The Botanical Corvid Sanctuary is created by Ember Botanical and described as an "arbor and lab dedicated to corvid survival training, charm school, remote viewing, horology, and experimental theology."
I visited it to find out how such a variety of arcane activities could be accommodated within the limits of a 512.
Just a few, very carefully placed, objects occupy this hollow on the slope between the High Mountain Road (Route 6) and the SLRR that runs around the inner eastern side of Heterocera.
Purpose: I suspect that, with corvid eyes, I'd see immediately where I could practice survival techniques and grow in the charming art, learn about clocks, visit distant places, and immerse myself in divine contemplation. The human AV has to work a bit harder, but the place works a kind of magic that leaves the visitor feeling a bit more "crow" than they were before.
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines an arbor:
"A shady resting place in a garden or park, often made of rustic work or latticework on which plants, such as climbing shrubs or vines, are grown."We'd expect, therefore, somewhere leafy to sit. The shady resting place here is a rustic bench, surrounded by purple flowers under the cover of three leaning trees by 'we're CLOSED'. From the bench, one looks down the hollow and feels sheltered, hidden from any traffic passing along the SLRR, but able to look out along the contours of Sabre.
However, the eye is drawn to the large, translucent, mauve egg that is partially submerged in the soil at the north eastern lip of the hollow. I suspect this has something to do with the laboratory, and possibly the remote viewing: an incubation chamber, or the freakish result of an experiment in theology, perhaps.In the heart of the egg is a strand of red that seems to be alive, even umbilical. It is possible (and seems to be safe) to sit inside it and look out through the walls. Sitting inside an egg has obvious resonance with safety, nurture and (re)birth and it's a pleasant setting in which to consider these themes.
Location: Immediately adjacent, to the south of the parcel is the fascinating "Wild Materials", a much larger area where nature is in the process of reclaiming an abandoned house. As such, it provides a perfect complement. Walking between the areas is a noticeable transition, but the sense of wildness and quietude is unbroken.
The parcel can be reached easily by climbing the short slope from the railway line. It's accessible and well positioned to catch the curiosity of a traveler.
The natural spoon shape of the terrain tips its mouth west, offering big vistas of the plain below, which is well inhabited and interesting, and the sea beyond. It's placed so that the light of sunrise comes into the Sanctuary and shows it in its best light.
Look and Feel: Too often associated with black arts and eerie scenes, the humble fellowship of crows, rooks, ravens and jackdaws is seen in a different light here.
A restless flock of black shadows circles in the trees, a clock ticks somewhere; there are bird calls and shady hollows. But nothing is intended to be threatening. It gives a sense of 'otherness', but invites the visitor in.
The muted palette of greens and browns encircles purple hues from the flowers and the egg: calming colors that quickly settle the eye.
Perhaps this 512 is a shadow-and-feather answer to those 'cat cafes', where customers can enjoy the therapeutic company of felines. It is a sanctuary for all species.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sabre/119/220/96
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