Kermit the Timberwolf Hermit

[Guest jeffpeng]

Inspired by the fact that I never made it past day 2 starting in Timerberwolf Mountain I thought out a challenge for me that would (hopefully) eventually change that. The rules for this challenge are simple.

• VanillaLoper
• No Feats
• Survive 30 days without leaving TWM

This might not be as hard as starting in the Hushed River Valley (or is it?) and certainly not as grim as the Deadman Challenge. But maybe some will still enjoy this. I'm always glad for hints and tips :-)

Kermit 1 / Day 1

It's morning, clear, equally cold, -34 FL. I start on the hill next to the cave halfway between the deer clearing climb and the fallen tree bridge, but I lose valuable time realizing where I am. I goat down to the cave, only to find a single sorry lump of cedar. I decide that my best bet in this cold is to make it to the Three-Way-Cave, the matches should be guaranteed if I am not mistaken. On the way I take the risk of picking up a stone and trying to kill the rabbit patrolling the area. Granting myself one try - I hit! Frostbite risk on hands and head are already upon me as well as risk for hypothermia. I knew I had to move fast, but this quickens things even more.

At the cave I find matches, soup, 2 fir, another cedar and a torch. -13 FL means I would have to spend most of my firewood right here just to warm up. I decide to make it down to the Cave of Engines, even though being already down to 85% and having spent most of my breath sprinting here.

 

Reaching the Cave of Engines at 81%, even though the cave is just -2 FL lighting a torch doesn't push me above freezing. -0°C apparently is colder than 0°C. I still decide to explore the cave for a bit, especially for coal, now that I got my perfect 100% torch lit. 

The corpse in the cave yields a welcomed bar of chocolate plus valuable antibiotics. Down to 65% I reach the other end of the cave, having looted 4 lumps of coal, make a fire, boil some water and take the meat from the rabbit. Then I prepare some Reishis while I cook the meat, which I eat right away since I cannot afford to smell. I also make some tea to keep me warm once I exit the cave. Since I want to warm up and cure my various ailments I end up spending both my cedars and one fir, but find the time to at least harvest the guts from the rabbit. I will leave them here for now, as well as the remaining carcass, but at least now I am fully warmed up, free of frostbite and hypothermia and have enough fire left to pull some torches.

I sit at the last few minutes of the dying fire and think about my options. I decide to make it to Andre's peak, goat down from there to the cave below and then try to make a beeline for the hut before nightfall. Desperate times, aye. But upon leaving the cave all my plans instantly fall to pieces.

Having no bedroll with being well into the afternoon and having too little firewood to spend the night I see little choice than to stick to my plan despite the most unfavorable of conditions. Maybe I can still find my way if I find the frozen river after coming down from Andre's peak. Maybe not.

I find Andre's Peak, along with a few chunks of cedar, and actually survive the climb down with "just" sprained body parts. I even stumble into the cave below, which is however completely empty. I consider staying, but decide against it. If the blizzard persists I'll be even more screwed once my fire dies, and being 63% I still have a good chance to make it to the hut in mostly one piece. So I get back out.

It's still the deepest of blizzards but I actually find the river. Sounds of joy mix with the barks of joy from a wolf. I never see him coming. It's a short struggle.

Kermit 2 / Day 1

I start down the ramp from the western engine. Around 3 pm, -18 FL, medium snow, medium winds.  

The obvious call is making it down the rope, across the lake and to the hut. From up here I spy no immediate threats so I feel safe to make it down there. However once there I will need to keep an eye out for both the bear and the wolves patrolling the lake. Stopping on the ledge for a stick I spot a wolf patrolling the area, right before he disappears behind a snow bank. I cling to the wall and make it to the side of the lake opposite to the hut. One wolf on the far side lake as far as I can tell. Risk of hypothermia is on me, and snow intensifies. I stay ducked crouching around a rock until I see a deer near the fishing hut. If it's safe enough for him, it's safe enough for me. I get going.

I make it into the fishing hut. I find a cotton toque, sadly at just 21%, but it will do for now, some charcoal, a tinder plug. I pick up some cattails on the way to the hut as frostbite risk strikes me in my hands. I gather a few more sticks before I enter. I quickly take inventory: Soda, The Frozen Angler, sewing kit, sports vest, simple tools, some firewood and matches of course. No hacksaw. I might be mistaken, but this would mean I have a pretty good chance of finding a hacksaw at the summit.

The sports vest fails to lift me above freezing. -0°C again. I start to hate decimals. 76% and still having mild temperatures I decide to stock up a bit more before making a fire. Without a hacksaw matches will be a terrible luxury until I reach the summit. I leave the hut in the direction of the landing gear as this part should pretty safe from any threats that have teeth. I go look for the corpse on the hill next to the PV exit in hope for a torch, but cannot find it. Then I make my way back, sticking to sticks (yes, I did that) since I can't afford tearing branches right now. The RNG god strikes me out of nowhere and decides that my ankle is now sprained. Merely an inconvenience I push on.

I return home, safely, down to 55%, almost struck with hypothermia, but with an impressive 32 sticks. It takes me FOUR matches to light the fireplace. 4! Most things had gone reasonable well until now, but the fact that I am down to 8 matches on day one with no hacksaw dampens my hopes quite severely. I throw my fir log into the fire, put on some water and sleep an hour.

After that night is upon me, and it looks very blizzardy to me. I head out to the eastern part of the lake to find a few stones and come back. I contemplate my options, and decide to sleep another hour. Only then I see the mag lens under the bed. Fluffy be praised! I had missed it in my first sweep. After the hour of sleep outside is as dark as the loading screen. Maybe even darker. Without the fire the cabin would be about -6°C, adding my +3 FL and +5 from the bed I could sleep in the bed without freezing - so I decide to pull the remaining duration of the fire in torches and let it die.

I sleep two hours, and wake up fully rested. Just as I look out of the hole in the roof the expected blizzard set's in. -11 FL in the cabin. 

I gain about 90 minutes passing time in bed before I start freezing again. -12 FL. I'm almost ready to restart the fire, but then the weather changes again, and temperatures start to rise. I decide to give this a few more minutes and see, if I can get away without a fire, but after a few minutes I realize I cannot afford any more condition degradation. 43%. At least this time I won't have to spend four matches again ...

I manage to sleep another 90 minutes until I'm rested again. It's about 4 am, and my calorie store is pointing towards the negative. Since I cannot afford any more condition loss, I fling down the cattails I had found yesterday. I keep the fire alive for now and read in my book about fishing - not that I expect to do much fishing anytime soon.

Kermit 2 / Day 2

By the time morning dawns it's ugly and grey and cold (-22 FL) and I am miserable. I sacrificed two valuable reclaimed wood to keep the fire going, but now I need to go out and get more, quick. I get out, breaking down one branch at a time, return, feed it to the fire, warm up passing just enough time in bed to recover, only to repeat this. Sustainable is something else. All I can hope is that this day will get considerably warmer by midday.

The wolf is patrolling dangerously close to the hut, but now that I am also taking starvation damage I have little to no choice and get some of those cattails. I succeed at it, and even find some new sticks. Just when I thought things would turn for the better, as temperatures outside started to approach single digit negatives.... 

Having 4 cattails and 32 minutes of fire left I break down I break down the two crates - the small bench already went last night. I laugh as I find a candy bar under the crate next to the rope, like the RNG god would have gifted me a sweet "sorry for fudging you over like that, farewell". I keep it for now and eat my cat stalk instead. The reclaimed wood (I had hoped to save for snares ....) buys me another hour. But ... -45 FL or not ... I gotta get out there if I want to have a Snowball's chance in HRV. I lose 2% breaking down the only branch I find, return, get out for a stick, and start accepting my fate. This won't work.

Another branch considerably farther away costs me 2 more % of condition, bringing me down to 40. The blizzard slowly warms up to almost tropical -19 °C not considering winds, but it's not going fast enough I'm afraid. Another trip into the cold yields no firewood. 39 minutes on the fire. Sprinting away my last calories I find 5 sticks and even avoid freezing. It's time for my chocolate bar of last resort. 64 minutes on the fire. I lose 4% on an even longer trip, being down to 36% condition and 69 minutes on the fire. I keep this up for hours. It won't end .... But then it does.

It's around 5 pm, I lost my cotton toque, I am down to 32%, totally exhausted, out of food and starving. But the fire .... still burns. It's -15 outside, no winds. I consider getting my bathing gear out, then I remember I'm starving and I need food - and night is coming. AGAIN. And I cannot sustain the fire any longer. As the bed is warm enough to keep me above freezing I sleep an hour to regain some rest. When I get out .... winds are brushing up again. -25 FL. I need food, and since I cannot risk getting farther onto the lake I need to score a rabbit, and then I need to hope for a warm night. That's all I can bank on, and it reeks of desperation.

I get the rabbit, but lose 4% addition condition, the weather again puts my bed below freezing. No firewood I resort to eating the rabbit raw - and contract food poisoning instantly. No antibiotics, no reishis. This is it.

Outside the weather is cold, but still. It's peaceful, almost inviting. The aurora is out lighting me the way. I decide that If I gotta go down, at least I can give the wolves something to eat.

I don't even feel the pain.

[Morrick]

That last screenshot is haunting.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 3 / Day 1

Dawn, 6 pm, Aurora, -33 FL. Down the ramp, again. I instantly think that going down the rope while the aurora is out with wolves down there is a bad idea, but with -33 FL I cannot make camp up here. I have no choice. This time I at least take a second to pick up two reishis. As I climb down the Aurora dies, but I still see the wolf I saw last time standing on the ledge again. But this time I have even less time to wait and dodge. At least the winds blow in a favorable direction.

The wolf sees me and instantly charges me. With little hope I make a run for it, the wolf panting right behind me, jump down the rock, right onto the lake, bruise myself heavily -  but lose the wolf somehow. I take immediate shelter in the fishing hut.

I find the fishing book, a 38% Canada toque, and a heavy Hammer! This would at least allow me fish if I was so lucky to find enough stuff to make a tackle, and potentially even give me a fighting chance against a wolf. A slim one, but a chance. Riddled with risks of hypothermia and frostbite I make my way to the hut, picking up stones and cattails on the way.

With - 14°C in the hut I immediately start a fire with the matches I find. It's too dark and too cold to gamble on finding the torch. I succeed on the first try, add the stick from the ledge and the fir from the hut to the cedar, pull a torch and search the hut. A cotton scarf, 2 soda (one behind the crate), 36% ski jacket, sewing kit, but no mag lens, no hacksaw. With 2 hours on the fire and freezing temperatures outside I put on some water and take a quick nap.

Weather outside still is grey, cold with a bit of snow and a nip of blizzard in the air. A wolf is patrolling the lake as always. Despite 14°C fire, the temperatures in the hut are barely above freezing. I decide to warm up a few more minutes and then start the old firewood game. Hopefully with a better outcome this time.

Weather stays frosty (-20°C) but the winds die down. I decide to use my fortune and make a more extensive firewood run while I have the chance. I pull torches from the fire and let it die.

I head out, collect some sticks, and meet two friendly rabbits which both succumb to my impeccable stone hauling skills - no misses so far! But even though I keep a torch on me when I am not busy bunny hunting, I quickly start to freeze again. I approach the hut from a steep southern angle but still attract the wolf. That I make it into the hut fast enough is more luck than skill - but I kept the fire alive through all of that, reigniting those flames of hope. Sadly I got no more than 15 sticks - but I have two bunnies worth of food, guts and the pelts.

Harvesting the rabbits (just the meat, I leave the rest for later) I let the fire die. A crucial mistake, but I decide to keep it out for now, and instead sleep an hour and hope the wolf loses interest in my hut. It's warm enough to do so. When I wake up a blizzard is raging. Again. I've got food and arguably better clothing, but I'm poorly prepared in terms of fuel for my fire. I will have little other choice than to do my stick-and-branch runs in the middle of the freaking blizzard again. I dump my last cedar and all the sticks I have and still end up with just 0°C inside the cabin.

I head out, get a branch, lose 4%. I get back, prepare and cook some reishis, drink them, and head back out. It's the same spiral of death that ultimately was Kermit 2's demise. But I'm not yet willing to throw the towel. I bruise myself trying to take a shortcut sprinting in the storm, and pay with a few additional % of condition. Down to 64%, tendency negative, and a lingering 50% frostbite risk on my hands. I decide to sacrifice 2 of my potential 4 reclaimed wood earlier this time to give me higher margins to warm up, and to gain additional heat from the fire.

It's 7 pm when the blizzards stops and makes way for equally cold, but less windy weather. Visibility is below 0, I guess, but being able to stay 15 minutes outside before taking damage is a huge step up from 10 minutes, believe me. The fire has an hour left and it is still to cold in the cabin to sleep without a fire. I contemplate if I want to bank on the night getting warm enough to sleep through it without a fire, but I'm not a believer, not anymore. So I risk getting lost out there for the sake of not having to risk freezing. I quickly reconsider. The night is so dark all you see is strangely lit edged of objects covered in snow, and temperatures are constantly rising. So I let the fire die and gamble 3 hours of sleep to regain some condition.

Kermit 3 / Day 2

I wake up to a clear, starry and relatively cold night - but not as cold that I would need to bring a fire for another 1 or 2 hours as long as I stay inside.

I sleep another hour and read one hour in my book, before the night turns dark again, and temperatures drop ever so slightly, but I am out of warmth and I want to avoid more condition damage, so I light another fire. 7 matches left. Sadly while lighting the fire .... winds brush up again. It's not yet a full blown blizzard, but the next worst thing. I begin to wonder if staying in the cabin is even sustainable. 32 Minutes on the fire I trash the bench to win me some time, but I already see myself heading out there again. Even with the fire burning I continue to take freezing damage inside the cabin. I harvest all but one of my torches - and still not enough. I don't have enough time to tear down the shelf, and I don't want to scrap my hammer just yet - but if things don't change quickly I must.

I stumble through the dark, I find nothing, I'm down to 24%. Temperatures plummet yet again, now the blizzard is raging in full force. I decide to gamble again. I don't want to break down my precious hammer. I get +0°C in bed, my fire has about 20 minutes left. I go to sleep for 3 hours. Either I wake up, or I don't.

I dream about what I could use the hammer for, smashing crates and catching fish. It's the last thing I do.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 4 / Day 1

It's maximum darkness night, it's - 37°C FL, 1 am. I have no idea where I am. I stumble through the darkness, then fall. I don't even hear my body hitting the ground.

[Drifter Man]

3 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

I begin to wonder if staying in the cabin is even sustainable.

It is not - it's a constant scramble for firewood while your condition spirals to zero.

I'm curious about how you find your way around living in TWM - wish you best of RNG!

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 5 / Day 1

I'm at the cave between deer clearing and broken tree bridge again, 8 am, -20 FL, clear skies, no wind. I decide to directly visit the Three-Way-Cave, and not get distracted by bunnies I never get to properly harvest anyways. My plan this time is trying to take the most direct way to the hut, but not even staying the night to get stuck in a series of blizzards again, but actually trying to at least get to the secluded shelf. I could probably get to there from here, but I would possibly miss out on the hacksaw on the hut, and then stand there butt naked amidst a ton of containers I cannot open, and also I will need at least 5 pieces of cloth - and I have only 4.

 

The three way cave yields the usual resources: firewood, wood matches, plus a granola bar and very much helpful 0.4l of lamp fuel, which will probably end up as accelerant. I go back the way I came and goat down into the ravine without any major injuries, this way bypassing the wolves at the engine. I consider making a stop in the cave, but due to the time sensitive nature of my mission I decide against this detour. To my detriment the bear is at the exit of the ravine, costing me valuable time and condition, but I manage to avoid him. I will have to be very careful making the way back later.

The fishing hut yields the cotton toque at 70%, but nothing else of importance. I reach the hut in one piece, but with serious risks of hypothermia and frostbite, and already just 65 % condition. I will at least need to warm up, maybe I can regain a bit of condition sleeping an hour or two. I throw the lamp oil into the fire place and start a fire. Time to search the hut. Guaranteed matches plus firewood, sport vest, 2 candy bars, Wilderness Kitchen, a sewing kit and the hacksaw. The hatch yields 28% driving gloves and 45% work boots. The best loot I've had here so far. At least I won't suffer frost bite anytime soon.

I set up some water, prepare some reishis I managed to pluck along the way, cook them, set up some more water and sleep an hour. Wind has brushed up so my chances haven't exactly improved, but I resist the temptation of opting into the third instance of "slow death at the mountaineer's hut", drink my tea and get going, heading to the Wing. At least I get to dodge most the wind coming from the east by ducking along the hills along the lake. The bear is patrolling the Wing, but I take a risk and manage to get to the containers with the bear in a rock throws distance. I'm rewarded with peaches, beans, coffee and tea, but pay for it with 2% condition. I will need to make a stop at the cave before the the deer clearing climb to compensate.

 

Reaching the bridge I am at 62%, but can now dodge all winds up until the cave. I spend a bit of my rest to sprint in short bursts, but only because the coffee allows me to. Without I wouldn't have to luxury to spend any rest until I reach the shelf. I waste a match not holding long enough to light the torch. I curse unspeakable horrors at the game designers, but eventually manage to light a fire, putting on some coffee and smashing open my 45% pinnacle peaches which I need more for the water and heat as for the actual calories. While I wait, I prepare some rose hips, mostly as a contingency for possible sprains making the hike up to the secluded shelf.

I end up spending two hours in the cave, warming up, making 3 cups of coffee and a cup of rose hips. I eat the peaches and drink a cup of coffee while waiting, since the fire alone doesn't offer enough warmth to bring me back to feeling fuzzy and cuddly inside. After that it's back into the cold and making it to the shelf at least before nightfall. 53%, not much margin of error left.

I sprain my wrist drinking another still hot cup of coffee before making the climb to deer clearing. For real? I really wonder how the RNG gods justify flinging such things at poor me just trying to make a living on a mountain. Is there such a thing as Interloper Karma? For every thing that actually works you get a sprained wrist or a blizzard? I drink my tea and just pray I won't need more until I reach the shelf.

 

I make the climb and am greeted by .... no wolves. Wow. That's almost more luck than I can take. Probably two sprained wrists and a broken neck ahead. I quickly harvest some more rose hips, just to be on the safe side, and approach the hike. Against all odds I don't suffer any more sprained wrists/ankles/egos, gobble up my last coffee, that sadly has gone cold by now, and make the climb. Thoroughly exhausted but well on the safe side I reach The Secluded Shelf with exactly 50% condition, just before nightfall.

My current clothing allows me to traverse the cave with just a lit torch without freezing. It's still the same torch I found in the Three-Way-Cave, still sporting 86%, which should be enough to explore the entire cave. I score an issue of "Field Dressing your Kill, Vol. I" (some people say it's the only volume), lots of firewood and a total of 7 lumps of coal. With the torch I start a fire at the other exit, put on some water to make some tea and coffee, and start cannibalizing my clothes. I only keep my underwear because together with the toque they are the biggest contributors to my warmth, and I feel like underwear is harder to come by than head gear, at least in Interloper.

It's deep into the night when an almost naked man in boots and underpants leaves the cave with 48% condition, 2 hot coffee, hot tea and already some tea in his belly. Steadfast, Kermit, steadfast. You're almost there. The night is cold, but clear and windless. Perfect - except for the fact I'm naked. But other than that I couldn't hope for better conditions. I make a short visit to the small cave, find some more firewood, a rope (which I leave for now) and book about arson. I pretty much deplete my fatigue bar now and sprint all the way since I am in serious risk of frostbite, and I don't plan to stay up much longer.

My torch dies on me literally on the last inches towards the hollow tree below the climb, so I have to resort to lighting the fire with matches directly. 7 matches left. 60% chance. Come on, this can't go wrong. I succeed on the first try, and dump most of my firewood into the fire to gain some warmth fast. Then, 45 minutes later.... it is done:

 

As a last order of business dump enough coal into the fire to make it last 10 hours (which is probably overkill considering how cold it is), make some water and eat my granola and some cat stalk. The 23% pork and beans I don't trust enough to gamble on food poisoning so close salvation. But now it's time to say good night.

What happens next breaks my heart, seriously. And I will probably get a lot of laughs for it. I die in my sleep.

I was a hundred percent sure the fire was a hundred percent safe. It never died on me there before, ever. But I don't wake up. Why - I never get to know. It probably really is the Interloper Karma that strikes me down for all the lucky RNG I had until here. I knew it could be done, but this also proves that Kermit can do it. Having had the hacksaw from the hut made things probably very easy since otherwise I wouldn't have had the luxury of sprinting through the really cold parts.

In any case: Kermit will return.

[Guest jeffpeng]

1 hour ago, Drifter Man said:

It is not - it's a constant scramble for firewood while your condition spirals to zero.

I'm curious about how you find your way around living in TWM - wish you best of RNG!

I kinda expected that as well. In fact it's the reason I usually bolted to PV on day 3 the latest. I really had some bad luck with the blizzards, but even without them I never could keep up. But I also didn't think I could make the summit on day 2. Now that I almost did it ... I guess it's the only viable strategy, and still 30 days will be a hell of an ask. Even with better clothing making it in the hut will be tough as the fire doesn't benefit from the outside bonus.

Does anyone know if it is possible to place a snow shelter IN the three-way-cave? If so, that one would be my best bet to make it to day 30. The triangle between broken tree bridge, three-way-cave and deer clearing climb has no wolves, two rabbit spawns, decent enough opportunities for firewood, and it always has the cave of engines to sit out prolonged blizzards.

But in any case I gotta make the summit first.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Also: I never realized how damn much Cold Fusion changes the game. +2°C, yeah, nice, hehe. You think. In fact I had so many instances in these few hours of play where I was "well fudge, half a degrees to cold, and you're still freezing because of it". It's literally a game changer, not just a nice little buff.

[Drifter Man]

I think I made it to something like 25 days in the Mountaineer's Hut without going to the Summit - I did some crazy things like sleeping during the day and collecting firewood at night (back then you could actually see something at night). I'm not sure if it's still possible. I ran out of matches.

The fire is not safe in that tree but there is another place under the summit where you can have a 100% safe fire and shelter.

You can build a snow shelter at the three-way cave as well, and the temperature bonus adds up. However, as opposed to MH, it gets colder over time. Also, I think you will be disappointed by the firewood situation there. But I've never tried to live there long-term

[BareSkin]

I'm pretty sure once you're clothed from Summit living 30 days at the Hut becomes really possible. You're on Loper, you have a hacksaw, there are rabbits and deers and wolves nearby, the wonderful Cattail Bay, tons of fast respawning sticks on rather safe Landing Gear trips. Plus, you might even fish.

Anyway, congrats! The only Snowball-like attempts I've made, the first died in the bed on first night, the second got wolfed on day 4 in front of the Hut after abandoning a Wing trip. I understood I was not yet ready for such challenge. I think the blizzards are not poor RNG, it's just TWM being like this.

[Dan_]

HRV is a piece of cake as a starting location and terrible for a snowball like survival series, there is a humongous amount of loot, but no snaring nor fishing. 

Great thread! I've got a wave of memories from my early TWM experiences back in the day. It was a brutal starting location everytime and it still is terrible for surviving long term, as the brave Drifter Man can attest. 

[Guest jeffpeng]

3 hours ago, Drifter Man said:

I think I made it to something like 25 days in the Mountaineer's Hut without going to the Summit - I did some crazy things like sleeping during the day and collecting firewood at night (back then you could actually see something at night). I'm not sure if it's still possible. I ran out of matches.

I thought about that as well, but the few nights I had at the Mountaineer's Hut were so harsh, I'm really not sure it's doable, like you say. These "The Short, but very, very dark Dark" like nights are a killer. And I just don't think that once "settling" down at the hut you can ever gain enough positive momentum to pull yourself out of that pit and make the trip to the summit. I don't see myself ever being at like minimum 60% condition, rested, sufficiently fed. Either I make the trip right off the bat, or I don't make it.

3 hours ago, BareSkin said:

I'm pretty sure once you're clothed from Summit living 30 days at the Hut becomes really possible. You're on Loper, you have a hacksaw, there are rabbits and deers and wolves nearby, the wonderful Cattail Bay, tons of fast respawning sticks on rather safe Landing Gear trips. Plus, you might even fish.

Anyway, congrats! The only Snowball-like attempts I've made, the first died in the bed on first night, the second got wolfed on day 4 in front of the Hut after abandoning a Wing trip. I understood I was not yet ready for such challenge. I think the blizzards are not poor RNG, it's just TWM being like this.

There definitely was RNG involved, but I agree. It's probably just how TWM is supposed to be on Loper, and I just have a much kinder recollection that blended together with Stalker runs over time. I don't see myself fishing unless I really can overstock firewood, but it would be amazing if I could get to it.

2 hours ago, Dan_ said:

HRV is a piece of cake as a starting location and terrible for a snowball like survival series, there is a humongous amount of loot, but no snaring nor fishing. 

Great thread! I've got a wave of memories from my early TWM experiences back in the day. It was a brutal starting location everytime and it still is terrible for surviving long term, as the brave Drifter Man can attest. 

I agree. HRV is much kinder start, but even less suited for long term habitation. On day 15 I literally ran out of things to eat, which forced me to make a few stupid and ultimately fatal decisions. If you know your way around HRV I want to argue that it isn't even that much harder to get out of, and the region you get to is definitively kinder (Milton vs. PV). That's kinda a point I wanted to make in another thread.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Dear Kermit,

with dread and despair I followed your journeys. I'm shook with sympathy for both your misfortunes and your inabilities. Seriously, brother, I don't understand what's your problem. Timberwolf Mountain is such a nice region, rich with wildlife, sunny skies and supplies o' plenty. Treasures are falling literally from the skies. But well, maybe that might be because you call yourself an "Interloper" - whatever that means. I just can tell you that as a Pilgrim life here is like being locked in a Mall over night with all stores wide open.

About your misguided attempt to survive the night in a snow shelter: I made the trip to the place of your demise (took me half a day, I didn't even get cold, L0L) and looked around. I think you should be able to easily build a snow shelter and a fire in the small cave. Since you have already proven that you clearly lack my superior survival talents I included a picture of what I mean. Don't mess it up again, little brother. 

I'll now be heading for the summit. Prolly gonna throw down some food from up there and shoot a few trees with all the ammunition I'll find. For the lolz, you know. 

Good luck
Your big (and smart) brother Timbergrim

[BareSkin]

That is simply excellent

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 6 / Day 1

I'll just call this the TWC (Three-Way-Cave) spawn from now - because that's where I am headed. -33°C FL at 6 am give me enough incentive not to dabble around. I sprint away some valuable fatigue, but still freeze before I get to the cave. The guaranteed loot (Matches, Torch, Firewood) greets me along with a can opener. Oooh. That's a new one. Shucks I have no cans .... but whatever! Inside the cave it reads -17°C FL, so I see no use in trying to warm up here - but immediately turn back to goat down again.

I reach the bottom of the ravine without any mishaps, and find some peaches in the backpack down there. This time I will make a stop at the Chasm Cave, for better or for worse, and warm up. Picking up sticks as I go, I light my torch on the way. In the cave I find a cedar, which I immediately convert to a fire. My first attempt succeeds, and I dump 13 sticks and another cedar into the fire, and even keep my torch burning until I am above freezing. I put on some water and warm up the peaches. Not smashing a can for a change is marvelous!

I spend about an hour, then pull torches until the fire doesn't keep me above freezing anymore. I fling down my peaches that are still waiting next to the fire, and get going again, not sure if that detour really gained me anything. I'm at 81%.

I'm back to taking freezing damage before manage to exit the ravine, even with torch in hand and peaches burning in my belly. I don't meet the bear, but he is definitely inhabiting his cave. Bones are a grim reminder of that very fact. I try to balance condition and fatigue as I make short sprints every time I think I can shorten exposure from the wind in a meaningful way. The bear patrols the lake near the fishing hut, so I take to the hills, hoping to avoid his gaze, but missing out on rose hips and cattails.

Inside the hut I turn to the fireplace at once. It takes two attempts to get the fire going. Taking inventory: 91% Ski Jacket, soda, sewing kit, fishing book, 38% light shell, newspaper, mag lens - which means no hacksaw - plus the obligatory matches and firewood. I also find a letter from my big-oaf-brother Timbergrim. Cursing him excessively for his unbelievable attitude I burn the letter as it is the most useful thing I can do with it, but I keep the picture - maybe he's up to something. I'm at 59% - my detour didn't have the effect I hoped for. All I did was lose time, fatigue and condition. My fire is going strong for 3 hours, I decide to sleep through them.

I wake up at 63%, winds brushing up announcing a blizzard rolling in - that luckily never comes. I have not enough ingredients to make a tea - still, I need to get going. I take to the fishing hut. I find the cotton toque at 71%, but the winds are so harsh that the draft takes away half my warmth before I make it to the hills that offer me some cover and surprisingly warm -12°C FL. From up here I spot the bear making his way towards his den. If I don't run into any surprise wolves I have a clear path up until the Deer Clearing Climb - but having no hacksaw and by that now access to coffee sprinting away any more rest is out of the question.

The wind turns right into my face, and I jump from tree to tree to avoid some wind. Things are not going well this time, and the time I lost in the Chasm Cave now really shows to be detrimental. If I hadn't spent time there, I would have saved at least 2 hours, maybe 3 not having to sleep 3 hours at the Hut - and 3 hours ago there was not half as much wind. Damn you, Kermit.

Upon reaching the Wing the wind turns yet again, now allowing me to shield it hugging the wall to my right until I reach the bridge. Upon crossing it the the wind subsides almost completely, and I'm left with -12°C FL even without cover. Could things be looking up? I use the calm weather to collect some rose hips and reishis and reach the cave at 45%, immediately making a fire. I inhale one of my sodas, put on a can of water and start preparing rose hips, keeping my second can occupied cooking my crafting results immediately.

I cannot afford any more delays. I pull a torch, drink 1 reishi and don't look back. I leave the cave with 3 reishi teas and 2 rose hip teas, 42%, and a full warmth bar.

-6°C FL being sheltered from wind is marvelous, but sticking to shelter is hard as the wind is pushing from behind now. At least it doesn't slow me down. I drink another tea at the bottom of the climb and get going. Having less than optimal fatigue already shows, but I'm still hopeful. I drink my third reishi at the top as long as it is still warm. Sticking with my favorite philosopher @BareSkin's saying that "Code is Law" I leave a little bit each time, just in case I contract random food poisoning from looking at a wolf the wrong way.

Speaking of wolves: I immediately have one on my six, but before things get to dicy a superhero deer jumps into the fray for me .... and dies a hero. Derrick McDeer, you will be remembered fondly.

I almost mess up the hike, and have to retrace half of my steps, but finally reach the shelf climb without any sprains, still above freezing, but seriously fatigued. It's the moment of truth. I either make this, or I die trying. Biting my nails (which really doesn't help while climbing) I .......... make it. But by the skin of my teeth. It doesn't get much closer than this.

Lighting my 52% torch I get to work. No dabbling, as I am taking fatigue damage. Not much, but margins are getting slimmer. I find "Field Dressing my Kill, Vol. II" .... ah just kidding, it's Vol. I .... but nothing else worth mentioning. Chaining two more torches through the dark, I score a total of 8 coal, but almost run out of sticks to craft tinder with as it takes me 5 (FIVE) tries to get the fire going. I put on two cans of water and get to work undressing me the hard way. I'm almost starved, but I need to save every bit of calories that I have for the big sleep. While keeping the water coming I lose the shell, the jeans, the socks and the hoodie, keeping my underwear (for dignity), my beloved ski jacket and my cotton toque to have one less risk for frostbite. When I pick up my warm tea and pull a torch it is midnight. I ready my brother's picture and head out. I keep rambling to myself "If you had one shot .... one opportunity".

-15 FL, still winds. I find the cave, find the spot Timbergrim mentioned, and eyeball the right place for the fire. I succeed in my first try, and dump both my remaining fir and one of the two cedars I find in the cave to gain heat quick before taking freezing damage again, but take serious frost damage while building the shelter - I'm down to 12%, dammit. I quickly test if the shelter is in range of the fire - yes! I dump all the coal I got just into the first to be as sure as humanly possible, and gain almost perfect 12 hours of burn time. I eat my cat stalk, pop my soda, drink all but one cup of tea, fill the rest with some water and go to sleep. 521 calories will have to do. I take 10 hours of sleep even tho I know I will lose some condition again - but I need the rest to have a chance making the final ascend. Let's hope for the best.

I dream of containers full of food and ammunition bombarding the Mountaineer's Hut, my brother laughing how great TWM is with all this loot. I sleep uneasy. Will I wake up?

 

[Serenity]

To learn TWM (when I didn't know the map at all) I did this on Voyageur. I ended up living in the Echo Ravine indoor cave for a long while. But of course there I had a bedroll

I really like TWM as a start. Two guaranteed matchboxes, a tool (got the mag lense this time) and you can score some early cat tails. But staying there? Not for me

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 6 / Day 2

I do.

I'm at 37% condition, but almost completely rested. I'm dying from thirst - my mistake. I can't sleep 10 hours straight on Interloper, I forgot. Playing Stalker makes your instincts degrade. Damn you, Kermit. I fill up, and see the fire with over 90 minutes left. I decide to go out and pluck some reishis I skipped last night. It's cold and windy, but I'll manage with an 80°C fire raging right behind me.

I find enough reishi for 4 teas. I dump my last cedar into the fire and start working. I end up drinking 3 of the 4 teas just for calories, and keep one for warmth. By tearing down my surplus of torches I manage to squeeze another our out of my fire and sleep another hour. When I wake up again the weather hasn't changed, but I am a bit more rested and recovered another 1% of condition, with now two hot teas at my disposal. This is as good as it will get. The ascent is daunting to say the least.

I make it to the first ledge, drink most of my reishi and catch my breath. Playing it double-safe I even take a break at the second ledge. Falling short now is simply not acceptable. Then .... finally.... the riches of the summit lay bare before me! Well.... not quite, yet. There should be a hacksaw in the tail section.... but if not this was all for nothing. Brimming with anticipation and ravaged by the cold I approach.

IT IS THERE! The Hacksaw - I find it. 100% condition quality hacksaw. I resist the urge to kiss it as it looks seriously sharp and that would be the by far stupidest way to die. I pick up the flare gun and all the wood I can find. A Sewing Primer is welcome literature for later - the stim is essential equipment. I make a fire with 3 reclaimed wood and 15 sticks - all but one single stick - and stave off hypothermia once again. I start with the container next to the fire.

10 tea, 5 coffee, 4 packs of 34% crackers are my immediate yield. The first pack goes right away as I don't want to take any more condition damage than I need to at this point. The next container yields a 98% ski jacket (!), a 70% wool toque, 49% ear wraps (!), 61% fleece mittens and a 91% sport vest - that seems to already know it will end up as cloth - 50% trail boots, 54% leathers, 22% runners, 35% workers and brand new 98% sport socks. Onto the third I loot 70% peaches, 3 87% cans of pork and beans and 5 30% sodas. A bandage, 6 painkillers, 6 antibiotics and some antiseptic solution complement the loot fest together with 2 cured leather and 1 deer, wolf and rabbit pelt. I break down the crates and find the rope, some scrap metal, accelerant and 2 packs of wood matches, but other than that just tons of reclaimed wood that cost me all my crackers. I search the two corpses on the summit - nothing. The cave has antibiotics for me.

It's almost morning again, I'm down to 15% from intermittent freezing and exhaustion, but I've got everything I could get up here.

Kermit 6 / Day 3

All that remains is to goat back down to my snow shelter. I'm seriously overburdened, so I hope I make the descent with as little damage as possible. But just as I start the descent - a blizzard is upon me, and even though I make the descent flawlessly, I lose 5% until I reach to cave - another 3% until my fire is burning - there goes my accelerant. 

Almost passing out I manage to drink a coffee, make another cup, warm up some pork and beans and inject my face with a can of soda. I push the fire to 9 hours, repair my shelter and sleep 6. Thinking about it braking down the crates was not worth it. I will spend most if not all of the wood recovering in my shelter. I must admit that every other time I visited TWM it was with considerably better gear and preparation, but the crates actually never really paid off. I'm not even sure the other crates (except the one with the rope and the one with the matches) can spawn anything. If so - I have never seen it and future Kermits will not mess with them.

Admitting failure is one thing - now pulling yourself out of it another. My situation is not good, but not terrible, 24% condition, but the still raging blizzard forbids that I move out anytime soon. I raise the fire another hour, to four, and sleep another three. I raise the fire to 4 hours again as the blizzard just won't stop, and yes, spend all my wood from the summit, and again sleep 3 hours, leaving my second can of pork and beans to warm up near the fire. 

Waking up with 31% condition and dusk upon me the blizzard has finally subsided. I test the weather outside, and it is -29°C FL - even with my new gear. I tear down the shelter and decide to spend as long as I can (68 minutes left) at the fire, making water, and waiting for better conditions. Finally, with 20 minutes left, the skies clear up and reveal a dark, cold but clear, snow free night with bearable temperatures. I think about deploying the rope and decide against it. I won't be coming back, I wouldn't know for what. I drink my remaining cup of coffee, finish the rest of the beans and head for the cave to the shelf.

Reaching the Secluded Shelf at around 11 pm, the weather is mild, -10°C FL, but I'm not sure if I should take the risk and goat down from here, or actually use the rope for once. It's dark, and I don't want to risk more condition than I have to, but the goat in me is strong. I argue with myself and for once reason wins the upper hand. I pop a soda, drop 3.5 liters of water, throw down my torch and use a rope to climb down somewhere for the first time in Kermit-History. The torch doesn't survive the fall, so I spend another match. Right now matches aren't my immediate concern. I've got 41 more of them, and right now I'll be lucky to live to use them all.

I goat down towards dear clearing, keeping an eye out for wolves in the dark. I make a quick pass by the container, loot three 58% tomato soup, 2 cloth and 3 scrap metal, but then make a run for the deer clearing cave as I'm freezing again. I find nothing but 2 lumps of cedar, which are actually rather welcome, and make a fire in the first attempt. Time to try some of this soup. Down to 22% again I cannot really afford starvation, so I need to at least level my calorie intake to the minimum of what is required to avoid damage. I spend two hours at the fire making tea and coffee for later.

I head out again in darkest night, but I stick to the wall and can't get lost - or can I? No, I find the rope and climb down - again, and again leaving some water behind. This is emerging trend of non-goating is worrying. I make a run for the cave halfway to the broken tree bridge, and need to warm up again. I pop another soda to keep myself from starving - 20% condition. And the last part of the journey will be the hardest - and I've got no firewood left. I try and repair my ear wraps for half degrees of additional warmth - and succeed.

Morning is almost upon me, but my fire won't last. I need to feed precious calories into the machine to stave of execution. My best bet is to make a run for the Hut before the harsh frost of morning hits and to pray I don't make any unfortunate acquaintances on the way. Who would have thought that this last part would be such a nail biter? I pack up my things, pull torches and go, uncertain if I will see the light of day.

[BareSkin]

2 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

I quickly test if the shelter is in range of the fire - yes! I

Please correct me if wrong or if you'd prefer not having comments suggesting tips, but _{I think the range is a function of temperature, sou you'd have been in range after the coal anyway.}

I seriously take great pleasure reading stories written in very good english, hope you'll continue :D. I've also mentioned "I shot, one opportunity" in my bareskin 11 journal, not sure if this part is published yet, but I always end up thinking like this at least once each run (if the shot fails, namely).

[Guest jeffpeng]

1 minute ago, BareSkin said:

Please correct me if wrong or if you'd prefer not having comments suggesting tips, but _{I think the range is a function of temperature, sou you'd have been in range after the coal anyway.}

I seriously take great pleasure reading stories written in very good english, hope you'll continue :D. I've also mentioned "I shot, one opportunity" in my bareskin 11 journal, not sure if this part is published yet, but I always end up thinking like this at least once each run (if the shot fails, namely).

I'm always glad for tips, especially if it is about hard knowledge and mechanics. I never actually tested how temperature range is really calculated. I noticed it falls off, so I suspected something like that, but at least for me what the entire procedure of getting up there in one piece is rather hard work, so I err on the side of caution.

And thank you for complementing my English. I'm always glad when my German origin doesn't show too much :-) I feel like we Germans are kinda infamous for frequently defiling foreign languages.

[BareSkin]

17 minutes ago, jeffpeng said:

I feel like we Germans are kinda infamous for frequently defiling foreign languages.

There is no doubt the french people is the worst at it IMO... I wouldn't be able to make a Summit like you did, so my knowledge is to be taken with some skepticism, from what I've observed on Loper settings it seems above a certain temperature, the first circle of temperature bonus around a fire is double by another larger circle. Didn't make hard test about it on how much radius each circle is or how much the "large" bonus is compared to the "close" one (I would guess half?). This also can be seen when you hunt (Farewell, BareSkin7) wolves: the hotter the fire, the larger the distance they will fear it.

Congrats on the Summit. I dreamt about such an achievement, but never even had the courage to try it. After all I'm only at my 15th Survival run ( all Interlopers), so I don't feel too much of a shame yet.

Oh, also about the 10h sleep, I noticed with BareSkin7 that sometimes it works, sometimes not, and you can heal from 32% to 41%. I didn't find what the variable was to explain this... Had a lot of the same 10h sleep at Trapper's, some ended up dehydrated and some not, some healed 32% and some others more than 40... I didn't investigate further, as I like that part being a bet when you click the "Sleep" button having chosen 10h

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 5 / Day 4

I forgot to mention I actually managed to advance to cooking level 2. That's great, honestly, but I'll see how much good it will do me, if any.

The night is as dark as it gets and I'm on borrowed time out here. I will be able to find my way to the wing, safely, but from there I'll have to carefully navigate, and that in a hurry. I hope morning dawn sooner rather than later, and mild at that.

To my detriment I sprain foot and wrist in a freak accident - probably. I didn't see it, too dark, sorry. I pop some pain killers immediately and pick up the pace as the cold ravages me again. I realize that my only and last bet is the stim from the summit, so I go with it, pick my torch back up and run like hell. I forgo taking screenshots because every single moment is precious. I think I know where I am, I hear a moose basically next to me, I turn SOMEWHERE and lose my way, and only by accident find the lake, crash into the fishing hut, and from there stumble fully exhausted into Mountaineer's hut with a 4% lit torch and 3 stick - so even now I have no time. I break town the crate, feed it to the fire, break down the bench, feed it as well, achieve positive temperatures and 80 minutes of fire duration and sleep an hour to prevent further damage from exhaustion.

I am at 21%, my fire has 28 minutes left, and I am arguably in pretty much the same death spiral position Kermit 2 and 3 found themselves in. The weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so ... dying on me. So I gotta go out into -25°C FL and pick up sticks no matter how. I put on some tomato soup and head out, cursing in languages I didn't even know I could curse in.

I manage to stabilize playing the old get out, pick up, come in, warm up, repeat game. But I am running out of sticks in the immediate vicinity fast. The weather get's considerably warmer - but still too cold to sleep without a fire. I snort some coffee to stave off fatigue a bit longer, but I need to sleep soon. I am in deep, and I know it. I keep monitoring the temperatures constantly and I will take nap the second I can afford to. I'm not willing to sacrifice my last crate just yet as it is the last potential snare I get without hunting crates in the wild. It's almost 11 am when I finally feel brave enough to go to sleep. -3°C FL in the cabin if I subtract the fire warmth, and no sings of surprise ninja ambush blizzards - yet.

I sleep two hours and wake up warm as a teddy bear. Outside the weather is begging for skiing, and I will use this to sort out my two most immediate concerns: food and firewood, of course. My wrist has healed, so if that moose that threw me off course last night wants another round he can kiss my big orange flare gun. But I am also suffering from something the game doesn't account for: mental exhaustion. The past hour of play was probably the most stressful I ever experienced. Go ahead and tell someone TLD is boring. And to be honest: while the worst is probably over, we're still deep in the dark, dark woods - and the night is full of terrors.

I go out again in mild temperatures and sneak some cattails as the wolf is far removed on the lake. I eat one to continue to remain above starvation. I plan to keep doing that until I am at least at 50% condition, then gradually transition to hibernation levels of intake. I score a rabbit and remain miss-free as Kermit the Timberwolf rocksniper. I don't dare having more than one on me, so I deposit it immediately in the hut. When I look at the character screen after sleeping off the lack of warmth I look at a number I can hardly comprehend.

I immediately remember that I left my sunscreen and my beach ball at home. Whatever I'm gonna do now? Well. Some folks gotta work, no matter how hot and steamy the weather. I am one of them. I'm sort of a reverse firefighter, and as such I am always on duty, especially on hot days. So I try to make the best of these unrealistically amazing conditions and stock up. I can mend clothes and sleep when the world is ending again.

I score another rabbit, but I actually miss the first shot, and that point blank. I return it home and head out again. Collecting sticks and branches I see if I can make it to the mythical "Bay of Cattails" and sneak a few without anyone noticing me. I can, and I am not disappointed. I score six cattails for now, and one the way back annihilate the third bunny in as many hours. And that from a distance!

I head home again to warm up. I would like to call it a day, but I am not at all satisfied with my firewood cache. 37 is way too low to last me through a blizzard. But I take a 2 hour nap anyways. When I wake up warm grandma fog cuddles me. 30% condition I feel like I'm on the road to recovery. Maybe it's my lucky streak for once! Yes, I know, I'm jinxing it, right? Interloper karma and so forth. The wolf has apparently retired from lake duty, so I grab more food while his replacement is due. While a murder of crows announces yet more weather changes I score 20 more cattails, mostly on the far side of the lake, usually inaccessible to me. Well spend that's four days worth of food. 

In this weather, with -6°C FL, I'm confident to stay out a bit longer, and break some branches, but as temperatures drop another 2°C I bolt while snow sets in. It's still well warm enough to sleep without a fire, so drink the last sip of a cup of cold tea and chance 2 hours of sleep in the otherwise cold and dark house. When I wake up a silent snowstorm is going on outside, maybe precursors of a blizzard, maybe just weather. Temps drop 2 more degrees, but I chance another two hours, as I still have 6°C before freezing in bed. 2 more degrees go until midnight, and I shorten my sleep cycle to one hour at a time. It's around 4:30 am when temperatures finally drop below what is tolerable in bed. With 37% condition and an almost full rest bar I decide it's time to get up and begin the new day. Considering my predicament not 24 hours earlier I am not only glad to say that things are looking up - I'm glad to say anything at all.

[Guest jeffpeng]

2 hours ago, BareSkin said:

Congrats on the Summit. I dreamt about such an achievement, but never even had the courage to try it. After all I'm only at my 15th Survival run ( all Interlopers), so I don't feel too much of a shame yet.

Oh, also about the 10h sleep, I noticed with BareSkin7 that sometimes it works, sometimes not, and you can heal from 32% to 41%. I didn't find what the variable was to explain this... Had a lot of the same 10h sleep at Trapper's, some ended up dehydrated and some not, some healed 32% and some others more than 40... I didn't investigate further, as I like that part being a bet when you click the "Sleep" button having chosen 10h

I really respect your way of learning the game the hard way. I practically went straight to Stalker myself as I found Voyageur dull and lacking challenge, but Interloper to start? Don't talk about courage. You've got flare shells of steel. I know people personally that play TLD for years and still feel uncomfortable playing anything beyond Voyager. Which is fine, in my opinion, but you're like the last person to credit himself with a lack of courage.

And on the 10 hours: not gonna gamble on that. 8 hours is fairly enough. Maybe temperature plays a part in that? I would actually like to see the game code on that. Would be interesting to know - but also a bit demystifying. ;-)

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 5 / Day 5 - Deliberations

I take a moment to think about my options. I'm still on the way to recovery from a lot of self-inflicted damage. I used large parts of the resources from the summit to escape the summit - parts to due TWM being TWM, parts due to said self-inflicted damage. But I still scored a solid plus. My clothes have improved from +5 to +9, and I still have at least two more degrees room for improvement.

Also: I have a hacksaw now that allows me to open a few more containers, namely the two engine containers - one of which might have the elusive Thin Wool Sweater, and the other might have a pair of jeans, of which I had to sacrifice one already, and a second pair of socks - and the wing container I didn't loot on this run yet. 51% on my hacksaw is most likely enough for all of them. In any case I can scrap the hacksaw afterwards for 2 additional pieces of metal meaning 4 additional fishing hooks.

I will have to spend at least two more days making good, measured progress and have at least decent luck with the weather. Then I can contemplate actually working towards my endgame. But let's just assume I keep being successful and refrain from being stupid for a while.

Then it is feasible to acquire two more deer hides from carcasses or deer I drive into wolves, which potentially allows me to craft a set of deerskin pants. I know they are not high on the list for many people, but combat pants or anything else is simply no feasible option here. Deerskins are my endgame optimum, and I'd be happy to reach it. Heck they are the only possible thing I can put into the second slot for pants.

Bunny mittens are in reach already. I have enough pelts, I just need to harvest and cure them. Bearskin and wolfskin coats are unobtainable without the chance to acquire a knife or hatchet. I don't know if a moosehide cloak would be worth the flare shells. Then again making a satchel clearly would make even less sense, and scoring a moose would probably sustain me all the way through the remaining 25 days on it's own, assuming I could actually harvest all the meat - which is a big fat question mark in all but the most favorable of circumstance (basically moose dies on my doorstep).

What brings me to the point what I want to spend my 8 flare shells on.

To kill a moose with a flare gun I would probably have to hit him twice or even three times. Not sure if that is worth the risk AND the resources, especially considering that I might lose the moose in the woose woods and never actually kill him - or even worse: miss and get trampled. Killing a bear would be only interesting for the meat. I'm still far from cooking 5, but actually risking 1% parasites 25 times is a pretty decent risk to take for potentially enough sustenance until day 30. I know where the bear lives, and I would have an easy time tracking him down to his cave and harvest him there bit by bit. The amount of wolves on the way there is manageable, and would even be worth another flare or two if push came to shove.

Hunting deer with flare shells is a measure of last resort in my opinion. Sure, a full deer would solve my food issue for quite some time and bring me closer to my pants, but as long as I can bunny my way through, I'd like to keep the flares and maybe try to snatch a deer from a wolf instead, killing it with a flare if all else fails. But, all things considered, it's probably the best bet to just drive deer into wolf, kill wolf, eat both. Doing this 8 times is also around 80 kg of meat. More than I'll ever need. So maybe I'll not just discard this right off the bat.

Speaking of bunnies: I will need to get some reclaimed wood somehow. I would like to have at least 4 snares, better 6, and right now all I can afford is one. So I will eventually have to score a crate or two. I think the best spot for crates would be the container near Deer Clearing as the wolves rarely reach that far, and the place is relatively easy to reach in the first place. But also the Wing could be a good spot, depending on the wolves on duty.

As a last consideration I wonder if it even makes sense to explore the northern crescent of the map. I'd run into at least one bear I've already seen up there roaming down to Deer Clearing. Two of the three caves up there are potential bear caves - one definitely is - and I have no idea if waterfall cave yields anything of worth on Interloper as that would be a first, but I suspect even then it's not worth the trip - except for maybe the cattails up there, but I still haven't exhausted my cat tails down here.

Locations I can still explore are the cave near Andre's peak, Andre's peak itself, the forest cave, the potential corpse near the PV exit and the cave under Fallen Tree Bridge. But I don't expect any game changers from those locations.

As a final note: I should still treat myself as a Test-Kermit. I've made so many crucial mistakes this run it is still very much questionable if I even have a shot at day 30. Maybe gathering experience and information has more value than attempting the home run at all costs.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Kermit 5 / Day 5

It's cold, dark and windy, 4:30 am. As long as I don't have a compelling reason I'll stay indoors and harvest some bunnies or read some books. 

I keep them cattails coming as I still need to recover condition. I light a fire, feed it some sticks, set up some water, and defrost the bunnies so I can harvest them. I harvest the bunnies in tiny increments to .... uhm ... have them better fit my mouth. Yes, exactly. The fact that I skill cooking faster this way is a welcome but completely unintentional side effect. While I do this winds brush up outside. I can't say I'm happy, but I also can't say I'm surprised. At 7 am what started bad has become worse and very, very cold. I decide to fuel the fire and wait until I have only 1 hour left. When I gotta go out then again - so be it.

Two hours later this moment comes. I have removed all guts and meat from the bunnies, but not yet the pelts. But fire indeed is life out here. So I have little chance but to head into this mess. -43°C FL in the wind! Ohmygosh. I pay for a single stick with half my warmth bar. 3 more sticks cost me 2% condition already. I put some hot tea over my head to shorten my intervals, but it won't help much, I'm afraid. But before I head out again the worst luckily subsides into a regular -23°C FL snow day, little winds, much colds. Still means I gotta go, but also means I might come back.

I fight, but I keep losing. Sometimes replenish as much fire as I lost, sometimes I lose some minutes. I eat a cup of coffee including the cup for maximum warmth and head out, praying for a RNGeezuz the have mercy on me. It take till 2 pm before my prayers are partially heard and temperatures return to normal -15°C basic temperature, but now the winds return, basically canceling out the rise in temperature. I manage to lose only 1% in this, but the alarming absence of firewood anywhere next to my hut is worrying me. At least I can not stop feeding the fire, but that also makes it hard for me to warm up. The sprained wrist is the least of my problems right now.

I pay for 9 sticks form the landing gear with 1% condition, return home an chance an hour of sleep - to reduce fatigue, but mostly to gain warmth. 

An hour later things haven't improved much, and I'm still half frozen, so another hour of sleep it is. Heavy snow but still winds and mediocre temperatures greet me now. -10°C FL. I might have 2 or 3 good hours left. I head out and score a single branch before I have to return. I hope tonight will be more forgiving than today. I sleep two more hours, trying to regain some warmth. I wake up to almost perfect pitch black night. -0°C FL, no way I can go out there. More sleep, as long as I don't freeze.
Right before midnight the night is clear, but winds howl. I give it a try and see if some of the sticks around the house have come back, but I return empty handed. -2°C FL inside I chance another hour of sleep, and one less each hour until we reach -5°C FL again. I carefully pass time until my warmth bar depletes completely, then I light a fire.

[Drifter Man]

9 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

it takes me 5 (FIVE) tries to get the fire going

6 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

2 packs of wood matches

which... crate was that? (asks Deadman 10, who was there, dreaming of matches in one of those crates - but got only the rope and the accelerant).

3 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

I don't know if a moosehide cloak would be worth the flare shells

That one also needs a knife if I remember...

51 minutes ago, jeffpeng said:

but the alarming absence of firewood anywhere next to my hut is worrying me

There are lots of sticks lying around, but you have to go farther out (in better weather of course) to Landing Gear. There is a map in my Snowball thread showing where to get sticks to keep warm in MH. It's best to ration them and take them systematically - one day you visit one set of locations, another day you choose another.