Yet Another Stupid Death

[pantherasapiens]

[X] Have Doog suck the poison out, of course!
@Pandemonious Ivy
[X] Attack
-[X] Gladius
-[X] While backing up
@will408914, @FixerUpper, @AuraTwilight
[X[ Run
-- [X] Downwards
-- [X] Order Doog to defend you in case the strange thing follows.
@Nevill, @Oh I am slain!

===

You stab quickly downwards with the gladius, but it sinks into the dirt unresisted. You jerk it out, the motion carrying you backwards so your back is pressed against the shut gate.

You're glad you shut it. The wound on your ankle throbs.

you take 1 damage

You hear doog fighting whatever it is. You hope doog makes it.

you take 1 damage

There is a crunching noise, but soon after doog yelps in pain.

you take 1 damage

a hissing noise, disturbance in the grass

The fighting must have disturbed something. You grip your gladius tightly, looking about.

you take 1 damage

???#???
???#??d
???N@??
???#???
???#???
d: last known position of doog
?: last known position of ?

[ ] Run
-[ ] Forwards
-[ ] Upwards
-[ ] Downwards
-[ ] Backwards (there is a hastily-shut gate in the way)
[ ] Attack
- [ ] Stick
- [ ] Gladius
[ ] Call doog back
[ ] Let doog keep attacking

---another note about poisons---​

There are many ways to get rid of poison, but waiting it out is one of the riskiest.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[X] Call Doog back
-[X] Wait until you hear him get close to you and attack behind him
@will408914
[X] Run
-[X] Backwards (there is a hastily-shut gate in the way)
--[X] In a straight line, swinging Gladius like a man possessed. Can't afford to fall in the water.
---[X] Let the spider hear your war cry! Make him think you only went to this room because you needed room to accelerate for your Carnage Run.
----[X] Call Doog to follow you
-----[X] Once you hit the wall, head north/upwards and get OUT.
@Nevill, @AuraTwilight

===

You fumble the gate open. The moment you feel it give way, you turn around and charge through it, a battle cry leaving your lips.

you take 1 damage

The battle cry sounds like this: "DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOG!!!"

you take 1 damage

You charge, spittle flying. You hear doog running after you, barking loudly. Grass falls around you, lopped off by your gladius.

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you take 1 damage

you are cured of poison

You reach the other end of the wall, and start heading north. You eventually find the entrance to the passage you came in by.

--!???
??n@??
--!???
??!??d

n: an open door
d: your best guess at doog's position?

[ ] Face the foes.
[ ] Continue retreating. The other end of the tunnel should lead you to the room with two doors and writing on the wall.
[ ] Write-in.

===

---a little note about poisons and other damage-over-time effects---​

They do wear off, eventually.

---an author's comment about the rolls this round---​

Everybody flubbed their to-hit rolls! Everybody! Even your3enemies!

 

[pantherasapiens]

[X] Continue retreating and get out. We are at 9 (?) HPs and dying.
-[X] Continue calling for Doog and wait until he is out as well.
--[X] Close the door behind you, barricade it if you have to.
---[X] Try applying first aid, bandage yourself with your shirt, anything.
----[X] Go back to the first room and lit the torch again.
-----[X] Go check what's behind door 'a' that we missed at first.
@Nevill, @Oh I am slain!, @AuraTwilight, @Terrabrand
[X] Kick the wall, maybe something good will happen.
@kelllogo

===

Your screams of "DOOG!" and "HERE, DOOG!" echo through the tunnel as you run. The abrupt change from the uneven grass and ground to the flat, even stone is welcome.

Not least because Doog's excited barks echo after you, letting you know he's close behind. The light at the end of the short tunnel beckons to you, and the moment you reach the opened door, you dash behind it.

Doog rushes out, and you slam the door shut on the centipede and snake you see hot on his heels. Without thumbs, you feel confident that they cannot open the door to continue pursuing you, and they're too large to fit between the door and the floor. You'd feel safer if you could barricade the door, but you don't have anything to do that with.

In the meantime, though, you're wounded, though at least not poisoned. Either through luck or providence, the wounds are mostly in the forms of dried scabs or bruises, and don't actually hinder your movement in any way. You pull off your shirt and rip off a strip of it to bandage your ankle.

You feel that the dressing would be more effective if you had crushed herbs or medicines to apply to the torn cloth. You also feel that bandages would be a more effective dressing. Still, this is all you have for now.

Rubbing Doog, you notice he's also bleeding slightly, from a bite in his leg. You'd dress him, too, but then you wouldn't have a shirt so much as a collection of strips.

You decide to go down to the other door and open it. It swings open.

|.d...!???!....|
|_@___!???!____|
??.?????????????
?..!????????????
~BBB~???????????
~~~~~~??????????

!: a stake in the ground
BBB: a boat. It can carry up to three passengers.
~: flowing water. It seems slow and peaceful.

It's dark, but the light from the room illuminates a boat, tied to a stake in the ground. You don't see any oars or poles with which to steer.

[ ] Walk along the bank.
[ ] Get into the boat.
[ ] Get into the water. (It is flowing right-to-left.)
[ ] Go back to door b.
[ ] Write-in.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[2] Check if you can't break a plank off the door to use as an oar, but don't do it yet.
[4] Dress Doog's wounds with your remaining shirt.
-[4] Mourn your clothing.
[5] Walk along the bank.
-[1] Take the boat with you.
@veekie, @Oh I am slain!, @Nevill, @Terrabrand, @Cornix Argentus

===

You examine your shirt. Regretfully, you come to the conclusion that it wouldn't serve you much for protection anyway. You rip the rest of it up and tie a strip tightly around Doog's foot where the bite is.

The air is chill on your skin.

- shirt
+ 2 rags

You stuff them into your backpack for later use. You regret the sacrifice, but the shirt is more useful to you this way.

Then you heft the backpack again, the straps rough on your bruised and battered-feeling back, and start walking upstream to explore the bank. Doog trots beside you, keeping close. You take a few steps before the ground falls away sharply beneath you. You very nearly, but do not, fall into the water: Doog pulls on your pant leg, and saves you.

You return to and pass by the boat, gingerly exploring the other side of the bank. There isn't anything there, either, but the slope there is gentler, and you take a few steps out. It feels shallow enough.

You return to the boat.

????????????.?????????????
???????????d@!????????????
??????????~BBB~???????????

?: approximate location of beginning of slope
?: approximate location of shallow water
?: approximate location of sheer drop into water

[ ] Take the boat
- [ ] Use your gladius to cut off a piece of the planks to use as an oar.
- [ ] Attempt to remove the stake to use as a pole.
- [ ] Attempt to use your stick as a pole.
- [ ] Let the boat freely follow the flow.
[ ] Wade out across the shallow parts.
[ ] Go elsewhere. (Where?)
[ ] Write-in.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[X] Attempt to remove the stake and pocket it, as well as the rope.
[X] Take the boat
- [X] With Doog (obviously).
- [X] Use your gladius to cut off a piece of the planks to use as an oar.
--[X] See what's on the other bank of the river, if anything, before following the current.
@Nevill, @Marla, @veekie, @Terrabrand, @AuraTwilight, @Oh I am slain!

===

You realise you forgot something, and return to the first room to attempt to get more light.

.____________.
|????????????|
|????????????|
|????????????|
|????????????n
|_____@______|

The Woman and the Boy are gone, so there's nothing preventing you from taking the lit Torch from the wall.

Click to shrink...

There are no more lit Torches in the room previously occupied by the Woman and the Boy.

You examine the other room to find out how it is lit, but cannot find any Torches, lit or otherwise. It appears the Room with Two Doors has a different means of lighting, but you do not understand it.

You return to the boat and the stake. It looks like you'll have to go out in the dark.

You cut a piece of boat off with your gladius. It's crude and difficult to manoeuvre, but it'll serve as a crude oar.

+ wield Crude Oar (replaces Stick)

You pull the stake out from the ground, and immediately feel the tug of the boat on the rope and stake. You approach the boat, curling the rope around your arm as you go, and push Doog onto it. He does not like it.

+ wield Stake with Rope (replaces Gladius)

Peering out into the darkness, you see what you think might be a bank on the other side. It looks empty. Beyond that, there is also a door into another room.

??????????|_a___!???!____|
????????????.?????????????
???????????.@.????????????
??????????~BBd~???????????
?????????~~~~~~~??????????
????????~~~~~~~~~?????????
???????~~~~~~~~~~~????????
??????~~~~~~~~~~~~~???????
?????...............??????
????.................?????
???_________b_________????

?: approximate location of beginning of slope
?: approximate location of shallow water
?: approximate location of sheer drop into water
a: an open door
d: an unhappy Doog
b: a closed door
~: flowing water

You suppose you could try to row the boat across the width of the river instead of going with the flow.
[ ] Go with the flow.
[ ] Attempt to cross the river.
[ ] Write-in.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[X] Pet Doog.
-[X] 'Come on, big boy. That's no time to pout.'
--[X] Try to determine if he is unhappy because he doesn't like water, or because he senses something wrong.
[X] Hop in the boat and attempt to cross the river, rowing slightly against the current.
-[X] If successful, drive a stake into a bank and tie the boat to it.
--[X] Open the door and look what's inside. What could go wrong?
@Nevill, @Oh I am slain!, @FixerUpper, @Terrabrand

===

You pet Doog, carefully avoiding his wound. "Come on, big boy!" you tease him. "This is no time to pout!"

Doog whines. You notice he is looking worriedly at the side of the boat you cut the Crude Oar from.

"It'll be okay. It's just water!" you say, encouraging him with more petting. Then you get on the boat too.

The boat shudders, dips slightly with your weight, and begins drifting from the shore. You drop the Stake with Rope to grasp the Crude Oar with both hands and begin paddling. Doog continues whining.

The current is weak enough that your paddling manages to turn the boat around to point at the shore on the opposite side. Encouraged, you keep paddling. The river flows fastest in the middle, but you're able to push across it anyway, and the boat bumps with a gentle shushing noise into the sandy banks opposite you.

You immediately throw the Stake overboard, and it sinks into the bank and keeps sinking until it is out of sight.

It is quicksand.

??????????|_a___!???!____|
????????????.?????????????
???????????...????????????
??????????~~~~~???????????
?????????~~~~~~~??????????
????????~~~~~~~~~?????????
???????~~~~~~~~~~~????????
??????~~~~~B@d~~~~~???????
?????░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░??????
????.................?????
???_________b_________????

░: quicksand?
░: last seen location of Stake
.: ground
.: uncertain if ground or quicksand

[ ] Get out of the boat.
[ ] Stay in the boat.

===

---an author's opinion of the Character Map---​

It is such a wonderful and underutilised resource.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[X] The stake was a "Stake with Rope"
- [X] Pull the rope before it submerges! Get your stake back!
--[X] Use the stake to find solid ground along the shore... if there is solid ground.
---[X] Tie yourself to the boat so that if you misstep, you could pull out.
----[X] Use the stake as a pole to feel your way through.
[X] Tell Doog to sit tight. It's too dangerous here.
@Nevill, @Terrabrand, @Oh I am slain!, @boonerunner
[X] The stake was a "Stake with Rope"
- [X] Pull the rope before it submerges! Get your stake back!
--[X] Use the stake to find solid ground along the shore.
---[X] Tie yourself to the boat so that if you misstep, you could pull out.
----[X] Use the stake as a pole to feel your way through.
[X] Tell Doog to sit tight. It's too dangerous here.
@FixerUpper, @Marla,
@Get out of the boat.
@kelllogo

===

You make a hasty grab, and only grab empty air as the rope slithers past your fingers after the stake. You shout in dismay, but Doog leaps and snaps his jaws shut on the rope, and you make another grab, so that the stake is being held by the rope which is being held by Doog who is being held by you [1].

"Good doog!" you say, happily, and Doog barks proudly and wags his tail, upon which the rope falls out of his mouth. You can't grab at it this time or you'll drop Doog, so you can only watch, breath held, as the rope falls onto the suspected quicksand. Then you exhale with relief. You never untied the rope from the boat, so the rope jerks to a stop when it is fully played out.

You put Doog carefully back in his place. "No jumping!" you say, with a stern finger. He looks properly abashed, but promptly gets up to look when you reach over the lip of the boat to fumble for the rope. "Back! Back!" you half-shout, flapping at him with one hand, because the boat is starting to tilt. He goes back to his place with a hangdog look.

You finally get the rope and haul on it. There's a lot more resistance than you expected, but you keep pulling.

The rope and stake finally come up, leaving the quicksand in a squelching sound. You take the stake.

Unfortunately, the stake is not a long pole, and you can only jab in a short distance around you. It does at least confirm that everything within jabbing distance is quicksand.

What do?
[ ] Write-in.

===

[1] Doog is helpful, but can be impulsive.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[x] Paddle alongside the quicksand bar to the west, and periodically check if the ground is still quicksand. If a wall is reached, head back and try to the east.
@Oh I am slain!, @Marla
[x] Paddle alongside the quicksand bar to the west, and periodically check if the ground is still quicksand. If a wall is reached, head back and try to the east.
-[x] Keep an eye out for any doors or rooms on the other side.
@Nevill, @Terrabrand

===

You pull the Stake with Rope back into the boat, and use the Crude Oar to push the boat away from the quicksand bar and paddle westward. After a short distance, you try to stop the boat and thrust the Stake with Rope out to find out if everything beside you is still quicksand. Going with the flow of the river-current makes for easy sailing, and you almost don't have to do anything except push the boat off the quicksand when it drifts too near. The squelches as you do are confirmation of the quicksand's nature, so you keep heading on. Doog whines, trying to stay in the light.

As you leave the reaches of the little light you have, your Crude Oar goes down with a splash rather than a squelch. It seems you have reached the end of the quicksand bar on this side. At the same time, you feel the current pick up strength and change direction: previously flowing due west, it now flows southwest.

?????????|_n___!???!___
???????????.???????????
??????????...??????????
????????~~~~~~?????????
???????~~~~~~~~????????
??????~~~~~~~~~~???????
?????~~~~~~~~~~~~??????
??~B@d~~~~~~~~~~~~?????
??~~░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░????
???░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░???
??_________b_________??

[ ] Go with the flow.
[ ] Struggle against the flow...
-[ ] Northeast, back across the river.
-[ ] Eastwards, to the quicksand bar and beyond.
-[ ] Due west, in case of a wall.
[ ] Write-in.

 

[pantherasapiens]

[X] Struggle against the flow...
-[X] Northeast, back across the river, explore the other bank and see if there are any more rooms there.
[X] Shout into the darkness and try to determine the proximity of any walls based on the echoes.
@Nevill, @Terrabrand
[X] Struggle against the flow...
-[X] Northeast, back across the river, explore the other bank and see if there are any more rooms there.
@Oh I am slain!
[X] Shout into the darkness and try to determine the proximity of any walls based on the echoes.
[X] Struggle against the flow...
-[X] Northeast, back across the river, explore the other bank and see if there are any more rooms there.
@boonerunner

===

You immediately turn around in the boat and strike the water with the Crude Oar, letting out a yell - "ROW! ROW! ROW THE BOAT!" - as you do. Doog joins in with a howl, and the boat holds still for a moment before passing smoothly back into the slower-flowing westward currents.

The echoes of your shout die away, but all that tells you is that there's a wall somewhere ahead of you. Maybe that's what is causing the change in current.

Yelling is rather fun, actually, so you keep it up as you row back across the river to the other bank. Doog whines and scratches his ear with a paw. You laugh heartily and belt even more loudly. You don't even mind as the boat shudders to a halt on the shallow water you found on the east side of the northern bank earlier. You push and pull the boat along the shore to firmer ground, stake it, and get out.

Then you start walking along the bank away from the previous door, running your hand across the wall. You find a door, and go on. Then something stings the hand touching the wall. You try to pull your hand away, but it's stuck.

you have lost 4 HP

you cannot escape from ???

??????___|_a___!???!___
??????@d???.???????????
??????????!..??????????
????????BBB~~~?????????
??????~~~~~~~~~????????
?????~~~~~~~~~~~???????
????~~~~~~~~~~~~~??????
???~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~?????
??~~░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░????
???░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░???
??_________b_________??

a: an open door
b: a closed door
BBB: a boat
!: a Stake with Rope
?: sloping ground
?: shallow water
?: sheer drop into water
░: quicksand

[ ] Attack with Crude Oar
[ ] Continue attempting escape
[ ] Write-in

 

[pantherasapiens]

[X] Use the Crude Oar as a prybar to get your hand loose.
-[X] If that doesn't work, use the oar to hit whatever is holding your hand.
@boonerunner, @will408914, @Oh I am slain!, @Nevill

===

You grasp the Crude Oar and attempt to wedge it between your hand and whatever it is that is holding you.
It is holding onto your hand too tightly to drive the Crude Oar in.

you have lost 4 HP

Weakly, you try to bash at it with the Crude Oar. The Crude Oar strikes the stone of the door harmlessly.

you have lost 4 HP

you have been killed by a Violent Fungus

do you want your possessions identified
[ ] y
[ ] n

Spoiler: On This Run, You

...survived 312 turns
...encountered 4 Beasts
...encountered 1 Plant
...killed 0 Beasts
...befriended 1 Dog
...nicknamed 1 Doog
...explored 3 rooms
...explored 1 river
...were poisoned 1 time

***

do you want to try again
[ ] y
[ ] n