Tales Of Tasha (1.45, SW8)

[Guest jeffpeng]

Hello,

since my last Thread was actually @BareSkin's SleepWalker Level 8, not 7, and I decided to stick with it, here the correct title and description.

The code I am playing ist 8sHM-/j8P-Kxun-g6GO-7gAA, with a random start, no feats, no maps and very, very little hope.

Enjoy!

[Guest jeffpeng]

Tasha 2 / Days 1 to 3 - Coast Runner

What the hell?

Coastal Highway? Desolation Point? I don't know!

It's 12 am, and it takes me a few steps to see the lighthouse in the weather that turns foggy immediately. Great. Just my favorite place to start .... not. A barker spots me almost immediately and I pick up my legs and run around him in a circle. A second barker is as surprised to see me as I am surprised to see it, and we pass like speed boats in the night, running scared. What a way to start this life!

I reach the lighthouse which of course is to cold for me to even be here. I find sardines, the stim, Wilderness Kitchen, and a pack of crackers, plus some accelerant on the second floor. I decide to sleep two hours to warm up. I head out in find the world engulfed in thick fog - and almost miss the Riken. Inside it's again too cold for me to just exist, but at least I find a wool scarf, and in the next box a Maple Leaf toque and fleece mittens. Woohoo! Still too cold, but now at least I have a chance to warm up in bed for an hour.

Waking up I find an issue of The Frozen Angler, canned beans, some coal at the furnace, but nothing at the helm. I again warm up for an hour in bed, and then sprint over to Hibernia and enter the first trailer freezing - but in there it is finally warm enough. Rejoice Tasha! But I can't see much in the dark. I drink my sardines and head over to the main building, in dire need of water. I find no matches but at least more sardines, some dog food and a soda can, so I return to the trailer and warm up in bed - again.

When I get back up again three hours later I'm relatively warm - but parches, and a blizzard is raging outside. Back to the main building. I find a nice torch, crackers, but still no matches. A Sewing Primer - really? A whetstone, a sewing kit ... and finally: A flare. Yes! And the bedroll is here as well. Splendid. I get out and make a fire. While I got just one tiny can it's pretty much the best I can do right now.

It's so pink!

I cook two and a half liters of water, sleep as much time of it that I can, pull torches and get back in to give the building a second, proper search with some light. And there I find the matches I thought to be guaranteed, but had falsely located at the desk in my head. Thank goodness. The safe reveals some very welcome Pork & Beans. But that's about all I find.

Leaving the building through the front I immediately get greeted by a bear on his hinds. Hm. How about nope? I dodge back in, to startled to make a screen shoot. I leave on the other side and give the trailer complex a second sweep, this time with light. Another whetstone and some water tablets. Yeah.... no. Not useful. The other trailer is equally useless. The two cars parked in front are a bust as well, and with two wolves on my heels I make it into the mine just barely.

Loads of coal, painkillers and the Frontier Shooting Guide. I break two crates to have some normal firewood and think. There's not much I could be hoping for at the church. Katie's (actually the very place I started) could hold a deer carcass at least. Let's try that. But not at the current temperatures outside. I plant my Bedroll and sleep.

When I wake up , fully rested, it's 11 am. Crows alert me to a nearby corpse - and it's a deer carcass, alright. Right above the cave entrance and already halfway to the church. I plant a fire, and start boiling water immediately. Luckily I manage to throw in the first coal before I start freezing. The carcass yields only a pound of sorry flesh, but I take it. I pull torches after cooking and now that I am halfway at the church anyways I might as well go there - but except for a few reishi it's a waste of time. But then I casually manage to snipe a rabbit and dodge back into the mine to warm up. Sporting 1.1 kilograms of edible meat it was almost worth it after all. I harvest and cook my rabbit, get some tea going, convert more coal to torches and head out again.

I find the carcass at Katie's, but after failing three times to make a fire I have to use my accelerant to avoid heavy freezing. A tin of sardines also waits for me at the abandoned campsite. 1.1 kg of venison are enough to get me through the night, and after catching even a fat 1.4 kg rabbit I'm pretty set for about a day. I goat down from there and as always - I don't know why - manage to bruise myself a little. Nothing serious but meh.

I hobble wobble to the transition mine, but my torch dies, annoyingly, on the last steps before I make it in. Well. Pretty tired and reasonably well nourished I decide to call it a day.

Mines - now with weather forecast!

I'm fully rested at 6 am. I light up and find matches right at the entrance. Guaranteed? Not sure. Lots of coal and some scrap metal are welcome. I briefly consider heading back to forge a knife ... but decide against it. It would cost me more than the food I have with little to no chance to find more. I find a Barker-Knocker 3000 (aka Pry Bar) which has, over time, become my favorite tool for self defense in Interloper games. Another issue of A Sewing Primer will make me a tailor in no time. I leave the mine into to gaze at a burning sky.

Whoa.

Heavily Freezing I make it into the basement, but not before attracting unwanted, barking attention. The dryer yields a worn hoodie, but that's about it. I leave, and immediate freeze again. The barker eats my torch, and I make it to the nearby carcass without further discussions. A mere 600 grams of venison are hardly worth the effort - but well. At least I get to warm up. After eating my meat I pull torches and leave. A barker wants some attention, but all he gets is my cold and uncaring backside.

I use the car at Commuters Lament to warm up and rest for two hours. Approaching the Waterfront Cottages I run into another bear. What's about Tasha and those bears? He shouts some Russian insults at me, but lets me pass. Coming from the water another barker eats a torch - which has become my favorite way of "disincentivizing" them from bothering me. A corpse yields a copy of Field Dressing Your Kill, Vol. I, but all of the houses are burned down. Where do we go from here?

After short deliberation with myself I decide that Misanthrope's is my best bet right now. You people know I like to make grand tours across maps to collect as much as I can in as little time as possible. But this time my plan is actually a bit different. Leaving I spot another crow storm above the Waterfront Cottages. I turn around, and indeed: it's a carcass. The weather is unusually warm, so I even tho I fail my fire three times I don't freeze. 1.6kg! Amazing. I will get to keep my two cans of beans, at least for now.

The island beckons.

When I leave dusk is already upon me. But it's fine. I didn't lose more condition, and still covered some ground. I reach the house without contest and commit a thorough search. New wool socks, a pack of crackers, summit soda and a can of tomato soup are my reward. Oh, yes, and of course: toilet water. The weather is mild, visibility is good and I'm still fit enough to hop another island. But thick fog closes in faster than I can turn back, and upon reaching the fishing hut I'm almost freezing again. Three more fails at starting a fire cost me. Tasha wasn't blessed with the dice all that much up until now. I decide that venturing out into the falling night, surrounded by fog, is suicide, put on some of my 35 pieces of coal and roll out my bed.

[BareSkin]

I just hope you double-checked the settings after entering the code, just in case I messed up somehow...

8 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

some water tablets. Yeah.... no. Not useful.

Since playing high Thrist of SW7 I actually use them, can you believe that?

8 hours ago, jeffpeng said:

which has become my favorite way of "disincentivizing" them from bothering me

Do you actually throw it at them? I stopped trying this technique long ago, as it produced zero results.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Tasha 2 / Days 4 to 5 - Moving up in the world

It's 1 am when the fog lifts and a starry sky is laid bare. I pack up and head for Jackrabbit. I reach the house narrowly before I start to freeze again. I'm tired and overloaded, hence slow. I quickly search the house. Coffee, soda, dog food, tomato soup, beans. I really would love to have a can opener. Some antibiotics fall into my hand just when I think that eating the dog food without them would be rather stupid. I drink my soda and get to sleep for 6 hours.

It's past 8 am when I get up. I need food unless I want to smash away at my canned food. I had hoped for a rabbit or two, but zilch. I get back in, eat my dog food (including the can) and sleep two more hours. Back among the living I head straight for the fishing camp. On the way I spot a barker far out on the ice... and a deer not too far removed. What if I could .... 

... let the barker kill the deer and steal it!

8.4 kg of venison. Jackpot. It takes me until dusk to take and cook all of it, and I even make Cooking II in the process. I take a short detour to the fishing hut, and find simple tools and a hook. Reaching the fishing camp with a hungry barker in tow I get into the first hut and immediately sleep 6 hours, fully exhausted, and then 6 more.

When I get up at around 7 am the outside sounds like the world is ending for good this time. Having more food than I can eat and enough water for at least the day I decide that I should fix a bit of my attire with the few cloth I've got and read some of the many books I'm carrying around aimlessly so far. Field Dressing Your Kill, Vol I. it is. Two hours later the wind dies down, and I decide to visit the other huts. I find a granola bar and a bar of chocolate, both thoroughly hidden under furniture. Then I tear down some curtains and return to the first hut which I have my meat stored.

The point is: I cannot travel with this amount of stinky food. The plan from here was initially to fishing-hut-hop back to Quonset but now I will have to stay a day here. Which isn't totally bad. I just need to use it. And the best way to use it would be to stock up on food I would otherwise not be collecting. So I decide to travel up the bear creek - all the way until the bridge, and back to the little rabbit house, where I sleep two hours. The way back is an even harder sprint - but I make it A-OK, albeit arriving fully exhausted. I have to sleep an hour just to see straight.

My bounty is impressive: 39 cattails. That's enough for two full days of travel, and with the other food I got even three. I fix a few pieces of clothing and then decide that my day was successful enough - time to sleep.

[Guest jeffpeng]

2 hours ago, BareSkin said:

I just hope you double-checked the settings after entering the code, just in case I messed up somehow...

I did!

2 hours ago, BareSkin said:

Since playing high Thrist of SW7 I actually use them, can you believe that?

I do, too. But in that particular situation I already had like 8 liters on me. I keep them around for when I need to really make the most out of a fire. Which happens more often than I thought it would.

2 hours ago, BareSkin said:

Do you actually throw it at them? I stopped trying this technique long ago, as it produced zero results.

I'm pretty sure they changed the code here. I works with - so far - perfect reliability since the update. Just don't throw it at them. Throw it at the patch of ground in front of them. The torch will then bounce, the wolf will look startled and then take off. However: bad idea with more than one wolf  (Yes, I tested that.)

[Guest jeffpeng]

Tasha 2 / Days 6 and 7 - Scavenging For A Living

7 am. Water is running low, and weather doesn't sound too great. My venison is depleted, but my food store should allow me to get to the Pleasant Valley farmstead even in the odd event I don't find anything between here and there. I take another hour to fix one of my hoodies, but then it's time to move. I hop one, two, three fishing huts, and then make a fire to warm up - or try to. Six attempts to get a fire rolling? Really? You cannot calculate ahead for that amount of misfortune.

I warm up, get some tea boiling and restock on water a bit. A carcass at the log sort warrants another stop, and it takes me "just" four times to get a fire going this time. What the flying freeze? But 1.8 kg of venison are worth the hassle - I guess. I harvest and cook the food and store it all in my belly. I hop two more huts, and end up at another carcass on the ice near Quonset, this time yielding 1.6 kg. I end up taking the hide as well. Maybe I can get it to the Farm and dry it there. 0.6 kg of meat are too much to eat, so I will have to be careful for a while.

The house near Quonset yields matches, accelerant, another tin of very welcome sardine, the obligatory fill of toilet water and this:

Knickerbockers!

Maybe it's hard to fathom how great a find this is for people not playing Interloper games as much as I do, but in my world these are just as valuable as ear wraps. A car in front of Quonset has a pair of work boots in rough shape stored - but they are still inarguably better than my leather kickers. The garage itself yields even more matches, dog food, Nuts'n'Stuff, two cans of Soda, two packs of beef jerky, my third copy of A Sewing Primer, more premium flavored toilet water, more water purification tablets, a pack of herbal tea, a bandage, a blue tool box, the Storm Lantern, a tin of coffee, two cans of tomato soup and finally my second can under the bed.

One of the cars outside has painkillers and matches in the glove compartment. I make it into the house (which seems to be fixed on Interloper) circled by two barkers huffing and puffing at me. But my journey ends here for today. I find another tin of coffee, antibiotics, a lonely cup of herbal tea and - yes, you guessed it - toilet water. I tear up my old shoes, drink up and get to sleep.

I get up past 8 am and start the day by fixing my shoes to passable levels, mending my mittens and then sleeping a bit more. It's around 2 pm when I decide to get on the road again. A sewing kit in another wrecked car is welcome. A barker spots me near the trailer, which I in turn decide to skip. I can't shake it loose until I reach the two cabins in pristine and unusually warm weather. +0 FL with my crappy clothing? Unheard of. The cabins, however, yield nothing of consequence.

I reach the trailer on the way to the mine around 5 pm. I'm packed, and I'm slow. But I don't feel like leaving stuff behind since I don't plan to return anytime soon. I find more tea, another toolbox, beef jerky and ..... finally a can opener! I reach the lookout before nightfall and find the matches and the Hacksaw, plus a few more painkillers. I warm up, eat a can of beans and get going again. I collect my first two maple saplings but making my way to the mine two barkers cut me off. I drop a fire, but am unsure if I can circumvent them. Luckily the panicking barkers run past the fire in their fear - which makes no sense - and I get to approach the mine without further contest.

Already overburdened I skip out on most of the coal and even yet another tool box. I find another sewing kit, the stim, and another bar of Nuts'N'Stuff. At the other end of the mine I munch some cattails, drink up, and get to sleep.

The gate to the Valley of the Damned.

[Dan_]

Masterclass on loot and scoot right here. 

Thanks for the update on torch throwing against the booty biters, will surely test and make use of this. I assume you still have to stand your ground so they stop, right?

 

[Guest jeffpeng]

Just now, Dan_ said:

I assume you still have to stand your ground so they stop, right?

Yes. Just throwing it aimlessly is a bad idea. Something I tested: you "can" scare two at a time if they stand close together, but it's a risky move (maybe works 2 out of 3 times?), and I'd opt for a fire in any case. So chances are one in three that by saving some tinder and a stick you get double-wolfed instead. Risks at least I am not willing to take unless I absolutely must (like having a bear on my tail).

Plus there seems to be some calculation how "willing" a wolf is to attack you in the first place being factored into how long the wolf waits before it attacks you. So if you are already likely to be attacked they will wait shorter until they charge - or not wait at all. So being overburdened, exhausted and sprained on all five limbs a torch isn't as good a deterrent as one might think.

This all is observation biased information, so consume with a good amount of salty crackers and have some toilet water ready. Just in case.

[Guest jeffpeng]

Tasha 2 / Days 8 to 10 - The freezing Valley of the Damned

What can I say. I'm really looking forward to the Valley of the Damned. Not.

Well at least it's not totally snow.

Hardly out of the gates I already need to warm up. But that's fine. If there's one thing I've got more than enough of it's coal. Another can of beans goes for breakfast, and some herbal tea that in this mode sadly really has no other use than warmth and calories. My second stop is at the cave near The End Of The Road, where I also stuff another can of beans into my smiling face. The weather holds, and is actually remarkable warm, and I make it to Rural Crossroads without contest. No sign of the wolf. The first house, the small one, yields new sardines and beans. What joy! The big one however only has new wool socks.

Over the river I find a granola bar in the car parked in front of the convenience store. Inside an issue of Wilderness Kitchen, a pack of beef jerky and the expected matches wait for me. The house next door has another maple toque. The weather is so favorable it's almost unreal, so I take to the river to scoop up more cattails. But then, of course, almost at the river crossing, the weather turns and I decide to make camp for the night under the stars.

At 7 am a night of short intermittent sleep lies behind me - but I am rested and the one thing I don't need for now ... is water. It's too cold to move, and it smells like blizzard, so I stay at the fire, hoping for a break in the weather, and cooking tea and coffee to spend the time somewhat useful. My worries are justified, and I find myself in a full blown blizzard less than 30 minutes later. 

Yup. I'm screw'd.

Having nothing else to do (except praying a lot) I keep cooking beverages and make Cooking III in the process. Actually one of the best perks to attain early in the game. Less cooking times for more calories? I take that any day of the week. The fire holds, but the blizzard rages forever. It's 4 pm already when everything is said and done. I lost almost the entire day.

I wish I could say I made it to the barn before freezing - but harsh wind in my face spells that I didn't. Inside the barn I find a granola bar, an issue of Stay On Target, a whetstone, the stim, a blue toolbox and some leather. Not yet sure if I want to call it a day "already" I make a fire in the barrel with the flame I've been carrying since yesterday morning and sleep two hours, but then realize the folly to even consider moving on today. -25°C just say no. I end up braking a crate since I'm basically out of non-coal firewood and sleep as much as I can. 

I wake early and spend the time until 6 am with tearing up surplus clothing and then staring a bit into the dark. I fix my clothes a bit where it makes sense, read two hours about disintegrating biological entities, and then sleep another hour. I get going, but have to warm up not even halfway to the farmstead. When I'm done warming up... the next blizzard hits. What can I do? I return to the barn, and break yet another crate just to have firewood. Two hours of sleep and an hour of reading later it's already 5 pm - but the blizzard subsides. Well if not now, when? So ... next try. It's still -20 °C FL, and this time I cover even less ground before I have to make a fire. At least I gain Fire Starting II. Yay.

Yeah.... like freeze it. I'm going anyways.

I reach the farmstead, eventually, but again freezing, and the ground I didn't cover in the past 48 hours is just staggering. I enter the basement, and find the matches, a bandage, another hacksaw, yet another whetstone and quality tools. Inside the farmstead the loot is rather disappointing: new peaches, two cooking pots, a pack of matches in the desk drawer, another copy of A Sewing Primer, a sewing kit and a can of soda. I'm still lacking any jacket, and nothing I found here really helps me.

My cattails are gone, my other food reserves should sustain me another day and then a bit. Of my almost 40 coal 16 pieces are left, and only because I made some in the cave near The End Of The Road. Just getting here took most of what I had, and the reward is laughable so far. I will have to have two days of good weather if I want to make it to the Mountaineering Hut in good enough shape to actually make a run for the summit. Thoroughly annoying I get to sleep.