Begin a Session
It is the morning of my second day on this island where that which is lost at sea comes to rest. I took shelter in an outcropping of rocks for the night, covering myself with broad leaves from the nearby trees as a makeshift blanket. It was a restless sleep, the sounds of the jungle didn't didn't taper off with the daylight and a few times I thought I heard something rustling the bushes nearby. I am rising with the sun now, my luck held and nothing disturbed my ramshackle camp. I hope to find or create better shelter if I'm still out in the jungle come sundown tonight.
I have packed my meagre supplies up and take a swig of the rum I found yesterday. The fiery liquid burns on the way down, but it is a welcome sensation that helps bolster my alertness.
This journey could be long, and after yesterday's encounters I am certain I'll will need every advantage I can get against the things that lurk in the dark places of this jungle.
Despite the rum, my still stomach rumbles. I need to hunt for food if I'm to sustain this pace. I resolve to keep an eye out for fruits, berries, nuts, or prey that might sustain me as I explore today.
With that plan in mind, I enter the brush.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—4 vs 1|3 Explore the Jungle +1 (6/10)
About an hour later, I find some wild berries growing on a patch of bushes and pick a great deal of them. I am not keen to try them without knowing if they're poisonous or not, so I begin searching for a suitable bird or other creature to try to feed them to as a test. I wander through the jungle aimlessly, struggling to find a bird that won't immediately bolt when it sees me when I suddenly spy a brilliant yellow parrot of some kind perched atop a pile of mossy stones.
Explore a Waypoint(Wits)—7 vs 10|5
I cautiously approach the bird, tossing a couple berries between us, then back away to see if the bird recognizes them as safe food.
50/50(25)Yes
The bird observes me carefully for a time, skeptical of me. Eventually though, to my great relief, the bird flies down from its perch to the nearest berry and pecks it up from the ground to eat. I can see now that its an older bird, a little bit rougher around the edges and thinner than some I've seen. I throw a few more berries on the ground out of pity for the frail thing.
I have a small cloth bundle of these berries so I'm now tentatively willing to consider them as viable food, though I still need to run a couple more tests to ensure that the bird isn't just immune to whatever toxins such a berry might contain.
Ready for a break, I approach the pile of mossy stones that the bird was perched on and sit atop them for a break. Some minutes and another sip from my rum flask later, I'm feeling heartened by my progress finding food and am ready to resume my travels.
As I move to stand, some of the moss is rubbed off of on of the stones to reveal intricate carvings. I am immediately intrigued and begin to investigate. Each of the roughly cannon ball sized stones are each carved with different symbols in a language I don't recognize. I mull over what they could mean, there are dozens upon dozens of them here all stacked up in a huge pile. A ritual of some kind, but what?
The answer came to me just before the parrot I fed returns to the top of the pile of stones:
This is a graveyard! The parrot looks expectantly at me, perhaps hoping for more food. I realize now that this parrot's tolerance for me mean it might have been someone's pet or companion at one point. Considering the age and condition of the stones, if that's the case their owner must have been buried here many years ago now.
I sigh and shake my head at the parrot "Sorry pal, I need the rest of these berries if I'm going to make it home."
After a moment I add
"Wherever that is exactly."
The parrot and I part ways amicably, I return to my journey, the parrot to sunning itself on the rocks.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—3 vs 9|5 Pay the Price
The jungle continues to be full of life at every turn, sometimes I'll run into more of those territorial flightless birds, sometimes more webs (I stay well away from those areas.).
Just as I was starting to reach a comfortable pace of progress the dense jungle vegetation suddenly stops and I find myself on the edge of a massive river gorge. I can see a rope bridge across it, but I'm far enough from my side of the bridge that my view of this end is blocked by trees. It will be a half hour or more before I can reach it.
The journey to the bridge gives me time to think. I don't know if the bridge is new, but bridges lead somewhere so presumably that means I'm headed either towards or away from civilization. Just exactly what state that civilization is going to be in is a matter of internal debate.
By the time I arrive at my end of the bridge I'm able to see that it's definitely not a new construction. The ropes, while thick, do look weathered if not starting to fray slightly in some places. This does not give me hope, but I test my weight with a foot on the first plank. It appears solid enough, though I really really have reservations about this. I glance down the gorge in either direction and confirm there isn't another, less questionable bridge awaiting me before committing to standing fully on the bridge.
No great snapping noise, nor a plank cracking beneath my feet. A success then. Looking at the seventy odd planks between me and the other side I sincerely hoped it was just the first of approximately seventy consecutive successes.
Face Danger(Edge)—6 vs 3|6 Lose Momentum Momentum:10 → 9
I somehow command my feet to move both lightly and quickly, but as I'm reaching roughly a quarter of the way across I notice the weather takes an ominous turn. A front of dark clouds is visible upwind from me, and it doesn't take much guesswork to know how bad it would be to still be on this bridge when it gets here. I redouble my efforts to keep moving.
Even before the storm has arrived in force, the winds are rocking the bridge to an unsettling degree. I resolve to grip the ropes a little tighter to ensure I don't lose my balance.
Face Danger(Iron)—4 vs 8|7 Momentum:2 → 3
The storm is almost upon me as I make it to the far end of the bridge. My hands hurt from holding so tightly to the bridge but I'm confident that my iron grip was the only reason I didn't get swept over the ropes as they swayed.
I'm glad to be on solid ground once more but I don't have time to celebrate. I need to find shelter in a hurry so I don't get caught out in the worst of the storm.
Unlikely(7)Yes
My good fortune holds as I've found a cave within the jungle. The thunder rolls in as the storm crashes into the area with torrential rains drenching everything. Not for the first time, I wish I had a torch or a reliable way to make some fire. At the very least it would help me feel safer with my back to the unknown contents of the cave behind me.
I settle on a rock, close enough to the entrance to get a brief view of things outside when lightning flashed through the sky. With my hand on my blade, I scan the cave when the lightning illuminates part of the interior in hopes that I'm the only occupant.
50/50(25)Yes
I detect nothing amiss, no sleeping bear nor additional spiders or other beasts waiting in ambush. It's exactly what I need right now. I don't exactly rest from here on, but I change my focus from securing my safety to securing my food supply. I take a berry from my bundle and crush it between my fingers. I drip the juice onto my tongue briefly, and even though it tastes delicious I still spit it out and wait for any tingling or swelling of my tongue that might indicate toxins.
Secure an Advantage(Iron)—6 vs 5|7 Momentum:3 → 5
The warning signs don't come. Pleased, I painstakingly restrict myself to eating a single berry. I literally can't remember the last time I ate so this small morsel was an exercise in sheer willpower.
And now I wait another 10 minutes. In the meantime I sit in the dark as the sounds of rain and howling winds fill the cave entrance. I have no way to pass the time but count the seconds until I reached my desired threshold. Upon reaching my intended count with no stomach pains, I consume a quarter of the berries with an almost emotional sentimentality towards this life-sustaining fruit. Forcing myself to stop there, I take a swig from my now half-empty rum flask and call it a meal as I wait for the storm to pass.
The storm is finally subsiding, the rumbles of thunder becoming more distant and the downpour weakening to a trickle. I rouse myself from my food and drink contented stupor, I know I need to keep moving and I've lost valuable time to waiting out the storm.
I do my best to commit to memory where this cave is relative to the gorge with the bridge in case I need it again, then I leave in the direction the rope bridge was pointing.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—6 vs 5|4 Explore the Jungle +1 (8/10)
I've been travelling for about an hour or two now and the heat is starting to really get to me. Even in my one-sleeved shirt I'm sweating away. I'm hesitant to continue drinking my rum for hydration, I still need to ration it. Like the sign I'd been praying for, I hear a the rumble of a waterwall in the distance. Elated, I head in that direction. If the water was drinkable I'd be in fantastic shape and even if it wasn't I could at least cool off a little!
Explore a Waypoint(Wits)—8 vs 9|7 Momentum:5 → 6
I spot the waterfall as I enter peaceful clearing, it tumbles into pond of water that feeds a river stretching off in the other direction. I freeze where I stand as I spot a large crocodile-like reptile sunning itself on the banks. Scanning the water and it's edge I confirm that this is the only one I can see. However, that doesn't mean it's the only one here.
I try to recall anything I know about reptiles and all I can come up with is that they're cold blooded. I assume this might mean it's sleepy and lazy right now but it's extremely hard to estimate how quickly it could wake up and close the gap between us.
I decide to risk approaching the waterline, but from the other side of the lake from it so as to ensure I'd have more time to run for it if things went south. Even so, I decide to make haste to the water as best as I can, it's better not to linger in the presence of a beast like that.
Secure an Advantage(Edge)—8 vs 8|4 Momentum:6 → 8
Rushing to waters edge, I quickly scoop some water in a cupped hand. Despite the waterfall nearby potentially stirring up silt, the water appears clean. I give it a sip, testing it in my mouth without swallowing. It has no foul odors or aftertastes. Satisfied with knowledge, I glance at the beast on the opposite shoreline. It's hard to tell but I think it might be watching me.
Unsettled by this, I opt forego a swim and just fill up the open space in my rum flask with water. Sure the rum will be watered down now but the rum should help purify any remaining maladies in the water I couldn't detect. Unable to completely resist the allure of cooling down I splash some water on my face before beating a hasty retreat towards the tree line again as the reptile raises its head and turns it in my direction. Seeing me withdraw, the beast appears to settle again and go back to its business.
Opting not to push my luck, I resume the following heading set by the rope bridge.
Undertake an Expedition(Wits)—8 vs 4|7 Explore the Jungle +1 (10/10) Quests +2 (1/10)
I cross a river and what feels like miles of jungle, but my heart skips a beat when I spot an actual beaten path. Sure it wasn't a proper road, but it also wasn't overgrown or filled with webs or nesting birds and giant reptiles! My heart feels light and i can't help but grin at the sight. I can only hope I pick the right direction to follow.
Considering the torrential rainstorm that just swept through the region, I knew that hoping for footprints would be much too optimistic. Instead, I opted to continue in the direction that vaguely pointed towards the shoreline.
Finish an Expedition(track)—0 vs 10|7
It's about an hour while later that I find the jungle begins to thin out. Now that my line of sight has expanded significantly, in between the trees I can see a towering mountain range in the distance. Following the road yet further, the jungle transitions into a into a lush and fertile grassland. Not sad to be out of the jungle, I forge ahead reinvigorated. I announce to no one in particular as I stride forward "Now we're getting somewhere!"
End a Session Reach a Milestone Get to Safety +1 (6/10)