Astrid the Beefy


mystifeid

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What follows is my take on the start of an Interloper game. Apart from a slight initial detour it is standard fare.

Besides hating going hungry, my character - Astrid (the Beefy) - unfortunately never learned to read and so she burns every skill book found very quickly. She thinks that badge feat buffs are for sissies and will probably start a very physical altercation with anyone who even mentions them. Also, from an early age, my Astrid has been allergic to fish and thinks rabbit snares are very cruel although she quite enjoys skewering them with an arrow...

Day 1

I roll the die and spawn in Pleasant Valley. I turn left and start running toward the Abandoned Bunker but there is only one hour of light remaining and I have spawned a long way from my target. When I get there I have 90% health and find no loot. The air temp is -5C inside - too cold to stay for long without sleeping. I need matches and the closest are in the Mountaineers Hut. Exiting the bunker I climb the rope into the starry darkness and battle a fierce headwind at the top. Finally I reach the hut and find a ski parka and a hacksaw as well as sundry food and fuel.

With a hacksaw I can make the summit but outside a blizzard has started and I have no choice but to burn all my fuel as I wait out the blizzard asleep.

Day 2

Morning comes - thirteen hours of light and a felt like -29C. The fishing hut gives me a cotton toque and the cargo container near the Wing provides two cans of coffee and some tinned food. Originally I would have liked to visit the three way cave and the engine cargo container next but my health is falling fast so I forgo the clothing in the container and head for Deer Clearing. By the time I reach the cave my health is at 50%. A fire, some food and warm drinks will hopefully give me the energy I need to reach Secluded Shelf.

On the way I loot the container on Deer Clearing hoping for lots of cloth for a future snow shelter but find only one piece. The weather is good now with blue sky above and no wind and I climb the rope to Secluded Shelf with no problem. Without the torch from the three way cave I have to light a fire and rely on a brand getting me through the connecting cave to below the summit but it lasts with enough left over to light another fire.

Now comes the tough decision. Do I use all my remaining coffee to recover the energy needed to climb to the summit straight away with my health at 51% or do I sacrifice clothing to make a snow shelter and sleep for as long as possible to regain health and energy?

After about a nanosecond I start to brew coffee and eight cups later I'm warm and rested so with two hours of light remaining I make my way to the rope. I climb it with one rest on a ledge then visit the cave to retrieve the rope which I deposit back at the jumpdown point. Then I run to the tail section where after six failed attempts I finally light a fire. My health is now 40%.

I loot the containers but find one of the poorest collections ever. However I now have enough spare clothing to harvest into cloth in order to make a snow shelter after descending from the summit. I do also find a heavy hammer, a firestriker and a flare gun.

Unfortunately there is no more coffee in the containers, only tea, so the snow shelter has become an imperative as has my early retreat while I still have the energy for the descent. After climbing back down the rope I build the snow shelter just outside the snow cave and my health drops to 33%.

summit_climb.jpg

Day 3

I sleep for an hour or two at a time before a blizzard rolls in and I beat a path nekked to the cave to Secluded Shelf to wait it out. Health has risen to 43%. Finally with three hours of light left, the blizzard breaks and I rope down to the Eric's Falls plateau. I can see the wolf chasing rabbits not far away as I scurry to set the next rope. At the bottom another wolf walks away from me and I make for the engine to engine cave post haste. Although the intention was to merely warm up here the promise of loot at the other end nags at me so I light a fire and use a brand to navigate the labyrinth. Emerging into the last light of the day, the first stop is the engine cargo container where I find a hoodie and a sweatshirt in good condition. Next I backtrack and continue to the three way cave, finding two boxes of matches, firewood, a torch and a tin of food.

The torch is an added bonus returning through the engine to engine cave as I find numerous pieces of coal I had missed by using the brand and after exiting the cave I hurry to set the next rope because it's starting to look like I won't have the energy to make it all the way down. But I do although I am by this stage totally exhausted. My health is at 30%, there is a fierce headwind and to avoid wolves I must go via the Landing Gear to the Mountaineers Hut. I stop halfway, make another fire and boil water until I can add coal to the fire. I make some warm tea and keep going.

By the time I light a ten hour fire in the Mountaineers Hut my health is at 11% and there are five hours of darkness left.

Day 4

After sleeping for one plus nine hours my health is at 45%. I make the ubiquitous warm drink and head out to collect cat tails. The wolves do their best to interfere but as I pass Landing Gear on my way back to the Pleasant Valley rope I have 45 cat tails. The weather, which had looked threatening earlier is now surprisingly benign with a felt like temp of -8C.

Back in the Abandoned Bunker, my warmth bonus is now 8C which is enough to survive the -5C air temperature and I can break up a crate for firewood.

My next stop will be the Mystic River Cave which often has a bedroll or a lantern or a copy of Guns Guns Guns or ... nothing except some lantern fuel, a chocolate bar, firewood and coal. Oh well. Back to the bunker.

It's late by the time I return. I break up the last crate, eat, drink and sleep for ten hours.

Day 5

Health is now 83%! I feel like superman or superwoman or super something I'm so healthy. I make my way to the deer carcass outside Burnt Ridge cave. Predictably it's too windy now for a fire although it had been dead calm until I was about ten metres from the carcass. This is bad because it is also too windy to make a fire to scare away the wolf outside the Skeeter Ridge basement. The wolf spots me almost straight away so I retreat to the cave and make a fire there to wait out the wind. After three hours the wind obliges and I completely harvest and cook my first deer carcass. One down, four to go.

On the way to the basement the wolf tries to snaffle me but I start to light a fire and it runs away. I abort the fire and run to the basement where there is little of note. Coming outside again, I find myself almost next to the wolf so I dive back into the basement and wait for an hour before trying again. The containers and corpse around the nearby burnt out house hold better loot - quality tools and some salty crackers. I sprint to the first rope down to the Draft Dodgers cabin to avoid the wolf again and by the time I step inside with four hours of light remaining I am totally exhausted and my health is at 70%. I sleep for an hour then waste the rest of the daylight by mostly failing to repair my clothes. I sleep all night.


To be continued...

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Thank you. I will try to bear this in mind in the future.

Day 6

Things just keep getting better - my health is back at 100% for the first time in almost a week. Today I hope to loot the red barn and then the farmstead, maybe pick up another deer carcass along the way.

It feels like -32C outside and by the time I reach the creek I am freezing. Hugging one bank for shelter from the wind, I move upstream harvesting cat tails before cutting across toward the barn past a tractor and a shed. I find a prybar in the shed - another tick - but apart from a few pairs of gloves there is little in the barn.

Then I remember I have left my curing deer hide, guts, ten birch saplings and one maple sapling on the floor of Draft Dodgers cabin. I am not prepared to abandon this cache. There is nothing for it except to return but just then a blizzard starts up so I sleep and rest in the cabin of the pickup until it has finished. There is less than one hour of light left and visibility is atrocious but I find my way back to the cabin without incident. On occasion I've gone much further before remembering something left behind so in one way I guess I'm lucky.

My food is dwindling and I'm forced to delve into my cat tail supply for the first time. So far I haven't starved at all but any more mistakes and it will be a different story. I sleep for as long as I can and with six hours of darkness remaining, head for the farmstead. I know that by going this way there is a chance of a deer carcass and the windless moonlit night is perfect for harvesting it. The carcass is there although a wolf makes a pest of itself as I harvest it. At the end the wolf has positioned itself directly in my line of travel and I must take a brand and start to light then abort several fires before I am rid of it.

With two hours of darkness remaining I stumble into the farmstead, drop my hides, guts and saplings and feel my way through the half light upstairs to bed where I sleep for another four hours.

Day 7

Rarely have I found so little in the Farmstead although my haul did include another ski parka and a can opener. My hacksaw is down to 15% so I repair it a little then regret it later when I find another one in the basement along with the usual whetstone, matches and other sundry items. No mag glass unfortunately.

The weather is good and I have nine hours of light. Plenty of time to make Signal Hill. Before I go I harvest some curtains to repair my clothing during blizzards. I now have a 10C warmth bonus. As I harvest the curtains a blizzard starts. I guess now is a good time for those repairs. The blizzard lasts for twelve hours and at the end of it my clothing gives me a 14C warmth bonus.

Outside it is surprisingly warm - a felt like -10C and now with nine hours of darkness I press on. I know there is a chance of another deer carcass if I go past Lower Falls and since conditions are good that is the path I choose. At the very least I can harvest cat tails by going this way but the deer carcass is there although this time there is very little meat. I eat it immediately. Three deer hides now, two to go. I  reach the radio control hut without losing any health and sleep for eight hours.

Day 8

Another blizzard is raging when I wake. I loot the hut. At least there is a little food but nothing else to do except sleep and rest until with four hours of light remaining the blizzard abates.

Today I will make for Hilltop cave, although I won't stop to harvest the deer carcass there, and then it will be on to the Carter Hydro cave. If I find a deer carcass inside I will harvest it. Then with luck I will find a bedroll in the Winding River cave before I harvest my fifth deer carcass outside the entrance to the lower dam. Normally with a bedroll I would sleep in the Upper Dam and without I would press on to the Logging Camp but with Fluffy back in the dam I will press on to the Logging Camp regardless. It is a long day and I will sacrifice health to preserve my energy level.

Before I even reach my first objective a wolf comes from nowhere, shreds my clothing and takes my health to 50% before I can fight it off then it attacks again but this time I manage to start lighting a fire. My plan is in tatters so I harvest just the meat from the first deer outside Hilltop cave, take the salty crackers from the cave and race down to the Carter Hydro connecting cave. I find the deer carcass inside and harvest it, cooking and eating the meat from both deer. I'm stuffed.

It's dark outside but there is no problem finding the next cave and inside ... I'm saved. There is the bedroll and a box of matches and a tin of food. I climb up the hill to the long narrow shelf above to find a deer carcass and firewood. Normally I would leave this carcass in favour of the next one but something possesses me to take this one. I light a fire and harvest it before scrambling down a more direct route to the frozen river below and ending up directly opposite the path up to the lower dam.

Another blizzard starts along the way and crossing the dam wall in the darkness I nearly fall off three times. There is no question of harvesting the deer carcass here. I enter the dam, drop my hides, guts and saplings then sleep for eight hours in my glorious bedroll.

Day 9

Hopefully today I can meet Fluffy in the daytime, shoot it with my flare gun and loot the whole dam at my leisure. My health is 64%. I hope that is enough. There is little to find in the Lower Dam. After readying my weapon I enter the Upper Dam. Fluffy is close by and I fire and miss but the wolf is scared for long enough for me to make it to the safety of the fire barrel. It is quickly put into service. Then I ready my next shot. Ahhhh, the second shot. It's like eating explosive baked beans. Fluffy likes it too. The wolf runs around generating quite a light show wherever it goes until finally the excitement is too much and the wolf falls over, dead. I harvest the hide and guts and go upstairs where I drop all my hides, guts and saplings to cure while I do the rounds of Mystery Lake. Again there is not much loot in the Upper Dam and I am forced to wait for another blizzard to pass before I emerge into the gathering gloom and walk the short distance to the Logging Camp. I can only sleep for four hours but I can hear wind outside so I repeatedly rest for two hours and sleep for one until the morning.

fluffy_on_fire.jpg

Day 10

Today should be the day I walk into Desolation Point but delays from the wolf attack and the detour to summit (for what - the only item of any value I can remember finding is the firestriker) look like adding at least three or four days. I still haven't found a lantern or a mag glass and still need plenty of cat tails.

There are now ten hours of light left, my health is at 84% and outside it feels like -11C. I head for the Forestry Lookout. Three wolves block the road so I detour high up onto the ridge on the left before descending again to the road. I hear the crows yelling "Bear, Bear", but I ignore them and carry on to the Lookout. The reward is the lantern as well as a sewing kit and whetstone. A fire warms me and I eat a few cat tails and make some tea before leaving.

I sprain my wrist walking down the stairs but have no problem taking some dicey shortcuts even with a sprained wrist on my way to the next cabin where I find precisely nothing.

Onward to the Unnamed Pond where I'm hoping against hope to find a second firestriker in the hunter's blind. First I cut 1.9kg of venison from a deer carcass sans fire. It feels like -3C, my warmest outside temperature yet and I lose little warmth harvesting the meat.

Against all expectations I find my second firestriker before hurrying on to the Trappers Cabin. Nothing remarkable is inside and I continue on to the Camp Office with four hours of light left.

A heavy fog descends but soon the Camp Office is reached without incident and inside are a mag glass, coffee and painkillers. I cook and eat my venison before retiring for the night.


To be continued...

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Day 11

All that remains for a pilgrimage to a forge is to gather a decent supply of cat tails. I have everything else I need. By taking the river route back to the dam today I should be able to collect fifty cat tails and then another ten in the Ravine. There are plenty of deer carcasses left to harvest on the way to Desolation Point where 100+ cat tails should be enough to support me while I craft a bow and arrows. Then look out wildlife! It should take me three days to reach Desolation Point from here. With a little luck.

I worry about the length of time I will need in Desolation Point. If I spend more than two weeks there, the weather will start to make further travel very gnarly. Whatever. It's a long time from now and I slip back into daydreaming about the feel of a bow in my hands.

I move easily in the windless clear weather. My health is 100% and it feels like -8C as I start to gather cat tails on the lake. There are no wolves on the lake and after I move through the Southern River Access I move high up onto a snow slope on the left bank to scout the route ahead. Actually I'm trying to find the wolf that often lurks here and which has a habit of coming out of nowhere to scare the living daylights out of me. No wolf in sight but there are five birch saplings. I collect the saplings and the cat tails in the river at my leisure but just in case I unholster the flare gun. So far it's a perfect day.

Soon though, I start freezing and starving at more or less the same time so I stop and light my first fire with my new mag glass, eat a few cat tails and manage to make some tea just before a strong breeze blows my fire out.

The tea in my guts almost completely warms me and as I move up the river the weather becomes almost
hot. Moving from wind shelter to wind shelter the temperature fluctuates between -8C and +1C. Plus one!! Unbelievable. Great news. Add to this there is no sign of a wolf around the River Northern Access or the Train Bridge so I harvest every cat tail in sight before moving toward the Upper Dam entrance. Even in the wind the temperature now feels like only -1C. There is a deer carcass outside the entrance so I quickly cut a kilo of rancid venison from it before going inside and taking stock of my belongings.

One hundred and thirteen cat tails. Better than I'd hoped so I munch down on a few. There is still six hours of light left, it's incredibly warm outside and there are two more deer carcasses within easy reach in the Ravine. I grab my still mostly not quite cured skins, guts and saplings that I left here a couple of days ago and stagger back outside with my everything weighing 48.89kg.

After moving into the Ravine I cross the fallen tree bridge and dump a lot of gear in the second cave before returning back across the fallen tree to harvest just the meat from both deer carcasses, chop down a few birch saplings, collect the cat tails from the river and the 1.5 litres of lantern fuel I find in the open railway carriage. Since I know I'm going to need them soon I've never stopped collecting crow feathers and pieces of scrap metal and I add some more of both to my collection today.

Back at my cave I cook the three point something kilos of meat harvested today and eat two, saving one for the morning, then repair my lantern to 100%. Outside it is now dark and a blizzard has started up. Just a perfect day.

Day 12

The blizzard rages most the night forcing me to keep a fire burning. It finally finishes with three hours of darkness remaining and then I sleep until rested. The bright side is that after gathering my belongings I am only carrying 47kg. Less than yesterday. I move out into a light fog that feels like -3C with 9 hours of light left and I'm hopeful that today I can at least reach the Misanthropes Homestead. Sounds like a place that will suit me right down to the ground.

After crossing the Trestle Bridge I move into the Coastal Highway area and it gets warmer still. My hopes soar. Maybe I can even reach Desolation Point today.

There is a bridge just before Train Unloading but instead of crossing it I veer right, downhill and follow Bear Creek downstream collecting a few cat tails as I go but when the creek veers right, I turn left and head directly toward Fishing Camp. I have enough cat tails. On the way a cruel headwind springs up with a light snow and my previous optimism starts sinking into the pit of my stomach.

At the Fishing Camp I find some tinned food and a granola bar but later remember that I forgot to check the crafting table. I rest until I'm warm then when I come outside again the weather is fantastic with blue sky, no wind and a 4C felt like temperature. There are six hours of light left and I start moving from fishing hut to fishing hut with every intention of at least making it to Crumbling Highway by nightfall.

It takes three hours to cross the ice to the burnt out Waterfront Cottages. The temperature stays above zero and I see only two wolves. Once again I harvest just the meat - nearly 2kg - from the deer carcass near the former cottages.

Further down the road at Commuters Lament I gather another four birch saplings nut find nothing in the abandoned car. As usual I leave the hood up as a sign to myself that the car has been completely searched before moving into Crumbling Highway.

Chewing on a few cat tails I see that my health is still 100%. Good. I nervously unholster the flare gun. Day is turning into gloomy evening when at the first opportunity I veer right and move off the road and down onto the ice. As far out onto the ice as possible. But I am not fast enough. A wolf spots me from the top of the shore and trots out to where I had been and still would be if I hadn't kept moving. This process continues with the wolf getting closer each time until I hear the "Woof" and start lighting a fire. The wolf runs off and I abort the fire but a second wolf appears at the top of the shore and follows the same behaviour but I quickly reach the safety of the cave under the Arch.

After cooking and eating my venison I pick the coal out of the cave floor then drop all of my coal - I have carried three pieces all the way from Mystic River - for my return.

I'm pretty happy with the day. Even though I didn't make Desolation Point, this is a good place to spend the night. Having another night in a cave should let me forge and craft solidly for the next six days before I see any risk of Cabin Fever.

I sleep in three hour shifts in case of a blizzard but toward morning it gets cold enough that I have to light a fire anyway.

Day 13

A heavy fog has settled in and it is impossible to know the time. I eat some tinned food trying to quell some of the excitement that always bubbles up when I am here, on the way to Desolation Point.

The howl of a distant wolf sends a shiver down my spine as I move right out of the cave. I can see nada but I know what to do: cross over the ice nearly as far as possible then move up the last possible place on the snow slope to the right of a dead tree and at the top keep on the seaward side of the guard rail until I can slide around it toward the pickup truck and the road to the No.3 Mine.

Once inside the mine I drop some gear. By now I have twenty-two birch saplings so I leave ten here with a maple sapling, some sewing kits, whetstones and my jerry can. This lightens my load to around 42kg. With my lantern lit I proceed through the mine but apart from two prybars I am not interested in taking anything I find.

Outside again I take upper path at the trailer to the No.5 mine and find two maple saplings. I strip all the coal from the mine which should be enough for my first forge fire - ten plus hours. Exiting the mine near Hibernia I unholster the flare gun when I hear another wolf howl but I bypass Hibernia and head straight for the Riken where I dump most of my gear. This will be my base for the next two weeks.

After a veritable feast of cat tails I fire up the forge and make myself a knife and twenty arrowheads. Afterwards, with one hour of darkness left I stagger upstairs and sleep for four hours.

 

lighthouse.jpg

Day 14

Although not rested I get up and walk over to Hibernia with some cured maple and birch to craft my bow and maybe one or two arrows. As luck would have it the bear had just paid a visit to the Riken and was returning over the ice. We parallel and ogle each other. Good. I hope it comes back at the same time tomorrow.

Just as I reach the work table in Hibernia, I remember that I've forgotten the gut needed for the bow so back I go. I kick myself a couple of times and twice more I walk past the bear before I can start to make my bow. Unfortunately, after the bow I only have enough light to make one arrow.

I make a fire to melt snow and eat cat tails. I reflect that apart from an unintentional minute or two, so far I have not starved and still have ninety cat tails left. And tomorrow, barring a blizzard, I will hunt down my first deer. In a convenient bed upstairs, I sleep for nine hours.

Day 15

In the morning I craft another three arrows before I hear the blizzard. (Expletive deleted). Some anger is vented smashing crates then instead of hunting I loot Hibernia and find, among other things, a second bedroll. Another arrow is crafted and with two hours of light left the blizzard breaks.

The first shot drops a deer and I light a fire, start to harvest and cook the deer, secure in the knowledge that after the blizzard I should be safe from strong wind for a while. This turns out to be fallacious thinking as wind blows out my fire after harvesting and cooking 2kg of meat. I kick myself again but continue harvesting the meat in the cold while taking a modest hit to my health. The Riken beckons and I dump the raw meat outside and sleep for nine hours.

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2 hours ago, Timber Wolf said:

It's very cool to get a glimpse into your thought process as you work your way through the world.

My pleasure. Just hope I'm not putting you to sleep. Ok, let me rephrase that. Just hope I'm not putting you to sleep too quickly.

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Day 16

What I really need are rabbit skins so today rabbits are what I will concentrate on shooting.

But I wake to another blizzard so I spend the morning cooking venison. After the storm finishes I go to Little Island in search of the three rabbits that live there. I must be rusty because it takes five shots to kill the three rabbits and the fifth (new) arrow is eaten by the dead rabbit, never to be seen again. Love it when that happens.

The wind blows out my second fire just after I had finished with it so I skin the third rabbit without a fire, again taking a reasonable health hit. Mainly because of yet another blizzard. I take my clothes off and pick the perfect line back to the Riken in zero visibility. So far I've endured twelve blizzards.

Since I've been carrying around a rabbitskin pulled from the wreckage on the summit for two weeks, I now have enough to craft mittens. Tomorrow it's back to hunting deer.

Day 17

It takes two minutes to kill the second deer on Little Island but it takes all day to break up crates for firewood and harvest and cook the deer. And that was without any blizzard or even wind. I'm rewarded with my first level 3 skill - cooking. The activity is not enough to tire me and I have to pass three hours awake in bed.

Day 18

The daily blizzard is happening in the morning. I break up more crates. I have a feeling that I won't find the third deer on Little Island today so it might be time to start hunting wolves and the bear.

I'm wrong. I find and kill the deer quickly. The day turns into a replica of the day before except that I finish an hour earlier so I take half my meat and my cured skins and guts over to Hibernia where I sleep the night.

Day 19

Couple of arrows crafted. Couple of crates smashed. Then I go looking for the wolves next to Hibernia. I find one and use an exploit to trap it in an ice floe. After walking up right next to it, I put an arrow into it but the arrow breaks and the wolf runs away bleeding. Freezing now, I pass time in a trailer while I warm up before looking for the second wolf. A bit too brazenly because it finds me and tears strips out of me. With some serious knife wounds, it too runs away bleeding while I head back to the Riken at top speed with my health at 27%. Damn it. I wanted those hides. I better find them tomorrow. Meanwhile I need to warm up and then exhaust myself by doing laps around the Riken , drink some herbal tea and sleep for ten hours to recover as much health as possible.

wolf_trap.jpg

Day 20

The tea does it's job and in the morning I have 70% health. I find the first wolf dead on the road to the bear cave just as the second wolf, which has not succumbed to it's wounds yesterday, finds me again in pretty much the same spot. It receives an arrow for it's troubles but it laughs and attacks me anyway. By the time it lies dead next to me my health is back at 23%. I light a fire and skin it before going to put the kettle on. A strong wind has made it impossible to harvest the other wolf in my weakened state.

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Day 21

I sleep for 10 hours and then another two and my health is back at 71%. Back on the road to the Broken Bridge I quickly skin the wolf next to a fire lest the bear disturb me but I haven't seen it since the day before I made my bow and the trend continues. I dump the hide and guts in Hibernia and go looking for the two wolves and the two deer that live at the other end of Desolation Point.

It feels like -17C and I begin to freeze at about the same time I start to lead the first wolf back to a protected area under a swinging bridge to the lighthouse. This time I concentrate really really hard. The wolf charges but very soon lies dead at my feet with an arrow in the back of it's head. That's more like it. I run out and find the second wolf and try to duplicate the act but the wolf runs off bleeding. Just so long as it dies.

But it's the deer I really want. I shoot one dead and harvest the meat before a blizzard extinguishes my fire so I retreat to No.5 mine to cook the meat. I have let my health slip to 46% but a cup of tea and ten hours sleep later...

Day 22

Another blizzard has started by the time I wake so I sleep for another couple of hours and break up some crates. My health has risen to 81% and I have seven hours of light.

I walk up to the entrance to No.3 Mine and drop 7kg of venison there in readiness for my departure from Desolation Point. Inside the mine, I rest for an hour to warm up. When I emerge I am in the blizzard you are having when you are not having a blizzard. Back on the ice I try to chase the second deer toward shelter but it refuses to cooperate, becoming trapped in weak ice instead. I leave it alone and go and loot the lighthouse instead. On the way back to the Riken in the dark, blizzard number seventeen starts for real.

Day 23

On some of the colder mornings I have been spending a few hours crafting my deerskin boots and this morning I finish them. My old trail boots had been getting pretty ratty and my new boots lift my warmth bonus 2C back to 13C. Some of my clothing still has unresolved issues from the odd wolf attack or two but I have no time to fix them yet. I must get that second deer and one more wolf skin.

There is no problem with the deer and I harvest it completely before taking a brand from my fire and starting a new one next to the most sheltered wolf carcass. It grows dark and after taking the hide and guts I melt snow and boil the water but am interrupted, as usual, by the daily blizzard. I can't see ten feet in front of me but I strip nekked and set a course for the Riken. Hopefully. After a few minutes of ploughing into the headwind it becomes easy to doubt my course. I stick to my guns and before long the shape of the Riken emerges from the driving snow. Dumping the mostly uncooked meat I go inside and sleep.

Day 24

I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as Desolation Point is concerned. Craft some pants and mittens, make some more arrowheads and arrows, explore, repair my clothes and shoot a bear. What could be easier.

If I can start with the bear, it's cave is a sweet spot if I need to sleep off the cabin fever from all that crafting.

As I walk down the road toward the bear cave I notice that I still have considerable risk of frostbite in every part of my body from the nekked trudge through the blizzard last night. It's a bit of a worry since I'm about to start freezing and had planned on freezing quite a bit more.

The bear is outside the cave and I get close enough to lure it down the road. I coax it some ways down the road before strangely, it gives up and turns away. I give up too. I need a fire so I head back to Hibernia but as I do so I see the bear start down the road of it's own volition. Cool.

Next to the wall of the hut at the entrance to Hibernia I build a warm fire and wait next to it for the bear. As it comes closer I try a couple of long range shots. The first overshoots but the second hits the bear. It flies into a rage and charges me but I have disappeared into the hut. The bear runs around for some time but I can see my arrow has fallen out and before too long the bear has recovered and begun it's remorseless advance on my hut again. My next long range shot is also a hit and the bear repeats it's rampaging. Only this time it disappears for good and later I find it's carcass on the ice not far from the Riken. Without a fire I take the hide only and retire into the ship for the night.

riken_bear.jpg

Day 25

Normally I would try to leave Desolation Point tomorrow in order to avoid worsening weather. Due to my late arrival this time, I can't see it happening.

I spend the day finishing my deerskin pants and breaking up some crates. My risk of cabin fever has risen all the way to 17%.

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Day 26

Five hours to make my mittens, one hour to break up some old bedrolls in the trailer for cloth then I'm Riken bound where I want to make another ten arrowheads. With any luck I'll be out of here tomorrow, just as my venison runs out and I can always make arrows on my way out in the No.3 Mine.

My first firestriker dies as I light the forge for the last time. Fitting. I make the arrowheads and prepare enough water for the next day or two then with six hours of darkness left, I sleep for eight hours.

Day 27

The weather looks foul in the morning. Like a blizzard is about to start any minute now. With my cabin fever risk hitting an all time high of 35%, I go up to the wheelhouse to light a fire and waste some time and cloth trying to repair my clothes. I give up with eight hours of light remaining, gather my belongings, eat the last of my venison and head out into what has become a windless day with light snow falling. It feels like a very temperate -5C but I now have a 17C warmth bonus from my clothes. My total carry weight is just under 50kg but that will soon change because I plan to loot Katies Secluded Corner on the way out and I still have 7kg of venison waiting for me outside the No.3 Mine.

I could stay longer. I still have eighty cat tails and as usual a deer has respawned on Little Island but it's just so easy to die travelling between Desolation Point and Coastal Highway and I want to give myself every chance.

Katies gives me all of one crow feather, one piece of cedar and a tin of sardines. I leave the deer carcass.

It will take me two trips to move my gear through the mine but after dumping a load at the other end I return to the work table and make two arrows before returning for the rest of my gear. A blizzard is raging outside and I decide to sleep here for the night.

Day 28

In the morning I head back to the work table. My cabin fever risk is only 46% and I can craft arrows for some time yet before the affliction becomes full blown. I make four arrows before ferrying all my gear in two trips from the mine to the Arch cave. I hate the Crumbling Highway wolves for the number of times they have killed me and now always make a point of killing them on my way back to Coastal Highway.

I induce the first wolf to charge but again put the arrow into it's back and it continues it's attack. My health drops to 24% as the wolf runs away with my arrow. Damn. I used to be good at this but it's quickly becoming a bad joke. At least this time my clothing seems to be relatively unaffected.

It's late now and I build a fire to melt snow, boil water and make tea. Taking a chance I sleep for ten hours.

Day 29

Thankfully the blizzard doesn't start until just before I wake but even with the tea, my health has only risen to 58%. It will be very risky trying to kill the next wolf given my poor showing so far.

I've noticed that I'm carrying a hell of a lot of clothing I have no intention of ever wearing so I spend some time beside a fire breaking it down into cloth while I wait for blizzard number twenty-two to blow itself out.

Later I put a sweet arrow into the side of the head of the second wolf but again it knocks me to the ground and takes 10% of my health before having the decency to die.

Is it me? Has my aim become so bad so quickly? Is it because my archery skill is still only Level 2? Or have the rules changed? Time will tell.

There may be a third wolf up top but it's time to loot what I can from Crumbling Highway. I leave the wolf carcasses where they lie. I already have too much to carry.

The proceeds from my looting are farcical but there are rabbits here. I hit one with my first arrow and manage to harvest, cook and eat it before the second blizzard of the day starts. Back to the cave it is and more mending.

There is no reason to stay any longer in Crumbling Highway and I resolve to leave the next day.

On a more positive note my mending skill hits level 2 today and my fire making skill moves to level 3. Great, no more tinder.

The blizzard ends, I have a cup of tea, take another chance and sleep for eight hours.

arch.jpg

Day 30

Gulp. Today is my self imposed deadline for already being two or three days walk from here. Even sticking to that timetable what lies ahead today has often been my undoing.

I mend clothes, still with an alarmingly high failure rate, for the first five hours of the day then pick up my things and stagger on out of there. My health is at 76%, there is a light mist, no wind, the temperature feels like -7C and I'm carrying over 52kg. I'm not too happy about leaving with less than full health but apart from that, things could be worse.

Back in Coastal Highway I move onto the ice and see a wolf ahead. I try a different tack and stalk it but my shot misses and spooks the wolf. At least now it's behind me and what is in front is a deer. Soon it lies on the ice, parts of it cooking on my fire. By the time I finish, the weather, which had been so good, has turned into a faux blizzard. The sort of weather that is all too often the precursor for a real blizzard. It has taken too long to stalk first the wolf and then the deer carrying such a heavy load and my health has dropped to 56%.

It's almost dark and very hard to see. I have to turn around a few times before I can make out Misanthropes Island. There is no way I'm going to Coastal Townsite in this light, in this weather, with such low health and carrying almost the maximum weight. Bad enough that I might run into one wolf on Misanthropes...I make it to the island and start climbing up when I see the wolf running down toward me from the homestead. In a near panic I fumble around trying to get a torch lit but the wolf benevolently decides to give me all the time in the world then has the decency to run away at the first brandish. I pull myself together and will myself up the hill into the house, keeping the torch lit until I'm safely inside.

My fatigue is such that I will only be able to sleep for five or six hours and wary of the wolf outside I am forced to run laps around the coffee table for a long time before I am drained. With some relief I sleep for ten hours.

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5 hours ago, mystifeid said:

Is it me? Has my aim become so bad so quickly? Is it because my archery skill is still only Level 2? Or have the rules changed? Time will tell.

Perhaps you are distracted by recording all of this?  Which, by the way, I have been really enjoying. 

Reading this really emphasizes the importance of a constant situational assessment when playing on Interloper!

(That's an awesome shot of the Crumbling Highway!)

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37 minutes ago, Timber Wolf said:

Perhaps you are distracted by recording all of this?  Which, by the way, I have been really enjoying. 

Reading this really emphasizes the importance of a constant situational assessment when playing on Interloper!


The wolves might be tougher now, it's hard to tell but I've noticed before that if I stop playing for a while, hitting charging wolves becomes very difficult. Even at my best I would completely miss maybe one in twenty and of the ones I hit, one in five would not be killed and would carry the arrow into a struggle.

Never mind, I'm getting better again. Just needed some practice and to re-read the ten golden rules for handling charging wolves.

Rule number one is to be supremely confident. This is almost impossible when you keep getting savaged.

I don't think I've been distracted by the writing. I've been slowed down a lot but it gets interesting when you start writing about your plans or what you think is going to happen. If I was always right or always wrong I would probably have given up playing the game a long time ago. Being able to be right about 50-70% of the time is what keeps the interest and I think this game provides that.

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thanks for the wonderful write up! Enjoying the story. Makes me appreciate another style of play and why I won't bother with Interloper. I do not enjoy the nomadic style at all. I prefer building a solid base with what I find around me even if it is not ideal and toughing it out until supplies are dwindled too much then on to another area, one base at a time.

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3 minutes ago, AZHockeyNut said:

I prefer building a solid base with what I find around me even if it is not ideal and toughing it out until supplies are dwindled too much then on to another area, one base at a time.

Wow, completely opposite to me. I can understand the attraction but I don't like staying in any one place for long. You can build a base in Interloper by the way but it will really help if you spend the first thirty days making a bow, arrowheads, knife and hatchet.as Astrid the Beefy has just finished doing and if the Bovine One was the base building type, that's where she'd be headed right now.

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Day 31

My health is back at 88% and it's time to move over to Coastal Townsite. I'm curious about my wolf killing ability and there's always the record. Which is eight wolves killed in the same spot. There had been a ninth amd tenth but the ninth ran away with an arrow in it and the tenth was eventually shielded by the night, the cold and my cowardice prudence. Anyway, given current form it's more likely I'll die today.

There is a wolf pack on the ice next to the town but I skirt them to dump my gear in the house by the jetty and warm up inside. I know I haven't been handling the wolf charge correctly so I read some old notes I've left to myself on how to deal with these pests. It helps. Of the four wolves two go down instantly and the other two go down (with arrows in the side of their heads) after brief struggles. Even so my health is reduced to 46%, I'm bleeding and at risk of infection. So far I've found no antiseptic and I've run out of Old Man's Beard dressings although I do have bandages which I use. For the moment there are no wolves in the townsite so I check out the first aid kits in the Quonset Gas Station and find some antiseptic. While I'm there I knock out two arrows before crossing back to my home in a blizzard.

I'm only half tired again but this time I resign myself to doing some sleeping with my eyes open.

ch_wolves.jpg

Day 32

The venison is running low but a blizzard aborts my search for a deer and instead I loot the last house in Coastal Townsite. Later I manage to find a deer not far away but only wound it and it runs for miles. This shot though, has made me a Level 3 archer. Finally the deer expires close to the fishing hut between the islands. I light a fire in the hut and harvest and cook the deer. By this time there are 7 hours of darkness left and I head for Jackrabbit into a headwind. It's dark and I'm mesmerized by the snow swirling around on the ice. I've never seen it do that before. I have to fall into the water before I realize I've been looking at the ocean. Needed a bath but by the time I reach the house my health is at 32% and of course I have hypothermia.

Day 33

I sleep for most of the day. When it becomes dark, I pass time until just before I am totally exhausted and then I am able to sleep for another ten hours. During the night I cease being afflicted by hypothermia.

Day 34

The good news is that my health is back at 100%. The bad news is that I need more venison. But I'm curious about the wolves again. I put an arrow into the Jackrabbit wolf as it charges but it knocks me over and takes 11% of my health to the afterlife.

Then I spot another wolfpack. I kill the first one as it charges. The second I completely miss so maybe I'll forget about that one. It only takes 20% of me before it runs off. The third and fourth drop mid-charge. I decide that I'm starting to enjoy this again before retreating to the Logsort trailer to warm up.

There are six hours of light left and it feels like 0C. Zero!! I walk from one end of Coastal Highway to the other but find no deer. It's time to get out of here. I grab my stuff back in Coastal Townsite and head for Logsort. Just in time to walk into blizzard number thirty but I make it anyway. Nekked. I sleep for ten hours.

Day 35

It feels good to be traveling again. I walk up to the Cinder Hills Mine and dump a lot of gear there while I strip the Abandoned Lookout. The wolf I meet on the way doesn't stand a chance against my reawakening prowess. The next twenty four hours are spent at the work table in the mine or asleep beside it. At the end of it I have a new bow and three more arrows.

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57 minutes ago, mystifeid said:

It's dark and I'm mesmerized by the snow swirling around on the ice. I've never seen it do that before. I have to fall into the water before I realize I've been looking at the ocean.

Quote of the month!

4 hours ago, mystifeid said:

it gets interesting when you start writing about your plans or what you think is going to happen. If I was always right or always wrong I would probably have given up playing the game a long time ago. Being able to be right about 50-70% of the time is what keeps the interest and I think this game provides that.

This is also a really good point, I think.

Keep it coming, please! Enjoying the read.

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1 hour ago, Pillock said:

Keep it coming, please! Enjoying the read.

Yeah...about that. This was always going to be about the beginning of an Interloper game. From the start I've been playing weeks in front of what I've posted here and looking at what I've written, right now is the end of the beginning. After this there is no intensity, no urgency and try as I might, it will become trite and repetitive. So thank you to those that have read this far for your indulgence but I think I'll wrap it up here.

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Several days later...

The Bovine One stood at the base of a waterfall and looked at her gently rippling reflection in a pool of water.

"Moooo" she quietly lowed.

It was a certain predilection for the resonance able to be imbued in this syllable that had been a factor in the assignation of her sobriquet many years ago and although this was often the extent of any oral self interaction, it was also a sign of satisfaction. Recognition that the worst was behind her and that now she could survive. Would survive. She would keep traveling because that was in her nature but was confident that her journey could now be best left to the imagination.

Fade into sunset...

 

end.jpg

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On 1/26/2017 at 1:33 PM, mystifeid said:

There is a wolf pack on the ice next to the town but I skirt them to dump my gear in the house by the jetty and warm up inside. I know I haven't been handling the wolf charge correctly so I read some old notes I've left to myself on how to deal with these pests.

 

How do you handle wolf charges?  I've failed every time.  

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47 minutes ago, Jolan said:

How do you handle wolf charges?  I've failed every time

I needed lots and lots of practice to achieve a high kill/struggle ratio and it is probably best to start in Stalker. If you have read what is above you will know that even in top form I am still having a minor struggle with every fourth or fifth wolf and I'm pretty happy with that. But I'm an old bugger and definitely over the hill. If you have a bit of youth in you, then you can probably do better.

Every now and then I see people say disparagingly that this is easy but I've never seen the stats behind these statements. I don't think it's particularly easy. I've added a couple of self evident items so that the ten golden rules are now twelve. Unfortunately there is no magic formula. What I can tell you is that when I don't follow what is below, things seem to go a lot worse for me. Again, what it really comes down to is practice.  Anyway, my record is 151 Interloper wolves in 200 days. Go get 'em.

To handle charging wolves :

1. Be supremely confident. Forget all negative memories. Take a deep breath. Doubting yourself is the surest way to fail.

2. Always check beforehand you have at least 2 bandages/antiseptic or old man's beard dressings.

3. Always check arrow integrity beforehand - use arrows with 30% integrity or better. If you are going to shoot multiple wolves, either leave the arrows in the wolves or get ready to quickly check and drop arrows as need be.

4. Hunt wolves when your character has low fatigue (high energy) in case of a struggle.

5. Hunt wolves when you (in real life) have low fatigue - reaction speed helps.

6. Choose your ground and weather. Flat or even ground is best. If necessary walk/run away from the wolf to lead it to a good spot. Ice is perfect. But even a lightly falling snow can be distracting.

7. Do not draw or even twitch the bow until you are ready or the wolf will charge.

8. Be unencumbered if possible - this will help with 9.

9. When you are ready walk backwards and keep walking backwards throughout. Make sure you have picked a spot where flat ground continues behind you.

10. Draw the bow and the wolf will charge.

11. Do not aim at the wolf as it charges. Instead point the arrow downward at the angle you imagine you will release it. Swivel to follow the line of the wolf as it charges.

At low archery levels (Level 1 & 2) the sway of the bow will make your shots inaccurate so you will need to point downward more and release a fraction of a second later - it may be hard to initially to point downward this much as you will lose sight of the wolf.

12. Lead the head slightly and release the arrow at the last second. Wolves that take a curving trajectory are hardest to hit but by walking backwards the wolf will be forced to straighten up at the last and it's relative velocity will be reduced.

Good luck!!

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