this accurately. If Salazar ever said that he would be brushing his teeth with Gold Bar Dial.

That said, when we lived in Seattle I worked for a while at a grocery store next to a biker bar in the Fremont area and I heard language like this all the time. Those boys (and a few ladies) had hearts of gold. I know a compliment when I hear one.

Thank you Lance,

Valdora

Mom... you're embarrassing me.

This is a good thread.

Thanks for rekindling our past, presumed lost, in the hearth of your prose.

Oh Valdora, your letter has brought tears of joy to my eyes. To finally hear the story of another who has experienced this great tragedy and survived is wonderous indeed! After our great escape from the gridaster, I lost contact with all but one elderly brother and one infant niece who escaped with me. I know naught of the fate of the rest of my clansmen or other inhabitants of our lost world -until I read your letter!

I was quite young when the gridaster happened and do not have the clearest memories of the sequence of events that happened that fateful day so long ago. I was happily learning the art of concentration needed for the sometimes tedious task of rezzing simple prims, and the elders of the nomadic Firefly tribe had been discussing the possibilities of a good textile apprenticeship with a talented PrimClothier to hone my budding talent at cloth texturing and particle manipulation. Since our tribe mainly built flying objects of all kinds as well as particle and sound projection devices, an apprenticeship was needed with a tribe that could develop my textile skills. Ah, I digress...

On that day an elder had taken me aside to help me learn the task of stretching a simple rectangle. I do clearly remember sitting outside my families large flying Nomadalier that day while my brother amused our niece by the warm glow of the fire. The rest of the family was with the tribe conducting official tribe business in the large city sims, checking inventory at the tribal Fireflier retail outlets, and of course entertaining any and all who would gather to hear a great story or song.

What happened next is such a painful blur of confusion and chaos that I do not visit the memories often. Suddenly in the distance over the hills there was a long undulating wave of shimmering orange and purple light that was moving toward our camp. At first we all simply stared in fascination until the elder realized that the grid was experiencing a major surge of particle power. At the same time our private channel tribal radio began to utter a jumble of information from many different sims where our tribe was visiting that day. The messages were not forthcoming with any details that mattered to us except that the sim where our parents and siblings had been conducting business had vanished leaving an ever expanding hole in the grid, and that the void appeared to be "growing" in our direction. Another tribesman also gave us hasty coordinates to a location that he said "... is our only hope, escape if you can, we are all doomed." The elder tried to maintain a calm facade in the face of such daunting news, but we could tell it was difficult. On the elders instructions my brother and I gathered a few essential items from the Nomadalier -I know now we got very little of lasting importance in our haste to make ready for our departure in the small auxillary speeder. My brother and I loaded our few meager belongings into the speeder and we hastily flew off to the rendezvous point given by our fellow tribesman.

When we at long last arrived at the rendezvous, there was such a massive crowd of people and vehicles that we could scarce find a place to touch down. In the end we abandoned our speeder in mid air and clutching our bundles and niece, floated down to the ground to join the confusion. My brother and I sadly lost the elder in the crowd that day, never to be seen by us again. We were very lucky that the transition to Earth went well for us, for we did all three of us manage to stay together and rez in the same spot on Earth.

When I at long last discovered that Linden Labs was slowly but surely resurrecting our world, i could not wait to experience the joys remembered from childhood. Flitting from sim to sim, exploring the waterways and skies of this newly rediscovered land has been balm to my sore and homesick heart. As was your beautiful letter. I am looking forward to visiting you in your brownstone and perhaps exchanging memories of our native land.

Blessed Be;

Jincey Firefly

edited for spelling!

I thought this deserved a bump for all the people who missed it this weekend!

great read, seems I missed a lot in the early days. it's terrible being the new guy.

New is good Shade....when you get Ancient they tend to call you Feted and elude to you taking over LL or something.

Anyhoo the old days were Unique but as time progresses so does this world.

Shadow

Thank you Huns and Kei for your kind words. I'm going to go put another log on the fire!

Valdora

Dearest Jincey,

What splendid news! I am so glad to hear of your safe return to this world. My thoughts are with you as you begin rebuilding your life here. Perhaps more of your clansmen were able to escape as well? I know that many of the people who went through the portal with us during The Erase did not materialize with us. I never learned of their fate. Only 70 or so people exited the portal where we ended up on Earth out of the hundreds that entered. I have always wondered where they crossed over to.

Have your brother and niece returned with you? My son, Salazar, was the first to return here in February of last year.The rest of us joined him a few months later. It has been so comforting having the family here as we rebuild our lives. Much has changed in 30 years, especially with The Erase wiping almost everything away. Only the landscapes have been preserved for the most part. Everything else is new. I can imagine how Noah and his family must have felt when they stepped off the ark in those stories from Earth's ancient past.

Speaking of vessels, it has been so long since I have heard talk of a Nomadalier. I remember watching the occasional caravan of them drift by in the distance.. always wondering where they were going and what distant sights they would see. It must have been very exciting to live aboard those exotic airships. Perhaps we will see them in the skies again someday? I certianly hope so.

Over the years I lost contact with most of the people we arrived on Earth with. The few that I did stay in touch with were very hesitant to return here with us. I can understand their reluctance. It is a frightening memory that I'm sure you can relate to. Bravo to you for giving it a go!

New beginnings. I guess that is what a second life is all about. A chance to do things differently. To start from scratch. Though much was lost, I suppose there is a lot more to discover. I have been a bit hard on Linden Lab in the past, for the limits that they impose on residents. It's difficult to appreciate what they do when one can remember this world without all the encumbrances. Salazar has had to remind me that without the Lindens' help, this world would still be inaccessible. And, as you can remember, it now takes a lot less effort to form objects from thin air. That is truly marvelous!

I look forward to meeting you in person. Stop by the cafe for a chat sometime. I am usually there for a while on Saturday afternoons.

Valdora

Shadow is spot on. This world needs every person -- the old ones with their stories of the before and the new ones with fresh perspectives, enthusiam and energy. Even some of the old ones have been known to come up with a suprise or two!

I for one am glad you are here, Shadetree. May you find your way with ease, meet great friends and realize your dreams.

Take care,

Valdora

It's like it was written by Ray Bradbury himself... I'm only half awake, so I'll come back and do more than skim later, but so far it looks like a great commentary on the state of the servers.

I found what appears to be a very old parchment buried deep under Kazenojin Mountain in Gray. It was a bit rough around the edges and torn into two pieces, but I scanned it in and cleaned it up. The name was badly damaged, but I believe it reads Ibal lal-Arou'sah.



Oh, and Valdora... If I recall, a Nomadalier is parked on the upper deck at Kazenojin Station.