Big game hunting in the sky

Posted by Bettina Tizzy

Now and then, the letters I receive are far wittier and informative than anything I might manage to pen on the topic at hand. Such was the case with the irresistibly charming missive I received late last week from resident Marion Questi. It reads...


Dear Miss Tizzy:

Martini Discovolante and I have created something that might amuse you; it certainly qualifies as Not Possible In Real Life.

What we have created is essentially an artificial life form: the air kraken of steampunk mythology.


"Air kraken are very territorial," explains Mr. Questi. "The females patrol the cloud layer and will attack any avatar who ventures too near."

The air kraken takes the form of a giant squid that lives in the clouds. It patrols the cloud layer (~200 meters), gliding gracefully about the sim. If an avatar comes too near, the kraken will attack it. In a damage enabled sim, such an attack can kill an avatar. What makes the air kraken a challenge is that they can also be killed if struck by physical bullets. So what we have is big game hunting in the clouds.




It's clear that Mr. Questi relishes "the dangerous, but exciting, business of hunting air kraken with a pistol."

Miss Discovolante, a sculpty master, created the kraken. I am the scripter who animated it. It looks very realistic with it's wriggling tentacles and deadly beak. (Together we are known as the Questi & Discovolante Mechanical Consortium.)


"...But hot lead ignites one of the hydrogen pouches that give her lift and she explodes in a coruscating cascade of kraken blood and ink," details Mr. Questi.

You can see them and interact with them in Lovelace Liberty (teleport directly from here). There are usually a couple in the sky. CoyoteAngel Dimsum has generously permitted the use of her sim for air kraken hunts.

Good hunting!

Marion Questi

I dropped in to have a look myself this morning, and was promptly attacked and killed by an air kraken that simply leaped on me. It was great fun! I plan to head back there fully armed as soon as my schedule permits. Meanwhile, Mr. Questi, take care you don't get hurt!

Photography courtesy of Mr. Marion Questi.