Stories without Borders Quest Workshop at the 2009 SLCC

By Nazz Lane

The 2009 Second Life Community Convention takes place in San Francisco and starts on Thursday the 13th of August, lasting four days it ends on Sunday the 16th. The real life people attending the SLCC, coming out from behind the keyboards of their second life avatars, will convene at the convention in order "to have fun and to learn about the many activities within the metaverse". One such learning activity is a workshop entitled "Stories without Borders Quest". The workshop is scheduled for the second day of the convention, the 14^th of August beginning at 11 am. The workshop will be led by Jenaia Morane (aka Jena Ball) and Marty Snowpaw (aka Marty Keltz) and is centered on "the theme of experiencing and celebrating the lives of those dealing with HIV/AIDS". The SLCC Stories without Borders Quest workshop is being sponsored by The Rezory, a RL / SL entity which bills itself as a “virtual world’s business incubator” whose focus is in healthcare and the life sciences. The workshop will also be filmed and featured as a trailer for a Machinama of the quest. The Machinama is being filmed by Ariella Languish (aka Ariella Furman).

Ms Morane and Mr Snowpaw are well known for their work at “The Virtual Worlds Story Project”, which is located on Storybook Island on the Second Life grid. They have organized multiple quests since bringing the concept of questing into the metaverse, creating in the immersive environment of second life “a catalyst for change, an instrument of healing, and a foundation for building community”. A quest as we know is a journey toward a goal. In a literary sense, quests are a plot device, the protagonist in search of a "something" and their having to overcome many obstacles to obtain it. The folklore of cultures from around the world are filled with stories of quests. Questing in the metaverse allows the human behind the avatar “the opportunity to search for answers, tapping their imagination and creativity in following the prompts and clues provided to create a narrative of their adventure”. The goal achieved is that most human of all things searched for, self-discovery and knowledge.

I’d visited Jenaia at Story Book Island many times and we frequently chat about both her projects and mine. As writers, we’d become good friends these last several months, bouncing ideas off each other. When she’d taken on this latest project she’d asked me to come over for a tour. We met at the starting point and talked while she led me through the site.

“Make sure you get the note card Nazz. Then follow me.” She said.

I did as she suggested and it opened in its own window. I read it quickly and it provided me the directions to begin the quest. I followed her along a rocky path that led through a stand of trees and stopped when we came upon a gated fence. We paused briefly as she opened it and we walked through. A two person boat sitting on the bank of a river awaited us. I looked at the note card and the directions pointed me toward a solitary flower which sat just slightly to the left of the boat. The directions told me to point and click. I did and received another note card, a copy of the poem, "Long Afternoon at the Edge of Little Sister Pond", by Mary Oliver.

“When you get the poem take a seat in the boat. As part of the Machinama that Ariella is filming, we’ll have an actor reading the poem while the boat moves up the river to the next stop. You can read it while we’re in the boat” She said.

We both took seats, Jen at the bow and I in the stern. Once we were seated the boat began to move and I began reading the poem. It began with “As for life / I'm humbled / I'm without words sufficient to say …” I read as the boat moved slowly upstream, past birch trees and rocks on either bank. When finished, my eyes scanned across the screen and I enjoyed the serenity of being in a forest. One could almost feel the gentle rocking of the boat and a forward movement. As it rounded a bend in the river, I spotted the next stop. It was a single story home, modern in style and set alongside the river bank surrounded by large trees. The boat reached its destination and we both stood up and walked the short distance to the set of stairs. Moving up them, we entered through a doorway into the abode.

“When will the quest start?” I asked.

“We’re targeting the first of September. It will be by invitation only at first, for members of the HIV / Aids Community.” She replied.

“How did you come up with the idea for this ‘Stories without Borders’ quest Jen?” I asked as we entered.

“When I was asked to come up with something for SLCC, we decided that the focus would be in helping overcome the stereotypes of people with aids. There’s the stigma and fear associated with the disease … we wanted to put a face on it for people … increase awareness and knowledge.” She replied and then added. “This quest is non linear event … those taking the quest define where they want to go. The clues and prompts will take them to other SIM’s. However it’s up to them as the writer to determine the order they go in … and what they do with it at the end is up to them … write a story … poetry or create a Machinama.”

We stood inside the house now and I scanned around the nicely appointed interior while listening to her reply. She suggested we watch the video and we did. It was a music video, Johnny Cash’s unmistakable voice I noted. And from the video one could see that it had been recorded later in his life. The video presented him as being elderly and then interspersed were images of him as a younger man in his prime. It was a sad song, one in which he expressed regrets over some of the things he’d done in his life and in marking the passing of family and friends. After the video ended, she explained the idea of starting the quest from the house.

“The scene has been designed to help you get to know the owner of the house and take you on a journey of discovery. When you touch some of the objects or zoom in on others … you’ll need to pay attention in the chat window. Also, there are some that will deliver note cards to you or give you landmarks to other SIM’s … places you can explore and learn more about the house and its owner.” She said.

“This all looks wonderful Jen ... Congrats on the build.” I commented as Marty Snowpaw arrived joining us on the front porch of the house. We three chatted for while longer before both Jen and Marty left for their next appointment. I wished them good luck at the SLCC workshop and then departed for my home position.

With the notes from our conversation, I began writing the article. Part of the way through the first paragraph, my mind wandered a bit and I thought of the boat ride and the scenery we had passed through. I recalled similar experiences in real life. It was then that I remembered a section of the poem that read, “Every day I walk out into the world / to be dazzled, then to be reflective …”

It sounded very much as if Ms Oliver had known my thoughts when she’d penned it.