Lannorra Sion of Phantom Rose

Lannorra thank you for taking the time to reflect and share with us about your Phantom Rose Grid.   When I first met you, Phantom Rose was in InWorldZ and you were just setting up a new region at the Canadian grid.  It impressed me how you loved Victorian themed builds and brought Phantom Rose to share with all of us, thank you. The ambiance felt like a Gothic Romance. I love that. 

​MM- Your grid is a recreation of the first Phantom Rose from 2007-2015 Second Life.     Please share with us about the original build. Please elaborate we have plenty of space for your answers.
 
LS- Hi Marianna and thank you for your interest in Phantom Rose Grid.  To put my grid into context, I will give a (hopefully) brief history of Phantom Rose.
 
I started in Second Life (SL) in 2005.  I bought most of a mainland sim and developed Dragons Heart Province, a Medieval role play area.  I started renting out Castles and it was very successful.  Like many people, over time I became very dissatisfied with Mainland living.  So in 2007, I decided to rent a private sim.  I did not want to compete with my successful rental business so I decided to change the theme.  I had long been a fan of gothic romance novels of the 1970s, also Anne Rice's Vampire stories and then totally fell in love with Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.  So I decided on the name Phantom Rose and rented a sim. Phantom Rose is where Phantom of the Opera meets Anne Rice's Vampires.  Beautiful, enchanting and slightly .

dangerous.  I still had castles, but they were mostly more gothic and baroque.  Along with a spooky graveyard, I had a large, ornate Opera House.  One of the first Opera Houses in SL (and free to use), it helped many aspiring artists give their first performances and grow their audience.
Phantom Rose was also a big hit.  So much so, that I had one renter that moved from my Dragons Heart Provence to Phantom Rose and stayed with me the entire 8 years!  I originally had 12 castles and they were normally fully rented out.  I eventually closed my mainland sim and sold the land and put all my efforts into Phantom Rose.  
In 2008, I started branching out to the Open sims, making avatars and trying to help the OS develop.  Lannorra has been a resident of the 3RD Rock Grid (3RG) since 08/16/2010!  At that same time I found Inworldz grid.
By 2012, Inworldz had rapidly advanced and was technically as good as SL.  I made a decision to expand Phantom Rose to a new grid.  I did not want to just replicate what I had done in SL, so I came up with a slightly altered theme where Phantom Rose shifted more to Anne Rice and the Bayou!
In 2015, I made the painful decision to close down in SL.  The pricing was burdensome compared to what I paid to other grids.   So, I did one more magical Christmas at SL Phantom Rose, then after 8 years, closed the doors forever.  Phantom Rose was visited by 1000s of visitors over that 8 years and was beloved by many.
I continued to travel the Metaverse and loved it.  Inworldz was a closed grid, with no hypergrid available to other OS grids.  So, I set down some more roots in Digiworldz and bought some first land at 3RG.  In 2017 I found the Great Canadian Grid (GCG) and really loved it.  The creative muse was pulling at me again and I decided, not to have all my virtual eggs in one basket, so I got some regions and started on the 3rd iteration of Phantom Rose at GCG.  This time, I decided to go Steampunk/Victorian I had so much fun developing new builds and new friendships.
As it turned out, I was fortunate in my foresight.  Quite unexpectedly, Inworldz closed its doors.  I had downloaded most of my builds, but it was still devastating to lose that world and all I invested there.
In 2018, I started reading about Fred Beckhusen's Dream Grid.  Fred, aka Ferd Ferderix of Outworldz, had built a program that did most of the technical work in setting up a real grid.  It was amazing.  My amazing husband, gifted me at Christmas that year, with a desktop unit to house the new grid.  January 13, 2019, Phantom Rose Grid was born.  (Again, I was fortunate in my foresight, as GCG also closed it doors dramatically.  But by that time, I had my own grid and all my builds set up.)
 
MM- Your new grid Phantom Rose which opened January 2019, congratulations Lannorra, please share with us what all you have accomplished this last year? 

LS- It is very exciting and equally daunting to start a grid!  Suddenly, I had all that space to create whatever I wanted.  Oh my gosh.  I had to really just focus on the first step.  I decided I wanted to bring all the dimensions of Phantom Rose that I had already created, but with the new space, enlarge them. 
First though, I needed a welcome area.  Thinking it over, I decided that my original SL Phantom Rose should be that space.  I had downloaded my main builds, and I had my original raw file, thankfully.  So, the grid began there.  What visitors see now, is a retrospect of my vintage Phantom Rose.  With a sim being 8 years old, things changed as the years went by.  I removed some castles, added other features, etc. over time.  For my welcome sim, I decided to choose the aspects I loved the most.  Of course the iconic Opera house is there, along with the Graveyard, Pirate Island, Skate Mountain, several of the Castles I loved and the popular Phantom Rose Cathedral.
Once I had Welcome done, I set up some 2x2 regions and rebuilt my GCG PR and 3rd Rock Grid PR in a much expanded way.  PR Steam is an homage to Jules Verne and PR Nile is a wonderful expansion on the Phantom Rose Egyptian Adventure I began at 3RG.  I have another 2x2 region, PR Nature that is a collaboration with my friend Tenshi Engel.  He has contributed an adjacent 2x2, Sanctuary.   I also built PR Ocean, a 4x4 region for all types of water sport.
Another long time SL friend, Dillon Hampton, has a 2x2 region he is working on, called Ad Infinitum.
I never feel done with a Region, so I had to force myself to "officially" open on January 13, 2020.
This past year, I added the original Linda Kellie mall and her Clutterfly mesh mall.  I am adding items to some of the empty stores that I know are legal CCA items, from Selea Core, Hylie Bekkers, and Vbinnia Radek.  These freebies are valuable starter items for new people to the OS.  I wanted to provide this resource for the OS, as my grid has very little downtime and collecting these into one area makes it easy for people to find them.
I have two new regions I have been working on this year, PR Bayou (2x2) and PR Medieval (5x5).

MM-What do you envision for your second year, what are your plans for Phantom Rose? Will you present events and the arts?
 
LS- Right now, I have a scavenger hunt on PR Nile with a lovely gift of unique chalices for completion.
For 2021, I really want to take some time to do some live events.  I have so many amazing venues now.  Tenshi and I loved doing a drum circle at Inworldz and it was quite popular.  I have made a new drum area on my "in progress" Phantom Rose Bayou, which I hope to be open to public in early 2021. 
Like I did at SL, I would like to make the Opera House available for use free of charge.  Anyone interested should contact me. 
I want to get PR Bayou and Medieval regions to the "done enough" level and open them to public.
 
MM-I remember you had a website do you still?  If so please share the link with us.
 
LS-My website is www.phantomrose.com  I have owned this domain since 2007 or 2008. 
The URL for my grid is http://PhantomRose.Outworldz.net:8002.  You can hypergrid from any HG enabled grid in the Metaverse.
The url for my blog is http://www.lannorrasion.wordpress.com.  The blog can also be accessed from phantomrose.com. 

 
MM- When you first opened you had 9 regions, how many are there now?  Please explain your regions.
 
LS- At the moment I have 10 regions open to the public.  This includes 2 regions that are by my friends (Sanctuary and Ad Infinitum) and not officially Phantom Rose regions.  I also have a visitor sandbox with 1 hour build times, and the two Linda Kellie Mall regions.
 
I have 2 new more regions that are getting close to opening to the public. 
 
The first is PR Bayou, which is an expanded version of Phantom Rose from Inworldz.  PR Bayou is the home of Dark Nights Role play area.  This is where all the supernaturals come out to play!  Within that area I am building a Dark Fantasy Adventure.  This is a re-imagining of the Dark Fantasy Role Play Hub I developed for Inworldz as part of a larger project they had for a Role Play starter area.  With this new adventure, you accept a quest to travel to each Dark Fantasy supernatural and complete a task that gives you an amulet of safe passage.  At the moment it includes Vampire, Demon, Dark Witches, and Voodoo.  I have also built a maze with a cool gift at the center for anyone who finds it.  PR Bayou additionally has Wiccan alter and a Druid drum circle.  So lots of magic and gothic overtones.  I am so proud of Desolate Manor,  rising from the swamp, Desolate is a decadent, spooky mansion, just waiting for visitors to find it.  I also made a cool swamp boat, that is hand poled.  The perfect way to slide thru the many swampy waterways on the Region.  The landing point is a Ship Depot in the "city".  The City resembles 1799 New Orleans. I am not interested in building replicas, but I do love to be inspired by environments.  I have had a long enchantment with the French Quarter and the Bayou, so it has inspired this version of the area.  I am hoping to open the PR Bayou region in the first quarter of 2021. 
 
The second is a huge 5x5 region with lots of water.  PR Medieval, is a medieval/fantasy environment, with Castles (Knights Landing, Dragons Heart Castle and the Citadel), dragons and pirates (Cut Throat Cove), a huge monastery Castle (by Tenshi), working canons, a new huge Mer folk area and much more!  I hope to have Medieval open in 2021.  It’s coming along nicely.  I bought some working battle boats and hope to have some events with those in third quarter of 2021.
 

MM-What are the themes of your regions?  What will be future themes?
 
 
LS-Phantom Rose Grid is somewhat science fiction based, in that the regions are basically a snapshot in time.  My original PR was Victorian-ish.  I have never been a person to force people into RP, so I just asked my visitors to be kind and not deliberately ruin a RP moment for others.  When I created the Inworldz PR, I still had a Victorian or Edwardian vibe, but it was very swamp/bayou oriented.  Which brought in a more supernatural feel to the space.
 
PR STEAM is steampunk.  So again, more of a sci-fi type environment. 
 
At 3rd Rock Grid, I made a very specific time period for the Phantom Rose Egyptian Adventure, 1898, as this theme was the Duke and Duchess of Phantom Rose visiting the Pyramids.  PR Nile is the same set-up, but greatly expanded and just really fascinating with lots of details:  Pyramid to explore, Museum, Marketplace, Victorian Inns, Bedouin camp, excavations, farms, and so much more.
 
My new PR Bayou is set in 1799, just as my alternate universe New Orleans is changing from the French to Americans.
 
PR Oceans is modern, but includes mer folk...  so I cannot seem to get away from sci-fi.
 
So when I was designing my grid, I was in a quandary of how to set it up.  I finally decided, that each of my builds is essentially another "Dimension" of Phantom Rose.  And given that I have a sci-fi base, I decided to build an Inter-Dimensional Portal (IDP) system of transportation for my visitors.  Each open region is accessed thru the IDP.  In addition, each Region has a "regional TP" that has teleports to many of the points of interest (and the IDP) on that Region.  The IDP at the PR Welcome region, is right at the landing point for visitors.  Along with information, etc.
 
Future regions planned are:
 
PR Vegas 60's Vegas, yeah baby!  This will be a redesign of a build I did for a friend in SL.  And will bring back Drax Lemieux’s original Red Dragon Club and Casino from 2006 SL.  There was another Red Dragon club that popped up after his.  But Drax's was the first and very unique (huge dragon head entrance).
PR Gatsby Bootleggers, flappers and all that jazz!  All done in the PR style  :)
 
MM-What activities do you have at the grid? Is there nature trails? For horseback riding or hiking?
 
LS-Each region has an extensive set of activities for visitors.
 
Mer Folk:  the Phantom Rose Grid, has a mer folk area on all its regions.  When landing at the welcome, there is a sign directing Mer folk to choose the Grotto destination from the local transporter.  From there you can travel underwater, via the Mer Portal, to each region.  The Grotto also has free Mer weddings at Neptune’s Alter, free male and female fins and you can take the underwater transporter to the Mer Playground, where you will find swings and a carousel made especially for Mer folk, in addition to a wreck to explore and find the treasure chest gift!  Each region has its own area, the largest being at PR Ocean where you land at Atlantis.  :) 
PR Nature:  hang gliding, horse riding, kayaks, white water rafting, tubing, donkey rides, swimming, archery, hot air ballooning, meditation, tai chi, oriental fan dancing, photo ops, camping, hiking trails, YouTube media room at the Ranch.
PR Nile: boat rides on the Nile, camel rides, hot air balloons, horse riding, swimming, belly dancing, the Souks marketplace, the Bathhouse, exploration of the pyramids, Scavenger Hunt. There is also an adjacent 2x2 that is all water for more boating space.
PR Steam:  steam boat rides, hot air balloon rides, sail boat rides, meditation at Serenity Beach, hidden cavern adventure, Mysterious Island (with Dinosaurs!), Mermaids of the Mists area. 
PR Ocean:  sail boats, power boats, kayaks, deep see diving, underwater ruins, bar-be cue, Marina, Pool, beach, games room.  Coming soon, Surf beach, with real surfable waves!
PR Welcome: Tai chi, free weddings at the Cathedral or ocean front Gazebo, Opera House, find the Phantom's Lair and its free fabulous gift, Pirate Island, boat rides, mer folk playground and Grotto with free Mer weddings venue.
Sanctuary:  satyr farm, beautiful natural landscape to explore.  Tenshi also has a massive food market, with food and spices, all free!  Some are uniquely his and others are customed freebies.  Do not forget to visit his Winery, where he has laid out a huge buffet of food and party platters for his guests to take as gifts!  If you want food, this is the place to come!  They are all copy/no transfer, so bring your friends, cause they will want them too.
Ad Infinitum:  A work in progress, there are no specific activities, but it is open to the public to explore.
Linda Kellie Mall:  freebies
Cuttlerfly Mall:  freebies, including not just clutterfly but Selea Core and Kylie Bekkers
 
 MM-What I love about your builds are the amazing attentions to details, do you create all your props and landscaping too?
 
LS-Thank you! 
 
Yes, several people have said that to me.  I think it is because I "live" in all my builds. When I am building, I am creating a story of the person or family that will inhabit my build.  My environments are created from my need for beauty and tranquility.  But conversely, I need a little spice, so I like those touches of gothic. 
 
I create many, many things, but not all.  I will buy lovely objects from other merchants.  I also buy building components (often mesh) from Twice Baked, Lunaria, and others.
 
I really believe in supporting merchants. I heavily utilize Kitely Marketplace and also buy direct from gloebit merchants. 
I COULD most likely build every single item I need. But I LIKE to shop!  LOL.  And I have too many plans and not enough time, so that limits me from making every single thing. 
 
MM- One time you showed me your great steampunk engine and that you scripted it to work, it was a steam engine remember? Did you create the model and script it too?
 
LS- I think you are referring to my "steam" elevators and balloons and the steampunk clock? 
 
The elevator I made for PR Steam, I did make it all.  It has rotating gears and "steam".  The scripts are customed off old Linden scripts and maybe one of Ferd's from Outworldz.  Most of my scripts I do from the LSL wiki or one of Ferd's.
 
The balloon "elevators" are actually customed from Vbinnia Radek's Balloon, a Victorian loveseat by M&M (I have paid for license), and using a script I found from SL and pieces from Ferd's kinda mashed together.
The working clock, I found in OSgrid as a free item.  I added all the decorative bracing, steam, piping, the water wheel and the moving gears on the back. Scripts are all started from LSL wiki and then customed to what I needed.
I am not a true coder, but long ago in another lifetime, I did get a degree in Computer Science and I worked as a programmer.  My experience was in all old tech, but I do have the logic mind of a coder.  So I hack away at scripts trying to make them do what I want.  Often times, I am successful.  I don't know why I still refuse to simply take some classes to make things easier for myself.  lol.
One of my new projects I am working on right now, involves a Wiccan alter and Grimoire, that will allow guests to summon a coven and do some magic!  :)  I have the coven part working already, so I am feeling confident that I will get some magic going soon.  This is all happening on PR Bayou. 
I encourage guests to sign up for the Phantom Rose News group, available at all the IDP's.  It is a very low activity group that I will use to announce new regions and activities open for the grid.
 
MM- Do you have a team to help with your grid?
 
LS- Just my husband and I.
 
I do all the in world work.  And I designed and developed my website.  I do all the maintenance and backups.
 
My husband takes care of the Grid software tech and networking issues.  Which turn out to be ports that are messed up by Window updates most of the time.  Grid software is by Fred Beckhusen, who has my undying gratitude for providing us with a way to have our own small grids. Fred you are the best!
 
Also, Tenshi Engel, one of my long time friends from SL, collaborates with me on projects, such as PR Nature.  He did most of the landscaping for that region.
 
 
 MM- Are there regions to rent? If so can you please share about your policy or TOS.
 
LS- Phantom Rose Grid is totally noncommercial.  I do not register avatars or rent land.   I do have a TOS that visitors can read immediately at the Landing area.  Most regions are rated Moderate, which means public behavior should be general.  There are areas where nudity is allowed and those areas have separate TOS.
 
I also provide proof of my DMCA agent status along with some valuable information on the subject.
 
I am considering allowing visitors to use free rent boxes to have vacation homes at Phantom Rose.  These would be the click box every 30 days kind of thing.  I still need to test the box I found and see if it works.  Again there would be no charge.
 
I have 2 long time SL friends who I have dragged (sometimes kicking and screaming) into the OS.  LOL.  They both have regions at Phantom Rose.
 
In the past, I was a merchant in both SL and Inworldz.  But that was mainly to fund owning land.  I am not selling anything in world at this time.
 
I make some unique gifts for my visitors, and I also custom some legal freebies to give away.  I have made a set of Mermaid/Triton fins as a free gift for my visitors and some special gifts in the Opera House at Welcome. 
 
Each region has some gifts.  I am working on many more items.  Some of the them are in gift shops and some are from others and are set free to copy.  I only put free to copy on items I am confident are legal free items. 
 
MM- What has been your biggest hurdle in setting up your own grid?
 
LS-The technical aspects are hard for me.  I want very badly to understand it all, and I read all the comments and things that Fred puts out.  But my understanding is only at a very beginner level.  My husband understands more than I do.  Fred is also beyond generous with his help.  He has had phone con with us with remote into the server to help us with issues.
 
I have been very lucky that my grid has very little down time. When it occurs, its mostly due to scheduled or unexpected Win10 pro updates.
 
 
 MM- Is the grid on a  hosted server or do you run on your home PC?
 
LS-Phantom Rose Grid is self hosted.  We have the fastest Xfinity bandwidth and it is on a top of the line computer processor with solid state drives, etc.  I have two 8 TB drives from Western Digital for backups.  I do 2 region backups a day.  Plus weekly autobackups of the grid.  I also do frequent inventory backups for myself and my two residents. In addition to backups to an off line 8 TB external drive.
 
I travel regularly and I use my laptop to access mine and other grids.  I usually have no issues with Phantom Rose, even on some crappy wifi.  lol.  But I do have very good equipment.
 
 
MM- In closing what would you like to convey, that I did not ask here?
 
LS-Although, I am not merchanting now, I would like visitors to know that I have paid for Extended Licensing on many FP building items, furniture and accessories that allow me to have them in the OS.  I put out real life dollars to be in compliance with TOS from many merchants.  So when you see some of these items on my grid, please know they are legal.
 
And due to disappearing grids, I have bought certain items from merchants more than once!
 
I am a registered agent for DMCA and I take it seriously.
 
MM-  Thank you, I too have a registered DMCA agent; all the items I place on our grid are either free and full perms from various online free resource sites or I purchase them.  
 
As you can see Lannorra has created an amazing grid, and welcomes you to please come visit!!
http://PhantomRose.Outworldz.net:8002.