Anarrina and Prevention were kind enough to show some Professionals and their guests the Press Tour of the Shadowlands, a seldom-offered tour whose origins predate SL's release, and which includes going to a few spots which can't normally be reached. I thought it was interesting enough to warrant describing here.
The tour showcased some of the sights of the Shadowlands, from Jobe to Adonis. The screenshots were cut down from 1600x1200 .png files that were collectively almost 90MB, to 6MB of .jpg files.
Tourists and ARKs/GMs gathered in ICC. while waiting for stragglers, some ARKs got bored:
Once everyone had arrived, we were taken to Jobe Research.
For another view of Jobe, Anarinna took us to her Jobe Luxury Apartment, so we could gawk from the balcony.
Then people began jumping on her bed.
So we were expelled to Ergo in the Wailing Wastes.
From there we were taken to a vantage point of Nascence Frontier which can't normally be reached.
Then to a little floating island in the west of Nascence, showing the Brink.
You can see part of the Nascence Wilds, where the Lord of the Void hangs out,
and the wall bordering Brawl.
The island itself has some interesting features; a throne and dining table that would look at home in Camelot.
Once we'd admired this curiosity, we moved to a vantage point over Brawl. You can see the little island we were on in the distance in this pic.
We paid a visit to the Prophet,
hopped over to Silence in the east of Nascence to see the Ecclesiast,
then moved up to Elysium.
Xan architecture was showcased via some ruins in Elysium,
and contrasted to the Redeemed architecture of Utopolis,
and Enel's Garden.
We hopped through the Garden of Shere,
mildly unsettling people who'd just hopped through gardens of the wrong faction. I wish more people had noticed us, but Ana wouldn't let us run around making a fuss.
Next, we visited the Yuttos camp near Utopolis,
pausing to admire the nearby Falls.
We went to Upper Scheol,
where we inspected a Xan Notum Mine (which anyone who's done the Scheol Jobe Scientists quest will consider themselves overly familiar with).
Thankfully we didn't have to climb to the top of the structure ourselves.
Even though we were warped there, it wasn't fast enough to stop one ARK getting bored again.
We were shown a glimpse of Lower Scheol,
before moving on, to Adonis City.
Then we were shown what I found to be the most interesting part of the tour. The Spaceport in Adonis. Most of you have probably run underneath this thing many times, as I have, without realising what it actually was. It still has an intact, but unfinished, Ark ship on it.
The Spaceport's second platform is empty.
We even got to inspect the ship up close!
Here's a view of the ship you'll be more familiar with.
The ship from landing pad 2 didn't make it far, of course.
I've run over it more times than I could count without realising what it actually was.
Officially, that was the end of the tour, but being the good sports that they are, our tour guides started taking requests. Here's a view at the entrance of Adonis that you don't normally see.
Another view of Adonis City,
two more shots from a ridiculously high spot,
and a shot showing where those last two pics were taken from.
Hope you've enjoyed the pics half as much as I enjoyed taking the tour :-)