The name is Walker, Sleep Walker


Guest jeffpeng

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Guest jeffpeng

Walker 3 / Day 23 - Back To The Mountain

The night outside is so dark travelling is not an option. All I can really do is wait my butt off. The skies clear a 5 am, but -25°C FL aren't an option either. But then I think: Yeah, and what if at 1 pm there is a blizzard again?

AH... SCREW IT!

I go, throw away two torches I didn't really like in the first place, climb up to Skeeter's and run into the basement holding my middle fingers up so everyone can see what I think about this place while being barked at. I pay 1% condition tax. Pah. Cheap! In the basement I find another copy of A Sewing Primer, another blue toolbox I still don't need, and 12% pinnacle peaches that really aren't worth even picking up. I deploy my bedroll and sleep two hours and go.

I don't get far until I have to fire up again. I even lose 5% for those few meters since my first fire fails. I warm up tea and peaches, pull torches and go again. In the blind I find another issue of Stay On Target. In the bunker I find trail boots I don't need and a book I cannot read. I need some sleep to compensate for the climb this morning. I sleep three hours, and then gobble up the old and bitter coffee I kept around since I found it at the Milton credit union. Up the rope I go.

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And he's climbing a ropeway to heaven.

I make it to Timberwolf Mountain. Instantly I feel better. However ... it's still pretty darn cold - so I maglens a fire to warm up. Tea and peaches, as always.

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Moving to the mountain, gonna eat me a lot of peaches

Sadly the wind doesn't seem to want me on the mountain and reduces my fire - so I babysit it. I wait half an hour, then I eat me my peaches and go wielding two hot cups of tea. I see the moose on the way to the hut. Then..... finally.... I'm home. Well.... kinda home. A home. I'm happy to see the Hut. 

I find the matches I expected, of course, the sewing kit that's also a given somewhere here, the hammer, which is intrinsic to this loot table, a down vest, sardines, granola .... and a ragged wool toque in the hatch! I immediately pull out the only piece of cloth I brought (major oversight, but whatever) and fix that thing ... and fail of course. Then I tear the down vest in half and pin it on the wool toque. It takes me two more tries to succeed .... but see? It's just like new. 

-10 °FL don't seem too great, but also not very discouraging. In falling night I head out towards the goat from the Northern Woods to the Engine Gorge. Except for having a near miss with Harvey everything runs smoothly. Until I actually am in the Gorge. Winds brush up and stiff at that, and turn directly against me. I have a hard time reaching the cave and pay 5% condition for it. Not detrimental, but ... meh. 89% is still good, but we were at 99% already. The container will have to wait.

I shortly explore the cave up to the location of the corpse - which is absent - and back the other way around. Nothing to be found. Time to sleep. Having a bedroll on Timberwolf Mountain really does feel like cheating.

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Guest jeffpeng

Walker 3 / Day 24 - Ascend

Waking up at 7 pm I sneak down to the container in -7°C FL. Hilarious! Nothing surprising here. I came for the wool sweater, and I find it at 59%. The wolf seems absent - which is something I have never seen before. Well, unless I killed him, of course. At the Three-Way-Cave I find the matches, sardines, Survive The Outdoors (it's a blast, or so I've heard), and the 100% torch. I eat the sardines and sleep two more hours. Thick fog greets me when I get up.

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I sometimes call this "broccoli soup" 

I make it to the Halfway Cave, which will be the last common station with my current route when I come back from the Summit - if all goes well. I get a fire going and boil some coffee. While I don't plan a power-ascend, I don't plan to lose more time than I need to. I sleep two more hours, and then get going in +0°C FL.

I make the climb up to Deer Clearing using my first coffee and head for the container. I notice 4 birch saplings. Maybe I will find the time to get them later. Maybe not. The tomato soup has 80%. Amazing! (I personally love tomato soup IRL ... with a bit lot of chili :D). I take the cloth and scrap metal - and up the hike I go. I reach the Secluded Shelf without problems and take the maple sapling that grows there with me into the cave.

I make it through the cave, get rid of the excess firewood and coal I collected and sleep. Usually this is the place I would "undress". Feels funny that I will climb the summit tomorrow actually not naked.

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Walker 3 / Day 25 - There's only one Summit Day 

I wake up at 1 am. No time to make it so the summit? Watch me. -10°C FL and winds are absent. Chances are conditions at daytime won't be significantly better - or even worse.

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The Summit beckons.... somewhere up there... I think.

I two-time the climb easily being fully rested. I take refuge in the cave up there to avoid freezing damage and make a fire since I will need a flame anyways. Might as well be made here. I warm up some tea and one of my beloved tomato soups. Canned food is just great. I put on some water and sleep another hour. 

The walk to the plane is almost ceremonial for me this time. It's like returning to a place of former glory. As always I take the stim and make my fire in it's place. I leave the 100% hacksaw where it is for the moment. Tea and coffee for me, plus 4 packs of crackers. I eat a pack to celebrate (and prevent starvation). I find the ear wraps at 54% and the wool toque actually at blazing 94%. The other clothes, at this point, are rather inconsequential for me. I even leave the shoes behind, except for the light leather slippers. The matches are under the piece of metal again. And the fire striker can be found next to the hides container at 94%.

I take my Wildlife Deterrent SuperSoaker and the hides, the leather and the medical supplies. I don't expect to find the canned food and sodas at good condition, and while the peaches are actually really in a bad shape (11%) the beans are probably still edible at 29%. The soda is at 7%. But hey, it's soda. My hacksaw is down to 29%. Only now I pick up the new one. I plan to keep it in this shape as I will retire the old hacksaw once I opened the last container at the wing.

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A last glance at "my" plane

I pull torches and go - and return. A blizzard breaks out and I have nowhere else to go. Luckily the fire is actually still burning. I put my remaining firewood into the fire and sleep an hour and as that doesn't help break down a crate and sleep some more. At 11 am the blizzard is gone. I pull torches again and see if I have better luck this time. I start to goat down and realize too late I missed my spot. Oh snow. How do I do THIS one?

It takes me forever to figure out a way to do this - but I make it without worse than a sprained ankle and the shock that I almost prematurely retired Walker 3 by not paying attention to detail. But then again: That's what kills you most of the time. Not many have the honor to perish in a glorious struggle of desperation like Thatcher 4. (Okay he got eaten by a wolf that finished his bunny faster than I thought ... :D)

I get back to the Secluded Shelf Cave and begin my way back. I leave behind a ton of torches I simply don't need and don't want to spend the time breaking down. For once firewood is no concern for me on Timberwolf Mountain. On the other side I goat down to the Three-Way-Cave and then it's back to the Halfway Cave. On the way I already eat my last crackers. I just got them, now they are gone again. And I really like crackers.

Reaching the Halfway Cave I'm torn about the birch saplings. At the current rate I'm losing arrows (none so far since I don't shoot them) with over 40 potential shafts at home .... nah. But leaving the cave massively tired and heavily encumbered seems like a genuinely snowy idea. Well who knows. I gotta spend the night anyways. Let's just think about that tomorrow. 

I use the evening to tear down some surplus clothing. Of which I have quite a bit. I actually keep a pair of sport socks, the fleece mittens and the wool scarf. @Mroz4k's "List Of Doom" has some merit to it I must say. I keep ripping clothes until 9 pm. Time for bed. Summit Day was a good day.

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Guest jeffpeng

Walker 3 / Day 26 - The Long Way Home

Okay, there's not gonna be a trip for the saplings. That much I figured. I'm low on food, and running up and down that rope will cost me rest I will need to haul 45 kg of stuff to the hut. As much as that pains me .... no. Despite needing to get going ... it's not an option at 8 am. -25°C FL and stiff winds in exactly the wrong direction are a no-no. But things look much better 2 hours later. However it doesn't hold. 10 minutes later .... it's blizzard time, and I'm in the middle of it. I return to the cave quick enough so I don't sustain measurable damage. But my food situation really isn't good. I pop two soda and watch the world end.

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It's the end of the world .... as we know it!

An hour later things return to normal. Again I try my luck a second time, but winds are still to much for me. An hour of Survive The Outdoors and the winds become bearable.  On the way to broken tree bridge I find yet again 4 birch saplings. Well, these I do take. The carcass is also there - but doublesprain sours my discovery. I put down a fire.

Sadly I don't have an infinite amount of time (do I ever?) so I really just take the meat, and that with my hacksaw. I down two rose hip teas and get going again. Another carcass on the other side of the Broken Tree Bridge almost begs me to eat it, but I pass. I need to get home. I even pass on the wolf that just as I reach the wing kills a deer. The weather is too sketchy and I am too overloaded to risk anything. But it means I can loot the container safely. Coffee and tea are welcome, as are two 48% beans. The peaches that normally are hear have apparently decayed already.

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Let's just hope the hills have no eyes.

One thing I have to note at this point, as I literally know every single wolf on Timberwolf Mountain by name: SW4's wolf distribution is different than interlopers. Not necessarily more frequent, but wolves on TWM that should be there are missing, and others appear in greater numbers. Just as if the overall number would check out, but the spawns are more randomized. I have seen this in Milton, I have seen this in the Muskeg, and here on Timberwolf Mountain it just jumps at me as I literally know every wolf and every wolf's roaming pattern by now.

In any case I reach the Hut in one piece. To finish the day I hunt me some cattails at the lake and a rabbit on the way back. Sadly harsh winds prevent me from gathering more. I read a bit about making things so hot they get even hotter and sleep.

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Guest jeffpeng

Walker 3 / Day 27 - Ghost Town

The day begins snowy, but reading away some time reads away some of the snow as well. I have two main objectives today: collect some cattails, and acquire some food. Notice how that's two different things. After almost two weeks of running around with my bow and pointing it at innocent wildlife I actually plan to use it for once. While the lake wolf is absent, the wolf of the northern woods is not - and so isn't the deer. I still wait for some warmer weather.

When I finally go Harvey foils my plans. Alright. Then just cattails for today. I make quite a few, but not enough to cover my "travel expenses". Finally I make my first kill with the bow - a rabbit. Well.

In the evening the deer is gone as well - and so is the wolf of the northern woods. No wolves, no deer. Very peculiar.

 

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Walker 3 / Day 28 - Back At Snow Storm Of Doom Valley

8 am. Still no deer. But two lake wolves. Alright. Without the deer and without Cooking V.... there is no way for me to sustain myself here. And since I got what I came for I pack up and leave. Making headway I combination of underestimating the cold and failing to mag lens a fire twice costs me 2% condition before I can make a fire. I make me some beans, warm up and keep going. Bye bye, beloved/hated mountain!

As soon as I reach the rope down to Pleasant Valley I - of course - get caught by a blizzard. What else could have happened? I dump the sticks I have into a relatively well protected fire and start sorting stuff for my first trip down. Then - nothing to do - I cook tea. Just to pass time. And then ... the winds turn and I must climb. I hide inside the bunker and sleep.

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No place to live through the apocalypse.

The blizzard keeps raging until 11 pm - for over 8 hours total. I climb back up, get the things I left behind and slip back into the doomsday shelter. Through the night the aurora grants me opportunity to read, and I finish both A Sewing Primer and Stay On Target. 

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Walker 3 / Day 29 - Tales Of An Overburdened Traveler

I wake up at 8. I'm out of water, low on firewood. I break down the two crates in the bunker and then stir up a fire outside in the burned down house. Food also isn't great. 13 cattails and 2 tomato soup are enough to get me through the day, but not to the next. I want to get the bedroll from the picnic area. The cave also might have some food and I will definitely find a rabbit there. But .... at 12 it's blizzard time again. Will this ever end? I pull torches and go inside and try to sleep the blizzard off.

It ends at 10 pm. 10 hours! What choice do I have but to head out in the dark? It's dark and snowy, but it is at least just -9°C FL. I get going, grumpy. In the cave I find the bedroll, some lamp fuel but more importantly: beef jerky and sardines! At least something. But the rabbit outside I cannot see. I pop a fire - and gain Fire Starting III - as the aurora shows itself. I fall briefly victim to hyporisk, but it's mere moments. You know you are in trouble when you cook tea for calories. But that's where I'm at.

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Traveling overburdened at night with the aurora out. Generally not advisable.

Back to the shelter I actually contemplate making a break for Skeeter's - but winds forbid it and kill my torch. So it's more sleep at the doomsday bunker. 2 hours later the aurora is still there, but the winds are gone. I light up a torch and get going. I don't get much farther than the blind and have to make camp again. It is already morning when I go and finally make my way to Skeeter's. The deer carcass is there - but the winds blow out my torch again. I take half a kilogram of meat, but pay for it with 2% condition. I make yet another fire in the cave and cook the deer. Half an hour later I get back out, and get the remaining 0.6 kg, this time without damage.

The weather seems to be passable for once, so I go after eating the other pound of flesh. On the way out I search the container in the cave - and loot a tomato soup. Goodnerd gracious! I make it down from Skeeter's and as the weather is practically summer - -6°C FL with my torch - I decide to keep pushing for the farm. Reaching the bridge over the river crows fly over my head and I already expect the weather to switch from sunny skiing weather to snowstorm mode. But for now it's just fog.

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No snowstorm. Just fog.

Entering the farm I head upstairs and sort out stuff. All in all I have nearly 60 kilograms of items accumulated. That's a tall order to get out of pleasant valley. It will take me some time to sort through and reduce items, but getting below 50 is a tall order. However my most pressing concern is food. I basically need to get a deer to keep me afloat for 2-3 days. The cattails I initially brought to Pleasant Valley are depleted, and the ones I brought from Timberwolf Mountain are as well. The few I've got I actually picked on the way from Skeeter's. I get going to see if I can spot the deer I met on my way here.

I find an entire herd of deer - but also a see the bear roaming the plains. Being quite the sniper with the flare gun my aim with the arrow is totally off. I send the herd running in all direction coming short with my shoot a full deer's length. But, to my luck, one of the animals decides it's a good idea to charge me.

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Do you even aim?

Quite frankly I am almost embarrassed. But the deer is dead and all is good. So far. I get a fire going with Advanced Guns, Guns, Guns! (no idea what those guns are they are talking about) and get to work. I take full steaks and just the hide, not the guts. I don't care too much for being more stinky than I need to be. 9.8 kg is a good catch. I cook some of the meat right on the spot, the rest I take home without contest. I fire up the stove with the flame I brought and cook the rest and some water, and then leave three pots of water on auto pilot.

I've got enough food for today and two days after that. By that time I better be ready to leave. 

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So. Much. Atmosphere!

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19 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

SW4's wolf distribution is different than interlopers.

Good news for Bored Interlopers ;)

 

2 hours ago, DarKube said:

What ? This french words !?!?

You know some english just as everyone know some french, Tour de France is actually quite popular, and tour radical made its way through german-based and latin-based ones, don't you say Tour Operateur even in french, the one that cares about tour-ists?? ;)

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Guest jeffpeng

Walker 3 / Day 30 - Musings Of A Stuff Hauling Man

I almost cheer waking up to a blizzard at 6 am. 89% - I'm still in the clear.

I strategize what to do. I've got so many things of which I already will have to leave more behind than I care for. Initially I had planned to wrap around via Coastal Highway and return to Mystery Lake via the Ravine. But now I have to put that seriously into question. For everything I will find there that I deem useful I will have to leave something else behind I already deemed useful. No, Coastal High is a journey for another time. Maybe I'll even have enough freedom then to visit Hibernia.

Actually: That's a good plan, I think. Get home the way I came, unload, and then bring what I need for my second session of forging, this time at the Riken. I didn't leave any coal at Spence's, but at the Riken I should have plenty, especially after making it through all those mines. Hibernia is always worth a visit, so that's probably not the worst idea I've ever had. So ... back the way I came it is then.

Barn and Rural before that? Low risk, mediocre reward, but depending on blizzard windows high opportunity cost for, probably, a pack of matches, maybe two, and a bit of food if I'm lucky plus scraps. I'm at a point where I don't really loot for clothing anymore. The only things that would give me a bump at this point would be a second ear wrap - which is super rare - and a second set of thermal underwear - which is almost as elusive. If I need cloth: Milton is full of it. Probably over a hundred cloth still there. But .... let's just say I find that thermal underwear at Rural Crossroads. Then the trip is instantly worth it and having not made it would seem silly in retrospect.

One of my weakest points of game play is that I hoard. A lot. I have to constantly remind myself what is actually useful and what not. I'm the kind of guy that sits in his cave on day 500 and says "According to these projections based on data over the last 100 days I will run out of scrap metal on day 1792. I need to act!" and then gets wolfed hauling 40 kg of scrap metal from the dam to the Ravine. You might laugh - but that basically happened to me once, and greed got me killed more often than anything else.

Having the time to sort and discard I come up with 48 kg. For now. I might actually leave behind some maple saplings. Cloth is so cheap right now I even repair my 60% socks and 75% wool toque. At least I'm getting better at mending. That might count for something one day. After that I sleep two more hours.

About sleep: I've noticed I am sleeping basically "when I can" instead of doing filler tasks like preparing tea or reading. The rationale behind this, I guess, is that I don't want to find myself at low rest at a time I can actually do stuff because the weather permits me to. Weather is a much bigger part than I had anticipated, even with my above-average gear. So unless I don't have anything to do that is bound to the weather I find myself topping my rest bar off more often than not. The other reason for this is that I save 50 calories per hour of sleep compared to one hour of waiting or doing "light" tasks.

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Dashing through the snow, with no one horse and no sleigh

Weather is as good can be hoped for at shortly after 12 pm. No time to waste, I guess. I make a beeline to the barn, right across the fields. I run a good part of the distance. I find the stim I almost forgot about, another whetstone and that's about it. I convert my torch to a fire, warm up and pull new torches. I sprint towards Rural Crossroads, but winds come up, sadly in the wrong direction. It's not cold, but it costs time. 

About running: It isn't actually as bad calorie-wise as you might think. I have no exact numbers on that, but I from what I've observed so far running basically doubles the cost of walking on a time scale - just walking, not your overall consumption. And it also roughly doubles the speed you move. So the calories burned per distance covered should be about equal. The kicker is that, because you take less time to reach your destination, you can use the additional time gained to warm up sleeping, which in turn actually lowers you calorie intake overall. The real opportunity cost of running lies in the rather fast depletion of you rest. Long distances are not feasible to be covered sprinting because the onset of fatigue induced over-encumbrance will negate most if not all of your time gained. Plus there is always the consideration that a well rested survivor will fight off a wolf rather easily, while an exhausted survivor will not.

At the small house next to the gas station I find nuts'n'stuff, and beef jerky in the car. Much valued travel food. In the gas station I find another sewing kit and the matches. Two houses of the small settling are intact. The smaller one yields nothing, and then I have to hide in the car from the wolf.

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Can I shoot through glass? Probably not.

Ninja-stancing my way through the compound I reach the substantially bigger house unseen. By now Walker 3 probably has earned his Tom Clancy Award. Sadly the house doesn't yield anything as well. Whatever might have been there has already decayed. I escape, unseen, to the gas station and make my way to the nearby cave while the weather is as clear and still winded as it is. There I snipe me a bunny with the box and harvest 2 kg of venison from the deer carcass that waits outside. I leave the meat for tomorrow morning and sleep.

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29 minutes ago, BareSkin said:

Good news for Bored Interlopers ;)

Also bad news for bored Interlopers :D You really get into a routine with those doggos.

3 hours ago, DarKube said:

What ? This french words !?!?

Oui, c'est francais. En fait, je ne parle pas francais, mais presque tout le monde peut le faire, non? (Or something like that :D )

Actually I'm annoyed most of the time if people use my mother tongue on English forums. But good you are happy about it.

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3 minutes ago, jeffpeng said:

I am sleeping basically "when I can"

That's a luxury not every SleepWalker will afford, but yes sleeping "deadman mode" is the best once your happy with your health bar.

Nice french by the way, not even a single mistake, which is much better than the average frenchy writing its own language ;)

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Walker 3 / Day 31 - Fluid Planning

I get up at 6 am, light up and cook my meat. Cooking IV! Yay.

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I just got promoted to sous-chef de cuisine

At least calorie-wise yesterday wasn't a total bust. In fact: I even came out on top, albeit slightly. Even loot wise yesterday was okay, but probably, in the grand scheme of things, not very productive. Today I want to take the way back to the farm via Pensive Pond. I just hope I will find my way around. I warm up tea, take torches and get on the road. 

I find my first way point, the picnic benches, slightly off from where I remember, but they are a good enough marker to make me find the pond. Not uncontested, by I can shake the wolf loose. Only then I see I still had a tiny bit of venison in my pockets. Wow, that could have gone very wrong. In the hut I make camp again to warm up sleeping an hour. I pick a few cattails and then repeat the exercise. 

When I get up harsh winds batter the hut. I'm unsure weather to push on, but decide to risk it, albeit with a slightly altered plan. The winds soon turn, but then subside, granting me to reach the Winding River cave quick and without freezing. I sort through what I can spare and come out astonishingly light. Back to the farm then. I make quick and good progress, but run out of warmth and into the wind after passing the waterfall. I have to make camp at a spot I don't really want to. 

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How not to make camp.

When the winds subside I bolt. I even check the barn near Heartbreak Bridge, but to no avail. The deer carcass there just doesn't fit my priorities right now - which are basically getting home before the inevitable blizzard eventually hits. A full day without? Unheard of here. A few cattails on the river are welcome, however, and I reach the farm without contest. 

I gather the stuff I want to bring and spend the rest of the evening recycling torches and preparing tea until it is time for bed.

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Walker 3 / Day 32 - The Old Fortress

It so happened that the storm came, at night, not unexpected, nor welcome, but inevitable - and seeing it passing left my heart relieved with the chance to outrun it today. Preparations were being made, burdens were shed where possible, and accepted where needed. The route I devised for my escape should be the same that brought me here safely yesterday, knowing that shelter was nowhere to be found on the way. A bold move, worthy of a warrior.

Rest was gathered as only a rested hand is a strong hand, and as only a rested mind is a mind that can overcome its challenges. To spare costs in light of such an undertaking would be foolish, and with my bags bursting with treasures polishing my armor was a duty that brought me joy. To save what you cannot keep is to waste the breath you spend for saving it.

Sharp steel and fireworks were being trained at the wild, the unexpected, the merciless seeking to end my existence. Not today, so I vowed, would I succumb to traps and ambushes laid for me at every step of the way - the only way: Out of the Valley Of Death. The sun was towering high from its throne above the same clouds that sought to shattered me with ice and gust. My path would follow the frozen waters. Not long before the cold took hold of me and I found refuge at a warming fire.

When I left the fire, I called upon hot food and drink to keep it burning from within me. I would not be deterred, I would not be denied. 

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A drawing of the mighty waterfall.

Gazing in awe upon the Majestic Waterfall, a God of ancient times before man walked the world, I called out Lord! I call upon thee! Grant me thy strength and thy mercy and I shall repay thee with coin carved from the flesh and bone of my enemies! Heavy weighted my stride, leaning against the wind and conquering the steepness of the hills. Just like me the flame in my hand would not falter. When the winds finally struck it down after its long and fierce struggle it was all the more reason for me to muster strength and bravery.

Winter was lashing its longest fangs at my throat and cutting its sharpest blades across my face, but What, I laughed, what can thou dost to stop me now? There was no answer because Winter knew it lost to the greatest conqueror of them all. Its last attempt, albeit futile, took some life out of my heart, and the pain was both blinding and exhilarating. Against the greatest storms of them all I reached the cave in that I had just yesterday secretly stashed my bounties. Riches beyond comprehension, I tell you, awaited me in the warm embrace that darkness promised.

I lit my beacon, a magical trinket that survived the ages, and cast away the black nothingness that engulfed me. My path lay clear ahead of me. The Winding River, a place of despair and demise for many that came before me, but also of ancient mystery, was the next part of my journey. 

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Many have found their end here - and many more will!

When sunlight struck my eyes again after what felt like aeons of being down in the chasm, the winds were still ravaging the land, but the rocks and mountains of the same land gave me cover. We had joined forces against Winter. Night was soon to fall, but I was determined to reach the my destination today. Fighting Winters attacks from all sides and suffering its blows like the Warrior I am I finally reached the lake, stricken by the cold impaling me, and couldn't but gasp for breath seeing the Old Fortress towering above me.

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The Old Fortress - a place of mystery and legend

Stories and fairytales are told by the old folk that a hundred Winters ago the Old Fortress was a place of great "power" and that Wizards bestowed the same life upon trinkets and contraptions that only the heavenly lights can gift them if they bless us with their presence. How much there is to these myths nobody can really tell anymore. A man of faith and courage like me doesn't have the need for such blasphemy. But even I cannot and will not deny the strange and otherworldly aura this place has, and that I can just as little as the scholars make sense of the constructions inside of it. I just know that a fortress such as this must have been the theatre for many glorious battles in wars as ancient as itself, fought by the Builders against enemies of which there is no trace today.

When Winter finally arrests its assault I make camp a last time to infuse my frozen limbs with new life. The way into the Old Fortress is treacherous and not known to many. But having taken the journey many Winters ago I know the path to the secret entrance on the other side of the lake. Before I enter I make camp again to feast on the rich and tasteful flesh of a stag that has found its demise up here. How did it get here? I wonder. The only way, I am certain, is if it was placed for me here to strengthen me and reward me for my victorious struggle against Winter itself. Who am I to refuse such a gift?

The night is dark and deep long before I finish my feast. With the flame in my hand I enter the Old Fortress through a window shattered by winds and time. Exhausted I bed myself and dream of even greater feats to come.

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Walker 3 / Day 33 - A Day At The Lake

Yesterday was costly - but necessary. Like Kermit 7's exodus from Pleasant Valley Walker 3's was a tour de force. Not as harsh, but equally as painful, and - put into perspective - just as costly. 72% condition are still far away from worrisome, but I think I deserve a few days of vacation at Trapper's. But for that I first have to get there. In any case my expedition was successful. Two weeks after my departure I return with much better clothing, two sets of quality tools and matches for hundreds of days.

But I have a new set of problems now. First of all my stomach, filled to capacity with deer yesterday morning, is pretty empty, never mind my unexpected dinner yesterday evening. Then hauling 47 kg through all of mystery lake is no slouch. Plus water is running low. I read two hours to have light in the dam and get going. The lower dam is just here for me to pass through. Nothing left of interest. I pick up the light shell I left here, as I will store it upstairs. By now I'm sure l will not bring everything I have on me in one go.

I take the time to search the upper dam. I take some exquisite toilet water that removes my water problem for now. Other than that I find a bottle of accelerant ... and a hook. Yeah, that's it. I leave. Outside green fog greets me welcome home.

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Today: Broccoli Soup.

I head under the bridge to collect some cattails and get mooed at. I cannot see the moose, but it looks like he can see me. Back up. Halfway to the Lake Overlook the fog finally lifts a bit. On the way up I sprain my wrist, so it's sleepy time at the overlook. Before that I find the storm lantern, Stay On Target and excellent 0% soda that just pops like it wasn't 100 years old. After 2 hours of rest I take meat and hide from the deer carcass and head for the camp office. On the way down there my ankle explodes in smoke. Thoroughly annoyed I sip my tea.

I decide to hunt me some wolf, but it takes me quite some time to actually find some. When I do I find two at once. I bait and hit both, but both not fatally. They take off in different directions, so I chose the one that runs around on the lake, catch up, and finish him. I pop a fire and get to work. I wonder if I will be able to recover the other wolf tomorrow.

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My first wolf kill

I take everything except one gut and make my way to the Camp Office, collecting some cattails on the way. I put down the two pots I brought from the dam for the office and program 4 liters of water into the autocooker - and go to bed. 

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Walker 3 / Day 34 - Honey I'm Home!

I wake up to a blizzard. Well. Good thing I have stuff to read. Two hours later it passes. But since the weather is still nowhere near hospitable I keep reading. It's almost midday when I decide to go and look for the wolf - and my arrow.

I tour half the lake, pick a lot of cattails, and even find a sewing kit, The Frozen Angler and a pack of herbal tea in the fishing huts - but the wolf is lost and the arrow with it. I mean ... it's fine. It's not like I'll run out of arrow heads anytime soon. Without further detour I aim for Trapper's. The journey proves uneventful and I reach my destination just moments before 6 pm. Inside stale air and the stench of complacency greet me. I put on some water, build 4 snares, autopilot some more water and deploy my snares.

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Four snares and stupid rock.

That's it then. Good night.

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12 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

if people use my mother tongue on English forums.

native language for "langue natale"
Actually, where are you from ? : you talk french and english withe a little mistake and you say:  "Actually I'm annoyed most of the time if people use my mother tongue on English forums. But good you are happy about it. "  o.O

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2 hours ago, DarKube said:

native language for "langue natale"
Actually, where are you from ? : you talk french and english withe a little mistake and you say:  "Actually I'm annoyed most of the time if people use my mother tongue on English forums. But good you are happy about it. "  o.O

I'm German. And I guess every language is a difficult language for someone who has no experience with it. Language becomes something so intrinsic to our being that we think in it. A different language is not just the meaning of words we cannot understand, it often is a process of thought we cannot comprehend. That's why language - in a world that can communicate in real time globally - is still a barrier for many people.

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Walker 3 / Day 35 - Safehouse A

5 am, blizzard time. I'm not phased too much, however I will need to get working on food today. I pad through the dark and reach my locker and start storing things away. My cattails, with the stash here, now total 74. That's a notable decline, but still a lot of headroom. Other notable resources are 6 plus a bit sewing kits, almost 6 whetstones, 7 leather, 23 cloth, 4 scrap metal (+5 at the dam), 111 matches + 74% fire striker, 2 stims, 30 pain killers, 24 antibiotics, 25 prepared reishi, 17 prepared rose hips. All in all I have a very luxurious collection for a nice and quiet retirement - not that I plan to retire just yet. I have 8 arrow heads and, with the pieces I left at the dam, 10 -12 maple saplings and probably 60 arrow shafts worth of birch saplings. I could equip a small squad of couching bow ninjas. But I could not feed them!

When the blizzard passes at 12 pm I check my snares. 1 rabbit, none broken. It's a start, but making a fire, a matched one to boot, for a singular rabbit? Nah. The weather is still daunting and doesn't inspire much will for travel. I harvest the rabbit and read a bit more. Archery III pops up on my screen.

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I can now actually hit things. Sometimes.

At 3 pm the weather is warm enough to chance a stroll towards Apparition Pond. Making my way there I get barked at. I turn around, but the wolf follows me all the way to Trappers. I pick up some rabbit, throw it to the wolf, and aim. Apparently the wolf doesn't like rabbit and comes charging. The arrow, however, hits true. Lucky.

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Expertly not shot in the head. Doh.

I quarter the intruder and haul his parts inside to be processed later. I gather a few sticks and snipe me two bunnies. My first arrow breaks in the process. I use the last daylight to maglens me a fire at a position I deem mostly protected from the winds that are brushing up. The biggest problem actually is that my firewood reserves are 3 reclaimed wood I actually wanted to save for snares. So tomorrow I will have to fix that. But for now it's bunny-dinner-time.

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Has shockingly low calories: bunny meat.

I manage to find a few more sticks and actually harvest and cook the wolf quarters. 4 steaks will serve me as sustenance, 2 0.3 kg strips will serve as bait. I finish the day harvesting the guts of the two bunnies. Then it's time for bed.

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Walker 3 / Day 36 - No Milk Today

I wake up shortly before 6. My mediocre condition lets me focus on being awake a bit more. I read two hours about animal anatomy and how to mess it up, and then get to work on replenishing my two lost arrows. I end up crafting 3 so I have 4 brand new ones in addition to a fairly used one. 

At 11 am the world is still engulfed in thick green fog. It didn't keep three rabbits from getting themselves killed in my snares, however. The fog lifts after I harvest the meat from the bunnies. And look what I see:

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New participants for another episode of Deer Destruction Derby.

I pick up the empty rabbit carcasses I keep around for such an occasion and head to the shed. Usually just being here stinky as I am is enough to attract some wolves. Not today. Even walking a bit into the forest doesn't attract any. I go back in to warm up and get the guts from one of the bunnies and gain Carcass Harvesting IV. Even more stinky I return outside. Again - to no avail. What is it with wolves that they are never there when you actually need them for once? The weather turns bad, and I get back in, hungry, and harvest more guts. A wolf never shows up and I realize I spend too much time dangling around and still have no firewood.

I find a few sticks and quickly run through the Milton transition cave to find a total of 9 coal. It gets so late that my risk of intestinal parasites passes and I decide to postpone cooking until tomorrow. I eat a second wolf steak because what the hell and get to bed. Today was not very productive.

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Walker 3 / Day 37 - Up And Down The Tracks

My snares have caught another rabbit - so I have something to spend the crystal clear and cold morning with. After that I maglens a fire outside and get cooking. I even bring my pots. I cook all the rabbit I have, fill my face to capacity, and get going. I want to use the favorable weather to make it back to the dam and collect on the remaining things I left there.

I make quick progress and indeed don't see a single wolf anywhere. At around the lake overlook I make camp to warm up and pull new torches. Sadly winds brush up and kill the fire - and I have to relocate it. Spraining my ankle in the process I'm already annoyed again. I warm up, but carrying a burning torch is out of the question. Picking a few cattails under the bridge I finally find a wolf - or he finds me. Retreat to the dam yard and eventually try to put an arrow into him - but the arrow doesn't stick, and the wolf bolts. Oh well. I get inside, collect my things, note six - not five - scrap metals stored here, and leave again.

On the way back I sprain all limbs and more. Not really wanting to risk making my way through Deadfall in this condition I decide to turn in at the camp office for tonight. 3 wolf steaks are still waiting there on the porch for me. Preparing my second tea a blizzard sets in and confirms my decision. Not much more to do than sleep.

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Walker 3 / Day 38 - The Banana Of Life

I'm out of water when I get up, so a reishi tea has to fill in. Eating two instead of one wolf steak didn't have any detrimental effects so far. Thatcher did it a few times, and I got by unscathed yesterday as well. I know it quadruples my chance to contract parasites for just double the calories, but it also makes my cattail stock dwindle at a fraction of the speed. At 7 I maglens a fire behind the office and get some water done. I get going, after 10, in thick green fog. The only notable occurrence on my way home is that I sprain my wrist and ankle again .... on the last few meters to boot. Two rabbits and a broken snare greet me home and I sleep two hours.

I take a few minutes to load off all the new things I brought. Organizing will have to wait. I cannot afford to give the day up just yet. I pop some pills and get moving. I make a pretty big turn and still find no wolf. The bear den near Trappers also is vacant - nobody lives here. I actually find a deer carcass, saw me 0.8 kg of meat and finally my 9% hacksaw breaks. 

I return home, load off my stuff, and then make a last ditch effort to call some wolves here. I pick up my six rabbits, clap them in the air like mad and.... well, whaddayaknow:

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Doesn't realize yet he's part of the dinner he thinks he's hunting: A wolf.

The wolf makes rather quick work of one of the deer. I make rather quick work of him. It's the circle of life. So to speak. Well, more like a line. A curved line maybe. The Banana Of Life. Let's settle on that.


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Aren't they lovely?

I spend the entire evening quartering, harvesting and cooking, and I'm not even done when I get to bed at 5 am.

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Walker 3 / Day 39 - Rose Hips Of Steel

I cannot complain, waking up at 12 pm. I haven't even gotten the wolf done, and there are still some rabbits that need their guts removed. And then someone joins the party that I hadn't dared to dream of.

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A mountain of meat, a swimming pool of guts and a hide so strong it will never break - all for the cost of a few broken ribs, eh?

Getting this fella.... I'd be sustained for weeks. But I miss my shot and he bolts. Worth a try. It's always worth a try. Two rabbits in the snares. More things to tear apart - work is piling up. I harvest some of the wolf meat and take a look back outside. The moose is back. I approach closer, and miss yet again. It runs, and I take after it. It turns around, still in panic, and I snow my pants as he comes charging. I fire, I hit. The moose flinches... then takes off again.

I'm by now pretty sure that this is a bad idea. I recover my missed arrow and see the moose wrap around behind the cabin. I follow, crouching. The moose by now has calmed down and doesn't seem to mind the arrow. I take aim - and hit! The moose flinches .... but doesn't die. And it saw me. The moose takes aim to charge. I have two arrows left. I can get them both off if I am quick. No aiming - I shoot again - and the moose flinches .... and dies. Fluffy almighty!

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More Swiss cheese than moose.

Hell yeah! My very own moose lying in my backyard. -1°C FL ... I'll even have all the time I need to quarter it. I pull out my arrows and look at this brute. 44.4 kg!

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Yeah, that's some food right there.

The rest of the day is uneventful. I haul 90 kilograms of moose quarters into the house, gather some firewood and harvest the first of nine bags. Then it's time to sleep. Tomorrow will be a bloody day.

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