Let's try Outerloper


fauxjargon

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I've gotten a few survivors to the 'late-game' stage on Interloper before - meaning after day 50, with key pieces of gear like the satchel and bear bedroll finished and at least HRV or TWM (usually both) visited and looted.  I then lose them to dumb accidents with wolves, or just get bored.

So, time to try Outerloper!

Day 1:  I spawn in Hushed River Valley by one of the entrances to Fluffy's cave.  It is before noon and below -20 with windchill.  I decide it is worth checking out the ice cave - a fairly small risk at this point.  I hate jump scares though and consider just starting over.  After creeping through the cave for a while, I find the motherlode:  Matches, a bedroll, a hacksaw and a copy of Survive The Outdoors!  However, concerned about match supply, decide to start the critical first fire with Survive The Outdoors.  I'm not sure this was a good idea.  I boil a liter of water with my one can, and make two Rose Hip teas.  I will need another fire soon to make more water, but between a summit soda and my 500 ml of water, have enough for one night.  I explore deeper, equipped with a supply of torches, one lit.  I still don't know where the signal fire is - my goal is the high plateau with the signal fire that is accessible without a hatchet.
Then... a wolf howls.  I sprint back to the entrance I came in through without becoming a snack for Fluffy.  Outside, it is cold and windy but my torch stays lit - I sprint to the entrance to the waterfall ice cave.  I still haven't spotted the signal fire.  I decide to take the cave to the Monolith Lake area, at the cost of an additional match to light a torch in the upper segment.  When I exit the cave, I'm greeted by smoke - no cache for me until I can make a hatchet.  I explore the rest of the cave and find a bunny, a wool toque, combat pants and a wool ear wrap.  I decide to use the last of the day checking out the cave on Hushed River Valley.  I leave the ice cave, running naked through the waterfall - ouch - to the cave - where I find 12 matches and some firewood.  By the time I get back, I have five cases of frostbite risk, but haven't actually lost much condition.  I make my way through both waterfalls, light a fire to boil more water and cook my bunny and sleep.

Day 2:  I wake up in the ice cave, near the non-waterfall entrance.  I have some nice clothes, but no gloves and the condition of most of my clothes is below 50%.  I reluctantly make my one piece of cloth into a bandage to give me a chance of surviving a wolf attack - optimistic, considering I am still unarmed.  With 100% or so condition I decide to explore around a little bit.  I head to Offset Falls and cross the broken tree to check the body there - nothing good, then head back across the tree and up a short climb up some Rose Hip bushes to another campsite - and, jackpot - hacksaw #2, a cookpot and a bunny.  I start a fire, harvest the bunny, cook it and plan on making the cave to Milton by nightfall... and a blizzard rolls in.  I am not terribly familiar with Hushed River Valley, and trying to make it from my present location to the Milton cave in a blizzard probably only ends one way.  I make the Ice Cave with 60% condition and >80% Frostbite risk.  I eat, drink, sleep.

Day 3:  I wake up with around 80% condition.  The weather is bright and cold and I decide I want to at least make the Milton cave today.  My trip past offset falls up the narrow path by Stairsteps lake is uneventful.  My temperature bar runs out around the lake - it is amazing what travelling fast can do.  I make the cave to Milton and make a few attempts to grope through it in the dark, which always end up back at HRV - I light a torch and make it through without any problems.  It is around noon.
I light a fire just inside the cave on the Milton end with my torch, boil water, sleep for an hour - I'm finally warm.  I step out into the cold and sneak around the outside of Milton, maintaining a lit torch the whole way.  I even hacksaw 500g of meat off of a deer by the church.  I make the farm without any woodland creature encounters.  I have lost more condition due to the cold - I am at 65% condition and 90% frostbite.  Yikes.  I start a fire in the fire barrel, cook and eat my deer and some cattails.  Unsure about whether the local wolves are scared off by the firebarrel, I sleep 2 hours to warm up.  I would rather sleep in the cave halfway down to Milton Basin - that way the next day one of my rope climbs is done with.  I make it to the rope climb at evening - still very tired, I have to drop some of my precious cargo of sticks.  I make it down with a red fatigue bar.  I take a short nap in the cave, start a fire, boil water, make tea, eat cattails and sleep.

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Day 4:  I descend the rope and check out Rocky Refuge:  I get some firewood, 2 birch saplings, accelerant and a hoodie.  I got some maple saplings in HRV, so all I need is a hammer, some gut, some scrap metal, and to get to Spence's farm.  No biggie.  My temperature bar is already empty.  I scramble down the rocks to the lower cave - which is warm enough to sleep in - I do it for 2 hours - I am not 100% warmed up but don't want to get stuck in a blizzard so I go to Hermit's cabin.  More fuel - and - although I have no cloth to use with it - a sewing kit!  I also find a second recycled can, but I like the cooking pot so I keep all 3 vessels.  I like the cooking pot because you can boil a liter of water while sleeping for an hour, or boil 1.5 liters while doing a 1h30m task.

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A wolf causes a short delay and I lose some more condition due to the cold.  I warm up in the cave that leads to the radio tower in Forlorn Muskeg.  Is it just me or are caves way brighter these days?  Or is it just because it is extremely sunny out?

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Signal hill is unguarded by wolves - I get a can opener, a candy bar and a scrap metal.  I cross through the cave again - and find a rope.  I harvest the deer carcass completely, deploy the rope, then sleep.

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Day 5 - I wake up to an almost-blizzard.  I explore a little bit and find a cave I didn't know existed - more matches and some tomato soup!  Later in the day I fully harvest and cook a deer carcass.  I leave my 2 deer skins, 2 birch saplings, 2 maples and 4 guts along with my cookpot and extra hacksaw in the cave and set out in the early afternoon for Spence's.   The journey is uneventful - a warm fog rolls in and although the final approach to the safety of the old barn is a nailbiter, I make it there without incident.  I find a simple parka, two edible dog foods, an extra pair of jeans and two prybars.  I'm glad I hauled those deer meats all the way across the map.  I have cattails, but given that I have a surplus of hacksaws, an early-ish TWM visit seems like a good idea - the clothing in the crates is tempting.  On the other hand, there are snow shelters in HRV I can tear down to get the cloth.  I don't know how many days I have left to get them, and as a bonus if I go to HRV before TWM I can at least pick up all of my (then-cured) guts and such.  I need a hammer first though - so my next destination is Mystery Lake.

I have 70% condition, so I light a big fire and get a full night's sleep rather than trying to sleep in shifts to minimize the amount of burn time I need.

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Day 6 - I wake up around midday.  There is a dense fog, so I decide to explore the outbuildings of Spence's farm.  I find driving gloves, a baseball hat, some more coal and scrap metal.  I now have ten coals on me, and 12 stashed at Spences along with 8 scrap metal.  I would like to make a few arrowheads, so I hope to find more metal on the way to the hammer and back, but I really need to keep moving.  I boil some water, make some torches - and turn around to see a rare warm, sunny afternoon on the muskeg.  Time to move!

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I find a storm lantern, more coal, and a flare at the poacher's camp.  I get stuck here for a while getting circled by two wolves, and pass some time boiling water.  They're still there after a round of boiling, and I decide to sneak out.  A defensive fire and some sprinting later, I am free and clear and on my way to Mystery Lake.

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I find some coffee in the boxes by the train wreck in Mystery Lake and make it to Trapper's without incident.  No deer carcass.  It is late - if it weren't for the wolf delay at Poacher's I could have made it to the Forestry Outlook tonight.  Oh well.  I start a fire (with the torches I've carried from Spence's), boil water, stone bunnies, cook bunnies.  The wind shifts just as I finish cooking the last bit of bunny meat.  Time for bed.

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Day 7 - 100% condition.  Feels like -14.  Let's go.  I'm tempted by the deer carcass on the way to Unnamed Pond, but the global temperature drop waits for nobody.  I know better than to mess with caspbear's deer at Unnamed Pond - there are safe deer carcasses waiting for me in the ravine and possibly in front of the hydro dam.  I find hacksaw #4 at the hunting blind, and after a detour to avoid a wolf, arrive at the clearing before the climb to the tower.  There are three deer and two bunnies.  The deer watch as I stone the bunnies.  I make it to the tower with 80% condition.  Perhaps I shouldn't have stoned the bunnies - that probably cost me 3-5% condition.  It feels like -20 though, so I might need some indoor activities at the tower - I found the hammer, but want to check out Ravine first.  Flare guns aren't just for self-defense, you know...
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I head to Shortwave tower after a short nap to warm up.  I find nothing of note up there, and contemplate mountain goating down rather than using the rope - that way I don't have to hope the rope is there at the Ravine.  While peeking over the edge to assess whether or not I can mountain goat down, I get stuck - so down it is.  I get down without incident, and notice that it is pretty warm.  I left a lot of fuel and supplies at the tower, but still have my bedroll and 7 hours of fuel - more than enough for a night in the ravine... but not a night and a morning blizzard.  I decide to play it safe.  I check out derailment instead.  I throw caution to the wind, make a fire, and totally harvest and cook the deer corpse.  The wind picks up, but I notice that a torch will still stay lit - so I pull torches and travel back to the tower.  I'm stinky, tired and overburdened, but the route is short and once you turn off the tracks, safe.  I cook bunnies, boil water, eat and sleep.

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Day 8 - I didn't get a full night's sleep - I slept in a 3 and 4 hour shift, not sure how cold the tower would get if a blizzard rolled in - I figured I wouldn't get a feels like of more than -5 or so, which takes a few hours to make you cold.  No blizzard came, but dawn brought wind and cold - so I stayed in the tower and read A Sewing Primer cover to cover while eating my excess of deer meat.  Still cold after that.  Skin both bunnies.  Don't bother with their guts.  Still cold out.  Sleep 2 hours.  A warm, light fog appears!  I make it to ravine without incident.  There are deer carcasses by Train Loading and Carter Hydro, and one just above the rope in Ravine.
No rope, but 2 scrap metals and lantern fuel at the train car.  I drop what I don't need and climb down into the ravine for the night.  Good thing I brought a rope.  There is a heavy hammer in the train car, but I've got one already, and as the name implies...
I am cold by the time I get to the deer, and so reluctantly start a fire outside while I harvest it.  I go to bed.

Note to Hinterland:  I realize that software development is hard (I do it for a living too) but, come on, if you are by a fire, can we not automagically get the raw meat in the radial menu instead of having to go use the 'add to radial' button?

Day 9 - Wake up with 100% condition.  I put my fire on the cold side of the cave, so a 10 hour fire became a 15 hour one.  There is a blizzard so I read Survive The Outdoors.  I regret leaving my other copy of A Sewing Primer at the forge in FM, but fire starting is cool too.  Finally, the weather clears, but - oops - I have been awake for 6-7 hours and only slept 10 hours last night.  I take a 1hr nap, then head for the climb.  When I stop on the ledge, my fatigue is dangerously close to the 50% mark - but it is warm out, so I say a prayer to the weather gods and sleep an hour on the ledge.  I complete the climb.  I probably didn't need the nap.  Probably.20180906110437_1.thumb.jpg.3391b50854436457790a5d4add90b3b1.jpg

Now, I'm faced with a choice.  There are snow shelters decaying in HRV that I might still be able to harvest, and a reasonable chance at a Mackinaw Jacket or something at the loot spot.  I have enough scrap for a knife, hatchet and 8 arrowheads.  Not great but I'll take it.  There are also outdoor caves left to explore in HRV that I have found good stuff in, and there also will be a supply of cured guts, saplings and hides waiting for me in FM.  HOWEVER, I am also, optimistically, 2 days travel from the prepper's bunker at the foot of Timberwolf Mountain.  My bedroll is in rough shape, and there's also a 50% chance I can snag a replacement on the way in two locations in Pleasant valley - and if those don't pan out, a 25% chance in Winding River.  If I go to TWM there will be supplies to make rabbit mittens ready for me in Mystery Lake - I would have to detour up to the Forestry Outlook to get them, and then go forge and make mittens at Spence's.  However, cloth is a big concern - my gear is falling apart - I am at the point now where I will survive a wolf attack, but I will definitely lose clothing.

Timberwolf Mountain it is.  I want to backtrack to get a spare hacksaw - the one I have is at 80%.  I don't know if I can open all the containers with it at that condition, and the odds of finding quality tools outdoors are basically 0.  I have found four hacksaws already, I don't want to bet on finding one at the Mountaneers Hut or the Summit.

I harvest some deer meat from the carcass above the rope climb, and sleep in the cave near Mystery Lake.  I contemplate starting a fire, but it is already windy and might get worse.  I sleep 2 hours without a fire, and wake up to notice that there is a gentle snow falling.  I go start a fire and harvest the deer's guts and hide while cooking.

I go back, unfortunately losing my torch to a stupid torch chaining accident.  I start another fire, using up almost all of my coal, and sleep.  I have to move faster - I change my mind about getting another hacksaw from Mystery Lake.  I don't need to loot certain crates.


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Day 10 - I realize that my decision to not return to the Forestry Outlook means that I will not have a prybar unless I find one.  On the other hand, I can count the number of times I found anything good in the locked lockers in the Pleasant Valley Prepper's Bunker on a part of my anatomy I'm not sure I'm allowed to talk about on here.  This means that if I want a weapon, it's gonna be the heavy hammer.  I decide to take it at least as far as the Mountaineer's hut.  On the way to Coastal Highway I score some coal, dog food, a granola bar and a SKI JACKET.  My clothing is at +9/+3 (would be more like +14/+5 if I could fix it).  Not too shabby.

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I started late due to my nocturnal deer harvesting.  I plan to sprint hard today for the mine that leads to Pleasant Valley and hopefully normalize my sleep cycle that way.  Or become wolf food and make it irrelevant.  I make it to the mine without even getting cold - just before my heat bar ran out, the weather warmed up.  A wolf stopped me from going to the Forestry Outlook in CH.  Oh well.  I find quality tools and 45-50 coal in the cave.

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Forgot about this spawn :).  I also got a prybar.

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Still beautiful out, but it is late, my character is tired, and I have to go to work.  You can see the waterfall on the left, with a cave that potentially has a bedroll - however, I want to do TWM first - we will hit this on the way back if the cave on the way does not have one.  Bedroll quality doesn't really matter for TWM because we will be sleeping in caves that are always warm.  On the right, you can see one end of Skeeter's Ridge.

Also, I completely forgot - I am doing outerloper - and no, I haven't cheated - but I realized I was talking about the prepper's bunker - which is of course off limits.  I'll be sleeping in the cave by Mystic River Campground, or if the day goes REALLY well, the Mountaneers Hut.

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Nice going @fauxjargon. Awesome to have a fellow Outerloper to hear from. That Bedroll HRV makes a big difference. Worth the terror of playing hide and seek with the wolf in cave! You seem to be kicking ass - glad you realised the preppers cache was a no go. The nearby caves are awesome and a real life saver on Outloper. Good luck making for the summit. Hope the hut has some useful goodies. 4 hacksaws is crazy! Have fun

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Thanks, Stone - I am having fun this run - it has gone better than some of my Interloper runs but mostly due to dumb luck like finding a bedroll on day 1.  I don't think I would have made it out of HRV without it.

Day 11 - I decide to scoot up the side of the map all the way to Mystic River.  The trip there involves a detour to avoid a wolf and a bear, but I snag 1.2 kg of deer meat on the way.  The cave has a t-shirt and a lantern.  I rip up the t-shirt and fail at repairing my wool toque.  I decide to warm up, stone a couple bunnies, then light a fire to cook the bunnies and deer.  After an hour sleep, when I get outside, there are no longer bunnies!  I gather sticks and mushrooms, and head inside as a blizzard rolls in.  I am reluctant to start a fire to only cook 1000 kcal of food or so, but I want to start the next day at 100% condition - so I need calories for another 6-8 hours awake plus 10 hours sleep.  I boil a bunch of water while I wait to be tired enough to sleep for 10 hours straight.

Normally I think of my 'top'  25% of condition as a resource that should be freely spent as long as I can get it back every night.  75% is still plenty for a wolf struggle if you have a weapon (I harvested my prybar and left my heavy hammer at the mine leading to CH, leaving me with only a flare gun...).  However, if I have to sleep in a place like Mountaineer's Hut, where the temperature will alternate between too cold to sleep and warm enough, I like to be able to sleep in shifts - which means no condition recovery bonus from big 10 hour sleeps.  The advantage of this is that you save fuel - catnap until it gets cold, then build a fire that will last the rest of the night and sleep in one block (to avoid wasting matches).  The downside is that 4 1-hour sleeps and 1 6-hour sleep recover a lot less condition than a 10 hour sleep.   Usually I choose condition over fuel, but I am afraid of getting stuck at Mountaineer's for days and running out of fuel.

Day 12 - 93% condition.  I wake before dawn.  -33.  lmao no.  I decide to use my emergency cloth and manage to fix my toque.  I now have two >75% wool toques!

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The weather still is in the -30's when the sun comes up.  I stone and harvest two bunnies, one after another.  After the second bunny has been ripped apart by hand, the weather has improved to -11 (note when I talk about weather, I am talking about feels like).  Good enough.  I decide to risk hauling bunny meat to Mountaineers.  The gut and hides will be ready for me on the way back.  I make the climb without incident, but am below 50% fatigue when I make the top.

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I get to the mountaineer's hut at 73% condition.  I find a sport vest, dog food, sardines, granola bar and accelerant.  The sardines are lowish in condition so I eat them right away without incident.  The fishing hut has a heavy hammer, which I leave (although I should have brought it back to Mountaineer's to break down furniture), The Frozen Angler and a cotton toque.  As a blizzard shows, up, I cook and eat my rabbit meat.  I burn all my sticks, reclaimed wood and a coal to make a fire that will last for 10 hours so I can sleep in a block and get back to 100% condition.
 

Day 13 - a blizzard.  I boil more water.  I don't know how to determine what the hut temperature will be without a fire, so I am reluctant to let this one go out.  I boil water and read The Frozen Angler a bit.  Then I notice that I only have about 24 hours of fuel and 52 matches.  I can count on 2-3 coals in the engine-to-engine cave and 8 or so in the cave on the way to the summit.  I would like to have 8 or so in case I need to hunker down in a cave on the return trip to Coastal Highway - but I  have 40 or so waiting in the Cinder Hills mine once I get there.  I decide to boil water until the blizzard ends anyway.  I head out to the Engine hole, and manage to get stuck taking the wrong way down into the pit.  Bruises, torn clothing.20180906195100_1.thumb.jpg.ad8aaf6fb6502fb1c476371a931a54cb.jpg
The wolf who guards the engine is behind the rock just past the metal loot containers.  I start a fire, but it isn't enough to warm me up.  I loot the crates.  No good mittens or thermal underwear, but plenty of stuff to tear down to fix the rest of my gear and a thin wool sweater.  I torch chain to the engine-to-engine cave, explore it, find a bandage, Survive The Outdoors, lots of coal.  Y-cave yields some more fuel and matches.  I sprain my ankle and hurt my condition/clothing sprinting down the hill to the engine-to-engine cave.  I fix my gear up with what light remains, after the light is gone, harvest what I don't need and sleep.

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Day 14 - It's cold out, 93% condition.  I fix more of my gear.  I decide to harvest my parka, and run a ski jacket and down vest for the weight savings.  The ski jacket will become the inner clothing once a wolf or bear coat is ready.  I take a nap in Y-cave, loot the scrap metal and tomato soup in deer clearing, and head for Secluded shelf.  I make the cave with 71% condition.  I find 8-9 coals, a t-shirt and magnifying lens.  I fix my hacksaw on the first try.  I have 4 kg / + 11c clothing, 32 coal and 60 or so matches.  This beats a case of the Mondays anyday.  I move the rope in the shallow cave to the rope down from the shelf, then eat 3 tomato soups in the cave and sleep.  I wake before dawn to the aurora.

Day 15 - It's actually 'only' --17 out.  I decide to climb to the plane.  I drink a coffee and start walking.  My gear is pared down to 16 kg - no water, little food, only 5 hours fuel.

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I've never been in the plane during an Aurora - cool.  I find lots of good loot - ear wraps but no underwear.  Two deer skins and a rabbit skin.  I harvest/fix some more gear - I spend most of the day in the plane breaking down boxes, boiling water, fixing gear, etc.  Then I accidentally let my fire go out.  Even though I have something like 80 matches at this point, my "must not use matches" programming takes over and I sleep just long enough in the summit cave to be able to climb the rope down.  In a blizzard.  YOLO.  On the way down, I contemplate the idea that I'm a robot from the future whose programming includes "do not cause unnecessary harm to matches".  I make it to the cave with little condition loss and sleep.
Day 16 - I trim down my gear to 30 kg.  I leave a LOT of fuel in the cave.  Lesson learned.  I doubt I'll be back, but I also want to keep moving - I have SO MUCH coal stashed on the way to Coastal Highway anyway, along with a bit at Mountaineers.  I climb down the rope with the other rope, deploy it, climb back up, sleep, then set out for Mountaineers.  If this goes perfectly, I will sleep tonight at Mystic River.  Alternatively, Mountaineers.  Worst case Ontario, a wolf's belly.20180906212548_1.thumb.jpg.4dc67fc96e6973fd53f61391b2321b79.jpg
The weather is turning nasty when I get to Mountaineers.  Although I still hope to leave before dawn and take a 3-4 hour nap in the cave and make the mine by nightfall, it might not happen.
I warm up for a while, and noticing that the weather is pretty good, decide to go loot the wing crate.  A moose jumps me from behind a rock.  Seriously - I was listening to a podcast and I guess I didn't hear it.  I pop him with the flare gun.20180906215345_1.thumb.jpg.5c7baf121f74b347c513dca0daa5a5cf.jpg 

Queue Yakety Sax.  Too bad moose are immune to flare guns.
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I sleep.  Stupidly, I eat canned food to save making a fire.

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8 hours ago, fauxjargon said:

A moose jumps me from behind a rock.  Seriously - I was listening to a podcast and I guess I didn't hear it.  I pop him with the flare gun.

When you read something like this, you know the author knows the ropes. Nice run, good writing, rep earned.

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Day 17 - I wake before dawn to a clear starry night.  I zip down the rope to Pleasant Valley and get to the cave.  The bunny guts I left in the cave are 99% cured - nailed it.

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You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.  Bad weather keeps me stuck in the cave the rest of the day.  I read my copy of A Frozen Angler, cook some bunny meat I brought from TWM, get cabin fever risk.  Only 17%.  As long as we don't get cabin fever before we make it to the Muskeg we will be fine.  I go to sleep.
Day 18 - walking across Pleasant Valley with a feels like of -33 is stupid and costs about 30% condition.

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However my mission is basically successful - I get a new bedroll at 76% condition!  I want to make it to the mine (and check out the CH outlook if the wolves let me) tonight, but also don't want to lose any more condition.  So, as always, my plans depend on the weather.  I light a fire in the cave to celebrate.  I patch up my thermal underwear (on the fourth try...) and notice that harvesting a bedroll gets you 10 cloth.  I've never actually harvested one before.

I click on a deer carcass outside of the cave, thinking about steaks, and realize that I forgot my hacksaw somewhere.  Oh well.  I have three more, although my memory is somewhat fuzzy as to where the third is - one is in the Marsh Ridge cave, one is at Forestry Outlook.  It means I can't break down the metal shelving inside the mine - but I still have plenty of scrap.  I  notice that about 10-15 coal has re spawned in the mine, even though I was last here only a week ago.

Day 19 - I wake up at 85 condition.  I should have made a fire, tea and water last night - I only have enough water to get my thirst meter 80% full when I wake, and the tea would have allowed me to wake at 95%.  Oh well.  At least my sleep cycle is better.  I attempt to go to the forestry outlook in CH, but a wolf is blocking the path.  It seems like this road is basically impassable if you don't have a weapon - of course I have my flare gun, but unless I actually kill the wolf I will have to scare it twice, which I don't want to do.  I never find anything good at the tower in Interloper anyway.

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A blizzard keeps me in the cave until late afternoon.  I drink a hot coffee and start walking.  I have 36 kg in my backpack.  Sort of risky, but I will need the fuel for a night in the Ravine - I don't think I can make the Forestry Outlook.  A wolf jumps me on one of the last curves on the road to Ravine.  That road is another place that I have lots of trouble with wolves (where it curves to the right, looking up a hill, with a trailer inside the curve) - they can run up the steep embankments on the side of the road and be on you pretty fast.  I use a precious flare gun round to scare the wolf off - no time to make a defensive fire.  I miss, but the wolf runs away anyway before re-aggroing me and following me all the way to Ravine.

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I reach the cave on the Mystery Lake end of Ravine with 58% condition.  Good thing I have tea.

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2 hours ago, Hotzn said:

When you read something like this, you know the author knows the ropes. Nice run, good writing, rep earned.

Either that or the author was getting a little bit full of himself - but seriously, it was just dumb luck that I managed to take a route into the clearing such that I never saw the moose until he was ready to charge.  Maybe he didn't do his warning grunt because he didn't see me either.  Although "Let's break our ribs" might be a fun challenge run, I don't think I would have been able to survive broken ribs.

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Day 20 - A Case of the Mondays - I boil 0.5 liters of water and make coffee.  I drink, pack up and go - it is bright and clear but windy.  I'm going to lose some condition on this trip, hauling 38 or so kg of gear, but I want to be back in Hushed River Valley by day 30, so I do what I have to do.

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The bridge wolf by carter hydro is has today off, but the derailment wolves are there.  I have to detour around to the left.  Wolves sometimes go on the hill by derailment, but I'd rather 'might be a wolf' to 'two wolves'.  There was a wolf.  We cross a blind crest almost at the same time, and I have to use another precious flare on him.
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I decide not to worry about the wolf - either I will find it much later or I won't - I'm COLD.
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The wolf, of course, went the same way I wanted to go.  Thankfully it died in about one real life minute.  Against my better judgement, I make a fire by it, heat up some herbal tea, drink, and manage to harvest one gut and its hide before a blizzard rolls in.  Gut is best harvested from bunnies anyway.  I make it to the tower without any incident.  Then I check my inventory.  I forgot to put the cov- I forgot my stash of 30+ crow feathers at the Mountaineer's hut.  That's probably where the hacksaw is.  I have six crow feathers.  I decide to screw up my sleep cycle by sleeping for four hours to fix a broken ankle, because the fact that I have 20+ painkillers and 6+ prepared rose hips and two teas is irrelevant.  I decide to go to the cave by trapper's.
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Several wolf detours later, I make it there with 46% condition.  Dumb, dumb dumb.  I was WAY too aggressive, and now have to spend another day in the vicinity if I want to start my trip to Spence's at 100% condition.

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Day 21 - Look up forgery in the dictionary - 77% condition.  I take stock of what I have. 

78 matches, 22 coal, hacksaw, quality tools, heavy hammer, 20 pain pills, 12 antibiotics. 

3 bandages and 2 old man's beard.  3 emergency stims.  13 tea, 10 coffee.
3x wool toque, 3x wool socks, 2x wool ear-wraps, jeans and combat pants.  Fleece mittens, ski jacket and down vest.  Hoodie and thin wool sweater.

22 scrap metal in total (plus a random arrowhead I found).  6 crow feathers.  5 deer skins, 7 rabbit skins, 10 guts, one wolf skin.  15 cloth.

Feeling good, but I've looted basically every good loot spot in Outerloper - there are two more outdoor bedroll spawn to check for extra cloth
I drop the hacksaw (already broke down the metal at Spence's), the deer and wolf hides and 2 of the rabbit hides.  I bring enough guts for 2 snares, a bow, rabbit mitts and one repair.

I decide to go to the Muskeg Forge anyway once the morning's blizzard clears.  I stop to make a fire at the High Blind, and make it there with barely any damage taken from the cold.
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I make it to the muskeg forge with 80% of my temperature bar left.  It wasn't that far, wasn't that cold, and there were no wolves to dodge until the very end - I raced the wolf to the invisible wolf barrier that protects the forge.
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I light up a fire - I have lots of fuel - 8 reclaimed wood, 32 coal, 4 fir firewood.  I decide to craft mittens first, crafting a bit at a time, then going back to the heat to warm up.  Then I accidentally craft a bunch at once - I lose a bunch of condition, getting down to 49%.  I make a tea, finish crafting, then read (to get tired enough for a 10 hour sleep).

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Day 22 - 89% condition.   I wake up at midday.  I am burning through nonrenewable resources at a frightening rate - it is necessary to keep up my pace, but I can't do it forever.  I grab the hacksaw and go check out a dead deer.  9% condition meat.  YOLO.  I carve off 3 500 g steaks and get back to the forge.  I make two snares while each steak cooks - I eat them as soon as they come off the forge.  It is so strange crafting at that table with a wolf patrolling at ultraspeed feet from you.  I forge through the night:
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I realize that I've gone and totally reversed my sleep cycle - it is dawn and I am exhausted.  I decide to keep crafting - which will cost fuel that would be useful on the trip back to HRV - I want to sleep in the cave below the Paradise Meadows Farm - the trip from the Marsh Ridge Cave to the HRV cave is just too long if you're going uphill.  There also probably won't be fuel to protect me while I craft at the Paradise Meadows barn - so I won't be able to make a bow for the HRV trip unless I find a LOT of sticks.  Question:  Does the fire barrel at the Paradise Meadow's farm repel wolves or do you have to make a campfire?



Day 23 - Dazed and Confused -

I consider my options with crafting.  I have only found one whetstone so far, but I can expect another at the HRV cache.  I consider crafting an extra knife or hatchet.  I decide against it - I will get more coal and can forge again.  There's still lots of reclaimed metal on the map, but the biggest supply of it is in the PV-CH mine in the form of shelving.  I craft 4 more arrowheads anyway, bringing my total to 20, plus the one random one that I think I left... somewhere.

I craft 9 arrow shafts with my three birches, and 3 arrows - limited by crow feathers.  I am completely fatigued - I didn't sleep the night before.  I prevent condition loss with 1 hour naps while working.  Not a great day.
 

Day 24 - Torchsaw Ridge - 99% condition - It is bright, cold and feels like -27.  I have 5 coals left and 6 hours on the fire.  I break down the remaining crates.  A warm fog rolls in and I roll out.  I leave eight arrowheads behind - leaving me with 12, but only 3 with arrows.  And no bow.  Details.  Maybe I can stab a wolf with one like Legolas did in that one movie.  I pull six torches - with the intention of torch chaining to the Marsh Ridge rope - or, to avoid dropping anything, the stream and the cave.  The purpose is warmth and free defensive fires.  I end up making two, to get by a narrow spot with a wolf on the ridge that goes  between Spence's and the logging cars.
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I find a random campsite on my way to Hat Creek - with mittens that would have been VERY helpful.  I must have walked within 50 meters of here on my way from Milton to Spence's 20 days ago.  Sadly, the snow shelter is ruined - hopefully not a portent of things to come in HRV - I find ruined pinnacle peaches and some dog food that I'll risk.  I randomly sprain my ankle and wrist.  Doesn't matter, I'm pretty much home free at this point.
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I spot a dead deer at the base of Hat Creek.  I light a fire, and hack off a chunk with my new hatchet - it's edible.  There are 2 kg of meat.  I've got an excess of sticks, some daylight left, and nothing productive to do - I am not going to make it to anywhere safe in Milton Basin and cannot climb the bushes to there anyway without drugs or sleep.  I decide to fully harvest and cook the deer.  Cabin fever is a perennial fear - although this is outerloper, so it should probably be called cave fever.  I've got a nice warm, foggy day in a relatively wolf-free part of the muskeg.  Let's use it.
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I get through the cave, torch chaining, then realize I didn't cook one of my deer steaks.  I light a fire on the marsh ridge end and cook it.  I put out snares.  I gather some sticks - there are already a bunch stored  in the cave, but nobody ever said "damn, I have too much fuel lying around".  This would be a nice opportunity to read, but apparently it is impossible to read with a sprained wrist.  I notice that I have brought the hammer this far.  Oops.  I eat some deer meat and go to bed.

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Day 25 - Dances with Wildlife -  a blizzard.  Oh well.  It is always too cold to travel at dawn anyway - and  I have a long journey ahead of me - so it doesn't bother me that much.  There is certainly an element of cabin fever risk staying in the cave, but what choice do I have?  I read A Sewing Primer for 2 hours then check the weather - a feels like -14 fog.  Such is life.  I head out.  Milton Basin usually only has one wolf so the fog doesn't scare me.
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I am a little tired IRL - the wolf attacks me even though I thought that sprint/walking away from a wolf basically guaranteed no attacks.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  2 blood losses/infections.  I fought it off with the hatchet - so the wolf will eventually become dead.  I want its pelt.  29% condition.  My clothing seems OK.  I have one bandage and one OMB left.  I don't know if I'm allowed to swear on this forum, so, dear readers, please, swear for me.
I meet more woodland creatures:

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The moose is pretty small in the image, but he's there, right in the middle.  I light a fire with accelerant -not wanting to lose condition while I wait for a fire to start normally, in the low cave.  I still want to make the climb to the midway cave tonight.  I nap in front of the fire - 21% condition.  NAUGHTY WORDS.  I make tea and drink it.

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Day 25B - I ragequit after getting to safety post-wolf attack.  I spend the rest of the day eating enormous quantities of cattails.  I'm not tired so I read until dark - I get my mending skill to level 2 - crucial, considering that I only have three cloth on me and ten or so stashed back in Mystery Lake - there are two potential bedroll spawns left in the world though.  Once tired, I sleep for 10 hours.

Day 26 - Hushed River Valley - I wake up at midday - 59% condition - it is -19 out but I can't stay on this inhospitable ledge forever.  I begin to regret taking the Muskeg - Milton route rather than the safer Mystery Lake route.  A quick review of my inventory reminds me that I left my maple saplings in the Marsh ridge cave - so I'll be making the return trip - hopefully - through the Muskeg one more time.  I warm up behind the church, stone a bunny and pull torches so i can torch chain all the way to the cave.  I then put out my torch gathering cattails - the 'gather cattail' tooltip was definitely on my screen though.  I make the cave to HRV with 51% condition.
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It is a light snow out when I reach HRV - if I could trust the weather to hold, I could conceivably even make it to Reclusive falls and the safety of the ice cave tonight - but with 51% condition, there would be no margin for error - a shift in the weather or a wolf attack would be fatal.  I decide to poke down to Cloudtop falls and see if I can find some cattails.  I stone a bunny, deploy my 2 snares, gather all of the cattails and make my way back.  My temperature bulb runs out just outside the cave.  Not bad.
Day 27 - A Cold Shower - 81% condition.  I sprint to the reclusive falls entrance.  No bunnies in my snares - I take them with me.  This little corner of the map is one of the prettiest - my other favorite place is Monolith Lake.
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I take off my clothes before going through the falls - no wolf, so no rush.  I manage to throw a torch up the climbing rope!  I thought it was impossible.
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I light a small fire to warm up before making my way to the signal fire, and notice that I left my cans in the cave that leads to Milton.  I have 1.7 liters of water though, so I'll be okay unless the weather is really awful.   I find some ruined peaches, some moose meat I decide not to eat, a heavy hammer and a MACKINAW JACKET (84%!) at the campsite.  Also a sewing kit and whetstone.  The snow cave is ruined.  I am at 60% condition and very tired.    I decide that exploring the three caves on Monolith Plain would be a mistake.  I should have dropped even more of my gear at the bottom of the small rope climb.  Several climbs later - my stamina circle actually goes red on the last climb - all my stuff is at the bottom.  I sleep.


Day 28 - Now What? - 89% condition.  I get lost in the cave for a while before finding the exit I want - without the waterfall - a few hours before dawn.  I have a full thirst meter, 0.3 liters of water and three teas remaining.  I decide to take the slightly more dangerous route across stairsteps lake - the same route I took on day 3.  The weather is bad until late afternoon.  It's -16 when I decide to leave.  I decide to hug the northern edge of Hushed River until I get to the crossing.  A bear is in the way.  I go back to the cave, sleep an hour and go the long way around to avoid the bear.  My temperature bar runs out a bit past the river.  I cross Stairsteps lake without incident and climb the ridge.20180908130947_1.thumb.jpg.8171794670e74d7a4b6f637515bbb9b0.jpg
I have 67% condition when I reach safety and my precious cans.  Not bad - if I had started at 100 I could sleep off all the condition loss that journey took without any problems.  I boil water, drink it, then plan my next moves.

I have lots of coal - enough for a serious crafting session at one of the outdoor crafting tables.  I could probably make deerskin boots or pants and a bow with that much fuel - but I have pretty nice clothing as it is, and I am low on crow feathers for making arrows.  I have three arrows and two feathers - I will probably get at least one more on the way to the Muskeg forge.  Four arrows is nothing to sneeze at - but pretty sketchy for hunting moose.  I'm not a very good shot with the bow to begin with, and I have not fired a bow since widening my FOV.  I am tempted to start a Voyageur game just to practice with the bow.  Maybe a Muskeg-only Voyageur game would be fun.  I would have to find a hacksaw and hammer in the Muskeg for it to be viable though.

Question:  Are wolves more aggressive when you are holding a bow?  

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Exciting times @fauxjargon! Regarding your question: point an arrow at a wolf: yeah, they react, seem to take it personally. Sound like you're having fun. Bad luck with the wolves but that moose  encounter could have been a disaster.

Some bad dice on repairs there. Finding cloth is so exciting now! Finding bad clothes is still a win! If there's one thing Outerloper does it's make the building free areas feel like home. I also feel as you do when i have to light a match. I've done some really pedantic stuff with torches to avoid that. I've taken to dropping a torch before leaving a cave just in case it's windy outside. You can indeed chuck torches up the cave rope. I even managed, 5th time lucky, to chuck one around that waterfall inside the cave. Only seems to work one way though.

Anyway, the Mackinaw is a big tick. Get going then.. that bow isn't making itself ?

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@Stone thanks!  I'll have to experiment and see if the wolf reacts differently when you draw the bow vs. when you are just holding it.  I have heard mixed reports on whether or not the Barker farm's fire barrel repels wolves.  If it does I will craft the bow there - I have to go up and down the rope and across the basin to get the maples, but that will only cost a day.  I think the fire barrel by the trailer near HRV does - but maybe the wolves are just not allowed to go right by the door of that trailer.  It is a good place to craft in Interloper but without the safety of the house I don't know what I would do in a blizzard if my fire isn't in the barrel.


I am feeling like another trip to Timberwolf Mountain might be in order.  Is it not outerloper-ish to craft in the PV-CH mine?  Obviously I need fuel for light, but that's true of every Outerloper crafting site except TWM.

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Day 29 - Wolfy and Bullwinkle -  90% condition - The early morning is bright and sunny.  I plan on starting a fire with my mag lens and warming up halfway down behind the church.  It's lousy with wolves - there are three hanging out on the pond and one tailing me.

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I pass them all without having to start a fire or use my flare gun, and notice that there are no wolves at the farm.  I climb down the ropes, warm up at the cave on the basin floor for an hour and make it to the Muskeg.  I stone two bunnies on the way.  I lost 50% condition today.  Stupid.

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After warming in the cave for an hour, I decide to go put out my snares before bed.  I harvest the bunnies I brought, but don't eat them - it is too cloudy for the mag lens and I have cattails.  There's a moose on the loose!  As I and some other people have noticed, moose are especially dangerous when there are low obstacles like the rocks in the center-left that block sight but not necessarily movement.
Day 30 - 75% condition - I strip down my gear to the bare essentials and cross straight over the muskeg.  I haul the heavy hammer that I accidentally brought to Marsh Ridge with me too.  I get there with 60% condition.  I eat cattails all day to avoid condition loss from hunger.  This isn't sustainable.  I light a campfire by the crafting table with the mag lens and get to work.  I boil 7 liters of water, craft a bow and two more arrows.  I found no crow feathers on the way across.
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A bow is a crucial part of self-sufficiency.  I could fish, but fishing requires much more fuel than deer hunting.

Day 31 - 95% condition.  Good enough that I can go hungry today.  There is a heavy fog, but it only feels like -5.  I leave my remaining six coals and the heavy hammer at the Spence farm.  I left my hatchet at the marsh ridge cave - armed with only a knife, a wolf struggle will cost a lot of condition.  Speaking of wolves, one barks in the fog.  I lead it back to the farm where I can shoot it at my leisure.  Not very sporting, but screw you, wolfy.

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I harvest its hide and guts.  I then find out that you can't cure things in the Spence farm - but maybe you can't get cabin fever either?  The fog has gotten extremely dense, and to carry anything stinky is not a good plan in this survivor's opinion.  Although the wolf won't react to you drawing your bow inside the Spence farm, it definitely charges when you draw it elsewhere.  It doesn't seem to care if you are just holding it.  I pull a modest number of low quality torches:

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I then proceed to torch chain my way along the western ridge that leads past the Broken Railroad tunnel.  Another wolf is in the way - I have to light a series of defensive fires.  I take a few shots at it, but miss.  With the new FOV settings I can't really use the bow as a self-defense weapon by itself - I need a fire to protect me.  I find eight coal in the cave on the way.  The weather stays nice for the whole day - I gather sticks for the rest of the evening, maintaining a lit torch.  A sprained ankle and a wolf encounter take some time and get my feet wet on some thin ice, but I make it back to the Marsh Ridge cave without too much trouble.  No bunnies in the snares.  I move them a bit further towards where the bunnies patrol.  I don't see the moose.
Day 32 - Medium Game Hunting - 100% condition.  No moose.  I stone 3 bunnies, stash them in the cave and go up to Milton basin to find the moose.  He's not there.  I shoot a deer, wait for him to bleed out (why are all the moose and deer in this game male?  It would be pretty easy to make alternate models with no antlers.)  I light a fire, quarter the deer, and haul the meat and hides, plus a lit torch back to the outdoor cave on Marsh Ridge.
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I cook ALL the meat.  I'm not sure shooting the deer was a great use of a day and the bow/arrow condition - not to mention, without tea, I won't be able to recover the condition I lost waiting in the cold for the deer to bleed out - but I have more meat than I know what to do with next to a warm shelter.  I could stay here for days.  My understanding is that cooked deer meat decays at 2% a day outdoors, so there's no reason not to store most of it here while I do other things.  I need bear and moose hides.

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Day 33 - The Bear Necessities - I tried to find a bear.  I didn't.  It was pretty lame.
Day 34 - The Bear Necessities 2:  Electric Boogaloo: 82% condition - I start a fire on the pond near the bear cave to warm up and boil water - I was out.  I shoot a wolf and it dies on a high ledge.
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I make a fire to stay warm while I take its hide.  Free (minus sticks) solar powered fires are the best.  I bring a torch back down to the other fire to restart it and continue boiling water.

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The bear graciously walks past a tree it can't climb and I shoot it.  No instakill.  I sleep in the outdoors cave at the cost of some coal.
Day 35 - The Bear Necessities part 3 - I grab the bear hide after most of a day of searching and playing hide and seek with wolves.  No guts - the wind is picking up after I grab the hide and it is a long walk back to Hat Creek.  I warm up in the cave, eat venison, and poke up to Milton Basin to check it for man's most dangerous enemy - the moose.  He's there.  I have only four arrows though - the one I used to kill the bear is nowhere to be found.

Day 36 - The Search For Satchel - I head back up to the basin.  The fog is way too dense for moose hunting and I fear a wolf attack, but nothing goes wrong.  I take catnaps in the cave to stay warm and energized for a potentially busy day of moose killing.
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It took all four arrows.  I got them all back, too!  I was pretty worried when the third arrow didn't down it - I only killed two moose before - the first took two arrows and the second three.  I have no idea what to do with 43 kg of meat.

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Crafting in the mine - I'm doing it but maybe it is taboo. I figure if it's in an allowed area, allow it. But it's not as engaging as a location with a view, crackling fire, howling wind and wolves.

Forgive me for asking as you probably said but where did you find the mag glass? My Outerloper game may not have one...

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