UnReal World > Stories
Cath the lost
caethan:
This is a story about a game I played while trying to follow the "lost" challenge: completely random character, random start location, hurt helpless and afraid start in winter, and all possessions get destroyed as soon as you load. You're also restricted to only using and traveling on the zoomed in map, except for viewing (not traveling) from mountain peaks to get a look at the lay of the land. I have my sufficiency mod installed but aren't using it for the first winter.
Set upon by robbers while traveling alone in the wild, Cath was left badly beaten, with no possessions and nothing but her skills to keep her alive. Luckily her wounds, while painful, were not too serious and didn't prevent her from walking or using her hands. She awakened completely lost and with no idea where she is - the first thing to do was to make a fire, for November this far North would surely freeze her within a day unclothed and without a fire.
caethan:
She has been left in a spruce mire to die and sets about looking for small rocks and loose branches - she can use the branches to light an old dead log on fire, and make a crude knife to feed it while she gets her bearings. In her searching, she stumbles upon a thicket of cloudberries. Immensely grateful for the food, she picks the closest bush and immediately sacrifices it to the spirits in appreciation, then gobbles down the other half.
Vowing to come back for the berries, she gathers the last of the sticks she needs and sets a log on fire, huddling next to it for warmth. She carefully knaps one rock with another for hours to make a crude blade. By the time she finishes, the fire has warmed her up thoroughly, but the snow has started, reminding her that winter has just begun and it will only get colder.
caethan:
Knowing that she cannot afford to be without a fire for long, she gathers branches from the trees nearby her fire and bundles them together to make torches. She can carry a fire with her, stopping to light a log to warm herself up when she needs. With five torches she should be able to travel a day or so --- though which way, she doesn't know. But it's late afternoon and traveling in the dark is a foolish idea. Her log fire will last until morning - she gathers berries to settle her stomach and sate her thirst, then settles in for a cold night's sleep.
In the middle of the night, the snowfall wakes her and keeps her from sleep. It quickly turns into a hard rain that chills her to the bone. She wakes up in the morning cold and ready to travel. With no better ideas, she decides to walk northeast. If nothing else, she can get out of this mire where the farthest to see is a few dozen feet. After an hour or so of walking, she finally comes out into an open part of the mire, with much better visibility. And not much to see, unfortunately.
She decides to follow the lay of the land, along the border to the spruce mire to the south. Perhaps she can find some high ground to get a broader view and at least get out of this swamp. After a bit of walking, she finds a pool in the mire, frozen but clear. She drags a log over to warm herself while she breaks the ice with her stone knife, then drinks deeply and washes her wounds. As she washes, a capercaille flies by!
caethan:
Hungry, she aims a rock at it, hoping for roast bird for breakfast. The first three miss, and it flies over the ridge out of sight. Depressed, she decides to go pick berries for breakfast instead. She finds the bird eating cloudberries from the bushes, and throws another rock. This time the spirits bless her throw, the rock hits perfectly and the bird goes down. Meat for breakfast, feathers for something better than rocks, and a bit of hide for a cord. And as she begins to tan the hide while the meat roasts, she finds her hip and elbow no longer sore and swollen. (32% injury) What a wonderful morning! As she eats her meal, she thinks for a moment, then tears off a leg and offers it to the spirits. Surely they sent the bird by for her. The least she can do is return some of it in thanks.
caethan:
She decides to stay here for a few days. The spirits here are friendly - she can gather berries and try to catch a few more birds, while letting her injuries heal. After a bit more than a week, she is fully healed and the spirits have blessed her with many catches and an abundance of berries. She set up a dozen simple traps and baited them with berries, catching nearly a dozen birds, tanning the hides for leather. The leather let her make a simple stone axe, with which she crafted a javelin to help her hunt and a rough bowl for carrying water on her journey. She also is no longer unclothed - a simple belt holds her axe and a cap covers her ears.
The time spent catching birds has been useful in other ways as well - she has learned much about how to set traps to be sensitive when a bird comes by for the bait, and how to tan bird leather without damaging the skin. And she has learned a bit about how to aim rocks at birds as well.
Before she moves on, she gathers the bait out of her traps and disables them, not wanting to anger the spirits that have been so kind. She makes an offering of berries, asking for guidance to a village, then heads off eastward.
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