There’s treasure out there in the Steamlands waiting for you to discover it – at midnight SL time March 1, STEAM IX begins.

If you start at my shop in Steelhead St Helens, the sign to the left of the doorway has the link to the beginning of the hunt and helpful information.

I’m participating, although Dhughan is sitting this one out. The theme this time is “Romancing the STEAM IX” so many treasure hunters will be looking for a big heart-shaped emerald of some kind, but with a steampunk twist to the narrative.

It seems like most would need protective headgear while hunting, and a nice dressing-room screen for trying on clothes afterwards. I started off by trying to make clothing, but ran out of time on my desktop computer, which has all of my graphics files and what-not. I’ve been voluntarily marooned on a desert island for the last two weeks, so I went with the accessories I had ready, rather than the full on outfit I’d been working on. The laptop I’m on at the moment isn’t quite the thing for serious texture work, but I’m providing 3 different versions (these aren’t texture change, just different bands) and a men’s and women’s version.

This is one of the women’s versions – they have flexi ribbons off the back and and no strap on the front brim. The men’s versions have a knotted band, and a leather chinstrap flipped up on the brim.

In addition to the different pith helmets, I’m throwing in 2 folding mesh screens – they both have exotic temple carving images.

The fun starts at midnight and goes through March 31 – so get ready to find some amazing things!

(and maybe, just maybe after the typomonkey gets back to the home desktop, I’ll get that outfit finished)