Horus

And finally, the last piece of my trio, Horus:


I'm proud to finally present the sun god who watches over us all, Horus. He is the last in my series of Egyptian gods, and is a special edition as well (though not limited).

Horus is also commonly known as Ra. The two gods were merged in the later dynasties when the upper and lower kingdoms were united. He was a god of the sky, a soaring falcon whose eyes were the sun and the moon. He was a symbol of protection and royal power. He wears a Pschent, the double crown of Egypt worn only by the pharaohs. It was a combination of the crowns of lower and upper Egypt and was a sign of unification.

Some details:

• His symbol, the "eye of ra", (also called the wedjat), was inspired by the markings on the cheek of a falcon.
• He wears a Wadjet serpent on his crown to symbolize the lower kingdom, of which Horus was a patron god.
• The hieroglyphs around his medallion read: Horus, He Who Watches Over Us All.
• The headdress is angled to mimic the markings of a falcon. In illustrations, Ra's pale cheeks are in contrast to a dark headdress or wig which represents the darker feathers around the bird's head

He is scripted to change texture, so that his headdress, the metal trim, and the gem all change. The Pschent is a separate attachment so if you don't feel like ruling Egypt 24/7, you can lay down the heavy crown.

Out now at the store: 950L
Buy it on the marketplace

Bast

Since the gods are returning, the next mask in my series is Bast:

I'm happy to present the Perfumed One, reincarnated as is only appropriate. Another special edition, this mask will not be limited and it is the same premium rate as Anubis.

The goddess known as Bast evolved over many years and went through different evolutions across the two kingdoms of Egypt. She evolved as a lion headed goddess, separate from Sekhmet, but as cats became increasingly popular in homes she evolved into a cat headed goddess. She was seen as the protector and defender of the pharoah, and guardian of Lower Egypt. With her strong association with the sun and her patronage over the Lower Kingdom, she became more and more tied with Wadjet, the winged serpent goddess.

All of these things I took into consideration when creating her. The sun disc is of course one of the most easily noticed symbols, but here are a few others:

• She bears a Uraeus (snake) on her headpiece, due to her ties to Wadjet. There are serpents framing her sun disc and center medallion as well with the stripes forming Wadjet's wings.
• The hieroglyphs around her medallion read: Bast, Lady of the Flame, the Perfumed One. Lady of the Flame was her title relating to her role as a solar goddess, while Perfumed One was a role she later took up when she became a goddess of ointments and salves.
• Her medallion is an ankh, a solar symbol and one she is often depicted holding
• The flares on her mask are meant to evoke a lion's mane. Sekhmet was often shown with a ruff of fur meant to define her as a lion rather than an ordinary feline.

Like Anubis, she is scripted to change texture. The metal, the stripe accents and the gem all change, even the metal tips on her wig. The sun disc changes as well, so you can coordinate.

Of course, she looks wonderful without it too...



Out now at the store: 950L
Buy it on the marketplace

The Gods Return

In 2007 I created my first limited edition mask. It was my pride and joy, my best creation. Only ten were sold, leaving many people IM'ing me for as much as a year after hoping to get just one more.

That mask was Anubis:


The god of the dead has returned. And this time, he's mad not limited edition. All of these Egyptian creations have been building up to this: the return of the gods.

It is, however, a special edition. There is a month's worth of work in this mask alone, and that time usually goes into multiple projects or things with many different pieces. It won't be going anywhere, but it has been priced at a more premium rate.

The jackal was a destructive scavenger of the dead, but through Anubis the Egyptians turned him into a more protective force. He would prepare the dead for their journey to the underworld to be judged by Osiris, and is often pictured either embalming or in the hall of judgement.

Some fun details I'd like to point out, since I put them in there:

• The medallion on the side of the head and under the gem reads "Anubis: He who is upon his mountain". This was one of his titles regarding his role as the caretaker of the dead, and his position protecting the tombs.
• The flares on the side of his mask contain excerpts from the Egyptian book of the dead, in which he's often shown in illustrations.
• The scarab wasn't just put in there because it's Egyptian-y, it was a symbol of rebirth and transformation and was often included in tombs as a grave gift.


The mask is scripted of course, and the all of the metal accents change, along with the gem. The headdress corresponds to the six metal colors included, with black or white stripes. The cloth hanging down does not change, as it matches the textures of the Semer and Semeret sets but of course since it's mod, that's easily tinted if you want.


I'm so very proud to finally be able to bring this back. Four years ago, I felt it was my best work, and now I'm upholding its tradition.



As with the first series, there were three. Coming soon, you can expect to see Bast, followed by Horus.

Buy it now from the store: 950L
Buy it on the marketplace

Fantasy Faire! And Long Awaited Ear Updates!

The first annual Fantasy Faire is starting today, and despite my intense procrastination, some groveling and last minute scrabbling netted me a stall on the Elvencourt sim! I would offer a slurl, but no matter where it's made it always ends up at the landing point. I'm in stall 15 next to Evangeline Miles of Evie's Closet, and I couldn't have asked for a nicer neighbor (her latest dresses have only been getting more beautiful, wonderful job).

As a part of participating in the faire, we were asked to donate the full proceeds of two items to Relay for Life. My contributions are a limited edition recolor of Titania and Oberon.



They're only available at my stall at the expo, for 500L each. They'll be available until the 22nd, when the fair closes. Obviously I did a new color theme for them that's different from the soft blues, but I also changed the greenery around the crowns to new leaves that are a luscious natural green.


Aside from the masks, I also am proud to say I finally have completed my elfin ear update. After more mistakes, remakes, script edits, permission errors, hold ups, hang ups, pitfalls and near misses than I can count, they're out. The actual structure of the ears and earrings hasn't changed at all, but the scripts have. I've consolidated the TRAP, Drow, and Aether skins all into one mega pack of skin tones titled Fantasy, as well as added new tones from some of the more popular skin makers that I received tone requests for. The Naturals received a major, major tune up, and instead of a paltry twelve tones, they now have over seventy skin tones by designers such as Abyss, Nomine, Fleur and Curio.

With the new collections of skin tones, I've excused myself a slight price hike in the cost of a custom tone. I'm going to make it 100L, because when I first set my price I never anticipated it to be as much of a time sink and a chore as it has become. To those that currently have ear tone requests open with me, I will be giving you a new pair of the upgraded ears in hopes that one of the tones will suit your skin. If not, then you will still only be charged the original 50L price, but that's only for ear tone requests received before today.

Please let me know if you do find errors in the ears, or the vendors, despite my testing them as much as I can I still seem to miss things. The sooner I'm made aware of errors in permissions or scripts the faster I can fix them!

The upgraded ears are now out at both the fair and the store, I'll be sending a notice out to the group as well as updating the signage nearby but right now I'm just going to go collapse somewhere :)

Ltd Ed: Odocoleinae Lumina

I haven't been really that Christmassy lately, even in my first life I only just put up my tree when it was ten days to go! People are sending out red and white things like mad, Santa is everywhere, all the TV shows are on their Christmas breaks and I'm... well... hmm.

I'm not Jewish, nor am I pagan, yet I'm very appreciative of the darkness of the winter solstice. On the solstice of course is the shortest day of the year, only a few hours of daylight before the longest night of the year. Many cultures have traditions revolving around keeping light through the long night. So being in the mood that I am to make antlers, I decided to make a way to keep a light with you while the night is at its longest.


On your head, of course. Beautiful drippy wax to fall into your hair, and bright dancing fire to catch your holiday decor aflame with. But seriously, I've been wanting to (and Selos has been nagging me to) make these ever since I first started working on antlers. They are also my first limited run item evar, since I felt they were a little too special and unique to be a normal release. I wasn't sure if I was even going to release the plain Odocoleinae so you can imagine how I feel about these.

After running into trouble with a lot of people being unhappy and upset at my limited number editions (the Gods of Illusions masks), I decided to never again do a limited number release. Too many people IM to ask and beg and then turn away sad and defeated that the mask they covet they can't have. So this is my first try at a limited run piece, and depending on how this goes there might be more unique things on the horizon.

I've included a copy of no transfer plain antlers with them, which is one of the reasons I told the folks who love them to hold off a bit if you were interested in the limited ones :) I've priced them at 1750L, and they'll be on sale until midnight SLT on January 1st. They still have the copy or transfer option, which is something I played with changing. I kind of like the idea of only the people who were there being able to have a pair, yet I realized people will want to give them as gifts or even hoard multiple copies and resell them much later. In that way, they might be a little less exclusive, but I hope everyone will be happy.

Oh, there's a built in light in order to get the proper candlelit glow; that picture was taken at the midnight setting with no other lights. Because of this, to get the best look I definitely suggest you don't wear a face light with them, or check and make sure your hair doesn't have any included lights in it either. They also look best with glow, as the candle flames are stationary prims and the glow gives it all of their flicker. But of course you can just try a demo and see how you feel about them, you don't have to take it from me ;)

Horus

He's been a long time coming... the Egyptian falcon god and son of Osiris, Horus.


My mask, my ode to Horus, is the final mask in my Egyptian Gods series. He wears the double crown of Egypt as the patron god of the pharaohs and the son of THE pharaoh, Osiris. The cobra on the crown was called the Uraeus Serpent, which symbolized royalty, and divine authority. It was believed to protect the wearer by spitting holy fire at enemies! (I wonder if the occassion ever came to try and prove that?) So there are tiny little red spinel's in his eyes. The gold framed carnelian disc at Horus's forehead is a symbol of the sun, and is framed by wings, as he was the god of the sun and the sky.

As the son of Osiris, he was considered part of the royal family and also became identified with the pharaoh himself. The "Eye Of Ra" is actually the eye of Horus, as Egyptian falcons actually have a pattern extremely similar to the dark outline and drop down mark so associated with Egypt. Supposedly, Horus lost one of his eyes in his battle against Set for the throne of Egypt, but for the sake of symmetry this mask is obviously before that... As a god of the sky and a god of the sun, he became associated with Ra, even though Horus was Ra's father... so oddly enough Ra became his own father and son. Crazy Egyptians!

His head and beak are sculpted prims, as well as an armor piece I decided to throw in because it looks so darn nifty. It's been such a long time coming, because I have been so unsure how to make a sculpted prim mask fit with its mates, Bast and Anubis. I feel I finally was able to get the balance :)

I have gotten more IM's about Anubis than any other thing I've ever done or ever made. So if you noticed, in honor of him, I've made a reprise of the headdress design as an homage. I hope this will satisfy those who missed their chances the first time around... but if you miss Horus, you're out of luck.

As with the first two masks, only ten will be sold, and each at 5000L. He comes with the Egyptian Emperor's Collar (shown in the picture), and a marble display head. They are available through IM to me only, that is, an IM or notecard sent to Siyu Suen. They are first come first serve, so don't tarry, don't delay, time stamps do count!

I really do love doing the Egyptian gods, as it gives me an excuse to make creature masks and then have people actually wear them! My creature/animal masks haven't been big sellers in the past, so doing a series of Egyptian gods could give me a chance to do all the animals I felt like (as long as they were indiginous to Northern Africa). However, thinking about it... there are three gods I always think of when I think of Egypt, and three is a very good number (one of my lucky ones). So I've decided, and I'm solid on this: This is my last Egyptian god.

But not necessarily my last God >.>

Edit: There are now eight left

Bast

I promised there'd be more! And who would I be to go back on a promise?

I proudly present to you Bast:



The Egyptian cat goddess Bast, known as the "perfumed protector", and if I wanted to be bad I'd say "purrfumed", oops! it slipped! She was considered a divine mother and a protectress, as cats were the guardians of Egyptian families. Wings, in Egyptian mythology symbolize protection and guardianship, and so the sun disk on Bast's diadem is framed in golden wings. She was also a sun goddess and a goddess of the sky, and so the carnelian sun disk stands for her position as "Lady of the Flame".

She is exactly 254 prims, the amount that is maximum to be linked, because I'm a nut and those little jewelry bits were irresistable. She is the second of my Egyptian Limited Editions (Anubis being the first), and she too will be 5000L each with only ten sold, available only through IM to me. Again, first come first serve ^.^ I'll also be including the Egyptian Emperor's Collar, a black marble display head, and everything comes in a statue of the cat goddess in her more domestic form. The Anubis sold out in less than a week, so don't put it off! You only get one chance to make her yours, and to become the Protector Goddess of Egypt.

Edit: Bast has now been sold out

I've also added a couple of new earrings to the Egyptian Collection, and both the Bast and Anubis masks will be on display in the pavilion :)

Anubis

Alright! The Venetian Carnival Ball is over, and so I can now reveal the sweet, secret mask I wore to the world.

The Anubis Mask.




and I am completely honest when I say it is truly the best mask I have made yet. It is also my first Limited Edition mask. I did a quick survey amongst the Masqueraderie folk, and quite a majority said that it was worth a few extra Lindens to have people covet, but be unable to buy... This regal, magnificent God can be yours for 5000L, and will only be sold to TEN people. Only 9 other folk amongst 300,000 regular users on Second Life will be able to say that they are the Egyptian God of the dead. Or, be able to say it with conviction and something to back it up.

Within 30 seconds of my posting this mask in the Masqueraderie group notices, the first one was sold, and within 4 minutes the second one was gone. So that means that there are only eight left, and chances are they won't last. The mask is only available through IM to me personally, and if multiple people IM it will be judged by time stamp. First come first serve!

Edit: They're all sold out! Thank you and heavens bless the ten of you who are now the Gods of the Dead, and worry not those that aren't. I'm not done making awesomeness!

For other folk who are saddened by the high price tag, I'll just let you know that there is an absolutely enormous release coming soon (probably as many as seven or eight different masks). I'm cleaning inventory of a bunch of designs that have been put off ^.^