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Chapter 3 Looking for a safer place to build a settlement. It has been a most strange morning when Rollo’s mangled body has suddenly vanished from the funeral pyre followed by Rollo showing up naked on the beach. His body bares the healed scars of his injuries that were caused by the glowing demon that has attacked their camp during the night. “How was it possible for me to be resurrected?” asks Rollo as the questioning continues over his unexpected return. “Apparently, the Gods must want to study how we will survive in their new world.” suggest Freyda. “The fact that we showed up on this beach naked, That Olif found a herd of sheep being shepherd by those strange looking predators, the fact that the seawater is fresh, all means that we are no longer in the real world, but in Fjordur. Only in Fjordur is it possible to be resurrected after being killed.” “Does that mean that we can just charge into danger and not worry about dying?” asks Lief. “No,” answers Rollo. “That was a most terrifying experience being ripped apart by that demon as I jammed my spear into it’s throat.” “There is always the chance that we may not be resurrected back here after death. We could end up in Valhalla or we may end up spending an eternity in Muspell, or what the monks at the Abby called Hell,” reports Olif. “Then we had best be careful, always on the watch for danger,” Bajorni replies. “The next time one of us gets killed, they may never return like Rollo did. Lets get a crew to work reinforcing the stockade fence, a group to search along the beach for more survivors and supplies, and another working on a longboat to check out those other islands.” As Olif and Hilda are taking the sheep out to graze the brush at the edge of the forest, a family from the settlement of Vik have shown up from down the beach. They have spotted the light from the torches as they were sailing in a fishing boat they had used to escape from the volcanic eruption on Iceland. “How did you end up in the land of Fjordur,” Hilda asks Jarvis, the head of the household. “I do not know,” he answers. “We were heading out to sea away from the village when we were overtaken by a foul smelling fog. When we woke up, we found ourselves sailing in this unfamilar sea in a starlit sky. I could not find Polaris or any of the constellations to navigate by. We spotted the fires on the horizon and started sailing to it.” “What happened to us?” asks Sarah, his wife. “You were poisoned by the foul smelling fog, then reborn into this world.” answers Olif. “I found it had killed the sheep in the meadow before we escaped in Bajorni’s longboat. Then, we suffered the same fate that you did, only we ended up on the beach naked.” “You are more then welcome to stay with us,” invites Bajorni. “We can use the help of your family in building a settlement in this world.” “Thank you for the invitation,” answers Jarvis. “Hilda, Olif, and I are neighbors. “Those are the most interesting looking sheep dogs I have ever seen. What are they?” “They are called Dilos,” answers Olif. “According to a book I took from an abby we raided, they went extinct long ago. I found them yesterday shepherding this herd of sheep near the dangerous meadows inland.” “They are most unusual,” answers Bajorni. “However their much larger cousins are extremely dangerous. One of them attacked our settlement during the night. It was extremely difficult to kill. It killed Rollo who was somehow resurrected. With the threat of those creatures in the forest beyond, we need to look for a safer location to establish our settlement. Could we borrow your boat to go check out those other islands?” “Yes,” answers Jarvas. “Let my wife and children stay in your camp. It is a strange sea we sailed in out there. Not only is the water as fresh as that in a glacier lake, we ran into a strange invisible wall that prevented us from sailing further into the open water. There was a strange four eye six legged giant turtle swimming out there. It was as big as the whales we sometimes see off the coast of Iceland in the spring.” “Did it threaten you in any way?” asks Bajorni. “No,” answers Jarvas. “It was not a Krackin.” “Can we set sail in your boat with Rollo and Olif and go check out that island to the North?” “Yes” answers Jarvas. “Then, we’ll get started as soon as I have assigned tasks for the rest of our group,” reports Bajorni. With the tasks assigned to the others, the group of four board the fishing boat to set sail to the strange looking island in the Northwest. The weather has become cloudy with rain squalls in the distance. It block the view of the top of the mountain that can now be seen on the land they have started their settlement. They sail past the giant turtle which is fishing in the freshwater sea for small fish. “Have you ever seen anything like that off the coast of Iceland?” Bajorni asks Jarvas. “No,” he answers. “Still, I have no idea what may show up in these strange waters.” The group of four keep heading towards the strange island which is taking on a spooky look. They arrive at it’s rocky shoreline late in the morning finally finding a small sandy beach to land the fishing boat. The strange island, given the name of Bulbjord, is a most dismal place. The interior is a swamp with some strange looking plants, giant cypress trees, and moss hanging from them everywhere. Giant frogs are hopping about as well as other lizard like creatures living in the water. A huge elephant size mammal is observed eating the moss off of the cypress trees in the foggy interior. A small village is located on the edge of the swamp as the foursome head for it. The huts are observed to be in a terrible state of decay with the walkways having broken planks in it as the group cautiously approaches it. The smell of death is now heavy in the air. “What a dismal place this is,” reports Bajorni as the group also observes a skeleton in a doorway and some other decaying creatures lying nearby. “Why would anyone even want to build a settlement here.” “I don’t know,” answers Jarvas. “It must have not been so dismal in the past. After all, I am observing fish living in the swamp.” “OUCH!” yells Olif in alarm as one of the strange looking fish jumps out of the swamp and fastens itself onto his arm. The large fish, with it’s mouth full of razor sharp teeth is quickly hacked to death with Rollo’s knife. “Lets get out of here!” warns Bajorni as more of those fish are seen coming after them. Several of them have jump out of the water in an effort to go after the foursome. Giant snakes, scorpions, and alligators are observed coming after them as they run for the fishing boat. Jarvas quickly sets sail as the others tend to the serious injury the predator fish has caused to Olif’s arm. Jarvas has set sail towards another nearby island with a small waterfall coming off of a plateau. It looks much more peaceful then the dismal Bulbjord. It has an open forest of deciduous trees in fall colors and a sandy beach to land the fishing boat on. Landing on the shore, the foursome proceed to explore this new island. Olif’s arm is healing up at a remarkable rate. “So strange,” Rollo comments to the group as he examines Olif’s healing arm. “It is like my being reborn with my wounds fully healed.” The island is found to contain mostly peaceful creatures. Only a couple of dilos are found there, they hunt the Dodos that are abundant on this island. They are soon befriended by Olif when he hands them some fish he has caught along the shore. They find them more tasty then the dodos. Soon he is being followed by the two resident Parasaurs that have become most curious about him. He has found that they like the purple berries from a bush found growing along the beach. They follows him about as he even manages to go riding bareback on the big male by just giving it voice commands and pushing it on it’s neck to steer it. The female parasaur is soon following him around out of curiosity. She lets Rollo get on her to ride her alongside Olif. “Such surprisingly peaceful creatures,” comments Rollo as it lets him ride on her. “According to the book from the Abby, they could be quite nasty if they felt threatened by us,” reports Olif. “It’s why the Dilos are keeping their distance. These two must think that this is a game they are playing with us. When they get tired of this we had best get off so that we can remain friends with them.” “This looks like a nice peaceful place to start a settlement,” reports Bajorni. “Lets head back and prepare to move here.” “Olif and I would like to stay here to get more acquainted with our new tames.” answers Rollo. “We’ll get a shelter started while you two are gone.” “Sounds like a good idea,” answers Bajorni. “It certainly a lot safer with the two parasaurs that can protect you then it is where we are now.” “Have a safe voyage back,” answers Rollo. Work is progressing well on building an overnight shelter. However, it gets interrupted when a campfire is started to ward off the cold when one of the parasaurs starts having a fit about the fire and tries to put it out. “Crap, don’t you know that you will get burnt if you step in the fire,” Rollo yells at him as the parasaur takes off running to the water. “He must have never seen fire before,” answers Olif. “Get the fire back going. I’ll go get him and calm him down.” Rollo has got the fire back burning as the two dilos lay down by it for warmth. The female parasaur soon joins him laying down by the dilos which are part way in the shelter. It is some time later when Olif returns leading the male parasaur by it’s arm back to the shelter. He is reluctant to get by the shelter due to the presence of the fire, but eventually does so when he sees his mate calmly laying by it with Rollo. “Stepping in the fire must have really frightened him,” comments Rollo. “He was soaking his foot in the cold water,” reports Olif. “It took me awhile to convince him that he was OK. At least, he will be more careful around any fire.” As the clouds clear in the darkening sky, something strange is observed from the land they had first showed up on. A swirling cloud of green light is shining from some strange object floating over the snow capped mountains from the land they first showed up at. Two others can be seen in the distance, one red and one blue. “What are those?” asks Olif. “There is nothing mentioned about them in the manuscript that I took from the Abby.” “I do not know,” answers Rollo. “There is nothing in our history about them or their purpose. Maybe Bajorni might know what they are. It might explain why Jarvas ran into that invisible barrier in the freshwater sea, your arm healing up so fast, and my being resurrected after being killed by that glowing red demon.” “Lets see if we can get some sleep now,” answers Olif. “The dilos can alert us in case anything dangerous shows up. We can go fishing in the morning. We can expect the others to show up later in the morning. Maybe, they will know what that strange object is floating over the snow capped mountain near our first camp.” The rest of the night remains peaceful with the Northern Lights showing in the moonlit sky.

Chapter 2. The Strange New World of Fjordur Bajorni is the first Viking to wake up on an unfamilar sandy rock covered beach. He finds himself naked as he struggles to get up. The weather is cold in the morning dawn as he looks about to get a bearing of where he is. “This makes no sense,” he thinks to himself as the early rays of the sun are coming through a pine forest from inland and not from the sea. The shore and vegetation he is able to see around him look like Vinland. It has pine trees and birch brush coming down to the beach area along with shrubs of all type, but, none of it looks what he had observed in Vinland. The morning sun should be in the direction of the sea, not the forest. Driftwood and sticks line the beach area. A strange flightless bird scurries away from him when he startles it by walking around a small boulder. Hilda and her teen aged son Olaf are the next to show up as he heads down the beach. Like Bajorni, they have both find themselves naked in the cold morning air. “Where are we?” asks Bajorni. “I have no idea,” answers Hilda. “We can’t possibly be anywhere in Iceland. Forest like this one simply don’t exist in that Arctic climate. Last thing that I remember was getting extremely tired from breathing the foul smell of sulfur in the soot filled air.” “There is another possibility,” reports Olif. “We may have ended up in the land of the would be dead. I remember that smell when I went inland to move our herd of sheep away from the approaching lava. I found them all lying on the ground as if they were sleeping. They were all dead as if they had just died in their sleep.” “Is it possible that we have awakened in Valhalla?” suggest Bajorni. “It would certainly explain us waking up naked on this beach after passing out from that horrible smell. Yet, here we are naked and freezing to death, when we should be basking in paradise.” The conversation is interrupted by a shout from down the beach. Lief Erickson and Freyda, the two Viking warrior leaders in their group, have discovered a ship wreaked in the rocks along the beach. “We have found some supplies washed up from this wreak,” Lief shout to the others. “Lets salvage what we can to keep warm. Then, we can figure out how we ended up here in the first place, then go look for the others.” A Viking sword is found with a shield washed up on the beach. It is quickly used to cut up a torn sail to form a crude shelter. Additional crates are found containing fur and leather clothing. A campfire is built next to the shelter on the beach to dry out the blankets and other clothing. Axes, pikes, and crossbows are also found among the crates in the wreak. “What is this ship?” Hilda asks Lief. “It is an English Merchant Sailor,” answers Lief. “It was used to carry goods to trade with coastal villages.” “This cargo is a godsend,” reports Freyda. “We now have some basic tools, clothing, and weapons to help us survive in this new world.” As some more of the expedition members start showing up, Bajorni takes charge of the group to start assigning them various tasks in preparation to construct a temporary camp for the coming night. The smashed up Viking Longboat is pulled apart to use to construct a temporary lodge. The nearby pine trees provide the necessary poles for it’s construction along with pine boughs for a roof. Harold, Loki, and their wives, have gone into the woods on a hunting expedition. They have spotted a most unusual looking male elk in the woods and have gone hunting for it. It is late afternoon when they return with alarming news of dangerous predators they have observed living in the rocky plains beyond the forest. They are carrying back a strange looking leathery creature the size of a deer they have killed. It looks so prehistoric. “What is that thing?” asks Bajorni as he sees them carrying the strange looking creature back to camp on a pole. “I do not know,” answers Loki. “It spit some green slime into Harold’s face before we killed it with our crossbows.” “What an interesting looking creature,” reports Olif as he examines it. “I saw a picture of this sketched in a book I took from a Celtic Monastery we raided last year. The monks called it a dilapasaurus. There were other much larger creatures pictured in that book that were described as prehistoric.” “I always thought that book was nothing more then a bunch of Celtic ferry tales,” reports Harold. “Yet, I have to admit that I just became a believer. What I saw today in the plains beyond this forest was unbelievable. I saw a great three horned lizard that was being attacked by a huge two legged demon with tiny arms. It’s giant head had this huge mouth full of dagger like teeth. The horned lizard managed to skewer the demon in it’s side before a large chunk was ripped out of it’s back. They both died shortly after from their injuries. We quickly left the area when a pack of smaller sharp tooth lizards with claw hooks on their feet rushed in to feast on the two dead creatures. I couldn’t believe how quickly those feathered lizards ripped those two larger creatures to pieces before the Ford Hawks moved in to clean up the scraps.” “We had better construct a spiked fence around our campsite before dark,” orders Bajorni. “There’s no telling what might be out there waiting to have us for their supper after dark.” While the men are out chopping down the slender pines in the nearby forest and sharpening up the ends into spikes for the fence, the women and children have been out gathering up the dodo birds, wild chickens, and a small strange looking mammal to place in pens they have constructed next to the lodge pole shelter. It is a strange sight when Olif shows up late that evening with a small herd of sheep that is being shepherd with two of the lizards that look exactly like the one the hunting party brought back on a pole. Surprisingly, none of the tamed dodos and small mammals like creatures show any fear of Olif’s two dilos. He quickly calls the dilos to stand next to him as several of the men, including Harold, grab their crossbows in a panic. “They’re safe,” Olif ensures the rest of the vikings as he pets one of the happily chirping dilos. “Their as safe as these sheep.” “Where did you find the sheep?” asks Leif as he comes over to check them out. “I found them grazing near the open meadow.” answers Olif. “How were you able to tame them and those two spitters,” asks Harold. “I found out that they like this wild honey that I found in a stone formation,” answers Olif. “I was even more surprised that I was able to use the spitters as sheep dogs after I tamed them with the honey and dodo meat.” Olif’s new tames are brought inside the spike fence to be placed into the tame pen. The two dilos stay outside with the rest of the vikings who remain quite surprise how docile they are behaving among them. As the evening sun is starting to get closer to the sea, the air is turning bitterly cold. Wood has been stocked for the fire that is lit inside the loge pole shelter. Being cold blooded creatures, the two dilos are inside sleeping by the fire. Torches have been placed along the spike fence as a night watch is set up for the night. The night watch, which consist of Olif and Bajorni, have been keeping a watch on what looks like several pairs of glowing eyes along the beach and the edge of the woods. “They just keep darting about like ghost in the distance,” reports Olaf. “The torches among the fence must be making those creatures keep their distance,” reports Bajorni. “I just can’t get a good look of just what they are. They keep darting around so fast hiding in the shadows.” The darting about of the glowing beady eyes continues for a while, then as quickly as they appeared, they vanish into the woods. After the excitement of the unknown visitors has died down, both individuals are now studying the stars in the night sky. “Can you tell where we are by the stars?” Olif asks Bajorni as he is looking at the night sky that is lit up with the Northern Lights. “No,” answers Bajorni. “I cannot find Polaris or any of the constellations of the northern sky. I even tried to use the lodestone that I have with me to find North. It points to that dark island we can see in the sea, but there is no Polaris, Big Dipper, Little Dipper, or any of the constellations I have used for navigation anywhere in this sky. These are not our stars. They are stars of a world I have never seen before.” As the cold night continues on, some strange terrifying sounds are heard coming out of the forest. The normal night noises are suddenly silenced as the two spitters suddenly wake up and rush over to the spike fence hissing in anger. “Alert!” Bajorni shouts to the rest of the Viking sleeping in the lodge. Everyone quickly grabs their weapons as they rush to the spike fence. A strange looking glowing creature is observed attacking it as the two spitters spit in it’s face. Arrows rain down on it’s glowing face as it starts to rip apart the barrier. Rollo ends up crushed under it’s claw hook foot as he jams his spear into it’s throat. The spitters run back to the sheep pen and take up a defensive position. The strange attacker finally goes down as more spears are thrown into it’s body. “What was that thing?” asks Bajorni as the rest of the Viking men recover Rollo’s body, drag the carcass of the dead predator into the camp, and proceed to start repairing the fence. “It looks like one of those feathered creatures that ripped apart those two dead horned lizard and demon,” reports Leif. “We had better go looking for a more secure location to set up a stronger settlement before we have to deal with his friends,” orders Bajorni. As the dawn arrives, the vikings have cleaned up the mess and are preparing a funeral pyre for their dead comrade when they hear a shout coming from down the beach. To everyone’s surprise, it is a naked Rollo that has returned to their camp. “That confirms it,” a shock Bajorni tells everyone as they hear Rollo’s strange tale of his being reborn. “We are truly in the land of the would be dead.”

The story of Fjordur, a Viking Purgatory Fjordur is a Viking themed Ark Survival map made up of the islands of Vardiland, a mostly pine and alpine forest, Vannaland, a northern island of birch trees, pines, giant redwoods, and open plains, Bulbjord, a dismal island dominated by swamps, and Balheimr, a hot volcanic wasteland full of dangerous creatures including fire wyverns, but rich in rare resources. In addition, one can teleport to three additional fantasy realms such as Ascard, a land of mostly grassland plains similar to Scotland, Vanaheim, a fantasy land where the Home Tree is located, and Jotunheim, a frozen arctic where you will quickly freeze to death even with high level fur armor. This story take place in the era of the Viking Empire during the time of their exploration in search of new land for establishing their settlements. With rumors of the discovery of a new lands far to the West beyond Iceland, a group of adventurers take to the sea on their Longboats to find a place called Greenland. They never make it to their destination ending up in a lost magical land of the dead called Fjordur. The character’s names have been slightly altered from any that are historically important in Viking History and their new world discoveries. This chapter will be updated with more content in the future. Chapter 1. A new world called Vinland. It is early Spring in the Year of the Lord 1003 when a group of Viking Explorers gather in a Mead Hall to plan for an expedition to settle in a new land. Bajorni, one of the early explorers, has returned from an extended voyage to a place called Greenland. During that second trip to check on the new colony he helped to established, he was blown off course by a severe Atlantic storm. Upon sighting land where none was expected, he has beached the longboat to go explore this unknown world. It was a forested land he names Vinland due to an abundance of wild grapes he found growing in the bushes along a stream. It’s far different climate from the settlement in the grass covered plans near the glaciers of Greenland, or the moss covered rocky terrain of Iceland. Vinland is a land of vast pine forest, open meadows and marshes where it is possible to harvest the wild plants growing in them and to hunt for the abundant game living in them. The men, their sons, wives, and daughters, who are drinking Mead with Bajorni, are excited about the chance to relocate in a new world. Their homeland has become crowded with settlements as all of the good cropland is being farmed, game has become scarce, and the forest are getting cut down to build homes and ships for raiding. So, it’s with the good news about this land of plenty that they sign a contract with Bajorni to prepare for a long one way sea voyage to settle in a new world. The next two weeks have been busy for the families that have signed up for the expedition. Cargo Longboats are being built and loaded with supplies and livestock to establish the new colony. There will be Erickson and Freyda, raiding longboats going along to guard the fleet from raiders. It is finally in early April that the expedition has sets sail from Denmark with stops planed for the Shetland Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, on what is planned to be a two month journey through the North Atlantic to take advantage of the Summer Solace to get the favorable winds near the Arctic Circle to reach the coast of Vinland. During this trip, Bajorni, the fleet leader, has obtained a lodestone which will point to the North. It is the first know tool for navigation that doesn’t depend upon the sun, moon, or stars for navigation on a clear day. The rest of the Vikings are amazed how this strange shaped iron like stone will always point to the star Polaris regardless of the weather conditions. It will be a big help in navigation, along with a strange crafted tool known as a sextant to help them find the islands they are headed for. So far, the trip has gone will. With favorable winds and good weather, they have crossed the stormy North Sea with ease. Their first stop, in the Shetland Islands and a second stop in the Faroe Islands allows the expedition to obtain hay for their livestock. Fresh water is also obtained to top off their fresh water supply. Driftwood, charcoal, and peat moss is obtained for their cooking forge. They stay for the next three days to repair their longboats, to get cleaned up, load additional supplies, and visit with their Viking Comrades that are living there. Not so after setting sail for Iceland. While the Lodestone is pointing the way, it soon becomes difficult to confirm the direction they are sailing at night due to an ever increasing haze covering the sky. The air starts to smell like sulfur as they get closer to Iceland. Ash is settling on the longboats as the sea is coated in pumice. An orange glow on the horizon soon guides them to their destination where the landscape is anything but what they were expecting. Finding the dock at the fishing village of Vik, they have stumbled into a land of chaos. The ground has split open North of the village with lava, ash, and smoke spewing out from several cinder cones in the distance. The village is in ruins from the results of the eruption as lava is approaching it from the North. Hilda and her teen son Olaf, got left behind when the rest of the village fled in a panic in their fishing boats. They quickly board Bajorni longboat with a sack of spare clothes and a barrel of dried fish. Just in time, they set sail South as the lava reaches the village eventually generating a huge cloud of steam as it overtakes the dock and pours into the sea. “Thanks Oden, you arrived just in time.” responds Hilda in gratitude. “We now have a problem,” answers Bajorni. “We were expecting to be able to obtain supplies to continue our sea voyage to Vinland. But, if Iceland has been destroyed by volcanic activity, we may have to abandon our quest and head back to Denmark.” “Keep sailing West along the coast,” suggest Hilda. “Iceland is a large island. There are other villages located along the coast that will not be affected by this volcanic activity.” “We will need to sail far enough South to avoid the reefs and other rocky hazards of the Southern Coast to the West,” warns her son Olaf. With these calm conditions and poor visibility, it is going to be hard to spot those hazards until we get too close to them.” “Lets tie the Longboats into a chain so we don’t lose anyone,” orders Bajorni. “We sail South, then West. When the weather clears, we will head North for Oifus or Grindavak. We should be able to trade for supplies there.” As they start to head South, the fog rolls in with a light North breeze. The Longboats get hung up on the rocks of Vik as the Viking crews struggle to get away from them without getting separated. The smell of Sulfur Dioxide is strong in the air as it is starting to make the animals and children sick. Ash is coating everything as the visibility continues to deteriorate in the growing darkness even though it is early afternoon. Bajorni, who is working the hardest to free the Longboats from the rocks, soon passes out from the poisonous air. It isn’t long before everyone in the entire expedition succumb to Sulfur and Carbon Dioxide poisoning.

Pete’s returns to Scorched Earth. From the posted story of Scorched Earth. Spawning in at a place, known as Midlands 4, Desert Pete proceed to get his bearing of the main landmark in the area which is the Green Obelisk. He has no idea how he ended up back in that nightmare world of his last unplanned visit to this harsh prehistoric desert land. Pete learned during his last visit that he doesn’t want to head to the Green Obelisk given that it is a haven for numerous dangerous creatures such as Terror Birds, Sabers, Raptors, Wolves, and Kapros. He is not ready to defend himself against those predators. Given that it is already getting hot, Pete head West down a dry wash gathering resources on the way and keeping an eye out for predators. Pete finds that starting resources are still rather abundant in the area such as stone, berries and fiber which he gather as he is heading downhill to his planned destination. He knows that he need to get to a pond in the Southern East canyon before it gets too hot to survive. From his last visit, his group of survivors had built a camp with an adobe shelter. A pick is quickly crafted from a stone, thatch, and wood. There are few trees here, mostly cactus and brush. However, there are small pine trees that can be picked for wood and thatch thus saving one’s fist. A level up soon is reached in which the points are placed in either fortitude or weight. The hatchet and spear are unlocked and crafted as soon as possible. From his last unplanned visit, Pete learned that hitting a cactus with a pick will yield thatch and cactus sap. While the sap, along with the berries are mostly useless for hydration, the act of harvesting cactus plants can quickly quench his thirst. Such is how strange, things work in this strange world known as Scorched Earth. Pete can also use Jug Bugs and Water Seeps for a water source, but he doesn’t see any along the downhill path to the Canyon. As Pete heads down the dry wash to the pond that is located in the canyon, he gathers the materials needed to craft up what is called Thatch Clothes. They help to shelter him from the blazing sun in this desert land. Pete also knows that if he goes running around, he will just get hotter and quickly get dehydrated. He keeps looking around for any nearby predators and will only run to lead them to an unsuspecting herbivore if he has to make a quick getaway from them. As luck would have it, Desert Pete is able to make it to the canyon pond without overheating or running into raptors. That in itself is unusual given that the first time his nephew ended up on Scorched Earth, he spawned into a pack of them twice. The third time the huge camel like turtle head creatures smashed them into a boulder. The dead raptors were butchered for some free hide. However, while there were herbivores about, there was nothing small that could be easily killed with a spear for much needed meat and hide. It is around noon when Pete reaches the pond where he and his friends had built their survival camp. However, the area looks exactly like it did before anything was built there. So, Pete has to start gathering the materials to build a thatch hut up on the sandstone cliff before it gets too hot to do anything else in the afternoon heat. In the nearby canyon floor, Pete spots a freshly killed Parasaur. He quickly skins it for it’s hide and takes some of the meat to cook up on a campfire. He doesn’t know why it wasn’t eaten by whatever killed it. So, he quickly crafts up some bolas as well as some spears, a bow, and arrows. Now armed with some protection, Pete crafts what is called a Spawn Bed, stocks a Go Box with some spare weapons and clothes, and proceeds to craft the items he will need to forge some better tools for his defense. On his second day in Scorched Earth, Pete has been able to forge his metal tools to replace the primitive stone ones. A Green supply drop lands in the canyon near his camp. Armed with his weapons, Pete heads to it where he finds a spyglass, a set of leather clothes, and a Raptor Saddle. “That’s Good News,” he thinks. It means that the creatures here can be tamed like they were on his last visit. With the silk from the nearby short plant flowers, Pete is able to craft up the much cooler Desert Cloth. It helps him to resist the afternoon heat. Later that morning, two raptors have shown up in the canyon so Pete get prepared to go tame the pair. Too late, they get killed when they attack the Ankylos that have also shown up in the canyon. Oh well, they must have been low level. They become easy meat and hide as Pete butchers them before the vultures show up to clean up the rest. Later that afternoon, Pete spots two female raptors through his spotting scope of which one is a high level. Both are stopped by his Bolas as they get knocked out with a tranc arrow to the head. By the evening of that second day, an additional male raptor is added to the pack along with a high level parasaur for berry harvesting and a Jarboa for weather forecasting. Pete make it back from taming the male raptor just in time to avoid being baked by the afternoon heatwave. With having obtained some tames, it is now time to expand the construction to include a large pen and barn for their protection. This is going to require a lot of adobe and stone structures. Both are going to require vast amounts of wood, thatch, stone and sand. Pete will need to tame a Doed and Morley to help in gathering those materials. The Morley is easily obtained early that morning. He take it into the pond so that it can drink it’s fill. It’s super efficient in gathering wood from the small pines and thatch and cactus sap from the tall cactus plants. However, Pete is restricted to mining rocks with the metal pick until he can gather the materials needed to craft the Doed Saddle. Adobe Foundations are made to expand the floor on the sandstone shelf. It isn’t until the morning of Day Three that Pete is able to obtain a Doed Saddle and tame the one that has been hanging around his campsite. Between the Doed and Morley, the mining of the needed materials has allowed for construction of an 8x12 foundation which includes an overhang corner to the edge of the pond below. Pets has faced some delay in that work thanks to a sandstorm that blows up out of nowhere. A water tap is going to be needed given that working outside in a sandstorm is quite dehydrating along with draining one’s stamina. Thanks to all of that crafting, Pete reaches Level 44 by the morning of Day 4. On Day 4, Pete is able to complete the construction of the enlarged pen. Adobe is used at the pond section which also encloses the 2x2 hut, while the Villager Workbench is used to construct the lattice walls, then the ceiling. Thanks to the Doed and Morley, the required materials are quickly gathered in the quantities needed. Those hand harvestable pines not only yield a lot of wood when harvested by a Morley, they regenerate quickly. Mixing the two types of construction can be tricky. It takes four walls of adobe to equal three walls in the castle mod. Even then there is still an uneven match where the two meet. Still, both construction methods are needed as Adobe gives the higher heat insulation while the castle mod works without tying down your character with crafting with the weight of the materials needed. It also saves on engram points as all parts are unlocked. A Morley will fit through the castle gate where an Adobe Behemoth one is needed otherwise. Still, Pete needed to make a porch in the back to provide a level platform for the Morley so that he doesn’t get stuck in the door in the gate. It helps with the raptor pack getting inside smoothly. They have been set up in groups of 2 to follow close and at medium distance. Like from his last visit, the setup with whistle commands allows Pete to have them automatically follow his lead raptor. With that setup, Pete doesn’t have to worry about his other tames getting involved when he has to quickly take them out to deal with any threats that show up such as other low level raptors, wolves, and Hell Pigs. They have been trained to follow the pack leader. An additional higher level raptor has shown up in the lower canyon. He is taken down with a bola and added to the pack. A male Parasaur is also added to have a mated pair for berry harvesting and alert detection. On Day 6, Pete has finally reached Level 60. It has been long hours of crafting and gathering to reach that objective. The Doed and Morley have made gathering of stone, sand, wood, and sap so much faster and easier. That morning, Pete find a strange robotic creature called a Tek Ankylo. Even though it is low level, it will do for efficiently gathering metal ore and flint. Stone plumbing is added to the house from the pond below. A nearby supply drops has supplied the needed items for that project. One of the blue drops has given Pete an Oil Pump. He place it on one of the raptors, then take the pack up to the hill by the Green Obelisk that has a table rock on it. From his last visit, Pete know that it is a safer spot then the plateau to the Southeast where Thylos, Terror Birds, Hell Pigs, and Thornys hang out. The raptor pack proves useful for clearing out a nest of pesky microraptors before he am able to place the oil pump on the nearby oil seep. As Pete finally has the pelt and Rare Mushrooms for taming one of the giant Kangeroos, he goes looking for one. Pete find a decent level one stuck in the rocks and knock it out. Wow! Can these thing jump a long distance or up high cliffs when you charge up their jump meter. That was never observed when his friends Jack and Dundee were riding them. With that ability, good carry weight, excellent harvesting of sap and thatch, and the ability to kick away a predator to a long distance, this Joey is proving to be a worthwhile tame. It’s just too bad that three of them had to be killed to get enough pelt for a saddle. End of Day 7 Pete reaches Level 75 thanks to using Tammy to collect several Explorer Notes. That event takes place when Pete spot a Fire Wyvern in the area and decide to trap her. It is a long process but Pete is able to successfully tame her. By using her to collect several Explorer Notes in the area, the both of them are quickly able to get leveled up. She is also a big help in collecting drops of which some are loaded with useful items and other contain just garbage blueprints for common construction items. By using her to kill and harvest some mantas and ankylos, Pete is able to obtain the needed hard to get items to craft the Valerian Reins for her. Equipped, they give Tammy the ability to have increased speed, maneuverability and flying endurance. By that evening, a Level 36 female raptor gets added to the hunting pack. It only takes two tranc arrows on a crossbow to the head to knock her out. It has been a long difficult task to get settled in that strange new world, but Pete now has the tools and tames he needs to find the way back to his world. Or, maybe not. Oatman has long since been returned to a Ghost Town as the second gold rush has finally ended. The coming of the Great Depression has left everyone broke and struggling to survive. As he was getting too old to make a living prospecting or doing anything else, he had left on a one way trip into the Superstition Mountains to live out his last days. Now, he just might make his camp in Scorched Earth his new retirement home. His tames have become his good friends here. But then, just maybe, Dolly and the rest of his friends might just show up in Scorched Earth. He will go do some exploring in the morning in the hope that they may someday show up to visit him in his new retirement world.

Game play of Desert Pete on Scorched Earth. (Not to be confused with The Story of scorched Earth.) In this session, all settings have been set to default with a selected few set to 1 or three. They are as followed; 1. Difficulty is defaulted to 0.2. That means that the max level for any creature will be at 40. 2. Gathering and Taming are set to 3. It just reduces the grind of getting resources and waiting for a creature to be tamed. 3. All nerfed health and melee damage settings for creatures are restored to 1. The following mods have been added; 1. Krackin’s Better Dinos. It has a combo Workbench and Preserving Bin that doesn’t require a foundation for placement. Several unique items can be crafted to further improve a dino’s abilities. Several new resources are available from existing dinos as well as some new types of them. 2. Ultrastack. Makes gathering easier due to the stacking and weight reduction on heavy items. 3. Castle, Keeps, and Forts Remastered. I’m not likely to take advantage of this one early on given that one needs to use Adobe for protection from the Megaheat and wood is scarce in most areas on this map. By default, Midlands 4 is used for spawning in to Scorched Earth. On the official map, it is either considered the Eastern Badlands, or the Southern East Low Desert depending on your spawn in point. While no place is easy to get started in, if one plays that location correctly, they can get to a place in the Southern East Canyon with a pond that is sheltered from the Megaheat and is free of the more dangerous creatures living in and around the canyon area. With XP gain fixed at 1, it’s going to take a while to get established with Desert Armor, Adobe structures, and Metal Tools. Pete’s Adventure. Spawning in at Midlands 4, I proceed to get my bearing of the main landmark in the area which is the Green Obelisk. I do not want to head there given that it is a haven for numerous dangerous creatures such as Terror Birds, Sabers, Raptors, Wolves, and Kapros. Given that it is already hot, I head West down a dry wash gathering resources on the way and keeping an eye out for predators. Starting resources are rather abundant in the area such as stone, berries and fiber which I gather as I am heading downhill to my planned destination. I need to get to that pond in the Southern East canyon before it gets too hot to survive. A pick is quickly crafted from a stone, thatch, and wood. There are few trees here, mostly cactus and brush. However, there are small pine trees that can be picked for wood and thatch thus saving one’s fist. A level up soon is reached in which the points are placed in either fortitude or weight. The hatchet and spear are unlocked and crafted as soon as possible. Hitting a cactus with a pick will yield thatch and cactus sap. While the sap, along with the berries are mostly useless for hydration, the act of harvesting cactus plants will quickly restore your water. One can also use Jug Bugs and Water Seeps for a water source, but none are spotted along the downhill path to the Canyon area. With the next level up, thatch clothes are unlocked and crafted. Between increasing fortitude and wearing thatch clothes, it makes resisting the heat a lot easier. Another note on game play on this map is that one does not go running around. Doing so just uses up your water faster as well as it makes you overheat. Only run when you need to get away from something such as a raptor which are known to be in this area. Lead them to some unsuspecting herbivore and you will be safe. As luck would have it, my character is able to make it to the canyon pond without overheating or running into raptors. That in itself is unusual given that the first time I played scorched Earth in 2016, I spawned into a pack of them twice. The third time the Morelys smashed them into a boulder allowing for some free hide. However, while there were herbivores about, there was nothing that could be easily killed with a spear for meat and hide. Even through the early game, after reaching a sandstone shelf above the pond for building a Beach Bob box hut on, unlocking needed items turned out to be quite difficult for those first 20 levels. Therefore, the priority was to get basic weapons, clothes, then build a Beach Bob thatch hut. I didn’t bother with a slingshot, boomerang, or water skin. Learning those just waste Engram Points needed for more important items. Besides, those will soon show up in a drop. Water skins are just plain useless due to how fast that they leak. Getting a bola, bow, and arrows is most important to deal with any attacking raptors that show up. By noon, I have reached the sandstone shelf and started constructing a 2x2x2 thatch box with a small storage box and campfire for when it gets cold at night. The rest of the afternoon was spent in gathering materials to prepare to replace the 2x2 with adobe. 22 metal is mined from one of the metal boulders down below the shelf in preparation to melt down for the KBD workbench. Wood, thatch, sap, narcoberries, sand, and fiber is gathered for future construction. Clay is manufactured in the Mortise and Pestle to help in earning Engram Points. I am limited to the lower area for now as heading to higher ground exposes my character to the dangerous afternoon heat which drains one health. By evening, I have hide clothes, a forge, and the KBD workbench. With a metal pick, the three small metal rocks below are harvested and place in the forge. Day two, Pete has leveled up enough to upgrade the 2x2 hut to adobe. Metal tools and a crossbow soon replaces the stone ones. Three dozen tranc arrows are also crafted. A Green Drop appears which yields a bunch of crafted materials including a spyglass. Desert Gear is finally obtained and crafted. The low growing flowers yield some silk when they are harvested. While Pearls are plentiful in the canyon near the water, the nearest crystal is a long distance away on top of a dangerous mountain. The Desert Helmet will have to wait. Later that morning, the two Titansaurs that showed up early in the game are becoming an issue. They had spawned in close to the pond and are now threatening the campsite. Normally, they could be killed with a leveled up lightning wyvern, but I am a long ways off from obtaining one of those. So, to get rid of the threat, I end up doing a wild dino wipe. Interesting, after the wipe, some raptors are now showing up in the canyon so I get prepared to tame a pair. Too late, they get killed by the Ankylos that have also spawned in the canyon. Oh well, they were just low level. They are easy meat and hide. Later that afternoon, I am able to obtain two female raptors of which one is a Level 31. By the evening of that second day, an additional male raptor is added to the pack along with a good level parasaur for berry harvesting and a Jarboa for weather forecasting. I make it back from taming the male raptor just in time to avoid being baked by the afternoon Megaheat. With having obtained some tames, it is now time to expand the construction to include a large pen and barn for their protection. This is going to require a lot of adobe and stone structures. The Adobe I already have learned. The stone I will use from the Castle, Keeps, and Forts mod. Both are going to require vast amounts of wood, thatch, stone and sand. I need to get a Doed and Morley to help in gathering those materials. The Morley is easily obtained early that morning. They can now hold 1,000 units of water. I take it into the pond so that it can drink it’s fill. It is super efficient in gathering wood from the small pines and thatch and cactus sap from the tall cactus plants. However, I am restricted to mining rocks with the metal pick until I can level up enough to learn the Doed Saddle. Adobe Foundations are made to expand the floor on the sandstone shelf. I have to use the stone foundations from the mod in one area given that Adobe Foundations do not stack. It isn’t until the morning of Day Three that I am able to obtain a Doed Saddle and tame the one that has been hanging around my campsite. Between the Doed and Morley, the mining of the needed materials has gathered enough for me to construct an 8x12 foundation which includes an overhang corner to the edge of the pond below. I do face some delay in that work thanks to a sandstorm that blows up. A water tap is going to be needed given that working outside in one also drains water with one’s stamina. Thanks to all of that crafting, I reach Level 44 by the morning of Day 4. On Day 4, Pete is able to complete the construction of the enlarged pen. Adobe is used at the pond section which also encloses the 2x2 hut, while the Villager Workbench is used to construct the lattice walls, then the ceiling. Thanks to the Does and Morley, the required materials are quickly gathered in the quantities needed. Those hand harvestable pines not only yield lots of wood when harvested by a Morley, they regenerate quickly. Mixing the two types of construction can be tricky. It takes four walls of adobe to equal three walls in the castle mod. Even then there is still an uneven match where the two meet. Still, both construction methods are needed as Adobe gives the higher heat insulation while the castle mod works without tying down your character with crafting with the weight of the materials needed. It also saves on engram points as all parts are unlocked. A Morley will fit through the castle gate where an Adobe Behemoth one is needed otherwise. Still, I needed to make a porch in the back to provide a level platform so that the Morley doesn’t get stuck in the door in the gate. It helps with the raptor pack getting inside smoothly. They have been set up in groups of 2 to follow close and at medium distance. The setup with whistle commands has allowed me to have them automatically follow my alpha leader but not me. With that setup, I don’t have to worry about my other tames getting involved when I have to quickly take them out to deal with any threats that show up such as other low level raptors, wolves, and Hell Pigs. They will automatically follow the pack leader and not me. An additional higher level raptor has shown up in the lower canyon. He is taken down with a bola and added to the pack. A male Parasaur is also added to have a mated pair for berry harvesting and alert detection. On Day 6, Pete has finally reached Level 60. It has been long hours of crafting and gathering to reach that objective. The Doed and Morley have made gathering of stone, sand, wood, and sap so much faster and easier. That morning, I find a Tek Ankylo. (It’s a KBD exclusive.) Even though it is low level, it will do for efficiently gathering metal ore and flint. Stone plumbing is added to the house from the pond below. The nearby supply drops have supplied the needed items for the project. One of the blue drops has given me an Oil Pump. I place it on one of the raptors, then take the pack up to the hill by the Green Obelisk that has a table rock on it. I know that it is a safer spot then the plateau to the Southeast where Thilos, Terror Birds, Hell Pigs, and Thornys hang out. The raptors prove useful for clearing out a nest of microraptors before I am able to place the oil pump on the nearby oil seep. As I finally have the pelt and Rare Mushrooms, I go look for one of the giant roos. I find a decent level one stuck in the rocks and knock it out. Wow! Can these thing jump a long distance or up high cliffs when you charge up their jump meter. I have never notice that before when they first came out years ago. With that ability, good carry weight, excellent harvesting of sap and thatch, and the ability to kick away a predator to a long distance, this Joey is proving to be a worthwhile tame. It’s just too bad that you have to kill three of them to get enough pelt for a saddle. End of Day 7 Pete reaches Level 75 thanks to using Tammy to collect several Explorer Notes. That event takes place when I spot a Level 37 Fire Wyvern in the area and decide to trap her. Now, one can tame the wild Wyverns if they are using the Immersive Taming mod. Since I am not using it, I just use the DoTame cheat which works just fine on them. By using her to collect several Explorer Notes in the area, the both of us are quickly able to get leveled up. She is also a big help in collecting drops of which some are loaded with useful items and other contain just garbage blueprints for common construction items. By using her to kill and harvest some mantas and ankylos, I am able to obtain the needed hard to get items to craft the Valerian Reins for her. Those will allow a flyer to have increased speed, maneuverability and endurance. By that evening, a Level 36 female raptor gets added to the hunting pack. It only takes two tranc arrows on a crossbow to the head to knock out. Need to be careful using them for taming low level creatures. I may wait until I have crafted a Longneck Rifle and tranc darts before going after an Argy.

Chapter 13. Repairing Eden. It is now Day Three on Arat Prime as everyone wakes up to start the tasks of their new day in an alien world. Naten, Jane, and Sandra have been assigned the job of looking for the rest of the crew members by using their flying tames. They take the big Quetzel with his platform saddle to serve as a bus should anyone they find need a ride back to the Eden Camp. Dennis has stayed with Captain Pike as he computer skills are needed in the effort to get more Stryders functioning and to get the fusion generator back on line. Before heading down below to restart the fusion generator, Dennis and Tammy have managed to repair and restart a Harvester Stryder. “This should be quite useful if this Stryder will work outside on Arat Prime to gather needed resources for our new Terra Nova.” reports Commander Pike. “Can we take them outside to see what they can do?” asks Tammy and Macy. “Go ahead,” answers Commander Pike. “Just be sure to shut the Dino Gate so that nothing can get back into Eden.” Operating on the Stryders, the two take them through the Dino Gate blocking the missing airlock to the outside of the beach area. Here, the detection Stryder provides security as Tammy test out the harvester to see what resources it can gather. “This moon’s soil is proving to be rich in useful minerals,” Tammy tells Macy. “This Stryder is gathering aluminum, nickel, iron ore, and copper from the rocky material that was dug up from Eden crashing into the ground here.” “That is good news,” answers Macy. “It will allow us to construct future expansion to our new Terra Nova.” “We can also recycle the wreaked sections of the Genesis Ring.” reports Tammy. “If the rest of the crew can be found, we will be set in establishing our colony.” answers Macy. Filing their report to Commander Pike, he is able to pass on the good news to the rest of the engineering crew. “That will help us in construction of a permanent colony on Arat Prime,” Tammy reports to everyone there. The crew led by Gabriel has headed below to get the Fusion Generator back on line and to route it’s power to systems that are still functional. They spend the entire day troubleshooting the various systems connected to it. Thanks to the system being hardened to EMP interference, They are able to get the generator back on line and get the various systems connected to it functioning. A report it then filed with Commander Pike that evening. It is quite a surprise when Sarah, Danny, Carol, and Dr. McCoy walk into the meeting out of nowhere. “Where have you been all of this time?” asks Commander Pike in surprise. “We were dead,” answers Dr. McCoy. “Our shuttle was crushed when the Eden Ring crashed on top of us. Somehow, we just spawned back in on the terminal pad we used to enter the simulations.” “It must have happened after the power was restored to the database computers,” answer Gabriel. “This is quite a surprise that we can be reborn should we end up being killed.” “We are still missing Margaret, Tom, Jeffery, and Julie,” reports Commander Pike. “Is there any chance that the respawn system couldn’t find them?” “That’s always that possibility,” answers Gabriel as he access the computer terminal and conducts a search of the recent activities. “I wouldn’t bet my life on it being able to respawn us indefinitely. Still, they must be out there somewhere given that the system is functioning properly and hasn’t respawned them back here.” Dr. Mays has just returned from the food processing center after returning from the rest room. Out of curiosity, she has checked out one of the food processors. “When did the food processors become operational?” she asks Gabriel as she hands him a ham sandwich. “I didn’t know that they started working again,” he answers her. “It may have to do with the fact that Rockwell is no longer consuming all of it’s production of raw materials,” answers Nina. “This is most interesting,” reports Sarah as she heads back into the cafeteria area and accesses the food processor. “We can create Kibble for our cavernous tames. We will no longer have to take them out hunting or fishing to find food for them.” “That is great news,” answers Nina. “We can keep them fed when it is not possible to take them out hunting for food.” “Interesting, we did not lose the fish in the pond,” reports Jane as she comes back from checking it out. “Still, we should not become dependent on the fish and the food processors as our only source for food in this world.” “I have to agree with Jane,” answers Gabriel. “The day will arrive when Eden can no longer provide for all of our needs. If we have prepared for that possibility, Terra Nova will have a smooth transition to our sustainability.” “We still need to find Margaret, Tom, Jeffery, and Julie,” reports Commander Pike. “Their skills are going to be crucial to the success of this new colony.” It is evening when the search party arrives back into the camp to file their report. “We searched the entire area out to 20 kilometers.” reports Naten. “There were no signs of any more pods or the missing people in them.” “Dr. McCoys crew showed up on the Simulation Pad,” Commander Pike tells him. “They had been killed when this segment of Eden landed on top of them. We’re still missing Margaret’s crew. They have to be out there somewhere.” “I have a suggestion,” announces Nina. “Lets mark on a map where everyone was found. Lets also check the computer record for when each pod was launched. It might give us an idea of where to look for them.” Working into the night, Commander Pike and Gabriel plot out the landing location of each escape pod based upon the order they were ejected and where they finally landed on Arat Prime. “It looks like that they should have landed here,” Gabriel tells Commander Pike as he marks the location on a map. “That’s going to be difficult to find them in that location,” reports Naten. “The jungle was pretty tore up in that location.” “Is it possible to use a Stryder to detect the presence of humans?” asks Dr. McCoy. “Yes,” answers Gabriel. “Then, lets take the Stryders over there at first light to find them,” orders Commander Pike. It is day four on Arat Prime as a rescue expedition, consisting of Commander Pike, Gabriel, Dennis, and Dr. Mays sets out on four Stryders to go look for the missing pod and it’s four occupants. Once they are able to get around the wreckage of the south end of Eden, they are able to make good time in the plowed up terrain. Reaching the approximate area of the landing site, the Creature Detection Stryder. Programmed to look for human lifeforms other then the four, picks up a positive signal. “We found them,” announces Dennis. “They are somewhere deep in that tangle of jungle.” “No wonder they couldn’t be spotted from the air if their pod is buried in that tangle mess.” comments Commander Pike. “How do we get in there?” “I can use the Harvester Stryder to safely remove the overgrowth,” reports Gabriel. “I will set it to only harvest the flora in a narrow band to clear us a path to the target area.” “Do it!” orders Commander Pike. A large pile of plant shreddings soon accumulates to one side as the Harvester Stryder slowly cuts a path to the source of the lifeform readings. Eventually, an escape pod is uncovered from the tangle of trees, vines and brush. Glad to be rescued, Tom forces the hatch open, then everyone comes out of the half buried pod. “How did you find us?” Tom asks Commander Pike. “We’ve been unable to escape from the pod or communicate with anyone since we landed, then got buried in all of that jungle.” “We used the data from the Eden computer and the location of where all of the pods landed to estimate where your pod was located,” answers Commander Pike. “The Creature Detection Stryder was able to pinpoint your exact location so that the Harvester Stryder could dig you out.” “How did you access the Eden computer while on this moon,” asks Tom. “How did the Stryders manage to make it down here?” “The Eden Ring broke up and crashed about 20 kilometers from here,” answers Commander Pike. “The section with our camp in Eden survived intact. With finding your group, everyone is now accounted for. Lets head back to our camp so we can formulate plans to complete our Mars mission of establishing a new colony on Arat Prime.”

You may want to check out the Creative Forum for stories i and many others have written about various adventures inspired by Ark Survival Evolved. My story of Scorched Earth is now finished. Once I have completed the adventure of a futuristic colonizing trip to Mars that ends up on a moon called Arat, (Ark II) I plan to start a Viking adventure in Forjor.

Chapter 16. Back Home. It is early morning in the Navajo Village, nearly two weeks after Peter’s group became stranded on Scorched Earth, when Winslow asks the elders a puzzling question. “How did you know that there was a way to enter and leave Scorched Earth when you were kidnapped by Marquis?” “The portal has always been available to us since the time when Turok used it to escape from the Spanish Invaders,” answers the old elder woman in charge of the tribal history. “How is it that you found the portal on reservation land?” “We didn’t,” answers Winslow. “We were sheltering in Peter gold mine from a severe monsoon storm during the night. When we stepped out of the mine the next morning, we found ourselves high up on a mountain on Scorched Earth.” “The three of us were in the Australian Outback hiding in a cave from a sudden storm that blew up out of nowhere,” Helena tells the old woman. “We were halfway around the world from your reservation at the time we ended up on Scorched Earth.” “That is most interesting,” answers the old woman. “Our Gods must have sent you there to test how you would survive in such an unfamiliar place. I find it most interesting how Whitefeather and your group were able to make allies of it’s many creatures, especially that giant white feathered lizard that walks on two legs, or the dragons that killed the Spanish invaders.” “It was a most interesting experience,” answers Helena. “Especially those two dragons that I was able to communicate with. Still, there were creatures living there that we couldn’t becomes allies with. They just wanted us all dead.” “We now have an interesting problem,” answers the old woman. “I’ve been informed that Jessie, Whitefeather, Morning Dove, and three of the tribal warriors are nowhere to be found. Now that so many outsiders know about our little secret, how do we know that everyone will keep their word to not tell the outside world about the existence of a portal to Scorched Earth?” “You do have Whitefeather’s Yuti army guarding the portal from outsiders,” answers Winslow. “I have no idea what Jessie might be up to. I never did trust him. If the politicians in Washington find out about your secret, there is the possibly of the military invading your reservation with weapons that could easily kill them.” “That is true,” answers James. “As you know, treaty have been broken on a regular bases by our Federal Government. When the Arizona Territory becomes a state, the status of your reservation could change. I don’t know what might happen to the reservation and your tribe if the military decide that they want access to Scorched Earth.” As the group is getting ready to leave to take the trail to Kingman, Whitefeather, morning Dove, and the missing warriors has returned to the village with some interesting news. After talking to the old elder woman for several minutes, Whitefeather comes over to the group to make an announcement. “The portal to Scorched Earth no longer exist.” he tells everyone. “Something called us in a dream to go over there by dawn. We saw Flame standing by the portal entrance. Morning Dove was in contact with him, then rubbed his forehead as if to say good bye. He, and all of the tames then went through it back to Scorched Earth. Then, the tunnel in the Sandstone Canyon just vanished.” “That is true,” answers Jessie who has just returned with the others. “I saw it with my own eyes. The portal to Scorched Earth no longer exist.” “That solves the problem of outsiders finding that portal,” answers Winslow. “Since it no longer exist, it’s story will just becomes another one of those mysteries of the Superstition Mountains.” “Thank you for your opinion on that subject,” answers the elders. “You have given us some faith in your intentions as a result of your adventure.” “Lets get ready to make that trip to Kingman.” orders Winslow. “I can use my credit from the bank there to put everyone up in the hotel for the night. The Helena’s expedition can return with me to New York while the rest of you head back to Oatman.” Of an interesting note, it turns out that seven of the horses in the village were the ones that used by the group from Oatman to escape from the Marquis Gang. “Where did you find my stable horses and their saddles?” Charlie asks Chief Traska as the village Navajo bring out the horses to the group. “Marquis had them with him,” Chief Traska answers. “They must have found them and their saddles at my claim,” answers Peter. “What should we do with the Marquis Gang horses?” ask Whitefeather. “You might just as well keep them,” James tells him. “They no longer have any need of them after what the raptors and your Yuti did to them.” “Thank you,” answers Chief Traska. “We will make good use of them.” Using the seven horses and three camels, the nine remaining survivors make the day long trip to Kingman. There, the animals are stabled for the night as the group sleeps in the upstairs of the nearby hotel. The next morning, James visits the District Marshal and informs him that the Marquis Gang were killed in a landslide while digging at the base of what they thought was the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine in a sandstone canyon on reservation land. As proof of their demise, he has presented the blood stained ID of Marquis and three of the gang members he had recovered when Whitefeather’s Raptors took them out. Satisfied with that news, The District Marshal files his report that the gang has met up with frontier justice and is no longer in business. Winslow goes to the train station with Helena and her two guide where tickets are purchased for the trip to New York City. Upon James return to the stable from his visit to the District Marshal, the five of them get their horses and Helena’s camels to make the trip back to Oatman. The way back to Oatman has resulted in the five taking the burrow trails back to the Navajo Village. “You’re more then welcomed to work for me at the stable,” Charlie tells Whitefeather as they visit. “Thanks for the kind offer,” Whitefeather tells him. “Actually, I found work rebuilding the hotel. It should be back in business in a couple of weeks. Mike survived the raid by Marquis and wants me back when he reopens for business.” “That’s good news,” Charlies tells him. As they head back to Oatman, a short detour is made to stop at Peter’s claim. There, it is confirmed that the camp is still intact with the saddles no longer at the back of the mine. What is of interest is a small pile of gold nuggets is now lying on the floor where the survivors had spent the night. “This is a godsend,” Peter reports to the others. “This will allow me to purchase the supplies I need to continue working my claim.” Jeff is in absolute surprise when he sees Peter riding in to his office on one of Helena’s Camels with the other two following. “Where have you been for the past two weeks,” Jeff asks him. “I was so worried that Marquis had bushwacked you after tearing this town apart.” “You do not want to know,” Peter tells him. “I’m just glad to be back to my claim in Oatman. You no longer have to worry about Marquis. He and his gang are now living in Hell.” “Did you ever find Jenny?” asks Jeff. “Unfortunately yes,” answers Peter. “Her and that wild Jack she was running with, were killed by wild animals out in the badlands.” “I’m so sorry,” answers Jeff. “You really liked her. Where did you find those three camels?” “They were gifted to me by an explorer named Helena.” answers Peter. “She needed someone to care for them when she needed to return to New York City.” “You got some unique animals there,” answers Jeff. “This is the first time that I have seen camels in this area being used by prospectors. They must really like you given that you didn’t even tie them up to the hitching post or have halters on them.” “They are such sweet girls,” Peter tells him. “Just don’t get on their wrong side because they can get real nasty to people that they don’t like.” “What brings you in Oatman today.” asks Jeff. “I need some cash so that I can stock up on supplies,” answer Peter as he gives Jeff the bag of gold nuggets. “Wow, you must have hit it big,” answers Jeff as he weighs out the gold, then hands him a sizable amount of cash. “Thanks,” Peter tells him. “This will be more then enough to get me stocked up with supplies for the week.” As this strange tale of Scorched Earth comes to an end, Peter is finally living his dream of striking it rich. While the newly discovered quartz vein in his mine continues to yield gold, it remains at the right yield to keep Peter in the money, but is not so large as to warrant a commercial venture. Peter lives out his life at working his claim where the three camels hang out with him being very useful as pack animals. Helena and her guides make it back to Australia where they continue their exploration of the Outback with trips back to New York prior to the outbreak of WW1. The Oatman Hotel gets rebuilt with the town hanging on to the small gold strike in the area until finally dying as all of the claims play out. Oatman thrives today as a tourist attraction by being maintained by it’s residents as a living ghost town. The dry climate of Arizona has made it possible to preserve much of it’s building in their original condition. The wild burrows still remain as an attraction to visitors from all over the world.

Chapter 15. The Return Back Home. As the introductions are completed, along with the stories on how the three groups arrived in Scorched Earth, the subject on where everyone arrived is brought up. During that discussion, Jessie pulls out the map from his shirt to unfold it so they can pinpoint the location of their arrival. “You found Turok’s Map,” Chief Traska answers in astonishment. “Where did you find it?” “I won it in a poker game in Laughlin,” Jessie tells the Chief. “It was in the possession of a seedy old Mexican named Carlos. I suspect that he stole it from Marquis given that his gang followed me to Oatman and ransacked the Oatman Hotel looking for him.” “I’m now sure how they obtained it from the Elders,” answers Chief Traska. “Now that I learned that Narvee was one of the gang members, he must have stolen it from the Elder’s hut and gave it to him.” “You might as well have it back,” Jessie tells the Chief as he hands him the old parchment map. “Given that this map doesn’t lead to the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine, it is no longer of any value to me.” “Thank you for returning it to us,” Chief Traska tells Jessie as he is handed the map from Jessie. “Can you show us on the map where you entered Scorched Earth?” asks Peter. “Yes,” answers Chief Traska as he unfolds the map and looks at it. “We appeared at this location inside this sandstone canyon. We had entered a sandstone canyon up in what you call the Superstition Mountains.” “Do you think that it’s possible for us to return back to the real world?” asks Winslow. “Yes,” answers Chief Traska. “Marquis and Kelly went back through to get a buckboard and pack mules from our village.” “That’s the best news I have heard yet,” answers Helena. “We can finally leave Scorched Earth to return to civilization.” Flame has returned for a short visit with Helena and Morning Dove. They are there with each other for several minutes as if they are talking to each other. Then, Flame takes off flying to the West up into the mountains. “What was that all about?” asks James. “Flame wishes us a safe return to our world,” answers Helena. “Do those dragons have connection to whoever is up in the Obelisks?” asks Winslow. “He told me no,” answers Helena. “Still, it’s possible that they may be acting as ambassadors between us and the Obelisks. I just don’t know. I don’t believe that they even know.” “This is just going to be one of those mysteries that will never have an answer,” suggest Winslow. “What will happen to our tames when we leave this world?” asks Whitefeather. “Flame says that we can take them with us,” answers Helena. “You will still have control of them as you do in this world.” “May I suggest that they be used to keep trespassers away from the sandstone canyon,” suggests Helena. “That’s a great idea,” answers Winslow. “The Superstition Mountains already have a reputation of being a dangerous location for prospecting. That reputation will be further reinforced by any prospectors that trespasses on reservation land and come face to face with any of Whitefeather’s tames.” “What happens in the future if they start reproducing and spread out throughout the territory looking for food?” asks Winslow. “Flame told me that when they enter our world, they will be unable to reproduce,” answers Helena. “They will just live out their lives until they die out from old age.” “That is what happened to the Direwolves that Turok brought back with him.” reports one of the Elders. “They should be capable of bringing under control the overpopulation of wild burros in that area.” “What am I going to do for a burro when I return to working my claim?” asks Peter. “Why don’t you use my camels instead,” suggest Helena. “Your Arizona has a similar climate to what they are used to in the Outback. Besides, they will need someone to care for them when I return to New York.” “Thank you for your kind offer,” answers Peter. “I’ll be sure to take good care of these girls.” With the Navajos on horses and mules, Whitefeather on his Yuti, Morning Dove on a Carno, Peter on one of the camels, and the rest on other tames or wolves, Ronda takes the lead for the Sandstone Canyon. “How is it that your Ronda knows where we want to go?” asks Chief Traska. “She has always been a natural pathfinder,” answers Whitefeather. “Turok had a wolf that behaved the same way,” reports one of the Elders. “He always took lead for their tribe whenever they were traveling in this world.” “Then, that must be a natural behavior given to one of the tames by whatever controls those Obelisk,” answers Helena. “That is most interesting. It’s going to completely upset everything we know about these prehistoric creatures.” “Best that we keep such knowledge secret,” suggest Winslow. “Like my one college being laughed at for suggesting that raptors are related to chickens, we could find ourselves locked up in an asylum in New York for telling anyone what we have actually seen for real.” “You are right,” answers Helena. “All of what we have learned about these creatures stay here with the Navajo and us. I’ll conduct my delayed seminar in New York, then head back to Australia to continue my exploration of the Outback with my guides.” “I’m declaring all of you honorary Navajo,” Chief Traska tells the survivors from Oatman and Helena’s Expedition. By now, the group has reached the entrance to the Sandstone Canyon. It is a strange trip with how narrow and high this canyon is as the sounds of their travel and conversations echo off of the canyon walls. Eventually, they reach a fork in the path that enters into a tunnel. Ronda leads the expedition through the strangely lit tunnel which soon returns them to a sandstone canyon of a more familiar color. Now, in a bright sunny afternoon, the group finds themselves in the familiar terrain of the Western Slope of the Superstition Mountains. That evening, as the group reach the outskirts of the village, there is panic among many of the natives of the village when they first see Whitefeather’s Yuti and the carnos followed by the raptors. That fear soon subsides into curiosity when they see Chief Traska, the Elders, and Whitefeather riding on the strange creatures from the world of Turok. Later that evening, Whitefeather, Peter, and the others are removing the saddles from their dino tames. They then form up around Ronda who soon leads them back into the Superstition Mountains. “Where are they going?” asks Road Runner, one of the village warriors. “They are heading back to live in the Superstition Mountains where they will guard the portal from outsiders,” answers Whitefeather. “What happened to Marquis and his gang?” asks Road Runner. “They became food for my carnivorous tames,” answers Whitefeather. “Once the word gets out about the dangerous monsters hiding in the Superstition Mountains, you should no longer be bother by prospectors trespassing in that land.” answers Peter. “Will we be bothered by you prospecting there given that those predators are your friends?” asks Road Runner. “No,” answers Peter. “There was only Fools Gold to be found out there and in Scorched Earth. Not everything living there can be tamed. There are snakes living there that are big enough to swallow you whole. We also saw boulders come to life that attacked other creatures living there. Beside, I have my claim to continue working on. I have no desire to return to that hell. I don’t think that any of us want to go back there again.” It is about this time that the Jarboa, which is still sitting on Dolly’s shoulder starts crying. “What’s wrong with this little guy,” Morning Dove asks her. “I don’t know,” answers Dolly as it starts raining. “Oh, I forgot that she acts as a weather forecaster. She would warn us of an approaching storm. It must be her alerting us to this gentle rain that has just started. Would you like to keep her as her pet? I don’t think that it would be safe to take her back to Oatman with us.” “Sure,” answers Morning Dove. “She is so cute.” “Just find her some seeds and berries to keep her fed,” answer Dolly. The evening is spent in the Navajo village where the Oatman and Helena group stay overnight as guest of the tribe.

Chapter 14. The mystery survivor. Flame soon lands next to Helena and Whitefeather, who is in shock when he recognizes the mystery rider. “Morning Dove!” Whitefeather gaps in disbelief. “How did you end up on Scorched Earth?” “I’m so relieved to find you here,” she answers in excitement as she gets off of Flame and runs up to Whitefeather to hug him. “It has been such a nightmare when we were assaulted by the Marquis Gang. They forced us to look for the Lost Dutchman Gold Mine. I only managed to escape thanks to finding this dragon when I was running away from one of the gang members. He mentally told me me to get on his back and hang on.” Meanwhile, Helena is in mental contact with Flame when she calls Dolly to come over to her with their med kit. “Flame been hurt. He got hit in the head by a bullet.” The two of them examine the wound on his head, then apply some Narcoberry solution to the injury. “He will be fine,” Dolly reports to the group. “The bullet only bounced off of his skull.” “I’m happy to hear that it is only a flesh wound,” answers Morning Dove. “He turned Marquis’ brother Bob, the creep that was chasing me, into charcoal.” “Serves him right.” comments James. “He has a long record of violent behavior against women, especially young ladies of your age. How are we going to be able to deal with the rest of the gang by ourselves in this world?” “I believe that our tames can help us take them out,” answers Whitefeather. “We just need to catch them off guard when we find them. Morning Dove, how many members of your tribe did they take hostage?” “They kidnapped the elders, my father, my two brothers, and three other tribe members.” she answers. “They forced them to search a cave that was near the Red Obelisk where they found several huge gold colored boulders inside and started mining them.” “Could you tell if those boulders were brittle when they were being mined?” asks Peter. “Yes, they were breaking off in brittle chunks.” answers Morning Dove. “Looks like they found more of that Fools Gold,” announces Peter. “That’s such typical behavior of greedy outsiders that suffer from gold fever.” “Flame tells me that he can help our tames determine who is friend and foe,” announces Helena. “He can pass on that information to our Yuti who can then alert the rest of the pack who to protect and who to take out.” “That sounds like a most interesting plan,” answers James in surprise. “Still, we will need to carefully approach the Red Obelisk while staying out of their sight, observe how many gang members we are dealing with, how many hostages they have, then make our plans to take them out.” “I could take Flame over there and observe their camp before nightfall,” answers Helena. “Best that we don’t attempt to do so,” warns James. “It could tip them off that we are in the area. Let them continue mining that fools gold. It will be much safer that they don’t suspect that anyone else is around. We can then observe their activity using spotting scopes, then formulate a plan to rescue the hostages and take them out.” “Agree,” answer Peter. “Lets get settled for the night, then observe their activity in the morning.” It remains a quiet night as everyone gets some rest and prepares for the upcoming confrontation in the morning. During their planning session, the two dragons are able to supply Helena with basic intel of what they saw when they rescued Morning Dove. Morning Dove is able to provide additional critical information on who came through the canyon into Scorched Earth when they were kidnapped by the Marquis Gang. She is able to describe in detail each gang member and those members of the tribe and how they were betrayed by Narvee, a Navajo from their village that had joined up with the gang months ago. With Flame mentally communicating the information with her, he tells her that their tames will now be able distinguish who is friend and foe. “This is really going to help in telling who we need to rescue and who our enemy is going to be” Whitefeather tells the group. “Are your sure that your Yuti, Carnos, and Raptors are going to be able to tell who is friend and foe?” asks James. “Yes,” answers Whitefeather. “It will be easy for them and your wolves to find them among the members of my tribe.” “Then, lets plan on using them to sneak up and take out those gang members,” answers James. During the night, a temporary pen has been constructed to keep the Parasaurs, Camels, Roos, and Morleys safe. Morning Dove and Dolly are going to stay with them. Helena has planned to ride on Flame to check for other threats in the area. The rest of the men plan to ride out on the Direwolves as Whitefeather rides on the Yuti to take command of the raptors and the escort carnos. That morning, Ronda takes the lead path finding for the group as they head to the Red Obelisk. Before they have crested the ridge to where the basin containing a pond and terminal is located, Flame lands beside them. “It appears that they have entered a cave where it looks like they are mining those yellow boulders.” Helena tells them. “Two of the gang members are supervising packing a buckboard with the fools gold. It looks like that their horses are picketed outside by the cave. Two other gang members are on watch for trouble. It looks like that they had trouble with the local predators. I spotted a dead snake and a marsupial lion among their kills.” Whitefeather and James now proceeds to crawl up over the ridge to get a view of the terrain below. Hiding in the bushes, they are able to observe where the gang members are loading the buckboard with the fake gold. They also observe them loading two mules with materials. The two gang members pulling guard duty are spotted on a small ridge near the entrance of the cave. After making their observation, they crawl back to where the others are waiting. “The four gang members outside of the cave should be easy to take out,” Whitefeather informs the group. “How are we going to be able to get at the ones in the cave?” “Flame tells me that there is a back way in on the other side of the ridge,” answers Helena. “I could take your raptors and surprise them by sneaking in from that direction.” “Lets do it,” orders James. “Whitefeather can use the Yuti to alert us when he is ready to take out the guards. We can use the Direwolves to go after the two supervising packing the wagon and mules.” The raptors are all chirping in union as Helena gets on Mike to lead the pack around to the back entrance of the cave, then, they head out with Ronda path finding and using the available terrain for cover. “What was that noise up on the ridge?” asks Kelly, one of the gang members supervising the loading of the wagon. “It might be some raptors,” Billy tells his brother. “I heard that sound the other day when we first got here before they attacked Berry while he was out looking for game. Lets hurry up and get this wagon loaded so we can get out of here. The horses are starting to get nervous.” “Get to work you savages!” Kelly threatens them with his scattergun as he notices how they have a look of the possibly of their being rescued. The three groups of survivors proceed to quietly move into position to launch their rescue effort. Whitefeather has position the Yuti and it’s escorts above the two brothers watching guard. James, with the rest of the men, lead the wolves to a hidden place close to the hostages loading the wagon. Helena, having the longest distance to travel to reach the other cave interest, is able to rapidly advance on the raptors to reach the cave. Quietly, the raptors sneak into the cave taking advantage of all of the boulders to quicky get behind the gang members and one of the young warriors. Two of the elders have taken notice of a rescue attempt when they spot Helena riding on Mike. They pass the word on to the others as they spot more saddled raptors moving about in the shadows. Suddenly, there is a loud roar heard from outside the cave followed by screams of terror. An Elder shouts “Turok is here,” as all of the gang members, except for Marquis, get pounced on and killed by the saddled raptors before they can react. Narvee, the warrior that has betrayed his tribe by leading the Marquis Gang to the village elders, is pinned in the corner by Ronda. He loses his hand when he tries to stab her. Outside, the two guards are hit from behind by the carnos and taken out. At the same time, the Yuti’s roar has caused all of the horses and mules to bolt in a panic for parts unknown. The buckboard gets demolished as the team of horses hitched to it, try to run between the rocks near the ridge. One of the gang members supervising the loading of the wagon, gets run over by the heavy buckboard and soon dies from his injuries. The others are quickly subdued by the direwolves. Marquis, who was closest to the cave entrance, makes a mad dash for safety. Expecting to find his horse to make a quick getaway, he gets surprised by Whitefeather who is still on his Yuti. He literally runs into the Yuti’s open mouth and gets crushed in it’s jaws. With the battle over, the elders and warriors confront Narvee over his betrayal. That soon ends when he picks up his knife with his other hand and falls on it when he passes out from a lack of blood. Back outside at the temporary camp by the Red Obelisk, the survivors and the rescued Navajo tribe members are introduced to each other. Dundee and Jack head back to the overnight camp to pick up Dolly and Morning Dove and the rest of their tames. Peter, Jessie, Charlie, and James fan out to bring the horses and mules back to the camp. The animals quickly settle down when they realize that they are not on the menu of the carnivorous tames. With the hostages rescued and everyone back together, it is a long night of trading stories on the survival of the strange land of Scorched Earth.

Chapter 13. As the search continues. With Ronda finally calmed down and the rest of the tames on the platform in a defensive position, Helena has accessed the terminal that has the green beam of light shining on it. After several minutes of searching through it’s alien database and making notes in her journal, Helena has completed her study of the alien device. She then makes her report to the rest of the survivors. “Whitefeather, did your elders ever pass down any information about this Obelisk?” asks Helena. “There was no mention about them visiting any of the three obelisks marked on their map.” answers Whitefeather. “Turok only mentions about them getting lost in a sandstone canyon. When they finally found their way out of that maze, they found themselves back in a place your prospectors call the Superstition Mountains. No one has ever been able to return to Scorched Earth by going back through that canyon. He did not mark where it was on their map.” “Even if they did visit an Obelisk, I found nothing in the database that could have returned them to the real world,” answers Helena. “The database allows us to upload and download our stuff and our tames into the terminal. It would even transfer us to other worlds connected to this one. From what I have been able to learn about those other worlds in the database is that they are even more dangerous then this one. With tributes found in caves in this world, we could go fight the Manticore. I don’t recommend doing any of that especially getting into a fight with the Manticore. There are hoards of Death Worms and Rock Golems protecting him. Nowhere in the database is there any command that would transfer us back to our world. “Damn,” curses Winslow. “How are we going to get back to civilization?” “We need to go look for that sandstone canyon,” answers Whitefeather. “We should go check out the other obelisks,” suggest Peter. “They might hold a clue to where we can find the sandstone canyon and a possible way back home.” “Lets head back to camp for the night once I can get Ronda the assurance that she will be safe with the pack,” answers Whitefeather. “That Kapro really scared the wits out of her.” “She might have more confidence in path finding if you can get her mate to stay close to her,” suggest Dundee. “Good idea,” answers Whitefeather. With Dolly by her side, Whitefeather, with Ronnie, serve to encourage her that she will be safe with her mate by her side. Encouraged by the support, Ronda indicates that she is ready to path find the way back to camp. The mated pair of raptors start leading the way back to camp as the rest follow close by. A third of the way back, Ronda signals that something is not right up ahead. Whitefeather and Peter proceed to dismount and use the cover of the boulders to investigate what is up ahead. Looking over the boulders, two ankylos are observed grazing close to a yellow colored boulder. “Why would Ronda sense danger from the ankylos?” asks Whitefeather. “They are normally not a threat to the raptors unless they attack one of them.” “I don’t know,” answers Peter. “There is something strange about that odd colored rock those ankylos are near. Did that look like that rock is starting to move?” “It did!” answers Whitefeather in alarm. “It looks like a bigger version of the one I saw in that buried city just before it came to life and threw a boulder at us.” The strange colored boulder promptly comes to life as the two ankylos bash it with their tail, then run off away from the two observers. It picks up a rock tossing it at one of the ankylos which dodges it just in time. Both are soon out of the range of the rock monster which then stops and turns back into the strange colored boulder. “We’ll, at least we know what they look like and can move faster then they can,” answers Peter. “I can see where we would need explosives if we ever had to deal with one.” “Lets get back to the others and report what we just saw,” orders Whitefeather. Back with the others, Whitefeather warns the group about the unusual danger they needs to watch out for as they continue on their journey. “Interesting” comments Helena. “I thought that those Rock Golems were just confined to the caves in this world.” “Apparently not,” answers Whitefeather. “This one was much bigger then the ones we saw in that buried city.” “Hopefully, we can continue to detect them by their odd color,” answers Helena. “At least, Ronda was able to sense it’s presence up ahead and recognize it as being dangerous.” “A good thing that she is getting her confidence back” reports Whitefeather. “Running into that thing could have been bad news for sure. The patrol continues back to camp as Ronda sets the path for everyone to follow. She has made some detours in the way back. No one questions why when they hear a roar of some large predators that is attacking some wild Morleys in the distance. It is early evening by the time they get back to the pond side camp. “What a day,” comments Dolly as the group is preparing an evening meal of fish steaks with savroot they have obtained from a garden that was started days ago. “What are our plans for tomorrow?” “Let us head over to the Red Obelisk and see if their is anything over there that can help us return to the real world,” suggest Winslow. “We need to check out all possibilities,” answers Helena. “It’s the only way we will ever find out how Turok was able to escape from this strange new world. It looks like that it is a long ways over there. We had better prepare for a long trip.” Being much further away then the Green Obelisk, the survivors have prepared to be gone for a couple of day. Since it has taken so much of the day to get prepared, the rest of the time has been spent hunting, gathering and sharpening their defensive skills using their crafted weapons. Their tamed Doed is turned out with a pack of wild ones as he is too slow to go along, and will have the company and protection of his own kind. A Thorny Dragon is tamed when it is discovered that a saddle that can double as a Smithy can be fabricated for it. Whitefeather has managed to obtained three Carnos for his Yuti. The three males were easily passive tamed under her presence. It appears to be a strange relationship among the rare wild Yutis that have been observed on Scorched Earth. Those that have been observed always travel in groups of a lone Yuti with it’s three Carno escorts. Saddles are crafted for the three Carnos so that they can be ridden as well as to offer them protection in case of a confrontation with a Rex. It has been over a week since this group of survivors have been stranded in Scorched Earth as they gets packed for the extended excursion to the Red Obelisk. The dawn has arrived bright and cold after last night’s electrical storm. Mounted, the entire group and all of their tames start off single file in the direction of the Red Obelisk. Ronda continues on her job as pathfinder with Whitefeather close behind her on the Yuti. As it is a long climb out of the canyon where the camp was established, Ronda takes them on the many twists and turns in the dry wash. She picks out the best path where the wash branches off to continue towards the Red obelisk. Only one detour needs to be taken to avoid some dangerous yellow colored boulders. Otherwise, any predator, seeing Whitefeather’s Yuti, with her Carno escorts, the wolves, and raptor pack, decide that it’s best to avoid any confrontation. It is mid afternoon when the caravan of explorers are forced to stop for the day. Bring up on the plateau, the afternoon heat is becoming an issue. A sheltered area by a cliffside has been located where there is some vegetation and a spring for a water source. Tents are set up in the shade for shelter from the afternoon heat. “If this place is anything like the Outback, I think that it’s best that we camp here for the night, then get an early start in the morning,” suggest Dundee. “Agreed,” answers Helena. “We should be able to make it to the Red Obelisk by noon. As the weather starts cooling down by the late afternoon, there is a surprise visit by the two dragons, Flame and Torch. “Who is riding on Flame?” asks Whitefeather. “I don’t know,” answers Helena. “I didn’t know that he would let anyone else ride on him let alone that there are other survivors out here in this world.” “We will soon find out,” answers Winslow. “They are coming in to land.”

Some time ago, I did a quick play through on this form of some different locations to get started. You are correct about the dangerous night when an Alpha Raptor showed up on the beach. Fortunately, it was bugged trying to eat a kill. By the glow it was giving off, I hit it with a bunch of stone arrows on a crossbow I found in a crate and killed it. Lots of good early on loot. Here is my suggested starter guide; To get started, select one of the easy locations in Vardiland or Vannaland, but not Vannaland North as you will quickly freeze to death if the wolves don’t get you first. 1. Quickly level up to 40 fortitude along with weight. 2. Get into hide armor as quick as possible. 3. Build a shelter before nightfall. Plan to stay put by a fire as you will quickly freeze to death without fur armor. 4. In several of the spawn locations, you will find ship wreaks. The crates and barrels will yield metal tools, scrap metal, cooked and spoiled meat. 5. Some of the smaller islands are free of predators larger then the spitters. You may want to craft a canoe and paddle to them to establish a base before you are wiped out by the numerous alpha creatures found on this map. 6. The Andrewsarchus, while very dangerous, is easily tamed using honey which can be found in stone formations and harvested with a pick. Just sneak up from behind, toss it a honey, and when it starts to eat it, get on it’s back to ride it. Just be aware that you will be taming it by playing a mini game while riding. Watch the red Rage Meter and hop off before it gets full or you will be thrown off and killed. Continue the feeding and riding until tamed. Like the Equuis, you can ride them without the armored minigun saddle that offers protection from radiation. They are also excellent swimmers. 7. The Desmodus Draculus, or giant vampire bat, can be found in many of the caves. Once you have the saddle, tame a low level one using blood packs. Once you have a tamed one, they will get you all of the blood packs and spoiled meat that you will ever need. A taming helper elixir can be crafted in their saddle from 200 blood packs. It will give a one time 30% boost to taming any knockout tame. Desmodus is one of the best fliers you could ever tame. With their ability to go sideways, they can even outmaneuver a wyvern’s ranged attack. It is the only flier that you can use in caves and in the other three realms without being dismounted. They can also let you see other creatures in infrared and go invisible in the dark. 8. The Fordhawk is one of the most frustrating passive tames you will ever get. They tend to fly around your head waiting for you to kill something for them to eat. Once tamed and riding on your shoulder, they will prove their worth by bringing all of your stuff back to you should you die or use the Fast Travel ability of a sleeping bag or bed. They can also detect dead and injured creatures for you. 9. A Fenrir Wolf is only obtainable by killing the end game boss. You cannot breed them. 10. Added to the map is the ability to teleport around the map and realms from any location. Holding the R key will bring up the teleport wheel. But be careful. There was a bug with using R that can dismount your Fordhawk at the worst possible moment such as when using R to reload your shotgun. Teleport was added so that the alpha tribe couldn't control access to the other rhelms by camping out at the teleport cave. 11. Runes, marked by a short red beacon, act as Explorer Notes. They will give you a rune stone and an XP boost. Ride your tame over them to both benefit from the XP boost. 12. Veggies can be found in some of the abandoned villages. 13. Many of the abandoned structures will not need foundations if you want to build in them. 14. Do gather from all of the drops. It is the only way that you are going to find the high level blueprints or high end fur gear plus tame an otter, to visit Jotunheim without freezing to death in less then a minute. Enjoy.

Didn't realize it was so long since I posted here. More of the story as it unfolds. That's what happens when one gets distracted by other adventures. Chapter 12 The trip to the Obelisk. Packed up with the supplies and tent of Helena’s temporary camp, the trip is made back to Pete’s Camp by evening. Surprisingly, Ronda Raptor has taken the lead in finding the easiest way back to the camp where the Doed, used for stone and sand mining, is waiting for them. The camp has remained secured the past couple of days with the local predators leaving it alone. “That was amazing,” comments Helena as they enter the pen of the campsite. “She must really like living with you to lead the way back to your camp without having to tell her where to go. She is a natural pathfinder.” “Such unbelievable intelligence,” answers Whitefeather. “They all knew what to do when they were first saddled up.” “It has to have been genetically wired into them,” reports Helena. “Such behavior would have taken ages to teach them if they could even be taught to them at all. In the real Jurassic World, they would have been all like that alpha that attacked us.” “Could an alpha be what such creatures would have behaved like in the real prehistoric world?” asks Winslow. “It’s possible,” answers Helena. “We have to be in some alternative world under the control of something in those floating structures.” “We should go make the trip to examine one of them in the morning,” suggest Winslow. “We may find an answer to all of our questions about this place. maybe even find the way back home.” That evening, preparations are being made for an extended trip to reach the base of the nearest Obelisk. Under Helena’s instructions, three more tents are made up for shelter against any adverse weather. Two more Morleys are tamed to use as pack animals and as an emergency source for water. With preparations complete, the group retire for an evening of storytelling as Charlie spends much of the evening working on a secret project in his Smithy. It is an interesting morning given that Whitefeather’s raptor pack has grown by two more females. They had been hunting early in the morning in the nearby area when they became aware of the campsite in the canyon. Coming down to investigate, they are quickly spotted by Mike who calls to them to come up by the gate. Whitefeather is soon by Mike and the rest of the pack as he evaluates their behavior, then opens the gate to let them in. “I need two more raptor saddles,” he tells Charlie. “If you keep taming every raptor that shows up, we will soon be overrun by them,” Charlie tells him. “The more I have in a pack, the better they can protect us from any of the larger predators,” reports Whitefeather. “It’s the same with having a direwolf pack,” reports Peter. “Two more showed up during the night and have bonded with our pack.” “It might just be a blessing to have all of this protection,” suggest Helena. “When I flew by the one the other day on a dragon, I saw a lot of dangerous predators around and in the pond under it’s terminal. A small crocodile creature in the pond ambushed a small mammal that came down to the pond to get a drink. We will have to be very careful when we go down there. That thing just leaped out of the water, grabbed its prey in it’s mouth, and dragged it back into the water.” “I don’t know how, but during the night, I learned how to craft up primitive lever action rifles and the ammo for them,” reports Charlie. “I also made some ammo for Pete’s scatter gun and our revolvers. We should be able to deal with any threats down there so long as nothing has a chance to ambush us.” “Great! That makes us more then prepared for the expedition we have planned for today,” answers Helena. With supplies packed on the Morleys and Camels, everyone and every creature, except for the Doed, are ready to make the trip to Green Obelisk. With Whitefeather’s raptors in the lead, everyone is riding on one of the tames following him Surprisingly, Ronda Raptor is once again path finding for the expedition. “She really is a natural pathfinder,” Helena tells Whitefeather. “She is really doing a good job of navigating terrain none of us has ever traveled in before,” answers Whitefeather. The terrain leading out of the canyon turns out to be quite rugged. It is mostly a dry wash with dead trees and numerous large boulders to find a path around. The Green Obelisk makes for a good direction finder where the dry wash gets quite narrow. That dry wash also makes it hard to see what dangers lie up ahead. It isn’t long before Ronda, sensing that something isn’t right, suddenly stops and chirps out a warning to the rest of the raptor pack. “What’s going on?” asks Helena. “Ronda has detected some dangerous up ahead,” answers Whitefeather. “Lets stop here, place our tames in a defensive position and have some of us armed with those new rifles climb up on this ridge to see what Ronda has detected,” suggest Winslow. A roar from something familiar that had been seen on their arrival is heard from over the ridge as they climb up on it. Winslow and Whitefeather proceed to climb up on the ridge where they are able to see the threat up ahead while remaining undetected by it. “Isn’t that the Yuti we saw the other day?” asks Winslow. “It certainly is,” answers Whitefeather. “What are we going to do about them?” asks Winslow. “They are blocking our way to the Obelisk.” “Ronda was correct to warn us about the danger ahead,” answers Whitefeather. “A story from Turok warns us that the Yuti’s courage roar had frightened his wolves and raptors who then ran off to parts unknown. He only escaped being killed by climbing up on a cliff where the Yuti and his carno pack couldn’t reach them.” “What are we going to do about them if they can scare off our raptors and wolves?” asks Winslow. “I would like to try to tame this Yuti,” answers Whitefeather. “I just don’t think that I can just walk up to it like I could with the raptors, especially with those carnos traveling with it. I don’t think that tranc arrows are going to be able to knock them all out before one of us gets hurt.” “Are you sure about trying to tame that Yuti?” asks Winslow. “One of the elder’s stories mentioned about Turok riding on one of those giant feathered creatures.” answers Whitefeather. “I would like to try so if it is possible.” “What should we do with the carnos hanging around the Yuti?” asks Winslow. “We will knock out the Yuti, then take out the carnos when he is unable to use his courage roar.” answers Whitefeather. “Let me go down and talk to Charlie,” answers Winslow. “He was working on some tranc darts to use in these new rifles.” “That might do the job,” answers Whitefeather. “Go bring him and Peter back up here with those darts.” Winslow has headed back to the other where Charlie questions him on what dangers Ronda has detected. “There’s a Yuti with his carno escorts in the canyon ahead,” warns Winslow. “Whitefeather wants to knock out the Yuti, then, take out the carnos. We think that we can do this using tranc darts in the new rifles you have crafted. Do you think that they can do the job?” “Most certainly,” answers Charlie. “Peter, come with us so we can hit that thing with four darts at once. It took two of then to drop a wild Morley I had cornered in a cliff when I was testing them this morning.” Climbing back up on the cliff, the four men get into position with tranc darts in the rifle. “When I get it’s attention to start it’s courage roar, we’ll target it’s neck,” orders Charlie. “That should allow them to hit for maximum effect.” “Lets go then,” answers Peter. With a yell, Charlie hollers down at the Yuti. It spots the foursome up on the cliff cutting loose with it’s courage roar. Four tranc darts hit it in the neck. Staggering about, the Yuti drops to the ground unconscious. The carno escort suddenly finds themselves in confusion. They lose all focus on what had attacked them as the foursome target their heads with regular ammunition. The threat is soon over as Whitefeather heads down to check on the unconscious feathered Yuti. “Butcher up those three Carnos,” orders Whitefeather. “Bring me the raw prime you get from them and a stack of regular meat. This could take a while, so head back to the others until I come back for you.” It is an hour later as everybody is wondering where Whitefeather is or what he is doing. “He must be all right given that his raptors are no longer worried about him,” Dolly tells the others. It is at that moment that Whitefeather shows up riding on his new tame as it lets out a roar that causes all of the tames with them to have a strange glow around their heads. “What’s with that glow around all of our tames heads,” asks Dolly with concern. “It’s the same glow the wild Carnos had when he made that same roar,” answers Winslow. “It would appear that all of our tames are now part of his pack.” “That is most interesting,” answers Helena. “That makes our tames more then capable of defending themselves from the threats I have seen out there, even those Death Worms in the desert.” Ronda has now taken the lead with Whitefeather following on the Yuti as the rest of the explorers follow. Rounding the bend in the dry wash, a large pond comes into sight. In that pond lies a large metal ring like platform where a beam of light is shining down, from the huge floating structure above, on some kind of an alter in it’s center. Ronda is heading straight for it, but she has seemed to have thrown all caution to the wind when a Crock like creature, known as a Karpo, rushes out of the water grabbing her in it’s mouth. It is promptly grabbed by the Yuti forcing it to release Ronda from it’s jaws. Free of that creature, she runs screaming in panic towards Dolly. The rest of the raptor pack, encouraged by a Yuti roar, promptly go after three other Karpos living in the pond to quickly take them out. “Ronda, It’s all right. You’re safe now,” Dolly tells her as she starts to calm down. “Is she all right,” Whitefeather asks with concern as he has quickly dismounted the Yuti to run over to check on her. “She’s fine,” answers Helena who has also ran over to check on her. “She only got some minor bruises from what had to be a most frightening experience for any carnivorous creature.” “It’s all right girl,” Whitefeather tells her as Ronnie, the pack leader comes over to comfort her. She is soon calming down as she gets the assurance that everyone is concerned for her well being. “Well, that’s enough excitement for the day,” comments Dundee. “We should get everyone over on the platform, place our tames into a defensive position, then check out this terminal.” “Good idea,” answers Helena. “Then we can see if it is possible for us to get back home from here.” With everything finally organized, Helena goes over to the terminal to find out what it is used for and how it works.

It's a difficult map to get established in. And, running around while cold WILL use up food quickly. Here is a short guide to getting established on this map; To get started, select one of the easy locations in Vardiland or Vannaland, but not Vannaland North as you will quickly freeze to death if the wolves don’t get you first. 1. Quickly level up to 40 fortitude along with weight. 2. Get into hide armor as quick as possible. 3. Build a shelter before nightfall. Plan to stay put by a fire as you will freeze to death without fur armor. 4. In several of the spawn locations, you will find ship wreaks. The crates and barrels will yield metal tools, scrap metal, cooked and spoiled meat. 5. Some of the smaller islands are free of predators larger then the spitters. You may want to craft a canoe and paddle to them to establish a base before you are wiped out by the numerous alpha creatures found on this map. 6. The Andrewsarchus, while very dangerous, is easily tamed using honey which can be found in stone formations and harvested with a pick. Just sneak up from behind, toss it a honey, and when it starts to eat it, get on it’s back to ride it. Just be aware that you will be taming it by playing a mini game while riding. Watch the red Rage Meter and hop off before it gets full or you will be thrown off and killed. Continue the feeding and riding until tamed. Like the Equuis, you can ride them without the armored minigun saddle that offers protection from radiation. They are also excellent swimmers. 7. The Desmodus Draculus, or giant vampire bat, can be found in many of the caves. Once you have the saddle, tame a low level one using blood packs. Once you have a tamed one, they will get you all of the blood packs and spoiled meat that you will ever need. A taming helper elixir can be crafted in their saddle from 200 blood packs. It will give a one time 30% boost to taming any knockout tame. Desmodus is one of the best fliers you could ever tame. With their ability to go sideways, they can even outmaneuver a wyvern’s ranged attack. It is the only flier that you can use in caves and in the other three realms without being dismounted. They can also let you see other creatures in infrared and go invisible in the dark. 8. The Fordhawk is one of the most frustrating passive tames you will ever get. They tend to fly around your head waiting for you to kill something for them to eat. Once tamed and riding on your shoulder, they will prove their worth by bringing all of your stuff back to you should you die or use the Fast Travel ability of a sleeping bag or bed. They can also detect dead and injured creatures. 9. A Fenrir Wolf is only obtainable by killing the end game boss. You cannot breed them. 10. Added to the map is the ability to teleport around the map and realms from any location. Holding the R key will bring up the teleport wheel. But be careful. There was a bug with using R that could dismount your Fordhawk at the worst possible moment such as when using R to reload your shotgun. 11. Runes, marked by a short red beacon, act as Explorer Notes. They will give you a rune stone and an XP boost. Ride your tame over them to both benefit from the XP boost. 12. Veggies can be found in some of the abandoned villages. 13. Many of the abandoned structures will not need foundations if you want to build in them. 14. Do gather from all of the drops. It is the only way that you are going to find the high level blueprints or high end fur gear, then tame an Otter before visiting Jotunheim so you won't freeze to death in less then a minute. Survive that first night and you should be well on your way to conquering this map. Enjoy.

Chapter 12. Finding everyone else. Flying back to the camp inside the Eden Ring, everyone can see the damage done to the terrain by the impact on the surface of Arat. It is a mess like that of a great earthquake tearing up the surface. Some of the taller structures have buckled from the crash but most remain intact. Not notice earlier by Dennis is a gaping hole by one of the airlocks. Flying by it, Commander Pike has observed that a natural ramp has formed to the outside world where the piled up terrain forms a natural bridge to the outside. “$hit!” curses Nina when she sees the huge hole in the side of the ring. “This crash landing has now contaminated the flora and fauna of Arat with the plants and animals from Earth. I can even see some of the creatures from the aquarium swimming out into the sea.” “What problems are that going to create in this world?” asks Commander Pike. “It will most certainly upset the ecological balance in this world as a result of the introduction of those invasive species from Earth,” warns Nina. “Is there any way that we can round up all of those creatures before they disrupt the environment of this world?” asks Commander Pike. “Unfortunately, no,” answers Nina. “As there are survivors from this segment of Eden, there will certainly be many more that that have survived the crash of other segments of this ring. We will be unable to find them all. With the computer systems of Eden being disabled by the strong magnetic field of Arat, they will start reproducing on their own. It’s even possible that their intelligence could revert back to that of their prehistoric kin. In short, anything out there could start behaving like the glowing alphas that were living in here. And, even if they don’t, their offspring may not be tamable.” “Where do you think that our tames that are not in the paddack have disappeared to?” asks Commander Pike. “That is a good question,” answers Nina. “They could either be out looking for food, or have decided to go exploring the outside world.” “Lets land, then get the Mewings and do a complete survey of this section before nightfall,” orders Commander Pike. “In the morning, we will go looking for the rest of our crew.” The evening report of that survey results in an alarming report of the condition of the surviving segment and that of two observed on each end. Many of the wild creatures, especially the larger carnivores, are observed leaving through the broken airlock, much like the animal’s on Noah’s Ark. Worse yet, are the two segments broken off from the segment that is home base. One of those two end sections, broken off like the stern section of the sinking titanic, is spewing out surviving creatures in all directions. The other one looks devoid of anything living in it, probably the results of an explosive decompression as it broke off while still in space. Two other segment showing up close to the darkening horizon, are seen badly crumpled on their side. It is unlikely that anything has survived the resulting crash. The dome of the home section is seen floating in the nearby sea. Some other segments can be seen in the distance sticking out of the water by the setting red sun. During the night, the eight survivors are able to observe some strange activity on a moon nearby to Arat. It is the moon that the remains of the Genesis ship has crashed into. A strange glow is being observed on the surface through a telescope. It looks much like some kind of volcanic activity. “It must have been caused from the power core explosion,” comments Gabriel as he observes the activity there. “I can also make out some pieces of the Genesis Ship that are speared into the surface.” “Do you think that anything from Rockwell’s Garden could have survived the crash?” asks Commander Pike. “No,” answers Gabriel. “I can only find pieces of that ring scattered about on the surface. Besides, our survey of this system determined the atmosphere of that second moon is made up of methane, sulfuric acid, and carbon dioxide. It’s surface temperature measured 150* C. It’s doubtful that any of Rockwell’s creations could have survived in such an environment.” “Then, it is much like the surface of Venus,” comments Commander Pike. “Indeed,” answers Gabriel. “But at a much lower atmosphere pressure. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to see the surface.” “Hopefully, the nightmare caused by Rockwell is now over,” answers Nina. “So do I,” answers Commander Pike. “Lets pray that we won’t have to face another one as we work on our own survival.” “I agree, answers Gabriel. “Unlike your Starship Program, all of our hopes for survival were placed into this one giant ship. There will be no one coming here to rescue us. We are truly on our own to survive in this world.” It is morning on this third day on the moon of Arat when Commander Powell calls for a meeting. After much discussion, it is decided that the original campsite on Eden will become their temporary home base. After a quick inspection of the domesticated animal pen to repair some minor damage, four of the survivors, working in teams of two, take off on the flying creatures to search for the others while the rest work with Carlos on securing the camp. Commander and Mary Pike have traveled just a short ways North along the shoreline when they spot their tamed saddled raptors and carno along the shoreline. Next to them are Conner, Clark, Tammy, and Macy. “They actually found us,” Tammy tells Commander Pike as he inquires how they ended up with their tamed raptors and carno. “Incredible,” comments Mary. “Dr. Mays is certainly right about these creatures being genetically modified in intelligence. Even a bloodhound would have an impossible task of finding someone under these conditions.” “They showed up the next morning after our pod landed on the beach,” answers Conner. “At first, we though that they were some of the wild inhabitants of this world until we saw the saddles on them. It’s a good thing that they showed up when they did. When we found out that the Tek rifles was no longer working, they took out a strange looking six legged predator that came chasing after us. We have since managed to arm ourselves with pikes, crossbows, and black powder rifles.” “That sounds like we had better erect a barrier across where the airlock used to be to keep them out of Eden,” answers Commander Pike. “Do you have any idea why our radios are not working?” asks Macy. “It’s from the electromagnetic interference caused by this moon,” answers Commander Pike. “It has also disabled the computer systems on Eden as well as those on the Stryder and Voidworm.” “That would explain why half of the equipment on the survival pod isn’t functioning,” answers Macy. “Where are we setting up camp at this time?” asks Clark. “Follow the shoreline back to where you see the ripped out airlock,” answers Commander Pike. “We are making our Eden Camp our temporary base until we have found everyone that has made it down to Arat. Then, we can make a decision on where to survive in this strange new world.” Coming back to the Eden camp, Commander Pike has found that Stella Lox, Terry Taylor, Stella Lopez, and Dawn Faucett are arriving at the camp both on foot and riding on the parasaurs. “They found us,” Dawn reports to Commander Pike. “We were almost hit by Eden when it crashed into Arat two days ago. With the landing pod crushed, we have been traveling along the edge of the wreckage looking for a way inside. We let the parasaurs guide us back to the broken airlock.” With Commander Powell, his wife, and the rest of the survivors that have made it back to the Eden Camp, Gabriel and Nina are the next search party that returns with four more survivors riding on their Quizel. “Q-Bert took us on a wild goose chase out into the sea,” reports Gabriel. “She found Nancy, Mike, David, and Ahab floating on an uprooted tree. It appeared to be surrounded by giant sharks. We used the pteradons to pick them off of the tree and place them on Q-Bert’s saddle.” “Were those giant sharks the Megadlons from Eden?” asks Commander Pike. “Yes,” answers Ahab. “They must have escaped from the Eden Ring.” “Maybe, they will do us a favor and get rid of those six legged Karpos living in the sea along the shoreline,” answers Macy. “That’s not good” warns Nina. “They will upset the natural balance of wildlife in the sea.” “Only time will tell just what happened to the natural balance in this world,” answers Dr. Mays. “We’ll just have to conduct wildlife surveys from time to time to keep track what happens to that balance. In the meantime, I want everyone to help Carlos to secure the airlock so that nothing can get in here from the outside world. The four of us are going to continue to search for the others until it gets too dark to fly.” That evening, the foursome fly back to the Eden Camp to file their report. The crew working with Carlos has managed to wall off the hole made by the broken airlock. A quick survey finds that all of the wild creatures in this segment of Eden are either missing, or were killed during the impact into Arat. “It looks like most of them made it out of here,” reports Dawn. “All of our tames are accounted for,” reports Dr. Mays. “We have secured the breach in the airlock,” reports Carlos. “We even managed to secure a cargo net across the hole in the aquarium. Other then the missing dome, the rest of this segment is intact. If something unknown is going to come after us, it will have to enter from the missing dome.” “I have managed to get one of the Stryders functioning,” reports Dennis. “It’s creature detection system should warn us of anything entering the area. The fusion generator for this segment is still intact. I’ll have Nina help me get it operational in the morning. With it’s power, we should be able to create our own Terra Nova on Arat.” “Excellent!” answers Commander Powell. “Unfortunately, our extended search has failed to find any signs of the others. “I’ll send out a search team in the morning to continue looking for them.” “Lets set up a watch for the night and get some rest. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.”